So the honmoon broke and Celine is left at the tree basking in her failure to being a mother aswell as a hunter and a whole lotta demons attack
Now these aren't the run of the mill ones, these are some of gwima's strongest
Celine fights because she can't not, she's been fighting so long that she can't do anything else but she is without the honmoon, and now she is only human. A human with a vast amount of skills but still human and it only takes a misstep, one mistake for the demons to get the advantage
And well if one half demon raised by this women can do this much damage, why not make another
When it comes to Mohabbot and their relationship with Javadi, everyone assumes that Jack is the “overprotective parent.” When it’s actually a 100% Samira.
“Um excuse me.” Samira says catching Victoria in the bathroom while she gets ready for her first night out as a twenty one year old. “Don’t you think that dress is a little too short?”
Vic, who is in the middle of putting on lip liner, freezes and just stares at Samira through the mirror. “Samira, this is your dress.”
“I knew that.” Samira lies, crossing her arms, in defiance. “Still, you are going to a club I don’t know about, that is practically on the other side of town, I just need you and the others need to be—“
“Careful!” Victoria finishes for her, smiling as she rolls her eyes. “I promise we will. When are we not!”
That’s when Jack comes by, sliding his hand around Samira’s waist. “I think the pittlings will be okay, as long as they got their locations on.”
“Location is on. And thank you, Jack.” Victoria grins, finishing her makeup. As she scuffles out the bathroom, she stops in front of Samira who is pouting like crazy. “How do I look?”
“Beautiful, stunning, perfect.” Samira gives in though she is still not satisfied. “You promise to call me in case anything goes wrong?”
Victoria only can scoff because she can’t take her friend seriously. “Okay. Okay. Yes, of course.”
Vic wraps her arms around the both of them, Jack is beaming, and Samira is still a big ball of anxiety. But she bites down any worrying thought. A fast buzz comes from Vic’s phone as she pulls away.
“That’s Dennis.” Vic says looking at her messages, she is ecstatic, which makes the situation a little better for Samira. “He’s outside. See you later!”
The couple waves from the window, as the car pulls begins to pull away. Samira biting her lip, turns to Jack who is silently admiring her.
“We should pick them up, you know, when they’re done.” She starts as Jack begins to laugh. “I mean later, you know they’re lightweights. Like all of them. Let’s get them in a couple of hours, do you think that’s long enough?”
Jack just pulls his girlfriend into a hug, wrapping his arms around her, and kissing her on top of her head. “How about we just have fun and wait for them to call?”
Samira of course, waits all night. She falls asleep on the couch, which means Jack has to carry her to bed. Vic is fine of course, she is also passed out, but she’s already in bed, sleeping right next to Mckay.
@waterfire1848 chatting about a deaged gumiho Celine is pulling me back into the gumiho Celine verse again 😔
But imagine gumiho Celine who was taken from her family, mentors who hunted every gumiho who came close to the property until the skulk moved on, loathed to abandon their lost kit but finding it too dangerous to stay.
Her mother being the only gumiho to stay behind. Learning the habits of the hunters, hoping to be able to steal back her kit when the chance came.
But it never did.
She saw her kit slowly lose herself. Transforming less until she stopped entirely. Wearing her human face until it was just her face. Learning to be a hunter until eventually, the wildness left her entirely and she smelled like city and rubber and steel.
Celine grows up being taught that her purpose was to be useful. Her worth came from what she could give back to humanity and the hunters. That, even though she had been unfortunate enough to be born a demon, she had been given an opportunity to do some good. And with it, the hope that she would be human in the next life.
Post-movie, Huntr/x discovers that Celine is a gumiho (maybe she's a sad sack and can't find it in herself to maintain her human form or maybe she feels like such a horrible demon that she reverts to her fox form) and Rumi gets it in her head that she's going to find out what happened to Celine's family.
Celine said that the previous hunters killed all the gumiho in the area but gumiho are supposed to be sly, shifty, sneaky demons and Rumi is convinced that the hunters couldn't have killed *all* of them.
It takes a long time but the girls start to feel like they're being watched the longer they camp out in the woods around the hanok until, in the middle of the night, Rumi wakes up to find a large, white-furred fox watching them.
First of all, LOVE this idea! Celine’s mom would not give up on her baby even when it makes no sense to stay. As long as Celine is there, even when she has a kit of her own (who also has demon heritage), her mom will stay on Jeju island and watch over her.
Second, the girls are about to be attacked by a gumiho. That’s exactly what’s going to happen. Her kit is starting to embrace her gumiho side again but whenever the hunters come around she reverts back. Clearly it’s their fault.
Third, I just rewatched Hoppers and now I’m imagining a scene where Celine is in her fox form and gets hurt in front of her mom (whether that’s from a demon or something else) and her mom changes back to human form to carry Celine to the girls, begging them to help her.
Oh combining your addition with @secondtolastrow 's addition 👀
Mother-fox knows that something has shifted in the hunter's den.
The scent of fox, strong and musky, grows stronger by the day ever since her grand-kit's scream split the sky open. And in the days since, watching from behind the treeline, where she has learned from years of watching is safe, she sees glimpses of a white fox behind the glass panes.
Thin, in fur and in body. Shoulders slumped, ears pinned back. Her kit had spent days in the window sill overlooking the front gate, looking so still that had it not been for the fog gathering on the cold glass, Mother-fox would have thought her kit dead.
She had not perked up until her own kit returned along with the short hunter and the pink-haired hunter.
(She had still not seen her kit leave the hunter's den.)
(Her kit had left the window.
She didn't know if her kit was still alive.)
So when the hunters had started to leave scraps of liver in the woods, when they had started to invade her territory; Her teeth ached to bite down. She wanted to shred flesh, feel warm blood spurt from their necks and drink deep.
Finally, one night, she loses her patience and when one of the hunters wakes and looks, blearily out at her, she screams at her a demand to know what they did with her child.
Rumi scrambles back instinctively from the sound, thankfully managing not to draw her sword before she starts comprehending that the GIANT DEMON FOX isn’t just screaming, or even screaming that it plans on killing her, but—
It’s screaming for its child
She hears Mira and Zoey waking up, tries to gesture at them not to do something stupid even while she can’t take her eyes off the slavering maw in front of her
She takes a deep breath. “Are you talking about Celine? Can you—can you help her?”
The fox snarls, paces, disbelieving. “You want to help her?”
(Out of the corner of Rumi’s eyes, she catches Mira and Zoey exchanging a glance. The moment of understanding that passes between them)
In a kinder world, one where the hunters did not hate and fear all demons, her kit might not have been stolen from her. Her kit, who had always been fascinated by the music of the humans, might have joined the hunters willingly.
This child in front of her might have spent her childhood riding astride gumiho, white fur clutched in small, child fists. She would have been presented to the skulk the night of her first full moon, would have been named underneath it's soft, white glow.
That image, and nothing less, is what stops Mother-fox from screaming further in this child's face.
It does not stop her from circling the camp and howling her frustration into the trees.
"Your kind's 'help' destroyed her!" She snarls. "Do you even know what she should be at her age?"
The girls shook their heads.
"She was supoosed to have grown into her tails decades ago!" Seven, eight tails maybe. Large, fluffy, and white. Her ninth tail would not have sprouted for decades. Mother-fox feared it never would. "You would help her kill what little part of her is still here!"
"That's not what we want!" The child protests. "We just want Celine to be okay again!"
"Yeah," the short hunter says. "We came back to talk to her and she was this fox. And now, she won't even come out from under her bed."
"We thought she got cursed or something," pink-hair adds.
“Cursed?” the gumiho repeats, voice very, very dangerous as she looks at Mira.
“And then she told us she was a gumiho!” Zoey adds hurriedly. “And the old Hunters just made her push all of that down so we never knew, not even Rumi.”
Mira nods, and Rumi does too, ugly anger welling up in her at the memory of what Celine’s mentors had apparently taught her. It’s very easy to understand the gumiho’s screaming when she thinks about them and what they did to Celine.
“We wouldn’t have known what to do even if it was a curse,” Rumi admits, “but… Celine said the old Hunters spent years driving the gumiho away from the hanok. I—every story says that gumiho are supposed to be tricky, and…”
The woman that the gumiho transforms into flares her tails almost aggressively, as if daring them to ignore the fact that they are still very much looking at a fox even as she gets right into Rumi’s face again, her breath full of carnivore-stink.
But Rumi doesn’t flinch. Won’t let herself.
“And?” she asks.
And Celine loved me enough that becoming what she hated didn’t matter.
“And I hoped that you might know something,” she tries. “I mean, we’d never even heard that thing about the tails.”
Mother-fox scoffs, looking down her nose at the trio before her with disdain. Ignorance. She'd expect nothing less from a pack of Hunters.
"Of course you have not," she hisses, tails lashing like so many snakes waiting to strike. "You are too busy murdering anything that doesn't reek of humanity to listen. It is a wonder they have let you live."
The pink-haired hunter and the small one wince, and Mother-fox delights in the lightning-strike of pain that burns across their features. Yes, feel ashamed, foolish Hunters. For once truly feel your due.
The child, the one whose human stink is mingled with the ash and earth and mustiness of the jeoseung saja, sits taller, and meets the gumiho's eyes. There is no fear, and none of the shame she has come to associate with patterned demons. Instead something that glints like a gumiho's pride. "We've changed."
A lip curls back from fangs itching for blood to drip off their lengths. Change. Hunters, who for generations have strung them up by their tails and stained their moon-white coats with red, changing to welcome a gumiho. A joke. The sort of cruel, ironic thing that only humans would be so heartless as to play. "Lies."
The child- so like her kit, this child!- is not cowed. "If you don't want to believe that we've changed, at least believe that we want to help Celine. She..." Her throat jumps as she swallows, and she drops her eyes to the ground. The gumiho watches as rounded fingernails dig into the earth, clenching the soil. When the human speaks again, there is a heaviness to her voice that...the gumiho's heart knows.
She barks in laughter, sharp and harsh, like claws scrapping across stone.
Small One and Pink-Hair's fingers twitch in the ways Hunters do before they pull their weapons from their glowing barrier, plucking at invisible strings.
Years ago -- a lifetime ago -- those fingers had plucked a chain from the air and lashed her across her chest and it had felt like fire being poured into her lungs. And that chain had twisted around her kit's neck and the hunter and pulled and her kit had screamed and when the hunter lifted her kit up by the scruff of her neck, she had hung so limply in that hunter's grip she had looked dead.
And then a spear had sliced through the sapling near her head and she had --
She had abandoned her kit.
To these --
"Zoey, Mira," the child says, sharply.
She has her back to Mother-fox. Foolish child. Wasn't she ever taught to never turn her back on a danger?
Shorter and Pink-Hair, this... Zoey and Mira, still their hands and the strings of light wrapping around their fingers fade away.
"It's okay," the Child says, looking from her hunters to Mother-fox and back again.
Strange.
To tell her hunters to not draw their weapons.
Was it possible that she was ... genuine?
Mother-fox wants to laugh at the thought. But this half-child who should not have existed, who was raised by a gumiho, even if her kit had been so thoroughly beaten down that she no longer transformed, would have been hers. If her kit had been allowed family.
"My child -- it has been a long time," Mother-fox says, reluctantly. "She does not remember her blood kin."
The hunters look at each other.
"Well, you never know unless you see her, right?" Zoey asks.
"You don't even have to come in," Rumi adds. "Just... I don't know, hang around? So she can smell you, maybe?"
The mother-fox even accepts Rumi’s jacket to rub her face and shoulders all over, until it smells strongly of animal even to the three of them.
So… hopefully this works?
Rumi picks her way back up into the house on careful feet, glancing out the window to see a flicker of white fur darting out of view, every time. It’s like she’s a little kid sneaking back from a midnight snack again, or a teenager who probably shouldn’t have stayed up quite that late with Mira and Zoey.
But it isn’t.
She nudges open the door to Celine’s room with her hip, calls out, “Hey, Celine.”
Like it’s normal. Like Celine might just be choosing her clothes for the day, ready to groan back at her about her lack of boundaries from inside the closet.
There’s no response.
“Brought you something,” she says, awkwardly setting the jacket down on the bed, for lack of anywhere better to put it. It feels important, but… it’s just a stupid windbreaker? So. Bed.
She kneels down to check when there’s not even a grumble at that, and spots the little silhouette after only a moment. Which is good.
“Turns out there was one gumiho still hanging around,” she says, straightening up a little first. Celine doesn’t like it when they look at her and talk to her at the same time.
There’s still no response.
No response to anything she says, not for the next half hour.
Eventually, she just gives up. Not—for good, not in general. This isn’t the first day they’ve had when Celine has refused to talk at all.
(But it still feels like defeat.)
She goes and eats some breakfast, even if stems so stressed that it tastes like dirt, because Zoey really does try so hard to keep them together, and she watches the fox out the windows, and she thinks about little baby Celine being taken from everything she knew and—
When Rumi comes back into the bedroom, Celine has moved the jacket.
Every time Rumi goes outside with some new article of clothing for the fox to scent, she thinks that it's the last time she'll see the fox. Or that this time, the fox will not come and she will have seen the fox for the last time and she will not have known it.
But every time the fox steps out from the treeline and greets Rumi at the boundaries of the hanok, at the stone walls encircling the property that have stood for as long as anyone can remember.
It shouldn't surprise her -- the fox had waited and watched for decades, she would hardly stop now -- but it did.
"Maybe you just have a thing about moms sticking around," Zoey had suggested. And Rumi's face had twitched so horrifically that Zoey had said, hastily, "Or not!"
Rumi didn't want to think about it.
"She's leaving her room more," Rumi says to the fox.
She's perched herself atop the stone wall, facing the forest, her legs dangling in the air, the heel of her sneakers scrapping against the stone and moss.
The fox is laying on the grass on the other side -- the forest side -- close enough for Rumi to dig her fingers into the thick fur around her neck.
Rumi does not do this.
"She's still not really taking care of herself but she's starting to eat again," she says. "Zoey wants to try and brush out some of the mats in her fur today. Mira thinks we should try to wash her since she's still not... turning back."
"There's nothing to turn back," the fox says, sharply. "She's what she would have been if she hadn't been stolen."
But she did get stolen, Rumi wants to say. She was stolen and she spent fourty years as a human and that's all I've ever known her as and I miss my Cece.
She swallows her words and it's like swallowing a peach pit.
The fox has a way of looking down her snout at Rumi, like she's some reprehensible creature that barely deserves to be looked at, that's objectively offensive and, in any other situation, would have her glaring right back.
But it reminds her so much of Celine cutting down anyone who dared question the way she bucked industry norms with how she ran her company that she doesn't. Just lets the fox's accusation hang.
How would she answer that anyway? It's not like she can say "Yeah, well, I like your stolen daughter better the way she forced herself to be for most of her life, so if she could lose the tails and fur that'd be great."
"It's just...hard, I guess," she settles on at last, knocking her heel against the stone of the wall. "Getting used to it. For all of us."
The fox wrinkles her snout, like she's smelled something foul. "What was hard was watching how they changed her. This is things being set to rights-"
"WOULD YOU JUST STOP???"
The world seems to stop as Rumi's shout hangs in the air. The fox stares. This time Rumi holds her gaze.
Stupid? Probably. But she couldn't keep taking the fox's disparagements. Not when Celine was still spending most of her day under the bed and acting like- per Zoey- she was clinically depressed.
"I get that it was hard. And that what happened to Celine- and you- was wrong. The old Hunters shouldn't have done that. But it happened, and no matter what she should have been Celine was used to living as a human and now-"
Rumi's words catch on something in her chest, on the image of Celine pressed into a corner under her bed, shaking and sullen and not Celine, but she presses on. "Now she's stuck and depressed and-" And I don't know how to fix it. "-and needs to turn back."
For herself, and for me.
The fox rises to a sit and pins her ears back, tails flicking testily across the grass. A ridge of fur rises like so many bristling spears along her back, and her whiskers twitch as she suppresses the urge to curl a lip back from her fangs.
Rumi doesn't flinch.
Then-
Then the wind shifts; they're downwind of the hanok now, and something above Rumi's senses brushes past the fox. From the change in the fox's expression, though, she knows it caught Celine's scent: the building snarl smooths, the spears lower, and the ears droop like leaves after a torrential rain.
Celine was very young when she was saved. She doesn’t quite remember her fox-days, just blurs of… indulgence. Playing in someone something’s fur, racing through mud, sleeping in piles.
(The nickname was one her girls had given her early childhood. Cutesy, perhaps, but Celine had never really had any choice but to adopt it.)
(Their mentors had explained what Celine was as a warning. They’d never taken it so seriously, though.)
(She wonders if they would now that Rumi is the one wandering near gumiho.)
She doesn’t quite remember, but she knows the smells Rumi brings home.
Hasn’t she failed enough? As a mother, as a mentor, as a Hunter? There’s no chance at all that she’ll be reborn as human.
And the smell whispers: Then why not just let go for a minute? I’ll catch you.
So she crawls from under the bed, buries herself in it, gives into the aching of her stomach and eats, lets the girls within range of her teeth and tails. Indulgence.
They ought to leave and let her rot. Her mentors would have.
They don’t.
Rumi comes in, one day. Sits on the floor beside the bed Celine is lurking under. She smells like tears.
Celine hates herself.
“I’m sorry,” Rumi says, after a minute or two. “I—I’d have something else for you now, usually, and I—I picked a stupid fight with her instead.”
Celine whines softly at her. She shouldn’t apologize. She isn’t sure what Rumi is apologizing for, exactly, but she shouldn’t.
“I need you to get better,” Rumi says, quietly, pained. “I need you, Celine, I can’t—please. I need you to keep getting better. I’m sorry, I know I screwed up, just—“
Celine whines again, hating the sound of her kit in distress, apologizing for what was so clearly Celine’s fault, and belly-crawls across the floor until she’s tentatively brushing her side.
cassie doesn’t get to be with victoria next rotation and all that the new med students hear from her is how she misses victoria. well, cassie doesn’t say it that way but spend enough time with your mentor telling you bits and pieces about a med student who’s just upstairs would make you miss her too damn.
i feel like instead of peter, regulus,barty and evan, the girls should have joined the death eaters, and its just a bunch of women having fun, and going to like cafes and planning everything, and theyve killed him in the first meeting. yes. marlene, lily, dorcas, mary and pandora should have been there instead with the black sisters and the other female characters, and i would read that as a fic. oceans 11/charlies angels' type thing, and the men have no idea, theyre all dumb.
and the only one that does figure out is regulus cause they were ftm and really listened to the girls (pandora yap) .
please write this i need feminine intuition and women stabbing and being powerful as well as whimsy and joy.
it's so insane to me that buffy just kind of casually mentions to riley in a random episode in season 4 that slayers don't make it past 25. there's a part of her that's just accepted it. i don't think she's actively suicidal yet, but she's no longer that 16 year old girl desperately insisting she doesn't want to die. as sad as that moment in prophecy girl is, it's also kind of hopeful, because it's still an instance of buffy valuing her life and autonomy and defying her horribly unfair destiny. there's something so much sadder to me about her having accepted the inevitably of her untimely death to the point that she casually brings it up in conversation.
Santos: I get really offended when people tell me I’m going to hell for being gay because I feel like they’re overlooking all the other perfectly valid reasons that I am going to hell.
When their Grace arrived, he was extremely malnurished and on the brink of death, holding onto a rope that was attached to a different, much thinner string. Vomiting and lame in the legs. That quickly stopped once biological engineering took hold of a food supply like the grasp of a talon, finally producing meals he could actually keep down. They weren't the best and they certianly didn't beat what Earth had to offer, but they were still pretty freaking good.
Years later, he was acting the same these last few weeks. Nauseous, and needing his wheels for assistance. Before that a cane to keep his balance and before the cane, he started falling. All the falls had been scary. Grace said it probably had to do with the loss of muscle density.
Now, Grace lays in bed, finally obeying his bed rest order. He hasn't kept anything down in over 40 hours. He would say the same thing. "I'm just not hungry." Rocky had watched him try his hardest to eat ealier, sitting up and taking small bites, but minutes later it ended up in the bin. Grace had cried after that, leaking all over the place, his heart rate rising, stressed from exhaustion. It worried Rocky greatly. It worried everyone actually. An hour or so ago, his room was filled with Eridians, all in suits, all talking with one another on how to fix Grace. Some cuddled Grace during the conversation and just laid in silence with him, trying to keep him warm. His fleshy body was so cold- which also made Rocky worry.
Between worrying for Grace and managing his space, Adrian had to talk down Rocky a few times. He was one of the few that sat near Grace, keeping quiet, petting his hair out of his face as he tried to remain conscience for the conversation. Despite his efforts, this seemed impossible.
Grace takes a deep breath, his skin thin and eyes glossy. "I'm so tired.." he whispers, trying to end the talk, but its like no one can hear his whispering. "Please.. Tomarrow." He says, pleaing for the conversation to be put on hold.
The type of things the Eridian scientists wre discussing didn't at all sound appealing to him in the first place. Surgery? More health treatments? One of them even suggested subtracting his consciousness from his body and just grow him another.
Even if Grace trusted that process- which he didn't- He would still be tired. It's exhausting saving two entire planets you know..
Before he could get out another word, Adrian made a noise that Grace hadn't reconized. Like a mother goose scolding her group of goslings for going too far.
He said a couple more things. Grace was far too tired to fully translate but it was along the lines of "He's tired. You can go. We can discuss tomarrow."
"..Thanks." He whispers, greatful that Rocky's mate was so awesome. And surprisingly large compared to him to be honest, which provided a lot of extra warmth.
The commotion didn't last too much longer. Some pouted as they left, others tried to stay, but it seemed Adrian was playing mother hen, shooing out those he didn't think belonged. By the end of it, Only Rocky remained.
Adrian had gotten off the bed, bonking their suits together affectionatly before saying "Can I talk to you in here?"
The two leave the bedroom and Grace is alone. He stares up at the ceiling, at the fake stars he has painted and hung up like a childhood bedroom. He looks at the crappy mobile he had made, the kind children used when babies to stimulate their brain, made out of tape, paper, plastic staws, hopes and dreams. The human equivalent that he made decades ago, alone, on the Hail Mary before he met Rocky. A craft to keep his sanity.
Grace turns his gaze over to the Xenonite model that Rocky had given him, the one he sautered Earth too, hanging up there as well. Glancing to the side, he sees the way larger model made by his Eridian students. It was as accurate as it could be, spinning slowly like a ceiling fan. It was one of his most advanced, if not best one he has ever had the pleasure of making. But still.. his eyes drifted back the shitty platic straw and paper one.
He cracks a small smile, watching them spin slightly from the wind and the weight distributing as the planets orbited the sun. Grace lets out a deep sigh, filling his chest with the fresh air that the window provided him. God he could feel the salt in his throat from the artificial ocean. It made him calm. It cleared his head and let himself drift into a deep-
"Grace? Grace is awake, question?"
Grace kept his eyes closed, hoping if he didn't respond he would not continue. Unfortunately, Grace knew better then that.
Rocky climbs up into his bed, on top of his chest and stands. "Grace? Rocky know you not sleep." He says.
Grace had made a "omph" sound when Rocky put his weight on him.
"Sorry. Too heavy." Rocky said, moving to the side instead. "Hi, Grace." He says, quietly.
"Hi.." Grace sighs, but smiled anyway.
"Grace not asleep. Great! Is Grace tired? Question? For sleep or.." The alien trails off, not wanting to say the ladder.
"For sleep." Grace said, without hesitation, closing his eyes again.
"Good.... But.. Grace?"
"Yes?" He whispers, keeping his eyes closed.
"Grace promise to wake up tomarrow."
Grace opens his eyes, glancing at his rock friend. "Statment or question?"
"Statment."
"Ahh.. Yeah. I'll wake up tomarrow. Promise." Gace puts his pinky out, letting Rocky take it though the protective mesh he wore. "Happy, happy, happy." He whispers, getting up and turning around like a cat before settling his limbs down, snuggling under his arm, forcing Grace to hold him (something he no longer can do on his own) as he lays near his chest, litsening to his heart beat.
"Mmh.. Me too." Grace mutters.
"Rocky watch sleep. Promise" Rocky makes this statment as if giving informed consent.
For a moment, Grace was quiet, opening his eyes one last time. "Thank you, Rocky.."
For everything.
"Grace Welcome...Rocky Love Grace."
"I love you too, buddy." Grace says, laying in bed, Rocky next to him, Adrain soon joining.
Adrian has gotten used to his mate sleeping in the same bed, or at least, watching him for quite some time now. Many years has this occurred, it was not new, and Adrian would never forget when he saw Grace come out of that ship on a ball. Such a silly thing. Only his mate would bring back another wordly creature, sicker then sin itself crammed into a ball, being rolled out of the shaft like a Earth creature Grace compared to a "Hamster".. what ever that was.
Likewise, Adrian will never forget when their Grace left them.
Late at night, when the wind blew and the the breathing stopped, His heart became quiet. It happened so quickly. So calmly, that Adrian barley had noticed. It wasn't until his mate made a chirping noise of panic that he realized the beating has stopped.
The house on the hill fell silent. The only noise now was the waves crashed against the rocks, the turning noise of the large planetarium mobile, and Rocky trying desperately to wake him.
"Grace?? Grace?!.. Grace! Wake up Grace." Rocky had even went so low as to climb on his chest, nudging his face and hugging. "You promised!"
Adrian, by now stood, putting an arm out. "Dearest.. Let him rest."
"He promised. Grace said you can't break promises! He said-.. he said he'd wake up.." The Rock cluster is hugged by his mate, nuzzled and whispered too.
"I know.. I know.."
Days after that night, Adrian comes back to the house, Finding his mate exactly where he was left. Sitting on his chest, watching.
"Rocky.." Adrian says, soft and pitiful.
"No." Rocky already disagrees. "I promised him I would watch him sleep. I'm going to watch. He might wake up and then he will be left all alone. I can't leave him alone. If he wakes up alone he'll be scared. I don't want him to be scared."
"...Rocky.." Adrian says again, in a more sighing tone.
Rocky pouts, continuing to lay on his friends unbreathing body. "Don't 'Rocky' me. You know how fragile humans are. Something might hurt him. I have to keep watch.. like I promised... I promised I would watch him sleep, Adrian."
Adrian makes a sighing motion, coming forward to the edge of the bed. "What if he dosn't wake up?"
"Then I will sit. And I will wait. I waited for my crew and I'll wait for him. You wouldn't understand." Rocky says, quite sternly, turning his body.
"No.. I don't understand.. But I know you did everything you could to fix them."
"And I failed.. I failed at fixing my crew I failed at fixing... fixing Grace...and now he's never going to wake up and itll all be my fault... I can't fix Grace.."
Adrian climbs into the bed, greeting Grace by pushing the hair out of his face, caressing his cheek the way he always did.
"It's not your fault.. it's not anyones fault. Grace said so many times. It was the radiation. And now that we know about it, no more crews will die from it. Besides... Grace didn't need fixed. Grace needed love and that is exactly what you gave him."
Rocky dosn't say anything. He can't. He remembers the (many) times Grace's eyes leaked because of his feelings. Sometimes Rocky wondered what it would feel like. Esspecially now. Eridian's couldn't cry, but he sure felt like it. More then ever.
"I... I didn't watch good enough.. an-and Grace died.. I'm a terrible friend." Rocky says, possibly the saddest he's been in over 50 years, if not more. Grief had filled him when he met Grace. And now, Grace was filling him with Grief.
"He loves you. That's the last thing he said. Grace said the last thing humans say is the most true."
The ceremonial for Grace was massive, The majority of the planet, if not every single Eridian attended. It was long, filled with joy, dispair, grief, and celebration of Graces long life here on Erid.
The Hail Mary was pre programmed to return to earth with all sorts of information and documentation of his good life, and a video, that Grace has filmed a long time ago.
"Hello Earth.. Stratt.. If you're seeing this, I'm long dead. But don't worry! I died happy." It started, following words of encouragement to the new world, goodbyes to specifics, explanations, and multiple threats to
"LEAVE. OTHER. SPECIES. ALONE."
"And if you ever THINK. Of coming to this planet to terrorize the Eridians, their planet, or their sun, I will never forgive you. And from beyond the grave I will know who you are. Leave me where I belong. Leave me with my new friends I made in my new life. I do *Not* want to be buried on Earth. Pray they have mercy on you if you try."
Was a main one, having already given them permission to destory any ship or crew that came for his body or to reep the planet of their people or resources. Grace had done a good job telling the Eridians how glorious and wonderful Earth is, while also educating them on the evil in some human's hearts, Warning of the dangers if they ever were to go. Humans- More specifcally the Human goverment was not as accepting to aliens as he was to them, and vise versa.
In the video was also 30 minutes of Grace crying and apologizing to ALL of his students for his sudden disappearance. Pleading them all to never give up on changing the science field and that they ALL, Eridian and Human, make him proud to say he taught them anything at all. Being simply called their teacher brought him emense joy.
Another half of the video (that was about 3 hours long in total, split up in different sections labeled one for Earth, one for Erid, and another for both) was Grace trying his hardest to speak Eridian, expressing his love for them, thanking them, giving messages to certian pebbles and of course, Expressing his love for Rocky and Adrian.
After voting and heavy discussion, Grace was buried in the spot he always sat by the water. The environment not changing or anything torn down. Rocky had practically demanded it all be left how it was. Untouched.
Winds, waves, and extra foggy.
Just how Ryland wanted it, and exactly where Rocky sat over the years, curling up next to the thick slab of rock, talking to him about the pebbles as they grew up.
For 500 years he visited. Every single day. Watching Grace sleep, tracing a claw over each engraved letter
I love that Cassie McKay is an R3 in her 40s. I love that she lived a whole life, full of ups and downs (and recovery!) before deciding to go to med school, and that she did it with a 5-year-old son at home. I love that she believed in herself enough to go for it.
I love that Cassie knows who she is, and how the job affects her. I love her moral compass. I love how she self-reflects on feedback she receives, and how she so naturally mentors younger doctors in empathy. I love how she doesn't shy away from difficult or uncomfortable conversations. I love that she wants to get laid.
And I love that Cassie isn't looking for external validation. Her sense of self means she seeks guidance and feedback from Robby, but not his approval. She sees him for the great doctor he is, and for the human he is, which is very rare among the doctors in the Pitt.
i love that robby can't knock mckay down. she's older than the other residents and has confidence in who she is so she's just going to do what she thinks is right no matter how many times he gets on her ass about it
A demon disguises themself as Celine to try and fool Huntrix but real Celine arrives and the interaction is as follows:
Mira: "Two Celines!?"
Zoey: "Is this heaven? I read a fic that was like this once."
Rumi: "Ew, Zoey. Why. Clearly one's a demon."
Mira: "Yeah but which one?"
Demon Imposter: "She is! Kill it! Obviously I'm the real Celine!"
Celine: "Oh really? Wonderful. Here."
*grabs a heavy folder out her bag and smacks the Demon in their face*
Celine: "These are the latest talents. Be sure to read through them carefully before signing anything. Oh and the PR reports because Zoey's last internet rant caused quite a stir. They're losing their shit. Even Bobby started crying. Have fun!"
*walks pass everyone and throws herself on Huntrix's couch, grabs Zoey's plush turtle, puts it on her face and immediately passes out.*
I can just imagine drunk Celine kicking the penthouse door down like that one funny big bird vid on YouTube and staring at Mira and Zoey with murder in her bloodshot eyes. 😆
Follow-up to this post.
Bobby, walking back into the room: "Ok, I just got off the phone with Celine. I let her know the situation and she should be here soon to help."
Mira: "You"
Zoey: "DID"
Rumi: "WHAT!"
Before he can respond, there's a loud bang, and all four of them watch as the door of the penthouse flies past them and through the opposite window. They all turn to the now destroyed door to see Celine, her eyes bloodshot, fuming so hard that steam is coming out of her ears.
Bobby: "Oh hi Celine. You got here fast."
Celine, ignoring him and walking directly up to Mira and Zoey: "Girls, please tell me this is a practical joke and that you two didn't use the ancient magical barrier that protects humanity to get my daughter pregnant."
Bobby: "Ancient what?"
Mira: "Um... well..."
Zoey: "You know, it's actually kind of a funny story–"
Celine holds up a hand to make them stop talking. Then she closes her eyes and takes a deep breath as if to calm herself before her eyes shoot open and she grabs both of them by the ear.
Celine: "YOU MISERABLE LITTLE INGRATES IMPREGNATED MY DAUGHTER!? I SHOULD THROW BOTH OF YOU OUT OF THE FUCKING WINDOW RIGHT NOW! YOU WILL TAKE FULL RESPONSIBILITY FOR MY DAUGHTER AND FUTURE GRANDCHILD OR SO HELP ME I WILL MAKE WHAT GWI-MA WAS GOING TO DO TO THIS CITY LOOK LIKE A FUCKING PARADISE! AM I CLEAR?!
Zoemira: "Yes ma'am!"
Rumi, burying her face in her hands: "Oh my god."
Anyway, yeah, I do need more overprotective mother Celine turning into overprotective grandmother Celine.
pre-relationahip mcvadi fluff!! it's short but i hope like it! no warnings ofc, just a few happy tears from vic.
Victoria had never much liked her birthdays, they had always felt quietly unfair. A fourteen year old should have some silly, themed party, with a few too many guests and far too much sugar, not a formal dinner followed by an evening of college work.
She knew it was a sort of privilege, to have had her intelligence facilitated and encouraged, but she had always wished it hadn't cost her so much.
It was mostly besides the point now, but a lingering distaste for birthdays remained. So, walking in to work on the day of her 21st, Victoria was praying both ber mum and Trinity had managed to keep the significance of the day to themselves.
The first twenty minutes of her shift looked promising.
Trinity had sent her a message that morning with a promise to take her out drinking as soon as humanly possible, and Princess and Perla slid a card towards her she walked over the the hub.
The latter was slightly nerve wracking, but those two knew everything about everyone, so it wasn't particularly surprising.
Then Cassie appeared beside her, and Victoria's day got a little brighter.
She had been harbouring a not-so-little crush on the older woman for a while now, finally understanding the 'butterflies' and 'electricity' she had spent her late teens reading about. It was different to the odd sort of panic she had felt with people before. This was softer. It made her heart flutter and her skin blush. It made her breath a little easier when Cassie was near, in her line of sight, or resting a comforting hand on her arm.
Right now she was all three, and Victoria swore her grip was a little less sure than usual.
'I have something for you, in the break room, when you have a sec.' She said, voice just above a whisper, leaning closer to the younger woman than anyone would deem necessary.
Victoria loved it.
'I'm free now.' She said, matching Cassie's volume and feeling her stomach heat up at the redhead's grin.
'Yeah?'
'Yeah. Lead the way, Dr. Mckay.'
The break room was empty, as it likely would be for the next few hours. Spare the occasional coffee refill, most employees didn't bother with the room until they got too hungry to put off lunch any longer.
Meaning Victoria and Cassie were alone, without interruptions.
'Okay, so this is a bit silly,' Cassie started, opening one of the cupboards and pulling out a worn Tupperware, 'and I'm a far stretch from a professional baker, but I wanted to do something nice and, well, a present seemed, I don't know, too easy to mess up? So, yeah, I, uh, baked you a cake?'
Victoria didn't say anything as Cassie lifted the lid of the container and placed it on the table. She could only stare at the other doctor, eyes wide, jaw slack.
Cassie had baked her a cake.
Cassie had baked her a cake and looked really nervous about it. So nervous she wasn't meeting Victoria's eyes and was playing with the cuffs of her hoodie.
Cassie, who worked overtime the last five shifts at least, hadn't taken a day off in months, and was constantly battling fatigue with copious amounts of coffee, had taken the time to bake her a cake.
'Cass, thank-'
'I'd take a look at it before you thank me,' Cassie cut her off, laughing softly, 'I don't think I could ever turn to baking as a backup career.'
Victoria giggled, 'You're a great Doctor, Cassie, you're never gonna need a backup.'
Cassie just hummed in reply, not-so-subtly watching Victoria for her reaction.
Not that Victoria noticed, she was far too busy blinking out the tears that were quickly gathering in her eyes.
The cake was covered somewhat messily in bright purple buttercream and had 'happy birthday' written in shaky, disconnected white lettering. There were pink and purple sprinkles shaken across the whole thing, and a border of chocolate chips.
It was perfect.
No one had ever made her a birthday cake, her parents opting for buying something or just taking her out for dinner - which she had tried to appreciate, even if it felt impersonal and stupidly preformative - and she'd never really had any friends she was close enough with for them to even come to her birthdays.
'Cassie,' Victoria whispered, voice breaking as a tear rolled down her cheek, 'this is- this is perfect.'
'Oh, Vic,' Cassie walked over to her, crossing the room a little awkwardly to rub her hands up and down Victoria's arms, 'look at how wonky it is! It is so not worth crying over, baby.'
The nickname only made Victoria want to cry more.
The gentleness she received from Cassie never lost its impact, always landing as a warmth in her chest, making her feel safe and cared for.
She felt her bottom lip wobble.
'Fuck, I'm sorry, no-one's done anything like this for me before and I'm just, ugh,' she wiped her cheeks aggressively, 'it's perfect, Cass.'
Cassie pulled her into a hug, the woody and floral smell of the older woman as comforting as ever.
'I'm sorry you've never had this before, but I'm honestly a little glad to be the first,' Cassie said, voice thick with something, pulling away to press a kiss to Victoria's forehead that sent the shorter woman's skin alight, 'you deserve a million homemade cakes.'
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