#elshona

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Re: that other sweater ask lol, what is Tate's favorite part of the holiday season, and which holiday celebration catches his eye the most, do you think? He may not believe in or celebrate them, but you gotta admit the lights and gift giving and stuff is pretty.

Soooo...one of the major themes of the Tate/Elshona piece that’s slowly being shared on Patreon is family, and in this case it’s not so much found family but chosen family. Tate and Elshona share blood, but that’s not what makes them family. They’ve chosen each other, for better or worse, and even over a span of years and separation, they keep making their way back to each other. Thessa and Cymbeline and Rukh and Ainsley have chosen to make themselves a part of this misfit family unit, so celebration means less about lights and shopping and tradition (particularly as none of them share any of the same traditions) and more about the knowledge they’re not completely alone. 

Tate buys presents for Cymbeline’s kids for all of their moth holidays, Cym and Thessa organize a party for the joint Clover/Pixie staffs, Ains and Elshona drag Tate out to the bars with them on Solstice Eve, and the very instant the Holly Queen assumes her throne, displacing the Queen of Autumn, his mood improves palpably until the vernal equinox. No matter the weather, he and Elshona will wind up on a roof somewhere together. The addition of new people in their lives might change some things, but others will always stay the same.

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🌹 I NEED THAT PEEK 🌹

🌹— Pride

“His smile was sharp and impossibly wide, and every time the light caught the slim silver band around his short tusk it seemed to illuminate the rest of his pointed teeth. Elshona couldn’t explain why she kept coming back to this particular pub, on the particular nights when this particular barkeep was working, was unable to explain her inability to keep from the Hound and Crown. Her girlfriends were bored with the place, wanted to go to some new spot that had opened, one with music and dancing and a wilder crowd, but she was unable to stay away.

His smile widened as she moved to the bar, taking a vacant stool. Orla and Greshna had left her, at her insistence, claiming she was already a shade too scuttered and didn’t fancy total ossification. His smile was knowing and cocky, setting a shot glass in front of her before she needed to make the request. He flirted with her every week, despite the fact that she’d pointed out it was unnecessary, as he had the wrong kind of tackle in the box for her liking. His response had been a musical laugh.

“I don’t shift and drift with orcs, Culchie...but everyone likes a bit of attention.”

He filled the glass and Elshona inhaled the aromatic spice of the dark spirit before throwing it back. She wondered, as he leaned against the gleaming bar conspiratorially, waiting for her to finish her drink, if he knew he was a bogeyman, a boggart, a cautionary tale told to children all through the village. 

“Looks like you’ve been left behind.”

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🌹🌹

Elshona scowled at his back. It used to aggravate her that he was better with the baked goods. After all, she was the one who’d attended culinary school, not him, working in an endless amount of kitchens, in every position on the line. By his own admission, Tate had not a single second of formal training beyond standing at his nan’s side as a boy, yet his souffles never fell, the domed tops of his cakes were always uniform and perfectly rounded, his delicate little viola-topped sugar cookies always perfectly crisp. Eventually, she’d come to accept that it was simply one less thing on her own plate to worry over. Baking required precision and meticulousness, and the rigid stick up his arse was far better suited to it than her own a little of this, a dash of that-cooking style.

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Tate flirting with Elshona, I LOVE IT. Also love his reasoning. I already love the jerk and I have a feeling this story will cement it.

Lol, he's a *very* good bartender. He flirts with both men and women and definitely knows how to turn on the charm! This story is going to dip into how they met, which necessitates a look back into both of their pasts.

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🌹

🌹— Pride

“Of course, she’d never spent as much time in any other kitchen, had never before had Executive Chef stitched beneath her name, had been specifically told by one of the instructors at culinary school she’d never be able to boast such an accomplishment...but fate had done her a good jam keeping Tate within her circle of friends, giving her the chance to prove that squidgy old cunt wrong, and thus she’d spent more time in Clover’s gleaming kitchen than she’d done in any other place on earth, her own bedroom included.” 

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Cryptic, playful flirting between Tate and Elshona is everything I didn't know I wanted. More please!

You might get whiplash at how quickly their relationship devolves into a bickering sibling dynamic so enjoy these golden moments while they last, lol!