I'll happily take the escuse to send in asks. I hope your birthday is amazing! 🎂
If Hera gave up all her power for something what would it be?
This one is really interesting because there is one critical aspect of Hera that I haven't actually revealed yet --
This is kind of dark so I'm putting it under a cut. Warning for discussions of: murder of pregnant women, child murder, child abandonment
So Cerrin is the heir to the throne of Pyrea because he is Romin's only living, legitimate heir.
Pyrean law dictates that in any question of succession, the legal heir is the oldest legitimate child, born while their parents were legally married. And while Cerrin is the only child Romin had who fits that description, he is far from the only child Romin had just like in general. Now Romin didn't have a bunch of other kids running around because Pyrean law also dictates that if the mothers of those children could prove they were his, then he would be expected to provide for them. Now this is something he could easily have done, on account of being king, and being rich, and the way the law isn't actually all that demanding and having them raised among the castle servants like Leila was would have been more than sufficient and cost him almost nothing. But the thing about Romin is he's just the worst, and he didn't wanna.
So to avoid having to pay child support, he kept track of all the women he had sex with and if they became pregnant and there was a chance he was the father, he would either take the baby as soon as it was born and have them killed, or just kill the woman before she could give birth.
Hera's mother didn't want to become one of these women, so when she realized she was pregnant and Romin was probably the father, she ran away, and after she gave birth, she abandoned the child, leaving her in the woods to starve to death. Hera did not die. But she did not know who her parents were until she came into her magic and out of curiosity used it to learn her own history.
Learning that not one but both of your parents wanted you dead when you were an infant is, I imagine, rough. Never been there, so to some degree it's hard to judge. Hera threw herself completely into studying magic, looked into the old ways, learned about all the secret magic she could, studied forbidden techniques, developed her own techniques that certainly would have been forbidden if anyone else knew about them, and then hunted her mother down, where she was living at the time in Delterum, and used her as the first of many guinea pigs in the process of making herself more powerful by draining the life force of others.
To fast forward a bit -- I'm not here to lay out the life and times of Hera of Fendale -- when she returned to Pyrea she found her father had a son. A real, proper, legitimate heir, and it only made her angrier. There was some brat out there who had everything she should have had, everything she deserved. The royal bloodline of Pyrea, a father who wanted him alive, and, crucially, would inherit the secret bond with the people of Pyrea that she had learned about while studying forbidden magic, which, in Hera's estimation, was wasted on a non-sorcerer who would never be able to make use of it. (Please note that many of the things Cerrin has that Hera wants are things that Cerrin himself doesn't particularly want. I love poetic irony.)
And then Ilsabet killed Romin, and robbed her of her revenge, and for a long time she thought Cerrin had died too and the royal bloodline of Pyrea was broken, the bond with its people gone forever. But at the very least she had one thing that should always have been hers, the throne, and the one thing she had built for herself, her magic. Until, that was, she found out Cerrin had survived and the bond with Pyrea's people was still within reach.
(And if in the course of acquiring that bond she also happens to visit some well-deserved vengeance on the ungrateful little shit who, in her eyes, had it all handed to him on a silver platter, well that's just the icing on the cake. She packs him off to the Grim Isle to be persuaded to give her what she's rightfully owed and his birthday passes while he's still there -- the day he stole her birthright -- and she treats herself a little. It's a small celebration, most people don't know who her father was. Soon this day will mean nothing, he'll be dead and gone, and she can instead celebrate the day she finally got her dues.)
So that's how she got to where she is, and why she is the way that she is, and why she hates Cerrin so much. But deep down inside, part of her really just wants to be loved -- but she doesn't believe she can be. Her own parents couldn't love her, and she hasn't really put any effort into shaping herself into someone who can be easily loved. That's a goal that's out of reach. What would she give up her power for? She doesn't have anything except her power. There's no way for her to become someone other than who she is. There's no way for her to go back in time and force her parents to love her. And there's no way to make anyone love her now.
I don't know if she'll ever see Cerrin and Ilsabet interact. The gentle, unconditional love between them, the way Cerrin looks to his mother for guidance in any situation where he doesn't know what to do, and the sacrifices Ilsabet made to keep her son safe, and the way she worries when he's in danger. When she finds out Leila was helping Cerrin, and sees the way they draw close to each other when the cover is blown, the way Leila puts herself in front of her injured friend, and the way Cerrin cradles her unconscious body after she took the brunt of Hera's anger, it just makes her angrier. But if there was a way for her to somehow have that -- to love and be loved in that way, to leave everything about her and her life behind and somehow have Cerrin's life -- maybe she would give her power up for that. Maybe.
Could you write a short drabble from Hera the Rad-Chicken's POV? 'A day in the life of...' type of thing.
this got longer than i expected, i hope its what you wanted! thanks!
She woke up at the touch of sunlight through the uncovered window, and looked around. The place was quiet for now. She got out under her small blanket, and shakes her head and body, and preens her feathers from the tail.
After scratching her head and beak on her pillow, she got off the couch, landing on her sleeping pack member, Dogmeat, which resulted in a warning growl. Hera clucks in a soft tone, as to reassure her pack member that everything is alright. She then went to drink water from her bowl, and pecked the last bits of the previous meal. She feels hungry, and her human is not awake. She goes to the door and taps a few times with her beak and scratches with her claws, but she gets nothing. She gets impatient, and climbs back on the couch, and starts crowing. She knows that her crowing will wake up the rest and she will get food.
She hears a harsh, low voice, that she isn't happy to hear at all, and clucks angrily. The voice told her some words, which she understands as 'shut up', a command that her master uses too to make her quiet. She hears another voice, which makes her perk her head, but is not the one she expects. A third voice is heard, recognizing the tone: it's her human, and wags her tail happily, and looks at the door.
But time passes, and she doesn't see any movement or hear anything, and crows again. She hears a pair of light footsteps above, and she looks eagerly. It's the smaller human, her master's child. The kid calls for the other humans, and she went to tug at his leg. The kid tells her 'no!' and she hears one of the voices to 'feed' her. She looks up, as the kid answers in an unhappy tone, and she follows him around.
She gets her food in her bowl, and Dogmeat got up and sniffed around, and tried to get close to her food, which she made her cluck angrily and nearly pecked him. She hears the kid calling Dogmeat, and soon, he receives his own food. She looks and gets curious, and goes to check on Dogmeat's bowl, which made him growl, but still giving her access to his food. She tasted, but didn't liked and wipes her beak on the floor, and goes back to her food.
After eating her food, wiping her beak and preening her tail feathers, she clucks at Dogmeat, getting his attention, being ready for the morning patrol.
They got out through the small door for them, and the rest of the pack is awaiting for them: Nix, the oldest dog, Gracie, the big dog, Silver, the glowing dog, Fluffy, the smaller deathclaw, and Claws, the scorpion. She clucks at them, getting their attention, and she leads them to their usual path, around their territory.
Rose, the big deathclaw, appears and asks Hera is her human is awake. She responds that no, she didn't seen him, and she should not bother her and the pack now. Rose understands and doesn't move until the pack passed by her.
The patrol was a success, as no creature or a new smell was sensed, and they got under the big tree, preening Dogmeat's fur. At some point, his ears perk up, his attention being over their home. Hera listens too, and could hear her human's voice, and she went directly through the smaller door.
The humans were awake, especially hers, and she clucks happily, wagging her tail. Her human turns his attention to her, and speaks in a soft tone, and picks her up. She makes herself more comfortable, and clucks softer, nuzzling her head into her master's chest.
__________
Hera watches her human as he put the long blue coat, and clucks curiously. She knows that it means her master has something to do, but she hoped that he won't need to leave again. But seeing that he doesn't put any more stuff on him, she feels more happy. She went to him and clucks, asking to stay on his shoulder. He asked gently if she wants to 'come with me', and she clucked again. He picks her up and she perches on his shoulder, her claws digging into the coat, but her master is used to it.
__________
Hera had seen new humans, which she looked at them carefully, even clucked a few times at them, while her master talked with them. At some point, a human talked in a tone she didn't liked, and she clucked back in an angry tone, but her master puts a hand over her, commanding her to 'shut up', and does as she was told, but still keeping an eye on that human.
__________
Some time passed, Hera sitting on her master's shoulder, watching the new humans leave. She felt that her human is nervous, and she clucks softly, preeening his hair, making him make a happy sound. She understands him saying 'I am alright' and 'want food?', which she responds in a happy tone.
__________
Hera was sitting on the couch, while her human cooked. The other human, which she doesn't like much, share same space as her, and she clucked at him early for using her pillow as leg support. She still looks at him, waiting for any wrong move. The human makes an unhappy sound, and turns to her master, which she understands a few words from them: 'crazy', 'leave her alone', 'why' and 'ok'. He turns at her with an expression she recognize as unhappy, and she clucks. Her master tells her to 'leave him alone too', and she shuts up.
She can smell food and feels hungry, and she climbs down from the couch, getting on the chair, then on table. The human told her to 'get down!', but she doesn't mind him, and clucks at her master. He turns and makes a sound, then takes a wooden spoon and offers her a taste from the food. She likes it, and wants more, but her master said that she must 'wait!', and grabs her, putting her gently on the floor.
She didn't needed to wait long, and she and Dogmeat received the same food in their bowls.
__________
The sun is almost down, and Hera decides it's time for another patrol. She calls her pack, and they retake the same route, looking and smelling any danger.
After making sure their territory is safe, Hera and Dogmeat head back inside. She sees that the other human is at his desk, and she clucks curiously. The human turns to her, asking her if she want 'to see?' and she responds, which makes the human pick her up. She makes herself comfortable, as the human tucks her under his coat. She tries to pick a pen from the desk, as it shines, but she can't reach, and the human brings the pen closer. She picks it up, and drops on the floor as soon as it tastes it. The human makes a sound, and leans to pick it up. She then sits quietly, as she nearly dose off.
__________
She feels that she is picked up by her master, and put on her pillow, and covered with her blanket. She hears her master saying 'sleep', and leans to give her a small kiss on her head. She clucks in a lower tone, being asleep halfway. The lights are off in the home, and she finally falls asleep.
Okay what if as Reggie's parents' fight get worse and worse and more violent he can't sleep at home because he is always anxious or scared or pushed around or just worrying or sad. So he is exhausted during the day. And he starts being distracted and more sluggish and then after the boys are done playing for the day and the 3 of them sitting on the couch Reggie finally feels safe so he starts drifting off until he falls asleep on Alex's shoulder and Alex is worried and moved at the same time
I- anon, I-
I’m dying, I love them.
(okay so note: i kinda made this a modern au because i loved @mara-writes 's modern highschool au so much i had to borrow some inspo ffksjfks)
It isn’t exactly what you asked for, but I like how it turned out. I hope you do, too!
The second time the police are called that week, Reggie lets himself out the back, before they can catch him. He doesn’t have time to grab his jacket, so he keeps his arms close to his torso and his hands deep in the pockets on his jeans.
Before he vaults the fence behind the house, he glances back and sees the neighbours in their front yard, peering over the low wall that separates the two beach front homes.
They're just silhouettes, but he can see that the man has his arm around the woman and she leans against his chest.
Reggie drops down the other side and takes off into the early hours of the morning.
At 3:30am, he finds a 24-hour diner and nurses a large black coffee, brought to him by a girl with braids. He didn't have enough change in his pockets, but she checked her manager was out of earshot as she gave him a discount for the red flannel.
"Boys in red get twenty percent off," she'd said, before sliding his money into her hand and dropping it into the till.
When he went to the toilet and splashed his face, he realised she must've clocked the circles under his eyes and the red, puffiness of his cheeks.
God, he was so tired.
The coffee didn't wake him up, per say, but it did give him the facility to make it back home when the clock in the diner hits 6am.
When he gets there, the door to his parent's bedroom is closed, but he isn't sure who's inside. He doesn't care. He stops by his room to spray some deodrant, change into his red hoodie, grab his bag and phone, and heads out to school.
Alex and Flynn are in his home room and when he slips into his desk behind Flynn and pull his hood up, he feels the two eyeing each other over his head.
"You okay, Reg?" Alex asks, leaning in from the desk to his left.
He swallows before he lifts his head and plasters a dopey smile across his face. "I'm just tired," he says, running a hand up his cheek and through his hair, knocking the soft hood down again.
"Late night?" Flynn asks, with a smirk.
Reggie rubs his eyes. "I was rewatching the final season of She-ra."
Alex tsks and sits back in his seat. "You and your kids cartoons."
Reggie pouts and he knows Julie would back him up if she were here, too. "They're family cartoons."
Alex rolls his eyes while Flynn snickers. Reggie is just glad they took his lie at face value. They stop bothering him when the home room teacher calls for their attention and its all he can do to keep his sore eyes on the board as she talks at the class.
--
There are no police the next night, but that doesn't stop a plate ending up shattering against the wall behind his head.
Reggie shuts himself in his room as the arguing continues down stairs. He sits on his bed and kneads the edge of the mattress, his heart thumping. He's hyperventilating and, with his trembling hands, he can't hold his phone still long enough to google:
How to stop a panic attack.
Then his mother screams and something else shatters and he decides he can't be here anymore. This time he takes a moment to throw some necessities in backpack and pulls on his beanie and jacket. He crosses the hallway with a strange, calm determination to grab his toothbrush and some toothpaste from the bathroom.
He doesn't even bother going out the back door this time, just lets himself out the front without sparing a glance towards the kitchen.
The diner is open again but the girl with the. braids is not there this time. He decides that would make sense. It's just gone 12am and she was working the morning shift earlier that day.
Thankfully, he brings enough money this time and pays in full for his coffee. He drops a couple coins in the tip jar to make up for the discount he received the night before.
He picks a spot at the far end of the diner and curls up in the corner of the booth, hugging his jacket around himself.
He puts his headphones in and connects to the wifi. He puts a movie on netflix and props his phone up against the salt shaker.
--
At 5am he's awoken by the sound of coffee pouring into his empty cup.
He startles, lifting his head from his hand and notices that his movie has finished and his screen is dark.
"You looked like you needed a top up," says the girl with braids. He blinks up at her and she wobbles the coffee pot, dark liquid sloshing about inside. "Free refills, so."
He clears his throat and straightens his back. It cracks and clicks and he groans.
"What time is it?" he asks, rubbing his eyes. His tear ducts are grainy with sleep.
"Just gone five," she says, beginning to step away. "Enjoy your coffee."
"Hey, wait."
The girl stops and turns back. Reggie gently taps his finger to the handle of the mug. "Thank you," he says, in a low voice. "For this. Thanks."
She smiles, nods, and returns to the other side of the counter.
--
He doesn't go home that morning, he just brushes his teeth in the school bathrooms and changes in a stall.
He shoves the clothes that he wore at the diner overnight into his locker and manages to slam it shut before Luke can catch him.
"Hey, Reg. I texted you, didn't you get it?" the boy says, arms out at his side.
Reggie's eyes widen at the thought of the darkened screen in his pocket. Of all the things he'd thought to grab last night, his phone charger had not been one of them.
"Oh, uh..."
Luke watches him with a raised eyebrow as Reggie's sleep deprived, over-caffeinated brain tries to tease out a reasonable-sounding lie.
He gapes at Luke for a moment, before he realises words aren't coming out of his mouth.
"Knocked it,” he splutters.
Luke recoils. "You... what?"
Reggie chides his fried brain.
He’d asked if Reggie had gotten his text, not why his phone was dead.
He laughs to cover it. "Pft, no, uh." He clears his throat. "My phone is dead. I didn't get your text because my phone is dead."
"Dead? As in stopped working?" Luke asks.
"Oh. No. Just out of charge. I knocked it off my bed last night and it must've fallen out of the charger. Because it was dead this morning. And I didn't charge it because I overslept."
Luke pulls a face. "Okay..." his eyes flicker up and down Reggie's body and Reggie finds himself tightening defensively. He narrows his eyes at Reggie's pale, sunken face. "Reg, are you lying to me?"
Reggie snorts. "What? me? No. I've never told a single lie in my entire life."
At this, Luke's concerned curiosity fades away to skepticism. "Alright, well i know for a fact that that isn't true. We literally played hooky together in 9th grade to go watch Avengers. Haven't told a lie in your life..." Luke scoffs and shakes his head.
Reggie smirks and they begin to head away from his locker. "What did you text me about?"
Luke jumps and almost knocks a girl in the face with his elbow. He apologises and then jogs to catch up again.
He slaps a hand on Reggie's shoulder. "I came up with this killer verse for Just One More last night. You, me, Alex, and Julie need to meet in the music room at lunch so I can play it for you guys."
"Oh, cool. Okay."
"I texted you to bring your bass, but I guess you'll just have to borrow one."
"Sorry," Reggie says, before he has to swerve out of the way of a boy from the marching band who's wearing a tuba that's almost twice the size of him.
As he moves, he catches his feet and stumbles and loses his balance. He's too late to react and feels himself falling.
Thankfully, Luke catches him before he can get too far off his feet.
"Watch where you're going, jerk!" Luke calls to the kid over his shoulder, before checking in with Reggie. "You okay?"
Reggie's heart beats to fast for comfort and he quickly untangles himself from Luke to stand by himself.
Luke's arms fall to his sides as if they've suddenly lost all purpose. "Reg, are you sure you're okay?"
Reggie swallows, feeling his cheeks flush with warmth and he ducks his eyes.
"Yeah, yeah, of course," he says, threading his thumbs through the straps of his backpack. He refuses to meet Luke's eye. He swallows hard. "I have to go. I'll meet you at lunch."
And he leaves before Luke can stop him.
--
He doesn't show for lunchtime rehearsal. Instead, he sneaks back home to charge his phone. He sits, knees tucked into his chest, on the floor with his back against his bed as power slowly drips back into the cell.
He rests his head against his knees.
He could just go to bed now. All he would have to do is climb to his feet - no, his knees, and slide under the covers. His head would hit the pillow and he'd be out of it in less than a second.
But when he thinks of falling asleep here, even in his room, he feels tension cutting through his stomach like sharpened blade.
Why is it that he suddenly feels so unsafe here?
A low buzz sounds to let him know his phone is turning itself back on. He picks it up and watches with rolling nausea as notifications come through. He wonders if either of his parents tried to call him when he didn't come home that morning.
But he has no missed calls from them.
He does, however, have some from Luke and Alex. There are texts from Julie and Flynn, too. He guesses his absence was noticed from practice that afternoon.
He drops his head back and ignores the notifications as they continue to chime through. All he wants is to be swallowed up by his carpet and for everybody to forget about his existence entirely.
He thinks about going back to the diner - wonders if the girl with the braids is working. He checks the time and notes that it's only been six hours since she’d woken him up that morning with coffee.
He wonders if she's graduated highschool.
Somehow, his sluggish feet take him back there anyway.
And to his surprise, he finds her there, too, sweeping the floor while the diner is empty.
As he enters, a bell goes off above his head and it startles him in his deprived state. The girl flips her hair over her shoulder as she looks his way.
When she notices it’s him, she props a fist on her hip and smirks. "Twice in one day, huh?"
Reggie feels sheepish as he shrugs. "Guess so."
"Lemme guess," she says, stepping around to the till. "Large black americano?'
Reggie quirks a smile. "Yeah."
She punches it in the till and takes note of his red shirt and applies the discount.
"Take a seat and I'll bring it over."
Reggie pushes his lips into a straight line and slides onto one of the bar stools. Her eyes flicker over his shoulder to the corner booth and back again.
"Oh," she says, quietly. "Okay."
Reggie drums his fingers against the countertop, feeling awkward. He doesn't know why he's here.
She places the large, dark coffee in front of him and lingers. He knocks a single knuckle against the porcelain rim.
"So, um, forgive me for making assumptions, but i kinda thought you were in high school," she says, tipping her head.
Reggie raises his eyebrows. "Oh, no, I am."
"Right. Shouldn't you be in class, in that case?"
Reggie swallows and lowers his head. "Yeah," he says.
When he doesn’t elaborate, she clicks her tongue. "You've been in early the past two days. Louise said you were here before one this morning."
Reggie taps his thumbs together and chews on the inside of his cheek. He can't decide whether to be honest with her - to share his worries with a stranger, or whatever. He swallows.
"My parents have been fighting. They've always fought, but it's got worse recently. The neighbours have started calling the police, so. I’m hiding out.”
A silence falls between them as the girl processes the information. When he looks up, her lips are pursed and she's frowning.
"I'm sorry, that was too much."
The expression clears from her face in an instant. "No. no, it's just..." She smiles and suddenly Reggie can see the tired lines beneath her eyes, the cracked skin on her lips.
"I'm actually supposed to be a senior, but I had to drop out last year ‘cause my dad walked out on us and I have four little sisters. Mom needed help paying the mortgage and the bills, so...” She shrugs. “Here I am."
Reggie's shoulders relax and he feels a wave of peace rush through him. "That sucks."
"It does. So does yours.”
He brings the coffee to his lips and blows as the girl rings out a cloth and wipes down the counter.
They share a small smile, neither offering the other pity, but acknowledging a quiet mutual understanding of the other’s circumstances.
--
When Reggie leaves that afternoon, he texts Luke to apologise for his absence.
I went home to charge my phone. Lunch totally slipped my mind 😥
He'd only just slipped his phone back into his pocket when he hears a buzz in reply. He pulls it back out, assuming it's going to be a text from Luke, but instead finds a picture of himself and Luke, cheeks smooshed together, staring back at him.
It takes him another moment to remember that this is Luke's contact picture and that his phone is ringing.
He takes a breath before he answers. His hands are trembling and whether that’s from the coffee and sleep deprivation or knowing he has to lie to his best friend, again, he's not sure.
He tries to adopt a casual tone as he answers. "Hey man," he says in an attempt to be flippant. He runs a hand through his hair. "What's up?"
"Did you cut afternoon classes today?'
"Uh..."
"Why didn't you tell me? I could've come back with you."
Reggie sucks his teeth. "Sorry, I – I didn't think."
There's a long silence and Reggie checks to see if the calls disconnected. It hasn't.
"You missed lunch," Luke says suddenly.
"I forgot, sorry, dude."
He hears Luke sigh. "It's fine, we ran it through anyway. Are you free this evening to meet at the studio? We can add your part then."
Reggie's heart sinks. He doesn't think he has the energy to play his bass. He closes his eyes and they're dry and stinging.
"Um."
But he knows he can't let Luke down again.
"Yeah, okay. Yeah."
"Okay, cool. We're heading there now. Meet us when you can."
Luke hangs up and Reggie puts his hands to his forehead. God, his head hurts. He doesn't know how he's going to play and perform without his brain melting out his ears in an attempt to escape, he doesn't know.
What he does know, is that he can't let the band know how he's feeling. Because when they know, they'll want to help. And when that happens, he start feeling like a burden.
He exhales a trembling breath and slaps his cheeks. "Come on, Reggie," he mutters to himself. "Get your shit together."
--
When he gets to the studio, he expects to see the whole gang, Flynn included, waiting and ready to play.
Instead, it's just Luke and Alex, and he finds them hunched together in the centre of the room.
They look up when he enters.
"Hey guys," he says. "What's up? Where's Julie?" He glances over to the keyboard set-up on the right of side of the garage.
The two boys exchange a look.
"She's doing homework with Flynn," Alex explains. "It's just us."
Reggie frowns. "We're playing without Julie."
"You made us play without you this afternoon," Luke says, brows furrowed. Alex hits his arm and Reggie feels guilt pang in his stomach and he drops his gaze to the floor.
"Yeah. I'm sorry."
He hears Luke sigh. "No, Reg, I'm sorry, I didn't mean that."
Reggie twists his hands together, but looks up.
"We didn't play this afternoon."
Reggie faulters. "You didn't? Was it because I wasn't–"
Alex puts out a hand. "No, it was..." He wets his lips and darts a quick look at Luke, who just nods in response. Alex pushes his hands into the pockets of his pink hoodie.
"We're worried about you, man," he says.
Reggie tenses. He runs a hand over his hair and pulls his shoulders in. "Worried about me?" he echoes with a bemused scoff. "Why would you... I'm not..."
Luke and Alex don't seem to be buying it and Reggie doesn't have the energy to lie to them right now. He drops his shoulders and pinches the bridge of his nose.
"I'm just so tired, guys."
Luke and Alex take a step towards him.
"I knew there was something up," Luke says, taking him by the arms and running his thumbs over his shoulders.
Reggie feels his eyes prickle with heat and he exhales with a tremor.
"They've started throwing stuff again and arguing outside my room or shouting and screaming downstairs and I just–"
Luke draws him and shushes him. "It's okay, Reg. It's okay, we got you."
And Reggie is so tired he just melts into the arms of his friend. He rests his head against Luke's shoulder and feels Alex's hand rubbing his back.
"You wanna lie down for a bit, Reg?" Alex offers in low voice and Reggie sniffs and nods.
"If that's okay with–"
Luke's hands are on his face. He's smiling. "Of course, it's okay with us."
Alex disappears to the loft and comes back down with a blanket. He takes Reggie's hand and leads him to the sofa.
Reggie tugs on his hand. "Can you lie with me?" he whispers and Alex's face goes slack for a moment.
Then he smiles and squeezes Reggie's hand in response. "Sure," he says, then lets go to lay down on the sofa. He shifts to get comfortable, then opens his arms, beckoning Reggie to join him.
And he does.
Reggie lies down next to him, turning inward to bury himself in Alex's chest, and the boy drapes an arm around him to keep him in place.
"Are you comfortable?" Alex whispers in askance and Reggie yawns as he nods.
"Thank you," he mumbles against the soft material. Alex just brushes his thumb where it rests against Reggie's back.
The light is switched off and Reggie hears footsteps from behind. Luke sits on the floor in front of the sofa and buries his hand into Reggie's hair.
"Sleep, Reg," he says, stroking his fingers through soft black hair. "We'll be here when you wake up."
And when Reggie wakes up six hours later, he finds that the boys have kept their word. Alex's arm is still around him and his mouth hangs open in his sleep. Reggie twists his head to find Luke on the floor, still, though now he's laying down on the rug and his fingers are threaded through Alex's.
Across the room, he's surprised to see Julie and Flynn have appeared, too, and they're asleep on blankets laid out out on the floor behind the coffee table, arms wrapped around each other.
Reggie considers waking them all up. He can't imagine the guys on the floor are too comfortable...
But then Alex shifts and tugs Reggie close again. "Hey," he mumbles, though his eyes are still closed.
Reggie blinks. "Hey," he says and finds his voice is a hoarse whisper.
"Go back to sleep."
"But everyone is–"
"Reg," Alex says, one eye squinting open. "It's okay."
And Reggie doesn't question it again, just curls up close to Alex and closes his eyes again.
He drifts back to sleep feeling warm and soft and loved.
When Alistair is strong-armed into modeling for a fashion magazine, he's more than a little overwhelmed by the experience.
He wasn't a model. He was a football player. This was stupid.
Alistair tugged at his collar, uncomfortable in a shirt at least a size too small, and looked nervously at his agent. "Teagan, really?" he asked again. "Why do the Wardens want me to do this?"
Teagan sipped his fancy Starhaven brew and gave Alistair a tired look. "Because you're new to the team, you're young and handsome, and you’ll improve ticket sales. PR hopes that putting you in a magazine like Enchantment will get some interest in a female audience-” he paused in the middle of the same speech he’s been repeating since the day before and looked at Alistair as if he had suddenly grown a second head. “Why are you upset about it? You're going to be partnered with one of the most gorgeous women in the world."
Alistair sipped his own coffee and grumbled to himself. That's exactly why I'm upset about it, he thought. I'm going to look like an idiot.
