#tftab

[caeli0306]

the world if i had time to write regular weekly updates for my fics:

[clockwork-sodor]

so let the sun come streaming in (1018 words) by ClockworkSodor Chapters: 1/1 Fandom: Thomas the Tank Engine & Friends Rating: General Audiences Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: Percy & Thomas (Thomas the Tank Engine), Rosie & Thomas (Thomas the Tank Engine), Percy & Rosie (Thomas the Tank Engine), Ffarquhar Branch Line Family (Thomas the Tank Engine) Characters: Thomas (Thomas the Tank Engine), Rosie (Thomas the Tank Engine), Percy (Thomas the Tank Engine) Additional Tags: The Ffarquhar Branch as Family (Thomas the Tank Engine), Percy (Thomas the Tank Engine) Is A Good Friend, Rosie and Thomas Friendship (Thomas the Tank Engine), Engines as Family (Thomas the Tank Engine), Background Mavis/Daisy, it's there for all of one line but we support lesbian diesels here /pos Series: Part 1 of Tales From Tidmouth and Beyond Canon Summary: Sodor, 2014. Thomas is hiding something. Rosie wants to find out what.

My first TTTE story in a long time! Please give it a read.

[caeli0306]

chapter 33 blurb!

===

As Xaden’s friends maneuver around us to disembark, Ridoc takes the opportunity to come up from behind and throws his arms over our shoulders.

“We’re going to be fine,” he declares, though I think his arms are shaking, just a little. “We survived three years down here already. Two weeks is nothing.”

Sawyer, lugging both his and Ridoc’s bags across the gunmetal, shoots him an irritated look as he emerges from behind us as well. “Says the guy who got stabbed and nearly died a week before graduation.”

“Whoa, whoa, ok, first of all—” Ridoc removes his arms from Rhiannon and I as fast as he’d flung them around us, jabbing a finger in Sawyer’s direction. “—how was I supposed to know Tynan had a crush on Vedie? Tynan stabbing me for sleeping with him doesn’t count. Total fluke. I don’t even get why he—”

“Pretty sure any stabbing counts,” Rhiannon drawls, a grin twitching at the corners of her mouth. “Your contributions to other people’s imaginary infidelity have nothing to do with it.”

“Agree to disagree.” Ridoc waves a dismissive hand. "Tynan was just weird."

“There is so much wrong with this conversation.” We all turn around, and Bodhi is staring at the four of us like we’re some reality TV show that’s so bad he can’t look away. He shifts his gaze to Ridoc. “You got stabbed for sleeping with someone?”

Ridoc shrugs. “I think most of us have.”

“Uh, no. Speak for yourself,” Rhiannon says with a shake of her head, and Sawyer and I nod in agreement. She looks back at Bodhi. “Most of us are normal, I promise. Ridoc’s just— Well…”

“Insane,” Sawyer supplies. “He’s fucking insane.”

She nods. “I was going to say a bit of a fuckboy, but that works too,” she says with a shrug.

“I hate all of you,” the man in question declares.

"No you don't," I say with a grin as I loop my arm through his. Ridoc just flicks my forehead in response.

The teasing serves to lessen some of the tension, and it ebbs bit by bit as we fall into our usual pattern of banter, and Bodhi trails after us as we get off the elevator

[caeli0306]

chapter 32 blurb!

===

Sawyer sighs, turning and cross his arms.

“She read your file, you know.” I blink, unsure what he’s saying. “Before you two even met. She had a… friend of ours pull it for her. Do you know what it said?”

He must be talking about whatever dossier the NIA kept on me. I’m still not sure where this is going. “Can’t say I do.”

“It said you’re ruthless. Charismatic. Dangerously unpredictable.” I’m not sure if I should be flattered or not. Judging from Saywer’s expression, it wasn’t a compliment. “Knowing all of that, Violet still worked with you, and things have gotten even more dangerous for her ever since. I think you know the things she’s been keeping a secret from us.”

I keep my mask firmly in place. If only he knew.

“She can’t keep this bottled up,” Sawyer continues, and finally, I understand why he’s here.

“If you think she’s pouring her heart out to me, Henrick, you’ve got another thing coming.” Bitterness tinges my words in a way I didn’t intend.

[caeli0306]

chapter 32 of castles crumbling (aka Tales from the Airport Bathroom extended version) now posted!

Chapter 32: Of Monsters and Mercy is now up on AO3: READ HERE

ha ha! i bet everyone thought i wouldn't update when i said i would update today! but jokes on all of you, i beat the ADHD gremlin brain and actually finished like i said i would hehe

Summary:

Violet should already be dead. People whispered about her weak body and how she would never live up to her family's martial accomplishments. Violet rose above them all, however, fighting and killing to survive the Navarrian Intelligence Agency's brutal BASGIATH training protocol. Now, people whisper about Violet's swift ascension through the NIA's ranks as one of its most valuable operatives and assassins. The whispers don't matter to Violet: She has her own agenda, and it's a dangerous one - finding out what happened to her father.

But one mission changes everything: Suddenly, Violet finds herself in the crosshairs when she stumbles on information Navarre wants buried, and the country she fought for begins to turn on her. Violet knows too much, but she's determined to do what she does best: Survive. Her only hope is the son of the man who they say killed her brother, but their partnership is far from assured. Some grudges run deep, and trust is a currency too valuable to give freely. Xaden realizes Violet may be the key to everything, but with enemies seen and unseen closing in on all sides, the consequences of failure are deadly.

===

“I—” She swallows, suddenly looking unsure. When she speaks again, its so soft I have a hard time hearing it, even though it’s echoing directly in my mind. “There have only been two people I didn’t feel any remorse over killing.”

The words are accompanied by a wave of… something. It comes with no words, but it floods my brain, saturating it. It’s hot and cold all at once, weighs me down, makes it hard to breathe. My grin falls away as I try and understand what’s happening.

It takes me a second to recognize it for what it is: Shame. Overwhelming shame. Violet’s shame. Gods, is this what she’s feeling? How is that even possible?

“They probably deserved it.” Deep breaths help the emotions recede, until I feel some semblance of normalcy again. It’s yet another reminder of how little I know about the AI in my head.

Violet laughs, chin falling to her chest, but like so much of her, it’s tinged with sadness. “Maybe. I don’t think I should be the judge of that, though.” She looks up at me through her eyelashes. “One of them was Adrian. Do you think he deserved it?”

“Yes.” The answer is automatic. He threatened me with her life, even if she doesn’t know that. Promised to skewer her through the chest if I didn’t give him the information he wanted.

Even if there wasn’t a chance in hell he would be able to hurt Violet, it didn’t matter. Whether he truly deserved death doesn’t matter to me either. If she hadn’t killed Adrian, I would have.

“Your turn,” she says.

I steel myself. This could go really bad, or… really, really bad.

“I was assigned as your handler because I made a deal with your mother.”

[caeli0306]

chapter 31 blurb!

===

“They were totally fucking.”

The door to Rhiannon’s apartment door shuts behind me with a soft click. Ridoc, his voice at a conspiratorial hush, doesn’t notice me, too busy flipping through streaming options on the TV as he waits for the verdict on his declaration. Nor does Sawyer, sprawled out on the couch, or Rhi, who is sitting on the floor near his feet as she sharpens one of her daggers.

“No way.” Sawyer shakes his head. “Violet wouldn’t sleep with a squad member.”

Sawyer wins friend points.

It wasn’t too difficult picking the lock to the apartment — I’d done it a thousand times before — and I can’t say I’m surprised the topic of conversation is what it is, either. My friends, for better or for worse, are nosier than a homeowners association president with a measuring tape and a vendetta.

I creep forward, careful to avoid the creaky floorboard where the cramped hallway branches off into the equally-cramped kitchen. Ridoc’s dismantled prank — some kind of radioactive orange goo mixed with glitter and what I think may be rainbow jimmies in a giant plastic salad bowl — is tucked under my arm.

“First of all, Riorson doesn’t count as a squad member,” Ridoc counters. “Second, they were eye-fucking before they left for the isles. You weren’t stuck in a car with them all the way to Athebyne the way I was. If nothing happened between them, I'll volunteer to be Mazzie's next lab rat.”

If I wasn’t sneaking up on them, I would have protested at that characterization. Sure, I was — I still am — attracted to him, but saying we were eye-fucking that far back is surely an exaggeration. We could barely talk to one another without snapping before Athebyne — hell, we barely can now, though that’s a regression from the significant progress we’d made since the start of our partnership.

I can hear Sawyer’s grin even if I can’t see it. “Well, I never said nothing happened.”

No friend points for Sawyer. Or Ridoc, for that matter.

[caeli0306]

thank you to everyone who has been patient as I've worked on the next castles update! here's a blurb to tide folks over while I keep working to make it good <3

===

“Fuck this, and fuck you!” a female voice says in return as Liam and I begin our approach. He curses softly.

“I’m just going to apologize in advance,” Liam mutters.

I glance at him with a frown. “For what?”

It turns out he doesn’t need to answer, because the person hidden by Xaden’s body answers all on her own. My reflexes take over when I see the flash of steel, the wind-up; Xaden stepping aside, clearly unaware that there are two people directly in the line of fire—

Quick as a viper, my hand darts up to catch the dagger that flies straight toward my chest.

“What the fuck do you think you’re doing?” I growl as soon as I’m sure my heart wasn’t just impaled by my mystery assailant’s weapon. Only adrenaline and razor-sharp focus conceals the slicing pain from the blade cutting into my palm — a worthy price to pay to not die after all the effort that went into saving me from a bullet. Liam gapes, blue eyes darting between the thin trail of red that’s begun streaming down my wrist and the blonde who, I now realize, looks suspiciously similar to him.

“You’ve got to show me how you did that,” he says, awed.

I ignore him, because as the words leave his mouth, Xaden turns toward us. His dark eyes widen when they land on me, mouth pressing into a hard line when his gaze slides down to my bloodied hand.

“Sorrengail,” he greets. “Good to see you up.”

I decide not to comment on the impersonal greeting this time. Instead, I force my attention to the blonde woman who nearly killed me.

“Well?” I prompt. Her eyes narrow when they lock onto my hair, and I recognize that emotion — it’s hatred. Pure, unadulterated hatred. At least I know where I stand. “I asked you a question.”

[caeli0306]

back to castles! i've been working on getting my home office / reading room set up in my old guest room. i should have a desk in there by next weekend, and hopefully once that's done i'll have a truly dedicated place to focus and write without having to go somewhere like a coffee shop or the library. i am not the kind of girlie who can write on her couch unfortunately.

===

Standing, I set the papers down atop the bed then move back toward the kitchen a few feet away. I spend a solid thirty seconds feeling around inside my backpack for my phone before I remember I don’t have a phone anymore. I’d smashed it before rushing off to rescue Xaden so I couldn’t be tracked with it.

My eyes flit toward the shut door. Liam still lives—

“You do not need a phone to contact him,” TAIRN says.

I raise an eyebrow. Pretty sure he’s wrong on that one. “Carrier pigeon more your style?”

“Your human humor does not amuse me, Silver One.”

I don’t think anything amuses him, but I decide not to point that out to the grumpy AI — I didn’t even realize an AI could be grumpy before I ended up with one in my head.

“Not all of us can just slip into any electronic we choose,” I point out, “and I can’t just yell his name out my window and expect him to hear me. I do need a phone.”

TAIRN just sighs without a word before disappearing. Whenever he’s active in my head, there’s a slight sound in the background, almost like fuzz, and I barely notice it unless I focus. It’s gone now, replaced with silence.

“TAIRN?”

But he doesn’t respond. Weird.