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Dead inside, but somehow still kicking.

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im here, im queer, i dont have another rhyme


an @smarty0114 & @Danvers collab
Location: Nightshade Commons
Interactions: Hyoon@Hey Im Jordan & Niko@Grimoire Gaming





Charlie's gaze snapped over to Teddy, oblivious to the scowl that appeared on his brother's face or his mutterings about going out to smoke another cigarette. It was always like that. When Teddy was around he found it hard to concentrate on anything else. And at this very moment he had more than one reason to want to look at him. He was still pissed off at the twat but the way his soaking wet shirt stuck to his chest was admittedly distracting.

"Oh why don't you go cry to daddy." He shot back, ignoring his rebelliously stray thoughts. Charlie wanted to revel in his success and it was difficult to control his amusement. He stuck his tongue into the side of his mouth to stop himself from smiling but when his eyes roamed up to the vampire's disheveled hair, a small laugh finally escaped his lips. "I think the drowned cat look kind of suits you." He added, ignoring the way his own hair was sending droplets of water down his back. "And apologies for not knowing you wear tighty whities. Next time I'll make sure to ask."

“Oh, fuck off,” Teddy watched Caleb leave before redirecting his gaze towards Charlie, teeth grinding together. The door shut behind the moodier, broodier twin and Teddy stepped forward, shortening the distance between him and Charlie. Caleb’s exit seemed to have turned the tension between them up a few notches, far past what felt decent. “I know you are capable of finding other ways to get my attention,” Teddy said, stopping himself before he got too close. He did not trust himself, or his hormone-addled brain.

When Charlie noticed that Teddy had stopped shy of him, he purposefully took a step closer. Enough that he could easily pick out the details of the subtle cologne he wore. Challenging him with the precarious lack of space between them. "Maybe I don't want to find other ways anymore." He muttered, practically pouting as he spoke. "Maybe--" The hybrid placed a hand on Teddys chest before pushing him with more force than intended, uncertainty flashing across his eyes in a brief moment of panic. "Maybe…maybe I've realized what an utter tosspot you are!" Charlie frowned, a small huff escaping his lips. The insult had no real weight to it and his eyes darted to the floor. He'd never been good at the being mad thing.

Unfortunately, Teddy was amazing at it. Charlie’s hand against his chest threatened to break his resolve, but then he was being shoved backwards, stumbling and steadying himself in a motion he liked to think was graceful. There was a part of him that wanted to reach out and close the space between them, though he wasn’t sure which part would win out when he finally did. “Look, if I’d known…I wouldn’t have…” Teddy was practically choking on the vulnerability he tried to espouse. He was charming, he was smooth, but he was not kind, or good at pretending to be. For some reason though, right now at least, he wished he was.

“What I’m trying to say is that, we can at least keep things civil. Right?”

Hurt flashed across Charlie's face. The words confirmed what he had known all along; that Teddy did regret what had happened between them. It hit him harder than he thought it would. But being civil? Well, he couldn't let him get away with it that easily. "Worried about getting pranked again Douglas?" He forced out a smile, though all he really felt was an aching pit deep in his stomach. "Sorry but no can do. I enjoy annoying you far too much." He looked up, forcing himself to meet Teddys gaze. Part of him hoped to find some answers there but of course he could not. "Guess you're just going to have to get used to it."

Teddy scowled, and crossed his arms with a humph. “Very cute, Valentine.” Teddy shook his head, simultaneously disappointed and flustered. Charlie inspired a whirlwind of emotions in him, a storm that he could not quell. Bickering only seemed to spur it on even more, but giving into it… well he’d spent the summer being reminded about what happened when he fell. The simple truth was that one of them would be hurt by this. If he didn’t want it to be himself, then it would have to be Charlie, and despite his constant threats, he did not want to hurt Charlie. Not anymore than he had to at least.

“If you want to act like a child, be my guest. It won’t change things.” That was only partially true. Teddy had already changed things, when he’d pulled Charlie into the empty potions class room just before they left for the summer. It was true that Charlie’s tantrum would not change the past, but the implication that it would push Teddy away… well that was a lie the vampire told himself to feel control.

Hot tears pricked at the corners of Charlie's eyes. Tears of frustration that he brushed away with the back of his hand. " Oh don't worry, I know I'll never be good enough for the great and mighty Theodore." Charlie snapped back, "Wouldn't want to ruin that perfect reputation of yours." He knew he was saying things that he didn't mean or even believe, but he couldn't help it. He should've known better than to expect Teddy to act any differently and he was an idiot for even letting himself think so. Caleb had said that much over the summer. The fact that he wanted to seek out his twin at this moment felt dumb, but he couldn't deal with this alone. He didn't know what to do with himself in moments like this.

He looked back at Teddy, bitterness waning to be replaced by something more numb. Something colder. "Guess that's that then." Charlie shrugged, knocking shoulders with the vampire as he pushed past him.

“Charlie,” Teddy said softly as their shoulders brushed, a hand instinctively reaching out, only to retreat at the sound of footsteps and the creak of their door. Hyoon greeted them with her usual snark, and Teddy winced at her remark on Charlie’s feelings. Before he could say anything, a blonde stranger was shoving his way into the room, and snatching the pair of soggy boxers from his hand. Awkward, to say the least.

“Oh, so this is really a public forum now. Excellent,” Teddy scoffed and rolled his eyes. This conversation had hardly gone his way, the least the universe could’ve done for him was not expose it to the entire school. “You seem to have gotten caught up in the crossfire of Charlie’s joke. Apologies.” Teddy took a step, and gestured towards the pile of sopping wet clothes. “Feel free to sort look through that for your things. Mine are the nicer ones.” The vampire hazarded a glance at Charlie, but he didn’t dare try and pick their conversation back up.

The look wasn't reciprocated, Charlie instead put on his best 'my bad, please forgive me' face for the newcomer. "Sorry man. I didn't realize it was your stuff…nice boxers though." He teased, a small smile darting across his face. It definitely wasn't the time to start flirting but part of him wanted to try to make Teddy feel as bad as he did. Not that the git was likely to care. "Look, let me help you get them cleaned or whatever. I can totally convince one of the wood wielders to do one of their magic tricks." Before he could reply, Charlie had grabbed the guy's arm, yanking on it gently as he made to usher them both out the room. "Come on." He really really did not want to be here anymore.


A @smarty0114 & @Hey Im Jordan collab
Location: Nightshade Commons





Celeste did not care for the first years. They were darling, scurrying around campus with their eyes wide and their hearts full of ambition or whimsy or whatever it was they ran on, but they were also insufferable. They all had questions, and many of them were a bit stupid, so their questions were stupid, and Celeste just wished they would all leave her alone. Unlike some of the têtes de nœuds she went to school with, Celeste de Fontaine had been busy this summer. She was knee deep in a book of legal dueling curses, and the welcome ceremony felt very much like a waste of her time.

She’d heard this presentation six times now. Unlike some of her fellow sixth years, the fact that she would not hear it again did not fill her with some soft nostalgia. Celeste de Fontaine was destined for something amazing, she knew that deep, deep within her soul.

After the welcome ceremony, she found herself up in her room, enjoying the peace the other Hemlock girls had elected to give to her. Her clothes were folding neatly of their own accord, and levitating into their proper places, as if by a spectral hand. She was lying on her bed, still studying the same book, working toward that amazing something.

Today, however, it was not meant to be.

It may not have been a day to work toward Celeste de Fontaine’s pre-ordained greatness, but it was unfortunately yet another day for her to be annoyed by her older (by like twenty four minutes) brother. Nathaniel de Fontaine had been at the Academy for less than six hours, and he’d already kissed on not one, but two different girls. It was the start of a good year.

By the time he made it to his dorm, he was in a good mood with a bit of a pep in his step as he bounded up the stairs toward his target: the girl dormitories. There were no ill intentions! First time for everything. As he burst through the door, he was in his own little world. With earbuds blasting music in his ear, Nathaniel was playing an air guitar and singing along with his music.

“I’m dancing with myself,
When there's nothing to lose and there's nothing to prove,
Well, I'm dancing with myself, ah, oh, oh-oh”


Maybe it was the Siren blood running through his veins, but most people would call Nathaniel a half decent vocalist and (in his opinion) an even better dancer. Even so, he knew his sister wasn’t going to stand having any fun so near her. After the chorus came to a close, he pulled his earbuds out and dropped them in his pocket - not their carrying case, he was too lazy for that - and grinned at Celeste. “Yo! How come you ducked me at the introductory speech? Professor Bellerose cornered me and was breathing down my neck - and not in the way I like her to - because she thinks I didn’t write my final last year about Magic Theory.” Which was true, because Celeste wrote it. But usually, the teachers didn’t catch on, so something somewhere down the line went wrong. “If she thinks I’m a cheater she might not let me…” He trailed off. Celeste didn’t like hearing about his adventures.

“Do you ever tire of being a walking stereotype?” Celeste scoffed, but kept her eyes trained on her book. “I promised to write your paper. I did not promise that you wouldn’t get caught.” The young witch had grown accustomed to these interruptions. Her brother had never been big on respecting space or privacy, and she did not expect him to start now. Celeste finished off the page and dogeared the spellbook, closing it and sitting up to face Nathaniel. “Besides, I think Bellerose has a bit too much self-respect anyways. You were never checking her off your list.”

“Wait, what? No one has too much self-respect for me.” Nathaniel said the self-report so matter-of-factly it was clear he didn’t even think twice about what he’d said. “Hey, don’t bend the book like that, Celeste. I hate when people bend the pages. It’s ugly.” In his defense, it was ugly. “Look, I’m really not asking for much, just… use smaller words when you write my papers. Is it that hard to pretend to not be a genius for like five minutes? Maybe I should just write it myself and have you edit it…” He paused to think to himself for a moment, before he started shaking his head.

“Nah, that’s stupid. I’d probably fail and then we’d both hear it from mom and dad. Or at least mom.” Nate wasn’t sure that his dad cared whether or not he graduated from the Academy. Nathaniel could get away with being a trust fund baby for the rest of his life. “Hey, do you think it’s out of line for me to hit on first years? I can’t decide.” Back to the important stuff.

“Morganna’s tits, yes, it is absolutely out of line. They’re practically infants!” Celeste shook her head, suddenly feeling very bad for the same first years she’d found so annoying earlier. Certainly they did not deserve to be added to the list of her brother’s conquests. “Also, asking me to use smaller words is like asking a bird not to fly. You fuck things, and I’m a genius, this isn’t news.”

Plenty of siblings wished that they could be more like their genetic counterpart, but not Celeste. She greatly preferred their own dynamic. She had little interest in the hedonism in which Nate indulged. “Has the upperclassmen pool really gotten so dry that you’re robbing cradles? It sounds like you’re getting rusty,” Celeste teased.

“Right, but I can clip a bird’s wings, right? Same idea, we’ll just get you high first.” Nathaniel was partially musing to himself and partially kicking around an actual idea, half judging the reaction to it. It was a decent idea, at least he thought so, but he knew Celeste would probably have seven problems with it, minimum. “I just think the freshies are easier, y’know? They’ll do more stuff with less effort. Plus, certain people our age are starting to think I’m a fuckboy, did you know that? This is my last year, my last chance to solve the race war.” Somewhere along the line, Nate the Great had truly convinced himself that if he could have the forbidden threesome, it was sure to ease relations between fang and… claw, or whatever.

“I’m just saying, it’s a lot harder to hook up with someone who’s immune to all my tricks. I have to get new tricks! But I can’t do that because I have to convince the professors I haven’t been cheating on all my term papers for the last six years.” He had. “I can only be so smooth, y’know?”

Celeste let out a rare laugh. “I hate to break this to you, but I don’t think your prick is going to bring about supernatural world peace.” She stood and busied herself with her bookshelf. That was an area that she wouldn’t even let magic organize. “Why don’t you look at this as a challenge? You just have to get smoother than ever before. Maybe try out a little romance. They say that a good date is the best aphrodisiac.” Celeste was not quite sure who “they” were, and she couldn’t say that she truly agreed, but she was an outlier. Her aphrodisiac involved pop quizzes and academic pretentiousness.

“I AM ROMANTIC. I take girls on dates! Going down to the lake to make out and skinny dip counts as fucking date, Celeste. Just because your dates involve you using Orion’s face as a study seat doesn’t make mine any less valid. Which, by the way, is fuckin’ weird.” He rolled his eyes and watched as she started to mess around with the books. Loathe as he was to admit it, she did have something of a point. Maybe spending the year convincing people he wasn’t a fuckboy was a good idea… He could always pick one girl and woo her then just… sleep with the one girl. Now that was just crazy talk. He made a face between a scowl and someone who just whiffed a durian. “Wait, can I date multiple girls at the same time? I mean, there’s no rule that I can’t, right? I just shouldn’t let them find out.”

“Hold on, this is a good idea Celeste. This is a big moment for you.”

“Is that really what you took away from that?” Celeste chose to move past the comment about Orion. Her sex life was not the one under the microscope right now. “Actually, you know what,” Celeste considered what she might be unleashing unto the world, and decided that the world would survive. “You’re right. That’s a stellar idea.”

“Just call me the two time.” Nathaniel grinned and snapped his fingers, shooting finger guns at his sister as he backed out of the dormitory and put his earbuds back in, with the next song in his playlist already playing. He had planning to do.



Location: Nightshade Commons
Mentions: Vincent Truelove
Interactions: Caleb & Charlie Valentine @Danvers





Theodore Douglas had realized when he was young, that the look of a vampire was one of poised disinterest. A gentle pout, and an air of nonchalance that could only be achieved by caring far too much about what everyone else thought. He had perfected this performance over the years, a lack of care so casual, it was anything but. He watched Headmaster Lightwood with cold eyes and wondered what secrets he hid. Not the ominous, magical type, but the illicit, scandalous type. He’d always suspected the wizard to have been the kind of man who woke up in a variety of beds when he was younger.

When they were finally released, Teddy headed straight for the exit, moving through the crowd with a touch of vampiric speed. He’d been at Hawthorne long enough to know that he’d been placed in Nightshade, and the overwhelming scent of witch blood was beginning to give him a headache.

He breathed a sigh of relief as he freed himself from the crowd, and began making his way towards his dorm. He would never say it out loud, but he had missed the solemn, stone walls of Hawthorne. He’d missed the coppery, electric smell of magic, and the sense that adventures were around any corner. Douglas Keep was old and tired, and filled with ancient vampires who’d grown so very boring in their old age.

If he was being honest with himself, he’d missed Charlie too. Perhaps the most. That troubled him.

He’d heard of the disappearances over the summer, and his grandmother had warned him to keep an eye out at school. She felt something on the horizon, and she was expecting more reports than usual. The whispers seemed to have invoked a special kind of paranoia, and she expected him to help assuage it. Needless to say, this was not a year where he could afford distractions.

And yet, he found himself distracted.

His mind conjured the memory of his fingers running through dark hair, of lips pressed together in the quiet darkness of an empty classroom. All summer, that moment had lingered on the edges of his mind, never too far from the forefront. He knew why he couldn’t shake it, he was no fool. He couldn’t pursue that fantasy though. His family would never approve, and the school would gossip, and surely, Charlie would grow bored of him quickly. He was certain that anyone who got too close to him would see through the facade, and be disgusted by what they found.

Teddy wrinkled his nose as he walked by Truelove and the acrid smoke he blew out, but he did no more than scowl. He’d learned years ago that the smell of cigarettes was just a fact of life at Hawthorne. The smell had made it into the Commons as well, which meant only one thing: the Valentines had beat him to their room.

He entered the fifth year dorm to see Caleb helping his brother off the ground. He noticed the open window, and the cold breeze, and his suitcases, open and empty on the ground. His eyes darted to Charlie, the usual suspect, and suddenly, he wasn’t sure he’d missed the fucker all that much in the first place. “You can’t be serious,” Teddy muttered, beelining for the window and leaning out into the rain. Strewn across the rooftops, like very expensive trash, were his clothes, perhaps the only things he valued more than his fangs. Without a second thought, he clambered out onto the roof, moving with supernatural speed to scoop up the now soaking wet pieces of his wardrobe. When he came back through the window, he was dripping water onto the floor, eyes narrowed as he tossed a pile of waterlogged fabric onto the floor.

“Some of those were irreplaceable, you know. Do you think I built that wardrobe overnight? That was a decade of carefully curated fashion choices that you just drowned, mercilessly, might I add,” The vampire glared at Charlie, though his anger was somewhat undercut by the fact that he looked like a hitchhiker who’d gotten lost in the rain. He began sifting through the pile, in hopes that there was anything that had managed to stay dry. There was not. “Some of these aren’t even mine, Valentine!” Teddy spun around, holding a pair of boxers up, as if either one of the twins had seen beneath his perfectly pleated pants.

His eyes darted between the twins, finally landing on Charlie. He knew what this was about, it was obvious. It seemed that that moment in the empty classroom had been on Charlie’s mind as well. Teddy struggled for a moment, unsure of what to say. He finally settled on an insult. “You’re a real git, you know that Charlie?”

This was certainly shaping up to be a year without distractions. Clearly.



Location: Hemlock Hall





After his first few hours at Hawthorne, August could best be described as starstruck. The castle was far more impressive than anything he’d seen back home. He was used to tents and shacks and the great outdoors, not spires and gargoyles and stone. Everywhere he looked was a face more beautiful and intimidating than the last, somehow. He hadn’t even been there a day, and someone had already hissed at him. He wasn’t quite sure what to make of that.

Falling in line behind a group of fellow first years, August went to find his dorm, locating his name just below his sister’s, on the list for Hemlock Hall. He couldn’t help the sigh that pushed its way out from between his lips. He had spent most of his life in Callen’s shadow, and he didn’t want that to continue here. Still, perhaps this was for the best. He supposed that living down the hall from Callen was better than waking up with puncture wounds in his neck.

Hemlock Hall was surprisingly welcoming. He’d expected the austere architecture of the rest of the castle to follow him here, but the dormitory was much warmer. The walls were lined with various decorations, remnants of students who’d long since graduated. The common area was already populated with older students, those who didn’t need a piece of paper to tell them where they’d be rooming, but they paid the first years very little mind. He slipped into his room without any hassle.

August appreciated the solitude. The unfamiliarity of this place was beginning to get to him. The plethora of foreign smells were assaulting his senses, and while he knew that one day they’d be as familiar as his pack, today they were overwhelming. He did not want his sister to sense his anxiety, or any of the other students for that matter. He wanted very much to be strong right now, to face this day of mingling with an about face, but the knot in his stomach would not undo itself. Fucking fuck. Fuckfuckfuckfuck! August picked an empty bed and threw himself onto it, groaning as his body sunk into the cushioning of the mattress.

At home, when his thoughts wouldn’t cease, he would’ve shed his skin and taken to the woods. He knew that that wasn’t an option right now though. He could hear Romulus now, telling him to stop running, to take this opportunity by the reins. He needed to make friends. He couldn’t prove himself to anyone if he didn’t get past the introductions first. Outside the dorm, the din of conversation grew louder as more of his fellow Hemlock Hall residents arrived.

The young werewolf took a deep breath, sitting himself up before getting to his feet. Whether he liked it or not, he was not likely to make many friends if he just hid inside his room. He practiced a smile in the mirror, played with his hair until his reflection satisfied him, before rejoining the Hemlock Hall fray, armored with a grin and as open arms as he could muster. This year was going to be great. Probably.







and anotha one


It's winter in New York, and if the seasonal depression wasn't enough, there's a class reunion on the horizon. Beverly Hills High School's Class of 2013 has been summoned invited to The Magnolia, an upscale resort in upstate New York, by the girl who made all of their lives a living hell; Hailey Green. In a class full of artists and rising stars, nothing is more attractive than a bit of networking, even if that means rubbing elbows with a bunch of people you had hoped to never see again.

Enjoy the Magnolia's sweeping estate, Michelin Star meals, and top of the line service, while showing all your old enemies how much better you're doing. Hailey has planned a weekend itinerary that is simply to die for. There's certainly no way any of this could go wrong.





Silent Night at The Magnolia is a love letter to something old, with plenty of room for something new. Character will gather at The Magnolia for a reunion planned by former Queen Bee, Hailey Green, for a weekend that will very quickly fall off the rails. When the group gets trapped in the resort by a freak snowstorm, a killer will strike, and the game will be afoot. A SOL meets murder mystery, there's room for all kinds here.



Yearning
Yearning

location: In The Car | Freyja’s House
a @Legion02 @Fabricant451 & @smarty0114 collab



Hel pushed down the metal pedal with her heel as deep as she could. The engine in front of her was far beyond roaring and now well into letting out a dreadful wailing sound telling the goddess she was pushing limits she really shouldn’t. Behind her more than a few cars honked their horns as she wove through them. She watched them in her back mirror like specs of dust in the light of their headlights. That’s all they were right now for her. She didn’t mean them any malice but there were bigger things in life right now.

She took the off ramp her GPS told her to take and was forced by the roads to slow down. It didn’t do her much good. Now that the crazy race through the highway was over she was forced to think. What would she say? What wouldn’t she say? Would he even recognize her still? And what then? Would she embrace him? Kiss him!? No, no never that last one. He was Aesir.

She took a turn right and then left. She couldn’t kiss him, of course. What else was she supposed to do though? What would be her duty now? Maybe she should take him home? Her GPS gave her a small ping to tell her she arrived at the right house. Hel parked her car on the driveway and stepped out. He would need a bath right? And probably a refresher on everything that happened too? Some clothes? She could provide for him. But then what? Did she keep him to herself, as her secret? What would her siblings say? What would the Aesir say? What would he say?

All those questions stopped as she rounded the corner and reached the backyard.

Baldr was seated on a leather couch, straight-backed and shaking. He was still naked, though his body had been splattered with blood. The couple who had owned this house lay on the floor in front of him, broken and bloody. He had not wanted to hurt them, or at least, he wanted to believe as much. He had hurt them though, despite his protests. The fogginess that had gripped his brain so tightly was lifting now, but it did not leave any answers. Rather, he only felt like his confusion had grown.

He glanced to his left, out the sliding glass door into the backyard, and he saw her. Her. She was unchanged, as beautiful as the day he’d last seen her. He stood with a start, rushing to the glass door. He blinked, fearful that she was just an apparition, waiting to disappear the moment his eyes left her form, but she did not. She was real, and she was here.

His hand reached up and found the glass and then he was punching through it, ignoring the shards that cut into his mortal flesh. The pain was unimportant in the presence of the most graceful guide of the graceless. He had searched for her after the Fall, and he had searched for her in his dreams, and he had not found her until today. As his feet touched the moist grass, he fell to his knees before her. Words he had not known before today flooded his mind, strange and alien sounds. “You found me,” he said, his voice thick with emotion and pain. He did not know how he’d known those words, or even what language he was speaking. Only that she was here, and the nightmare was ending.

“Always.” Hel said as tears welled up in her eyes. She fell on her knees before him as well. There were no walls so high that they could stop her emotions from flooding her in this moment. After far too long they were together again. A droplet traveled over her cheek. The first of many to come. With one hand she cupped his cheek. “I missed you.”

And finally she could not hold herself back. She embraced Baldr. She could feel his warmth on her skin. It melted the ice in her veins and around her heart. A sob went through her. Hel tightened the embrace as if she was afraid that she’d lose him again. “I missed you.” Emotions were overwhelming her now, completely. The goddess of the graceless dead had never felt anything like this for two millennia.

His head fell forward, pressing their foreheads together, and for the first time since his slumber had ended, he felt safe. He breathed in the scent of her and felt it soothe his body, felt his muscles relax as her hand came upon his face. “I’ve missed you as well,” he said, his voice cracking as tears threatened to drown out his words. He met her gaze, bringing his hands to her’s so that their connection would remain. For a moment, he could not find the words. They were lost behind the lingering fog of confusion, and the pull of those beautiful eyes. “What is this place, Hel? What realm have I awoken in?” he finally asked, certain that she would not lead him astray.

“Midgard.” Hel answered, slowly but surely she got up, guiding him to stand as well. She never let go of his hands though. The glass in one of his hands was stinging her hand as well now but she never let go. “But things are… different. We are weaker and.. there are others.”

A siren echoed far away. Hel looked up like a deer suddenly looking for a predator. It was the sire of the firefighters. Still, the goddess knew well enough the problems that could arise if the police would come. Knowing strong, unharmable Baldr it would not end well for them. “We must go. I know a place.” That was a lie. She didn’t have a clue where to take Baldr. Still, she tugged him gently along to her car. Where she held a blanket to at least cover his modesty. “We’ll be safe there.” Hel kept insisting with her little lies. The lies came easy to her. She had used those little lies before, in Helheim.

Baldr marveled at the chariot Hel had placed him in. The mortals had been even busier than he thought. This was certainly not the Midgard he had known. He jolted as Hel started the car, startled by the rumblings of the engine, but he calmed when he realized Hel felt no fear. He trusted her, more than he could ever put into words. “You said there were… others. What did you mean by that?” he asked, gripping the handle above him as the car lurched forward.

“Thor and Odin are here too.” Hel answered as she put her car into gear and drove away. Without her lights on for a little while. Then once on the main road she drove exactly as any other car would. Perhaps a bit more carefully but still, she made a real effort to drive as normal as possible. “Heimdal is here as well, in Midgard. As is Freyja.” Of course, she summed up the Aesir and Vanir first. They were his family and they would be delighted to know that their Most Beloved finally returned from Helheim.

Something that only made her mind swirl more as she was driving. Keeping Baldr was selfish. She realized that now. As much as she hated them, his family deserved to know he was alive. They would be able to care for him better than her. After all, Freyja asked everything in existence for his return. She couldn’t give that much love to Baldr, she never had that much to give to begin with really. In English she bid her GPS to lead her to Freyja’s address. Then she dictated a quick text message heralding Baldr’s arrival in half an hour to the Norse goddess of love, war and magic. Her eyes she kept glued on the road. It would make the farewell easier. “I’m happy you’re here though.” She did say. Her voice quivered a little bit.

The Most Beloved nodded at Hel’s words, unmoved by mentions of his family. It had been ages since he had last seen them. Civilizations had risen and fallen and risen again, entire bloodlines had been wiped from the earth, and he had spent the vast majority of it asleep, and if not asleep, then imprisoned. The family he knew… Well, he suspected that he did not know them anymore. Still, he saw nowhere else to turn, not in this world of iron carts and talking glass.

“I-thank you. For finding me. I would not have blamed you if you’d forgotten me in my absence. It seems I’ve been asleep for…some time.” Baldr watched Hel watch the road, grateful for this moment. If this all turned out to be one last dream before his final slumber, he would not mind. At least he would’ve seen her, one last time.

“I could never forget you.” The words escaped Hel’s lips before she knew it. It was the truth, the absolute truth. For two thousand years, every day, she did find herself thinking of Baldr in some way or another. Now he was here beside her. There was something in her heart telling her to open up. To tell him she loved him, even now. Especially now, after Ragnarok must’ve already passed. She wanted to tell him that she wanted to feel his heat on her skin.

Those thoughts exhilarated her. Because of that though, she feared them now more than ever. Back in Helheim she felt the same. For the rest of the car ride, Hel closed herself off. She stopped talking, though answered any questions he might have. She became cold. This way - so she thought - was better. Safer. No one would get hurt this way. No one would cry this way.

Eventually, after a car ride that felt like it lasted a century, she reached Freyja’s house.

He turned to her with eyes that betrayed an ancient innocence. He trusted her, more than he trusted anyone. “Where are we?” he asked, glancing out the window at the unfamiliar home. He knew very little about this strange new Midgard, but he knew, at least, that he did not wish to lose Hel once more.

Little lies, Hel. The goddess thought to herself as she looked in Baldr’s eyes. Little lies for the greater good. For duty. Everything for duty.

“Somewhere you could make a home here in Midgard. Trust me.” Hel said with a comforting smile. She hid away her own aching heart behind that smile. It was for the better. Hel got out of the car. He would be at home here, amongst his family. His brothers would embrace him. His mother would kiss his cheeks. He would drink, feast, and smile and laugh here. It was for the better. She kept telling herself that as she rounded the car and opened Baldr’s car door to let him out.

Baldr stepped out, still wrapped in the blanket Hel had given him. “You will stay, though?” he said, his voice pitching into a question. He reached for her hand and gently stroked her slender fingers, desperate to hold onto them until the world split apart once more.

For just a few seconds they just walked in silence. “I’m afraid not.” Hel answered and she kept walking. She kept herself tightly in control. No, she would not allow her voice to break or her lip to quiver. This is what she had to do.

From the wide picture window on the second floor of her home, Freyja, half finished glass of red cradled between her fingers, watched as the car rolled to a stop outside though she turned away before the doors opened. Sixty minutes ago she had just gotten home after a difficult birth and wanted nothing more than to enjoy a warm bath, a bottle of wine, and an episode of a far too long running medical soap opera that was so wildly inaccurate she couldn’t help but to love every tawdry minute. Thirty minutes ago she was onto her third glass and the bath water was steaming and the only thing separating the water from her body was a short robe that promptly introduced itself to the floor. Twenty-five minutes ago her phone pierced the relaxing silence of water and stress fading away with a shrill trilling ringtone. How had she forgotten to turn the damn thing off? It was like being on call, a constant string of annoyances only this time there wasn’t an emergency that warranted her attention.

Or so she thought.

When she read the message her first instinct was that it was Hel’s idea of a sick joke but that couldn’t be possible; in the eternity that Freyja had known Hel she couldn’t recall the last time Hel said anything remotely funny. It had to be true. Her son. After all this time. Not a day had gone by that Freyja hadn’t missed him; how could she not with how…protective she had been with him back when she had magic at her command. But of course she knew he had to be fine…she had willed it so…all except that damn mistletoe…but after so long she had every reason to believe that the death was…permanent. How naive.

Fitting for one of Washington State’s ‘most eligible bachelorettes’, head OBGYN and fertility medicine specialist at the prestigious Hope Valley Medical Center, and one of the ‘medical experts’ on multiple seasons of the now canceled reality show ‘Couples Counseling’ and its much higher rated spin-off ‘I’m A Celebrity, My Relationship Is Fine!’, Katherine Nilsson’s home was a modest contemporary house that was far too big for the single person who lived inside. But Freyja had enjoyed the finer points of owning a home. Such as being able to enjoy a bath. Until that message. And the car arriving.
Hel and Baldr didn’t even have to ring the doorbell or knock on the front door. The lights on the first floor turned on as Freyja descended the stairs, signaling that, yes, someone was home, and that someone opened the front door, having set the wine glass on an endtable en route, and though every emotion welled up inside of her all at once as her eyes laid sight on Baldr…Freyja didn’t cry. All those years ago when the Fall had just happened, Freyja spent years crying every tear out of her body. Even now, when every part of her from brain to heart was telling her to weep…she couldn’t. She could only blink, mouth open, breathing heavy, expression somewhere between relief, fear, shock, and warmth. What could she say? What could she do?

“You’re…naked.”

In a similar state of shock, Baldr looked down at himself, blushing. “It seems I am. Hel was not quite prepared for my return,” he said, softly. There was a wariness to his words, a tension to this reunion. The centuries they’d lost seemed to stretch out between them, a wall that kept him from running into his mother’s arms. The sight of her conjured visions of a happier time, long before the Aesir had known tragedy, and yet what stuck was all the time they had missed. He knew how much he had changed in the wake of his death; who then, was the woman who stood before him? His mother, or someone else entirely? It appeared that he would be forced to find out.
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