Sherlock Holmes

What dis boi said.

"Yes," Seom and Dru said together after a moment of silence, as they looked at the ring.

Tena's mouth opened slightly as she looked at Anthony, at his face, his beautiful violet eyes. This is a big deal. If-- when-- I say yes, it's going to mean that I'll have to spend the rest of my life with him, unless I want to go through a long divorce and have to separate my baby from... her... father. Well, then what the hell am I waiting for? "Yes, absolutely," she said to Anthony. @#Voidapple

@JacobClaessen

"Mm-hm," Seom said, barely glancing at the ring. Dru elbowed her in the ribs, and Seom glared at the short woman. Why does she care? It's just another wedding between just another man and woman who will make no difference to the world in their entire lives. "I mean yes," she continued, to keep Dru at bay. Dru looked at the ring for a long moment, seeming to study it for a while, then said, "Yes. I deem it worth more." Why does she sound so pretentious?

@Dr. Dapper

The moment had arrived. Butt Venture and Uncle Brandy danced joyously.

Tena walked to the canopy, and Seom and Dru followed her.

Tena realized, suddenly, that she needed two women to accompany her to the thing, or something like that, and looked around frantically, then saw Lenare sitting at that table with the two girls. She caught Lenare's eyes and gestured at the girls, then he smiled ruefully and talked to them for a minute. They walked over to Tena. "What is it we have to do?" the short one asked. "Honestly, I have no idea," Tena confessed, then looked them both over. The short one was wearing a shortish white dress with floral patterns near the bottom, which would do quite nicely, while the tall one (taller than Tena by maybe half a foot) was wearing a loose white shirt and long brown trousers, with a leathery duster. The tall one wasn't ideal, but Tena didn't see any other women, so she was going to have to make do. "Okay, just follow me around and do whatever the officiator says," she said to them, and they both nodded, though the tall one, who looked part Koloss, now that Tena thought about it, was clearly wary. *** Dru couldn't keep a smile off her face. This was a Jewish wedding, wasn't it? She'd never been to one both, but she figured that her duties were probably similar to a bridesmaid. Though she'd never been a bridesmaid either. The bride... she was intimidating. The way she'd snarled at the man who'd called her fiancé old was just plain scary. But I don't have to be scared. The tall girl's grandfather seemed fine when dealing with her. And she seemed nice enough. I just need to do something... "Oh, by the way, my name is Dru," she told the bride, who nodded. "My name is Tena, and this giant here is Anthony," Tena said courteously, glancing up at him. Dru tried to ignore him and narrowed her eyes slightly. Had she heard that name, Tena, before, in a story about the Seven Day War? Maybe. But it's probably just a coincidence. Tena doesn't look any older than thirty, and that war was twenty years ago. Tena turned expectantly to the super-tall girl Dru had sat near, and the girl remained silent for a moment, as though oblivious of everyone else. Then she seemed to notice Tena and said, "My name is Seom." "Lovely name," Tena said with a slight strange look in her eyes. "Well, just follow along until the officiator tells you to do something." @Blessed peace @#Voidapple

Tena stared at the man who had just insulted Anthony, her eyes flat and cold. "If," she said with a voice that was more equivalent to steel than anything else, "you ever call Anthony 'Old Man' again, I will find you and kill you. No forewarning beyond what I just said will be available to you. Do not think that this is an empty threat. It is not."

Tena looked up from the floor, which she’d been staring at for at least fifteen minutes, as she heard steps thunking up the metal stairs to the house. She tilted her head, listening, then noted the uneven quality, the stumbling, how some of the sounds were louder than others. Her conclusions were simple. She stood up as the person outside stepped onto the balcony, then crossed her arms as he pushed open the door with his shoulder. Anthony stared at her for a full five seconds, probably noticing that her eyes were a little red. He looked for things like that. “Anthony Nightshade,” Tena said, her voice steady and cold, “you are drunk.” “No, I’m not,” he said, sounding scared, but his voice was slightly slurred. Indeed he was. “It was… two beers. That’s it, I swear.” “Lying to your girlfriend never pays off,” she stated, her voice unchanging. She wanted to strangle him really bad. This was the third, or maybe fourth (depending on how good he was at hiding it), time he’d come home like this, and she was sick of it! “Tena, I don’t see what’s the problem,” Anthony said, snappish and obviously irritated. “It’s just a little bit. Every once in a while I go out. The rest of the time I’m completely sober. You’re just overreacting.” Tena remained silent, glaring at him with a force of a woman whose best friend and true love (melodramatic, but it felt like it was true) had slighted her. She could think of countless reasons why he shouldn’t. One: she couldn’t go with him, even if she wasn’t pregnant. Two: people recognize him as Hellbent, and someone would eventually kill him (the very thought of that almost made her sick). Three: he could get way too drunk and hurt himself, or do something stupid and get in trouble with the authorities. Or… Sisters, no. “Did you visit a brothel?” Tena asked him with steel in her eyes. He opened and closed his mouth for a minute, then spoke. “No. Why would I ever do that?” His inflection was far too… far too Ani-ish. It made her want to not be mad at him and instead tell him that she loved him, that everything was alright. But she didn’t, and it wasn’t. She was still vastly too frustrated, and scared, and sad. “Because maybe I’m not enough.” Now there, that was a secret fear in the back of her head. He told her she was beautiful constantly, and having him around boosted her confidence, but did he just do that just because he wouldn’t have money or a house otherwise? “Maybe you don’t really love me.” Anthony backed off two paces, putting the rail of the balcony at his back, and further shrouding him in darkness, since the clouds were covering the moons. But his face was terrified, not his she’s caught me expression (which he usually used when she found him trying to strum on her ukulele). He shook his head violently, another expression replacing the fear. That expression looked something like oh moons, what have I done. “I’m going to go sleep,” Tena said, voice still. “You aren’t going to bother me until you can explain yourself. Is that clear?” Anthony nodded, once, and Tena sighed, then turned and walked to the stairs, then up them. She lay down on the left side of the bed, leaving plenty of room for Anthony to have to himself, not bothering to undress at all because she was too angry. Sisters, the bed is cold. I’m cold. She scolded herself for those thoughts. She’d slept alone for nearly twenty years, she was fine. She kept telling herself that as she pulled the covers up over her shoulders, then grabbed another blanket from the small stack near her nightstand and threw it over top of the others. As she tried desperately to fall asleep, she listened to the sound of Anthony washing the dishes. She realized that she’d left them for him to do unconsciously and felt bad about it, despite the fact that he deserved worse than that for what he’d done. She seethed as she heard him walk up the stairs, then she purposefully turned away from his side, closing her eyes and pretending she was asleep. She obviously didn’t fool him. “Tena, you want to talk about it?” he asked, sounding afraid. Of what? He was the one who could make all the decisions now, he could do whatever he pleased! Now Tena just had to watch. Make do with whatever he did. “No,” she said, just loud enough for Anthony to hear. She tried to ignore the sound of him taking his shirt off, then the creak the bed made when he lay down. He lightly touched her shoulder, and Tena scooted a little further from him, mumbling, “I do not want to smell alcohol as I try to sleep.” She was so mad. How could he ever…? His hand dropped away, and she exhaled a frustrated breath that he probably noticed. It took Tena a long time to fall asleep, like it had before she’d had Ani. She ended up staring at the wall for a long time, her thoughts getting progressively less infuriated and more resigned. Third time he’s done that. I need to take a day off, from him. Just once, hopefully. Maybe he’ll get his act together by the time I get back. She liked the idea, and so began to develop it further. Hell, there’s a ship sailing for the other side of the world tomorrow. I could just buy a ticket at the docks and sleep in the lower decks. The more she thought about it, the more determined she was to do it. She was on maternity leave anyway, no one would care. Anthony could get drunk all he wanted and she could be at peace for once. It sounded wonderful, and she was going to do it. She grinned at the dark wall, then closed her eyes and finally managed to sleep. *** Tena awoke the next morning to feeling cold. That was downright unusual, and where was Ani? The past day came back to her, and she groaned, shifting to press her face into the pillow. The vacation still sounded amazing, though. She sat up, looking over at where Anthony was supposed to be and frowning. He wasn’t there. She took advantage of that, and went over to her dresser and stuffed the three standard-issue Calvin and Hobbes t-shirts her grandfather had gotten her for maternity. She’d wondered, at first, how Lenare had acquired them, and had then decided she actually didn’t want to know. Then she put some jeans and various other stuff in there as well, and stood up, swinging it on and walking downstairs. Remember that you’re going to go on a vacation. He can bask in the freedom of not having me around, and see how he likes it. She waited nervously for him to show up, just in case he could change her mind or apologize, but he didn’t. Eventually, she gave up and wrote a quick note on a piece of paper that she stuck to the fridge with a magnet. Ani, I’m going to be gone for a few days. Love you! Tena. She looked at it, then added a heart after her name to get the point across. She didn’t want him thinking that she was gone for good (that seemed like something he would worry about). Then, she walked over to the door and pushed it open, locking it from the outside and hiding the key in its customary place: behind a loose-ish board. She walked down the steps (which took forever), still not seeing Ani, then to a bus station, then rode to the docks. Thankfully, Tena knew the guy attending the ship (that she hadn’t expected, but he was a TUBA emissary), so she got decent rooms near the top after five minutes of bargaining (heavily discounted because of her service in the Seven Day War). *** Tena leaned against the rail of the deck, staring out at the green-blue sea. A man, about eight feet tall with huge blue-tinted wings and sheep-like horns curling above his head, was standing nearby, his unnaturally large yellow eyes scanning the sea for threats. She looked over at him. The horns were really what intrigued her about their kind. She’d been told these were called ‘Winged’, which was a fitting name since they looked mostly avian, but they still had those intimidating twin horns coming out from above each eye, which looked like something you find on a big-horned sheep. He noticed her looking at her and walked over. He had proportional legs compared to the rest of him, unlike some others she’d seen, which had had too short of legs. He crossed his arms, standing five feet away. “Hello.” His voice was a powerful tenor. “I was wondering about your horns,” Tena said, though she was actually thinking that she had to crane her neck even more to meet his eyes than she had to for Ani. “What do they do?” “I honestly have no idea why Winged have horns,” he said with a shrug, which was awkward with those huge wings; they were probably heavy. He glared at the feather tips as he flicked them into view. “You speak like you aren’t one,” Tena pointed out. “I’m actually human,” he said, “but I got a godling to give me wings. The horns are fun too, even if I had to have my skull reinforced to support them. I get to bash heads with whatever I like and not have my head be crushed! It’s great.” He suddenly sounded a lot younger, like a teenager. “Oh, my name is Wereci, by the way.” “My name is Tena,” she said, answering his unspoken question while pondering what he’d said. A godling? What's that? “Well, can you show me any of the stuff around here?” “I would carry you,” Wereci said, “but you’re pregnant. And I know what happens to poorly-treated unborn kids. So I’ll just point stuff out.” How could he be so polite one minute, and so blunt the next? It was sort of annoying, but the way he said it probably meant that he didn’t know that what he was doing was odd. At that moment, another man, completely normal-looking (a little over six feet tall, blond hair, brown eyes), walked over to Wereci. “Ho Blondie,” the man said, and Wereci ruffled the vastly-shorter man’s hair playfully. “Hey Dusk,” Wereci said cheerfully, and the man, Dusk, apparently couldn’t keep himself from grinning. Tena gathered that they were friends. She also noted that it was getting colder, and darker. She turned to the sunset, which was far more brilliant here than it was in the Alleycity, and watched it for a while, relaxed, but also tired. For no reason whatsoever. She went back down to her room, and sat down on the bed for a minute, praying to the Sisters that Ani was alright. She suddenly wanted to be back at home with him. Gods above, she missed him. She lay down, then closed her eyes. Even as close to the engine of the ship as her room was, she felt cold and empty. Ani had become such a huge part of her life, completely by accident. She realized that she’d forgotten to eat dinner and sighed, not surprised. It took her awhile to fall asleep, most of that spent staring at the ceiling, wishing she hadn’t left the house at all. Wishing she’d had the good sense to explain to Ani what her problems with drinking were. Wishing she had him with her. *** Tena walked off the gangplank between the ship and the dock. The TUBAeer dock attendant nearby saluted, and she saluted back. She sat down on a bench, then took off her pack and sorted through it for a moment, eventually grabbing what she wanted. She stood up, then tapped the Tia card. Instantly, she was standing on the balcony of her house. Because of wear and tear on the deck, the card teleported her about two inches above the wood, and her feet landing made an audible thump. Tena winced as she heard a crash from inside the house, then walked forward and opened the door, stepping inside with her best impression she could do of total calm. Ani was scrambling to his feet inside, his face ragged and exhausted. He looked like he’d been sleeping on the floor. Tena was instantly transferred to complete concern. What has Ani been doing without me? Did he just pass out because of alcohol, afraid of falling down the stairs, and was he just waiting for me to come home? Maybe both? “Ani,” Tena said, wary, “are you okay?” “No,” he gasped, his voice about three octaves higher than usual. He stared at her, swaying slightly, seeming unable to move. Tena slowly walked forward, then stopped four feet from him. “I’m sorry,” she said. “I shouldn’t have done left. It was stupid of me.” She took another step forward. “I’m sorry that what I did hurt you.” Another foot forward. “I am an absolute idiot when it comes to knowing what to about love. So I’ll be an idiot a lot. Because I love you. A lot.” She reached forward and grabbed his hands, holding them between her and Ani. “I know that that’s not a good apology. I’m awful at making apologies too. This is, unfortunately, the best I can do.” She smiled at him as she looked up into his eyes. Those wonderful violet eyes. He didn’t know how handsome his face was, did he? Or maybe his face wasn’t handsome. Maybe it just looked like that to her because it was Ani’s face, and she loved him. Almost everything about him. “Well,” Tena said, “I should explain. Sit.” She pulled him over to the couch and sat down, then organized her thoughts as he settled down next to her, still looking dazed. “Okay.” She took a deep breath. “Only Lenare and I know what I’m about to tell you. And I didn’t tell him, he just found out. I’m not good at telling people things about myself.” She was staring up at the ceiling. Inhaling again, she looked over at Ani. “I’m sorry, honey. I just get like this sometimes. Not your fault.” She scooted a little closer to him, so she could lean against him. “Okay, here it is,” she said, finally convincing herself she could do it. “So I was sixteen. You know what happened when I was sixteen. I wasn’t in any way rational or in control of myself.” A faint grin spread on her face, but she didn’t quite know why. “I started drinking. A lot. A ridiculous amount. After a while, I could make myself look sober when I was drunk. It was practically my art form. It was one of the reasons I got a death penalty. When my grandfather bailed me out, he knew about it and kept me off alcohol for a while. Five years. But all that time I could still remember vividly what it was like. Peaceful.” She shook her shoulders out a little. “So I escaped. And got back in the habit. And went to the Alleyplanet. When I adopted Silas, I slowed a little. I knew I had to take care of him. But I was still drinking too much. I continued drinking until I saw Lenare again. He didn’t see me, but when I saw him I thought of how clear-headed I had been before. How much more crisp everything had been. “I went home. I took a bottle of whiskey out. I set it here,” she tapped an area on the coffee table where a scratched-in circle was usually hidden by one of her instruments, “and I looked at it. I scratched this around it with a knife,” she traced the circle with her finger, staring at it, “and I knew that I had to stop. So I got rid of all the alcohol I had.” She brushed her hand over the wood, then leaned back against the couch, setting both of her hands on her knees and looking over at Ani. “So I used to be an alcoholic. I made a lot of bad decisions because of my own poor judgement, and that. “But that’s not all. I’m scared for you, too. A lot of people disliked the person you were before, and I don’t want you to get hurt by them, even though they wouldn’t know that you’re different now. People do stupid things when they’re drunk. I know about it from personal experience. I don’t want you to get in a fight, or get killed, or mugged, or whatever. You wouldn’t have me there to keep you safe because you always sneak off when I’m working. I just want you to be okay.” She said that last sentence quietly, turning her eyes back to the scar on the coffee table. “That’s all I want, honest to the moons.” She snapped out of the odd mood she’d been in, then looked over at Ani and smiled weakly. “There, I explained myself. Do you have anything to say?” “I-- I don’t-- know,” Ani stuttered. He still seemed a little wild around the eyes, like an animal on edge. “Better question: have you slept since I left?” “Nnnno,” he muttered, looking her up and down nervously, like he was trying to figure out if she was injured. She wasn’t, but he was paranoid and sleep-deprived, so he probably didn’t care. “Oh, honey,” Tena said, wrapping her arms around him as best she could and resting her head on his shoulder for a moment. “I’m sorry,” she repeated, trying to keep her voice from sounding as distraught than she felt. She stood up, and hauled Ani onto his feet, then pushed him to the stairs. He stared at her blankly, so she said, “You have to sleep. So go to bed.” “Can you, um…?” he said with that same mumbling quality to his voice, and Tena nodded. “Yes, I’m tired too,” Tena said, and he began walking up the stairs, almost robotically. She followed him, then watched for a moment as he took off his shirt and left it on the floor. She picked it up and tossed it into the laundry basket. Ani dropped down on their bed, and Tena curled up next to him, feeling small, but somehow more solid. Everything felt more real like this. She shifted so her back was against his chest, then, like a computer with a command to complete, Ani gently put his arms around her. She sighed, happy, and wriggled a little closer to him. As she listened to him falling asleep (apparently they needed each other to do that easily), she could smell his breath, and it didn’t smell at all like beer. Had he not gone out while she was away? It seemed like the first thing he would do, but… maybe he’d felt really bad about that he’d done. Scratch that, of course he did. He was her Ani. She felt more at peace with that. More confident of Ani’s… character? Was that the right word? Probably. She was getting kind of fuzzy. Correction: her head felt like it was getting kind of fuzzy, and warm. Sleepy, that was the right word. And then she fell asleep. *** Tena woke up feeling right for the first time in three days. She snuggled closer to Ani and opened her eyes. The window revealed the time to be about seven thirty. Had she really been asleep for thirteen hours? It was, at once, easy and difficult to believe. She usually never slept longer than eight hours, but at the same time, she was with Ani, so… “Hun, you awake?” Tena quietly asked Ani. “Hmm,” Ani mumbled, hugging Tena a little closer and then loosening his embrace. Tena squirmed until she could sit up, then did so, folding her legs under her. “I think I overslept,” he continued as he looked up at her. “Maybe not,” Tena said with raised eyebrows, “given that you hadn’t slept at all for three days prior.” She paused as he got off the bed and stood up, making her crane her neck way up to see his face. He winced as he saw that, then sat back down on the bed. “I think I’m going to make breakfast,” she said speculatively, “since you usually have to do it.” She shuffled off the bed, then stood, noting that she had again forgotten to take her bra off. “Okay,” Ani said as he got back to his feet. “That’s fine with me.” He stretched with a groan, then said, “I feel like I have a hangover.” “And you’d know what that feels like,” Tena said with a grin, stretching her arms above her head and rolling her shoulders, then did a few of her usual exercises. Ani watched this silently, as he had long since learned that he was nowhere near as flexible as she. Tena walked down the stairs, skipping slightly, and went into the kitchen. Ani followed her and got out the bacon from the fridge, which Tena took. A half-hour later, they were eating on the couch. Tena finished her bacon and leaned against Ani’s arm, closing her eyes and slowing her breathing a little. She waited until Ani was finished, then pushed herself to the opposite end of the couch and crossed her legs in front of her. “Okay, I think it’s time that we talk about what happened,” Tena said, calming her face down and keeping herself composed. “I thought we did that yesterday,” Ani said, his face confused. “No, I talked at you and you occasionally grunted. We have to discuss what happened so we can prevent it in the future.” “You sound really mature, and it’s freaking me out,” Ani said, alarmed. “Just take me seriously, okay? Anyway, tell me what you think is reasonable.” “I swear I’ll never drink again,” Ani said emphatically, his eyes just… so Ani. So honest and lovely. All the greatest things. “No, that’s not necessary,” she said. “I’m just sensitive about it. That doesn’t mean you can’t, I just want to know first. So we can plan around it, and so that I don’t have to be as worried about you. I’d also like to come with you, even though I can’t drink anything.” Ani opened his mouth as if to say, You could if you were in control of yourself like you are now, and she cut him off. “No, I mean that I’m pregnant, so I can’t drink. I might try again after the baby is… born.” She winced as she said the word. It sounded like stillborn in her ears. Ani seemed to see what she was thinking and moved closer to her, reaching out and rubbing his thumb along her jaw. She loved how that felt, and it made her feel calmer. She closed her eyes and hummed a little. “Okay, have we resolved this issue?” Ani asked, and Tena grinned at him, opening her eyes. For being a trained psychopathic warrior, he really did hate fighting. At least with her. “Yeah, I guess,” she said, then sidled up next to him and turned herself around so her back was facing him. She pressed the back of her head into his shoulder for a moment, and he moved his arm so his hand was resting gently on her abdomen, on where the baby was. She settled her head back and closed her eyes, suddenly feeling like she could sleep again, despite the fact that she’d just woken up. “I love you,” she said quietly to Ani, “I love you.” “I know,” he said in a frank voice, and Tena turned around to see a grin on his face. She made an offended expression at him, then leaned forward and kissed him. Y’know, she thought, killing folks and gaining glory and everything is great, but this is so much better. This is all I need. Anthony was drunk as hell. But he still managed to climb the stairs up to his and Tena’s house. He didn’t want to think about how mad Tena would be, so he didn’t. He kept climbing those seemingly-endless stairs, his boots thunking on the metal, trying to keep from falling over. Tena would be pissed if she had to pay for a doctor repairing his broken skull. As he finally got up the last step, he tried to correct his gait. He was walking wrong. He looked down at his feet, which were barely visible through the darkness. It was dark. Like, really dark. How long had he been out? He couldn’t remember. When he opened the door, Tena was standing in the middle of the room, her eyes blazing like an enraged stallion’s, with a little red at the corners. Was she crying? Why? Though nobody else probably could have known that she was mad. Her posture was relaxed, calm, and her face impassive. And no one else probably could have known that her eyes were angry. You had to look to find the hints of it, though it was pretty easy for Anthony. Even mad as she was, she was still beautiful. Ice-blue eyes, her face, the way she carried herself… like she was in charge and she knew it. She was unconscious of the way she was leaning on one of her legs, making her hips more prominent. The way she’d tilted her head to express how displeased she was, the line of her jaw becoming more distinct. All of this occurred to him in a moment, and then she spoke in a voice of steel. “Anthony Nightshade, you are drunk.” He was, but… hell, he hated disappointing her. “It was,” he thought for a moment about what she’d think would be acceptable, “two beers. That’s it, I swear.” Did lying to her feel worse? Yes, yes it did. “Lying to your girlfriend never pays off,” Tena stated in that same tone. She was terrifying when she was like this, and Ani wanted badly to run away, sprinting at full speed. But he didn’t. He resisted the urge. He had to face her. It was the only thing that would work with her, and he knew it. But he couldn’t keep control of himself that well. Instead of calmly owning up, he said, “Tena, I don’t see what’s the problem! It’s just a little bit. Every once in a while I go out. The rest of the time I’m completely sober. You’re just overreacting.” He tried to keep his voice calm, but it wouldn’t obey, and he really didn’t know what her deal was. This was the first time in a half-month, what bothered her so much about it? She just glared at him, but he didn’t know why. Did she have problems with alcohol he didn’t know about? What could they be? Her face, he found himself staring at her face. Her eyes were bright, keen, and icy. Her mouth didn’t have makeup on it, since Tena didn’t have time for such luxuries (or so she said), but it still looked… enticing. He almost took a step to her, wanting to kiss her, but she cut him off with one sentence. “Did you visit a brothel?” It suddenly felt like he’d dunked his head in a bucket of ice-water, to hear her voice like that. Anthony was shocked, but he didn’t really understand what she meant. Why would she ever assume that he’d do that, didn’t she trust him? The very idea disgusted him. He tried to speak, but couldn’t for a minute, then he figured out what to say. “No. Why would I ever do that?” He was scared; what if she decided he was lying and killed him? Was that something she would do, or was he just drunk? Probably the first. “Because maybe I’m not enough.” What did that mean? “Maybe you don’t really love me.” He took two steps back, and felt the wood of the rail on his back. He felt about ready to hurl himself off, maybe then Tena would finally be at peace, without him to worry her incessantly. The only thing that kept him from doing it was the thought that Tena would think he was confirming what she’d said. He couldn’t say anything, he couldn’t think. What she’d said was terrifying. She was everything, how could she possibly think that he didn’t love her? It was impossible. Before the could say anything (not that he could think of anything to say to that), Tena said, “I’m going to go sleep. You aren’t going to bother me until you can explain yourself. Is that clear?” Anthony nodded, she turned and walked away, up the stairs to their bedroom. Anthony just stood there, his mind feeling like Tena had just dropped him in the middle of the sea. Eventually, he managed to move, walking into the house and looking around. There was a noticeable indent on the left side of the couch. Had Tena been waiting there for him? He suddenly felt awful about going out. Why had he even done that? He loved Tena, why would he do that to her? The option of falling off the balcony seemed much more rational now. He looked over at the open door, at the darkness outside, then walked over to the portal, staring out at the night. He almost took a step there, then there would be no turning back, but he stopped himself. I can’t keep Tena safe if I’m dead. I can’t help Tena raise our baby if I’m dead. He closed the door. Anthony looked around the living room and kitchen, with the ‘dining’ table in the corner, then saw that the dishes weren’t done in the sink. He walked over there and rolled up his sleeves, then spent the next five minutes trying to work out a whole knot of confusing emotions over scrubbing plates. It didn’t work very well, but he got the dishes done and set them up to dry. He nervously went over to the stairs, then up them. He stood just outside the bedroom, watching as Tena rolled away from where he slept and pretended to be asleep. It stung. He hoped, desperately, that she still loved him. Hell, he felt like he was going to cry, but he didn’t know why. But Tena was more important. If she was angry, he had to try to help her get happy again. He didn’t know at all how he could manage that, so he just said, “Tena, you want to talk about it?” “No,” she growled. Anthony winced, then took off his shirt and set it on his dresser, since he’d only been wearing it a day. He walked over, and thumped down on the bed, touching Tena’s shoulder lightly with one of his hands. It seemed really strange that he wouldn’t have his arms around her as he fell asleep. In fact, he couldn’t remember a time that he had slept without her. There had been one time when she’d been gone for two days, on a trip to Scadrial, and he hadn’t slept at all, just stared at the ceiling and worried about her. Tena moved farther from him, saying, “I do not want to smell alcohol as I try to sleep.” Anthony brought his hand back, his heart hurting. At least this time she’s here. He’d probably be able to sleep. The darkness was pressing down on him. He looked over at Tena’s back, which somehow managed to give off an aura of frustration. She wasn’t asleep. He worried, for a moment, that she was like him and could only sleep if the other was with them, but then decided that he was an idiot. She’d slept for years without him, of course she’d be fine. It took him a while of looking over at Tena, but eventually he managed to fall asleep. *** Anthony woke, feeling wrong. He pushed himself into a sitting position. He was cold. Where was Tena? He looked around, and saw her on the other half of the bed, facing away from him, her side rising and falling as she breathed. She still looked elegant and beautiful, even when she was asleep. He almost reached out to caress her hair, but remembered what had happened yesterday. He stood up, then walked over to his shirt and tugged it on, watching her. He had to do something to make her feel better. That was all that mattered. She had to feel better. He walked down the stairs, as quietly as he could, then paced around the kitchen. What could he do…? He looked over at the fridge, then decided that he’d make her breakfast. Something special. After checking the fridge and noting its contents, he picked up one of those reusable bags Tena was obsessed with and walked outside, turning his face up to enjoy the sunshine and cold wind, then began climbing down the stairs. An hour later, he was back home with all the stuff he’d need to make Tena a nice breakfast. He opened the door and walked inside, then closed the door and went over to the fridge after setting the bag down. There was a note in Tena’s handwriting on the door of the fridge. Ani, I’m going to be gone for a few days. Love you! Tena. And a little heart after her name. Gone for a few days? Where? Is she going to be safe? Why wouldn't she talk about it first? Was she… he looked down at his hands, then around at the house. Where Tena usually sat on the couch to eat, where she would pace back and forth on the floor when she was thinking about something, where she’d stand to play songs on her guitar. Everything was empty without her to take up space, make noise, look gorgeous… So he couldn’t help wondering whether or not she would actually come home. Or if she’d come home and kick him out. But he wouldn’t be able to take that. That realization was strange. He’d always been so sure of his ability to be stronger than everybody else, to be able to take a beating, to be able to fight. And he could, he was sure of it, but he couldn’t with Tena, couldn’t fight her, resist her will. And if she left him? He would curl up and die. A dark part of his mind spoke. Are you sure you won’t do something worse? He pushed it down, ignoring it. He was getting distracted. Tena was gone, and he didn’t know where she was. He walked over to the couch, around the coffee table. He sat down, staring at Tena’s ukulele. She hated when he turned one of the pegs out of tune, and sometimes he did it just to annoy her. He picked up the instrument and strummed it lightly on a C chord. He wasn’t very good at playing, and he attributed that mostly to the fact that his fingers were huge. He set it down on the table where it had been before, over a strange circle scratched in the wood. He’d asked Tena about the scar, and she’d just said that it had been a mistake, but refused to say what about. Rusts, Tena, he thought at her, wherever she was, come home. *** Anthony spent the following day in a state of what was almost delirium, never ceasing to worry about Tena; where she was, whether she was safe, if the baby had anything wrong with it… He was laying on the couch, staring up at the ceiling, when he heard the door open. He scrambled to his feet, watching the door intently. Lenare walked in. Anthony collapsed back onto the couch, and put his hands to his face for a moment. “Where’s Tena?” Lenare asked as he looked around the house, probably noting that it was cleaner than usual. Ani had unconsciously tidied up some of the stuff Tena left laying about. Her guitar was on its stand, her books were in their proper places on the shelves, various stacks of paper were organized into their places in the filing cabinet, no dishes were about the counters or coffee table, her construction tools were hung up on the wall in her son’s old room. Anthony answered Lenare’s question. “I don’t know. She disappeared yesterday.” His voice was flat, emotionless. Empty. It mirrored his thoughts perfectly. “What?” Lenare said in a commanding tone. “She left because I came back home drunk,” Anthony explained, his voice unchanging. Lenare let out a frustrated breath. “Great. Gorramn great. Now I don’t know where she is, and she’s pregnant!” He glared at Anthony. “Don’t ever do that again to her.” “I don’t think I’ll have a chance,” Anthony said frankly. “She might not come back, or she’ll just kick me out right away.” He stared at the ceiling, then at Lenare when the man snapped his fingers, sharply. “You’re being an idiot,” Lenare said. “Of course she’ll come back. She loves you. Geez. Can’t either of you just see that? Kids. I swear.” Hearing that was strange, coming from someone who looked as young as Lenare. But, though he looked young, he really didn’t act it. “How do you know she loves me?” Lenare made a face that clearly said You are hopeless. He waved his hands in a gesture of I can’t even, then turned and walked out of the house, obviously out of it. Anthony wondered what had gotten on the old man’s nerves, then decided that whatever it was was probably beyond his imagination. *** Anthony was sitting on the floor, staring at the door from a distance of about four feet, his mind a numb, blurry mess, when he heard thunking from the stairs. If it had been Lenare, there would have been one louder thump from a landing after a Steelpush onto the balcony. So it was either the mailman, Tena’s crazy cousin, or Tena herself. Any of those options would require me to be standing, he thought, so he stood up unsteadily as the door opened. And there she was. With her black hair, bright diamond eyes, beautiful face. Tena. He felt like he was going to pass out. Then she spoke. “Ani, are you okay?” Never had her voice sounded so wonderful, so precious. He wanted to hear it, to never stop hearing it. “No,” was his answer. He didn’t really think, though, it was more like a program in his head. He couldn’t really think. “I’m sorry,” she said as she walked towards him. “I shouldn’t have left. It was stupid of me.” She took another step forward. “I’m sorry that what I did hurt you.” She got closer. “I am an absolute idiot when it comes to knowing what to about love. So I’ll be an idiot a lot. Because I love you. A lot.” She reached forward and grabbed his hands, holding them between her and Anthony. “I know that that’s not a good apology. I’m awful at making apologies too. This is, unfortunately, the best I can do.” He heard the words, but didn’t understand them, just filed them away. And then she smiled at him as she looked up into his eyes, and her smile was like an island of hope in a sea of despair. Her eyes were lovely. Then she continued. “Well,” Tena said, “I should explain. Sit.” She pulled him over to the couch and sat down, Anthony allowing her to do whatever. He didn’t care. His head felt way too heavy. “Okay.” She took a deep breath, and he knew that this was hard for her, so he didn’t speak. “Only Lenare and I know what I’m about to tell you. And I didn’t tell him, he just found out. I’m not good at telling people things about myself.” She was staring up at the ceiling. She breathed again, then looked over at him with a rueful look in her eyes. “I’m sorry, honey. I just get like this sometimes. Not your fault.” She scooted a little closer to him, and he loved how warm she was. “Okay, here it is,” she finally said, slicing through the suspense. “So I was sixteen. You know what happened when I was sixteen.” Despite his exhausted brain’s confusion, he felt a wave of anger at that. He still couldn’t believe that someone could’ve ever done that to her. “I wasn’t in any way rational or in control of myself. I started drinking. A lot. A ridiculous amount. After a while, I could make myself look sober when I was drunk. It was practically my art form. It was one of the reasons I got a death penalty. When my grandfather bailed me out, he knew about it and kept me off alcohol for a while. Five years. But all that time I could still remember vividly what it was like. Peaceful.” She shook her shoulders out a little. “So I escaped. And got back in the habit. And went to the Alleyplanet. When I adopted Silas, I slowed a little. I knew I had to take care of him. But I was still drinking too much. I continued drinking until I saw Lenare again. He didn’t see me, but when I saw him I thought of how clear-headed I had been before. How much more crisp everything had been. “I went home. I took a bottle of whiskey out. I set it here,” she tapped the area on the coffee table where a scratched-in circle was usually hidden by one of her instruments, the one that Anthony had always wondered about, “and I looked at it. I scratched this around it with a knife,” she traced the circle with her finger, staring at it, “and I knew that I had to stop. So I got rid of all the alcohol I had.” She brushed her hand over the wood, then leaned back against the couch, setting both of her hands on her knees and looking over at Anthony with sorrow in her eyes. “So I used to be an alcoholic. I made a lot of bad decisions because of my own poor judgement, and that. “But that’s not all. I’m scared for you, too. A lot of people disliked the person you were before, and I don’t want you to get hurt by them, even though they wouldn’t know that you’re different now. People do stupid things when they’re drunk. I know about it from personal experience. I don’t want you to get in a fight, or get killed, or mugged, or whatever. You wouldn’t have me there to keep you safe because you always sneak off when I’m working. I just want you to be okay.” She said that last sentence quietly, turning her eyes back to the scar on the coffee table, and Anthony wondered why she cared so much about him. “That’s all I want, honest to the moons.” And, really, who had he been? Were the criminals the ones who disliked him, or was it… something else? She suddenly seemed to go back into reality. “There, I explained myself. Do you have anything to say?” Anthony honestly had no idea what to say, since he’d mostly been watching her and filing away her words for later examination. So he said that. “I-- I don’t-- know.” Hell, he was exhausted. It might’ve come out in his voice, though he didn’t want her to worry about it. “Better question: have you slept since I left?” Yup, she had seen it. His mind was getting foggier. “Nnnno,” he mumbled, watching Tena’s face. She had such a lovely face. “Oh, honey,” she said, wrapping her arms around him and resting her head on his shoulder for a moment. Anthony felt a surge of warmth, his mind a little less gotta wait for Tena can’t sleep and more Tena’s back I can sleep. “I’m sorry,” she repeated, and he heard frustration, or maybe worry, in her voice. She stood up, and hauled him onto his feet (he could never quite believe how strong she was, even when pregnant), then pushed him to the stairs. He stared at her blankly, not having any idea what she wanted him to do, then she said, “You have to sleep. So go to bed.” “Can you, um…?” he asked, not wanting to have waited all this time to have her back but not being able to sleep at the end. He needed her to sleep, for some reason. His mind was feeling weird. “Yes, I’m tired too,” she said, and Anthony walked up the stairs with a quiet sigh. Now he’d be able to sleep. As he got into their room, he shrugged out of his shirt and dropped it, then plunked down onto their bed. He heard Tena doing something, then she crawled up next to him and lay down with her back pressing against his chest. It was one of her preferred ways to sleep with him while still not endangering the baby (he wasn’t the only one who was paranoid about that) or discomforting herself. He vaguely remembered what that meant she wanted him to do, so he wrapped his arms softly around her, and she sighed, squirming closer to him. She was so warm, so real, so there. He started falling asleep, listening to Tena’s breathing as it got slower and more even. Given that she could always control her breathing, she must have been really stressed earlier. Once she was asleep, he positioned himself so that anyone tried to break into the room and attack, they would hit him first, giving Tena time to escape or at least wake up. He had to keep her safe. Then, reassured that she would be okay, he kissed her lightly on the head and relaxed. After a moment, certain that she was sleeping, he said to her, quietly, “I love you.” As his eyelids drooped and his mind became cloudier, Anthony noted that her hair smelled nice, a little like lavender, even though he’d only smelled lavender once, at Synod Village’s fields. He fell asleep thinking about that. *** Anthony woke up as he heard Tena’s voice. “Hun, you awake?” “Hmm,” he said, not quite awake yet, hugging Tena a little closer for a moment, then releasing her. She sat up, and he said, as his mind de-fogged to an extent, “I think I overslept.” “Maybe not,” Tena said with raised eyebrows, “given that you hadn’t slept at all for three days prior.” That was true, but wouldn’t Tena be feeling a little out of it? He suddenly felt like it was his fault, but… she probably hadn’t slept much either, and he doubted that he would’ve been able to sleep so long if she wasn’t there. Maybe they’d kept each other sleeping? He stood up, still looking at her, then sat back down when he saw how uncomfortable it must’ve been for her to look up all that distance. “I think I’m going to make breakfast,” she said speculatively as she got off the bed and stood up, “since you usually have to do it.” That was strange. Usually she forced him to make her food, and he deserved to do it. But she wanted to, and getting in her way was pointless. “Okay,” Ani said as he got back to his feet. “That’s fine with me.” He stretched with a groan, then said, “I feel like I have a hangover.” He really did feel it; his head felt like lead now that he’d stood up. “And you’d know what that feels like,” Tena said with a grin, stretching her arms above her head and rolling her shoulders, then doing a few of her usual stretches; crossing her arms behind her head and other such. Anthony watched this silently, as he had long since learned that he was nowhere near as flexible as she. How does she do those, even when she’s pregnant? After a moment, she trotted down the stairs, looking light as air, and Anthony followed. He was nowhere near as graceful, but he didn’t fall on his face either. He followed her into the kitchen and opened the door of the fridge, handing her a packet of bacon. Despite all the time she hadn’t spent cooking, she still managed well, and thirty minutes later they were sitting on the couch, eating. Tena finished first, as she always did, and waited for him to finish. He set his plate down after a moment, still chewing the bacon, and she scooted away from him, going to the other side of the couch with a serious look on her face. “Okay, I think it’s time that we talk about what happened,” Tena said with a calm expression, her shoulders back, holding herself proudly. “I thought we did that yesterday,” Anthony said, confused. He had gotten all of the information she’d given him, hadn’t he? “No, I talked at you and you occasionally grunted.” That was true. Going over what she’d said in his head revealed that she’d said a lot of surprising stuff. That part about him. He wanted to hold her, and tell her that she didn’t need to worry… but did she? (And there had been the part where she’d said that he had been disliked before, what about that?) “We have to discuss what happened so we can prevent it in the future.” “You sound really mature, and it’s freaking me out,” he said, faking being alarmed, trying to put her at ease. “Just take me seriously, okay?” So this was important to her. Good to know. “Anyway, tell me what you think is reasonable.” “I swear I’ll never drink again,” Anthony said, honestly. If it hurt her this much, there was no way he would ever do it. “No, that’s not necessary,” she said, and he was surprised once more. Why hadn’t she just agreed? “I’m just sensitive about it. That doesn’t mean you can’t, I just want to know first. So we can plan around it, and so that I don’t have to be as worried about you. I’d also like to come with you, even though I can’t drink anything.” Anthony opened his mouth to say that he just wouldn’t drink anymore, that she didn’t need to worry about that, but she cut him off. “No, I mean that I’m pregnant, so I can’t drink. I might try again after the baby is… born.” She winced, and Anthony focused on her face. She was worrying about the baby being born properly, obviously. He reached out and rubbed his thumb along her jaw, which he knew she liked. It would help her relax, and she really needed to. She closed her eyes and hummed a little. “Okay, have we resolved this issue?” Anthony asked, and Tena grinned at him, opening her sky-blue eyes and looking into his. He didn’t want to stretch the issue beyond what was strictly necessary. “Yeah, I guess,” she said with her Ani is being Ani expression, which meant that she thought he was acting cute. She scooted over to him and turned around, pressing her head into his shoulder for a moment. He wrapped one of his arms around her, and she leaned against him. “I love you,” she quietly said, and Anthony’s heart lifted. He loved her too, so much… “I love you,” she repeated, and he smiled. “I know,” he said, and she turned around in time to see his grin. She made a mock-offended face at him, then kissed him. This is all I’ll ever need, he thought. Her love. Having her with me.

Ahem. It took Morgoth and seven Balrogs to subdue Ungoliant. Subdue. Okay, so I think the biggest problem with Tolkien’s universe is that he didn’t set any definite limits. Nothing is quantified. That sucks. But still, the Balrog has sheer size and power on its side. Once Vin runs out of metals, she’s done for, and the Balrog could hold her off until then.

Tena was lying on the couch, leaning against Ani as he read one of her books. He was so big that her weight didn’t make him uncomfortable, and that was one of the perks of having a seven foot tall boyfriend. She had her eyes closed, and felt surprisingly calm, given that she was four months pregnant with a baby she was still convinced was a dead child kicking. Another jolt of pain from her abdomen. A dead child kicking was an appropriate metaphor. Ani looked over at her as she squirmed, probably knowing what that meant. His face was worried, but she’d gotten used to that by this point. “You’re a sweetheart,” Tena noted to him as she opened her eyes. He looked at her, and she noted again how beautiful those infused-amethyst eyes of his were. He was obviously concerned. “What do you mean?” he asked. The question was so ridiculous that Tena felt like laughing, but she didn’t; that would make Ani feel bad. “I don’t know if I can explain,” Tena confessed. “You just care for me. You’re here. You make dinner. You’re worried about our baby. You let me nap on your shoulder when I get tired for no reason.” “You have a very good reason,” he said with a nervous glance at her abdomen. “I’m only four months in, you can stop worrying about it,” Tena said, giving him an affectionate kiss for a moment. “But you’re right, I guess I am getting tired for a decent reason.” Her first sentence unnerved her, since the first baby had been stillborn, and had kicked her like this one nearly all the way through. That made her worry more. Would the baby wait to die until the last minute? She dispelled those unproductive thoughts by pressing up against Ani’s arm until he moved it, wrapping it around her shoulders. Tena closed her eyes and dozed off. They both turned back to their tasks, Tena enjoying her day off in the best way she knew of, and Ani reading his book while he waited for the chicken they were having for dinner to finish cooking. The sound of feet thumping on the balcony woke Tena up from her half-nap, and she straightened up. Ani appeared to have dropped off as well, he’d been leaning his head on hers, so he woke up as well. “Who is it?” Tena called, though it was probably Lenare. He’d found out the baby two months ago and had shown up at least once a day to check on her since. She was well used to him showing up while she and Ani were having dinner or spending time together, so she didn’t move. Rena walked in the door. Tena’s immediate thought was, I shouldn’t’ve installed stairs outside. But she unfortunately couldn’t Steelpush any longer, and anyway, she didn’t know if Steelpushing was safe for the baby. Tena stood up quickly. Well, tried to. She felt way heavier than she usually was, so she ended up pushing herself into a standing position with her hands. “Hello, Kay,” Rena said as she walked over to the dinner table, looking over the various items scattered about it. A book Tena had finished, two ten-pound dumbbells, a scented candle… “You’ve been enjoying your time?” Rena glanced at Tena, grinned at the roundness of her cousin’s belly, then looked back at the stuff on the table. She picked up one of the dumbbells and hefted it. “But you haven’t let up on your exercise regimen?” she said, seeming to be thinking aloud. She glanced again at Tena’s abdomen, then over at Ani, who had stood up and was moving to put himself in a position to protect Tena, like the dear he was. “Oh.” Rena paused. “Are you pregnant?” “Yes,” Tena growled, then realized she was pacing towards Rena in a combat stance, made awkward by the weight on her. “No, Tena,” Ani said quietly to her, placing his hand her shoulder and effectively securing her in place. “You can’t fight her in your condition; you could hurt the baby.” Tena looked over at him, and knew it was true. She backed down next to him. If Rena started a fight, she just had to hope that Ani was good enough to fight her cousin. Ani went in front of Tena, his eyes blazing like an angry polar bear’s. Rena brought her hands up to either side of her head, then spoke. “No, please, I just wanted to get in a little tussle. Not anymore. I won’t fight her if she’s pregnant.” Tena was surprised. Wasn’t this just the sort of chance Rena wanted? Ani was obviously confused. “But… she told me that you want to kill everyone she’s close to.” “I only try to annoy her, hun,” Rena said drolly. Tena growled. Had her cousin just called her boyfriend “hun”? “Anyway, if I wanted to kill any of the people she thinks I want to, most of them would be dead. Including you. But I don’t want to kill you. If I’d wanted Mace dead when I attacked him, then he’d be dead. Anyways, he wasn’t any good for you,” she added, meeting Tena’s eyes. Tena knew that now, but why would Rena care? “I’ll leave now, Anthony, you can stop looking so confused.” As Ani tried to rearrange his face into something resembling calm, Rena walked back out to the porch, and the clangs of her walking down the metal stairs were audible. “Is she, um,” Anthony asked, and Tena shook her head. “No, she’s not telling the truth. She’s more bloodthirsty than that.” Tena walked back over to the couch, then to the stand nearby, picking her guitar up off it and sitting down on the couch. She was decent at playing while sitting down. Ani sat at the other end of the couch, probably knowing that she wanted to do something to distract herself. She played and sang “Give up the Ghost” by Storyhill for Ani, because she thought it was mostly appropriate. The only real difference was that it was about people who had broken up, but she wanted with Ani as long as she could. “I’ve loved before,” she finished quietly as she stared into Ani’s eyes, “love you the most… give up the ghost.” She’d gotten rid of the past-tense in the line, since she was talking present-tense. Ani caught on to lyrics pretty fast, and was an excellent singer, but he hadn’t interrupted her despite the fact that this was maybe the fifth time she’d performed it for him. That was yet another thing she loved about him, he was patient. Tena set her guitar down on the coffee table as she finished the song, then scooted over to Ani and kissed him. She was so lucky to have him, she could hardly believe he was hers. After a moment, she settled down, leaning against him. He wrapped his arms around her and she sighed. He was wonderful. She couldn’t stop thinking about that. “Did you like the song?” she asked him without opening her eyes or looking at him. “You know that I think you’re amazing,” he said simply, and she smiled. “But I think you hit one or two of the chords late.” “Okay, I’ll work on that,” Tena said, then sat up again and grabbed her guitar, going to the other side of the couch and doing a repeating chord pattern for a minute. She thought that Ani found it annoying, but he shouldn’t’ve told her if he didn’t want her to practice. Once she got them on time again, she started playing again, the same song. Ani joined in with her on the chorus this time (he could go surprisingly high-pitched when singing), then Tena switched sharply into another song by Storyhill, “Highlight”. It was infinitely more appropriate to their situation, she thought. “There’s something even greater, weaving us together,” she sang. “Unseen, the tie that binds us... unknown, the path before us… but unclouded the sky above… and unbelievable love.” She kept plucking for a moment, then continued, “Wade in the water, hold on to my hand… the current can be strong here, but no stronger than I am.” She was staring into Ani’s eyes the entire time. By the moons, he had lovely eyes. Did he know that? It was, of course, that moment that Lenare chose to come inside. A loud thump from the porch resounded, and he walked in. “Hey, Tena, Ani,” he said, obviously aware of their situation. He was grinning. A weird thing about Lenare was that he almost never acted like a grandfather, always more like Tena’s mature older brother who cared way too much about her wellbeing. “Anyway…” He tossed her a black leather bag as she set down her guitar, and Tena hefted it. “Easy, it’s a ukulele. Are you going to learn to play?” she asked. “Yes. Your turn.” She grinned, already having something prepared. She took the uke out, put it on the coffee table with her other assorted instruments (bass guitar, uke, normal guitar, etc.), then stood up, feeling a little unsteady. Lenare knew her well enough to not try to help her, but Ani almost stood up. Lenare gave him a death glare that Tena appreciated, then she walked over to Silas’s old room and rooted around for a few minutes before finding the desired items. She heard Ani and Lenare talking, and wondered what about. She walked back out of the room and passed Lenare the bag, then plopped down next to Ani. Lenare sat down on one of seats at the (glorified) dinner table, which Tena only used for putting random stuff she brought home from work on, while Ani preferred to put things for Tena on it. Lenare shifted the bag, noting with a raised eyebrow the size and weight of the objects inside, then said, “A gun.” Tena nodded. “What kind?” “Revolver.” “Correct. Anything else?” “Two clips of ammunition, and a pen.” Tena growled, then grinned. “I didn’t think you’d notice the pen.” His expression was droll. “I’m not that old yet, kid.” Tena rolled her eyes, then saw Ani’s incredibly confused expression and explained. “This is a game me and my grandfather play. We put something in a bag and give it to the other person, then have them guess what it is.” “It’s like a board game,” Lenare continued when Tena paused, “except for true intellectuals.” Ani didn’t have time to express his confusion in words. The stove beeped that the chicken was done, and Ani and Lenare stood up at the same time. Lenare mock-formally bowed to Tena, then picked up his ukulele and walked out of the house. She and he could practically telepathically communicate at this point, so she knew that he wanted to let Ani and Tena share their dinner together. Tena appreciated the gesture of respect, and Lenare probably knew that. Once Ani was done putting the food on plates, he brought it over to her, handing her plate to her, then sitting down a foot away. They ate for a while in silence, then finished. Ani took her plate and his to the sink, washing them. Tena curled up on the couch, pretending to fall asleep, then restrained a grin as she felt him pick her up after a minute. She waited as he walked upstairs, then, just as he was about to set her down, she rolled over, making him drop her, and agilely twisted to land on her feet. “You could hurt the baby doing that,” Tena accused softly, her voice monotone. Ani had been standing, completely shocked, for a second, then he breathed out a sigh of relief. “I’m sorry,” he said, his shoulders sagging, his voice sounding like he thought he’d actually done something wrong. “No, honey,” Tena said, her attitude switching completely when she saw how ashamed he was. She looked up at him and grabbed his hands, making him meet her eyes. “You didn’t do anything wrong. It was just a prank. I’m sorry. You have no reason to be.” She stared into his eyes for a moment, feeling like an awful person to have put Ani in this mood, then let go of his hands and walked over to her dresser. She took her bra off (she forgot to do that a lot, and it hurt like hell) and put it in one of the drawers, then lay down in bed, pulling the covers up over her shoulders. She waited tensely for a moment, her eyes unfocused, until Ani moved, taking off his shirt and tossing it in the laundry bin. He walked over to their bed, then paused. Tena felt a sudden bolt of fear lance through her brain, not even really knowing why. It was her fault. What if Ani didn’t want to date her anymore? That didn’t make any sense, it had only been one mishap, one scare, but humans rarely made any sense. Then, finally, Ani made up his mind and lay down beside her. Tena sighed in relief. He still loved her. It seemed ludicrous that he wouldn’t, but her mind liked making up scenarios and playing them out to amuse itself, and terrify Tena. “Tena,” Ani said quietly as he stroked her cheek softly with one hand, rubbing his thumb along her cheekbone, “I forgive you. It’s alright. I was just scared. But please, don’t do that again.” He paused, then continued with a slightly amused tone, “I love you. Even if you are a lot obnoxious sometimes.” Tena smiled at that memory. Sitting on a rooftop together… early on. That had been before their relationship had become grounded, before it had become serious. It seemed so long ago. She looked into his eyes, still scared. She waited for him to get up and leave… or something like that, but he just stayed there, like he was waiting for her to do something. Then, as if realizing that Tena wasn’t going to take the initiative, Ani pulled her close and kissed her. Tena closed her eyes and kissed back, suddenly figuring out that what she’d done hadn’t been all that bad. She’d just given Ani a fright on accident. Usually, Tena was the one who started the kiss, but this time Ani had. She loved him. So much. It was practically ridiculous. Tena didn’t know much about relationships in general, but she did know that most had more fights than her and Ani’s. Why was that? Maybe because me and Ani always end a fight with kissing. That’s probably not good. But she and Ani did get things figured out. They just always apologized at the end. I like that for certain. No grudges, just apologies. Eventually, Tena bit Ani lightly on the neck, unconsciously, and he said, “I think we’d better sleep. We both have things to do tomorrow.” Tena nodded her agreement, then settled down with her forehead lightly touching Ani’s collarbone. Ani’s strong arms wrapped around her, and she felt three times safer like that. He was warm, and her eyelids were drooping. Then, she fell asleep. Anthony was engulfed in his book, Ancillary Justice. AI-run spaceships, an intriguing protagonist, suspense, truths unearthed, a god split. It was interesting. He had heard the author lived on Reckoner’s earth. He read and read. He felt Tena squirm, and looked over at her. Was it the baby? Is she okay? How can I make this better? She looked at him and told him, “You’re a sweetheart.” She stared into his eyes, and he stared into hers, like calm pools, the kind found only deep in an ancient forest, shaded. The type that had a sense of magic around them. She was so beautiful. “What do you mean?” He was confused. Why had she said that? Nothing about him would bring that up. It just didn’t make sense. He could sense joy in her eyes, almost like she wanted to laugh. She didn’t, which he was glad for, but it increased his confusion. “I don’t know if I can explain.” She sounded strange. What was going on? “You just care for me.” Of course. What else would he do? She was the only thing he lived for. “You’re here. You make dinner.” He grinned at that. He hadn’t been the best cook at first. “You’re worried about our baby. You let me nap on your shoulder when I get tired for no reason.” So… she loved him. That made him glad, though for some reason a deep part of him still doubted it. Doubted anyone loved him. Then he thought about the last part. She doesn’t have a very good reason? “You have a very good reason.” He glanced, almost nervous, towards where he knew the baby was. She kissed him, saying, “I’m only four months in, you can stop worrying about it.” Yeah, right. Did she really think he could stop worrying about it? Really? “But you’re right, I guess I am getting tired for a decent reason.” Ah, better. She pressed herself against his arm, and he moved it, carefully wrapping it around her. She fell asleep, and he went back to his book. He had free time until dinner was ready. Feet thumped up the steps, and Anthony pulled himself out of small slumber he had dropped into, and brought his head off Tena’s head. She had been sleeping as well. “Who is it?” Tena called. He had been about to ask that. Maybe Tena’s grandfather? Lenare? He came over often now, Anthony suspected it was because of the baby. That wasn’t anything new though, and he just stayed there, leaving his arm around Tena. He watched as some strange woman walked in the door. She looked a lot like Tena. He had some vague memory of her, he thought. Not from before, no, just a faded memory, after he had awakened. Who is she? He felt Tena stiffen, and try to stand up. “Hello, Kay.” The woman said it like a normal person, but Anthony could tell, she was looking around the room, surveying it. Like a warrior. Yes, I must have been one. He looked at what she was looking at. Some dumbbells, a candle, a book. “You’ve been enjoying your time?” As the woman said it, she looked at Tena. He stood up, face cold. The woman picked up one of the weights and lifted it. “But you haven’t let up on your exercise regimen?” Anthony could almost hear her think. He moved himself into a more protective position. He wouldn’t let her hurt Tena. The woman looked at them both, at the bulge where the baby was, at him where he stood, then back at Tena with an inquisitive expression on her face. “Oh. Are you pregnant?” Anthony had to withhold a groan. This woman seemed dangerous. That couldn’t be good. He heard Tena stand. “Yes.” Her voice was aggressive, and she walked over to the woman with a face like thunder. He could see her prepare to fight, see in his head how this fight might play out. And he could see the gaping hole. The baby. “No, Tena. You can’t fight her in your condition; you could hurt the baby.” He had kept his voice quiet, firm, and he was ready to step in if she continued. He wouldn’t let anything happen to either of him. Tena backed up, and he exhaled. She had to be safe. He would die to keep her safe, and be glad at the trade. “No, please,” the Tena-looking woman said. “I just wanted to get in a little tussle. Not anymore. I won’t fight her if she’s pregnant.” Something clicked, and he felt a strange confusion. Knowing who she was just made it worse, more complicated. “But… she told me that you want to kill everyone she’s close to.” His voice came out puzzled, and he lectured himself on letting on too much emotion to his enemies. “I only try to annoy her, hun,” the woman said in an obnoxious voice. He heard Tena growl. He felt just about the same. He wanted to kill the woman. “Anyway, if I wanted to kill any of the people she thinks I want to, most of them would be dead. Including you. But I don’t want to kill you. If I’d wanted Mace dead when I attacked him, then he’d be dead. Anyways, he wasn’t any good for you.” Anthony listened, confused. It seemed like he was missing something. He didn’t know what had happened. Tena had made her seem much worse. Why had she cared? “I’ll leave now, Anthony, you can stop looking so confused.” He tried to school his face back to stillness, and the woman left, clanging down the stairs. “Is she, um,” he said it so awkwardly, and Tena just filled in the blanks. “No, she’s not telling the truth. She’s more bloodthirsty than that.” He watched as she walked over and grabbed the guitar. He walked over, a violent thump as he landed on the couch. She needed something to get her past the woman. She played a song to him, a song she had told him was called Give up the Ghost. She sang it while looking into his eyes, and he looked back into hers. That ice-blue she’d gotten from confronting her cousin had melted to reveal a clear sky. Four minutes he listened to her playing (she was excellent) and her voice. He didn’t join in, since he was far too busy just watching her eyes as they slowly changed, the pupils getting larger, slowly. “I’ve loved before, love you the most… give up the ghost.” Love you the most… Those four words held so much for him, encompassed everything important about his life. She finished, and set her guitar down on the coffee table, then moved over to him and kissed him. He kissed back, loving her in such a damnation indescribable way, then grinned a little to himself as she settled down, closing her eyes and resting her head on his shoulder. He wrapped his arms around her, gently, since he was paranoid about the baby, and she sighed in a happy way. “Did you like the song?” she asked him. “You know that I think you’re amazing,” he said simply, and she smiled in her wonderful way. “But I think you hit one or two of the chords late.” He knew that she would want to know, and she had. Nobody is perfect. Even her, as unbelievable as that is. “Okay, I’ll work on that,” Tena said, then sat up again and grabbed her guitar, scooting to the other side of the couch and doing one of those odd chord repetitions. He preferred when she actually played, but tried not to show his annoyance on his face, despite the fact that she could probably tell anyway. Once she got all the chords right, she started playing again, the same song. Anthony joined in on the singing part this time, since it was the second time she was performing and the song was a duet, then Tena switched sharply into another song by the same artist, one he thought was called Highlight or something like that. “There’s something even greater, weaving us together,” she sang in her beautiful voice. “Unseen, the tie that binds us... unknown, the path before us… but unclouded the sky above… and unbelievable love.” She kept plucking for a moment, then continued, “Wade in the water, hold on to my hand… the current can be strong here, but no stronger than I am.” Wow. She… that was a great way of saying it. And it was, of course, that moment that Lenare chose to walk in. He grinned that insufferable grin of his that he only used when he saw Anthony and Tena in a situation like this. “Hey, Tena, Ani,” he said with a delighted tone, something you’d expect to hear from a younger brother who’d caught his sister kissing her boyfriend. “Anyway…” He tossed Tena a black leather bag as she set down her guitar, and she hefted it. “Easy, it’s a ukulele. Are you going to learn to play?” she asked, and Anthony became confused. Was there a ukulele in that bag? “Yes. Your turn,” Lenare said. Tena grinned, then stood up and walked into her son’s old room. Lenare gave Anthony a measuring look for a minute, then said, “Is Tena alright thus far?” “Yeah, she’s fine. I don’t think there’s anything wrong with the baby, so there’s that.” “Okay, good.” Tena walked back out of the room and passed Lenare the bag, then plopped down next to Anthony, leaning on his shoulder, as she often did unconsciously. Lenare sat down on one of seats at the (glorified) dinner table, which Tena only used for putting random stuff she brought home from work on, while Anthony preferred to put things for Tena on it. Lenare shifted the bag, then said, “A gun.” Tena nodded, and Anthony’s apprehension increased. Why was there a gun in the bag? “What kind?” she asked. “Revolver,” Lenare said matter-of-factly. How had he figured that out? “Correct. Anything else?” “Two clips of ammunition, and a pen.” At this point it was just downright cheating. Had Tena told him what was in there earlier? Was it a memory exercise? Tena growled her terrifying growl, then grinned her sunny, beautiful grin. Anthony started to wonder whether she had Multiple Personality Disorder. “I didn’t think you’d notice the pen.” Lenare’s expression was droll. “I’m not that old yet, kid.” Tena rolled her eyes, then saw Anthony’s likely-obvious confusion and explained. “This is a game me and my grandfather play. We put something in a bag and give it to the other person, then have them guess what it is.” That was strange. Why didn’t they just spar or something? Then, he remembered that Tena was pregnant. Not that she wouldn’t try fighting, like the reckless woman she was, but this was definitely a safe alternative. “It’s like a board game,” Lenare continued when Tena paused, “except for true intellectuals.” That was probably the least helpful thing he could have said, honestly. Then the stove beeped, and Anthony and Lenare both stood up. Lenare left, and Anthony got a little annoyed at the old man for not at least saying bye to his own granddaughter. Anthony ignored that, however, and took the chicken out of the stove, then prepared it and served a portion to Tena, sitting down next to her with his own food. They ate for a while in silence, then Anthony took her plate and his when they were both done and washed all the dishes in the sink. When he was done, he noticed that Tena had fallen asleep, then walked over to her and picked her up, breathing out a little hurf at her weight. He carried her upstairs, since he hated waking her up (and she was usually in a foul mood after a nap), and then dropped her involuntarily as she turned around, surprised. Tena twisted in the air to land on her feet like an eel, then, as he stepped back in shock, she said in cool, calm voice, “You could hurt the baby doing that.” Oh hell. He could’ve hurt the baby. “I’m sorry,” he said, quietly, sure that his voice was as sad as he felt. It should be. “No, honey,” Tena said. She looked up at him and grabbed his hands, making him meet her eyes, her beautiful eyes. “You didn’t do anything wrong. It was just a prank. I’m sorry. You have no reason to be.” She stared into his eyes for a moment, her own looking like she was concerned about him a lot, then let go of his hands and walked over to her dresser. She took her bra off and put it in one of the drawers, then lay down in bed, pulling the covers up over her shoulders. Anthony waited for a moment before taking off his shirt and tossing it in the laundry bin, then walking over to their bed. He paused for a second, breathing slowly. He didn’t deserve to sleep with her if he was careless enough to drop her, but her eyes were scared, like she was afraid of him not being with her. That was ridiculous; he didn’t have anyone else to be with. He walked over to the bed, and lay down on his side of it. “Tena,” he said quietly as he stroked her cheek softly with one hand, rubbing his thumb below her eye, which she liked for some reason, “I forgive you. It’s alright. I was just scared. But please, don’t do that again.” He paused, then continued with a slightly amused tone after quickly thinking of something to lighten the mood, “I love you. Even if you are a lot obnoxious sometimes.” Then, after waiting for a moment for Tena to kiss him or something, he pulled her close and kissed her. Tena closed her eyes as she indulged a little, then moved to nip him on the neck. Anthony started to think she getting a little too involved, so he said, “I think we’d better sleep. We both have things to do tomorrow.” She nodded, and settled down with her forehead touching his collarbone, and quickly fell asleep. It took him longer, it always took him longer, but eventually he did, with Tena warm in his arms.

Okay, for the first one, we’re assuming that this is a Pokémon-style duel. Both contestants are aware that the other exists. Balrogs don’t have any light (Investiture), so they can’t be Leeched. Anyway, they have those awesome fiery weapons of death, and, might I remind you again, it took a literal Maiar to defeat one.

“My ex-boyfriend,” Tena said absently, looking over at Travis as he sat down near Lenare and those two girls, started talking. He looked really old, compared to how he’d looked... twenty years ago. Wow. What a shock. “Remember? The father of my second miscarriage. Hmm?” She looked up at him and smiled slightly at his expression. “Don’t worry about it, hun. We’re going to get married! So we shouldn’t frustrate ourselves over little... things like that.”

The Nightwatcher points at the way out. “Congratulations. You do not get a bane, because you didn’t ask for a boon.” I wish that everyone on the Shard whom I spend time with lived in the same time zone as me.

Leftie over here as well.

It was Axe's 'The 20th Century' playlist from Spotify.

Tena... forced... a smile onto her face and shook her head, then nodded at the next two people who came up to congratulate her and Anthony. Say, what is wrong with me today? She glanced around at the crowd, at people wearing nice clothes and being polite, and it was like she was suffocating in all the attention. I'm not used to having so many people around. I can manage a bunch of construction workers, but not these few? Usually, she was in one of two situations: at work with her lot to boss around, or at home with Anthony and/or Lenare. Even this many people felt unnatural, though she'd probably have to get used to it. "Okay, so yeah, there's something wrong with me," Tena confessed quietly to Anthony. "People. I'm not used to this many people. I'll be fine in a minute." Lenare appeared a few steps away, then walked over to Tena with a strange expression on his face. He ruffled her hair lightly, which made her glare at him, then said, "You're finally happy. Congrats. To you as well, Anthony." Tena nodded at her grandfather, and probably would've hugged him, but that would have been nigh-impossible in her state. Lenare ruffled her hair again, then walked over to sit at the table where those two young women had gone. *** "Grandpa!" Seom said, and stood up just as Lenare got to her table, hugging her grandfather tightly for a moment. Then, she recovered he composure and sat back down, blinking repeatedly. The short woman who had sat down opposite her leaned forward slightly, as if intrigued by Seom's sudden reaction. "Nice to see you too, C," Lenare said, and sat down in another of the chairs. "How've you been doing lately?" "Fine. Nothing was too difficult. I'm just glad Pa left back to Scadrial without killing anyone. He looked about ready to." "Your father has been like that for a really long time. I think he's coming here, actually." "Why?" "Oh, I don't know. Probably wanted to see you, if I had to guess. Makes enough sense to me." His one wolf ear flicked back, almost unconsciously, and Seom wondered what that meant. She'd seen her dogs do that when they were distressed or aggressive, but Lenare wasn't a dog, of course. "Ah, and here he is. Wanted to meet the couple before sitting down, I guess." *** Tena stiffened as she saw who was now approaching. "Travis," she said, her voice flat and cold. "Yeah," Travis said. His face was impassive, but that wasn't anything new to Tena, even though she hadn't seen him in twenty years. "Why're you here?" "Just wanted to wish you well, Tess. Don't freak out at me." "I wasn't--" she slowed her breathing, "just go sit. We can talk after it's over, okay?" Travis nodded, then walked over to the table Lenare had gone to (why had that girl called him 'Grandpa'?). He sat down next to that same girl, and Tena decided that she would just ignore it until she was married.

I wonder why most everybody is ignoring me, Tena thought. Is it that I'm wearing a dress? She looked down at herself and, of course, immediately saw her abdomen, which was bulging out, though she was thin everywhere else. So they're probably ignoring me because I got pregnant before I got married. Religious people get on my nerves. She'd had to get her dress tailored to account for the baby, but it was still a little tight. She breathed in and out for a minute, then glanced up at the sky and winced as the baby kicked. Again. Well, it was either the baby, or her hungry stomach. She didn't know which was less demanding. *** Seom walked through a forest. Apparently two bozos were getting married. In the middle of a forest. And they'd invited everybody. Now THAT'S hippie. She eventually got to where an obviously-pregnant woman and a giant man (he had to be AT LEAST seven feet tall) were standing next to each other. The woman, presumably the bride, was a few inches shorter than Seom herself, and was wearing a short black dress that went down to slightly beyond her knees. She had a scar on the side of her face, thin, like she'd been sliced with a knife, and light blue eyes that were positively blazing with rage. About what? Seom walked over to the pair and bowed slightly to the bride, but didn't say anything. When she stood straight again, the bride was grinning like a chasmfiend on weed. "Well, it's nice to see someone paying the proper," she glanced at the giant man next to her, "amount of respect to the one who actually makes a difference in a relationship. Y'know, giving birth and all that jazz." Wasn't expecting that. Was the woman crazy, or just mad about something? "Well," Seom said, really having no idea what to say, "I hope you two are happy." Tena nodded enthusiastically and shoved her soon-to-be-husband in the ribs slightly, though it was a bit of a stretch for her. Seom turned and walked to one of the back tables, then sat down and leaned back in her seat, looking around and assessing the threat each guest might be. She had her metalminds ready if she had to fight, but it was still a bit much for her to fight hand-to-hand with anything but knives. *** Dru skipped slightly as she walked through the forest. The air was light, cool, and the ground was springy, the grass green. It was certainly a good day to have a wedding. She saw the tables, and a pregnant woman who was nearly a foot taller than Dru standing next to an absolutely enormous man. Like, that guy had to be at least eight feet tall, and with huge shoulders. Were there even sports for people that big, or did he just do... something... with all his time? To avoid meeting his scary violet eyes, Dru bowed to the woman who was getting married, and a wide smile spread across the woman's face. "Ladies are always polite," she informed her fiancé, then turned to Dru. "You ever been to a wedding before?" "I haven't, sorry. What should I say?" "A simple 'congrats' would suffice." "Okay, then. Congratulations! This'll end off well, I can tell. You guys'll be happy." The woman beamed up at her fiancé, which made Dru smile. Seeing people happy always helped. She turned and looked around, then saw a table where a young woman was sitting alone and walked over, plopping down opposite the person.

“Oh, hey,” Tena said as another guy showed up, “what’re you here for?” I really just want whoever that priest-guy is to show up so I can say ‘I do’ before something goes wrong.

Tena heard that, and would have murdered Dwig, but she was pregnant and she was getting married, so she settled for ignoring him.

“Actually,” Tena said, “can we just get on with the ceremony? There’s a guy I know, y’see, and I’d terribly love for him to be my husband. Where is that gorramn officiatior?” She glared around at the surroundings in general, but ended off beaming up at Ani.

When Tena heard the words ‘old man’ is regards to Anthony, she stiffened and glared at Dwig, her face changing from happy to hostile in a matter of half a second. Her eyes were probably blazing like some sort of demon had awakened in her, she realized, then relaxed visibly and narrowed her eyes at Dwig. Did he just call Ani old? Ani isn’t all that. But wait, hadn’t he been an adult when she’d met him, twenty years ago? So maybe he’s a little old, but he certainly doesn’t look it. “Hello, Dwig,” she said in a cold voice.