He Xuan had been ready to leave the desert well before Shi Qingxuan had finished her little investigation. It wasn’t the sun, or the sand, though both were unpleasant, but Crimson Rain’s stupid voice on the private communication array: « Oh, sorry, are we walking in on something? If I knew there was a dress code I would have gotten done up. » And if it wasn’t that, it was the tinkling of jewelry in Shi Qingxuan’s hair as she moved, or the meaningless asides that were disorienting in…
He Xuan had been ready to leave the desert well before Shi Qingxuan had finished her little investigation. It wasn’t the sun, or the sand, though both were unpleasant, but Crimson Rain’s stupid voice on the private communication array: « Oh, sorry, are we walking in on something? If I knew there was a dress code I would have gotten done up. » And if it wasn’t that, it was the tinkling of jewelry in Shi Qingxuan’s hair as she moved, or the meaningless asides that were disorienting in the scale of their inanity: “Isn’t this fun? I love having fun with you.”
One night only — this is the only way they meet, with her bruises on his body, with his old name at the back of her throat, choked. He's broken away from what he used to be, but what he is now, there's no name for — just a warm shape in the dark.
The Brides have their hooks in Jonathan, less pleasurably than before. Written for Elise, prompt "naked".
"Assume success," says Bruce unencouragingly. "Describe how it's achieved."
I've made a lot of promises in my life. Even kept a few of them, though I don't make a habit of it. What's the harm in telling someone what they want to hear?
The possibility that keeps him up at night is that Meng Yao came into his service an honest man, and over time changed into what he sees before him now. That, as his ambitions rose and his world grew grander, he reshaped himself and discovered the things he was capable of, all the while looking like his familiar self, but transforming under his skin into something Nie Mingjue could hardly recognize.
Distantly, she hears footsteps approaching, and looks up in hope, praying that it’s the paramedics arriving–but it’s just Higgins, shockingly normal in his suit and tie, asking, “Rebecca, someone heard shouting–” and then he sees Rebecca crouched over Ted’s prone body and gasps, the file folder in his hand fluttering to the floor.
“Leslie,” Rebecca chokes out, “Ted’s collapsed, I need you to go downstairs and wait for the ambulance.”
“Yes, yes,” Higgins stutters, “But–”
“ Distantly, she hears footsteps approaching, and looks up in hope, praying that it’s the paramedics arriving–but it’s just Higgins, shockingly normal in his suit and tie, asking, “Rebecca, someone heard shouting–” and then he sees Rebecca crouched over Ted’s prone body and gasps, the file folder in his hand fluttering to the floor. “Leslie,” Rebecca chokes out, “Ted’s collapsed, I need you to go downstairs and wait for the ambulance.” “Yes, yes,” Higgins stutters, “But–” “Go,” Rebecca orders, and Higgins stumbles over his own feet, rushing out of her office. (Futurefic, set seven years after s1.)
Instead of talking Marta through evading investigators, Ransom goes for the path of least resistance. It leads straight to the courthouse.
The two of them are happy together. Kylo Ren watches.
In Egypt, Antony and Cleopatra share their recollections of a dead man. Then things get competitive.