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TAG WITH @jayden

POSTED ON Dec 3, 2023 22:59:36 GMT

shiv, freya morningstar, and 2 more like this

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DECEMBER XX 2023, 11:59PM

[break][break] sleep used to allude him. but thanks to marcus kotov's recent pills, it comes easier.

[break][break] 'you have to take these jayden,' the doctor had advised weeks ago. his eyes are are cold and serious as they ever are. should jayden not have already been used to the cold, calculating look in which the other regarded him — like a specimen rather than a human — he might have been more concerned about it. 'they'll help you sleep.'

[break][break] and they had.

[break][break] it was why that night was so alarming.

[break][break]
[break][break]

[break][break] the admin woke up suddenly, eyes flashing wide open.

[break][break] it wasn't a night terror. he grapples with his nightstand briefly, flicking on a nearby light. his body is tense, as he glances over the sleeping form of fern delaney beside him and their matching sleeping dragapult by the edge of the bed. neither of their patrons are anywhere to be found, but that's not the sight that concerns him. not the sound that concerns him.

[break][break] the flipping of an incessant coin, echoing through the darkness.

[break][break] "jayden cross, is it? we've yet to meet."

[break][break]
[break][break]

jayden doesn't have the connection other rockets do. when he was sent the instructions for the letter weeks before, it was with mint frost bursting into his office, excitedly waving a paper and a crossword puzzle, explaining that it was his chance.

[break][break] 'it's him, jayden! it's him!'

[break][break] 'let's write the letter together. oh, what should i call him?'

[break][break] 'do you think he remembers me?'

[break][break]
[break][break]
when FATHER WINTER 2 offers them a chance to change their timelines, jayden refuses.

[break][break] he has no need to change his life, and CHIEN PAO agrees.

[break][break] in fact, the RUINOUS BEAST wastes no time in prowling forward with a deadly snarl and leaping for the triad member's neck, aiming to rip him limb from limb in the same way that jayden cross had asked to do to MATIAS SILPH in his letter.

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but fate has a funny way of working. of changing.

[break][break] FATHER WINTER 2 decides their fate for them anyway, pushing them straight into the portal.

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gems of sapphire blue dance in his eyes before everything, all at once, goes black.

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[attr="class","oocnotes"] [attr="class","fas fa-book-open"] PROLOGUE

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played by

milky

jayden

he/him

december 25

ballonlea, galar

bisexual

wyndon ceo

admin

5'10" height

we'll never get free, lamb to the slaughter

awards

4,142 posts

DOLLARS

part of

TAG WITH @jayden

POSTED ON Dec 3, 2023 23:38:18 GMT

shiv likes this

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it's like a bullet-shot, being thrown into the portal and ripped into the flowing fabric of time. it reminds him of those days in the SOOTOPOLIS BAY, when he and several other rockets had championed into the territory that was rightfully theirs.

[break][break] who knew that they would have met PALKIA there? who knew that they would have had reality shift and break-apart into puzzle pieces?

[break][break] it was years ago, but his head still throbbed from the memory.

[break][break] and it throbbed now, laying across that grassy bank as he smelled spruce and pine, staring up at the stars that blinked like city lights above them both.

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[break] he turns his head, relieved to see that fern delaney too was in one piece.

[break][break] the admin pushed himself upright, shaking his head.

[break][break] "you shouldn't have come after me, you know."

[break][break] but despite his words, his tone wasn't critical. just affectionate.

[break][break] a cold hand brushed against fern's forehead.

[break][break] "are you alright?"

[break]

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fern delaney[break]
[attr="class","fas fa-book-open"] CHAPTER ONE

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MILKY

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played by

lou

harper beck

they/he

twenty-eight

august 11

stow-on-side, galar

pansexual

forger

rocket admin

6'0 (it's 5'8) height

long black tulips, born in your blue tints. lemongrass eyelids, smoke in your slick lips.

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966 posts

DOLLARS

part of

TAG WITH @fern

POSTED ON Dec 4, 2023 1:17:54 GMT

shiv and mint frost like this

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To be aggressively pulled from sleep isn’t exactly at the top of Fern’s list of enjoyed things.[break][break]

They’ve grown used to jayden cross’s poor sleep habits. Have only sometimes been able to coax him back to rest without the use of the new medication he takes. But for the most part, they’ve adapted to his restlessness so that it doesn’t stir them all that often now.[break][break]

This, however, is different.[break][break]

It’s like coming up from underwater. The muffled sound of voices, their vision bleary as wakefulness is thrust upon them. Fern lifts halfway, squinting in the dark so that they can feel for Jayden’s familiar form. “Mmnn..what’s goin’ on?”[break][break]

The sluggish crawl of drowsiness is ripped off Fern like a bandaid, or being dunked in ice water when the portal opens up and sucks Jayden in. They try to reach and pull him back, but the consequence is getting sucked in by the force of it too.[break][break]

And then they are just…elsewhere.[break][break]

Fern’s face screws up in the twist of a frown, somewhat pouty in their yank out of grogginess. “Of course I was going to come after you,” they huff matter-of-factly.

It’s only a given–no matter waking or sleeping or sort of sleeping. Any of it. They didn’t even think about it.[break][break]

Just… grabbed whatever part of him they could when he was suddenly portaled. (They’re pretty sure it was his leg.) It all happened so fast. They didn’t even hear the conversation, or register the fact that it was Father Winter in their bedroom (why can’t he just stay bi-sected?)[break][break]

All they know now is that they’re in some other part of the city in the middle of the night for no discernible reason whatsoever.[break][break]

They lean into his touch, only to shiver at the chill of his fingers against their skin.[break][break]

“Mm, yeah. Bit of a rough landing, but I’m pretty sure I’m in one piece.”[break][break]

A hand lifts to rub at blue eyes, confusion setting in again.[break][break]

“What even happened..? What–who was that?”

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jayden cross [break]
+ eepy

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MILKY

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played by

milky

jayden

he/him

december 25

ballonlea, galar

bisexual

wyndon ceo

admin

5'10" height

we'll never get free, lamb to the slaughter

awards

4,142 posts

DOLLARS

part of

TAG WITH @jayden

POSTED ON Dec 4, 2023 1:33:59 GMT

shiv, freya morningstar, and 3 more like this

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"Father Winter."

[break][break] He grimaced.

[break][break] "I think."

[break][break] In actuality, Jayden isn't sure. He barely knows a thing about the man, having only ever seen him in RKS in actuality and heard about him through the threadvine of Rocket's gossip tree otherwise. But he trusts mint frost, he trusts Cillian Quinn and Tempest Quinn and about everyone else who reported actually meeting him.

[break][break] "But he was supposed to be dead. Spliced apart and gathered up by —" His eyes glint with the brief remnants of HATRED at the reminder of Remiel Calcifet. Traitor. "Anyway, I don't know if it's the real him."

[break][break] 'Mint seems to think it is,' he thinks. 'Or a version of him.'

[break][break] fern delaney would have known about the flyers that were posted all around the city. Maybe even sent in a letter of their own, perhaps with the aid of mint frost too, but for whatever reason it was —

[break][break] "Come on," the admin, said pushing himself to his feet and offering the other a hand. "Let's go home. I think we're still inside Sootpolis."

[break][break] He reaches for his belt, intending to call a pokemon to their aid, but finds that he has nothing on him besides his sleeping wear.

[break][break] "I guess..." he says, glancing up at the twinkling night sky. "We'll have to walk."

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fern delaney[break]
[attr="class","fas fa-book-open"] CHAPTER ONE

[attr="class","milkycred"]
MILKY

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played by

lou

harper beck

they/he

twenty-eight

august 11

stow-on-side, galar

pansexual

forger

rocket admin

6'0 (it's 5'8) height

long black tulips, born in your blue tints. lemongrass eyelids, smoke in your slick lips.

awards

966 posts

DOLLARS

part of

TAG WITH @fern

POSTED ON Dec 4, 2023 1:47:34 GMT

shiv, freya morningstar, and 1 more like this

[nospaces]

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They frown. “Father Winter? But–”[break][break]
They’ve read the reports from Mt. Pyre, of course. Was there to hear it communicated over their radio, though they didn’t see the gory remnants of the DRK Triad member. There was the game and the RKS simulation, sure, but that just been an illusion. Digital recreation.[break][break]
Unless the landscape of the machine had somehow grown.[break][break]
“Well,” they reply in a dramatic titter, arms folding, “whatever he’s up to, it was a lousy trick.” Clearly, the man has lost his touch. Probably something to do with being two messy and very separate pieces now.[break][break]
But whatever. It’s rather inconvenient, and Fern would very much like to dive back under their blankets and huddle for warmth, thank you very much.[break][break]
Fern checks themself over similarly, and comes up short as well. “To think I’ll have to start keeping a pokeball in my bedclothes..” they grumble to themself, “the nonsense of it.”[break][break]
With a groan, they heave upward with Jayden’s help, stretching the sleep from their limbs as they do so. A look around betrays nothing out of the ordinary. Quiet, mostly dark. “At least the city isn’t bustling..”[break][break]
What an embarrassment that would be–traipsing down the cobbles in their pajamas. The chill on the underside of their heels indicates bare feet as well.[break][break]
“Are we very far from home?” they squint, trying to make out any familiar street signs.

[attr="class","tag"]
jayden cross [break]
+ eepy

[attr="class","symbol"]
[attr="class,"cp cp-fox"]

[attr="class","milkycred"]
MILKY

close tab

played by

milky

jayden

he/him

december 25

ballonlea, galar

bisexual

wyndon ceo

admin

5'10" height

we'll never get free, lamb to the slaughter

awards

4,142 posts

DOLLARS

part of

TAG WITH @jayden

POSTED ON Dec 4, 2023 1:54:30 GMT

shiv, freya morningstar, and 1 more like this

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He chuckles.

[break][break] "I'm sure you can think of something clever." He leans against them, affectionately pressing the briefest of kisses to their head before grabbing their hand and leading them down the steps in front of the lake.

[break][break] At the top of the steps, there is the gleaming shape of the moon —

[break][break] One that flickers with the image of something familiar. A crescent-moon smile, jagged monochromatic hair, and brilliant cobalt blue eyes. Then the water shimmers with moonlight, and the sight is gone.

[break][break] Jayden's hand grips them further, leading them down the familiar path towards their house.

[break][break] Just like the first time they had, when they first met.

[break][break] "It's not too far. I think I can see Astlik and Medb in the distance already."

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fern delaney[break]
[attr="class","fas fa-book-open"] CHAPTER ONE

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MILKY

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POSTED ON Dec 4, 2023 3:53:23 GMT

shiv, freya morningstar, and 5 more like this

[attr="class","hnnpage"]

[attr="class","hnntitle"]HOENN NEWS NETWORK

[attr="class","hnnsub"]THE LATEST NEWS BROUGHT TO YOU LOUD & CLEAR FROM YOUR TRUSTED BROADCASTER, TV MAUVILLE!

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[attr="class","hnnball"]

[attr="class","hnnissuemar"]VOLUME 07 ISSUE 06 / JANUARY 2024 EDITION

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WYNDOM PHARMACEUTICALS CEO COMES BACK TO LIFE

INTERVIEW BY BARNABY FINCH

JANUARY XX 2024 — startling news reverberates across news channels: Dmitri Volkov, accompanied by his wife Cäcilia Cross and their son Alexei Volkov, have been discovered alive. In 2020, their demise was widely believed following SILAS BLACKWELL's death, casting a somber shadow over Galar. The revelation astonishes even the residents of Hoenn, accustomed to the ubiquitous presence of the company’s pharmacies in the region, especially the newest location in Mauville City. Despite the ongoing calamities plaguing Hoenn, the pharmaceutical behemoth remains a crucial resource for medicinal remedies, albeit criticized for their exorbitant pricing and shady background.

Eventually, news stations from all over are requesting interviews from the Pharmaceutical CEO come back to life. It's not surprise, of course, that the first person who is able to nab an interview is the ever-successful BARNABY FINCH of HNN.

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“Welcome to The Bees Knees' with me, your host, Barnaby Finch!”

B: “So, today we have… a surprising guest! I’m sure all of you are quite shocked to see who is sitting in front of me. Wyndon Pharmaceuticals very own Dmitri Volkov!”

D: “Hello, nice to meet everyone today.”

B: “Mr. Volkov, we have to know. How are you here? What happened to you? We all thought you -”

D: “Passed away? Went up in flames? Had a glorious memorial? You did attend, didn’t you Mr. Finch?”

B: “Ah.. well. We’re glad to have you back here. What happened exactly?”

D: “I don’t want to bore you with the details, but stranger things have happened, haven’t they? After all, didn’t ALEXANDER STONE come to life not that long ago?”

B: “But surely some details?”

D: “If I could remember, I would tell you. Trust me, Barnaby. I want to know just as much as you. But I’m just glad to be back with my son, Michail. And that he’s in one piece too.”

B: “How are you feeling now, both physically and emotionally, after everything?”

D: “I’m okay. But you can never really recover from something like that, can you? I hope to take it easy for now. After all, I no longer need to spearhead Wyndon, with my son having taken up my mantle so successfully.”

B: “Ah, that’s right! Your son is CEO of Wyndon, isn’t he? There was some doubt about him in the beginning, but your business is quite on the rise, isn’t it?”

D:“It is. Last quarter’s earning’s especially. We hope to open up a location in Evergrande, after popular request. Though, I hope we won’t face too many hurdles.”

B: “Hurdles? Why do you think there would be hurdles?”

D: “Well, I don’t know if Dahlia Goode will want to have someone like me in her city, after all.”

B: “Someone like you?”

D: “Someone like me, Barnaby. From lesser means. Haven’t you heard the story of dahlia goode and SILAS BLACKWELL… ah, well. Looks like we’re out of time.”

B: And that's our show! Thanks for tuning in with us for this buzz-worthy interview. See you next time on The Bee's Knees!

PAID ADVERTISEMENTS

LEAVE US A COMMENT

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POSTED ON Dec 28, 2023 7:08:16 GMT

shiv, freya morningstar, and 1 more like this

[nospaces]

[attr="class","winterwake"]

[attr="class","top"]

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[attr="class","textbox"] "have you heard?"

[break][break] 'dmitri volkov is alive."

[break][break] "no way! you can't be serious - "

[break][break] "he's dead. he died. and now he's -"

[break][break] "alive."

[break][break]
[break][break]

what?

[break][break]
[break][break]

he finds out when he's in the den with fern delaney.

[break][break] re-heating old galarian stew on the stove-top, the smell of warm spices and nostalgia filling the air of fern delaney's cozy apartment. it is comfort and warmth and ease in a way that he has almost never felt before —

[break][break] he sees his father's face on live television.

[break][break] the sickening hue of his father's blood-red gaze.

[break][break] the dish he's drying slips from his grip and onto the kitchen floor, shattering into the shape of broken glass.

[break][break]
[break][break]

a local news reporter reports that a family of three was found in the rubble of the silent icelands, excavated by some local rangers. they are all scuffed and dusted gray, like something pulled out of the back of a grandmother's closet. but jayden has never met his grandmother — dmitri would never let him.

[break][break] even dusted and broken, dmitri weaves a pretty lie. speaks falsities into thin air, giving a fake name and a sob sorry that brings the civilians who are listening to tears. that it is such a relief to have been found alive, that it despite the greater disappointments of the league, this is at least one area where they have not failed.

[break][break] but jayden knows better. he knows better.

[break][break] this isn't some civilian sob story. this isn't some group of strangers.

[break][break] this is - this is -

[break][break]
[break][break]

"father."

[break][break]
[break][break]

his father's smile is crescent silver when he lifts his eyes up from the hospital bed, arms wide.

[break][break]
[break][break]

'mischa.'

[break] 'you came.'

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[attr="class","oocnotes"][attr="class","fas fa-book-open"] CHAPTER TWO

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POSTED ON Dec 28, 2023 7:24:53 GMT

shiv, noah faber, and 2 more like this

[nospaces]

[attr="class","winterwake"]

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[attr="class","textbox"] 'is that a cut?' his father murmurs, reaching for his hand. jayden complies. he has no choice but to comply, only wincing as his father squeezes his wrist. blood reddens the jagged edges.

[break][break] eyes of crimson red lifts towards him.

[break][break] 'you were careless.'

[break][break] "i - sorry, father, i - "

[break][break] panic swells within his chest. it becomes a slippery, awful thing — a secret that he thought was left hidden, buried alongside his father's corpse.

[break][break] which is resurrected now. alongside the man himself.

[break][break] dmitri finds the only tiny piece of glass leftover, glancing over it with his thumb. presses it deeper so that the wound overflows. dripping blood onto the hospital floor.

[break][break] 'go get yourself cleaned up.'

[break][break] he is smiling, but his eyes are not. his eyes are burning, piercing straight through him.

[break][break] 'and go say hello to your mother and brother.'

[break][break]
[break][break]

rocket takes care of them all like they are want to do. after all, the volkov family or the cross family — however which way you liked to spin it — were esteemed figures in the organizational circle. their son may have been rocket brass, but it was dmitri volkov that had wielded him as a weapon first. crafted him into the perfect sword that he was.

[break][break] rocket had merely borrowed jayden from him.

[break][break] and it was about time he returned.

[break][break]
[break][break]

"mischa," the voice echoed, as the enforcer leaned against the wall of his son's office.

[break][break] jayden looked up with a start, back straightening on impulse. fear pinned him into place.

[break][break] "is this your office?"

[break][break] dmitri walked languidly forward, like a lion returning to it's den. despite the fact that he had several bandages around his person, looked skinnier than ever before, his expression held the gaze of a predator as it wandered the office. fingers skimmed the edges of the frames that were set upon the wall — various accomplishments that jayden had held in high esteem, or pictures that he'd taken with his so-called friends.

[break][break] "i - yes, father. it is."

[break][break] the admin's heart stuttered in his throat. though his father was several feet away from him, though he could have likely snapped the other man's neck with how strong he was now and how weak his father was, jayden did not dare. dmitri's presence in his office was a threat in itself — like a knife pressed to the flesh of his neck.

[break][break] "you are admin now?"

[break][break] he swallows thickly, blood roaring in his ears.

[break][break] "yes."

[break][break] slowly but surely, those blood-red eyes turned to him. daunting in their embrace, jayden waited with baited breath to what his father would say. how his father would scold him. how his father would try to rip his new life from it's mantle.

[break][break] but instead, his lips upturned and stretched into a crescent-moon smile.

[break][break] "good job. i'm proud of you."

[break][break]
[break][break]

wait, what?

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[attr="class","oocnotes"][attr="class","fas fa-book-open"] CHAPTER TWO

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POSTED ON Dec 28, 2023 18:26:19 GMT

shiv, freya morningstar, and 1 more like this

[nospaces]

[attr="class","winterwake"]

[attr="class","top"]

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[attr="class","textbox"] "i do not trust it," Cillian Quinn warns him.

[break][break] his brother has always known him best, has always been there for him when dmitri wasn't.

[break][break] after all, it was him who had protected him from dmitri's influence back then. who had protected him from the brokenness and the bruises, had pulled him upwards with warmth and affection that he had never known to exist before Cillian Quinn.

[break][break] "they're not around anymore. it's time to think about what you want."

[break][break] cillian had been the one in rocket to first console him about his parent's death, to tell him that they were gone, to finalize the thing that he had worried over for so long. dead, it had seemed like such an absolute, concluding thing. he had felt the relief in his chest that fluttered when cillian had said those words. he had wondered, back then, what it was like to want.

[break][break]
[break][break]

what a perilous thing hope proved to be.

[break][break] a fresh sprout, blooming from the earth.

[break][break] yet it only took winter's breath to smother it back down to ash.

[break][break]
[break][break]

"i trust it," mint frost said, with a smile that beamed.

[break][break] his friend had no reason to doubt the sudden tutelage of dmitri volkov. after all, he had never known a father like him.

[break][break] dmitri was charming as he was effusive, easily scooping up the greedy desires of a young mint frost. it was the kind of closeness that his own father never granted him, the kind of affection that young men like mint frost were want to have. he could not have known - he did not know of the purpled bruises of jayden's youth, of the scorched remarks, of the torturous demise that was his childhood.

[break][break] since coming back to life, dmitri had not laid a hand on his son since.

[break][break]
[break][break]

'you must be proud,' alexei said.

[break][break] jayden looked up from his desk to see the lanky image of his brother - his real brother - saunter into the room. much like dmitri, alexei was the kind of person who claimed the space that he walked in. while dmitri prowled forward like a lion, alexei slunk in like a jaguar. his teeth peeled back, bone-white.

[break][break] a hand clattered against the desk, against the frame that was held propped up on the admin's desk. the image of a young fern delaney smiling, childish and bright.

[break][break] 'you must be proud,' his brother sneered again, carmine hues descending, as he gripped jayden's hair. nails that dug into his scalp. 'to have father's praise.'

[break][break] 'but don't worry, baby bird, it won't last.'

[break][break] 'you'll ruin it, just like you've ruined everything else.'

[break][break]

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[attr="class","oocnotes"][attr="class","fas fa-book-open"] CHAPTER TWO

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POSTED ON Jan 7, 2024 17:33:22 GMT

shiv, freya morningstar, and 1 more like this

[nospaces]

[attr="class","dejavu"]

[attr="class","top"]

[attr="class","textbody"]

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[attr="class","avatarimg"]

'I'm proud of you, Mischa.'

[break][break] Jayden had never once thought that he would hear the day that his father was proud of him. Dmitri simply was not the type of man who gave out praise easily, especially not to him.

[break][break] And despite everything, despite every piece of evidence that told him not to believe it, he couldn't help but believe it. Had he not worked for this his entire life? Had he not poured blood, sweat and tears into Rocket with the finite hope that he could please him?

[break][break] No —

[break][break] Yes.

[break][break] As much as he tried to not want it, he had wanted it. It felt like a dirty thing to want, especially since his father had always been there for him, had always supported him, had made him who he was. But who was Jayden ask for such a thing — for his pride?

[break][break] That crescent-moon smile lived in his nightmares, in his dreams, in his future.

[break][break] Forever-more.

[break][break]

[break][break]

"I... I think I believe it, duck," he confesses.

[break][break] Since Dmitri came back, the former Enforcer had done not a single thing to him. He was focused on his recovery, he said, and perfectly happy to see his son reach the heights that he always knew him capable of.

[break][break] Jayden had expected something - anything - else. He had thought his father would usurp him from his position, would find some way to punish him or criticize him for his lack of ability. But, as Dmitri had said, what would he have had to chastise Jayden for?

[break][break] His son was a success. An admin and an avatar both. The only thing that he wished for his son more could have been Underboss, and that was something —

[break][break] 'It'll come in due-time, my boy.'

[break][break] A smile curved the corners of his mouth as his teeth sank into the steak from where he sat across the family dining table. The juices bled from his mouth, to which he dabbed it with a cloth.

[break][break] Dim light sank into the corners of the room, casting Dmitri's face into shadow. Blood-red moons in the center of his face.

[break][break] 'You are my son, after all.'

[break][break] Jayden swallowed, looking at fern delaney in his arms.

[break][break] "I never thought I would, but I believe it. It's a good thing that he's back."

[break][break]

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[attr="class,"cp cp-skull"]

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fern delaney[break]
[attr="class","fas fa-book-open"] CHAPTER THREE

[attr="class","milkycred"]
MILKY

[newclass=".dejavu"] --accent:#7c6678; --speech:#7c6678; [/newclass] [newclass=".dejavu"] width: 450px; margin: 0px auto; position:relative; [/newclass] [newclass=".dejavu .textbody b"] color:var(--speech); font:bold 13px/11px 'Poppins'; [/newclass] [newclass=".dejavu .textbody i"] color:var(--speech); [/newclass] [newclass=".dejavu .textbody u"] color:var(--speech); font-style:italic; font-size:12px; letter-spacing:1px; text-decoration:underline; [/newclass] [newclass=".dejavu .top"] border-radius:5px 5px 0px 0px; background-color:#2B2B2B; height:50px; background-image: url(https://image.ibb.co/cpf8Wc/flower_patt.png); background-repeat: no-repeat; background-position: bottom right; [/newclass] [newclass=".dejavu .textbody"] padding:40px 80px; text-align:justify; font:12px 'Roboto'; letter-spacing:0.2px; color:#ddd; background:#222; background-image: url(https://image.ibb.co/cpf8Wc/flower_patt.png); background-repeat: no-repeat; background-position: bottom right; border-bottom:15px solid var(--accent); [/newclass] [newclass=".dejavu .textbody .avatarimg"] height:85px; width:85px; float: left; margin: 1px 21px 11px 1px; border: solid 9px #272727; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: -1px -1px 0px #232323, 1px -1px 0px #232323, -1px 1px 0px #232323, 1px 1px 0px #232323, 3px 3px 0px #303030, -3px 3px 0px #303030, 3px -3px 0px #303030, -3px -3px 0px #303030; filter:grayscale(100%); [/newclass] [newclass=".dejavu .tag"] font:11px 'Poppins'; color:rgba(250,250,250,0.5); border-top:1px solid #333; text-align:right; margin-top:30px; padding-top:5px; [/newclass] [newclass=".dejavu .tag a"] font: 10px 'Poppins'!important;letter-spacing:5px; text-transform:uppercase; color:inherit!important; text-decoration:none; [/newclass] [newclass=".dejavu .symbol .cp"] font-size:15px; margin-top:39px; position:absolute; background:#2B2B2B; padding:10px; border:1px solid #333; color:var(--speech); [/newclass] [newclass=".dejavu .milkycred"] font:10px 'Poppins'!important; color:#eee; background:#222; padding:2px 10px; position:absolute; top:25px; right:-40px; transform:rotate(90deg); background-image: url(https://image.ibb.co/cpf8Wc/flower_patt.png); background-repeat: no-repeat; background-position: bottom right; border-radius:5px; [/newclass] [newclass=".dejavu .postbody a"] font:bold 13px/10px 'Poppins'!important; [/newclass] [newclass=".dejavu .milkycred a"] font:10px 'Poppins'!important; color:#eee!important; text-decoration:none; [/newclass]

[newclass=".starrygif"] background-image:url(https://images.squidge.org/images/2023/12/03/The-night-sky-once-ruled-my-imagination.-on-We-Heart-It.gif); height:150px; width:275px; background-position:50%; border-radius:10px; border: solid 9px #272727; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: -1px -1px 0px #232323, 1px -1px 0px #232323, -1px 1px 0px #232323, 1px 1px 0px #232323, 3px 3px 0px #303030, -3px 3px 0px #303030, 3px -3px 0px #303030, -3px -3px 0px #303030; filter:grayscale(0.3); [/newclass]

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POSTED ON Jan 15, 2024 0:46:14 GMT

shiv, freya morningstar, and 1 more like this

[nospaces]

[attr="class","fern"]

[attr="class","top"]

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I… I think I believe it, duck.[break][break]

Call it paranoid, call it intuition.[break][break]

Whatever label is affixed to the feeling, it stirs in their gut regardless–uneasy and distrustful. When they look at Dmitri, Fern sees something sharp and clever. Perhaps they recognize the glimmer, quick and subtle, that betrays a man biding his time.[break][break]

Perhaps they recognize it because they have always been exceptionally adept at playing waiting games themself.[break][break]

It’s a comparison drawn that immediately sours on their tongue. The last thing that Fern wishes is to be anything like the man who has put jayden cross through unimaginable hell. Even a sliver is far too much.[break][break]

But though they repel from the notion, they know that they are not a good person–like anyone else among their ranks. Fern is not about to fool themself into such a thing, and so they navigate the way forward with wary eyes. Surreptitious glances fall on the elder Volkov, and they avoid any opportunity to be in the same space as Alexei.[break][break]

I see you, their pale eyes say silently to his father. I see you and I am waiting for you to make even one misstep.[break][break]

And yet he does not.[break][break]

Time drags out like a long-held breath. They sit on a precipice, waiting to tilt into the freefall. Until the night that Jayden makes the admission, tangled together in the vulnerable quiet of their room. Their haven. To Fern, Dmitri’s name deserves no place there.[break][break]

Their heart flutters, and uneven breath drags into their lungs. They do not want to upset him. He looks happy. Pleased to finally be receiving the acknowledgment and praise from the person he’s always wanted, and never needed it, from.[break][break]

“Oh, duck.” Their voice is no more than a cooing murmur, and their chest is caving in with the kick of their flight reflex. This confession makes it punch harder, makes them want nothing more than to take him by the arm and run. Away from the long shadow Dmitri Volkov casts.[break][break]

It will swallow him otherwise. It will swallow them both.[break][break]

But Fern tries to smile, and it’s a tiny, tepid thing. “Duck, please,” they breathe, fingers smoothing cajolingly through his hair, “be careful. I just…don’t know.” The bitterness on their tongue begs to be spat out in vitriolic words built from nothing but a multitude of stories and memories that earn their disdain.[break][break]

But hope is bright in his eyes, whether he knows he betrays it or not.[break][break]

And Fern aches for him to be happy.[break][break]

“Just promise me. Promise me you won’t dismiss anything strange.” Though, to Fern, every bit of this can be labeled as ‘strange.’ Wrong.[break][break]

He might believe it, but they do not.[break][break]

He might be willing to accept his father for what he gives, but that certainly won’t stop them from skulking behind. Sticking their nose where they believe it belongs.

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MILKY

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milky

jayden

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december 25

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POSTED ON Jan 15, 2024 1:08:55 GMT

shiv, freya morningstar, and 1 more like this

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They are waiting, Jayden knows it, for father to make a single misstep. A flaw in judgement. Anything to beget the impression that he has crafted of him all these years, of the memory that Jayden knows — or thinks — to be true.

[break][break] But Dmitri Volkov is perfect.

[break][break] Painfully so. Like a man crafted of absolute marble, a hand-gifted down to him by the Gods, Dmitri does not make a single misstep. Jayden has always thought his father something inhuman, and had considered him to be a man of the devil's making. But perhaps he is wrong. Perhaps it is his fault that his father had always been disappointed in him.

[break][break] Perhaps now, in this new life, things are different.

[break][break] Hope - traitorously - beats inside of the cage in his chest.

[break][break] Desperately, Jayden finds himself seeking recluse in the only person that he can bear to trust.

[break][break] fern delaney.

[break][break] Their hands are smooth against his hair. Sweet, soothing gestures that make the ache in his chest disappear. Make the memory of those blood sclera disappear into seas of teal-water blue.

[break][break] "I won't," Jayden promises, even though he still doesn't know what it means.

[break][break] Since coming back, his father has been perfectly kind. Nothing strange at all about him.

[break][break] One might think that Jayden had simply conjured the nightmare from his childhood all on his own.

[break][break] Perhaps he had.

[break][break] "He trusts me now, duck," he swallows, violet eyes trailing after theirs, desperate for Fern to understand it the way that he does. He wants it — no, needs them to confirm it. "It's like... it's like the father I never had."

[break][break] It's a confession made into the dark, lips pursed as if around something dangerously sweet. Like a guilty thought.

[break][break] "I think I ... trust him."

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fern delaney[break]
[attr="class","fas fa-book-open"] CHAPTER THREE

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harper beck

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twenty-eight

august 11

stow-on-side, galar

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POSTED ON Jan 15, 2024 1:24:01 GMT

shiv, freya morningstar, and 1 more like this

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He does not want to believe them, they realize.[break][break]

But can Fern really blame him? When he’s been denied something like this sort of relationship and respect and care all of his life? Now that it is handed to him so openly, of course he wishes to welcome it with his arms spread wide. And it breaks Fern’s heart a little bit.[break][break]

Because he has had to wait so long for it. Because it still feels like a sham to them. Because, in this moment, they know that what they give is not quite enough, no matter how much they wish it to be.[break][break]

“People like that…” they trail. Chew on their words slowly and carefully. They don’t want to upset him, or make him cross with them. But it’s not right, is it? [break][break]

Something isn’t right about any of this.[break][break]

“Mischa.. people like that don’t just change on a whim.”[break][break]

Like that, they say. An ugly curl to their emphasis. They don’t breathe his father’s name, but there is no mistaking who they mean.[break][break]

But Jayden persists in his childlike hope. There is something young and bright in him now. Gleaming in the violet of his eyes. A sheen so light that Fern can’t even miss it in the gloomy dark of the room.[break][break]

“It’s different,” they concede reluctantly, eyes shifting away for a moment guiltily. It’s what he wants to hear from them. They know it is. The but hangs there, unsaid as they exhale a slow breath.[break][break]

“But I don’t know if it’s forever, love.”[break][break]

Trust me more, they want to wail at him, and don’t.[break][break]

The conversation feels like it has a fixed end, regardless.

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jayden cross [break]
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played by

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jayden

he/him

december 25

ballonlea, galar

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