Nightbird*Songbird: aloha! And I must point out that formatting is
misbehaving, so instead of apostrophes and quotation marks I will be using
asterixes. In other words, these: *
Disclaimer: Crying didn*t work. Am going to think up plot to steal the Lord of the Rings, but until then, I am just as badly off as the next poor fanatic.
Random Quote That Has No Real Meaning But Makes Me Laugh: **But why is the rum gone?**
Response to reviews:
anthem: Why, thank you! I*m so pleased I get the title of *awesome*.
val: **intereacting**... excellent choice of words. :) I think I will start using that word in my e-mails to my friends.
MoroTheWolfGod: Okay! :)
moonlightgoddess: Yep. Them two be as stubborn as mules, milady. There be no knockin* any sense into em.
Silvawen the Elf Crumpet: Yay!!! Two reviews at once! And whatever you do, don*t die! Then where would I get my reviews? my bread and butter and water? the honey of the flower of my life? the - oh, sorry, I rambled a bit there. :) anyway, I hope you live long enough for the next chapter, and keep reviewing. You are considered my first major achievement, because you*re the first person who cried. :) Lyl, hun!
A/n: Ooh, I am evil! (grins evilly) More torturous dealings with our poor baby*s relationship, more Aragorn being an insensitive lout, and yet more of odd talking to trees! Wahahahahaaaa!!! (notices readers) Oh, erm... hahaha... well! Nice to see you all, hope all my past reviewers wake up and realize I*ve updated, and if you*re new, well, by all means! Review!
I need reviews... they are my fuel... otherwise I get all depressed and think dark thoughts. And leave stories alone for months... (dun, dun, duuuun!) That*s a threat, yes. Now be good and review, and tell me what*s going wrong with my writing. Anyone who can point me to a good English- Elvish translator site will get a something nice... yes, that was bribery. :) Ah, love me anyway?
Lol. But, seriously, I should start the fic now. So without further ado over nothing, I proudly and belatedly present:
Chapter Five: Raining Roses
Legolas rubbed the wood in his hands with a porous stone, taking off the flaky inner bark and smoothing out the wood beneath. He then picked up a feather, a jar of sap, and some black cording, and began to fletch what would soon be an arrow. The task had been done a hundred times before, and the familiar scent of pine sap, faint leather, and the wood itself soothed him greatly. It was almost automatic by now; he had, after all, been doing it by himself for two thousand years.
//And I intend to keep my solitude, thank you,// he stubbornly told his heart. //Aragorn doesn't need you to hinder him. He*s also an insensitive human, and doesn*t love you. What worse person to fall for?// Suddenly the brush he was using to apply the sap slipped, and he got it on his fingers. Legolas cursed under his breath, dashing quickly over to the stream and frantically scrubbing away at the sap before it hardened. Too late. His hands would be a sticky mess for the rest of the day. He grumbled under his breath. He hadn*t been paying attention to what he was doing, and this was the result.
//Though, I do feel tempted to blame Aragorn for distracting me// he thought moodily. //Every time I have thought of him today, my concentration has slipped.// It was true. He had missed a shot today, for the first time in his life. That in itself had him so startled he had been thrown into shock for a good long while, until Aragorn had had the bright idea of waking him up with a dunking in the stream.
//And I*ll bet he liked doing it. I can*t blame him, though; I was an utter bigot to him last night. He*s probably out brooding.// Legolas forced himself to stifle his concern at Aragorn being out by himself, which had been his natural response. //Come on, Legolas, he*s a big boy now, all grown up and ready to defend himself. Even with that ankle, he*ll be fine.//
//Besides, Men have a reputation of being against two males joining. How do you think the King of Men reacts to advances from other males?// Legolas coloured at the thought. He tucked his hair behind his ears distractedly, then realized what he had done.
**Oh, Lord and Lady!** he shouted furiously to a willow on the opposite bank. **It wasn*t enough to get my hands completely sticky, so now my hair is, too! Why does bad luck keep following me the instant I think of him?!**
The tree ignored him steadily, refusing to answer. Legolas glared at it. **I hate willows,** he muttered to himself.
Let it be noted that, when he tried to cross the bank on the opposite shore, Legolas somehow tripped over an upraised willow root that had not been there before.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Aragorn sat in the branches of a silver birch, bemoaning his lack of rhetoric. He had no idea how to approach any subject of romance to Ghost whatsoever. And Ghost certainly wasn*t helping much. Every time he tried to talk to him, Ghost would either ignore him or respond with a biting remark. //Obviously I need to talk to him. But how can I when he turns to ice at the sound of my voice?//
Aragorn sighed. He really wanted to let Ghost know how he felt, but Ghost seemed not to want to hear it. Ghost had, in fact, been going out of his way to avoid him. The only time Aragorn ever saw him was when he woke him up in the morning. //I have no idea what*s going on inside his head, but it can*t be too favourable regarding me.//
**Why does he have to be such an idiot?** Aragorn wondered aloud. He turned to face the trunk of the birch. **He*s really being a total idiot about this. His name isn*t Ghost, he IS a ghost. Floating around unseen all day, disappearing mysteriously at night- he*s driving me insane, and I think he knows it.**
The birch, if anything, grew even more remote and distant. Aragorn glowered at it. **You*re probably on HIS side, aren*t you?** he said bitterly to it. **Because he*s an elf.** The birch said nothing, as it was birch, and everyone knows birches don't speak with men. Aragorn was suddenly acutely aware of how ridiculous he looked, talking to a tree. He jumped down from it, which may not have been the wisest thing to do in consideration of his ankle, and began to stalk back to the house.
As luck would have it, Aragorn met Ghost on the way there. He was shaking water from his hair and muttering something about willows, but Aragorn didn*t care. He grabbed him by the shoulders and forced him to look at him.
**Ghost, you have been a total wretch. Why have you been avoiding me, and why won*t you treat me civilly?** he demanded angrily, shaking Ghost lightly. Ghost glowered at him, rage all too evident in his stormy grey eyes. Normally blue, they seemed to turn grey when Ghost's wrath was aroused- as it was now.
**Take your hands off me, Aragorn,** Ghost said with a glare that could have melted steel. Aragorn shook his head.
**Not until you answer me,** he said with just as much venom. **You*ve been making a great fuss over one incident, which I do not intend to repeat and which I have already apologized for. Now tell me WHY!?** he thundered, and Ghost trembled underneath his hands.
**Hands off,** he said icily, when Aragorn had finished. **I*ve had quite enough of people screaming in my prescence, and you*re succeeding in making it a good deal worse. I*m in a bad mood, caused mostly by you, and you*re pushing it.** Aragorn shook his head stubbornly, and tightened his grip.
**No,** he said dangerously. **Not until you tell me why.**
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Legolas wanted to kill him. //He*s been playing with my feelings long enough! A single blast of magic would kill him. He*s been an arrogant bastard to me, and if I hadn*t fallen in love with him, he would be dead already!// his mind screamed, fury filling his mind. Legolas started to gather his power, anger boiling in his very skin as he prepared to smite the Man down.
But he couldn*t. No matter how many times he tried, he couldn*t bring himself to kill the one he loved. Instead, he dropped his head and began to speak.
**You*re hurting me, Aragorn,** he whispered. Aragorn sighed, and dropped his hands.
**Now will you tell me why you*re doing this?** he asked gently. Legolas shook his head.
**It*ll only cause complications for you. You can*t afford complications as King.** Aragorn stared at him.
**What makes you think that anything you do could affect me unless I wanted it to?** he asked scathingly. **Honestly, your*re so arrogant-**
//WHAT?!// Legolas gaped at him. //I thought it would be hard to hurt someone like him, but this is unforgivable!//
**-always thinking that you*re the only one in the whole world, never trying to see past the end of your nose! You think you*ve got the right to act as if you could change my life-**
//How dare he insult me like this! How dare he try to hurt me like this!// Legolas had to struggle not to lose control as the red mist of anger began to drown everything else out. //So, the fact that I love him doesn*T matter?! If it weren*t for me, he*d be dead by now!!! HOW DARE HE?!//
**-and you*ve probably treated everyone else like this, as well! No wonder you were tossed out of Mirkwood, Ghost! No one would have cared once the pretty face was gone, as you have the most annoying personality I*ve ever seen! You think you*re a suffering martyr, and you were probably no better than a house servant! You*re not the only one in the world-**
//He has gone TOO FAR//
Whatever Aragorn intended to say afterwards, Legolas never found out. Almost as if time had stopped, he saw his own fist coming upwards in a vicious uppercut.
The air was filled with the sound of flesh meeting flesh as Legolas*s fist came into contact with Aragorn*s chin. Aragorn*s head snapped back, and he stumbled backwards, crying out in pain. He looked up at Legolas in anger.
//Does he still think he is in the right?!// Legolas glared at him contemptuously. **You are the most arrogant, pig-headed, slack-jawed, imbecilic bastard I have ever had the misfortune to meet,** he said flatly. Lifelessly. Like he was removing himself from the world, not giving Aragorn the pleasure of seeing him.
**For your information, I was the Heir to the throne. I have suffered more deeply than you could ever even imagine in your wildest dreams. My own family did not recognize me, and I would have been whipped by my younger brother if I had not fled. As for what else was done to me...*** Legolas gazed dispassionately down at him. **I won*t give you the advantage of knowing my past. You do not deserve it, and by all that*s light, I swear I will not give anything of myself to you. You have pushed me too far, Human King. You will be leaving shortly.** With that, Legolas walked away, before the pain in his heart brought him to his knees.
//How could I have made such a bad judgement of character?// Legolas thought, brushing away the tears on his mask. //I thought he wouldn*t hurt me. I thought he was different. But I was wrong about him, somehow. I was wrong to think he cared.//
Anger and scintillating pain fogged his mind as he leaned against a silver birch to sob. He couldn*t even gather the strength to move from that spot, and clutched at the trunk of the tree, the tears racking his body. He realized, dully, that he had felt this kind of pain before. He wept even harder when he realized who had made him feel so wretched before.
//He*s just like everyone else.//
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Aragorn lay on the floor of the forest, numb with shock. //The Heir?//
//Oh, Lord and Lady!// his mind screamed as the pieces fell into place. Ghost was perfectly justified, after all, in his pain and isolation. //What in the name of the God have I done?!//
He was still lying there as the tears of frustration and guilt descended upon him. He hadn*t meant to hurt Ghost. He really hadn*t. He had partly been frustrated by the silent treatment he was getting, and had also wanted to try and get a reaction from him.
//Turns out the silence was his way of protecting himself from me,// he thought through tears. //Another mask.// Then the implications of what he had just thought hit him.
//Oh God! He felt the need to protect himself from me!!!// He screamed in agony as his soul was ripped to shreds by his gut-wrenching guilt.
//What kind of monster have I become?! That my only love fears me and runs from me...// Aragorn let out a strangled cry, and immobilized by the weight of his emotions, he did not move for hours from the spot where he lay. Not even when a soft rain began to fall, dropping gently on him through the leaves of the tree above him. He simply lay there, lifeless. Without a single reason to live.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Legolas drifted in his dreams, trying to hide from the dream he knew would overtake him. But no matter where he hid, the dream of the roses found him, until, finally, he had nowhere left to hide. Gritting his teeth, he turned around and faced it.
A silver rose with blue edges lay dying, one of Legolas*s arrows through its center. Legolas froze. He was an elf! He would never have hurt something of nature! Quickly, he walked over to the seedling to try and pull the arrow out.
But in his rush, he had forgotten he was holding a rose of his own. The thorns of the silver rose ripped the petals of his flower to tatters, and Legolas felt every scratch as though it was inflicted upon his own skin. He screamed in pain, and in his anger, spitefully left the silver rose where it lay dying.
Even though he was dying as well.
__________________________________________________________
A/n: Well, short chapter, and I rushed it. You know, I was really suprised when I saw the great response I got from reviewers, because I don*t even beta it myself, much less have someone beta it for me!
Guess I am an editor, after all, despite my attempts to be a writer! Lol, I guess I*m a pretty good writer as well, or I wouldn*t have so many fans. But still! I am pleased! Byez for now, darling reviewers!
Nightbird*Songbird
Disclaimer: Crying didn*t work. Am going to think up plot to steal the Lord of the Rings, but until then, I am just as badly off as the next poor fanatic.
Random Quote That Has No Real Meaning But Makes Me Laugh: **But why is the rum gone?**
Response to reviews:
anthem: Why, thank you! I*m so pleased I get the title of *awesome*.
val: **intereacting**... excellent choice of words. :) I think I will start using that word in my e-mails to my friends.
MoroTheWolfGod: Okay! :)
moonlightgoddess: Yep. Them two be as stubborn as mules, milady. There be no knockin* any sense into em.
Silvawen the Elf Crumpet: Yay!!! Two reviews at once! And whatever you do, don*t die! Then where would I get my reviews? my bread and butter and water? the honey of the flower of my life? the - oh, sorry, I rambled a bit there. :) anyway, I hope you live long enough for the next chapter, and keep reviewing. You are considered my first major achievement, because you*re the first person who cried. :) Lyl, hun!
A/n: Ooh, I am evil! (grins evilly) More torturous dealings with our poor baby*s relationship, more Aragorn being an insensitive lout, and yet more of odd talking to trees! Wahahahahaaaa!!! (notices readers) Oh, erm... hahaha... well! Nice to see you all, hope all my past reviewers wake up and realize I*ve updated, and if you*re new, well, by all means! Review!
I need reviews... they are my fuel... otherwise I get all depressed and think dark thoughts. And leave stories alone for months... (dun, dun, duuuun!) That*s a threat, yes. Now be good and review, and tell me what*s going wrong with my writing. Anyone who can point me to a good English- Elvish translator site will get a something nice... yes, that was bribery. :) Ah, love me anyway?
Lol. But, seriously, I should start the fic now. So without further ado over nothing, I proudly and belatedly present:
Chapter Five: Raining Roses
Legolas rubbed the wood in his hands with a porous stone, taking off the flaky inner bark and smoothing out the wood beneath. He then picked up a feather, a jar of sap, and some black cording, and began to fletch what would soon be an arrow. The task had been done a hundred times before, and the familiar scent of pine sap, faint leather, and the wood itself soothed him greatly. It was almost automatic by now; he had, after all, been doing it by himself for two thousand years.
//And I intend to keep my solitude, thank you,// he stubbornly told his heart. //Aragorn doesn't need you to hinder him. He*s also an insensitive human, and doesn*t love you. What worse person to fall for?// Suddenly the brush he was using to apply the sap slipped, and he got it on his fingers. Legolas cursed under his breath, dashing quickly over to the stream and frantically scrubbing away at the sap before it hardened. Too late. His hands would be a sticky mess for the rest of the day. He grumbled under his breath. He hadn*t been paying attention to what he was doing, and this was the result.
//Though, I do feel tempted to blame Aragorn for distracting me// he thought moodily. //Every time I have thought of him today, my concentration has slipped.// It was true. He had missed a shot today, for the first time in his life. That in itself had him so startled he had been thrown into shock for a good long while, until Aragorn had had the bright idea of waking him up with a dunking in the stream.
//And I*ll bet he liked doing it. I can*t blame him, though; I was an utter bigot to him last night. He*s probably out brooding.// Legolas forced himself to stifle his concern at Aragorn being out by himself, which had been his natural response. //Come on, Legolas, he*s a big boy now, all grown up and ready to defend himself. Even with that ankle, he*ll be fine.//
//Besides, Men have a reputation of being against two males joining. How do you think the King of Men reacts to advances from other males?// Legolas coloured at the thought. He tucked his hair behind his ears distractedly, then realized what he had done.
**Oh, Lord and Lady!** he shouted furiously to a willow on the opposite bank. **It wasn*t enough to get my hands completely sticky, so now my hair is, too! Why does bad luck keep following me the instant I think of him?!**
The tree ignored him steadily, refusing to answer. Legolas glared at it. **I hate willows,** he muttered to himself.
Let it be noted that, when he tried to cross the bank on the opposite shore, Legolas somehow tripped over an upraised willow root that had not been there before.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Aragorn sat in the branches of a silver birch, bemoaning his lack of rhetoric. He had no idea how to approach any subject of romance to Ghost whatsoever. And Ghost certainly wasn*t helping much. Every time he tried to talk to him, Ghost would either ignore him or respond with a biting remark. //Obviously I need to talk to him. But how can I when he turns to ice at the sound of my voice?//
Aragorn sighed. He really wanted to let Ghost know how he felt, but Ghost seemed not to want to hear it. Ghost had, in fact, been going out of his way to avoid him. The only time Aragorn ever saw him was when he woke him up in the morning. //I have no idea what*s going on inside his head, but it can*t be too favourable regarding me.//
**Why does he have to be such an idiot?** Aragorn wondered aloud. He turned to face the trunk of the birch. **He*s really being a total idiot about this. His name isn*t Ghost, he IS a ghost. Floating around unseen all day, disappearing mysteriously at night- he*s driving me insane, and I think he knows it.**
The birch, if anything, grew even more remote and distant. Aragorn glowered at it. **You*re probably on HIS side, aren*t you?** he said bitterly to it. **Because he*s an elf.** The birch said nothing, as it was birch, and everyone knows birches don't speak with men. Aragorn was suddenly acutely aware of how ridiculous he looked, talking to a tree. He jumped down from it, which may not have been the wisest thing to do in consideration of his ankle, and began to stalk back to the house.
As luck would have it, Aragorn met Ghost on the way there. He was shaking water from his hair and muttering something about willows, but Aragorn didn*t care. He grabbed him by the shoulders and forced him to look at him.
**Ghost, you have been a total wretch. Why have you been avoiding me, and why won*t you treat me civilly?** he demanded angrily, shaking Ghost lightly. Ghost glowered at him, rage all too evident in his stormy grey eyes. Normally blue, they seemed to turn grey when Ghost's wrath was aroused- as it was now.
**Take your hands off me, Aragorn,** Ghost said with a glare that could have melted steel. Aragorn shook his head.
**Not until you answer me,** he said with just as much venom. **You*ve been making a great fuss over one incident, which I do not intend to repeat and which I have already apologized for. Now tell me WHY!?** he thundered, and Ghost trembled underneath his hands.
**Hands off,** he said icily, when Aragorn had finished. **I*ve had quite enough of people screaming in my prescence, and you*re succeeding in making it a good deal worse. I*m in a bad mood, caused mostly by you, and you*re pushing it.** Aragorn shook his head stubbornly, and tightened his grip.
**No,** he said dangerously. **Not until you tell me why.**
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Legolas wanted to kill him. //He*s been playing with my feelings long enough! A single blast of magic would kill him. He*s been an arrogant bastard to me, and if I hadn*t fallen in love with him, he would be dead already!// his mind screamed, fury filling his mind. Legolas started to gather his power, anger boiling in his very skin as he prepared to smite the Man down.
But he couldn*t. No matter how many times he tried, he couldn*t bring himself to kill the one he loved. Instead, he dropped his head and began to speak.
**You*re hurting me, Aragorn,** he whispered. Aragorn sighed, and dropped his hands.
**Now will you tell me why you*re doing this?** he asked gently. Legolas shook his head.
**It*ll only cause complications for you. You can*t afford complications as King.** Aragorn stared at him.
**What makes you think that anything you do could affect me unless I wanted it to?** he asked scathingly. **Honestly, your*re so arrogant-**
//WHAT?!// Legolas gaped at him. //I thought it would be hard to hurt someone like him, but this is unforgivable!//
**-always thinking that you*re the only one in the whole world, never trying to see past the end of your nose! You think you*ve got the right to act as if you could change my life-**
//How dare he insult me like this! How dare he try to hurt me like this!// Legolas had to struggle not to lose control as the red mist of anger began to drown everything else out. //So, the fact that I love him doesn*T matter?! If it weren*t for me, he*d be dead by now!!! HOW DARE HE?!//
**-and you*ve probably treated everyone else like this, as well! No wonder you were tossed out of Mirkwood, Ghost! No one would have cared once the pretty face was gone, as you have the most annoying personality I*ve ever seen! You think you*re a suffering martyr, and you were probably no better than a house servant! You*re not the only one in the world-**
//He has gone TOO FAR//
Whatever Aragorn intended to say afterwards, Legolas never found out. Almost as if time had stopped, he saw his own fist coming upwards in a vicious uppercut.
The air was filled with the sound of flesh meeting flesh as Legolas*s fist came into contact with Aragorn*s chin. Aragorn*s head snapped back, and he stumbled backwards, crying out in pain. He looked up at Legolas in anger.
//Does he still think he is in the right?!// Legolas glared at him contemptuously. **You are the most arrogant, pig-headed, slack-jawed, imbecilic bastard I have ever had the misfortune to meet,** he said flatly. Lifelessly. Like he was removing himself from the world, not giving Aragorn the pleasure of seeing him.
**For your information, I was the Heir to the throne. I have suffered more deeply than you could ever even imagine in your wildest dreams. My own family did not recognize me, and I would have been whipped by my younger brother if I had not fled. As for what else was done to me...*** Legolas gazed dispassionately down at him. **I won*t give you the advantage of knowing my past. You do not deserve it, and by all that*s light, I swear I will not give anything of myself to you. You have pushed me too far, Human King. You will be leaving shortly.** With that, Legolas walked away, before the pain in his heart brought him to his knees.
//How could I have made such a bad judgement of character?// Legolas thought, brushing away the tears on his mask. //I thought he wouldn*t hurt me. I thought he was different. But I was wrong about him, somehow. I was wrong to think he cared.//
Anger and scintillating pain fogged his mind as he leaned against a silver birch to sob. He couldn*t even gather the strength to move from that spot, and clutched at the trunk of the tree, the tears racking his body. He realized, dully, that he had felt this kind of pain before. He wept even harder when he realized who had made him feel so wretched before.
//He*s just like everyone else.//
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Aragorn lay on the floor of the forest, numb with shock. //The Heir?//
//Oh, Lord and Lady!// his mind screamed as the pieces fell into place. Ghost was perfectly justified, after all, in his pain and isolation. //What in the name of the God have I done?!//
He was still lying there as the tears of frustration and guilt descended upon him. He hadn*t meant to hurt Ghost. He really hadn*t. He had partly been frustrated by the silent treatment he was getting, and had also wanted to try and get a reaction from him.
//Turns out the silence was his way of protecting himself from me,// he thought through tears. //Another mask.// Then the implications of what he had just thought hit him.
//Oh God! He felt the need to protect himself from me!!!// He screamed in agony as his soul was ripped to shreds by his gut-wrenching guilt.
//What kind of monster have I become?! That my only love fears me and runs from me...// Aragorn let out a strangled cry, and immobilized by the weight of his emotions, he did not move for hours from the spot where he lay. Not even when a soft rain began to fall, dropping gently on him through the leaves of the tree above him. He simply lay there, lifeless. Without a single reason to live.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Legolas drifted in his dreams, trying to hide from the dream he knew would overtake him. But no matter where he hid, the dream of the roses found him, until, finally, he had nowhere left to hide. Gritting his teeth, he turned around and faced it.
A silver rose with blue edges lay dying, one of Legolas*s arrows through its center. Legolas froze. He was an elf! He would never have hurt something of nature! Quickly, he walked over to the seedling to try and pull the arrow out.
But in his rush, he had forgotten he was holding a rose of his own. The thorns of the silver rose ripped the petals of his flower to tatters, and Legolas felt every scratch as though it was inflicted upon his own skin. He screamed in pain, and in his anger, spitefully left the silver rose where it lay dying.
Even though he was dying as well.
__________________________________________________________
A/n: Well, short chapter, and I rushed it. You know, I was really suprised when I saw the great response I got from reviewers, because I don*t even beta it myself, much less have someone beta it for me!
Guess I am an editor, after all, despite my attempts to be a writer! Lol, I guess I*m a pretty good writer as well, or I wouldn*t have so many fans. But still! I am pleased! Byez for now, darling reviewers!
Nightbird*Songbird