"Cosplayer… Rise and shine, Cosplayer."

Lucy groaned into her pillow as she slowly peeked an eye open. She had no idea what time it was, but she had a feeling it was far too early to be awake, especially when she'd spent most of the night tossing and turning and trying to get comfortable.

She felt the bed dip slightly before she managed to open her eyes, just to see Bickslow placing Scarlett down in front of her. She couldn't help but smile at the little face. Scarlett was hard not to smile at. "Come on, that's cheating," Lucy mumbled. "You can't use Scout to get me up."

"Can't I?" Bickslow moved the spare pillows back so he could sit himself on the bed. He didn't think it was cheating. Granted, he did know that Scarlett had a face that was literally impossible to say no to (although why Lucy would want to say no to a baby anyway, Bickslow had no idea), but it definitely wasn't cheating putting his adorable daughter right in front of her while trying to drag her out of bed. Nope. Bribing with baby cuddles wasn't happening – at least that morning, or so Bickslow was going to argue. But, since Scarlett definitely wasn't working for him, he carefully leant over her to just barely tilt Lucy's head up and press their lips together softly for a moment. "You still have to get up though," he murmured. He still wasn't cheating.

Lucy sighed and smiled into the pillow once he pulled away. She wasn't sure if Bickslow kissing her was supposed to be helping, since it only made her want to stay in bed, assuming that was what she got for it. "Mm, I don't want to. Not yet."

"I realised," Bickslow chuckled. He yanked the pillow out from under her head to throw it to the other end of the bed. "But you gotta get up. Come on."

Groaning, Lucy ceded and finally sat up sluggishly, careful to avoid Scarlett still lying next to her in the middle of the bed. "What time is it anyway?"

"About eight. Breakfast is downstairs if you want it."

"Have you had any yet?'

"Not yet. I haven't been up for long anyway." Climbing off the bed, Bickslow picked Scarlett back up and held her against his side while he went to go close the curtains in the room. Of all the things his childhood house didn't have, it was air-conditioning. Ceiling fans could only do so much. "Anyway, it's going to be even hotter today. Keep these closed otherwise it'll get too hot in here later."

"Great…" she mumbled. Aside from how awkward Lucy felt being there, the heat was probably what she hated most about Astrantia so far. She wasn't even sure how it could be any hotter, either, and if that was their winter, Lucy certainly didn't want to know what summer was like. Pulling herself out of bed, she went over to her suitcase to find some clothes for the day. Thankfully, she'd taken Bickslow's advice earlier and packed warmer weather clothes. "What's the plan for today then? After breakfast, I mean."

Bickslow shrugged. He never really had plans when he visited his parents. He kind of just went with the flow. Lucy being there changed things just a little bit. Ducking into the bathroom to change, Lucy didn't close the door so Bickslow was free to continue the conversation and give his answer. "There isn't one. Not really, at least. I want to go into town and pick up some stuff for Scout before the stores close over Christmas. You can come with me if you want," he said. "And then… I can show you around outside or something. I don't know. It's up to you, I guess."

"Or… You could show me around the town and we could make a day of it?"

"If that didn't just sound like an excuse to get away from my parents, then sure."

"It's not an excuse…"

"Sure it's not."

So, it might've been a little bit of an excuse, but she did also like the idea of getting to see a bit more of Astrantia. Finishing dressing, Lucy grabbed her hairbrush from where she'd left it by the sink to begin running it through the tangles in her hair, walking slowly back into the bedroom. "Well, I mean… I can't say that you're wrong, but…" She sat down on the edge of the bed to finish brushing her hair over her shoulder, tucking her feet under her. "But you know what I think of all this."

Oh, Bickslow knew. He knew all too well that she thought it was all weird and that she really hated being there. And he still didn't blame her for that. That didn't mean he liked it though, or could tolerate it, because he honestly couldn't. Lucy had decided to stick it out for the rest of the time she was there, and Bickslow sure as hell wasn't going to let her hide upstairs.

What he could do, was risk pissing her off to make her see that she really had no reason to be uncomfortable. His parents were… reasonable people. Teasing, perhaps, but they weren't horrible or anything. And, despite what Lucy still somehow thought, they didn't hate her. Bickslow wasn't even sure how anyone could hate Lucy, but then again, he was probably a little biased. Still, his parents didn't hate her, they didn't at all mind that she was staying with them, and the only one who seemed to still think everything was super strange was Lucy. Bickslow had already moved on from that.

Well, mostly.

So, taking Scarlett with him, he walked up to Lucy on the bed and held his daughter out to her, forcing Lucy to take the infant into her arms and drop her brush. "New plan," he said before Lucy could question him. "I'm going to go into town to pick up some stuff for her, and you're going to stay here and watch her for me."

"What? No!"

"Yes. Already going." And he really was already quite literally going, waving back at her as he made for the door to the hall. "She really needs to be fed, by the way. The formula is in the kitchen downstairs!"

"Bickslow, you get back here right now!" Lucy got up as quickly as she could while holding Scarlett just to chase after the moronic Seith mage. By the time she got to the hall, he was already out of sight. Lucy wouldn't put it past him to have run all the way downstairs just to get away from her right then. Of all the things that Bickslow could've done to her, Lucy really hadn't expected him to actually leave her alone with his parents, especially when he knew how she felt. She could only sigh and shake her head as she ducked back into her room to finish becoming somewhat presentable before heading downstairs. "Your father is an absolute menace, Scarlett."

Before Bickslow did actually leave, he managed to find his mother sitting downstairs with her own breakfast and with the town's local paper laid out in front of her. As willing as he was to leave Lucy to fend for herself for a little while, he couldn't do it without first telling his mother to behave. Who knew what chaos he'd return to.

"Bix! Oh good, you're up," Idelle said cheerfully as she looked up. "I wanted to let you know that—"

"Tell me later," Bickslow quickly interrupted. "Gotta head out for a bit to pick up some things for Scout, and I want to go before it gets too hot out."

"Oh… Okay…"

He snagged a piece of the buttered toast off her plate before she could swat his hand away with a scowl. "Oh, and," he added, mouth full, "Lucy's staying here to look after Scout, so, you know, be nice, okay?"

"What do you mean, be nice? I'm always nice!"

"I know, but you're also my mother, and I brought a girl home so it's basically your job to try and scare her away."

"Rubbish," Idelle scoffed. Well, it was kind of true. "But fine, I'll be nice and I won't scare your little babysitter away." Although really, she had no intentions of scaring Lucy away anyway. She was just curious about her.

Bickslow grimaced. That was exactly why he'd been scared of leaving his mother alone with Lucy – she was bound to make him want to bury himself in a hole and never come out. "Mum, come on."

"Oh, I'm just kidding." She turned her attention back to her paper and tea and swatted her son's arm to get him to go away. "Now go on, go before it gets too hot. You don't need to worry about me."

Bickslow was doubtful.

Not long after Bickslow had left, Lucy ventured downstairs to get Scarlett her morning bottle. She knew vaguely where the kitchen was, so thankfully, she didn't need to ask anyone for directions to it. Unfortunately for Lucy, Idelle just happened to be in the kitchen and getting herself some more juice.

"Oh! Good morning, Lucy," Idelle greeted her cheerfully. "And little Scarlett! Oh, she's such a precious little thing." She couldn't resist from rushing over to gently squeeze her newest granddaughter's little cheeks.

"Ah, morning, Mrs. Redfarrow…" Lucy responded politely. She'd been hoping to avoid talking to either one of Bickslow's parents until he got back (and until she could kick his ass all the way back to Magnolia for pulling that on her), but it seemed the universe had other plans.

Idelle rolled her eyes as she returned to the counter to put the pitcher of juice back into the fridge. "Please, call me Idelle," she insisted. Lucy could only nod and give another polite smile, making a point of searching for something around the large kitchen. Idelle watched her for a moment, taking a sip of the tropical juice. "Did you sleep well, Lucy?" she asked after a moment.

"Um, I guess so."

"Oh, come now. I've lived here my whole life and I've never met a single person who has stayed here in December and has slept perfectly." It was simply impossible. Idelle supposed that Lucy was just trying to be nice since she was the guest, but it wasn't at all necessary. Like she did with all her house guests, Idelle only wished for Lucy to be comfortable and happy there. Unfortunately, their weather patterns happened to make that difficult sometimes.

Lucy glanced back just to see Idelle aiming a slight smirk in her direction. At that point, she was beginning to think the Redfarrows were just all smirks and sass, and she wasn't doubting where Bickslow had picked it up. Still, the fact that Idelle knew she was lying just made Lucy way too uncomfortable, and Lucy knew she had no hope in hell of convincing the woman that she actually had slept the night before. Idelle just knew better.

"W-Well, I mean… I did have trouble getting to sleep at first…" Lucy admitted. "But not because the bed wasn't comfortable or anything! Just… Just because it was hot."

"I know. Hopefully it will be a little cooler tonight and you'll be able to sleep a little better."

That Lucy definitely agreed with. With Scarlett still against her hip, she scoured the kitchen for the baby formula and hopefully an empty bottle to mix it in. Knowing Bickslow, it wouldn't be labelled, so she only hoped to spot something that seemed reasonably out of place. Everything else in the room was neatly arranged and matched almost perfectly, from the mint green tea towels hanging on the oven door to the matching placemats at the bright breakfast nook, and to all the fancy decorative labels on every single glass jar.

"I'm assuming you're looking for this."

Lucy turned to find Idelle holding a small plastic container with a slightly yellow powder. Damn it. Why did Idelle have to be useful? It made her hard to avoid. "Ah, yeah… Thanks…" She looked for a bottle next, but really, Lucy knew she'd have no choice but to ask for help with that, because she didn't exactly like the idea of going through every cupboard in the room just to find one tiny bottle. "You, uh… You don't happen to know where Bix left a bottle lying around, do you?"

"You know, I saw it this morning… Where did I see it…" Idelle looked around the room with a hand on her hip before she settled on the sink under the window. "Oh! That's where." Bickslow had left it on the sink to dry from the night before, or so Idelle assumed. She rushed over to pick up the bottle and the cap to deliver them to Lucy, who was already trying to get the lid off the formula container without spilling it everywhere or dropping Scarlett. "Come on, give her here. I'll hold her while you do that. I need to catch up on my cuddles with her anyway," she said, holding her arms out to take Scarlett from Lucy.

"That would be great, thanks."

She held Scarlett high to snuggle her cheek, only sighing blissfully when the infant cooed softly; it had been too long since there'd been an actual baby around for her to cuddle, and Idelle really liked babies. Well, most of them. "Oh, you are just too adorable for words!" she said, lifting Scarlett up higher before bringing her back down for more snuggles. "And I can't wait to spoil you! Oh no I can't! Because I'm your grandma and that's what grandmas do."

Lucy tried not to roll her eyes.

"You know, if I didn't know better, I'd say she looks like you," Idelle said.

"What? No. She looks nothing like me," Lucy scoffed, almost dropping the level scoop of the powder. "Not that she would anyway, because I'm not her mother."

"I know, but she still looks a little like you."

"She looks like Bix."

"Only because she has his eyes." She still thought Scarlett looked a little like Lucy, but maybe she was just imagining it. Idelle couldn't help but wonder what her actual mother looked like though.

Letting out a sigh, Idelle handed the baby back to Lucy once she'd gotten the formula mixed up, and then leant over the edge of the counter with her chin in her palm to watch Lucy sit at the breakfast nook. There was still some things about Lucy she was curious about, and without Bickslow there to tell her off for being nosy and embarrassing him (or whatever excuse he could come up), Idelle was free to ask anything she liked. Or so she liked to think. She was still behaving anyway.

"So how did you get involved with all this?" Idelle finally sked.

Lucy glanced up as she adjusted the bottle for Scarlett. "What do you mean?"

"You know, with Scarlett." She already knew that Scarlett had her name because of Lucy, and that she'd known Bickslow for a few years now (although Idelle was still having trouble wrapping her head around that). There had to be a reason for Lucy of all people being Bickslow's new babysitter, and Idelle was fairly certain Bickslow wasn't going to give her the answer. "How did you come to be involved with Scarlett and Bix this way?"

"Well, um… Bix asked me for help when he first found out about her, and I guess I just stuck around…"

"He asked you for help? What with?"

"With everything, I suppose," Lucy answered. She wasn't quite sure Bickslow would be thrilled to know she was admitting that to his mother, but… Well, that was what he got for leaving her there. Besides, it was only his mother she was talking to. If she was going to blab to anyone about how oblivious Bickslow had been just a couple of months earlier, then Idelle really wasn't a bad choice. Mostly, Lucy just wanted to make Bickslow suffer a little. "I mean, he didn't know if he was going to keep her or give her up for adoption, and it wasn't like he knew how to take care of a baby in the meantime anyway. He just needed someone to show him the ropes, I guess. Not that I really know what I'm doing or anything…"

Idelle nodded slowly. "So you convinced him to keep Scarlett then?"

That sounded mildly accusatory. She certainly hadn't persuaded Bickslow into doing something he wasn't willing to do, if that was what Idelle was implying. Lucy tried to convince herself she was imagining it. "Well, I wouldn't say that I convinced him to do anything…" she said, adjusting her wrist just a fraction for Scarlett resting in her arm. "I just… I offered him some guidance, and the support to make whatever decision he thought was best. That's all."

"I see…" Idelle thought that it made sense. She still didn't know why it was Lucy and not anyone else, though. That last she'd checked, his team in Fairy Tail were the closest to him, and if he was to go to anyone for help, Idelle just assumed it would be them. The way she saw it, it should be one of them sitting where Lucy was. "But, why you, though?" she asked then, straightening up to grab a banana from the fruit bowl on the large centre island. "Not that there's anything wrong with you dear, I just mean that there has to be a reason that he asked you for help with everything."

And Bickslow said she didn't have anything to worry about when it came to his parents not liking her. Because as far as Lucy could tell, Idelle really didn't seem to like her at all. Still, Lucy hadn't really figured out why Bickslow had gone to her over his team. He'd told her before that it was really just because wanted someone smart and he'd known his team would automatically tell him to give the kid up, but Lucy still wasn't convinced that was all.

"I think… I think he just wanted someone he could trust," Lucy answered after a moment. Scarlett had finished more of the bottle than Lucy had expected, so she only hoped Scarlett wasn't just going to go throw it all up on her in the next thirty minutes. "Or someone who would at least know what to do with Scarlett until he decided what to do. I'm… I'm not really sure."

It wasn't as if Idelle was judging Bickslow's decisions. She'd just wanted to know the reasoning behind it all. Although judging from what Lucy said, perhaps there wasn't really much to it. Perhaps it was simple and Bickslow had just known from his friendship with Lucy that she was the right person to help him figure things out with her daughter.

Although how that had turned into her sticking around for two months and ending up visiting for Christmas, Idelle wasn't sure. That was going to be difficult to figure out for sure though. She had a feeling it wasn't quite so simple with Lucy, at least not anymore. Bickslow was most definitely keeping something to himself about why Lucy was there.

"Well, it clearly worked out, so it seems he made the right choice going to you," Idelle said with a smile, reaching for the glass of juice she'd poured before Lucy had come downstairs. "Now if you'll excuse me, I need to go find my husband before our other son arrives. Oh, you'll love Alex, by the way. He's wonderful."

"O-Oh, right, okay…" More Redfarrows… Great.

"Anyway, do help yourself to some breakfast. You must remember to eat in this weather," she continued, already heading for the adjoined dining room again. "There's some bread on the counter for some toast, otherwise there's yoghurt and some more fruit and juice in the fridge. I think there's even some cereal in the pantry. You'll have to forgive me, the kitchen is Felix's domain, not mine."

"I'm sure I'll find something. Thank you." Lucy nodded and returned the smile before she went back to feeding Scarlett. Really, all she wanted was some coffee, but it was already too hot for that. Hoping that Bickslow brought her back some iced coffee or something would just be wishful thinking, too.

At some point, Bickslow decided it was time to head home and rescue Lucy from his mother. He had purposely taken a little longer than necessary, but not long enough that Lucy would actually want to murder him for leaving her there. No, he'd been gone just long enough that she'd probably want to throw something at his head and remind him just how filthy some of the things that came out of her mouth could be.

That was fine.

By the time he'd finished getting everything he needed, as well as some breakfast for himself, it had been getting too hot out in the sun anyway, so Bickslow hadn't exactly had much choice in going back home. He could handle the Astrantia heat, but that didn't mean he could stand out in the sun all day and not feel like he was melting into a literal puddle.

Still, even if Bickslow was going home, he had no intentions of rescuing Lucy immediately. Oh no. When he reached the front gate to his family's home again, he only continued past them on the babies to head to the back of the property and sneak his way inside.

He needed to go somewhere that Lucy wouldn't find him (which would be easy, since she didn't know her way around yet), and somewhere that his parents wouldn't find him either. And, with it being close to 10 a.m., Bickslow figured it was safe to assume that the pool house would be empty. It had barely been used when he had lived there, and it was really only extra storage for some old furniture and an extra guest room should they ever need it.

Stepping down from the babies just at the back of the small limestone building, he took a sip of the iced coffee he'd picked up before he balanced it on one of the totems to free up his hands to open up one of the windows. The door was almost always locked, being that the pool house was never used, and he didn't have a key and he certainly had no intentions of going into the main house to get it. He stepped into the neat garden, careful not to step on his mother's favourite petunias, and dropped the bag with Scarlett's items to flick the latch on the outside of the window and open up the two panes. He'd barely put his knee up over the window frame to begin climbing in before he heard a familiar voice.

"What the hell are you doing now?"

Bickslow froze and looked to where the voice had come from. His father sat on one of the plush chairs, a drink in his hand, and looking over his shoulder to the window with his eyebrows raised. Felix was just as surprised to see Bickslow there as Bickslow was to see his dad there.

Still, with one foot in the window, Bickslow only cleared his throat and climbed the rest of the way in. "I, uh… Nothing. Just nothing." He reached back out the window to pick up the shopping bag once he was in, and then grabbed his coffee from on top of Pippi before closing the window back up again. "What are you doing here?" Bickslow asked.

Felix shrugged and took the last sip of his drink. "Hiding from your mother."

Bickslow snorted as he sat down next to his cowardly father. "Nice."

"Why are you out here then?"

"Uh… Would you question it if I said I'm hiding from my girlfriend?"

Felix shook his head. "Nope. Not at all." He knew better than to question it. It was just a little amusing, though.

"Then I'm going with that," Bickslow said quickly. So, she wasn't technically his girlfriend, but whatever, it was close enough. Sort of. She was a girl he really liked and would no doubt want to kill him in the next hour, so, girlfriend. And it was his dad he was talking to anyway, so he had nothing to worry about. Hopefully. "Do I want to know why you're hiding from Mum?"

"Alex is coming today to finish a contract," Felix sighed heavily, reminding himself that it was far too early to pour himself another drink. One drink was fine, but two was pushing it. "And Mum is looking for me to get a start on it before he gets here," he explained.

"Ah, fair point…"

"Now why are you hiding from Lucy?" Felix asked. "And where's your daughter? You didn't forget about her, did you?"

"No, I did not, thank you," Bickslow grumbled. He wasn't sure he was actually capable of forgetting about Scarlett. "She's with Lucy. And, I'm hiding from her because I'm not quite ready to die. Just give me a few minutes and I'll be fine."

"Do I even want to know what you did?"

"Left her here while I went out."

Felix sighed again and reached over to pat Bickslow on the shoulder. "Well, Idelle would've gotten to her by now, so… Been nice knowing you, Bix. I'll make sure your funeral is spectacular."

"Ha-ha, very funny," Bickslow muttered. Surely it wasn't going to be that bad. Right, babies?

"She's going to kill you," they insisted. Bickslow grimaced and decided it was time to go and accept his fate.

"I wasn't kidding," Felix said.

Shaking his head, Bickslow got up and fetched his coffee and shopping bag once again. "Well, I should probably go rescue Lucy…" he mumbled, staring to the door that he realised was actually unlocked since his father had already been in there before him. "Try and convince her not to murder me and all that."

"Good luck. Try and use the door this time, will you?"

"I'll tell Mum you're out here then, shall I?"

"You wouldn't."

It was true. He wouldn't. Mostly because it would involve admitting that he'd been out there hiding as well, and Bickslow really didn't want to do that. But the look of fear that washed over his father's face was definitely worth it.

With the babies following behind him, Bickslow made his way back into the house. By the time he'd passed the pool and the veggie garden by the shed, he already had sweat on his brow from the sun beating down on him. Christmas that year wasn't going to be pleasant at all, and Bickslow really wasn't sure how Scarlett would take to the hot weather.

"Where do you think Cosplayer and Scout will be, babies?" he asked the babies, looking around as he sipped through the straw.

"Sleeping, sleeping!" Pappa answered.

"Sleeping, huh?" Knowing the time, he wouldn't be that surprised if Lucy had put Scarlett back down for a nap. It would just be a matter of finding out where. With the weather though, Bickslow hoped it would be somewhere cool.

Regardless, Bickslow went to the kitchen first to set the formula and the extra bottles away. The rest of what he'd picked up in town was going upstairs to his room, so that's where he headed to next. He'd only planned on dropping the bags down in his room before going to find Lucy, but he didn't have to do that since she was already in his room and lying in the middle of his bed with her head hanging off the side.

"Well, I was going to go look—"

"Shut up," Lucy quickly said, sitting up and regretting it when the room spun. "I only just managed to get her down. Don't wake her."

She'd hoped that Scarlett would be cooperative with her that morning and go down for her morning nap without a fuss, but apparently not. After her bottle, a long walk around the first floor where she almost got lost, and a bit of a play with some of the toys she'd managed to find in one of Bickslow's bags, Lucy had expected Scarlett to want to fall straight asleep. But no, for the last half an hour, Lucy had been struggling with a fussy, crying, overtired infant, and now she had a headache to show for it. The last thing she needed was Bickslow waking her up.

Of course though, the last thing Bickslow wanted to be doing was waking his daughter up anyway. So he merely nodded and leant against his door to gently push it almost all the way closed. With all the curtains closed and all the lights off, it was dark enough that Bickslow almost had trouble seeing where he was going, but it had been his room for the first eighteen years of his life and nothing had really changed since the last time he'd been in there.

Quietly, he dropped the shopping bags down onto his desk before going to just check on Scarlett in the crib. The babies had already gone straight in to nestle themselves up one end just by her feet. He didn't even need to buy her any stuffed toys to sleep with, since she already had the babies to keep her company. Although Bickslow wasn't sure how well they'd do once she started rolling over and moving more. They were a little pointy.

He'd been about to go straight to bed to annoy Lucy before he stopped just at the foot of it. "Wait… You're not going try and kill me if I come any closer, are you?" he asked cautiously. He really wouldn't put it past her to want to hurt him right then.

"No," Lucy sighed. She pulled herself back up again and sluggishly crawled over the mattress to lean against the soft pillows in the sky-blue pillowcases. "I want to, but I really can't be bothered."

"I'll take it." The heat was good for some things, Bickslow supposed. Like saving his life. "Sorry for leaving you here," he said softly, coming to sit on the other side of the bed.

"You're not sorry. And you're a jerk for doing it."

"Fine, but you survived, didn't you?"

"Just," Lucy mumbled. "I really do think your mother hates me, though."

"What? Come on. That's the stupidest thing I've ever heard."

"I'm being serious!" She snatched Bickslow's coffee from his hand before he could take a drink, and ignored his complaints when she sipped through the straw. She could barely even taste the coffee over all the sugar. "God, how much sugar did you add to this?" Lucy cringed. The man had one hell of a sweet tooth.

"Well, I didn't buy it for you," Bickslow pointed out. He couldn't help but roll his eyes when Lucy took another sip though. Apparently the excessive sugar couldn't deter her, and Bickslow only accepted that he wasn't getting his coffee back. "Anyway, why do you think my mother hates you now?"

Lucy shrugged as she shifted to fold her legs under her. She knew full well that Bickslow was just going to tell her she was imagining it again, but Lucy wasn't going to let that stop her from believing she was right. "Well, when I went downstairs to feed Scout, I ran into your mum in the kitchen, and we, uh… We talked for a little while," she began to explain, careful to keep her voice soft so she didn't wake Scarlett. "She seems to think Scout looks like me, by the way."

"She kinda does. Just a little bit."

"No, she doesn't. She looks like you and Katie, because you're her parents."

If Bickslow thought about it though, Lucy and Katie did look a little alike. They weren't twins by any means, but they had their similarities. It had been at the back of his mind during the trial, but he hadn't really noticed it before then. Then again, the only time he'd seen Katie before the trial had been nearly a year earlier and he hadn't exactly been all that sober at the time.

"Fine. She doesn't look like you," he sighed.

"Anyway…" Lucy took another sip before she continued again, "So we talked for a little while, and she asked how I'd gotten involved with you and Scout, and I told her that you asked me for help when you first found her, and I just… I got the impression that she wished you'd gone to someone else. Or that I wasn't involved in all." Lucy wasn't quite sure what the case was, but that was the feeling she'd had since speaking to Idelle that morning, and she didn't really know how Idelle could not like someone who had only helped her son when he had needed it.

Bickslow sighed and sank down into his pillows. He wished he could just tell Lucy she was being stupid, but that time, he couldn't. "Her issue isn't with you personally, don't worry," he mumbled. "It's more to do with me."

"What? How?"

"I don't think she likes that Katie isn't involved." He hadn't really brought it up yet, but when he'd mentioned it at dinner the previous night, he'd gotten the impression that his mother was disappointed in his decision to keep Katie out of Scarlett's life. And, technically, it wasn't just his decision anymore, not with the court having gotten involved, but that wasn't so important. At least Bickslow didn't think so.

Still, as far as his decision to raise Scarlett on his own went, Bickslow just had a feeling that his mother didn't approve. Children seemingly always needed their mothers nearby, no matter how horrible – or at least that was the way Idelle probably saw things.

"But… She knows that she left her daughter on an actual doorstep, right?" Lucy whispered.

"Yep."

"Are you sure that's what she actually thinks, though? I mean, you haven't really said much about it… She really could just hate me being involved."

Bickslow rolled his eyes and lifted his arm just to drape it over Lucy's shoulders and pull her against his side. "No, I'm not sure, but I know my mother so that's bound to be what she thinks," he said, ducking his head to quickly press a kiss to the top of Lucy's head. "And I swear, you are the most negative person I know right now. No one hates you, Cosplayer. It's not even possible to hate you."

"You're just biased…" she mumbled.

"Probably. But no one in this house hates you."

"What about your brother?"

Bickslow groaned. Either Lucy knew that Alexander was visiting that day, or it was just really bad timing. "I don't think it's an issue of him hating you. You're more likely to hate him."

"Why on earth would I hate your brother?"

"Because Lex a fucking brat and I don't think anyone but our parents actually like him. Well, and his daughter, although that's debatable sometimes."

"Oh, I'm sure he's not that bad," Lucy disagreed. "Your mum said that I would love him."

He scoffed at her as he took his drink back. "Yeah, no. You'll think he's a dick because that's what he is."

"We'll see…" Aside from being convinced that Idelle hated her, Lucy had found that she liked Bickslow's family. She still wanted to hide in a hole for all eternity, and she was sure the next few days would be horrible, but there was a part of her still enjoying being there. Perhaps that was just because she was enjoying getting to see where Bickslow had come from. "Is this really your old room though?" she asked, turning her head on Bickslow's shoulder to get a better look at the dark room.

"Yeah. Nothing's really changed since I left, either."

"It's kind of hard to believe you grew up here."

"How come?"

"It just… doesn't seem like you, I guess." It felt too light. Everything was either light blue, cream, or white. The furniture was all made of light oak, complementing the light hues of everything else in the room. And sure, the room was comfortable enough, but it felt as if something was missing – something like a personal touch. It felt more like a guest room or a hotel room, if anything. Maybe she was just used to the way his room was decorated at home, with dark shades and comfortable furniture and stupid little trinkets everywhere.

"Probably because it's not," Bickslow said. He'd never really liked his room when he'd lived there. He'd never been able to change anything in it, not the colour of the walls or plain fabric on the curtains. He'd barely been able to get rid of the art hanging in the room either, not until he'd been nearly fifteen and made a point of taking down one of the scenery paintings that had been hanging above his desk. He hadn't really had a lot to work with, but he'd done the best he could to make it comfortable at the time. "You know that poster I have hanging next to my closet?"

"What, that stupid shark one?"

"Yeah." He pointed over to the far side of the room where a mostly empty bookcase was, and where an empty spot on the wall was. "I used to have that over there. Mum hated it."

"I'm not surprised. It's a poster of a shark. Who the hell has a shark poster in their room?" Honestly, the first time Lucy had seen it, she'd thought it was something Laxus had left there and Bickslow had never bothered moving.

"Hey! It's a good movie!"

"Wait, that's a movie poster?"

"Did you not see the giant 'Jaws' written at the top of it?" Bickslow mumbled. "Please tell me you've at least seen the first movie."

Lucy shuffled uncomfortably and shrugged, looking across to where Scarlett's crib was by the bookcase. She knew well that Bickslow was a movie buff, at least when it came to anything resembling horror, so if the stupid shark poster was actually from a movie, then it wasn't really surprising to Lucy that she'd never seen it, let alone heard of it. "Well, no…" she admitted quietly. Scarlett was still asleep, thankfully, and Lucy planned on keeping it that way. "Why would I watch a movie about a stupid shark?"

Bickslow shook his head and reminded himself that Lucy wasn't a horrible peasant. "Stupid shark movie…" he muttered under his breath. Who the hell says that? This is fine. Bickslow was just going to have to take it upon himself to educate his little soulmate about the finer things in life. "Jaws is a masterpiece, okay. We're watching it before you leave."

"Is that really necessary?" she complained.

"Yes. Yes, it is."

Bickslow had just been walking back inside after showing Lucy around the grounds when his brother and his own family had been walking through the front door at the other end of the foyer. Bickslow couldn't help but grin. Alexander, on the other hand, grimaced, and tried turning around to run straight back out the door.

"Move, move, move…" The youngest Redfarrow almost tripped over his five-year-old daughter in an attempt to exit the house. "I need to leave, I need to—"

"Don't you fucking run away from me!" Bickslow shouted. Lucy could only watch in stunned silence as Bickslow quickly ran down the hall to chase after his brother. By that time, Alexander's wife had managed to move herself and her daughter out of the way to let Bickslow run straight out the open door.

Alexander didn't get very far before Bickslow caught up to him. He was pulled back by his shirt and then Bickslow's arm was wrapped around his neck to keep him in an uncomfortable position. "Bickslow, brother… How wonderful it is to see you…" he laughed nervously, hands wrapping around Bickslow's wrist to try and loosen the hold around his neck. He'd lost count of how many times Bickslow had put him in a headlock growing up, but it was much more embarrassing (and terrifying) as an adult.

"Oh, I'm sure it is. I enjoyed my birthday present, you know."

"Your birthday present? What was that again?"

"That box of rotten apples you had delivered to my house," Bickslow said.

Alexander paled even more. "Oh… Right… Yes… I forgot about that…"

"Mm-hmm, I bet you did."

By then, Lucy had wandered back out to the front of the house behind who she supposed to be Bickslow's sister-in-law and niece. She had to admit, seeing Bickslow put his brother in a headlock in the middle of the courtyard was not what she'd been expecting.

Alexander coughed and tried straightening up, but failed with Bickslow still keeping him still. "Would you mind, uh… letting me go now?" he asked. He looked to his daughter standing beside his wife on the steps then, and smiled at her quickly. "Elaina, sweetheart, come tell your Uncle Bix to let me go."

The girl shook her head and Bickslow couldn't help but snicker as he loosened his grip on his brother only slightly. "You haven't even said please."

"Ple—"

"Bickslow, just let your brother go already!"

He rolled his eyes at his mother shouting at him from the upstairs study window. Damn it. "Fine," he muttered, finally lifting his arm back up to let his brother go free. That didn't stop him from kicking the back of Alexander's knee when he tried to head back inside, only to stumble and almost fall face first onto the gravel. "Dickhead."

"Asshole," Alexander muttered back.

Lucy only stepped aside to wait for Bickslow before heading back into the slightly cooler interior. "Do I… Do I even want to ask?" she whispered.

Bickslow shrugged as he gently took Scarlett back from her, pulling off the cute little hat he'd bought earlier that day to sit it on one of the babies. "I'm just being a good older brother," he answered. There really wasn't much else to it. He did that every time he saw his brother. One time, he'd even gotten his brother to punch himself in the face. There were a few perks to being a Seith mage, as far as tormenting his brother went.

Idelle walked down the stairs with Felix behind her before rushing over to Alexander, greeting him almost the same way she'd greeted Bickslow the day before. "One of these days you'll learn not to send your older brother horrible gifts," Idelle sighed, kissing her son's forehead and smoothing down the already slicked back cobalt hair.

"I'm older than him!" Alexander whined.

"Oh, you are fucking not!" Bickslow said.

"Excuse me, who turned twenty-four first this year? I believe I did, thank you very much!"

"Yes, yes, but Bix is younger than he should be, remember?" Idelle said soothingly. She thought she'd no longer have to settle arguments between her children when they'd both reached adulthood… Apparently not. "Anyway, have you met Lucy yet?"

"What? Who?"

Lucy was already beginning to think that Bickslow was right about her hating his brother. She was really just trying to tell herself that first impressions weren't that important.

"This is Lucy!" Idelle said. Lucy smiled awkwardly and gave a small wave as everyone else turned their attention to her. "Lucy, this is Alex, our youngest son. And Alex, this is Lucy. Would you believe she's a Heartfilia?"

Of course she says that. Of course she does. Honestly, if Lucy had known that her family name would be such an interesting topic, she would've just asked Bickslow to pretend her name was something else. "It's nice to meet you," Lucy said with a polite nod.

Alexander reached out to shake her hand just a little too firmly. "Likewise. I was so sorry to hear about your father's passing, Lucy," he said quickly. "Although, not really, because, you know, now I'm one of the richest men in Fio—"

Felix reached forward to flick his son's ear. "Alexander, shush. That was unnecessary. Apologise."

"Right, yes." Alexander nodded quickly and gave a somewhat regretful smile. "Sorry about that. I'm truly sorry for your loss."

"It's… It's fine…" Lucy said softly. It had been a few years since Jude had died now, and she admittedly hadn't thought about him all that much since then. Still, it was just a little painful to have her father's death now associated with Bickslow's brother's success. She hoped it wasn't entirely true.

"Anyway! Lucy is Bickslow's babysitter!" Idelle said in an attempt to lighten the mood, although it didn't seem to work quite the way she'd expected. She only embarrassed her guest and annoyed her son.

"For the love of god…" Bickslow could only roll his eyes and turn to walk away. He got this mother was kidding, but still, he was even more convinced that no one was going to let him forget what he'd said. Idelle couldn't help but giggle quietly to herself as he sulked.

"Babysitter?" Alexander repeated. "You mean you finally listened to my advice and got someone to take care of him?"

"Oh, be quiet. I was only joking," Idelle said. "Lucy's just Bickslow's guest."

"Right… Okay. And, uh, was I imagining it? Or was he just holding a baby?"

"If you mean his daughter, then no, you weren't imagining it."

Alexander stared at his mother for a second with wide eyes before turning his attention back to Lucy. It took her until he tilted his head to understand why he was staring at her, and Lucy's face grew warmer and redder as she shook her head and quickly denied what he was no doubt thinking.

"No! No, no, no… No…" Lucy spluttered. One of those days she was just going to give up and say she was Scarlett's mother. Bickslow had already joked about it once before, so why couldn't she? It would save her some embarrassment… Well, mostly. Still, right then, Lucy was adamantly going to continue denying any relation to the infant. She wasn't going to stick around to hear what else could come out of Alexander's mouth either. "I'm just… I'm going to go this way… And find Bix…"

With all the Redfarrows in the same room at once, Lucy found it quite easy see the similarities (and even the differences) between them all. At one end of the table, there was Idelle with her chestnut hair that hung in loose curls over her shoulder and the familiar red eyes that would show she was up to no good or that she cared deeply for the person she was looking at. She was the kind of person that could roll out of bed in the middle of the day, completely hungover and looking like an absolute mess, and still look gorgeous. She had the face that looked like it had been carved by the gods themselves.

Lucy kind of envied her for it.

Then there was Felix at the other end of the table. He'd grown rounder and greyer since the time Lucy hat met him when she'd been fourteen. She hadn't seen much of him in the last two days, but Lucy already knew she saw more of Idelle in Bickslow than she did Felix. The slightly tanned skin was from Felix, although whether that was from the Boscan heritage on the Theroux side, or the permanent sunshine in Astrantia, Lucy didn't quite know. She suspected it was a bit of both, since even Alexander sitting opposite Lucy at the dinner table had a slightly darker complexion.

Alexander looked more like Felix, as far as Lucy could see. He still had the same dark blue hair that had no doubt come from his father, whose own black hair was streaked with more grey than blue, and he too had the famous Redfarrow eyes – a rare mutation of genes that Lucy was more than sure had resulted from some morally wrong marriages somewhere in the past – but his features were softer. He didn't have the same sharper edges to him like Bickslow or Idelle did, although that only made Lucy wonder just what kind of person he was. She already knew Bickslow was more jagged around the edges and just a complete and utter dork on the inside. With Alexander though, Lucy couldn't help but feel like there wasn't much more to him than what people saw.

Lucy had been too busy staring at everyone else all through dinner to notice that someone else had been staring back at her. Although Bickslow noticed it before Lucy did, and he slid down on the dining chair as best he could just to reach out and kick his brother's knee under the table. "Quit being a creep."

"Ow! I'm not being a creep," Alexander complained. He slid down slightly to kick Bickslow back, somehow hitting Lucy's shin instead. "You're the one who's a creep."

"That was me you just kicked…" Lucy said quietly. It hadn't hurt, thankfully, but she certainly didn't appreciate it.

"See? Now look what you've done!" Bickslow said.

"You started it!" Alexander shouted.

"You're the one who was being a creep and staring at Lucy!"

Idelle sighed as she set her glass of water back on the table. Perhaps it was going to be a wine night after all. "Will you please both just stop it?" It never failed to amaze her how both of her adult children could turn back into actual children when around each other. She expected it from Bickslow, but not so much Alexander.

The two quickly stopped their bickering and hung their heads, both muttering a "Sorry, Mother," at the same time. Lucy almost thought she was seeing and hearing things.

"Anyway. Enough business talk," Felix chimed in. Lucy hadn't even noticed what everyone had been talking about, she'd been too busy staring at everyone. He turned to the small girl sitting just next to him at the table and offered a kind smile. "Are you excited for Christmas, Elaina?"

She nodded her head quickly. "Mama let me help with tree!"

"You got to help decorate the tree? Did you add lots of pretty lights?"

"Lots of purple and pink ones!"

"The only colours you should ever decorate a tree with," Bickslow scoffed. Lucy had yelled at him when he'd wanted to get all purple baubles and tinsel. "Red and green are overrated."

"Green is gross."

"Right?"

Idelle shook her head at them. "Anyway, what about you, Bix?" she asked. "Did you actually buy a tree this year and set it up before you left?"

"Lucy made me buy one," he mumbled.

"Well, good. We don't set ours up until Christmas Eve. Perhaps you could help me decorate the tree tomorrow, Lucy?"

"Uh, yeah, sure. I guess," Lucy said. She hoped Bickslow would be roped into it as well, because the thought of being stuck in a room with just Idelle terrified her right then. Either way, decorating a Christmas tree wasn't exactly what Lucy would've liked to spend her time doing, but she was still a guest and she couldn't offend her hosts.

Bickslow refrained from throwing something at his brother then. He had the manners of a two-year-old, not that Bickslow could really talk, but right then, he was really starting to piss him off. "Honestly dude, what is so fascinating about her?" he asked instead. He wouldn't asked what the fuck was wrong with the guy instead, but Elaina had already told him off earlier for his swearing. He wasn't supposed to say bad words around her.

Alexander sighed before he nonchalantly said, "I'm trying to figure out if she's your kid's babysitter, or if she's actually your babysitter." The way he saw it, either one was possible.

"I swear to god, I lose brain cells whenever I see you," Bickslow mumbled.

"Bickslow, that's not very nice," Idelle said.

"Do you hear the shit that comes out of his mouth sometimes?"

"Do you hear what comes out of yours half the time?" Alexander countered. He really did think it was a logical question though, which was why he looked to Lucy instead and asked, "So which one are you babysitting? Because really, either is possible."

"Alex, please don't be rude," Idelle sighed.

"I'm not being rude. I'm asking a valid question. So?"

"I'm not… I'm not actually a babysitter…" Lucy said sheepishly. She knew that's what Idelle had introduced her as earlier to Alexander, but she knew it had been a joke as well – although that in itself Lucy hated, and she was sure she was going to go down in history as 'the babysitter.' She might as well put it on her gravestone. Still, if she was a babysitter, Lucy wasn't sure whose babysitter she actually was. She had a feeling she was there for Bickslow's benefit over anyone else's. She wasn't going to say that though. She could be nice, not that Bickslow deserved it. "I just happen to help with Scarlett a little."

"Right, so you're basically her babysitter." He turned to his wife beside him while shaking his head. "Even Bix was smart enough to get a babysitter. Why couldn't we get one for Elaina? I told you it'd be easier. We're definitely getting a sitter for the next one."

"Next one? What do you mean?" Idelle asked, before her eyes lit up with realisation. "Oh! You're not thinking of having baby, are you?"

"I'm getting a baby sister!" Elaina announced before either of her parents could say anything. She was so excited she was almost bouncing off her chair. "Or baby brother. I hope baby brother."

"Another baby! Oh, how exciting! When will that be, Anya?"

"In July," she answered.

Lucy was almost surprised she'd even answered. It was the first time she'd heard Alexander's wife say anything all afternoon. She'd only learnt her name from Bickslow after he'd finished being told off for swearing by Elaina. She had a slight accent that Lucy couldn't quite place, though she suspected that Anya was from one of the Eastern most countries, perhaps as far as Bellum, judging by the fair skin, dark hair, and even her name.

"Well, congratulations," Felix said.

"This is just wonderful." Idelle was smiling too much to even finish eating her dinner. Christmas that year was shaping up to be the best one yet. "Bickslow's got a daughter now, and you and Anya are going to be having another baby next year… I'm so happy for all of you. It's just so rewarding being a parent, getting to see your children grow up and start their own families…"

Bickslow couldn't help but grimace as his mother finished with a sniffle. Even Alexander could only give an awkward nod and a smile.

Idelle picked up her clean napkin to dab at the single tear that had fallen from her eye. "Anyway, what about you, Lucy?"

"Hm?"

"Any plans of starting your own family anytime soon?" she asked.

Bickslow almost choked. He could not see that conversation ending well at all.

"Oh, um… I don't really know, to be honest…" Lucy answered. What the fuck kind of question is that? The Redfarrows seemed to have the most interesting dinner conversations, from what Lucy had seen from the last two nights. Still, she certainly hadn't expected Idelle to ask if she was going to have children. That just felt ten kinds of wrong to Lucy, even if she knew Idelle had only asked it as an innocent question. "I haven't really thought about it. I guess it's not something I'm really interested in at the moment…"

"But babies are so wonderful! It's different when it's your own child, too. And it's such an amazing experience, being able to bring new life into the world."

"I'm sure it is."

"Can we please drop this subject?" Bickslow asked quietly. He had no idea how Lucy felt, but it was making him uncomfortable as all hell. He was smart enough to avoid that topic as best he could those days since he still remembered making Lucy cry when he'd kept joking about them having kids together at some point if they'd been married. Had he known that his mother would actually pester Lucy about having children, then Bickslow honestly would've made a point of asking her to avoid the subject. Lucy was the one worried about offending his parents, but so far, his mother was the only one causing problems – unintentionally, of course, but still.

"I wasn't talking to you, so shush," Idelle said as she rolled her eyes. She brushed it off so easily that Bickslow had to scream at the babies in his head for a second. "Anyway, you're already doing a wonderful job with Scarlett, so you'll no doubt be a great mother to your own children someday."

"I'm sure," Lucy repeated. "I'm just not sure it's really for me, that's all. At least right now."

"Oh. But how come? You can't work as a mage forever, so you must do something with your life."

Bickslow refrained from biting his nails as he asked once more, "Seriously, can we talk about something else? Like the weather, maybe?" He still wasn't sure how Lucy was dealing with that all, but he knew that she was making an effort to keep her answers polite, which he had to give her credit for. Sometimes she put up with too much, and Bickslow knew that all too well.

Idelle finally sighed and turned her attention to her son for a moment. "Really Bix, what is your problem?" she asked.

"It's a super weird conversation and it's really not the kind of thing you should be asking someone about over dinner."

"And you're an expert on etiquette, are you?" Alexander scoffed.

Bickslow was just going to ignore that one. "Just change the subject. Please."

"Well, if you're uncomfortable, you can be excused," Idelle said firmly. She really wasn't sure what the issue was, but she expected more from Bickslow, especially now that he had his own child. "Anyway, Lucy. If you don't want children now, that's fine. But, I'm positive that you'll change your mind at some point. Although you mustn't wait too long, since you'll—"

"She can't fucking have kids, for the love of every fucking god in the universe, stop asking her about it," Bickslow suddenly blurted out, dragging his hands down his face. The words had barely left his mouth before he realised what he'd just said, and for once in his life, Bickslow was actually at a loss for what to say next.

"Awkward…" Alexander whispered.

He was almost too scared to turn to look at Lucy beside him, just because he knew she was staring back at him and wondering silently if she'd actually just had to hear what had come out of his mouth. Of all the horrible and stupid things he'd done, that was one of the worst. Not the worst, but it was pretty high up there. The fact that it was to Lucy was just even worse. "I… I'm so sorry. I didn't… I shouldn't have said that…" Bickslow managed softly, shaking his head.

Lucy could only set her cutlery down to quietly excuse herself from the table.

"Now I understand why you wanted me to change the subject…" Idelle mumbled. "Perhaps I should go apologise…"

"No. Don't." The last thing Bickslow needed or wanted was his mother going upstairs to try and fix it. That was his problem now, because he was the one who'd just fucked it up. But everything only seemed to get worse when Scarlett, who Bickslow had been holding on his lap the entire night and had been quiet and perfect the whole time, began to cry. At that point, Bickslow really didn't think things could get any worse, but he knew they no doubt would. "Can someone just… I need to go and—"

"Here, give her to me," Felix offered. He pushed back his chair to hold his arms out for the infant, holding her carefully once Bickslow had passed her to him.

When Bickslow reached the top of the stairs, he just made out the sound of a door slamming. For a second, he considered just letting Lucy have some space for a little while, but he had a feeling that would do more harm than good. He also had a feeling that Lucy didn't even want to talk to him right then, which Bickslow would admit was fair, but he couldn't just leave it without properly apologising, either.

He stared at the closed door for a moment, only sighing as he leant his head against the frame. "Lucy… Come on, I'm sorry," Bickslow called through the door. "I shouldn't have said that. I'm sorry, I am."

Lucy pulled the door open so quickly that Bickslow regretted resting his head there. "What the hell is wrong with you?" she hissed.

"I… I honestly don't know." Clearly, something was wrong though. He wouldn't have blurted that shit out otherwise. "But I'm sorry. Really. I just… I don't know what else to say other than I am so, so fucking sorry."

"It wasn't your place to say anything, let alone that." Lucy knew she hadn't really had much choice in telling Bickslow that she couldn't have her own children, but she'd still trusted him enough to not tell anyone else. She wasn't even thinking about what Bickslow's family thought now, especially Idelle – although Lucy was pretty confident that they were no doubt just pitying her. All Lucy was concerned with right then was how Bickslow had so easily blurted it out to his family and betrayed her that way, because for the life of her, she couldn't figure out what had possessed Bickslow to get involved in the conversation. It had been her secret and hers alone, but Bickslow had just gone and ruined that. "Why did you have to say anything at all?" she asked.

"Because I knew you weren't going to say anything because you're just too nice to do that. And my mother… She would've just kept asking and asking about it, and I just… I didn't want you to have to put up with that shit because it wouldn't have been fair and I didn't want you to get hurt."

"God, Bix, I don't need you defending me!" That just made it worse. "It was fine! I'm not so… So fragile that I can't even hold a conversation with someone without bursting into tears."

Bickslow nodded. "I… I know. You're right. And I'm sorry, really. Just tell me what I can do to make it up to you."

Sorry didn't really mean much to Lucy, though. And there wasn't really anything Bickslow could do or say to make up for it. Everything would've been fine if he'd just kept his mouth shut, but no, he'd had the play the saviour because he'd been too worried about her feelings getting hurt, and he'd just made things exponentially worse.

She was almost tempted to just grab her bag and go find a motel in town, that's how little she wanted to deal with Bickslow; no doubt if she left early enough in the morning, she'd be able to get the train back to Magnolia, too. But Lucy couldn't even do that. She wanted to, but she knew it would still make things worse, and for some stupid fucking reason, she didn't want to upset Bickslow by leaving, despite how she thought it would be completely warranted.

But with there being nothing Bickslow could do to make up for the stupid thing he'd said, Lucy could only shake her head at him and slam the door in his face. It was slightly satisfying to do so, but the satisfaction only lasted for a second.

Bickslow was smart enough to leave her alone for the rest of the evening.

This was supposed to be the Christmas chapter, and I had planned on getting it finished to post on/around Christmas this year. But... That didn't happen. This chapter kind of got away from me, so Christmas will be in the next chapter. It won't be getting posted until next year though, since I have a lot of other stories I want to work on before coming back to this.

Anyway, I'm all done with the semester now! Hopefully my summer holidays will be spent writing and getting lots of stories updated (although it's unlikely). Souls and Spirits and A Peculiar Situation are going to be my priorities for a little while though, just because they're both nearing the end and I'd love to get those two monsters finished up.

For now, thank you for sticking with my non-existent writing lately! Reviews are always appreciated. I'll try and get something posted again soon... Maybe.