Gift fic for me!

Apr. 17th, 2025 08:38 am
senmut: a bright blue tribal seahorse (General: Tribal Seahorse)
[personal profile] senmut
Waves of Grass (426 words) by chibifukurou
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: The Legend of Zelda & Related Fandoms, The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild/Tears of the Kingdom
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Link & Zelda [Legend of Zelda]
Summary:

An afternoon nap surrounded by life.

Daily Check In

Apr. 16th, 2025 09:28 pm
senmut: frontal view of Drizzt's face above his crossed blades (Forgotten Realms: Drizzt Face)
[personal profile] senmut
*\o/* Word Count Step Count Headache?
Daily 208 9,721 no
Monthly 7,004 157,312 4 days

March 2025 Reading List

Apr. 16th, 2025 06:46 pm
tjs_whatnot: (reading leads to...)
[personal profile] tjs_whatnot
And before I begin, this is where I beg you to join Fable (and give you a cool invite code that gives us both $$ for one of their interactive ebooks). Fable is AWESOME! ❤️



March 2025 ) And that was my March. How about you all?

6x agatha harkness fic recs

Apr. 16th, 2025 08:34 pm
kimaracretak: (agatha)
[personal profile] kimaracretak
Uhhhhh it was meant to be Agatha All Along fic recs but then a Wandavision one snuck in. Anyway I keep seeing fic rec lists and going 'wow! all of those sound boring and awful and like the fics were written for a totally different show!' so I made my own. Alphabetical order by title, minimal warnings, these authors almost certainly have other good A3 fics that I didn't rec, yknow, all the Kimara Makes A Rec List staples. Weirdly weighted towards smut, to an extent I wasn't expecting.

allow my love to find her brutal way to me. agatha all along, agatha/rio, billy, mrs hart. 9.1k words, rated e. by [personal profile] thiswildernessismyhome.
Rio just wants one conversation with Agatha. One. And if she has to trap them both in a time loop to make it happen, so be it.

Fic that made me think 'yeah okay I'll believe the show's version of Nicky specifically so I can read this fic reacting to it'. Which is not a thing I thought I would ever say, but here we are, the Rio voice in this is that good.

body of work. agatha all along, agatha/rio. 38.k+ words (wip), rated e. by [archiveofourown.org profile] gnawingsuspicion
Throughout history, Agatha Harkness has left behind no shortage of casualties. As her power and body count grows, she catches the eye of Death herself.

Fic that doubles and triples and quadruples down on YES Agatha's an unrepentant mass murder and YES magic is super fucking weird and YES Rio is Death is also not human. Still a WIP so possibly will lead to regrets later, but eh, the first seven chapters are probably one of my favourite backstories for them I've seen.

don't give it a hand, offer it a soul. agatha all along, agatha/rio. 2k words, rated e. by [archiveofourown.org profile] HenryMercury
The sweet things she says are always bait.

Road sex ft asphyxiation.

don't look now. agatha all along, agatha/rio. 10.3k words, rated e. by [personal profile] thatyourefuse.
So it turns out, when you get to the bedroom, there's nothing fucking there: you should've expected as much.

Have rec'd before will rec again this is one of THE defining Agnes-spell fics, all unsettled memories and identity grief, and menstrual sex.

the kindest thing (is to never leave you alone). agatha all along, agatha/rio, alice/rio, agatha & alice. 4.3k words, rated m. by [archiveofourown.org profile] spillentireuniverses.
In the cabin, Rio faces her biggest obstacle yet: a genuinely good person. (or, the time loop fic where Death drags Alice Wu-Gulliver, rather unwillingly, back to life)

Rio doesn't understand how she can eat Agatha whole. Rio makes this Alice's problem. Alice is not Not okay with this despite her best efforts.

until next time. wandavision, agatha & wanda. 3.8k words, rated t. by [archiveofourown.org profile] mothersquared.
One day Agnes woke up and went to the square. Every day Agnes woke up and went to the square.

Pyschological horror (psychological fun!) in the immediate aftermath of Wandavision, ft Wanda facing the consequences of her own actions.

you are only a visitor on this dark earth. agatha all along, agatha/rio. 7.1k words, rated e. by [archiveofourown.org profile] moonmotels
Agatha + Rio + testing the limits of love

Domesticity but make it WrongTM (the best kind of domesticity for them).

(no subject)

Apr. 16th, 2025 10:27 am
greghousesgf: (pic#17098439)
[personal profile] greghousesgf
Cranking up the Beatles because one of my neighbors put Whitney Houston on.

That Was Our Chance.

Apr. 16th, 2025 06:17 pm
rionaleonhart: the coffin of andy and leyley: andrew glances back over his shoulder, expressionless. (this is who you are now)
[personal profile] rionaleonhart
The most dangerous thought a person can possibly have is, 'Huh, I feel like a lot of Softer World comics would fit this character dynamic.'

I was absolutely correct to have this thought about Andrew and Ashley Graves from The Coffin of Andy and Leyley. I just failed to anticipate the consequences.



Below the cut: eight more of these, with spoilers for episode three (Decay route). As with anything I post about The Coffin of Andy and Leyley, heads-up for hideously unhealthy relationship dynamics and heavy incestuous themes.


The Coffin of Andy and Leyley comics, inspired by A Softer World. )


I've made ten of these things in the last four days. I'm going to try to at least take a break. If I don't stop at ten, when am I going to stop?

Daily Check In

Apr. 15th, 2025 08:33 pm
senmut: All five Justice League members standing in a circle (Comics: JLA YO)
[personal profile] senmut
*\o/* Word Count Step Count Headache?
Daily 494 8,156 no
Monthly 6,796 147,093 4 days

(no subject)

Apr. 15th, 2025 08:21 pm
used_songs: (damn uhura is hot)
[personal profile] used_songs
They invited me for the school visit to meet everyone and teach a model lesson!!!!!!

Figuring It Out

Apr. 15th, 2025 07:29 pm
yourlibrarian: Sherlock Violin Profile (OTH-SherlockViolinProfile-abyss_valkerie)
[personal profile] yourlibrarian
1) Nothing like returning from the post office having mailed our tax returns to get an email saying "Your corrected tax form is now available."

2) Got some really nice pics of the moon this week, posted over at common_nature

3) New watch, the Brokenwood Mysteries, saw 3 episodes. They were alright, I liked them mostly for the New Zealand angle. Figured out both of the first two mysteries well in advance, and in fact figured out why we were having various elements introduced in E2 and how they fit into the resolution.

4) Speaking of music, Name That Tune has passed the exercise test. I do often recognize a song but will then generally struggle to remember the name (or exact name). What I notice I do better on is looking at them as a trivia question. For example they had 2 TV theme clues in the last episode I watched and I got them both immediately.

5) Don't know when or if a Tumblr collapse will happen, but there have been some good explainers for new-ish people over at [community profile] newcomers.

Poll #32987 Kudos Footer-520
This poll is anonymous.
Open to: Registered Users, detailed results viewable to: All, participants: 8

Want to leave a Kudos?

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8 (100.0%)



(no subject)

Apr. 15th, 2025 10:50 am
greghousesgf: (Bertie Smile)
[personal profile] greghousesgf
I had a fairly nice day yesterday except for a couple of fuckups with the buses. That was the second day in a row a bus refused to pick me up. Also the bus that wouldn't pick me up took a VERY long time to show up and one of the buses coming back from the library was extremely crowded.
I had tea and carrot cake at my favorite cafe and then hung out at the library for most of the afternoon and then got some groceries at Trader Joe. I have birria and tortillas and rice and tomatoes and I'm going to cook a burrito for lunch before I go to physical therapy this afternoon.

Daily Check In

Apr. 14th, 2025 09:30 pm
senmut: Yusef looking back over shoulder, book open in lap (TOG: Yusef)
[personal profile] senmut
*\o/* Word Count Step Count Headache?
Daily 192 8,567 no
Monthly 6,302 138,687 4 days

(no subject)

Apr. 14th, 2025 09:14 am
greghousesgf: (House Schroeder)
[personal profile] greghousesgf
L. couldn't get together with me today because they are having major probs with their computer and have to hang around their house getting that taken care of but we had a nice long phone conversation just now. Later I'm going to go to my favorite cafe and then the library. I haven't hung out at the library in a long time.

Daily Check In

Apr. 13th, 2025 09:01 pm
senmut: Moiraine looking at Lan kneeling by her chair, ep 1.5 (WoT: MoirLan)
[personal profile] senmut
*\o/* Word Count Step Count Headache?
Daily 1,308 12,217 no
Monthly 6,110 129,665 4 days


SO CLOSE to catching up on my word count. Ahh well.

(no subject)

Apr. 13th, 2025 08:21 am
greghousesgf: (Hugh Smile)
[personal profile] greghousesgf
Going back to the movies again today, this time to meet a different friend and watch Harold and Maude, a movie I love and haven't seen in a long time and never on the big screen. Some of the cemetery scenes in that movie were filmed at a cemetery right down the street from where I live.

Daily Check In

Apr. 12th, 2025 11:03 pm
senmut: A seated woman with a thread in her hand, knitting needles, and a spider web vaguely visible (Incarnations: Fate)
[personal profile] senmut
*\o/* Word Count Step Count Headache?
Daily 2,203 12,007 no
Monthly 4,802 117,274 4 days

FTH 2025: The Romulan Way postscript

Apr. 12th, 2025 10:56 pm
senmut: A painted picture of Bones McCoy (Star Trek: Bones McCoy)
[personal profile] senmut
A Lesson Learned (2180 words) by Sharpest_Asp
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Star Trek: Rihannsu
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Leonard "Bones" McCoy/Spock
Characters: Spock, Leonard "Bones" McCoy, Ael i-Mhiessan t'Rllaillieu
Additional Tags: Established Relationship(s)
Summary:

After extraction, Bones is still chewing over what happened, and Spock has concerns.



AO3 Link

A Lesson Learned

Ael i-Mhiessan t'Rllaillieu knew that the Starfleet Intelligence officer had passed something of importance to McCoy. She toyed with the idea of taking it from him before delivering him to Kirk, but she decided that perhaps 'playing it straight' with him might gain her a better path in any future endeavors requiring the Enterprise officers.

"Please, sit," she invited, once the man had arrived. She pointed to the decanter awaiting him with a storage canister next to it. "A gift, for your courage in recent events."

McCoy inclined his head, then met her eyes. "You took a risk, played the Rook's Gambit perfectly even, but… what do you want, that you're offering me a gift?"

She smiled, settling back in the chair that emphasized her diminutive size. Such tactics still worked on others of her own kind… but not this canny Terran. He just seemed warily amused, and she could appreciate that.

"Your operative chose to stay, wiping out any potential gains beyond what you yourself gathered while there," Ael said aloud.

McCoy gave a small snort. "Yes, she did pass off her notes," he said to the hinted question. "I haven't read them all yet. What little I managed was mostly a history lesson."

That struck Ael in her heart; the operative understood that a people were the sum of their past? If she were to ever set foot on ch'Rihan again, perhaps she should find the operative once more, and investigate a potential alliance.

"It would be interesting to know how our history and culture are perceived by one who began outside of it," Ael managed to say in completely neutral tones.

"Let me finish reading it — due diligence and all — and I'll copy anything that doesn't compromise Starfleet Intelligence," McCoy said in that particular slow, stretched dialect of his.

Sometimes, 'playing it straight' had its own advantages, Ael decided, agreeing to that, and the necessity of his first reading.





Spock raised an eyebrow at the distinctive blue liquid in the tumbler that Len was nursing. The fact he was taking his time about the drinking only added to the concerns Spock had about the long-term effects of his partner having been in the hands of the Romulans. As the objective had not been met — Lieutenant Commander Haleakala-LoBrutto remained in place within the Romulan Star Empire — Spock worried that Len was being overly emotional.

"The only being in this room carrying emotional baggage is you, worrying over me," Len said, despite Spock never having stated any of his concerns. They were not touching, so it was improbably astute of Len to have deduced Spock's appraisal. Spock did not deny it, settling himself with the ka'athyra to quietly play, knowing that Len did enjoy the music. If he was unobtrusive enough, perhaps the good doctor would face this mission and move forward.

His fingers began working the strings, trying the arrangement he and Nyota had been working on, an ancient Terran ballad called "Georgia on My Mind". He noted when Len started humming along, finding the tonal and key shifts easily, and when Len softly sang 'Other eyes smile tenderly/ Still, in the peaceful dreams, I see', Spock decided that the man might just be relaxed enough to open up. Yet as the song ended, Len merely finished the last of the Romulan ale, set the tumbler aside, and picked up his PADD to study.

Should he just ask outright? Spock knew such blunt probing had gone awry in the past, but that was before… everything had changed for them. Between Len's retirement, his own return to Vulcan and attempt at kolinahr, the pair had moved into yet another phase of give and take in their evolution.

Spock's mother had opined that while Jim was t'hy'la, a bedrock of Spock's existence between two worlds, Len was the eshikh-salan that blew through all of Spock's more careful decisions. As usual, Spock found her observations of the matter correct, nor would Spock ever fully walk away from the random factors Len introduced, short of death.

"Ael gifted me the ale," Len said, most of an hour later, setting down the PADD. "Might be the last time any of us see or hear from her again. She's pretty damn angry at what the Rihannsu have become."

"I refuse to calculate the odds of the veracity of that statement, given the interesting ambit in place through the last encounters," Spock pointed out. He was, however, running the statistical probabilities of that being the beginning of true discussion of the mission Len had undertaken. "Do you wish to speak of your time with Naraht on her vessel?"

Len gave a smile. "That lieutenant is one tough cookie," he said, amused and showing no sign of hiding pain behind the incongruous description of their Horta crew-member.

Spock merely arched an eyebrow at the description, moving forward now that he had the necessary opening to Len's experiences.

"I find myself grateful for his assistance to the Commander in her mission to extract you from Romulus."

"Should start saying ch'Rihan, and use Rihannsu," Len chided softly. "It's ch'Havran for the other world, the one we call Remus."

"Terrans have a long history of persisting in naming the worlds and peoples of the universe in their own language," Spock pointed out. "You are chief among them for retaining the human nomenclature."

Len grimaced in response to that. "I know," he acknowledged, "but something about this stay there has put a burr under my saddle to try. Maybe it's a dichotomy in my own head now. Romulans are the bastards that we fought, losing ships and people without laying eyes on them for so long.

"The Rihannsu are a people that live out their lives with social strictures dividing their people nearly as deeply as some caste-based Earth cultures."

"Illogical, but quite human, in such a division of awareness," Spock said after weighing that.

Len leaned back in the chair, fidgeted a moment, then stood up to prowl the quarters. Spock carefully said nothing, only shifting slightly so that he nor his instrument were taking up any of Len's pathway. Rather than play, Spock began testing the texture of the strings, one at a time, while mostly reading what he could of his partner. Mercurial mood shifts were something to watch for, yet so far, Spock was only sensing deep thoughtfulness that required physicality on Len's part to settle.

"How much of the history do your people still have, Spock?" Len asked, once he had paced out the quarters enough to settle by catching one hip on the table, other leg balancing him on the decking.

"Obviously not as much as was needed, or — logically speaking — we would have shared cultural knowledge to aid in the war, to end it more swiftly, and prevent the losses."

"They don't have it all, but they know where they came from. Some of their social distinctions tie all the way back to them living Vulcan, or so it sounded like, once I had time to listen to what Terise sent back with me." Len sighed deeply. "Arrhae. She really is Arrhae, not Terise."

Something in his tone cued Spock to focus more fully on him, to weigh the words with the body posture. It wasn't, as Spock presumed initially, that they had failed to extract the Starfleet Intelligence officer.

"Your sense of humanity has been impacted by the Lieutenant Commander's choice?" Spock theorized aloud, and Len's nod confirmed it. "You do not have all of the data necessary to evaluate her choice decisively," Spock pointed out.

That got a chuckle. "I know. I'm not indicting my entire species for the choice of one person deciding they'd rather be the one they went to study. I'm just thinking, carefully, on what it would take for me to ever make that kind of choice, how it would play out, and what it would mean in the long run.

"In the end, I know I am too ornery, mean, and stubborn to ever be anything but human, so it's all just a philosophical exercise in my head."

Len's hand shifted on the table, a deliberate motion, and Spock answered it by moving his nearer hand to the table, fingertips just touching the doctor's. The contact sharpened the forged bond that had existed ever since the aftermath of Spock's divorce, and a new level of meaning came sharply into focus for Spock.

"I would find you as complementary in my life if you had ever made her choice," Spock said, voice gone deeper with the gravity of what Len had been wondering. "You, and Jim, each inhabit a point of existence that is unique, offering insights into living that I would otherwise lack, no matter how illogical you and he both persist in being."

Len covered Spock's fingers with his own at that, smiling. "I know. But part of that illogical persistence is chasing will'o'wisps in our heads.

"I'm hoping she landed on her feet, that she will keep surviving, and maybe be as happy as she seemed to think life there could make her. In the meantime, I'm going to be my human self, make sure her data doesn't fall into a black hole of bureaucracy, and do what I can to make a certain Vulcan's life as messy as ever."

"Hardly 'messy', though I may extend 'disorganized' on a regular basis," Spock answered with complete seriousness… outwardly.

"Care to read the copy I made for myself? So you can decide how it accidentally slips into your father's hands for historic reconciliation?"

"I accept. Though it may be less my Father and more T'Pau or a historian she trusts. Much as your people are not ready to have the enemy known so thoroughly, I deduce that Vulcan will have to have time, and more research, to accept the shared histories."

"I'm not betting against that, no matter how emotional that sounds," Len said, teasing, before he moved to get the PADD and hand it over. "I've got a shift in Sickbay, so take this with you now."

"Appreciated, Doctor," Spock said, rising to leave, sliding into the professional cast of their relationship, no matter that they had just been touching so intimately, open in their minds to one another through the skin to skin contact. It was another facet of being themselves.





Spock would say I am out of my mind with some Vulcan aphorism of his, but I think I need to record this anyway. Arrhae, you impressed me. You went into a brand new existence, seeing it from the outside, and you found points of reference that made it work for you. Maybe whatever guided you into Starfleet was a fundamental need for everything to be in its exact place, knowing day in and day out what was truly expected.

Len paused then, thinking about it a little longer before flicking the recorder back on.

I can't understand you, or your choice. Even with a strong incentive, I can't imagine ever leaving behind who and what I am, what made me everything I am. But that's not stopping me from seeing your choice as right for you. I can hope you never come to regret it. I can wish for a day when I find out how it all turned out for you. And I can forward your mission, the one to learn about them, to others, so that maybe, someday, it's not a you and us situation.

Satisfied, he cut the recording off, locked it in his private files with the code that meant it would be available after his death — whenever that happened — for archivists. Joanne would also be able to unlock such entries, if he ever went missing long enough. He half-wondered what his daughter would have made of Terise's choices, and if she'd understand Arrhae.

That was one more of the conversations that wouldn't happen until a whole mess of things got declassified earlier than Len anticipated. He shook his head a bit at the thought, then stood up to go meet Spock in his quarters. He was looking forward to finding out just what his friend had found in the words Arrhae had sent back with him, about how the Rihannsu came to be, how they had broken from their Vulcan roots to shape into the culture that had, very nearly, ended all hopes of a Federation before they had bloomed.

He was certain Spock's insights would be cutting, in a dry and logical way — of course. He just also knew that Spock, child of two worlds himself, would recognize the shaping of the writer, see the way Terise had embraced Arrhae, finding the dictums of that life easier to bear.

It wasn't that far a cry from Spock's attempts to shape himself into a 'proper' Vulcan, but with less cutting away of the self, less denial of existing emotions, and more a growing into the new shape that answered unknown desires. It just might take a bit of time for Spock to admit that much out loud.

(no subject)

Apr. 12th, 2025 10:13 am
greghousesgf: (pic#17096877)
[personal profile] greghousesgf
Looking forward to meeting a friend of mine at the movies this afternoon, we're going to see the musical version of Little Shop of Horrors! I'm wearing my red jacket with the embroidered Chinese dragons on it because it's the closest thing I have to those sexy green dresses with the Chinese dragons on them that the chorus wears in that one scene.

Daily Check In

Apr. 11th, 2025 11:30 pm
senmut: An artistic rendering of capricorn (Kids: L)
[personal profile] senmut
*\o/* Word Count Step Count Headache?
Daily 597 9,474 yes
Monthly 2,599 105,267 4 days


Again, there was a break between yesterday's headache, and the one today.

The Western AU: Epilogue

Apr. 12th, 2025 10:41 am
senmut: A manip from Birds of Prey covers with Dinah and Slade (Comics: OTPoW)
[personal profile] senmut
Minding the Store (1280 words) by Sharpest_Asp
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: DCU [Comics]
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Characters: Crystal Brown, Stephanie Brown, Dinah Laurel Lance
Additional Tags: Alternate Universe - Western, Epilogue
Summary:

Dinah, now a married woman, has to find a solution for how to be a wife.



Minding the Store

NOTES: Frontiers of Justice written with Ilyena_Sylph, between 2008-2011, decided it needed an epilogue.

That's how this happened, and it won't make much sense unless you read the linked fic. Western AU for the DCU in general, with stereotypes common to the 1860s in play.



Trying to make a marriage work between a mercantile owner and a trail boss for a ranch far enough out that a town house was impractical was challenging. Dinah and Slade decided it kept things spicy, and there was no real rush on actually living together more than during the winters. Roy tended to go beg a bed at the Lazy B through much of the winter, and Alfred indulged him.

Still, Dinah had been working at the idea of wanting to make a family life, and Slade — Wintergreen had confided this at the wedding — was due to inherit the ranch in time. As Roy had no interest in running the store, it meant that Dinah had to think hard. Just because Werner had sold his store that next spring after all the excitement didn't mean she was going to give her heritage, her parents' legacy away.

Lord had made an offer to be a silent partner for her, but that rubbed her wrong too. She'd cleared her liens with the bank, and meant to keep it that way.

She was no closer to a solution in the third spring, until the Widow Brown wandered in with her daughter. The girl, Stephanie, was about as old as Bruce's Tim, and even friends with that boy. Crystal Brown was holding on for all she was worth, trying to learn from Leslie Thompkins and Doc Pritchard to be an able nurse for their thriving town. It was just hard, being a woman with no husband, and coming late to learning a trade by necessity.

Dinah felt the flash of an idea, clear as a lightning strike in the middle of summer's heat, and smiled warmly. She remembered that Arthur Brown had been a drunk, but he'd been gunned down on a cattle drive for the Lazy B the year before. Bruce was doing he all he could to make sure wife and child got by, but he couldn't adopt every family in need.

"Mrs. Brown," Dinah said warmly. "What can I get for you today?"

"I have a small list," Crystal told her, looking a little wary. Dinah could figure the reason easily; money was always on the thin side, even with the survivor benefit Bruce had paid out from that drive.

"Well, seeing as I have been wanting to talk to you," Dinah began, as if it hadn't just occurred to her, "why don't you hand it to me, and I'll bring it on by this evening once I close?

"I don't know what it will run…" Crystal all but whispered, trying to keep her daughter from hearing where the girl was playing with Speedy, the hound that protected the store.

"Set a spot for me for dinner," Dinah told her. "You never ask much of me, and I want to be helpful to another woman that didn't just head east when she lost it all."

Crystal's chin wobbled, but she nodded, unwilling to let her daughter suffer because of pride.

"I'll see you at dinner," the woman said, handing over the list on a scrap of newsprint.

"Stephanie, come get a piece of hard rock candy," Dinah said, pitching her voice up. The girl came over, grinning, but glanced at her mother, who nodded. Once she had it, the pair left, and Dinah saw to readying the order… with a bit more generosity about the quantity of the goods than asked for.





Once she and Crystal, with help from Stephanie, had put all of the goods away, Dinah caught the woman's hands to stop the protests.

"The extra is because I have an offer I want to make to you, and I feel it important to give you something for the time I ask."

"Yes, Mrs. Wilson," Crystal agreed, and Dinah smiled more brightly, because so many still slipped and called her Miss Lance. Or did it a-purpose, given Slade was respected, but not liked, by many.

They set to dinner then, and Dinah just offered pieces of gossip until after, when Stephanie slipped out to go see her friend Cass. That child had been left behind by a rail crew and their women, to everyone's dismay, but Sister Helena had taken her in.

"First off, I will take 'no' for an answer, given what I have to ask is a bit much, and you'd know that people haven't always approved of me and being on my own, running the store," Dinah began. "But, bluntly, I'm looking for a partner I can trust, who won't sell me blind, and will talk to me when things come up that need more of a hand."

Crystal's eyes went wide at that.

"I'd be giving up the home above it completely," Dinah continued, "but I'd like to see about a trade for this house of yours, because Roy needs a place, and I don't expect you'd be comfortable with him underfoot.

"I was thinking sixty-forty, at first, on the split of the store, with mine likely to salt right back in to getting more goods, covering repairs, all of that necessary mess that comes with running one."

"Why me?" Crystal asked finally.

"Because you're a woman who chose to stay, who dealt with an unkind hand even before you lost your man," Dinah told her. "Because I want Stephanie to have the freedom I knew growing up. Because I refuse to sell that store to any of the men, or honestly to anyone! Taking a partner doesn't scald my nerves, but again, because I held it after Mama held it on her own, I'd rather it be a woman.

"Even if you do marry again, I'd ask you to keep it out from your man's assets."

Crystal nodded to that. "I don't plan to ever be held down by a man lording it over me again, so I understand that. What about my lessons?"

"You'd be closer to Doc Pritchard, and Roy will still need a job. I'd leave the two of you to work it out. And it won't be so long before Stephanie can mind the store enough to give you more time; I wasn't much older than her when I started doing it."

That got a steady nod. "And you're closer to the Sister's place, which will help that," Crystal said. "I'll do it. We can get Miss Kane to draw up the contract tomorrow, if you like."

Dinah tipped her head. "Are you sure you don't want time to think about it?" she asked, even as she smiled at trusting the woman with law training over going to Bozeman for a proper one.

"Mrs — Dinah. You are offering me and my daughter a life line in a blizzard," Crystal admitted. "It's beyond generous, and gives Stephanie a chance at a future here as more than a wife to someone."

"So it does," Dinah agreed. "Alright; I'll have Roy mind the store tomorrow, and we'll go see Kate. Bruce won't mind witnessing for his cousin, once she draws it all up."

They shook on it, and then Dinah gathered her barrow, heading back home with satisfaction.





Roy was startled, but pleased to learn about the arrangements. He agreed to keep working for Crystal, and helped with swapping everything between the houses. Dinah would have a room with him always, he vowed.

That left the rest of the year leading to winter to teach Crystal, with Stephanie gleaning as much as she could by always being helpful. By the time Slade came for her that autumn, Dinah was certain she'd laid her bets correctly, and could look forward to being a wife more than a merchant in the years to come.

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queenslayerbee: Isabelle Adjany as Lucy Harker in 1979's "Nosferatu the Vampire". She's surrounded by darkness, looking over her shoulder while she wears a white nightgown and a cross as a necklace. A hand with long nails like a claw is reaching for her neck from the darkness behind her. (Default)
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April 2025

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