#au thread

Ozai was the Fire Lord now her very own husband was running the whole nation.

That meant everything would change now for her and the children.

She stood in the gardens looking at the Turtle-Duck pound as she fed the birds before her. They mated pair just had duckling again and she cued over them as they were her precious pets.

"will i still be kept around, it was former Fire-Lord Azulon who arranged our match." she said to to the turtle-ducks

not knowing Ozai had overheard her

Ozai smirked coldly, watching Ursa, he had heard her words clearly and decided to make his presence known as he stepped closer, hands behind his back.

Things had been quiet lately. Not necessarily good or bad; just routine in the way that life gets sometimes.

One part of that routine involved checking their comm for any incoming messages. They got called up for jobs here and there, sometimes heard from friends or acquaintances that just wanted to catch up.

And then there was this.

Swindle frowned. This was... not like their normal messages. It was coded in a different, yet somewhat familiar, way. When he finally pinned it down as being Morse code, his frown only deepened. That was a human form of communication. What bot was using that to contact them? Or was this genuinely a human attempting to reach them for whatever reason?

He went about decoding it. S-W-I-N-... okay, that was his name. Well, you've got my attention. Then: M-E-R-E-D-

Nothing else. Just his own name, and the start of another word that got cut off.

...

Wait.

M-E-R... Maybe not a word, but another name? Meredith?

"What the fuck," Swindle muttered to himself before rechecking his work. Maybe he got something wrong in the translation? But no, it's still definitely Mered- and then it ends there.

“I don’t think I’ve seen you so nervous about anything in your life…”

Yes, Alex was nervous. Why wouldn’t he be? It was his first big gig, his first true piece of visual journalism that he got to call his own, and he got the gig all on his own.

Well, he was assigned to it by Zahra, who has worked as his mother’s Features Editor for years, but she told him she picked him because of his merit and abilities.

“You have an eye for capturing candid moments. And you’re Henry’s age. I’m sure he’ll feel more comfortable around you. Maybe you’ll even make a friend…”

Alex had to laugh at that, because there was no way that him and Henry Fox were ever going to be friends. He knows because he’s tried. He saw the model standing alone near the open bar at some Hot Under 30 party where he tried to chat it up because;

A) He looked just slightly pathetic standing there by himself, nursing the same glass of wine

and

B) Maybe Alex was just a tad nervous to be surrounded by the who’s who without the comfort of his sister or best friend around

But of course when he tried to make friendly small talk, Henry just looked him up and down with confused eyes as if wondering why this low life was looking at him, let alone talking to him, and excused himself in a stiff British accent.

So, yes, Alex was nervous but it was more an anxiety of having to follow Henry Fox around for the next few months, leading up to the holy trinity of the fashion world; New York, Milan, and Paris fashion weeks. These next months were going to make or break both of their careers, even more so for Alex.

“Henry! Perfect!”

Alex looked up when he heard Luna greet the model. Rafael Luna has done many cover shoots for Vogue over the years, and he’s been a mentor of sorts to Alex as he tried to make a name for himself. Alex was more than relieved when he heard that he was going to be the photographer for the photo shoot the Henry Project was to start with. Of course Luna was fussing over the model now, making sure that not a single hair was out of place, and every thread was where exactly it needed to be.

Henry Fox was handsome, sure, but he was also pretty. And yes, they are two different things. He had a strong jaw, broad shoulders, large hands, and was the perfect height at six foot whatever. But he also had a thin waist, high cheek bones, and perfectly pouty pink lips. The duality of masculine and femininity made him universally appealing and any photographer’s wet dream with his ability to mold him into whatever they wanted him to be.

It was honestly obnoxious.

Walden wasn't really great at subtlety. Hiding his relationship with Antonin made sense: they didn't need anyone poking their noses in their business, and it was still so new and thrilling. It made sense and he'd agreed to it but shit it was hard to keep his hands to himself now that he knew he could put them everywhere.

It was after dinner and everyone else had headed back towards the Common Room and relaxation, but Antonin had called for him to stay behind to 'talk about something'. Walden was really hoping the talking involved more kissing than actual talking.

"Whatcha need, 'Tonin?" He asked as Antonin led him down a side hall of the main entrance. "What can I do for you?"

Carlos finished his cup of coffee as Banks descended on him. “I’m dropping a guy off at your desk, he was involved in a bar fight, but he’s being released.” He explained, slapping Carlos in the chest with his file. “I’d take care of it, but we all know you’re the best at paper work.” He grinned winking at his friend while he sped away.

Carlos could be annoyed, but he knew Banks had plans with his girlfriend tonight, so he took the file and skimmed it as he walked. He glanced at the picture and winced, that lip looked unpleasant and despite his bruised face, Tyler Kennedy Strand was unfairly gorgeous.

His deep green eyes were captivating, and his face screamed of pain and lingering anger. Carlos didn’t know why, but he instantly wanted to make him feel better. Or, at least look a little less haunted.

He dropped the file on his desk and smiled down at Tyler. “Hello Tyler,” he greeted far more warmly than he should allow. Especially given the file he had just read. Normally, people who went looking for fights weren’t exactly the type that liked talking to cops.

“I’m Officer Reyes, and I’ll be processing you tonight. Can you walk me through what happened?” He asked, as he sat down. He leaned forward and grabbed a purple pen, he placed it on the paper and waited for Tyler to begin.

Despite how pretty Tyler was, Carlos was in a relationship, so he didn’t allow his gaze to linger too long. Besides, Tyler was a total 10, and Carlos prefer to stay in his league when it came to dating.

When they had first started talking about renting a campervan and travelling together to see the Grand Canyon, she hadn’t really thought that it was something that would actually eventuate. Arden had expected it to never move beyond the planning stage yet here they were, three nights into their trip. They had found a beautiful spot to stop for the night and Arden had quickly called dibs on the first shower, wanting to wash the days journey from her body. “The shower is yours”, Arden called out when she had finished, walking into the main area of the campervan in just a towel. “When you’re finished, I’m breaking open that nice bottle of scotch that I brought with us. Do you want a glass?”

River was a good mum. She knew she was a good mum. She’d do anything for Alba and River’s own parents had told her time and time again that she was doing well.

The pregnancy had been unexpected and her long term partner Ramone had practically ran at the sight of a positive pregnancy test. Whilst River could understand it, he’d been younger and her relationship with him had never really gone beyond the physical, it had hurt and she’d moved back to her parent’s town in an attempt to try and land on her own two feet.

@nervous-clod​

*The forest is quiet.....peaceful.........until it isn’t. A yelp sounds out as someone takes a wrong step and falls down an incline, tumbling down into the foliage below. It was someone who didn’t belong there, a Surplus Pearl from Homeworld. She’d been hired up to help an elite while she went on a “day trip”, to a forbidden planet with friends. While the group was there, they’d gotten a stern order to return and in the rush to get there......some things had been left behind.

Including her.

That had been a few weeks ago, and Pink had finally realized they weren’t coming back for her. Or, at least, no one saw a rush to......now she was trying to find her way around the muckball she had a very sour history with.....*