#golden thread

Be careful Hurricane he will protect and defend

Ah, the golden connection that can pull them out of the abyss and bring them together with nothing more than a thought and determination.

The connections that touch us in this way are special. They are the ones meant for us, for reasons only the Earth will ever know.

...Golden threads touch all of us every day, but most often only artists and children take the time to follow them."

write your own ending

keep believing,

"He had a heart that could have held the entire empire of the world; and, in the end, he had to content himself with a cellar."

"I swear, I've never seen Verkan look so frustrated before," Gregory laughs. His mask is down around his neck so he can eat, and Julian enjoys seeing him laugh and smile without it.

"You'd think he'd be used to it by now," Julian comments mildly.

Gregory snorts. "You would think," he agrees. "For better or worse, Symonds continues to find new and exciting ways to be a nuisance."

Julian hides a grin by taking a bite of his sandwich. "I can't tell if you're resigned or impressed."

"Both, as well as jealous," Gregory admits. "I sometimes wish I had his improvisational talent."

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Gregory starts snorting out a laugh. "Have Hikaru toss in a fireball," he giggles, "See what the ensuing chaos does, if they regenerate and come right back, or what."

"That's a great way to lose a forest," Julian laughs.

"Ah," Gregory strokes his short beard, "so then we should do it on Ricarten's side, and clear out the Goblins' Forest while we're at it! Two birds, one stone."

"There's no way this could go wrong," Julian agrees sagely.

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"Sorry," he laughs, "sorry, sorry. I haven't cleaned up, yet."

"Cleaned up from what?" Golde demands. "You smell like you've been rolling in fish guts!"

Julian bobs his head from side to side, considering. "There was both rolling and fish guts involved," he allows. "Just not quite in the way you're imagining."

Golde shrieks and scrubs her face where it had been smooshed to his chest moments before. "Julian!" She bolts upstairs, presumably to the washroom, cursing and gagging all the way. Julian just laughs, and laughs.

"What in the world is going on?" His father asks, emerging from the kitchen. He frowns at Julian. "She doesn't usually run upstairs screaming ew! after seeing you."

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She's cut off by a sudden commotion from just outside the entryway to the courtyard. A flash, shouted exclamations, and the telltale sound of someone losing their breakfast.

Hikaru sighs. "I really thought we'd get used to using those scrolls by now."

Julian fights the urge to laugh.

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Gregory turns to him when the fighting is over and gives him a once-over with raised brows. "Did you actually just defeat a horde of mushrooms with a stick?"

Julian frowns and looks at the ruins of the axe. "No," he says. "It was an axe up until a minute ago."

"Right," Gregory snorts. "Look at you. You're not even wearing a proper shirt, nevermind your armor. I can't believe you jumped into the fighting like this."

"You can't?" Julian asks, raising a brow in return.

Gregory shakes his head, looking a mix of fond and resigned. "No, I can, I'm just trying to wrap my head around the depths of your stupidity."

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"Easy," Gregory mutters, looping one of Julian's arms over his shoulders and guiding him down into a chair. "I had a feeling that was coming."