#selfshiptober2025

“H-Hey, b-babe!” Helen called as she stepped inside, joined by a small gust of wind before she closed the door behind her. “I-I’m back!”

“Oh, h—woah!” Luka’s eyes widened as he walked in, seeing his girlfriend smiling but shaking like a leaf. “Someone didn’t quite prepare for these colder October evenings, huh?”

“I-I didn’t think it’d be th-that bad,” she admitted, bunching her coat together a bit. “Y-You went out in li-lighter the other day, and y-you were fine.”

He chuckled. “Feathers don’t exactly insulate as well as fur does,” he remarked, as he put an arm around her. “Mind if I help you get into something more comfortable and just as warm, though?”

She hesitated for a second, before relenting, letting her boyfriend slip off her jacket, revealing the thin top she had on underneath.

“Didn’t even bring a sweater?”

“I-It was nicer this afternoon…”

“Poor honey,” he remarked with a small chuckle, before helping her back to their bedroom. After helping her undress, he got her in a nice comfortable sweater and equally nice pair of sweatpants. “That help?”

“Mhm…,” she nodded, a soft smile already on her face. “Bedroom’s also a lot warmer…,” she noted with a yawn.

“Long day, too?”

She nodded, still yawning, and held up three fingers. “Threeeee birthdays, today. Not too bad, but it was a lot more. Probably would have gone to bed earlier last night had I known I’d be out so late.”

“They don’t tell you these plans ahead of time?” Luka asked, a bit surprised.

“They do. But um,” she clicked her tongue. “One kid went up in one of the playpen pipes today, and wouldn’t come down. For anything. Took an hour to get him down, and we also had to call the fire department.”

“Oh, boy.”

“And then another kid nearly smashed the ticket muncher. While another started throwing skee balls around…” She covered her face with her hands, and slowly dragged them down. “It was a day, hun.”

“Sure sounds like it,” he agreed. “How about we take an early night tonight? You go get comfy in bed and I’ll come in with some hot chocolate, yeah?”

“That does sound nice…oh, but tomorrow is my day off! I thought you liked having the night with me before those!”

“Hey, I still will be,” he noted with a shrug. “Plus, you being able to relax after a long day is more important to me than whatever I could plan up. So why don’t you go lay down and I can get some hot chocolate made up for us, yeah?”

Helen appeared to think about it for a moment, before smiling. “Sure…but I’d be happier to do it if I could get you here sooner? Don’t exactly need anything else right now, except for you.”

Luka chuckled, a slight blush on his face. “I think that can be arranged,” he nodded, once again taking her by the hand as they both flopped onto the bed. He gently wrapped his arms around her, pulling her close to him and nestling his chin on her shoulder. “Yeah…I’d say this is much better…”

“Mhm!” She beamed, and snuggled back towards him, letting out a small sigh. “You always take such good care of me, Luka…I love you.”

“It looks like we didn’t find a new home for all of your old trinkets,” Memoria says as she steps into Sonia’s office. 

Sonia has been working late tonight— for as well paying as her new position with Valdivian is, it's also one that gives her a lot of work. It's getting close to midnight, and she knows that she’ll have to stop for the night soon, but still it's hard to stop herself. 

Though it's easier now with Memoria here to distract her. She’s already gotten ready for bed, stripping her dark makeup from her face and trading out one of her usual dresses for a sleek black nightgown that accentuates her figure. She looks like a dream come true, and that only makes the thought of quitting work for the night and going to sleep all the more tempting. 

“What did you find?” Sonia asks. 

Memoria pulls up one of the new chairs Sonia put in the office for when her partners might want to visit her at work, sitting opposite of Sonia at the desk. She then presents her most recent finding— a deck of tarot cards. 

“Oh, wow,” Sonia says. She hasn't seen this deck in ages. She had bought it right after she moved out from her parents’ house, finally feeling able to engage with some of her interests that she knew her mom would’ve complained about. She must have tucked it away somewhere when her parents visited, trying to keep it out of sight while they were around, and completely forgotten about it. “Where did you find this?”

“In one of the dark corners of your dresser. You really should go through some of your things there— maybe that can be a new project of ours,” Memoria says. 

“Maybe,” Sonia agrees. She takes the deck of tarot cards, taking them from the box and spreading them across the open space of her desk. “We’re definitely not getting rid of these, though.”

“Good. I always enjoyed when you would do your readings,” Memoria says. “Do you remember when you used to assign major arcana cards to your friends? You had a gift for interpreting the cards, finding the perfect match for each of the people you cared for.”

“Oh, thanks,” Sonia says. She’s never been particularly good at taking compliments, though she’s certainly flattered. She also shouldn’t be surprised that Memoria liked her card readings— tarot seems exactly up her alley.

“What card would you assign to me?” Memoria asks, leaning closer, dark eyes meeting Sonia’s with a conspiratorial smile on her face.

“Hmm.” 

Sonia looks through the cards spread on the table, idly poking through them to try to find the right one. She already thinks she knows what she would pick for Memoria, at least from the major arcana. But she wants to give this some thought, wants to make it feel more personal. The High Priestess could fit her, or maybe Judgement. She doesn’t think the Tower would be a good fit, though Memoria would certainly be delighted by that one. None of those are quite right, though. 

The perfect one instead shows a skeletal knight riding a white horse, the dead and dying strewn about by it. Sonia pulls it from the pile, showing it to Memoria positioned upright.

“You’d be Death,” she says. “Death isn’t about actual death, though that does fit your overall vibe. But it’s about change, about letting go of the past so you can continue onto the future, the cycle of life and death. Nothing is permanent, and this card is all about transformation. Which I think fits you pretty well. You’re all about change, letting go of the old or turning it into something new, finding a new place for it.”

Memoria practically beams at that, clearly delighted by her assignment. “You flatter me, dearest.”

“It’s just a good fit for you,” Sonia says with a shrug.

“Mhm. Now, would you like me to return the favor?” Memoria prompts as she neatly slides the Death card back into the pile, mixing them around on the surface of the desk before looking back up at Sonia.

“You don’t have to,” she says.

“It would be an honor to,” Memoria replies.

“Then… okay. Go for it.”

Memoria ponders over the cards for a moment, examining each of them carefully. She has the same look in her eyes as she did when they were looking over all of Sonia’s old trinkets, trying to decide what to keep and what would be thrown out. But rather than throwing anything out, she eventually pulls a card from the deck, presenting it to Sonia.

“The Moon,” she says simply. “While the Moon is a card of illusions and uncertainty, it’s also a shining light through the dark. You might have your doubts on how to move forward, but if you follow that light and your intuition, you’ll find clarity. For as much as your anxieties and doubts may overwhelm you, you will always have a brilliant inner light capable of illuminating the shadows. You just need to trust it.”

Sonia sits in silence for a moment, Memoria’s words as impactful as they ever are. She always seems to know exactly what to say to get Sonia’s mind going, and now it’s taking in everything she said. So much of Sonia’s life has been influenced by her anxieties. That’s the reason she even got a job with Valdivian and ended up getting the Dateviators. She let her anxiety keep her from the rest of the world, let it hold her back. Sonia’s on a better path now, but still her doubts get to her at times. This is Memoria’s attempt to encourage her in her own, often cryptic, way.

“I can see it. And thanks, by the way,” Sonia says.

“All I’m doing is telling you what I see in you,” Memoria says. “Though before we put the deck away, we could do something more. Perhaps you could give me a private reading in the bedroom?”

There’s a suggestive tone to her voice at that, a flirtation beneath the surface. And by now Sonia’s tired enough that it’s easy to give into the temptation to stop working for the night and get ready for bed with her girlfriend.

“Alright. Just give me a second to close everything up for the night and change, and I’ll be there,” Sonia says.