January 5 - 10, 2024 | Entirety of Conversation with HAUNTED, from Sebastian’s account

I’m prioritizing posting these (transcribed 1/26/24, backdated to 1/10/24) because 

• I was accused of inappropriate behaviour towards Haunted and I want you guys to point out any place that you thought my behaviour was inappropriate or even questionable in the comments, if you can find it. 
• This person also accused me of only caring about sex and ships.
• This person accused me of never reading their writing.
• This person accused a small group of my friends and me of "only" interacting with each other.

Please, please help me out by pointing out anywhere you think Haunted's accusations might hold water.

 

S, 12:11 p.m.

//hello! so please feel free to send me any of your characters you think would work for a close-friendship plot as well but mine are...

❤HAUNTED

 

<several messages unsent from me>

 

HAUNTED

Holdup!!! Lemme see this

I just woke up kinda

 

S

sorry! I know there's a lot!

actually let me delete those and just send you the album 🤣

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.184934627352526&type=3

 

HAUNTED

The way I was in the middle but yes that’s easier lol

Mine are in my photos too I haven’t uploaded everyone yet.

❤Sebastian Morningstar

 

S

so okay Azazel, Helena, Faustus, Blaine, Nathaniel, Cat, Uvall, Threnody, and Marla would probably work best

 

HAUNTED

For sure whoever you think! What type of stuff do you write

Cuz my main muse is a werewoo

My main OC also turns into a vamp at one point I wanted to add more supernaturals

I also have a vampire Hunter detective lady who ends up working for a secret society that investigates and studies vampire biology but she isn’t like some of the members of it who are racist toward vamps

 

S

ooh! Well, there's some vampires in that album, plus dragon shifters, incubi, and... my main muse is technically human but has some angelic qualities

so I do write a lot of urban fantasy

❤HAUNTED

 

HAUNTED

I love the dragons

Oh same basically but more horror

And rural

 

S

Awesome, I'd love to write horror and thrillers too

 

HAUNTED

Yessss I need the thrill

I always try to have chases and fights

I have one muse also who is a cult leader after escaping Mormonism

 

S

Ooh

 

HAUNTED

She turns kinda evil bc she gets a god complex but she preys on ppl in LA and the surrounding area who are lost souls or addicts or victims of tragedy

And is big into ppl who are gifted

And exploiting it

She is human but has vague psychic abilities

 

S

Oh nice, most of mine tend to congregate in LA, although I Can move them anywhere

 

HAUNTED

:> it's perfect

Most of my muses are in the western part of the US, Ginger is Canadian

And I have my stranger things stuff circulating around Chicago

 

S

Petra is absolutely gorgeous (respectfully)

 

HAUNTED

♥ Yaaaaa I have been meaning to do something w her she is a fae

If you would like to do that

 

S

What's her personality like and what sorts of people does she get along with the most?

also Ripley is of a similar age to Troy, Torrent, Threnody, Toby, and Pall (the dragon shifters)

 

HAUNTED

She is very skittish and fearful of ppl and she is mute, but mighty and fierce B)

 

S

Ah! I have a mute muse too! She's not in the main albums but her name's Johanna and she's a fledgling witch

❤HAUNTED

 

HAUNTED

That would be a good connect for her cuz I have songs in my rp playlist ab someone named that hehehe

❤Sebastian Morningstar

That would be a good connect for her cuz I have songs in my rp playlist ab someone named that hehehe

❤Sebastian Morningstar

As a kiddo Rip is just a human but she is very open minded

❤Sebastian Morningstar

And will keep anyones secrets

She is mostly based of Nat from Yellowjackets with some tweaks to her personality

 

S

She seems like a sweetie

❤HAUNTED

so this is Johanna (I haven't filled out a profile for her yet)

although apparently I have a profile for her on my phone soooo hm I'll add her to my album in a sec

 

HAUNTED

I love that fc

Mostly yes but she is impulsive and does a lot of dumb stuff

Sometimes it hurts ppls feelings

 

S

Perfect 😈

 

HAUNTED

B) how to start? I don't mind doin it

 

S

Well okay so we vaguely discussed a few different characters and potential interactions

Would we be starting with Troy and a rival in college?

Trophy and anyone?

Petra and Johanna?

Ripley and anyone?

I think our conversation here was leaning towards Petra and Johanna but we could literally do any and all ♥

 

HAUNTED

I'm down for Rip w whoever I have to think ab Trophy

I also have

A demonic possessed girlie I haven't completely fleshed out who was expelled from Catholic school

She is misunderstood bc she is possessed by a sex demon tho >_< so typically ppl outcast her

 

S

Alright, she might work well with any of my incubi, who were blessed with sex magic by Lucifer to use as self-defense-- so they'd make good friends and confidants since they would be able to understand at least part of where she's coming from

❤HAUNTED

Trophy is basically a klutzy idiot who flies around bonking into things and talking in baby talk

 

HAUNTED, 3:27 p.m.

I am home now I can focus le le le

Maybe Petra then?

 

S, 7:40 p.m.

Sure!

So, just so you know, sometimes I do take a while or forget to respond but you can always just let me know you're waiting for a response and I'll get to it ,3

 

HAUNTED, 7:47 p.m.

No big deal I am not that codependent these days

 

January 6, 11:55 a.m.

 

S

That's cool. I tell everyone that as a matter of respect so they know I'm not blowing them off ♥

 

HAUNTED, 2:27 p.m.

Yuh of course I appreciate it ♥

❤Sebastian Morningstar

I work a lot I'm a home aide so

❤Sebastian Morningstar

 

January 7, 4:10 p.m.

 

HAUNTED

I added another murderer girlie

But she is like into norse pagan stuff

💚Sebastian Morningstar

So dragons B)

💚Sebastian Morningstar

 

S

Huzzah!

 

HAUNTED

How u

Did you wanna do a thing w Rip

 

S, 4:23 p.m.

Of course!

 

HAUNTED

Did you have somethin in mind

 

S, dictated; corrected in green.

Well I'm currently running errands but we can definitely plot while I'm walking or later on when I'm at my computer and Kim fully focused can fully focus. I know that we had discussed Petra and Johanna as potentially being close to platonic friends. I'm definitely interested in getting to know all of your OCs because I find the concepts behind them very interesting and I think they'd get along pretty well with my characters, who are a mix of OCS and obscure cannons so basically I'm open to any fandom even if I don't know anything about it and I can absolutely learn things about fandoms as we go

 

HAUNTED

For sure if you want I can ai generate some prompts for us

Which OC do you have most muse for?

 

S, 4:32 p.m.

It varies but right now my strongest are probably Sebastian/Serena, Cygnet, and Troy/Trinket

 

HAUNTED

We can do 2x2 if ya want as well

 

S

Sure, I tend to do a lot of ensemble cast stories so it's whatever feels right at the time

 

HAUNTED

Samez

💚Sebastian Morningstar

 

January 10, 8:12 a.m.

 

(After I had commented on an open post asking something about which muse should do X or Y)

 

HAUNTED

I have yet to use Margeaux for anything you reminded me I have her

And I did want a cute ship for her too

💚Sebastian Morningstar

 

S, 9:20 a.m.

Ooh!

So tell me a little more about her

 

HAUNTED, 4:39 p.m.

I made her as a AHS oc so she is intended for like a psychological horror kind of plot but I don't mind putting her in other tings

Her bio is in the album

 

S, 5:00 p.m.

I did see some information about her in the album and I was just wondering if there was anything that you want people to know about her that isn't necessarily in there. But I'm happy to write with her because she does sound fantastic

 

HAUNTED, 5:37 p.m.

Yaaa I wasn't sure what season of AHS to choose for her and idk any other AHS ppl who arent just looking to ship around :(

But I had a vagueish plot in the 40s right before the atomic bomb is dropped

And her crush/neighbor boy/bff gets drafted to go into the war

And then while he's at war a bunch of the men get abducted by aliens

including him

And the aliens do some weird shit to em to make em all supersoldiery and they're like "we came here (technically from the future bc time/space/lightspeed/w.e) because we are preventing you from discovering the power that comes with wielding nuclear bombs bc eventually earth ends up destroying out planet w one and it causes a chain reaction of universal destruction"

 

S, 6:04 p.m.

ooh that's pretty cool

 

HAUNTED, 6:29 p.m.

Yuh

 

S

Nathaniel's a canon from Crazy Ex-Girlfriend, which is a musical drama comedy show on Netflix. Because there's not a lot of RPers in that fandom, I do a LOT of crossover and I made sure he can fit in anywhere. He's acquired incubus abilities and let's see he's dated

- Skorpa from The Last Kingdom

- he's friends with benefits with Lucifer from Netflix's Lucifer

- a few people in his own canon and some other OC's

I'd really like to see how they get along as buddies, like, I'm fully open to shipping but I know we're both "chemistry first" people

 

HAUNTED

I feel it my fandoms are also niche af

He has a bio?

 

S

Yes, let me fetch it for you

https://www.facebook.com/photo?fbid=184941470685175&set=a.184934627352526

It's the description for this, but also

if it's easier to read,

https://www.facebook.com/11thfieldofinnocence/posts/pfbid0Qe6KUXNwezV2dgSVa6HrMr2PjRTUAp6vbfujcvZ6htvuCMCPLuLjMetCWybjjxrTl

There's a lot of info from some of my alt accounts in the comments of the second link and I'm not sure how much of it I ported over to the version in my album

He *has* been a highly sexual character in the past but I won't play him like that with people who aren't comfortable with it.

❤HAUNTED

 

HAUNTED, 7:12 p.m.

Yah I only do nsfw w my actual partner but I dont mind implied

Or fluffy romantic stuff

+ a lot of my muses are like teenagers

 

S, 7:25 p.m.

That's cool 😀

 

HAUNTED, 8:00 p.m.

Yus

💚Sebastian Morningstar

 

S, 8:27 p.m.

A lot of my muses are also teenagers but the adult ones I can age down to something that's more age appropriate if you wanted to write with basically anyone

 

HAUNTED

Same I can make ppl older or w.e

 

/end January 10, 2024, at 8:08 p.m.

This was the last of our Messenger conversation. Haunted did post on some of my dragonlings asking for them. I have screenshots in another set of messages where I was evaluating this person's actions. And yes I did and have been assuming Haunted's gender to be female due to writing only female muses.

Sebastian Morningstar

. . . I responded to one of her "Send an emoji for a friendship" things. Sent her my album. Told her which ones would work best. And she immediately chose someone it WOULDN'T work for


😆B---

Jan 05, 2024 12:19:22pm

S (a selection of messages from me to B, with most of their comments redacted)

it was ... "🤗 Send if you’d be interested in plotting a thread where are muses are strictly platonic but are extremely close, they are practically family to each other. "

she chose Troy, Trinket, and Sebastian

I did explain that Troy and Trinket are the same person

Troy already has a "best friend he's extremely close with" but offered to make room for more

and Sebastian being Trent's only friend and vice versa, at least in childhood, is an essential part of his characterization

i am already very frustrated

I understand the context in which she's speaking, but she had to clarify she's just window-shopping at everyone bc I thought she was pointing out the ones she was REQUESTING for the platonic un-ship

i'm ADHDing through her albums as well

yyyyeah she's ONLY commented on male profiles with the exception of Sebastian/Serena and even then she's probably not interested in the NBness

I'm not surprised, just disappointed -_-

and she looks to ONLY have girl muses

(redundant screenshots are redundant)

come ON girl I thought you wanted to explore STORIES and write HORROR and have FUN

and she's also complaining about people using chat-gpt to write because theyre uncreative

"I write all these GIRL characters and i'm only interested in talking to the BOY characters"

look how she just skated over the idea of petra and johanna

 

B

"but don't smut me without chemistry tehe"

And yeah I did notice she just noped double girl roles already

 

S

usually your girls are who my girls get along with BEST

*Hypothetical Beth pops up*

*Maze also pops up*

*Z-Dog pops up*

*Threnody also pops up*

i just don't understand how you can WRITE girl characters but not appreciate OTHER girl characters

I only downloaded the chatlogs from January 1st through the 11th, because the last time Haunted and I spoke in inbox was the 10th. 

Loki x Cygnet

Stołen Rełic

||• It’s almost 4AM, and my brain is alive with plots and ideas.

I blame him. /points at Loki.

It’s his fault.

 

Cygnet: "Come at me brooooooo"

 

||•|| 𝑳𝒐𝒌𝒊 𝑳𝒂𝒖𝒇𝒆𝒚𝒔𝒐𝒏. ||•||

𝐷𝑖𝑑 𝑦𝑜𝑢 /𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑙𝑙𝑦/ 𝑗𝑢𝑠𝑡 𝑠𝑎𝑦 𝑡𝘩𝑎𝑡?

 

Cygnet: "In my defense, I'm ten margaritas under. The salted rim makes them irresistible to a sea nymph like me." She boldly went up to him and linked her arm with his. "So I heard rumors you wanted to take over the world."

 

𝑆𝑜… 𝑌𝑜𝑢’𝑟𝑒 𝑖𝑛𝑡𝑜𝑥𝑖𝑐𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑑?

Would be the first words of which would escape through the lips of The Asgardian God of Mischief with the sound of an inquisitive tone pouring through and into the natural flow of the smoothness in which resided his Nordic accent that accompanied the calm and regal nature of his voice as his lips would part to speak in retort to her own words, somewhat raising a brow as she would link their arms together prior to parting his lips to speak once more.

𝑃𝑒𝑟𝘩𝑎𝑝𝑠… 𝑃𝑒𝑟𝘩𝑎𝑝𝑠 𝑛𝑜𝑡.

 

"My best friends are a chem girl, a pharma girl who owns a club, and a guy whose stepdad owns another club. Being intoxicated is a normal state for me," Cygnet replied. She knew of this man by reputation, though she couldn't be sure if they'd ever met. "Anyway, I'm in tech. I specialize in robotics, but the company I work for can do basically anything, up to and including assisting you with world domination," she continued cheerfully. "And in case you're wondering what's in it for us, look at the state of this world. Our governments are mostly in shambles. If you're willing to take on the responsibility of bringing us all under your leadership, more power to you. I'm sure we'll find plenty who agree."

Troy and Aemond work their stuff out (feat. Cygnet and the Professor)

 I forgot to post this, somehow, but it was written April 4^th. Transcribed January 29, 2024, but backdated to the original date of writing. Note: I did read the parts of Fire & Blood with Alys Rivers in them, but I don’t have that great an idea of how to write her. Please bear with me. I’ll most likely also change the way I write her after season 2 comes out. My intent is NOT to vilify her! The character in this who has a problem with her is acting on personal issues that have nothing to do with my own opinion of Alys. I love her.

While Lydia and I decided not to canonize Aemond living on campus, I’ve decided to keep that in this solo because otherwise, I’d have to cut a line of dialogue that I don’t want to cut. (That part’ll be orange.) Aemond himself is also possibly very OOC 😅

This is also so far into the future that a lot of things will have changed by the time we get even close to here; we might even decide we don’t want to use this drama angle at all. But hey, I still want to post this up because it was a lot of fun to write and it brings me joy to make my friends read it >:D

 

Despite how cool he acted, Troy was really quite sensitive. He didn’t care if his schoolmates attempted to bully him, but any sort of conflict with his close friends devastated him. He was quiet about it, perhaps too quiet. He did most of his usual activities—schoolwork, sports, attending parties he was invited to—but instead of being the brightest light in the room beckoning others to share his joy, he did his best to fade into the background, to call as little attention to himself as possible. He was entirely noncommittal, going with the flow so much that he could get swept away like driftwood in a rip tide.

It’s difficult to say how noticeable this was from the outside. Troy never shared plans for the future with anyone. He’d gone to college because it was the natural next step after high school, but he’d never declared a major. His first semester, he’d taken classes the counsellor had recommended to him. This semester, he was taking Aemond’s classes. Next semester, if things remained tense between them, he’d either take Cygnet’s classes or only undergrad requirements. Several faculty members lamented that a young man as bright as he was—straight A’s in every class—had no real ambition. When the counsellor asked what career field Troy was planning to go into, he’d given her a confused look and told her his parents didn’t expect him to work. Team sport were seemingly the only thing he did for the fun of it, but even there he showed no desire to stand out. So if he was more listless than usual, it wasn’t a teacher or coach who would notice.

 

Cygnet had never really liked Aemond. She tolerated him for Troy’s sake, but Troy had been acting differently lately and Cygnet would bet quite a lot that his depression had something to do with Aemond’s dalliance with Professor Rivers. Cygnet hated them both for breaking Troy’s heart. One day she decided enough was enough and went to confront Aemond. Suffice to say it went badly: Cygnet tackled Aemond when he tried to walk away; he pulled a knife on her; she bit his hand, forcing him to drop the knife; and both Troy and Professor Rivers stepped in to break up the fight.

“Really? The middle of the hall?” the professor demanded.

“Would the custodial supply closet be preferable?” Cygnet shot back.

“Would you stop?” Troy sounded more exasperated than Cygnet could remember hearing him. “We don’t want anyone fired or expelled,” he added, picking up Aemond’s knife and pocketing it. “Let’s just talk in our rooms or something.”

“My room,” Cygnet muttered. “I don’t have a roommate and it’ll be less suspicious than using Aemond’s.”

“I do believe that’s the most considerate you’ve ever been,” Aemond said dryly.

“Stop,” Troy repeated firmly.

 

Not another word was said until they were inside Cygnet’s room.

“Who goes first? Are we drawing lots?” she asked.

“Fuck that. Troy, do you think I led you on so I could lay with you?”

Troy took Aemond’s hand and led him to sit on the vacant bed. “You said you didn’t want to corrupt me, and I want you to know that no matter what happened, you didn’t. But… when you—" Troy’s voice began to tremble, and he swallowed. He took a breath, then continued. “You didn’t want to be my boyfriends afterwards, I’m not gonna lie, that hurt. I figured I’d give you some space if that’s what you wanted, and I’m glad we’re still friends. But… when we got back to school, you immediately got a girlfriend. So which is it? Did you sleep with me and decide you don’t like men after all, or is it just me you don’t want a relationship with?”

Aemond hadn’t expected Troy to be both that complex and that dense. “You do realize your parents basically proposed to me on your behalf,” he pointed out. “It’s too much pressure. I don’t expect you to understand, but I can’t marry you.”

“I think I’m gonna be sick,” Cygnet muttered. Aemond was about to tell her to shut it, but she made a mad dash to the bathroom and ran the water.

“Bad sushi,” Troy explained. “Aemond, Baba doesn’t speak for me. I just turned 18 a few months ago. You really think I’m thinking about marriage right now?”

Aemond blinked at him. “I was your first and your family gave us permission to date. I thought you all expected it to lead to marriage.”

“No!” Troy exclaimed. “I didn’t! You didn’t think to just ask me before telling me you didn’t want to date me?”

Professor Rivers finally spoke up. “I think now would be a good time to tell Aemond what you do expect from him.”

Troy nodded. “Yeah, of course. Aemond, I love you. I want to hang out with you after class sometimes, go out to eat off-campus, snuggle up and play video games. You know, all the things we used to do. But I also… Look, man, it doesn’t have to lead to anything you’re not comfortable with, but I need the label if we… if we kiss again or make love again.”

“You grew up in a whorehouse and you still call it making love,” Aemond muttered.

“Only with you,” Troy answered. “Letting Cygnet fuck me is completely different.”

“And Shadow?”

“I don’t touch Shadow. I’m not going to try replacing you with another guy, Aemond, you mean too much to me. I let Cygnet do her thing because she wants to, but I like it better when she’s sleeping with Shadow.” Troy paused. “I’d enjoy it if you joined us,” he added, looking down at their hands, which were still clasped together.

“What about Alys?” Aemond asked.

Troy’s brow furrowed in confusion, then he followed Aemond’s fond gaze to the professor.

“I mean, I don’t mind you seeing each other as long as I get to spend time with you, too,” he said. “Come to my big games and skip the little ones, you know, spend at least a couple nights on campus with me.”

Aemond felt all the tension leave his body. He pulled Troy into a hug and clapped his back. Then he tensed right back up again as Cygnet came back from the bathroom.

“It would seem Troy and I are now in an open relationship,” he informed her, “so we’d all appreciate it if you could stop being such a bitch.”

To his surprise, Cygnet laughed. “Yes. Totally. And I’m sorry, you guys. I know Troy doesn’t like me like that, but I still have feelings for him and I’m still protective.”

Aemond grimaced. “If you know he doesn’t like you, you should stop fucking him.”

“No,” she said. “But you’re welcome to join us.

“… I’ll think about it.”

Self-indulgent: Trinket Ruins Dinner [SOLO]

A/N: My understanding of Valyrian grammar is rudimentary at best. Also, I couldn't do the accents because I'm writing this on a device that doesn't allow for "fancy" lettering.

As the serving staff set the roast pig down on Aemond's blind side, Lucerys started snickering, catching Aemond's attention. Before Aemond could react, though, Trinket-- the fluffy, pampered teacup dragon who could always be seen at Aemond's side-- flew over to the boy. Luke had the grace to look nervous as Trinket raised a forepaw in greeting.

"Er... Greetings, Trinket," said Lucerys, his voice shaking slightly. Trinket murred quietly in acknowledgement, then slowly, carefully, touched his paw to Luke's brow.

Aemond stood. "Dohaeras, Trinket!" His voice was like a whip, snapping through the dining chamber.

'I am serving you,' Trinket thought, flicking his tail. He let his claws extend, just enough to make Luke even more nervous.

"Trinket!" Aemond insisted. Trinket stuck his little forked tongue out at a whimpering Luke, then withdrew his claws, lowered his paw, and flew back to Aemond's side of the table. He sat down beside the roast pig, extended the claws of his forepaws, and calmly began shredding the animal.

"What in the seven hells do you think you're doing?" demanded Rhaenyra.

Trinket's tail extended and flashed through the air as he sky-wrote in something like glittering smoke: "I want pulled pork."

"Not to the pig," Rhaenyra said. "To my son."

Trinket kept calmly shredding the pig as his tail wrote, "He can handle it. After all, he and his brothers are strong."

Daemon motioned to cut the music as all eyes turned to Trinket and Aemond.

"What did you just say?" Jace asked, incredulous. Trinket ignored him.

"Trinket," said Daemon, his voice soft and menacing, "I think you should tell us what you mean by that."

"Did Aemond tell you to say that?" Rhaenyra wanted to know.

Trinket paused and looked at her, then slowly shook his head.

"He's lying!" Jace insisted.

"Taobi kostobi daor?" Trinket wrote, confused. 'The boys aren't powerful?'

Relief swept through the atmosphere... just for a moment.

"Trinket," Daemon asked, "has Aemond ever mentioned anything about 'House Strong' to you or made comments about my stepsons' parentage?"

Trinket went back to shredding his pig as he thought. "Your stepsons are of House Targaryen. Targaryen is a powerful house," he wrote after a moment.

"That settles it," said Alicent with finality.

"Issa. Biarvose," Trinket wrote, sticking his tongue out at Luke again with a little fttth. 'Yes. You're welcome.'

Aemond picked a grumbling Trinket up and sat him firmly down in his little booster seat. Trinket dunked his paws into his personal basin defiantly, splashing a little more than strictly necessary.

"Lykiri, Trinket," Aemond whispered, petting him soothingly. Trinket slowly allowed himself to relax. When he'd decided his paws were clean enough, he blew on them lightly to dry them and then reached for his pig. Aemond scooted it towards them and allowed the teacup dragon to dig in.

After Winter Holidays - Troy, Shadow, Cygnet, Aemond

House of the Dragon Mafia/Solo-verse AU. Written between March 2nd-7th, 2023. Partially RPed out with Eri. Real talk: I'm a little self-conscious about the portrayal of one of the characters. I'm trying very hard not to vilify this person and make it clear that one person's bias is just her bias. I was also trying to be ... somewhat subtle due to said self-consciousness, but it's honestly quite obvious. Some beats in this are fairly contrived, as well. I guess I'll just stick with my usual "Don't like, don't read" defense. Naturally I had to have a CXGF reference ("Who's the new guy? I don't trust him!") and, yes, you're going to have to get used to seeing Shadow ;)

I do have a lot more to add to this, but I figured it's best to just get what I've got so far typed up so I can move on to other moments in the timeline :D

After the holidays, Troy came back to school to find a red-haired stranger in his room.

“Hey, man,” he greeted the redhead. “I’m Troy.”

The other boy smiled at him from the bed, which had been made to look like a nest more than anything. “Shadow. Or Shad."

Troy nodded affably. “You new here?”

“Yeah, just started. My parents move around a lot, and I guess right now we’re here.”

Troy took this all in. “Cool. Have you met the rest of our hall yet?”

“Yeah, are the people in charge of assigning dorms on drugs or something?”

Troy shrugged. “Maybe. Drugs are pretty common.”

“Have you seen the guy across the hall? He looks….” Shadow gave a low whistle. “Serious.”

Troy didn’t answer. What could he say to that? At least Shadow wasn’t insulting Aemond. Instead, Troy asked, “You met the girl next door yet?”

Just then there was a knock on the door, perfunctory, until it swung open and the girl next door strode in and threw her arms round Troy’s neck.

“She your girlfriend? Should I leave you two alone?” Shadow asked.

“No, stay—”

“It’s fine—”

They both answered at the same time.

Cygnet chuckled. “Hey, I’m Cygnet. You must be Troy’s new roommate. Just so you know, we’re not exclusive.’

Troy raised his eyebrows at her. “Thanks for that,” he said.

Shadow stared at them, trying to figure out what was going on between them.

“And don’t worry about Aemond,” Cygnet continued, pointing to the door. “He may look scary, but he’s a real sweetheart if you can get past the giant walls he puts up."

“He mostly keeps to himself,” Troy added.

Cygnet gave Troy a strange look, then tilted her head. “Have you met the new botany teacher?" she asked, voice carefully measured, as if she was turning the topic deliberately towards something light and pleasant. Troy knew her better than that, but he’d probably find out what she was up to soon enough.

“You’re taking botany?” Troy asked.

Cygnet shook her head slowly, not taking her amber eyes off Troy’s turquoise ones for a second. “Désmoda is. But I hear the new professor’s quite the cougar. Maybe I’ll audit it. Trent will understand if I have to cut back my hours at Mad Tech. My education’s a good cause, right?”

Indecipherable doe eyes. What the hell was she on about?

“I think he’d prefer if you found a way to combine the study of plants with his latest surveillance gadget, however that would work,” said Troy, trying to figure it out.

Cheshire grin. “Why, Troy, you’re a genius,” Cygnet purred. “I think I’ll do exactly that.” She kissed his cheek, winked at Shadow, and scampered off.

Troy and Shadow exchanged a confused look, then Troy shrugged. “She works for my dad. Sometimes she’s just… like that,” he explained.

“She seems nice,” Shadow said politely.

Troy nodded. “She’s nice,” he agreed. “Listen, what she said—if you want to, you know, sleep with her, and she’s game, please, feel free.”

Shadow sort of stared at him. That was forward. He’d never met a guy who just offered up his girlfriend like that. “I’ll think about it. Thanks,” he said, not wanting to be rude. Yeah, Cygnet wasn’t a bad-looking girl, but if Troy was that willing to share her, there must be something… off about her, right?

“Sure, anytime,” said Troy, unaware he’d said anything out of the ordinary.

 

Cygnet ended up signing up for botany since there were still a lot of open spaces before classes started. Somehow, it didn’t seem to matter that she was the only underclassman on the roster.

“How the hell did—” Désmoda’s question died in her throat when Cygnet subtly flashed something in her palm.

“Favor,” Cygnet mouthed.

“Regards,” Désmoda mouthed back.

Cygnet slipped the recording device subtly into the pocket of the professor’s floor-length black cloak, which hung from a hook on the wall by the door, then sat next to Désmoda near the front of the class.

“I have one just like that,” Désmoda murmured. “It’s almost like she’s one of us.”

Despite their four-year age difference, Cygnet simply said, “You may have a point.”

When the professor strode back into the classroom, Désmoda nudged Cygnet. “Why didn’t you tell me they hired your mom?”

Cygnet looked up, then treated her friend to a deadpan stare. “Funny,” she said dryly. “That’s not Sola and you know it.” But likewise, Cygnet knew what Désmoda meant: Their botany professor looked like Cygnet might in twenty years, all creamy skin and long dark hair and eyes that looked like they knew more than anyone had the right to.

“Welcome to botany,” she said in a voice as cool and clear as glass, and the lesson began.

 

Study group had expanded since the beginning of last semester. It used to be just Troy, Aemond, and occasionally Cygnet. Then Cygnet had started bringing Cin and Dés. Now Shadow was hanging with them too. Actually, Shadow tended to hang out a lot of places Troy was. He’d even tried out for the football team. Aemond knew this because now all of a sudden half the team was joining them, ostensibly to study. Troy wouldn’t have invited them, so that left exactly one possibility.

Aemond noted with some satisfaction that Troy’s new roommate didn’t seem overly comfortable around him. But that alone wasn’t enough to make Aemond stick around in a crowded study group when he’d much rather be alone. He bailed out before dinner the first week, but someone then had the bright idea to try to hold study group in his room. He’d left immediately and stormed round the halls till he’d bumped into someone, sending a stack of books clattering to the ground.

“Perfect,” he muttered. “Sorry.” Without looking up, he gathered he fallen books and returned them to their owner. He was already sweeping back down the hall lost in his own thoughts by the time she’d dismissed his apology.

He and Troy were friends again, and Troy wasn’t any less nice than usual, but there was a distance between them now. Meanwhile, Troy’s new roommate, Shadow, was clearly all over him. So was Cygnet, but that wasn’t unusual.

Cygnet. She was likely to know something about the new guy. (Aemond didn’t trust him.) He turned round to head back to their hall and nearly collided with someone again. He closed his eye and pursed his lips in frustration.

“Sorry about that,” said a woman’s voice in front of him. “I seem to keep showing up in your blind spot.”

Aemond opened his eye, and his annoyance immediately melted away. Standing before him was a striking woman, raven of hair and ivory of skin. He felt the corners of his mouth rise in a smile. “I’ve been careless,” he said. “Excuse me.”

“Actually, there’s something you can help me find,” the woman said. “It seems one of my students planted a tracker on me. I’d like to find her and ask what she was thinking.”

 “Perhaps if you show me your roster,” Aemond began. But she was already shaking her head.

“Please, escort me to your dorm. If I’m not mistaken, Miss Campbell resides there, too.”

“Cygnet?” Aemond asked rhetorically, partially reeling from the idea that she knew exactly who had put a tracker on her. He was fairly certain she wasn’t a robotics professor; did she know Cygnet worked for Mad Tech? “Why would she want to spy on you?”

 

Cygnet had also bailed on study group, shortly after Aemond left. She’d hoped the most, well, studious among them would be able to lend some damn structure to the group, but alas. So she’d stalked off across the hall to Troy and Shadow’s room. She’d just finished her homework and had chosen to strip off and climb into Troy’s bed to wait for him when she heard a familiar voice outside the door.

“Maybe she went to dinner with the others. I’ll text Troy.”

Cygnet didn’t bother getting dressed before rushing to the door and opening it. “Hey, Aemond—Professor.” She grimaced. “You found it, didn’t you?”

“Would you like to explain what was running through your empty little head?” Aemond asked tightly.

Cygnet’s grimace turned to a soft, sweet, innocent smile. “Of course,” she said in syrupy tones. “As you know, I missed Sebastian’s 35^th birthday—oh, he’s the lawyer for the firm where I’m interning—and I thought as a belated gift, I’d test out some of our firm’s new equipment. I’m really sorry, Professor. I should have asked if you wanted to be my guinea pig.”

Aemond was none-too-pleased at the reminders that 1) Sebastian was round the same age as Aemond’s mum, and 2) Sebastian was still practicing law. He clenched his jaw, not least to keep it from dropping at Cygnet’s audacity. “Why,” he gritted out coldly, “would you do him any favors?”

Cygnet giggled. “Silly Aemond. If only you knew.”

His hand twitched at his side as he resisted the urge to pull a knife on her.

“Sebastian’s done you favors, hasn’t he.” The other woman saw fit to join the conversation. “He defended an English professor you had a run-in with. Took him to dinner afterwards. He hasn’t been seen since, has he?”

Cygnet laughed again. “Yeah, that’s old news,” she said. “Freshman year old. Unless… you’re implying he’s been found?”

Those fucking doe eyes. Why does she like to pretend she’s so innocent?

“Not by the authorities,” Aemond’s companion said calmly. “It can stay that way if you’d like, Miss Campbell. All I ask is that you be… hmm… selective in what you share with your employer about me.” So saying, she coolly, deliberately straightened the tracker that was now on her lapel.

“Of course. Thank you,” Cygnet replied. “Although, and I’m sure you know this already, our little family say the rosary to the loophole, not the law. Please enjoy the rest of your night, Professor.” She retreated into Troy’s room and more-or-less gently closed the door, then flopped onto Shadow’s bed. Désmoda had been right, she thought, to tip her off about the new teacher.

 

The study group had, of course, devolved into a party by dinnertime, so naturally Cin and Désmoda took it upon themselves to get everyone completely fucking wasted, except Troy.

“No, my parents gave me this truck so I could designated-drive all you party animals,” he said, referring to the Dodge Ram he’d gotten last Christmas.

“Okay,” said Shadow, “so you know what we’re gonna do? I’m gonna take a shot for every one that you refuse. I’m gonna take your drinks for you and you can live vicariously through me.”

Shadow was already two drinks under by that point, and Troy shook his head.

“Nah. I don’t want you waking up in my bed asking me all kinds of crazy questions and throwing up on my favorite rug.”

But somehow, Shadow still ended up getting embarrassingly drunk by the time they got home. Therefore, he was only slightly surprised to find that crazy girl from earlier in his bed.

Crazy or no, she was supple and responsive, leaning eagerly into each clumsy touch, returning each sloppy kiss. Shadow didn’t even notice Troy leaving the room again as he lost himself in his new roommate’s girlfriend.

 

Aemond hadn’t had much time to decompress or process anything after he and Cygnet’s professor parted ways. He was understandably annoyed when he heard a knock on his door before he’d had a chance to get his damn shoes off.

Troy quailed before his favorite friend’s thunderous expression. “Hey,” he said nervously. “Mind if I crash here tonight? Shadow and Cygnet are….” He made a face. If possible, Aemond’s expression grew even darker, but he waved Troy inside and closed the door. Before Troy could ask what was wrong, Aemond spoke.

“Don’t sleep with her anymore.” His voice was soft as usual, but his hands were clenched into fists at his side. “She put a tracker on her new teacher as some sort of demented gift for….” His mouth twisted unpleasantly.

Troy didn’t understand. “You think she’s still sleeping with him?”

“Does it matter?” Aemond barked, startling Troy. “Either she sides with him or she sides with me. You get a pass from choosing because you’re his son, but the least you could do is stop letting her fuck you.”

Troy held his hands up, then backed out of the room and closed the door. Before Aemond could decide where to go, Aemond came out, too.

“Sleep in there if you want. I need a smoke,” he said. Troy nodded. Maybe after Aemond calmed down, they could talk. Productively.

For now, Troy went into Aemond’s room and made himself comfortable on the unoccupied bed. He picked a shirt up off the ground and stuffed an unused pillow into it, then kicked off his shoes and curled up to sleep, clutching the pillow to his chest. He missed his Aemond, his best friend, the one who he understood. He didn’t like this feeling of having to tiptoe on eggshells. They’d just gotten back to school. How was Troy going to ask Aemond not to police who he slept with, without risking setting Aemond of again?

Besides, he already knew what would happen if he called it off with Cygnet. The second he told her it was because Aemond didn’t want him to, she’d go on a rant about how it was none of Aemond’s business unless he was planning to make Troy his boyfriend. So instead of thinking about it, he decided the safest option was to just curl up and go to sleep.

 

Cygnet woke up in Shadow’s arms. She checked the clock on her phone, which had just enough battery power to get her through the day. 6:30 a.m., just like always. She nudged Shadow awake.

Shadow sat bolt upright in bed.

“Easy,” Cygnet said. “Just get dressed. It’s breakfast time.” She went over to Troy’s side of the room and raided his closet for a faded pink Grateful Dead shirt and a pair of shiny forest green jeans. When she went to wake him up after pulling her clothes on, he wasn’t there.

“Should’ve known,” she muttered to herself. She went across the hall, gave Aemond’s door a perfunctory knock, and let herself in.

 

Troy woke up with heavy sleep creases on his arm and numbness in his fingers. His watch was digging into his wrist. Someone was tugging his pillow out of his arms.

“Aemond?” he murmured hopefully.

“Aemond isn’t here,” came the voice of his other best friend. “It’s time for breakfast.”

Troy stood, stretched, and crossed the room. “Aemond… didn’t come home last night?” he asked rhetorically. Instead of making some sarcastic remark, Cygnet came up next to him and squeezed his hand.

“Come on,” she said gently. “We have to show Shadow the way to the dining hall.”

Troy nodded after a pause, and they escorted a sleepy and somewhat grouchy Shadow to the dining hall. Troy bought breakfast for all of them and they sat at the usual table.

Aemond wasn’t there, either. Instead, he was two tables down engaged in an animated conversation with some lady. Cygnet saw them, too, and something was going on in that head of hers because she picked her tray right back up and went to sit with them. Troy and Shadow followed.

“Good morning,” Cygnet said with a cheer Troy was sure she didn’t feel. “Aemond, we missed you at wakeup call.”

Aemond’s smile—his lovely genuine smile, the smile Troy had been missing all winter—didn’t falter. “I slept off-campus,” he explained casually.

“Cool.” Cygnet nodded. “Seems you pried Désmoda off your brother in time to get her here for breakfast.” She waved her friend over. “How is Aegon doing, by the way?”

Aemond had stopped smiling right around the time Cygnet had mentioned Désmoda and he was now prodding awkwardly at his eggs. Troy’s mouth went dry. Aemond hadn’t come back to the dorm last night, nor had he gone home.

Apparently, Shadow caught it, too. “Where did you sleep, then? A cabin in the woods?”

Aemond looked up. “I prefer ‘cottage in the forest.’ More cozy, less implication of an axe-murderer.”

Désmoda slid her tray onto the table and sat down. “Who’s an axe-murderer?” she asked, sounding absolutely delighted at the thought.

“Professor Rivers,” Cygnet replied, grinning.

The air went still, but Désmoda didn’t seem to notice. “Morning, Professor,” she said easily. "Aemond, Troy, Cygnet… sorry, new boy, I already forgot your name.”

“Shadow Clement,” the new boy said. “I think my parents met your parents.” To the rest of the table, he explained, “Both our parents are diplomats.”

“Mm, correction,” Désmoda said, waving a piece of toast. “My dad’s a diplomat. Mom’s a titled socialite. And they’re both back home in Hungary.”

“That’s why I’m residential this semester,” said Shadow. “My parents are out-of-country, too.”

“Same here,” said Cygnet. “My mom’s a fashion designer in France and my dad’s in the French service.”

Troy and Aemond blinked at her. Before either could ask how the hell she knew what “Diarmuid Something” did for a living, she continued.

“The divorce was so hard on my mom, for a while we just wanted to pretend he didn’t exist. Mm, but that’s boring. Troy’s parents basically took me in. They’re great. A techie and a lawyer, both own their own practice. I’m actually here on their scholarship and interning at their tech firm. Oh, and Aemond’s parents—well, I’m sure he told you last night. What, uh… what does your family do, Professor?”

“It’s time for class,” Aemond said, standing and taking his tray to empty. “Coming, Troy?”

“Yeah, I’m right behind you,” Troy said with relief.

He waited till they were in the classroom and therefore fully out of earshot of Cygnet before asking. “Did you spend the night with that teacher? She didn’t take advantage—?”

“It’s not like that,” Aemond interrupted. “I needed to get out of here. She let me sleep on her couch. She… understands me.”

“That’s cool.” Troy tried not to assume he was implying that Troy didn’t understand him. He wasn’t sure if he was relieved. It wasn’t his right to be jealous, he knew that, but his feelings were hurt that Aemond hadn’t wanted to sleep in his own room just because Troy was there.

 

Aemond waited for Troy to say something else, to look at him rather than staring straight ahead, to smile and take his hand like he normally would. Troy being impassable was unusual for him. Was he jealous? Or was he pissed at Aemond for their fight last night? Aemond thought about reaching his hand out to take Troy’s, to reassure them both, but before he could, Troy was pushing open the door to their classroom.

After they sat down, Aemond whispered, “I changed my mind.”

“About what?” Troy sounded guarded.

“You and Cygnet. Maybe if she goes back to fucking you instead of Shadow, she’ll nose out of—”

“That’s pretty rich, man,” Troy said. “No offense, but who I sleep with isn’t exactly your business since we’re not together. You want me to tell her to butt out of her teacher’s private life? Yeah? Then you butt out of my sex life.” He swallowed and closed his eyes.

“Fine,” Aemond replied, trying like hell to ignore the unpleasant feeling that tore at him watching Troy fight back something. “The same goes for the both of you if I start sleeping with Alys. Neither of you has the right to say a fucking thing about it.’

Troy didn’t look at him. Didn’t even open his eyes. Just tilted his head back to face the ceiling. “Whatever, man. As long as you’re not being pressured, you’re right, it’s nobody’s business. You could do me a favor and make an effort to be discreet about it.”

Aemond scoffed. “You’re being ridiculous.”

Now Troy did look at him, turquoise eyes brighter than usual. “Yeah, you got me,” he agreed. “I guess being in love with you is pretty ridiculous.” He stood and slung his messenger bag over his shoulder. “Take notes for me. I’m gonna go do laps.’

Shit. Aemond closed his eye briefly. “Troy—”

The door opened before Troy got to it.

“Going somewhere, Mr. Lita?” asked Professor O’Donnell.

For a brief, shining moment, Aemond hoped Troy would shake his head and sit back down. O’Donnell didn’t give athletes special treatment. But Troy didn’t seem to care. He looked O’Donnell square in the face and said, “Yes, sir. I’m skiving off class to swim laps. Oh.” He reached into his messenger bag, selected a folder, pulled out a packet, and handed it to O’Donnell. “Here’s my homework. I’ll see you on Wednesday.”

“Mr. Lita, there’s a pop quiz today,” O’Donnell said before Troy could leave.

Troy looked between Aemond and O’Donnell, ignoring the groans of the rest of the class. “I’ll take the F,” he said.

“For fuck’s sake, Troy!” Aemond snapped. “Stop being a stubborn cunt and sit down.”

That got his attention… and unfortunately, everyone else’s. A ripple of laughter wove through the class.

“Language,” O’Donnell said testily. “This is a classroom, not happy hour down at the pub.”

But Troy took his seat, so Aemond counted it as a win. He reached for Troy’s hand. “I’m… sorry.” The words had never come easily, and he almost choked on them now. Troy looked at him with a chillingly unreadable expression, but allowed Aemond to take his hand. They continued holding hands as they sat the exam; luckily, Aemond was ambidextrous. Professor O’Donnell didn’t like it, but since each kept his eyes on his own paper, he had no grounds for complaint.

Troy released Aemond’s hand when class was over and swiftly left the classroom without him. Aemond hastened after him and caught his arm in the hall.

“Hey,” he said. “That was… nice.”

Troy didn’t move. “What you said in there wasn’t. Thank you for apologizing, but if you want us to be friends still, you will never call me a cunt again.”

Aemond remained silent. He knew he shouldn’t have lost his temper with Troy, knew his friend was sensitive at heart despite how cool he acted, but he didn’t regret getting Troy to sit his stubborn ass down and take the pop quiz, which Aemond even suspected O’Donnell had moved up on the spot to punish Troy for trying to skip class.

After a long moment of awkward silence, Troy pulled his arm away and kept walking to political science. At least he’s not skipping, Aemond thought.

When he’d taken his seat, Aemond leaned over and whispered, “I am truly sorry fi I hurt your feelings”—Troy scoffed and moved to stand—“but, BUT, you shouldn’t fuck your grades just because you’re mad at me.”

When Troy responded, his voice was cold and without emotion. “You need to stop telling me what to do.”

Another awkward pause.

“Well, I love you, too,” Aemond whispered, almost to himself.

“I appreciate the sentiment, but your timing’s shit. You can’t say that just to end a fight.”

“Now who’s telling who what to do?”

 

And that’s all I got round to writing! Stay tuned for the next entry in the Solo-verse Melodrama Soap Opera!