“Isn’t this the point at which you should be saying ‘A-Ha!’?” Greg Lestrade asked.

Sherlock Holmes shook his head. “What?”

“It’s the traditional comment of the detective when he spots the vital clue,” John Watson added.

“I think you’ll find it’s what Piglet said to Kanga,” Sherlock replied, turning on his heel and striding off.

Greg and John looked at each other in complete confusion.

“Winnie-the-Pooh,” Sherlock said, pausing to look back over his shoulder. “It’s a very good example of what can go wrong when people don’t stick to the agreed plan. I commend it to both of you.”

Ros stopped short as she came onto the Grid. She turned to look at Malcolm, who shook his head and said, “Don’t ask!”

At that moment, Adam came out of Harry’s office, smiling. “You’ll all be glad to know that Harry has agreed his suggestion we bring a dog kennel in during full moon was not one of his better ideas. Something to do with not wishing to be seen as Baron von Richthofen.”

Ros looked at the werewolf, wearing a flying helmet and goggles, sitting on the kennel roof. “Congratulations, Snoopy,” she giggled, “you have defeated the Red Baron!”

“We must be born with an intuition of mortality. Before we know the word for it. Before we know that there are words. Out we come, bloodied and squalling, with the knowledge that for all the points of the compass, there’s only one direction. And time is its only measure.”

Jinwoo lifted his head. “Pardon?” Of the six of them, Eunwoo was the best at English, but Jinwoo was easily second-best.

Eunwoo was curled up in the corner of the couch, reading a book aloud.

Bin only understood the phrase one direction and started singing the chorus of that one song that went na na-na-na na-na-na na.

“What does it mean?” Minhyuk asked. He’d been sitting beside Myungjun, massaging the older boy’s shoulders after a heavy workout that morning. They were all so busy right now, between preparing for their first big concert in over a year, plus their first full album, and Sanha graduating from high school. Myungjun, who’d always struggled with his weight, had been hitting the gym hard and following a strict diet, determined to look better for the next comeback.

Eunwoo said, “He’s talking about how we know what death and dying are.”

Sanha stared at him. “You know, you’re really pretty, but sometimes you’re also really creepy.”

Eunwoo rolled his eyes. “It’s an interesting philosophical discussion. Death is scary, right? But do any of us remember when we first figured out that things die? That we might die?”

Sanha blinked at him. Then he said, “I’ll keep on with my homework, if it’s all the same to you.” And he put his head down.

“High-schooler,” Bin said with fond derisiveness and reached out to flick Sanha’s ear, which he dodged instinctively.

It was rare for all six of them to be in the dorms like this, especially with both Bin and Eunwoo gearing up to film dramas in the next year and taking acting classes on top of their regular training. Jinwoo had missed the old days, when it was just the six of them, all huddled on the floor together because they had no beds, fending off cold nights and critics and all the people who said they’d never make it.

Myungjun said, “I don’t think it’s all one moment. The moment when we figure out that other things die, like bugs when we squash them, that’s one thing. And then the moment when we figure out that dying could hurt us, like losing a pet, that’s another. As for the moment when we figure out that we will one day die - I figured it out when I was five.”

Jinwoo was startled by Myungjun’s solemn tone. He rarely had a serious moment, was bright and hyper like there was a camera on them even in the privacy of the dorm.

“Five?” Bin echoed. “You remember that?”

Myungjun said, “My older sister was killed by a song-eater.”

Ice curled through Jinwoo’s veins. As idols, all of them had been warned again and again about the threat of song-eaters. It was one of the reasons they were forbidden from interacting closely with any girls who weren’t part of their staff or company.

“I thought you only had an older brother,” Sanha said slowly.

“I do now.” Myungjun’s gaze was distant. “Myungsoon died when I was five. Her voice was much prettier than mine.”

Minhyuk’s expression was unreadable. “Hyung,” he said. “I -”

“That’s why I became a singer. So I can find the song-eater who killed my sister and take revenge.” Myungjun shrugged Minhyuk off and stood up. “I’m going to my room.”

He shared his room with Minhyuk and Sanha, but neither of them would be going in there for a while. The door closed behind him with an unsettling finality.

“Once upon a time, there lived a very handsome prince, who one day went looking for adventures. He spurned the dragons who were threatening the princesses”

“Mainly because the princesses were perfectly capable of taking care of themselves,” Lucas interrupted.

“Thank you, but I’m telling this story,” Adam complained, “and battled his way through jungles until he came to a clearing.”

“And there by a pool he found a frog which needed kissing.”

“Your point is?”

“This story is taking far too long. I want to get onto the kissing bit. Fairy tales always end with kissing. Or doughnuts.”

“There are no fairy tales with doughnuts!”

“We’ll have to kiss then!”

Title: Dancing on the Moon

Disclaimer: Not mine, Joss Whedon owns it
Summary/Teaser: Spike and Drusilla have plans for a moon landing party


Find the story here.

Title: Trouble in Chains

Disclaimer: Not mine, Joss Whedon owns it
Summary/Teaser: Drusilla needs to make Spike see the error of his ways.


FInd the story here.