A WARM ARGESTES WELCOME

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Dorothy sighed and watched her breath fog up in the night air. She had been more than happy to leave the table after Shiv's comment and Logan's subsequent outburst, but she almost wished that she had stayed inside.

Inside, she could hide in her room. Inside, she could make up an excuse not to be seen. Inside, she didn't have to stick with the group of stargazers and feel Roman's eyes on her.

Why the fuck had Tabitha decided to disclose that information about their sex life― or lack thereof? Why the fuck had Peter even asked the question in the first place? Despite the jokes she made to Roman, she didn't want to think about him that way. That mental image already invaded her thoughts more than she wanted it to.

She stowed her hands in the pockets of her coat and smiled at the cousin next to her. "Cold, huh?"

The cousin smiled and said, "Sure is. Hey, what's your sign?"

Dorothy paused. "My... Sign?"

"Yeah, your astrological sign. I could find it," he said, and gestured to the sky.

"Right. Stars. Constellations. Um... I was born in August, so... Leo, I think."

"Leo? Okay, so, if you'll just turn this way..."

He put his hand on her arm, and Dorothy glanced at him. He didn't seem to notice, and she smiled to herself. It was a harmless touch. And if anyone saw them, well, did it really matter if she would never speak to these people ever again?

"There it is," the cousin said, and traced some weird, polygonal shape in the sky. "Right there. Leo."

"It doesn't look like a lion to me," she said, and he laughed. "I don't know what the Greeks were thinking."

She really didn't care about the constellations. Once they all headed back inside, she booked it for her room and flopped down into bed beside Lily, who glanced up from her phone and smiled.

"So. That was a dinner for the history books," she said. "Shiv's in and we're all out."

"Yippee," Dorothy muttered, and propped herself up. "I couldn't care less right now. Want to get drunk, talk a bunch of shit, and regret it all later?"

That really made her smile. "Sure. And, Dorothy? You're not gonna tell anyone..."

"What, about you and Tom?"

"I mean, that weekend was just a one-off. I didn't read your text and―"

Dorothy patted her shoulder and hoisted herself off the bed. "Alcohol first. We can talk about the intricacies of your weird little incest affair later."

She ducked as Lily threw a pillow at her, and she was still giggling when she shut the door behind her. Honestly, she didn't know where she would find a bottle of anything in this unfamiliar place, but she figured one of the staff would know.

The halls didn't get any less indistinguishable. With each turn she made, Dorothy found herself effectively lost. And soon enough, her frustration got the best of her. After nearly ten minutes spent wandering with no luck, she huffed, turned a corner... And ran smack into Roman. A brief silence passed between them, in which they stared at each other and tried to decide if an argument would be worth it this late.

"Hey." She kept her tone curt and, at the very least, civil. "Late night?"

"Yeah, I just fucked Tabitha within an inch of her life," he deadpanned. "Looking for your new fuck buddy?"

She frowned. "Sorry?"

"Oh, everyone saw you guys," he said. "No one gets that buddy-buddy over stargazing."

"We were having an adult conversation. Strange, I know."

"Uh-huh..."

"I try not to mix business and pleasure. Blurred lines aren't really my thing."

Roman snickered. "Except for that one guy. What was his name, Hakim...?"

"I don't know what you're talking about," she replied evenly.

"I call bullshit on the blurred lines, too."

"Yeah?"

"Uh, yeah. You've been, like, begging to fuck me, and I'm technically your boss..."

Dorothy cocked her head. "Really? I don't remember ever asking you that."

"Yeah, 'cause it's all in the eyes," he said. "You're eye-fucking me right now. Kinda hot."

"And you're being a child," she said. "Because that's what you are. A spoiled, whiny little child who can't even fuck, according to his own girlfriend."

They locked eyes, and she found herself wondering when Roman's eyes had gotten so dark. They had always been weirdly deep and Bambi-esque, except tonight, something had changed. But he didn't look away, and neither did she. She took note of the slight vein protruding in his forehead and the way her those strange, dark, half-lidded eyes seemed to bore into hers.

"Yeah?" He murmured.

"Oh, yeah," she replied.

A growing tapping sound made her jump, and she looked down the hall to see the Pierces' hairless cat skittering towards them. The tapping came from its little claws against the polished hardwood floor... And maybe the rapid beating of her heart.

Dorothy turned back to Roman. "Ew. Penis cat."

"Why are you grossed out?" He glanced at the cat one more time. "I thought you'd love one of those."

She just made a face and smoothed her shirt down as she walked off. Thankfully, she did find a bottle of Riesling soon after leaving, so she didn't have to wander any longer and risk another encounter with Roman.

Dorothy and Lily didn't look great as they stumbled down for breakfast. They didn't literally stumble― no, they weren't that hungover. But Lily did wince and mutter something about the bright lights as they served themselves croissants and grapefruit from the buffet.

"So, did anybody― did anybody get into any fun last night?" Tom asked.

"Um..." Roman reached for an apple and said, "I jerked off in Gerri's bathroom last night."

Tabitha smiled. "So classy of you."

"It's okay. Don't worry about it, it was actually her idea," he replied. "Really got the old gal's juices flowing."

Gerri shot him a look. "Even as a joke, that is a stomach-turning thought."

Dorothy caught Roman's eye from across the buffet table and looked away. She reached for the muffin tongs with a shaking hand, which took longer than it probably should have. When she looked back up, he just grinned and walked off.

She ate breakfast with Connor and Lily on the patio. They must have been a sight― Connor wearing sunglasses on an overcast day, Dorothy downing ibuprofen tablets like candy, and Lily nibbling at a banana so she didn't immediately puke when she got in the helicopter.

Roman said that they looked like the Three Musketeers of Hangovers: headaches, nausea, and dehydration. For once, she couldn't be mad, because he had a point.

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"Do you feel overdressed?" Lily murmured as they waded through the crowd. "Because I do."

Dorothy shrugged. "You wanted to wear a cocktail dress."

They had driven out to Argestes, some fancy resort thing for the one percent and whichever other famous people could afford such a vacation. The Roys would be a pretty big part of the event― Tom had a speech to give for ATN, Logan and the Pierces had a deal to make, Kendall and Roman had a panel... Meanwhile, Dorothy got to look pretty and drink great wine all weekend.

She and Lily had about five minutes to socialize with the other attendees before Gerri came up and whisked Lily away. Dorothy shot her a look, but resigned herself to mindless chatter until her friend returned.

That night, she sat at the bar with Lily, Tom and Greg. The three of them seemed to be quietly discussing something, so she listened to what she could and sipped on whatever twenty-dollar cocktail she'd ordered.

"Lily, how about this for the ATN slogan?" Tom asked. "ATN― We Hear For You."

Lily laughed. "Um... Sure. Sure, Tom."

"So, like, 'We Hear For You,' as in, we're hearing the news," he said. "And then 'We Hear For You,' as in, you know. We here for you."

The look on Lily's face as she raised her glass to her lips was priceless. Dorothy had to drink quickly, too, or Tom would catch the grin on her face. It didn't stop her from catching Lily's eye and almost spitting up her martini in a fit of laughter.

"What?" Greg asked. "Is it not― is it not good?"

"No, it's great!" Lily said quickly. "It's... It's really something. I like it."

Dorothy just nodded. "I love it."

She glanced over as Roman sidled up to the bar. She turned back to Lily, but Lily had struck up a conversation with Greg, and she didn't feel like getting involved. So, reluctantly, she turned to Roman.

"Sam Adams?" She grinned. "I didn't know you could handle beer."

"I'm white knight-ing it for the company," he said. "I'm gonna need this."

"Mm, because you're just so heroic," she shot back. "You've never done anything wrong in your life. You're a perfect angel."

"Yup. Hey, you should stay away from any more old, rich white guys," he said, and stepped away from the bar. "I can see your nips through your dress."

Dorothy just grinned and splayed a hand over her chest. "Sorry. No free shows here."

He gave her a customary middle finger as he left, and she turned back to the bar, a smile playing on her lips. Roman's comments couldn't get much more uncomfortable than that. She didn't really care. After knowing him for thirty years, she'd heard it all.

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Logan pulled her aside the next morning. Actually, he pulled most of the family aside, with the exception of Tom and Greg. Dorothy didn't need to ask why― her breakfast had been interrupted by the New York Magazine posting an exposé on a sex scandal involving Cruises.

"Is it me, or is this bullshit?" Roman asked as he scrolled through the article. "Maybe this, maybe that..."

"Rome, careful," Kendall murmured.

"Is this one of those things I need a woman to explain to me why it's bad?" He asked. "Shiv? Is it bad?"

"Don't fuckin' ask me," Shiv replied. "I'm not your grope Geiger counter."

"Dot?"

"Are you asking me if a sex scandal is bad?" Dorothy asked. "Use some common fucking sense, Roman."

He shrugged. "I mean, I think it's bad, but it's not that fuckin' bad."

The story came from a woman, Kirsten, who had worked for Waystar back in the mid-1990s. She had been a dancer-entertainer on one of the cruise ships when a Waystar employee exploited her to get her contract with the company renewed. Lester McClintock, aka "Uncle Mo." Somehow, Dorothy never found the "Mo-Lester" joke funny. And when Kirsten refused to sign an NDA, "Uncle Mo" made her career vanish.

"The dancer says that she heard stories of dozens of other women who actually signed the NDAs," Shiv added.

Roman shrugged again. "Okay, but in terms of actual stuff?"

"There's not a lot of specifics," Gerri said. "It's spooky words. You know, data wipes, NDAs, shadow logs, hiding cruise malpractice... But, cold hard facts, it's one woman in the 1990s, not like, twenty women four years ago."

"Great," Kendall muttered. "I'm glad we're able to do such good victim math."

"Gerri's just saying it doesn't necessarily punch through," Shiv replied.

"Sure. But, you know..." He held up his phone. "This is not okay."

"You know, I have to side with Kendall." Dorothy gave Shiv a mirthless smile. "I mean, a sex scandal's a sex scandal. I don't fuckin' care if it happened twenty years ago."

"We know it's not okay," Shiv said, as if she was talking to a preschooler. "We're preparing a corporate response."

Dorothy glanced over her shoulder. "Lily?"

"Why are you looking at me?" Lily asked. "I don't know, get Karolina on it."

"Sure, but you work in PR―"

"Okay, but I'm not head of PR―"

"I mean, call me sociopathic," Roman piped up, "but doesn't this all seem a tiny bit... Quaint, in comparison to the past few years?"

Dorothy laughed dryly and said, "Okay, you're sociopathic."

"He's right," Logan said. "It's cultural splash back. We're being punished for the sins of others. No one real gives a fuck."

"Punished for the sins of others?" She asked. "Okay, so, what do you want to do to get rid of this bad karma? Dig up Lester's body and put him on trial? I mean, Jesus fucking Christ―"

Logan silenced her with a look, but she made her displeasure clear as she perched on the side table and fixed the rest of them with a stony glare. They had two options― investigate the scandal and make amends, or condemn it and move on. Dorothy knew which way Logan would swing.

And then came the issue of the panel.

"Obviously it'd be great, if we do go ahead with it, to have a person who could speak to it in terms of..." Gerri trailed off.

"A woman," Hugo finished. "Gerri?"

"Well, not legal counsel," she said. "That gives the wrong sign."

"Lily?"

"It wouldn't be smart to put a PR member on the panel, either."

"Okay, but Lily isn't real PR," Roman said. "She's, like, in need of her own PR team."

Lily elbowed him. "Fuck you."

"Shiv?" Gerri asked.

Shiv laughed. "I... I don't know. Come on, I just got here."

"Oh, Shiv," Logan said. "Would you? Please?"

Shiv flat-out refused, so they decided to let Kendall and Roman go along with the panel as scheduled, but with help from Shiv. Dorothy made it abundantly clear that she wanted nothing to do with any of this sex scandal business until it cleared up, and that involved not being on the panel.

However, her internal protests didn't save her from the walk of shame out of the chateau following their little family meeting. She wondered how many people thought she was one of the sickos who had covered it up. But, try as she might, it wasn't like she could announce to the world that she disagreed with anything the Roys might say on the issue.

But that was the whole point of this scandal, wasn't it? Who would believe one woman against the word of an entire corporation?

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"Your boyfriend's really suckin' ass out there," Roman muttered.

"I'm sitting on the right when we're out there," Shiv replied.

"You know, I can see your bra through your sweater."

"Your dick's hanging out."

Kendall sighed. "Guys―"

"Ro, Ro, Ro." Shiv tapped her brother on the shoulder and said, "Do you want me to get a booster seat for you, when you're out there?"

"That's hilarious," he said. "Your period just came on."

Dorothy nudged him and hissed, "Can you shut the fuck up? It's Theatre 101: don't fucking talk backstage. You're mic'd up. Literally everyone in the audience can hear you."

That said, she fixed them with a look and hurried back out to the audience. She wasn't supposed to be backstage at all, until they had somehow roped her into giving them as much PR advice as she could... Which wasn't much, but Lily refused to do it. Her abhorrence for the situation buckled under the pout Shiv gave her.

She slipped into the seat between Lily and Greg just as Tom left the crowd with the famous four words: We Hear For You. Amid the applause, she gave Lily a look. The crowd's stifled laughter served as a marker for just how well that slogan would do with the American people.

"Next up, please give a warm Argestes welcome to Roman and Kendall Roy, joint Chief Operating Officers at Waystar-Royco..."

"So," she murmured. "Thoughts?"

"On what?" Lily replied. "The ATN thing or how my siblings are about to tank our company's reputation?"

She grimaced. "Well, I meant the ATN thing, but... That too."

Dorothy noticed that Roman didn't talk much during the panel. Good. Given how he'd reacted to the news first breaking, she didn't think he should be on the panel at all.

Putting all three siblings on the panel was a horrible idea from the start. She guessed that anyone could tell Kendall and Shiv had exceedingly different ideas on how to handle the Cruises scandal based on their attitudes alone.

"...We'll take the necessary steps to make amends," Kendall finished.

"We'll do whatever it takes," Roman added. "We'll do whatever anyone wants."

"You know, it's about being completely unimpeachable," Shiv said. "And sometimes companies develop bad habits, and you need fresh eyes, clean hands, and new ideas to address those."

Kendall nodded. "Yeah, I mean, that's the great thing about a company that's structured like ours. We can do that while retaining core values, you know, manage change."

"He's good, right?" Shiv asked, and laughed. "He's great. I think I'm a little more aggressive. Sometimes I think you just need a good old fashioned dinosaur cull."

The interviewer raised a brow and asked, "And who's the big T-rex in your sights?"

"Oh, shit," Lily whispered, her eyes alight.

Of course they knew who Shiv meant. Logan. Who else had that kind of power? The T-rex was the king of beasts and Logan Roy was the king of media. It didn't take a genius to see through her words.

"No, I mean, uh, dinosaur attitudes. Dinosaur values." Shiv smiled. "No, I would never go after my dad. That's a sport others enjoy."

Dorothy risked a glance down the row of guests. Five seats over and two rows ahead sat Logan Roy. The dinosaur himself. She turned back to Lily and made a face. He did not look pleased with Shiv's words. If anything, he looked like he was going to have another stroke.

They met up again in a small lounge after the panel. Dorothy offered Tom a smile and a quiet "congrats," but she couldn't relax, even with a drink in hand. The other shoe had yet to drop― Logan had yet to arrive.

"Ni-i-i-ce," Roman said as he entered the lounge. "Bring your daughter to the slaughter. Did you tell the old dinosaur what you were gonna do?"

"Hey, sorry." Kendall frowned. "We will do whatever anyone wants?"

"Fuck it," he said. "It played. It's just words, there's no press anyways. Who gives a shit."

Kendall turned on Shiv now. "Hey."

"What?" She asked.

"What was that?"

"I was just dancing."

Dorothy just made a face and headed over to the side table, where the celebratory glasses of champagne called her name. She had nothing to do with their fight― but she did have to give Shiv props for calling Logan a dinosaur. It was about time.

The slight chatter in the room died down when Logan and Marcia entered, and Marcia said, "It was too much, Siobhan. Dinosaurs?"

"Yeah, it was over the line. Shiv went over the line," Kendall added.

Shiv frowned. "Oh, I think it was pretty clear that I was talking about―"

"Oh, no, no, it was clear. Yeah." Roman gestured to Logan, standing beside him. "You tortured the old dinosaur. You barbecued him live."

"Don't fuck with me!" Logan snapped.

She heard the blow before she saw it. Logan whirled on Roman, the blow echoed throughout the room, and Roman crumpled. Kendall was yelling, Lily was yelling, and Logan stood there, unmoving, as if nothing had happened.

"It played well, okay?" Gerri was saying. "Word is it played well."

At some point in the chaos, Dorothy crouched by Roman and put a hand on his shoulder. "Ro. Hey, Ro. Are you okay?"

Kendall stood on Roman's other side, and he murmured, "You alright?"

Roman straightened up and brought a hand to his mouth. Dorothy glanced at Kendall, Lily, and Shiv, who all wore the same bewildered looks. Then the moment of weakness passed, and he took on his usual Roman attitude.

"Yeah, I'm fuckin' fine," he said. "Fuckin'... Leave me alone, it's fine. It's just a tooth. I'll get another one."

He sauntered off. Dorothy took in the room― nothing looked out of place. Nothing except for the looks of shock and horror on everyone's faces. Nothing except for the glass of champagne she'd dropped on the carpet in her rush to get to Roman.

That was Roman's thing. Leave no trace. No one would see the welt that formed tomorrow. No one would know he'd lost a tooth once he got a new one. No one would ever know that anything had ever happened in this room other than a little conversation between father and son.

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Dorothy sat, silent, during dinner. Almost too silent. The Roys took up two tables in the lodge's dining room, and she had the bad luck to be seated with Logan.

She couldn't look at him. She couldn't look at Gerri or Marcia or Hugo, either. If she did, she thought that she might take the wine glass in front of her, smash it on the edge of the table, and try to stab Logan with the jagged remains.

She sat in perfect silence as a comedian came out and began to tell a few jokes. Most of them poked fun at the crowd, made entirely of the rich and famous. Lily shot her looks from the next table over.

Leaning in, she murmured, "He's not too good, huh?"

"Yeah." Dorothy smiled faintly. "He's... Something."

"...You okay?"

"Yeah. Yeah, no, I'm fine. I'm fine."

Lily frowned, but slowly straightened back up. "Sure."

"Oh, we got the Roys in here! What's up, guys?" Up on stage, the comedian waved in their direction. "Ahoy there! Permission to never fucking board?"

The crowd responded with a mixture of laughter and groans... But mostly laughter. It was always fun to laugh at other people's misfortune, even when half the people in this room had probably gone through a similar scandal. Something told Dorothy that this wasn't going to be a short bit, either.

"I shouldn't even be joking about them like that," he added, "because they're in the midst of a hands-on investigation."

Dorothy grabbed her purse and stood abruptly. She heard the comedian say something as she left, but the words didn't register. The warm air in the dining room, the tight fabric of her dress, and a growing sense of panic had begun to effectively strangle her in her seat.

She paced a side hallway until her heart stopped pounding and she could breathe somewhat normally again. Then she stopped, smoothed down her dress, and took a long, deep breath.

She could go back. She could sit back down with the rest of the family and act as though she had just taken a call... But the thought of sitting across from Logan for another hour made her choke up again.

Roman opened the door on the third round of knocking. "Can I help you?"

"Yeah, you can," Dorothy replied.

She squeezed past him in the space between his body and the door frame and walked straight inside. He watched, surprisingly quiet, as she went to the console table and poured scotch into two crystal glasses.

"Here." She slid one of the glasses across the table. "Drink."

Roman did, but not without muttering, "You know this is my room, right?"

She just nodded. They drank in silence, Dorothy leaning against the wooden counter and Roman standing by the back of a chair. The scotch burned on its way down, but it took focus away from the lump in her throat, so she couldn't complain.

"How are you doing?" She murmured.

"I'm fine," Roman said. "I'm, like, perfect. This is actually the peak human condition."

"Don't bullshit me," Dorothy shot back. "I can see the welt on your fucking face."

That shut him up, and a pang of guilt seemed to stab her right in the heart. She set her empty glass on the counter and made her way around the table. He didn't move or shake her off, but she could feel his jaw clench when her fingertips lightly brushed over the angry red mark on his cheek.

"Which tooth did he knock out?" She murmured.

"A molar," Roman mumbled. "It's fine. I'm getting a new one."

"I'm sorry."

"Thanks."

He said that with the air of his old sardonic self, and took that as his chance to pull away from her. He poured himself another drink, then glanced over his shoulder.

"Why are you so surprised?" He asked. "It's like high school all over again."

Dorothy laughed, and then her laughter turned to tears, and she let Roman pour her another drink. She sat at the table and put her face in her hands until she raised her head and gave him a look.

"It wasn't right in high school and it isn't right now," she reminded him, and wiped her eyes.

"Well, yeah." He sat across from her and said, "But in high school it was kind of funny."

She frowned. "No, it definitely wasn't."

"Come on, yes it was," he said. "All the St. Andrew's meatheads would try and snap me like a twig. It was funny. Like a fuckin' Loony Tunes show."

"No, it wasn't funny, because one of them broke your arm."

"Benson. Chris fucking Benson."

"Yeah, that's right." Dorothy laughed dryly. "I fucking hated him for that."

Roman scoffed. "No you didn't, you were mad because―"

"I was mad because he broke your arm and I had to play nurse," she retorted. "Which involved sneaking you into my dorm at eleven P.M. and hoping no one snitched."

He just shrugged and mumbled, "It was pretty funny."

Dorothy just rolled her eyes. On a whim, she stuck out her hand, laying it palm-up on the table. An invitation. Roman's hand found hers, and she let the faintest smile come to her face.

They didn't speak for a long time, but now the silence began to suffocate Dorothy. She felt like the words she wanted to say had begun to choke her as they bubbled up in her throat with no way out.

I'm sorry he hit you today. I'm sorry he hit you when we were kids too. I'm sorry I wasn't there to do anything. I wish you would let me do something. But it's all bullshit and none of it means anything and it's not your fault that your dad hit you today or yesterday or ever. And I fucking love you. Do you realize that? Do you know that I love you even though I say I don't? You know I would have helped you, right? Fixed you up like I did in high school? And that if you gave me the word I'd kill your dad right now? Because your parents both suck and so do mine so maybe we can be each other's family.

Instead, she settled for a faint smile. "I've been holding your hand for two whole minutes and you haven't let go? I think you're getting soft."

"Hey, fuck you," Roman muttered. "I'm actually holding your hand so you don't go hysterical woman on me and break something."

Dorothy squeezed his hand. Then she went into a story from when they were kids and Connor took them sledding over winter break, because it had to be one of the only good memories she could come up with off the top of her head. She didn't look at the other end of the table, where Roman's tooth sat, still bloody, on a tissue.

"Hey, so..." She cleared her throat and said, "I have to speak at this gala next week. It's about, you know, ending leukemia and stuff, so they want me there, and... Do you want to come as a plus one?"

Roman scoffed. "Are you fucking pitying me?"

"What?"

"Like, my dad knocked my tooth out, so this gala is how you're gonna kiss it better?"

"I was doing something nice," she retorted. "Forget I asked, then, if it's such an insult to you."

"Well, no, I'll go with you," he said. "Just... Don't look at me like that. Like I'm a fuckin' charity case. Okay?"

She wanted to say that fuck it, she would look at him however he wanted because he was a charity case, but caught herself. He'd been through enough in one day.

"You can leave," Roman added. "Like, I don't know why you're still here. In my space. And Lily's probably looking for you, so..."

"It's fine," Dorothy said. "I mean, if you want me to leave, I'll leave―"

"I'm not kicking you out," he replied. "But, like, I don't know why you did this."

"Because I care?"

"...Thanks, I guess."

She just smiled and squeezed his hand again. "It's nothing, Rome. I didn't want to be at that dinner anyways."

comments from birdie!

i don't even know what to say about this chapter other than i had too much fun writing the beginning and the end scenes with rome and dot. like i have SO MANY FEELINGS but i can't put them into words because it'll come out as a keyboard smash

also i don't like doing author's notes very much because i feel like people are more invested in the story than what i have to say about it, but this time i just have to scream!!1!1!!

and don't even get me STARTED on the gala. oh my god. i'm so excited to write those two as "dates"/plus ones that it's not even funny. sorry tabitha but i think you're getting replaced

don't get your hopes up, though!!!! seasons three and four mean a lot of good shit for roman/dorothy but mostly a LOT of bad shit. thanks mencken xoxo fuck you

ok that's really all i can think to say about the story so far! i won't do a lot of these little author's notes but i just wanted to pop in and say hi :)