Question Hank 5 - To the New Year - feedback

... Reminds me of the Shoulder Angels!!!

Lily Turner. Please leave.

I was expecting more bombardment of "Leave"... But with that being the end line of that segment, it's eventual appearance makes sense, sort of equating itself with Lily.

...

...So, wait, is Puppet still tubed up? I'd think so? It's not like her organs were healed...

Woah, Ayla's super well informed. Glad to see him make up with Nikki! That pouring out of emotions, is amazing coming out of Mr. Stotic...

Seeing the new Poe renovations from Nikki's PoV really makes them stand out. Nikki and Toni still in the same room, good. And fingerprint scanners for the door locks, maybe it will cut down on some of the antics from last year. Dang, the common room is a lot better than before, 2 TVs so not as much fighting over what to watch. Lanie showing Nikki around, fire stairs between the floors, nice. And good idea to have a key in case things go wrong.

Whoa, that is a big change for the rooms, when Ayla pays for an upgrade he doesn't hold back. Only Toni would make an entrance like that, classic. *whistles* Nice upgrades for the bathrooms, maybe now there won't be as much waiting around. Okay, wish I could have a shower set-up like that. And the basement, read about them before but Toni's excited description of them makes it all stand out.

*eyes bug out* Detention in Hawthorne will never be the same, it will be like torture for those not in Poe to see all they have now. Dang, Ayla did everything for his cousin Puppet, that room is tricked out. She gets to have classes with her classmates, this is the best thing so far with the renovations. Poor girl deserves all the happiness she can get.

Is Nikki really just tired from all the traveling, or is something else wrong. Don't tell me Nikki is still upset about what happened with Hank and feeling guilty for her part in it. Hope things work out, hate seeing anyone that upset.

Hank and Lily together is still cute, glad to hear Hank's mom cares enough to cry when he leaves home now. Lily has no roommate, Angel the RA for the freshmen girls, she earned it. Great, even Lily thinks Danny is cute as a Kitty-Boy, hope she knows when to ease off at least. Ouch, risqué lingerie Kayda and the girls bought for Danny as a joke in Paris, he can't catch a break. Bwahaha, she brings up lingerie and gets upset with Hank when he talks about modeling them for him.

'Winnings' from her combat finale, Jade must have cleaned up with those. Ah, good, Billie got to go home for summer, after her adventure I was worried she wouldn't be able to. That is a lot of networking going on. Bwahahaha, Lily dragging Hank to unpack the 'box', saying his friends will just have to deal with it. When that girl is determined, I wouldn't want to be get in her way, not even in a power suit made by Lanie.

Bwahahaha, Toni excited about the 'Hannah' box's content, upset at Hank that he hid all this from them last year, should have known Toni likes those kind of movies as well. Heh, Nikki not having a way to check up on the World Tree seedling no matter where she is, that is just silly. So that is the real reason Ayla helped Carson and the others with the Solicitor deception, wouldn't want Nikki making a magical Oath she would be made to follow even if she changed her mind.

Aunghadhail's legacy, spelled out by Hank, is a terrifying prospect. Nikki not being Nikki anymore, that would be too painful to watch. Lily having to explain to Jade what the Sidhe were, it's no wonder some fear their return. And not knowing what to do to help a friend, now that is painful to watch. Yikes, and we are reminded to never make Toni upset, getting chewed out is the least she can do.

Baskets with supplies for the spa bath, even ones with all natural ingredients for Sidhe like Fey, very nice. Toni having to explain to Hank that Nikki is that upset. No, not storms in the hallways again!

Oh boy, Ayla trying to think of the right things to say while waiting for Nikki. And Nikki already got some bath salts for the spa bath for herself, at least she is more relaxed now, hope the chat with Ayla doesn't blow up in everyone's faces. Okay, she is calm for far, finding Ayla in her and Toni's room. Boy, Nikki moving with that kind of graceful, must be a real sight to see.

Rare to see Ayla that open with his emotions. Ayla explaining the truth of it all, all because he wanted to Nikki stay Nikki Reilly and not make an Oath that would change her. Ouch, Nikki thought everyone had abandoned her, nobody was listening to her anymore, seeing her cry like that has me tearing up. Ayla goes to comfort her and Nikki pulls him closer, asking why again.

Aunghadhail explained a Sidhe Oath to Nikki before, warned never to be tricked into swearing to anything, to never make Oaths or promises by magic. Uh oh, she didn't know she could make an Oath by herself, Ayla explaining all that her and Nikki finally understands. And now she is upset no one had explained it to her, not even Aunghadhail, only for Ayla to ask if Nikki was listening when Hank tried to tell her. Ouch, full weight of what happened hits her again. At least she has good friends there for her.

And telling Toni how it went, could have gone a lot worse if Nikki had stopped listening after the first big reveal. Bunny in with Nikki, now Toni and Jade join in too, poor girl is going to be crying for a while yet.

Lily in a little black dress, Hank is one lucky guy. 'Girl things', Lily really knows how to tease Hank. Quiet dance between Bunny and Nikki before the freshman start going gaga over Nikki, poor kids won't know what hit them. And Lily has to point out why it is a good thing Nikki was crying on Ayla's shoulder to Hank, Hank has become a bit dense it seems since becoming male.

Heh, both Hank and Lily saw a professional over the holidays, seems Lily picked up some new skills thanks to that. Army doctors and father/son trips with his dad, oh boy, poor Hank needs more than that. Now that is a dance hall, impressive. Adults having to police the saunas and jacuzzis, don't even want to think what would happen without policing of the kids, especially the freshmen. Drinks delivered Jade style, priceless.

Billie not dancing and whoa, how did someone, probably Jade, convince her to wear that outfit. Some tights, Lily helping out Billie, can see why Billie would want to cover up more, that outfit is a bit much.

"Ah," Lilly's cup vibrated. "I should have given them to her to begin with, but I get way too excited when dressing Onee-San. She's so beautiful! I want to show the whole world how sexy she is!"

Poor Hank, Lily getting him worked up like that in front of everyone. Jade out Billie that outfit, figures. And Nikki thought the fashion advice she gave to Jade was for Jinn, oh well. Toni plotting what to do about Ayla, I say let him bask in the glory of it all as long as he doesn't get a swelled head. Le Bistro, should have known Ayla had that built beneath Crystal Hall for couples to have romantic dates on, only way for him and Addy to get peace on their dates without friends teasing. And Truffles, nice name for Poe's little secret restaurant.

Oh boy, Addy convinced Ayla to buy sexy things for himself while in Paris. Figures, all those new outfits and Ayla goes with a business pantsuit. Bwahahahaha, teasing Ayla like this, too perfect. Dang, didn't work, Ayla saw right through their teasing. And Jade upset at Nikki and Toni blowing it, having to keep Ayla's 'excessive ego' grounded. Updated the crystal over the summer, messing with Hank and Ayla, Nikki is definitely feeling better with teasing like this.

*eyes bug out* Jinn has a push-up bra now, that is going to cause problems...for any males around her. Showed Stephen some of the special pieces they got in Paris, having your girlfriend show off stuff like that no man would complain. And teasing the boys about Jinn's push-up bra and how they got sidetracked from talking about the new arrivals. Peacock aka Lina Samhurst, not sure if we heard her real name before now. And have Ayla mentor her, good idea, voice of experience.

Bunny shocked that Angel is able to touch Danny, something about his spirit being female allows it without an allergic reaction. Hello Kitty hoodie, Jade, you think that is cute, poor Danny would be extremely uncomfortable in that. And finding out about Roulette, how she has been moved to Hawthorne just yesterday, hearing about her regular burnouts bringing up memories of Phobos, ouch. Ah, good for Mrs. Horton insisting she join the Poe mixer.

Oh boy, first time Jade sees poor Alyss, she never stood a chance with how Jade reacts just from seeing her. And Knockoff, they know the full story of how she changed, good intel. And learning about her mom, Setup, from Ayla, figures she could know such things. And Nikki says her aura's quite calm and content, interesting. Envy aka Seraphia Sophia Valocco, daughter of Black Strega. And Toni says no pranking her, no telling what her mom might do.

Scapegrace, interesting codename for Jessie to pick, stands out for sure. And continued teasing of Ayla about Jadis being his 'other' girlfriend, oh brother. Oh boy, Vox still avoiding all of Team Kimba still, not good. Ouch, Nikki upped the teasing to a new level on Ayla about Jadis. Ayla, Jade, and Nikki are sensitive to magic and Jessie has a large amount of magical artefacts secreted away on her body. Jessie should have known there would be people at Whateley who can detect such things.

Erin and Victory, described as the Ayla and Toni proxies for this year, ouch for poor Erin. Shawn Grace aka Teka, a f-t-m changeling, happy about the change and can't wait for it to complete, that is a switch. Chou in the martial arts room practicing, and talk of Molly coming to the Poe mixer later to be with her sweetie. Oh goodie, Addy read in about the Poe secret by Mrs. Horton so she can come there more often.

Elle Ruud, she is in Dickinson instead of Poe, guess she kept her changeling nature a secret. Nikki says there is something, but she isn't sure what. And still wondering why Aung had a shit-fit over seeing Anomaly. And having Rythax try and ID Anomaly or at least who she looks like, not sure that will end well. Jade and Jinn pulling Billie along to dance on the ceiling, just a normal mixer at Poe. Low visibility this year, Ayla says for everyone to dance on the floor and not follow the crazy ones. Boy, keeping low visibility is going to tougher than they thought.

Hank having weird dreams, every time it was about something sad it would switch to something happy instead, that Leanan Sidhe is messing with his dreams now. All summer he has had dreams like this, this is very bad, dreams are one way humans help to work out things in their lives, without them it can mess you up. Having them constantly altered could damage Hank. Talk to Nikki about this, hope they can work it out soon.

Just weird dreams, you aren't getting out of this that easily Hank, stop being stubborn! Finding out it was the opposite before the hospital for his dreams, huge clue to what is going on. Worried if it has to do what they did with Lily, how to find the real culprit. Getting Kodiak's help, wonder if he has encountered this before.

Share consciousnesses and now they have to do it again with Wyatt and Kodiak following them in. This is going to get weird, isn't it. Once more Nikki and Lily head into Hank's mind, how will it have changed since last time I wonder.

Same hill, same old Poe, and behind it Hank and Lily's lake, nice change. Hehe, Hank and Lily sneaking away for picnics among other things, so cute. Whoa, Hank's dreamspace is almost as twisty as a Sidhe's honor, according to Kodiak. Great, the Leanan Sidhe tried to prevent Wyatt and Kodiak from getting Hank in his dreamspace. Oh boy, Hank revealing the strange dreams started just after he and Nikki's had the big blow-up. Oh crud, Hank having to relive that entire in his own mind, that sucks.

This incident again, so painful to see them planting the rose bushes in remembrance once more, just like the first time. Nikki that angry and upset, the argument between Nikki and Hank, just ouch. Still in the top 5 most painful scenes to read in Whateley history.

And Nikki realizes she cursed Hank, ouch. Nikki that upset and Kodiak having to study Hank to figure out what happened, hope Nikki can calm down soon, her with unstable magic is scary to say the least. Lanie having to comfort Nikki, knew she would be a mess when she found out what she did to Hank. All the girls coming to comfort Nikki, she might be in worse shape than what happened when she finally chose to be human.

Kodiak figures out it a Leanan Sidhe, and Lily knows what it is. And it wasn't originally a curse, interesting. Figures, the Bastard or one of the GOO twisted it to become a burden rather than a benefit. Not be possible to get it out, yikes. Whoa, complete the bond with the Leanan Sidhe, take command of it, tall order. All that to help him complete the bond, this isn't going to be easy. A ritual, plus a battle of mind and spirit between Hank and the Leanan Sidhe, epic.

Hank has to find the bond within him that links him to the Leanan Sidhe, yet they start off in the desert even Hank. A brownie Hearthwife, interested what it can do for him. Ouch, that close to it and struck with memories of suffering, sadness and hurt. Having to force it to conform to his image of it, hope it doesn't look like Nikki or Hank is going to have an upset Lily on his hands.

Memories from the trial involving Jamie's murder, then again a piece of the huge fight with Nikki, now how he couldn't go home with Lily and went home to his parents and Jay, all those painful memories bombarding Hank one after another. Fighting back with happy memories of his friends and Lily, now memories of Hannah and Hank reaches out in love to embrace the memories of Hannah. Powerful imagery.

Hank wakes up, a happy Lily with a relieved smile. And Toni teasing him about imagining his 'perfect fey wife'. A perfect little replica of Nikki kneeling in place of his teddy bear, looking down at him with open adoration in her eyes. Nikki's looks, Lily's clothes, totally worshipping him, oh boy. Nikki and Lily are going to give him an earful later. Perfect ending to this story though.

This is a great story, wrapping up some loose ends and having Team Kimba take an interest in the new changelings in Poe and possibly beyond. Glad to see everything worked out between Ayla and Nikki, how we finally dealt with the Leanan Sidhe in a way I never suspected, and Hank having a new ally, if one who openly worships him though. Can't wait to see what happens with Hank and his new brownie Hearthwife in the future.

Like Hank being in a comma.