#ya gotta admit they look sorta similar

[starkie-md]

I found a picture at my school of a guy who looks like young rdj:

Sorta

#ya gotta admit they look sorta similar #i took this last year and forgot to post it #oops #young rdj #young robert downey jr #robert downey junior #robert downey jr #rdj #tony stark #iron man #avengers

[scandeniall]

cause u were my baby

pairing: atsumu x (implied black)f!reader (ur Aran’s sister but if u wanna imagine youre adopted go ahead no physical descriptors)

summary/warnings: honestly just based off my boo by usher. ur life around atsumu over the years (from kids to adults)/implied nsfw at the end when ur adults, bad words, thats it./timeskip spolier 

a/n: format might be weird because i was initially doing these as headcanons but kept going and it changed. also also started with a sakusa version based on this song so um tune in next whenever i finish it oop-

wc:4.4k 

It started when we were younger, you were mine 

You’re not exactly sure when you’d met Atsumu. It seemed like he was always around. From the first day Aran came home trailing two considerably shorter twins behind him you’d been intrigued. 

“Aran you never told us ya had a sister!” When they found out your name and exclaimed how cool it was there was no way you could’ve predicted your future. 

Eventually it became a tiny school girl crush, on one of them as kids (you couldn’t quite tell them apart for the longest). You’d be overly happy whenever Aran brought them around, and always asked to tag along with him, but only when he mentioned he’d be seeing the twins. 

You’d watched over the years as your brother only grew closer to them and as a result so did you, sorta. In middle school you’d come back from hanging with your own friends to hear the twins bickering while your brother just continued in with his homework. Being in the same year, you’d occasionally be dragged into helping them out, or sharing answers when it was too hard and “they’d learn it later, but need the answers now.”

At some point during middle school you’d grown an official crush on Atsumu, opting to take his side more often than not within his competition with Osamu. Despite that, nothing ever came of it as kids. 

The older you got, the more attractive they’d seem to get, but you never paid much attention. After all, once you reached the world of high school, your young crush practically disappeared. Instead you’d taken a liking to all the new people you were exposed to.  

As they got more and more passionate about volleyball and you parted class ways you never really saw them, except for the occasional times they’d come to your house. Even then, the conversations were short. Growing more confident, and friendly you’d still jokingly take Atsumu’s side to which he’d parade around like he’d won the lottery. “At least someone thinks I’m right.” 

Of course you’d heard about Atsumu’s lack of popularity among his teammates. You’d overheard Osamu telling him at lunch one day to be nicer, and you couldn’t help but laugh at the lack of care he showed for others thoughts on his personality. As long as he was doing his job as a setter all’s good. 

“Don’t think you’d say that if they decided to throw you in a ditch one day,” you’d tease hovering over their lunch table. “Maybe you should be a little nicer,”

“If they suck, then they suck.” 

For the rest of your first year your conversations took on similar natures. One of you’d overhear something then butt in for a few moments before returning to your regularly scheduled lives. 

You’d watch as the two of them grew into their volleyball skills, alongside your brother cheering from the sidelines as much as you could. Come your 2nd year Their notoriety and your connection to them caused a spike in your popularity. It was something that came to the irritation of your brother. 

“Another date?” Your brother eyed the way you searched for the perfect pair of shoes while you waved him off. 

You’d heard about the twins biggest fight. Osamu admitted that he’d be quitting volleyball after high school. Heard about the way Atsumu reacted, seen the way they stopped sitting together at lunch

“Shouldn’t ya be with yer friends,” the blonde twin mumbles, continuing to stab at the rice he’d brought for lunch. Or that Osamu packed, which is precisely why he couldn’t eat it. You slid into the empty seat in front of him, not even phased. 

“Atsumu you need to make up with your Osamu. You two are driving Aran mad. And more importantly you need each other.” Your hand stops his that were previously stabbing at the food, by knocking the chopsticks out. With a sigh, you move the bento he’d been messing over and replace it with your own lunch. “Since you’re on your whole anti Samu stance, figured I’d get you some non Samu food. I’ll be eating this by the way.” You were intentional in keeping your voice light not wanting to further upset the firecracker. “I’m waiting on my thank you.”

“For what. Tryna get me to talk to the traitor-“

“Atsumu. He's your brother. Grow up. I’m just trying to help out my friends-“

“Yer just Aran’s sister who has a stupid crush on Samu. That’s why yer taking his side,” at that your eyes widen and the annoyance starts to set. Before you could refute he cuts you off.  “We’re not friends. Never have been and never will be. Go hang out with Samu if you’re that desperate”

Silence settled upon the two of you before you swallowed the lump that had started to form. 

“You’re right. We’re not friends and I’m just Aran’s stupid little sis how could i forget,” your tone is mocking as you gather up your own food. “You clearly have some issues to work through with Osamu and you’re upset but I’m not gonna be your verbal punching bag. Keep the lunch,” you sigh before standing. “I’ll see you around, maybe.” Atsumu couldn’t pinpoint it then but there sense of finality in your voice might’ve aided in the further irritation he carried through the rest of the day. 

You’re not even sure when the twins got back on good terms. One day they’d started hanging back out at your place with Aran however you made it a point to never be around. It wasn’t until your brother’s graduation months later that Atsumu caught you for more than a few fleeting seconds. 

“He’s really graduated huh-“ you were sitting in the empty gym after the ceremony. Everyone else had gone outside before you ditched your family with the promise of catching up and being back for Aran’s celebratory dinner. However Atsumu had watched you slip back in and curiosity killed the fox. 

“Hey Tsumu,” you hummed, eyes glued on the chairs covering the floor. You only glanced at him once you felt the bleachers creak and did as he settled next to you. 

“Why’re ya in here (Y/N)”

“Just thinking. I’m gonna miss him-“

“Arans really leaving us for the big guys huh- they grow up so fast.” The lightness in Atsumu’s voice has you smiling before shaking your head before focusing back on the gym floor. 

“Not Aran. Well- yeah I’m gonna miss him too but I’m talking about my boyfriend. Well ex who kinda broke up with me yesterday. Something about going off to Uni and needing something new. Seeing him here too was weird.”

Atsumu just nods. He’d heard that you’d started dating some 3rd year shortly after your disagreement. According to Aran and even Osamu the guy wasn’t necessarily a bad guy but wasn’t really a good one either. “(Y/N) could do better but if she’s happy,” he’d listen to Aran complain before, a rarity from a guy who tried seeing the good in people. And it was true, you were happy. Extremely so. 

“Sorry about that,” you just give him another nod before he sighs. “M’sorry about blowing up at ya a while back too. Saying that we weren’t friends,”

“Is Miya Atsumu apologizing for someone.” Your fake shock is accompanied by you turning your body to face his. “Do I need to get this on camera for proof. Where’s Rin.” The way you pull out your phone pretending to film has him laughing before jokingly telling you to shut it. 

“You worked things out with Samu?”

Atsumu only shrugs. “I’m still pissed but we still have 1 more year. And I gotta focus on being happier and more successful.”

“Do I even wanna know?”

Instead of responding Atsumu just stands before offering you a hand. “Ya going to the party?” He was referring to the one the parents had planned to celebrate the graduates. It was at your house but you weren’t sure if you were gonna actually show or just hang with a friend for a few hours. You still hadn’t taken his hand up and he looked at it expectedly. 

“Hadn’t decided. Kinda sad ya know,” you joke before taking it. 

“All the more reason. Forget about that loser. Besides if Aran finds out I knew ya were sad and did nothin’ he’d kick my ass.” You thought for a moment before caving, not even noticing had neither of you had let go. 

That was the start of it all for you two. Following the party you’d rekindled your friendship with the twin and as break started the two of you grew closer. There’d been many nights when you two would sneak out and go on late night adventures. Convenience store runs. Scooter rides or even to parks to help him practice. You’d even started hanging around when they had official team practices to where he’d started walking you home. 

Your first kiss happened on one of those walks. Your arms had brushed several times as he complained about poor spikes or missed serves and how they weren’t gonna be Karasuno with that performance. 

“They’re stressing you out just how you stressed Kita out captain”

“And yer brother,” you nod as your hands brushed again. “How’s he doin anyways,” 

“Pretty good. Just practicing a lot and stuff. He’s always tired when we talk.” Another brush. You start tuning Atsumu out as you debate on making a move. The two of you had gotten considerably closer to the point where people had teased calling him your boyfriend. However you could’ve been imagining it and the chemistry. Maybe he just saw you as a sister much like Osamu but picked up on your feelings and didn’t wanna hurt them and ruin things. 

“Hey Atsumu,” the way you stopped had him confused. However before he could question it you started. “Do you like me? Like-like me?”

He thought for a moment before answering just with a shrug. “Well yeah. Course Aran would kill me for some of my thoughts but—yeah.” You weren’t even sure why you were so surprised with the ease of how he admitted it. He always said what he meant and all you could do was nod before managing to could out something that sounded like “good”

“Good. That’s all ya gotta say? C’mon (Y/N) give me something. Do ya like me?” With a nod from you he finds himself surprisingly flustered before doing the same as you. Only this time he’d moved closer head lowering. “Well that’s good”

The two of you started dating shortly after and into your last year. It wasn’t something that went unnoticed either. The way he’d lean against your locker trying to be cool, definitely falling more than once. The few people that had been privy to your quick makeout sessions when you’d meet up in empty hallways while you were supposed to be using the restroom. The way you’d started eating lunch together more often and if people played enough attention they’d noticed that you often shared drinks because “things taste better when they aren’t yours.” Then the most obvious, how you’d hang around early at games and stayed after and how he was so excited to beat Karasuno at nationals that he’d actually made out with you in public. (Aran had nearly murdered him upon finding out about that)

After graduation you two had gone off to different places and it was a struggle. There were arguments about not making time for one another. Between your academics and his pursuit at going pro, it was a struggle. But things were always made worth it. The time you’d created and sent him a care package and he texted you back a selfie with the basket with tears in his eyes. Or how you made the 3 hour train ride down for important matches or during your school breaks because he’d sounded super down about not being able to nail a new serve. 

There were times where he’d stay on video call with you long after he should’ve been in bed because you were stressed about finals and up still studying. Then the time he surprised you by coming down for a milestone birthday. He’d showed up at your apartment at some odd hour completely exhausted and ready to fall over the second you opened the door. 

“Atsumu?”

“Surprise baby,” he slurred using the last bit of his energy to hug you tightly. “Happy birthday”

“Tsumu what are you doing here,” you’d pull away however he attached himself back to you arms locked around your middle and face buried in the side of your neck.

“Talk later, sleep now.” You find yourself nodding before prying his hands off your and intertwining them with yours. 

“Let’s get you some sleep Tsumu”

There were the late night drives as young adults listening to old school music and singing your hearts out just having fun. It was during the holidays and you two had both gone back home to be with your families. 

“Hey babe technically this is us.” Atsumu is the one to turn the radio down as a familiar song starts. “And you were my babyyyyy,” His screeching fills the car causing you to laugh and swat the hand that had been casually resting on your thigh off. “It started when we were younger-”

“Atsumu shut up and pay attention to the road.” You smile as his hand immediately finds its way back on you. “But you are my boo.”

The night the Jackals beat the Adlers you were sure Atsumu would want to go out and party and you were more than fine with it. However while waiting for him to finish up you’d gotten word of his celebratory plans from a post game interview. “Just gna hang at home. Watch a few movies, eat a cheat meal, ya know.” 

It’s about an hour later before Atsumu meets up with you at the stadium's entrance. You notice how his hair hadn’t fully dried as he shifts his duffel bag to the other arm to grab your hand on your preferred hand holding side as the two of you make your way across the parking lot. “Are you sure you don’t wanna go out with the guys?”

The squeeze of his hand confirms his decision. “I’ll see em’ tomorrow. We haven’t spent much time together these days. As the two of you approach the car you let go before asking him if he wanted you to drive. After he confirmed he was good to you slipped into the passenger seat listening as he tossed his bag in the back before sliding into the driver's seat. “Besides,” his hand makes its way towards your cheek, guiding your face to his. “I can think of a much better way to celebrate.”

“Is that so?” Your tease is quiet as you inch closer lips only a hair away. He’s the one who closes the space and you immediately reciprocate. Your lips immediately move against his mumbling a “congratulations” against his lips. You indulge it for a moment before pulling away to press kisses up his neck until you reach his ear before whispering something. 

“Are ya serious?” At your nod he lets out a groan that you can’t help but laugh at him. “Yer gonna be the death of me one day”

“Love you too.”

The day he found out he’d made the Olympic team had been cause for celebration for more than one reason. The two of you had been getting ready for a regular day of running errands when he got the call. After hanging up he yelled for you so loud it could have gotten a noise complaint from neighbors. 

“Atsumu why are you yelling. Im in the bathroom not fucking Antarctica.”

“I’m on the Olympic team baby.”

Following that you decided to turn the day into an Atsumu day something that made his heart swell. From the way you kept telling him how proud of him you were to watching his favorite movie even though you hated it. Once you insisted on making his favorite for dinner he knew it was time. In return he convinced you to get dressed in something other than sweats to eat dinner on your couch. “I just think we should take some pictures so I can show off my biggest supporter,” is what he told you with a shrug when you questioned it.

You also shouldve known something was up when he insisted that he had desert covered, because the man couldn’t bake for shit. “It's a delivery, cmon have some faith in me.”

“I do baby. In everything except for baking.”

You’d just finished eating dinner and the two of you were cuddled on the couch watching another movie, one of your boyfriend’s choices. You’d shifted uncomfortably for the fifth time before looking at Atsumu. “Can I change yet, these jeans aren’t comfortable anymore.” You were caught off guard when he moved so that he pulled you so that you were straddling him.

“Better?” 

“Not at all,” you rolled your eyes while he just laughed, fingers squeezing at your hips. 

“Just wait til desert, yer brother’s on his way with it now.” He placed a quick kiss on the skin of your collarbone before pointing at his phone for you to hand to him. “Did he tell ya he's on the olympic team too?”

“He's my brother. I was gonna treat him to dinner tomorrow. You tell Samu yet?”

“Not yet. Was gonna do it after Aran left.” You don’t miss the way Atsumu tries to hide the messages on his phone, his brightness all the way down, something he usually hates. Before you can question anything he's pulling you so that your lips meet his. “Stop looking so concerned,” he whispers against your lips. 

“Yer so fuckin pretty baby,” the way his fingers tighten against your sides and the way his tongue slips into your mouth has the quietest moan coming out of your mouth. You pout as he pulls away settling for kisses along your neck instead. “You’ve been so good to me today. Can’t wait to get to bed with you.”

Before anything could go any further a knock on the door interrupts. “It's probably Ojiro,” you whine, mildly annoyed at your brother for interrupting you from where things were headed. “Tsumu let go,” you frown at the failed attempt of getting off him. You've met with a quick kiss before his palm comes firm against your ass, a yelp escaping. With that he lets you go laughing at the scowl you shoot him as he goes to get the door. 

You don’t even bother to look at the two yet you can hear Aran’s scold that the two of you were disgusting.

“How’d ya know we were even doin anything”

“Your lips are swollen.” After that the two of them get into a whispered conversation that you can’t pick up on no matter how hard you try to listen. Before you know it your brother crosses through the apartment to place a box in the kitchen before joining you in the living room. “Congrats big bro,” you stand hugging him slightly before plopping down on the couch. He gives a smile of thanks before changing the subject.

“Miya here isn’t corrupting you too much right.” You both ignore Atsumu’s exclaim that he isn’t the one corrupting anyone has you hear him shuffle around in the kitchen. 

When he gets back he brings the box, some plates and a few utensils. “What is it?” He nearly trips trying to set it all down before you get up to help him. After helping him you notice that he doesn’t sit back on the couch and looks off. “Tsumu are you ok?” You give your brother a concerned look but he just shrugs. 

“(Y/N). could ya,” he nervously motions for you to stand back up and you comply confused. Grabbing his hand you watch him carefully, silently trying to check in on him. When he doesn’t answer you lean up to place a quick kiss on his lips. A silent “I love you,’ something that seems to calm him down. “I I love you too”

“You wanna sit down now?”

“Yeah just let me get this off my chest first?” Your nod is his signal to continue. “I don't remember when I met ya. At all. All I know is that there was this super cool guy with a super cool name and me and Samu kinda just followed him around. Then we found out he had a little sister.” You were used to some of Atsumu’s mindless babbling but the reason for bringing that up right then and in front of Aran was still going over your head. 

“Somewhere along the way I fell in love with ya. I can tell ya that the first day I realized my crush was after Aran’s graduation. You were sittin in the gym and we just talked. You were sad about some loser and I didnt like that. Course I couldn't say anythin cause we weren’t even really friends then.” That pause is when what might be happening hits you and you freeze. It’s something Atsumu notices right away, eyes looking at you with concern. “Ya alright?”

The only thing you could do was nod offering a slight squeeze of his hand prompting him to continue. “Alright—where was I —ok. Then we got together and I knew it was love. Ya made me feel like I was I’m top of the world even when I was a jackass.”

“I almost thought we wouldn’t make it when ya when off to university. It was hard but we made it. we used to argue so much about stupid shit back then too. You were there before anyone knew who I was as a kid and have stayed with me all the way to being an Olympic athlete.” 

At this point you watch as he begins to kneel and you’re hit with the fact that he’s really about to do it. You’re nodding before he even asks which causes him to laugh. “Let me finish alright.”

“I’m so in love with everything about you and after the announcement I realized we weren’t gettin any younger. You’ve been my boo since we were 17 and here we are almost a decade later. You’re still my boo and I want it forever. So (Y/N) will you marry me?”

You’re not even sure real words came out before you’ve tackled him to the ground in a hug immediately pressing kisses all over his face. Your eyes are teary as his hand rubs comforting circles on your back. The two of you are there for a few moments before Aran finally clears his throat. 

“I can't believe my little sister is engaged. And to Atsumu no less.congratulations you two.” He shoots you both a warm smile as he watches the two of you. After getting up your arms fling immediately around Aran. 

“Did you know about this,” the tears finally begin to fall as he just laughs confirming. “I can't believe you let him ambush me like this.” You feel your brother's arms embrace you at the mixture of laughing and crying. 

“Hey, I knew he was proposing soon, not the day. He just called me up earlier claiming today was the day. Now stop crying and look at the cake.” Confusion crosses your face until you’re turned around to see Atsumu holding a cake that reads: marry me? (pls) the ring placed right under the words. 

After you'd calmed down the three of you just sat in the living room catching up when you realized something. “Atsumu, you were so corny with the song reference.” Looking at Aran the two of you immediately burst into laughter. “I can't believe you referred to me as your boo. Out loud and in all seriousness”

“I got it on camera too. Got him in 4K” Aran shakes his head. 

“I can't believe this. I propose and yet still clowning me. I miss when ya were all emotional,” your fiancé huffs. Despite that he doesn’t move at all from sitting so close that your legs touched. His eyes kept shooting at the ring on your finger and the desire to get you alone grew by the minute. At some point his hand slipped from the back of the couch to your thigh offering a squeeze. 

It was then that Aran cleared his throat. “That’s my cue to head on out. I’ll see you tomorrow sis. Congrats again you two. Don’t—I’m not ready to be an uncle yet, s’all I gotta say.” 

“After the Olympics work better for ya teammate?” 

“How about never Miya” 

The two of you bid your brother one last goodbye after the warning and before the door is even fully closed your fiancé is pulling you back into his lap. Your heart swells at the way Atsumu’s eyes look at you with so much love and your voice comes out way quieter than you intended. “Still can’t believe you quoted Usher”

Atsumu groans at that The hand that had been plaing with your, ghosting over the ring comes to a stop. . “I’m never showing anyone else that video.” 

“It’ll be our little secret.” 

“You're lying”

The smirk on your face tells him all he needs to know and all he can do is shake his head. “If yer gonna tell my deepest secret I’m gonna need you to make it up to me.” His hand slip around your waist, fingers skimming the space where your shirt had ridden up. you return the touch by trailing your hands until palms are placed again his chest. 

“I think we can arrange something. Isn’t that right pretty?” The touch and hushed words were enough to cause heat to flare across your skin. 

“What’d you’d have in mind?”

“A few things,” Atsumu leans close, placing kisses everywhere except your lips. First your close one. Then along your jaw. Right on the corner of your lips. “Think we’ve got some celebrating to do, fiancé.”

Atsumu forgot to tell Osamu that night and was ambushed the following morning after watching his private story in which Atsumu made you flash your hand to the camera with an obnoxious number of zooms with the caption: made the Olympic team and got my forever boo 🤪

#haikyuu x reader #hq x reader #atsumu x reader #atsumu imagines #hq imagines #hq imagine #haikyuu imagine #haikyuu imagines #atsumu imagine

[foxgloveprincess]

OMG could I get a director's cut for A Little Touch of Heavenly Light. I love this one so much 😍

✨A Little Touch of Heavenly Light✨ is probably one of my favorites, really. My first real venture into Tony and something I’m really proud of.

Director’s Cut. 👇🏻 (Sorry it took me a minute! and also here’s a new banner because i was inspired)

So, to start out with, I gotta say this all started with Like Limbs and Hearts Entwined by SithHappens on AO3. I read that and my heart just sang. It’s amazing and unfinished and I absolutely adore it. Go check it out, give it some love even if it hasn’t been updated in like 3 years. Just—it’s perfection.

After reading that, my mind frequently played around with it—creating daydreams and wondering what would happen next. I sorta wanted to write my own take, but realized that my ideas were far too similar to be anything other than plagiarism. So I shelved it and waited for the right tweak to make it work.

The first iteration that sprang to mind was a poly!Avengers pantheon choosing a girl as their bride. She’s devout and very respectful and feels blessed so she creates a little gift for each of them. And a beggar by the side of the road helps her out (sound familiar? 👀). But even that felt too close to SithHappens’ story with a governing body ‘reading the signs’ and picking the wrong girl, which greatly upsets the gods. 

And that’s where something sparked. 

The idea from that one was that the selected bride, who wasn’t really who the gods chose, would have two ‘maids of honor’ as a sacrifice. The reader would be selected as one of them and there’d be a huge thunder storm and the priests would abandon the girls, fearing the gods’ wrath. Thor would appear and take the reader away. Chaos would ensue, revenge on the town, etc. etc. 

And that gave me a little taste of this story turning down a dark road. That and a prompt list that gave me the idea for the line  at the end: “You don’t understand yet, but you will.” (Also got the idea for the burning/branding at the end from Cas’ handprint on Dean in Supernatural, but shhhhhh…🤫)

Once I started writing, it all kinda came together. I adore mythology, especially Greek mythology, and really like the concept of polytheistic worship practices. I’ll admit some of the stuff was tricky to come up with due to inexperience with traditionally pagan practices, but I really enjoyed building my own pantheon made up of the Avengers. 

By the by, Bruce is totally a demigod. Preternaturally gifted at healing and benevolent. Yeah…definitely a demigod who kinda suspects what Tony is up to but can’t prevent it no matter how much he wants to. 

Also, I don’t think this is the last time we’ll be venturing into this universe. I have  some ideas for looking at the mates/brides/consorts of the other gods. Like the virginal beauty loved by the God of Justice and the God of Death (one guess as to who they are). And there might be a few other ideas swirling through my head about some others. A priestess captivating their patron and a princess sacrificed to appease the gods. Ya know, just some thoughts. 

Let me know if there’s anything specific you’re curious about or I’ll just rant and ramble as I’m prone to do. I love when people have an interest in my writing process or my stories. It makes me feel all warm and fuzzy. So thanks for sending this in! 💜

ask me for a director’s cut

#✨rachel replies✨ #i love nonnies #director’s cut #ask game #the avengers pantheon

[acraftedmistake]

A Person Who Has Never Played MCSM Writes A Story About MCSM Chp. 7

SEVENTH CHAPTER YAY

This was a lot of fun to write! Hope you guys enjoy! ;<;b

“I’m sorry--What?” Jesse fumbled with his words. How do you react to a statement like that?

Aiden saw his friends--and Olivia’s--thrown off expressions. A few had mouths hanging open while others’ faces practically begged for him to elaborate. Stella being the more extreme of the bunch with widened eyes.

“Think about it!” He said to the bewildered crowd “Jesse’s been way too cooperative, he’s described events that don’t match up with ours--heck--he doesn’t know what we’re talking about! And since the portals weren’t made for entering different worlds, the next logical idea would be they came from another universe.”

Maya raised her head up, “That… Makes sense.” She joined Aiden’s side.

“No, hold on, how did ANY part of your conclusion sound ‘logical’?” Stella sputtered.

“Yeah, You can’t say somethin’ makes sense ‘n… Expect it to.” Gill raised a brow.

Olivia hopped off the stairs and went to Jesse as quickly as she could, ducking down to avoid attention. Not like she would care if everyone was watching her right now. She found her mind too wrapped up around the mere IDEA of entering a different universe being possible. ‘Hearing it out loud, it’s so obvious! Why didn’t I think of it before?’ She questioned. Maybe she was too shaken up on being surrounded by enemies and their bizarre behaviors to consider it a possibility. She clutched her small book tightly and slid to Jesse’s side.

“It’d explain why everything’s felt unnatural.” Maya shifted towards Jesse and Olivia. “You said it yourself back at the library, Stella. It was weird around Olivia.”

“Yes. I did.” Stella admitted, “But it was specifically about Olivia. I didn’t say anything about Jesse.”

“Yeah, I gotta agree with Stella here.” Spoke Gill, “No offense t’you Aiden, it’s just… Your idea feels really extreme.”

Gill looked back to the neat pile of books on the table “ ‘N these books are super old, so if we go offa them, they could be outdated or wrong.”

Stella sighed with relief and placed her hand on Gill’s shoulder, “Thank you, Gill. Glad to know I’m not the only one who thinks this situation is crazy--Wait a second. Cassie!”

The red head jumped up.

“What are your thoughts on this whole universe… Jesse… Portal situation?” Stella waved her hands about.

“Maybe… There’s an in-between?” Cassie received an array of weird looks from everyone. She pushed up her glasses, “Like you said, we don’t know anything about portals. Maybe Jesse snatched Olivia from another universe and something… Happened?”

Cassie began tugging on a strand of her red hair, “Maybe messed up memories is a side effect of going through portals--I don’t know! If I knew more about portals, I could come up with a better idea.”

Gill blinked a couple of times.

“So… You’re in the middle?” he tilted his head.

“Yeah. Guess I am.” Cassie shoved her hands into the pockets of her hoodie.

Gill nodded. Stella decided not to comment on her friend’s statement.

“Adding onto what Gill said,” Stella started, “I don’t recall any books about successful portals.”

“Do you have a better theory?” Maya folded her arms.

Stella straightened her posture and adjusted her top, “Yes, I believe I do.”

Stella spun around and faced Aiden. She pushed her hair behind her ear and started,

“I’m sure we all remember Cavern City…”

Everyone listened in on Stella’s potential answer to this whole mess. Olivia was invested too despite knowing whatever Stella would say is false. Jesse became curious himself.

However, as Stella continued her explanation, something in Jesse’s mind was preventing him from concentrating.

‘All this talk about some city I’ve never heard of. If they’re so certain I’ve been there before, wouldn’t they find it weird I don’t remember it?’

Then Jesse remembered; this wasn’t some random city he’s never heard of, a place stowed away or hidden from history, this was a city in a different universe.

This thought ignited a flame which fueled his train of thought. Its tempo was getting faster and faster by the second.

He and Olivia had not entered a world. They’ve entered a place far more distant. They were in an entire  different universe. Away from their home, their loved ones, and by the sounds of it, no known way to get back. They’re stuck. Stuck with Aiden and Maya and Cassie and Stella and all these people who hate him.

Aiden’s group didn’t seem too caught up about this “universe” situation. Their lack of attention made Jesse feel worse. A different panic took over him. Not the type of panic you’d feel where your life could’ve been ended, or when lightning would flash. This panic made him want to escape. Like a fly that had been trapped in a bowl, crashing about, desperately wanting a way out but no way of knowing how.

“Olivia,” Jesse muttered, his voice shaky and hands clammy. His words mixed with his breathing. He didn’t want to interrupt Stella or have the others hearing them. This was a conversation between the two of them.

“Yeah?” Olivia said back with a voice as quiet.

“We’re… We’re in another universe.” They both knew. Everyone did. But the new weight of the situation gave those words a new kind of impact.

“I know.” She clasped her hands together. Her whole body was stiff, “I’ve been sorta… Freaking out about it. Internally. A bit of an existential crisis.”

Jesse nodded.

Olivia added on, “From what I know, I’m not supposed to be here. It’s been bothering me. A lot.”

She was gone in this world. She didn’t want to believe she was ‘dead’. Maybe the other Olivia went missing or ran away. Maybe she was kidnapped. Maybe she went through a portal and never came back. Anything, literally anything, would be better than knowing she was dead.

No matter how haunting the idea was, a dark peculiarity became apparent to her; not only did she want to hear about how she might’ve died, but if she had a grave. And if she could see it.

A weird internal battle was going on in her head. “Who would want to know how they died?” and “Who wouldn’t?”

“I have no idea how we’re going to prove we’re telling the truth.” Jesse said, keeping his voice low. “We have nothing physical on us--even if we did, I don’t think it’d help any. Anything we say could be shot down, unless-” Olivia had to nudge Jesse mid sentence and directed his attention towards Stella who, along with everyone else, was waiting for his reply.

His eyes darted about while he tried to recall what Stella was talking about. He could recall snippets of “Cavern City”. Were they expecting him to defend himself? An explanation?

Anything was better than remaining silent.

“Stella, you bring up a lot of solid points, I can’t deny that.” He tried sounding as assured as possible, having no idea what Stella had said. “There is one major issue: I have zero idea what Cavern City is. At all. I didn’t know it existed.”

Stella groaned loudly, “I wasn’t only talking about Cavern City! You can’t FORGET a major event from last week yet somehow remember how much you loathe us! It’s inconsistent!”

“Last week?” Olivia questioned, brushing the hair out of her eyes, “We were training with Radar in a forest last week. Nothing about a city.” Olivia said. She remembered showing Radar how to focus and to always be aware of his surroundings; he was quite jumpy but the fighting spirit was there. Radar lost his glasses at one point and continued charging towards a monster. It was actually a tree. She didn’t have the heart to tell him.

Stella must’ve had a whole speech debunking Jesse’s story. How everything was clearly fabricated and she had all the facts to prove otherwise; Olivia recalling--confirming--what Jesse had said must’ve blown down a great portion of her validity.

Stella sunk down into one of the couches with her mouth left open.

“You truly don’t remember Cavern City?” She asked.

“Doesn’t ring a bell. I’m Sorry.” Jesse shook his head.

“I am curious about this city. Could you elaborate?” Olivia asked the group.

Stella perked up from her seat.

Everyone looked like they were ready to share what they knew.

Stella started, “To make a long story short, it’s a city deep underground which can be accessed through a portal--”

Cassie Rose interrupted, “A portal Jesse went through hoping it’d lead to the location of his crazy, eyeless jerk!”

“And when he didn’t see any signs of him, he started ripping it apart--” Maya added on before getting cut off by Gill “Dunno why ya thought that would do somethin’.”

Gill’s comment was aimed towards Jesse.

Aiden stepped up, “We had to come over and--”

“Beat some sense into you!” Cassie said, glaring at Jesse and curling her hands to fists. She looked back at Aiden who wasn’t too happy with her addition.

“Sorry. Wasn’t needed.”

Aiden stayed quiet for a moment.

“Yeah, that’s the jist of it. We confronted you in the city’s palace, fought, a real bad quake happened and wrecked everything. You--I mean--our Jesse hit his head real hard and was out cold for a few days.”

Olivia started brainstorming. Jesse, on the other hand, had no idea where to START with this load of information.

He felt guilt building up inside him.

‘Why?’ Was the first question to pop into mind.

Why is he feeling guilty for a crime he’s never committed? Was it because his name was attached to the situation? Not only was Cassie Rose, Aiden, Maya, Gill, and Stella hurt by his actions, but an entire CITY filled with innocent people too.

He didn’t know how he could make things better.

“You know…” Olivia broke the silence, “The Cavern City situation sounds a lot like the time Aiden took over Sky City.” While it wasn’t an exact recreation, she found the similarities between the two events interesting.

The room was quiet. Aiden and his group were completely bewildered. No one knew what to say. It didn’t help Olivia made it sound like a call back everyone knew about and understood. Someone let out a chuckle in disbelief.

Jesse nearly choked on his own spit the moment those words left her mouth.

“Remember… When Aiden tried to...?” She slowly turned her head to Jesse. His eyes were wide.

“Did you… Not tell Aiden about this?” Olivia asked.

Jesse’s heart had stopped. Heck, everything stopped. The one thing he avoided mentioning and Olivia so happened to reach that comparison. Jesse saw Aiden out of the corner of his eyes, more shocked than him.

“I’m sorry--Sky city?” Aiden asked.

“I…” Jesse said slowly, “... Didn’t think it was relevant?” He shrugged uncertainly.

Probably not his strongest excuse. He originally didn’t want to share the story again in fear Aiden would get upset or they’d be reminiscing on the times they hated each other. The situation was bad enough already.

“I’m sorry, you didn’t think Sky City was relevant? In this situation? With Aiden?”

Jesse could only shrug again. There wasn’t any way to defend himself that wouldn’t make him look like an even BIGGER idiot.

“Jesse!” Olivia put her hands on her hips.

Jesse sputtered and immediately pointed at her “Did you tell Cassie Rose about the murders?!”

“The what.” Cassie said.

“Wait, what happened in Sky City?!” Aiden asked again, visibly freaking out.

“You tried to kill Jesse.” Olivia briefly explained before going back to Jesse “I don’t see how Cassie’s murders are related to you not telling Aiden about Sky City!”

“I thought he already KNEW!” Jesse exclaimed.

“We’re in a different UNIVERSE, Jesse!” Olivia shot back.

Jesse threw his arms into the air “We learned that not even an HOUR ago, how was I supposed to know?!”

“Hold it, hold it!” Stella stood between the two, putting their little freak out on hold. “I’m sorry, now I know you’re lying. Aiden? Hurting Jesse? He couldn’t hurt Jesse even if you paid him to!” She forced out a laugh.

Jesse pushed her away, “Well I hate to burst your bubble but he tried killing me TWICE.”

Aiden went white. His pupils shrunk.

His friends were equally as shocked. Stella was speechless.

Gill looked at Aiden then to Olivia and Jesse.

“Are you sure we’re talking about the same Aiden?” He tilted his head.

Jesse stammered on his words. What type of question was that? What OTHER Aidens were there?!

“YEAH, I’m sure I remember the guy who attempted to kill me multiple times!”

Cassie stepped in, “Okay let’s stop talking about attempted murder and start talking about the successful ones! Explain!” she jabbed her finger into Jesse’s chest.

Jesse shoved the hand down, “We were in some big mansion with a bunch of other people! You killed 3 innocent people and then tried to add me and my friends to the list! You were-- You were insane!”

Cassie’s hand curled into a tight fist; she was doing everything in her power to not sock Jesse in the face right now. Maya saw the fire blazing in Cassie’s eyes and placed her hand on her friend’s shoulder, settling Cassie down.

“Big talk coming from you!” Gill shouted back, sizing up Jesse and cracking his knuckles. Aiden shouted something to Gill then the room bursted into a large argument. People were yelling over each other and exclaiming what one person did to another. Accusations were mixing up with MORE accusations. Fingers were being pointed, voices had started to merge together into complete nonsense. While Jesse couldn’t hear every curse, threat, and claim thrown at him, he could feel everyone’s resentment. Olivia was extremely overwhelmed with what was going on and couldn’t decipher who was saying what, or how to respond. Her head kept zipping around from person to person, trying to make sense of what was being said.

If it wasn’t someone shouting at Jesse, it was Aiden or Maya who were raising their voices trying to get everybody to settle down.

Jesse caught a small piece of someone’s rant, “... And you hurt anybody you don’t like…!”

“Hurt?!” Jesse repeated, “I did nothing wrong except stopping you people from hurting me and my friends!”

This was getting more and more upsetting. He couldn’t hear what they were accusing him of and wasn’t given a chance to share his side of the situation.

The shouting soon stopped and everyone had to catch their breaths.

Not knowing how long this silence would last, Jesse started talking.

“Do you guys only remember the bad experiences we’ve had? Do none of you recall the times we’ve saved the world? We stopped the Wither Storm, the--!”

“What in Sweet Hero is a Wither Storm?!” Stella asked, horrified.

Jesse froze. His mouth gaping open as he stared at Stella.  He tried making the shape of the wither storm with his hands, “It’s this giant, overpowered wither abomination Ivor created--”

“What’s an Ivor?!” Gill asked on the same level of horrification as Stella.

“Oh my gosh--” Jesse put his hands on his head and had to take a deep breath before continuing, “He was an ex member of The Order Of The Stone!”

Jesse was about to go on when he noticed an equal mixture of both confused and judgemental stares. Jesse returned a puzzled look back. Did they not…?

“You know? The Order Of The Stone? Gabriel the Warrior,” He started counting off the members with his fingers, “Ellegaard the Redstone Engineer, Magnus the--”

“Those sound fake.” Maya said.

Yes, she did believe Jesse, but at this point she had to admit this whole thing was starting to sound ridiculous.

Stella scoffed, “Yeah, if they’re such a big deal how come we’ve never heard of them?”

“IT--!” Jesse threw his arms into the air, “BECAUSE--!” He turned to Olivia with a look of desperation “Olivia please tell me The Order of the Stone is real. I didn’t hallucinate them, right?”

“No they’re totally real.” She reassured him.

Patting him on the back, she continued, “I still remember embarrassing myself in Red Stonia!” Could’ve picked anything else besides that one moment, but it was the first thing to come to mind.

“Hold on.” Maya cut in between Jesse and Olivia. She stared down at Jesse, “Have we been having this whole conversation without you knowing what entering a different universe means?”

Jesse sealed his lips. He didn’t want to answer.

“Jesse.” Maya said.

He stared at the floor as his face grew a light shade of red .

“Isn’t it like going to the Nether? Or a different world except…” He mumbled, still avoiding eye contact, “... Farther?”

Jesse caught a glance of Olivia being dumbfounded by his response.

Maya breathed in and folded her arms “Well, you got one thing right.”

“Like going to a different world?” Stella repeated Jesse’s words.

“Oh no, it is FAR more complicated.”

“Elaborate?” Jesse asked.

Gill immediately shot his arm into the air eagerly, “Oh! I know somethin’ bout it! Mevia ‘n Hadrian taught me!”

“Hm.” Stella stepped aside.

“Take it away.”

Gill smiled brightly, as if proud of himself, and shut his eyes tightly. Concentrating.

“Y’see, when you go to another universe, you might see people you recognize there.” He held up both of his hands, index fingers up. “But a lot of different events could’ve taken place in THEIR universe that didn’t happen in YOUR universe. This changes a whole bunch of things for the world and the people livin’ there.”

Jesse stood still and thought to himself. Trying to think of what Gill said in a way he could understand. “So it’s like… Entering a different room in a house?”

“No!” Stella huffed impatiently.“If you go from your bedroom to your bathroom, you’re still in the same house. Entering another universe is like entering a completely different house! A new layout, the people living there have a completely different history than you--you get the picture.”

Aiden cleared his throat and adjusted his jacket, “Alright, now that that’s out of the way… Our next plan should be figuring out how to get Jesse and Olivia ho-”

Stella shoved her hand in Aiden’s face, promptly shutting him up.

“I’m going to stop you right there.” She put her hand down. “Aiden, I know you want to do what’s right, bring Olivia back to her--hopefully real--universe, but we can’t blindly accept whatever Jesse’s a part of!”

Aiden frowned.

Stella clasped her hands together, “Listen, this could be an elaborate trap set up by The Awakening! We can’t take any chances or waltz into portal territory completely unprepared!”

Stella kept rambling on with her concerns. Gill kept nodding to every point Stella made, Jesse was listening to the one sided conversation with confusion, Cassie kept pulling on a strand of her hair while sitting on the arm of the couch, and Maya was watching Aiden trying to remain patient.

Then there was Olivia. She had been the quietest of them all. She had never been so amazed yet terrified at the same time. To be in the place where history had changed, a place where she lived and died in, it was mind blowing.

The concept of another universe--reality--made sense. However, people of the same name and faces she and Jesse knew leading different lives fascinated her. Aiden, Cassie, Maya, Gill, Stella, their stories--their entire lives--have been altered. They’ve experienced hardships she’s never had, they’ve formed different connections, bonds, the way they acted and thought… It’s all changed. Should she consider these people enemies anymore?

Are they the same people? Or were they strangers who wore the faces of the familiar.

Jesse faked a cough. Loudly. Olivia was brought back to reality and Stella stopped mid-lecture. Stella turned around to face Jesse with a glare.

Jesse gave her a small wave, “Yeah, uhm… What’s The Hero’s Awakening?”

The moment those words left his mouth all warmth and liveliness of the room had been sucked out and Jesse found himself surrounded by rigid people with hate-filled eyes. He felt their glares pierce through him.

It was too late to retract his question.

“I... Keep hearing that name and--”

“It’s a cult.” Maya answered coldly.

Jesse froze up. His throat tightened. His mind repeated those words over and over.

A cult.

A cult.

A cult.

He began breathing fast like he had awoken from a nightmare. That couldn’t be true. It’s a lie. It’s a lie. They wanted to scare him. This shouldn’t scare him.  Why did this scare him?

Jesse had to force his rigid body to look back up at Maya. He licked his lips, about to ask another question--

Suddenly, there was knocking at the door, causing everyone to jump. They all stared. Not saying a word.

“Come in.” Aiden said aloud with hesitation.

The door swiftly opened and in came Radar, whose face was hidden behind a clipboard and a pen held tightly in his other hand. At first glance his appearance could’ve been mistaken for the usual attire Jesse had always seen him in. Upon further inspection, he saw Radar wore a green, one buttoned suit which hid most of his light brown vest underneath it along with a blue tie that popped from the suit. He also wore dark, cool gray straight pants and polished, black oxford shoes. His hair was still the same. Thick, black, and swooped up. Maybe it was a little shorter?

He was far less… Lively. The energy that typically accompanied Radar was completely absent and instead there stood a man who spoke flatly and stood stiffly.

“Hello, sir. I thought I’d let you know the guards have searched the shrine thoroughly and have discovered a man made--” He lowered his clipboard for a split second before yelping and immediately covering his face again. His pen fell to the floor.

“Wh…” Radar trembled, “What is HE doing here?” He pointed at Jesse, his hands shaking. His flat tone became wobbly.

Aiden approached him carefully “Radar, I know this looks bad--”

“Terrible, sir.”

“But this might not be the real Jesse, or our Jesse. We were just talking about how he’s from another universe!”

“Possibly.” Cassie Rose added. She had shoved her hands back into her pockets and eyed Radar with a scowl on her face.

Aiden rolled his eyes and bobbed his head, “Possibly.”

Radar cautiously lowered his clipboard to get a better look at Jesse, who was smiling warmly, grateful to see a familiar friendly face.

Radar breathed in and adjusted his tie. He continued holding onto the board with a tight grip as his shaking eased. His quick breaths soon slowed and his once distressed face turned into curiosity. Then to fascination. He pushed up his glasses and squinted at the brunet as he slowly approached him. Once he was a foot away from Jesse he stopped to scan him.

Radar stuck his hand out and studied his hand, flipping it about like he was expecting something to happen.

“I do feel a sort of… Disconnection with him if.” He stroked his chin.

“He has all the qualities of Jesse--I mean--it IS Jesse, yet I don’t find myself… As petrified around him.”

Radar stared into Jesse’s eyes for a bit longer before his face scrunched up.

“However, I can’t continue looking at his face.” He separated the two of them with his board.

Jesse knew Radar must’ve had a good reason for saying what he did, but it still stung.

Cassie Rose grinded her shoe into the floor “I guess if we ever have another universe problem, we’ll get Mr. Know-it-all to help out next time.” she grumbled under her breath.

Radar turned around to talk back and jumped when he saw how many people were in the room. Gracious, was it crowded. He scanned the whole room; he spotted Maya, who flashed him a smile, and then he saw--

“Olivia?” He let out a small gasp. He hugged his board and let his mouth hang for a moment. “This is--This…”

Radar combed his hair with his hands. He started to pace “Oh Hero… You said they’re from another universe?”

“Yeah.” Maya nodded.

“These two--” He looked at Olivia and Jesse then back to Aiden “Were these the two ‘kids’ you brought to question from before?”

“Yeah,” Aiden said, “It’s a wild story--”

Everyone began talking to Radar about their eventful evening. All except for Olivia and Jesse, who were standing a distance away from the group, silent in a room full of conversation. Olivia couldn’t think of any way she could contribute. Aiden’s group was probably going to retell what they already knew.

Jesse found himself unable to stay still. He was tapping his foot faster and faster waiting for everyone to finish their seemingly never ending conversation. A minute had yet to pass before Jesse cupped his hands around his mouth and said “Hey, Radar reminded me of something!” Loud enough for them to hear.

The talking dwindled.

Jesse stepped up.

“You’ve heard bits and pieces about yourselves. What about us? What do you know about us?”

Olivia joined his side, “Yeah, I’m curious too.”  Her eyes instinctively landed on Cassie Rose who pressed her lips together.

“Right,” Cassie said looking away, “I did promise we’d talk.”

“Well, we can start. What do you know about me?” Jesse asked. He didn’t want anyone to change the subject, he didn’t care if people didn’t trust him, he wanted an answer. They were gonna talk about this right here. Right now.

All talking had ceased.

Jesse waited for somebody--anybody--to start talking. No one uttered a word. Were they afraid to? Or did they not know how to begin?

“You’re mental.” Gill said, breaking the silence.

Jesse flinched. Yes, he wanted to hear about himself, but the first bit of description he’s finally gotten and it was that?

Aiden was about to speak before Stella intervened, “The word ‘mental’ is rather vague. I think the words ‘A Two-timing lunatic’ paint a better picture.”

Jesse heard another name shot at him before several more came. No one was shouting over each other unlike last time, so he was able to make out a few words.

None of them were positive.

Jesse managed to hear Radar, in his quiet voice, describe him as ‘An absolute madman’.

Mixed in with their faces of disgust and anger made the spotlight on him more overwhelming.

Before the room could spiral out of control again Aiden raised his voice, “Alright, alright.”

Everyone quieted down.

“I think you all got your points across.” He eyed them all as he pushed through the group and went to Jesse and Olivia.

“Ignore them.” He told Jesse. “A lot has happened to us over the years and--” He closed his eyes and breathed in, “And it was too much for Jesse. He resorted to more… Unethical approaches. Things got out of hand.”

Aiden’s face lightened up and folded his arms “But Jesse’s still our friend. And we’re going to do everything we can to get him back.”

Aiden continued his speech in a confident tone. Jesse was drawn in. Olivia found herself drifting aside and looking past Aiden’s shoulder. She caught the expressions of his friends. They were uneasy. A few were shaking their heads. They didn’t look annoyed, but were visibly upset. Olivia studied their reactions for a moment longer before bringing her attention back to Aiden.

“And what do you mean by ‘a lot has happened’?” Olivia asked.

Aiden’s smile weakened.

He didn’t say anything at first. When he finally did, he started off slowly.

“We went through some big battles. Had to save the world from an enormous lava creature, we’re still dealing with The Hero’s Awakening...” His smile faded completely and he locked eyes with Olivia, “... Lost friends.”

Cassie joined Aiden’s side, “And Olivia, as you probably know, you were one of them.”

A pit formed in Olivia’s stomach along with a lump in her throat that refused to go down. She held her hands together and thought ‘Of course.’

Of course it ended up being the worst case scenario. Of course her dying ended up being true. It couldn’t have been anything else.

With the most steady voice she could muster up she asked “What happened?”

Aiden started biting on inside of his cheek, “You were out exploring an old, underground temple in the middle of the day. Then, out of nowhere, a horrible quake happened in the middle of the day. No one was expecting it to happen, we were all caught by surprise.”

He clenched his fists, “We were told a large crack opened up and... You fell in.”

He breathed in and stepped back. The story ended on an abrupt note, but Olivia believed she was told the perfect amount. Nothing severely graphic nor too vague to make her have to ask more questions. She had finally received her answer. There was finally relief. It was done. She wouldn’t have to worry about questions constantly eating her up. She had no reason to think about it any more.

“You know,” Maya said, leaning against the wall, “Jesse and Olivia being from a different universe is kinda nice. Our Olivia isn’t back from the dead, but this isn’t the Jesse we know.”  They murmured to one another. A few heads nodded.

Jesse folded his arms, “So exploring is out of the picture because people will think I’m some maniac and Olivia isn’t supposed to be here at all?” He sounded genuinely disappointed knowing he’d have to be confined into a single area with these people. He knows they aren’t technically his enemies but they still didn’t like him.

“That might not be the case.” Radar said. His body faced Olivia and Jesse while his face was hidden behind the clipboard again, “If you two would like, I wouldn’t mind giving a tour of Obsidian Town. I could show you around and tell you its history.”

“Really?” Jesse’s face lit up. Olivia was equally enthusiastic. She had caught quick glimpses of this area, so a tour would be a wonderful opportunity to learn more about this town! Maybe they’d learn about this universe too!

Plus Jesse wouldn’t be cooped up inside their whole time here. She couldn’t remember the last time Jesse stayed in one place without  busting out or exploring.

Maya and Aiden exchanged concerned looks.

“Are you sure?” Maya asked.

“One of us can go with you.” Aiden offered.

Radar shook his head, “No, I insist. I think having a tour would be beneficial for the three of us! We’d do it in the middle of the day when everyone’s sleeping to avoid any unwanted attention.”

He turned back to Jesse and Olivia, “As long as it’s okay with the two of you. I’m a bit of an early bird myself, but I can always find a different time--”

“No!” Jesse hopped up, unable to contain his smile and scaring Radar. “That’s perfect!”  

“If you say so.” Aiden said, he shifted back to Radar “But could it wait? They just got here.”

Olivia added on “Maybe we could do it tomorrow?” She looked at Jesse, “I think I’m speaking for the both of us when I say I am exhausted. This is a lot to take in at 3 AM.”

“It’s 4 AM now.” Gill stated.

“Jeez, no wonder I feel like garbage. A different universe on top of the fact it’s 4 in the morning? It’s a miracle I hadn’t passed out yet.” Jesse said.

Everyone, except for Olivia, was put off.

Aiden pushed aside the weird feeling, “Yeah, I can imagine how draining this whole situation must be for the two of you.”

He began making his way to the stairs and motioned for them to follow him.

“We have a guest room,” He looked back at the pair, “There’s only one bed though, hope that’s okay.”

Jesse stretched, “Yep! Don’t mind at all. Worst case, I’ll sleep on the floor.”

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Aiden opened the door to the guest room and it looked… Surprisingly nice.

Jesse wasn’t too sure what he was expecting from a guest room in Aiden’s house. He imagined it being cramped or dirty, but the room was rather spacious and tidy. The spruce floors and birch walls were bare, so the main features of this room was it’s single window, a neatly done, red bed with a light brown night stand beside it and a small lamp. Several boxes of various sizes surrounded a desk which was pushed far into the left corner of the room.

Jesse was delighted to see the bed was decently sized and could fit the two of them with no need to fight over the sheets. Olivia was glad Jesse wouldn’t have to sleep on the ground. However, she felt an uneasy emptiness accompany the room. The place was weirdly barren for how big it was and the boxes in the corner made her wonder if this used to be someone’s bedroom.

‘You’re overthinking about a guest room.’ Olivia told herself. She let out a yawn.

“Hope this’ll do.” Aiden said, “If you need anything, don’t hesitate to ask.”

“Thanks, Aiden.” Olivia smiled. Aiden returned the smile and left the two alone. Her appreciation was genuine and… Odd. She never thought the day she was grateful for Aiden’s help would come. Their Aiden or not, it was weird nonetheless.

Jesse had flung off his shoes and flopped onto the bed, letting out a loud groan. He covered his face with his arm and laid still. He felt the blanket with his other hand. It was thick. You could suffocate a person with it if you were determined enough.

“I love beds.” Jesse said with a muffled voice, “So much.”

Olivia chuckled and slipped into the bed, placing the small book she’s held onto the nightstand. Her legs were sore. When was the last time she sat down today? She ran into the jungle temple with Jesse, walked all the way to Obsidian town, walked to and from the library, not to mention all the standing around. Who cares?! She was in bed!

She was looking forward to the tour with Radar, imagining the different structures this universe had to offer; curious about what’s changed or remained the same, what features they add to their buildings and why. Maybe Radar would talk about the shrines!

‘I shouldn’t be getting this excited before going to sleep.’ She took a few deep breaths to collect herself.

Jesse got under the blanket, “G’night Olivia.”

Olivia smiled, “Night, Jesse.”

She tucked herself in and closed her eyes.

Five  minutes passed and Jesse was still awake. Five became tenl. Ten became thirty. He was still wide awake. Jesse found himself stuck. Stuck with his own thoughts and what he’s learned.

He scratched the idea of awakening Olivia to talk.

‘You already dragged her through a portal, entered another universe, discovered she died, and now you want to wake her up at the crack of dawn?’ Jesse hoped Olivia was sleeping soundly. She didn’t deserve to be kept up all night, plagued with horrid possibilities and regret.

Why’d he have to be so thoughtless when discovering the portal? Why did he go through it? Why did he have to take poor Olivia with him?

He’ll make it up to her. He’ll find a way back home as soon as possible.

‘I wonder…’ He shifted around. ‘How awful the ‘me’ in this universe is…’ Bad enough for people to reject the idea he and Olivia came from another universe and instead believing Jesse’s current actions and nature were a front. An act.

It was enough to make him wonder what he--his counterpart--did to Aiden and his friends to have them believe Jesse’s kindness towards Olivia and his cooperativeness was fake.

There was another him.

Another Jesse.

Another Jesse who had lived a completely different life than him, who had history with everyone in this house. A Jesse who had caused others to suffer.

He had entered a place where he already exists. It terrified him.

What happened to him?

Jesse snapped out of his thoughts and could hear a conversation going on downstairs. He wished he could decipher the muffles.

But he had to sleep.

Jesse wasn’t sure if he COULD sleep. The sun was already cracking the sky, slowly releasing hues of orange and pushing away the dark blues of the night.

His mind couldn’t settle down.

How could he sleep?

‘Try.’ He told himself. He should at least try. He’ll need the energy for tomorrow.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Aiden took his time getting back downstairs to the others. He smiled to himself. He didn’t want to say it outloud, but Olivia’s “Thank you” made this stressful evening better.

He was trying to figure out how they would begin looking for a way to deal with this whole mess. None of them knew what activated the portal in the first place. Even if they did, finding the materials would be a difficult task. He could check out the journal Hadrian lent him for ideas or maybe ask Hadrian and Mevia themselves. If they taught Gill about universes, maybe they knew about the portals for them.

‘Petra has more… Interesting items. Could be worth stopping by her place.’ He reminded himself. As he approached the stairs, he could hear his friends--mainly Stella--talking.

“...This is why I have such a hard time believing Aiden’s theory.”

Aiden came to a stop and stood still, listening in on the conversation.

“I can take Jesse forgetting a majority of his life, I can take the idea of The Hero’s Awakening going the extra step and being able to pull off necromancy! I can’t believe a different universe. It feels like such a stretch!”

“Necromancy’s more logical than a universe with a good Jesse existing?” Maya asked.

Stella folded her arms, “We don’t have any concrete evidence! Come on, he said Aiden attempted to kill him. Twice. Doesn’t that sound ridiculous?”

“It does.” Maya admitted, “But Jesse wasn’t talking about the Aiden we know.”

“Puh-lease!” Stella laughed, “How bad could the Aiden in ‘his universe’ be?”

Stella’s laughter died down and she stopped to think.

“I do find it interesting he mainly talked about Aiden and Cassie,” Stella said, “Makes me curious what the rest of us are like in his supposed ‘universe’.”

“He did recognize us...” Gill stroked his beard.

“Didn’t like us.” Maya added.

Aiden leaned against the wall as the conversation began fading. A sour feeling began to build up inside his stomach. He tried to ignore it and shift his focus back onto getting Jesse and Olivia home. Instead, he began thinking about Jesse himself. What he said earlier.

He didn’t know why his other-self went to Sky City nor what he did there. The most context he got was from Olivia saying what happened in Cavern City ‘reminded her of Sky City’ and he nearly killed Jesse twice. Aiden’s head became hot.

‘You would never do that.’ Aiden tried to reassure himself.

He saw Sky City was a warning. A peek into what he could become. Who’s to say he wouldn’t end up like the Aiden Jesse knew given enough time?

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Cassie Rose looked up and spotted Aiden sulking in the stairway. She slipped past Stella and Maya along with an extremely invested Gill. Radar went back to pick up the pen he dropped from earlier. Hopefully he wouldn’t comment on her sudden absence.

She approached Aiden.

“You doing okay?” Cassie asked and sat on the railings of the stairs.

“Thinking.” He answered.

“Thinking about what Jesse said?”

“Mm. I’m just--” He breathed in, “Why didn’t he tell us about the destruction of an entire city?”

“Maybe for the same reason none of us told him about Cavern City.” She suggested, resting her head back against the wall.

He hadn’t thought about it like that. Aiden wasn’t certain what Cassie’s--or his other friends--reasons for keeping quiet were, but he felt like he had to keep his mouth shut. When Rose first mentioned the possibility of amnesia, he wanted to brush the idea off and forget about it.

But he didn’t. In fact, the longer the night went on, the more he found himself believing Jesse lost chunks of his memory. Aiden didn’t want to bring up any reminders of the past; he was afraid it’d trigger Jesse’s memory and everything would spiral out of control again.

Of course, Aiden’s concerns did fade when Jesse shared his past experiences with him. No matter how strange Jesse’s stories sounded, a part of Aiden knew he was telling the truth.

He didn’t have to worry about Jesse regaining his memory anymore. Instead, he started worrying about their Jesse. The one who’s still out there.

“What about you?” Aiden asked Rose, “Aren’t you bothered by what he told you?” Hearing about how he almost killed Jesse felt like a punch in the gut. He couldn’t imagine how Rose must’ve felt when it was announced she murdered three people completely out of left field.

Cassie scrunched up her nose and shook her head, “Nope.”

Aiden blinked, “Really?”

She shrugged, “It caught me off guard. Jesse calling me insane was what got me the most. The whole ‘mansion murders’ sounded ridiculous. It doesn’t bother me.”

It bothered her.

It disturbed her.

She started off disgusted by Jesse’s words, but as she continued thinking about what he said more and more she felt disgusted with herself. Was it herself or this other Cassie Rose?

‘How could she?’ Cassie asked herself.

‘Could I do that?’ An uneasiness grew inside her. Cassie was still on the fence with Jesse coming from another universe. A part of her was hoping he wasn’t. She’d be eternally thankful if Jesse revealed everything he’s said today was a lie.

Curiosity clawed at her. Begging her to find out more.

A part of her mind knew it didn’t matter what she found out or what motivated the other Cassie. No matter the excuse, she took the lives of innocent people. The mere thought filled her with pure, unkempt rage. After what she’s witnessed, after what she’s been through, what would set her off to kill? Thinking about this made her frustratingly sick.

“Besides,” The two heard Stella say rather loudly, “I think you’re forgetting another important factor: None of the portals built before worked, so what makes The Shrine Of Eyes the exception?”

“She does bring up a valid point.” Radar said. He began jotting notes down onto the paper his clipboard held.

“Why it was successful doesn’t matter anymore.” Aiden announced, scaring the rest of the group. He stepped off the stairs, “What matters is knowing how we can reactivate it and getting those guys back home.”

Everyone nodded in unison.

Aiden saw Stella open her mouth. “Even if we don’t believe Jesse. I’m sure none of us like the idea of two Jesse’s running around.”

Stella closed her mouth and shuddered at the thought.

Radar raised hand.

“What’s up, Radar?” Aiden asked.

Radar pushed up his glasses and cleared his throat, “Yes--Uh, Sir--I was wondering if… I could be caught up on what’s happened.”

#mcsm #minecraft story mode #mcsm aiden #mcsm gill #mcsm maya #mcsm stella #mcsm cassie rose #mcsm jesse #mcsm olivia #mcsm radar #minecraft #this was gonna be a shorter story but WHOOPS 20+ pages on the doc #had to reread a bunch n fix stuff #i'll always find another mistake but #it be like that sometimes #theres also a lot of talking in this chapter I'm sorrrrryyyy :c #next chapter will have more action i swear #hope you guys like this chp tho!! #everyone is being so supportive #imma cry #APWHNPMCSMWASAMCSM #AU fic

[blake-belladonna-defence-force]

Beehaw sequel

@biggreenneatbox asked for a continuation using the prompt “That got a lot more complicated than it needed to be.”

I don’t usually write fight scenes so I gave it my best shot. I hope you enjoy 😊

///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

“Aw, c’mon, sugar. How about you take a seat right here?”

Blake, from the corner of her eye, could see Yang gritting her teeth. The cowgirl didn’t usually intervene when the saloon staff were having issues. She knew that they could handle it. But she also had a very low tolerance for the crowd that takes to harassing the women who worked there.

Yang certainly made for an intimidating figure if you didn’t bother to get to know her. Tight blue jeans, a well fitted plaid shit with the sleeves rolled up to reveal biceps that could definitely lift a tractor, mud caked boots and a hat with the brim pulled way down low. Not many people tried to tango with her.

But because she was a city slicker, some folks tended to think that Blake was more… demure when it came to such things. But despite how feminine she dressed at work, what with her tight, black corset and mid-shin length skirt, she knew how to handle herself and she appreciated that Yang respected that.

“Sorry, honey.” Blake said mockingly, the endearment sounding closer to “fuck off” more than anything. “But I’m a lady. We don’t sit with shit.” Blake grinned sharply when the man sputtered. “Now shut the fuck up and drink your drink. Oh and one more thing?” She crooned, leaning down onto table, tray in hand, when she saw his eyes dart over to one of the other younger barmaids. “If you so as much as look at one of my girls wrong, I will make you wish your mama never gave birth to you. Am I clear?”

The man leaned back in his chair and looked away, a furious snarl on his face. Blake narrowed her eyes and, quicker than a rattler, grabbed his chin and forcefully made him look at her. She knew what it was like to be ensnared by a man like him and she was not about to let one of her employees, whom she considered to be like her sisters, be sent down a similar path.

“I believe I asked you a question. Now, I was told you country folk are real polite. So how about you show me some of that southern hospitality and answer it?”

“Yes, ma’am. Crystal clear, ma’am.”

Blake narrowed her eyes for a moment and pulled back.

“Good. Lovely chatting with you, gentlemen, but I have a job to do.”

And with that, she walked behind the bar and placed her tray down, grabbing a rag and cleaning the counter as Yang walked up to her.

“Well, that was a thing.” The blonde drawled, tipping her hat up to look at Blake with a pleased grin. “You were right. You can handle yerself. I’m pretty sure I sure piss running down his leg.”

“Why, Miss Xiao Long.” Blake said, playfully poking her friend on the nose. “Those sorts of compliments might land you in trouble.”

“Oh? What sorta trouble?” Yang said leaning forward, smirking. Blake mimicked her, letting their noses brush.

“The kind that bites.” Blake murmured, clacking her teeth together just a hair length away from the cowgirl’s nose, delighting in the surprised squeal that followed.

“Hey, no-“

“Well, well, well, boys. Look what we got here. The boss was right. ‘Er whelp is right here. How’s ‘bout we show ‘er what happens when you show our boss no manners.”

“Blake. Get the girls in the back. This is goin’ to be a real storm and I don’ want y’all caught up in it.”

Blake took one look at the men who had walked. Bandits. She quickly ushered the other women into the cellar before grabbing her skirt and quickly and expertly wrapped it around each of her legs and tied it off, forming makeshift trousers. Why Ozpin insisted on dresses would always piss her off. More now than ever.

“C’mon, boys. We don’ want any altercations. Leave and y’all can go back to Raven with no injuries.”

A shot rang out and Blake moved, running behind the bar as the brawl started and sliding along the ground to grab her glock pistol (briefly uttering a silent thank you to her mother) and stood up, covering Yang as she leapt over the counter and took cover. Blake ducked down as a stream of bullets were sent her way.

“I thought I tol’ you to get to cover!” She growled, pulling out her revolvers and loading them.

“Technically, you only told me to get the girls in the back.” Blake shouted as she leaned up to take out a couple of the bandits and ducked for cover again.

“Yer a real smartass.” Yang huffed, as she took out a woman who had a gun… with a knife tapped to it? What in the name of the Brothers was that shit?! “Yer smart. You know exactly what I wanted.”

“Eh. I’ve never been one for following orders. Why do you think my rap sheet so long?” Blake smirked as they both reloaded and stood up, vaulting over the table. As they landed, Blake grabbed a tea tray and hurled it one of the men. When he stumbled, she ran forward and used her momentum to jump up and swing around his neck and pull him backwards, choking him out until he passed out. When a silver haired woman tried to stab her, she dodged and threw a right swing at her, effectively knocking her out. She heard Yang let out an snort and turned to see her fighting five men at once, expertly ducking under flying fists and striking until there were only two and sending her feet slamming into one’s head and her fist into the other’s jaw, flattening them in no time flat.

“Alright, sweetheart. Let’s see…” their leader frowned, his gun jamming. Blake cocked a hip and crossed her arms, a smirk forming on her lips. This poor, sorry son of a bitch.

“You can call me sweetheart…” Yang drawled, advancing on the man and wrapping her hand around his throat and aiming one of her revolvers to his head. “Or you can call me sir.” She finished in a snarl.

“Yes… sir.” He choked out, gasping lightly.

“Yer gon’ tell Raven that if she ever sends her men my way again, I’ll burn her to the ground. Ya hear me, boy?” Yang growled, voice low. A stark contrast to the woman that Blake had wrapped around her little finger.

“I hear ya, sir!”

Yang let out a thoughtful hum before leading him to the door. Blake followed, ready to shoot if any other bandits were waiting outside.

“Now git. I don’ want to see yer face ‘round here again.”

And with that, she threw him down the stairs. They watched him run off with his tail between his legs. Yang then walked over to the railing, turned her back to it and leaned against it, staring at Blake with a raised eyebrow.

“So…my city slicker knows how to fight.” She said softly, smile warm and tired.

“Oh… your city slicker, huh?” Blake crooned, enjoying the fact that the cowgirl immediately got flustered.

“Uh- I’m- I mean-“

“Oh this is cute. You can fight a bunch bandits off and win in a five to one fight but you’re so easy to fluster.” Blake teased, coming up to the cowgirl and leaning in, hands on her shoulders.

“Only with you.” Yang whispered, face going red. Blake felt her heart stutter. “Maybe you jus’ know what to do to mess wi’ me cuz this ain’t the first life we’ve met in.”

Blake ducked her head, suddenly seeing what the shoe looked like on the other foot. It had been easy, light flirtation until now. Nothing too serious. But she felt the pull from the moment she met the cowgirl, seeing her with a split lip and a cheeky grin.

“Maybe not.” She whispered back, lifting her head to lean in closer to Yang’s mouth. She felt the other woman’s hands rest on her hips, as easily as though they were made for each other. “But I’m certainly glad that I’ve got you in this one.”

And with that, she pressed forward, kissing Yang softly as a pleased hum escaped her. Yang tilted her head, deepening the kiss as her hands ran up Blake’s back.

Blake, however, didn’t want to make things too easily. So she gave a sharp shove against her cowgirl’s chest, knocking her over the railing and into the water trough.

“B-Blake! What the hell?!” Yang yelled up at her, confused.

“Sorry, sweetheart. I told you that this’ll keep happening if you scare off my patrons.” Blake laughed leaning in the rail and leaning her arms on the railing. “Tonight is no different. Although,” she said thoughtfully. “I guess it wasn’t your fault.”

“That got a lot more complicated than it needed to be, I’ll admit. But now I gotta ride back to the ranch all wet.” Goddamn that pout.

“You could always come back to my place and dry off?” Blake suggested before narrowing her eyes at the playful grin. “And I do mean just mean dry off.”

“Of course.” Yang smiled up at her as she wiggles out of the trough. “I plan on wooing you first.” The charm didn’t land because, as Yang tried to step out, her horse, Ember, came over and bumped Yang with her head, bringing the blonde crashing down to the dirt. The horse almost appeared amused.

“Wow. I can feel the wooing. I am wooed. Carry me away into the sunset, oh hero of mine, for my knees are weak.” Blake drawled sarcastically.

“Shuddup.”

“Make me.”

Blake let out a laugh as Yang jumped up to give chase.

“Yang! No.”

“C’mere! I jus’ want a hug!”

Maybe things did get more complicated than she expected. But she was more than okay with that.

#rwby #blake belladonna #bumbleby #yang xiao long #fanfic

[samsonet]

don't need a rainbow here (my world is black and white)

Piers shouldn't be with these Rainbow Rocket weirdos.

*

There has been a terrible mistake.

One minute, Piers was celebrating his sister’s victory at the champion cup, and the next, he’s... He doesn’t know. There was a light, and he was falling, and —

and then he ended up here.

He sits up, rubbing his eyes. He doesn’t seem to be restrained, which is good. He’s not in a hospital, either, which is… probably good? Or it would be, if he had any idea what this place actually was.

It’s dark. There are red lights from the floor, the walls. It’s eerily quiet. Piers is reminded of one of the most boring clubs he’s ever been to — but at least this place smells alright. Small mercies.

“You’re awake.”

Oh, no.

Piers whips toward the voice, one hand going automatically to his belt for Obstagoon’s pokeball — but it’s not there. Of course. They must’ve taken his team while he was unconscious.

Well, if these bastards think he’ll be helpless without his Pokémon, they’re wrong. Piers may be scrawny and sick-looking, but he’s a dark-type specialist. He knows how to fight without brute force.

During this time, the other person in the room does not move to restrain him. In fact, all he does is give a quiet laugh.

Piers examines him. The other man is short, but he has an aura that fills the room. He’s wearing a suit with an R on the chest. He doesn’t seem like a corporate type — and Piers has seen more than his fair share of those — but rather like… a gang boss or something.

“Sorry if you were expecting a ransom,” Piers coughs out. “The league doesn’t care about the Spikemuth gym leader. They’ll tell you to keep me.”

But he’s not just the Spikemuth gym leader anymore, is he? He’s the champion’s brother. He knows Marnie would give anything to get him back safely.

“I must apologize. It seems we’ve started with a misunderstanding. You may call me Giovanni. And your name is…?”

Giovanni speaks with an accent similar to Kabu’s. Is he from one of the eastern regions? Stranger and stranger.

“...Piers.”

“Mr. Piers. I represent a coalition of certain people with… dark hearts, shall we say. We are working together for the time being. I believe you will fit in well with us.”

Piers blinks. What, is this an invitation to some interregional society of dark-type specialists? Which… would make a disturbing amount of sense with the kidnapping and all, but damn, what a stereotype.

“Yeah, mate, thanks but no thanks,” he says, standing up. “I don’t know how much ya heard from the news, but I can’t drop everything to join yer club. Nothing personal.”

Giovanni chuckles. “Come with me.”

Piers goes, partly because he’s curious, partly because it’s not like he can do anything else. He follows the man down a dark hallway, then through what seems to be a lobby, and then outside.

Outside is too hot. The sun is too bright. And the land… is not land.

It’s ocean, as far as the eye can see. In the distance, a flock of Wingull circle an island. Piers rubs his eyes, not quite believing what he’s seeing.

“As you may have noticed,” Giovanni says, “we are not in Galar at the moment.”

*

From there, Piers is more willing to listen. Giovanni gives him a tour, speaking vaguely about life in Kanto and the group’s current situation in Alola.

At the end, Piers is introduced to one young woman as something like his personal assistant.

“She speaks Galarian,” Giovanni explains. “Most of the other grunts don’t, so if you need something, come to her.”

She refuses to give him her name, making excuses about how the grunts weren’t supposed to use them, but she does allow him to call her J.

J’s alright. She reminds him of his gym trainers, in her earnestness and weirdness. She only comes when he calls for her. Otherwise, Piers is left to do as he pleases.

Right now he’s fine just staying in his room, occasionally going out to raid their kitchen or get fresh air.

At least his Pokemon are alright. Giovanni gives them back a few hours after showing Piers the ocean. Most of his team seems to notice no difference between this place and Spikemuth, but Obstagoon does. It’s simply not meant for such a warm climate.

Piers brings this up to J, and she agrees to set his room’s temperature to something more normal for Galar.

He trains. He sleeps. He keeps up his vocal exercises. It’s fine.

*

What Piers learns, over the course of a week, is this:

The multiverse exists, and he has traveled through it. Somehow, and nobody will explain how, Giovanni summoned Piers from the own world and has trapped him in this one.

In this world, Leon is still the champion. The date is a few years before Piers sent Marnie on her gym challenge, so it seems he has time traveled as well.

He’s not the only guest here, either. Around the building, there are others — but not dark-type specialists.

No, these people are gang leaders.

Piers sees them in passing, recognizing them and quickly making his escapes. There’s Ghetsis, the Unovan cult leader who attacked the league and came this close to destroying their government. There’s Archie and Maxie, the eco-terrorists who didn’t seem to understand that the earth needed both land and water. There’s Cyrus, who… Piers can’t even start with him.

Of course, just because these men were all would-be villains in his world, it didn’t mean they were the same in their home universes.

He asks J what their stories are.

“Oh. Uh, Maxie’s a real passionate sorta guy, even though he doesn’t look like it. He tried to summon this Pokémon in Hoenn, I don’t remember the name of it, wanted to use it to shrink the oceans, make more land.”

The rest of her stories pretty much follow what Piers read in the news, but for one key detail: back in their home universes, all the men had succeeded.

“You mean that guy Archie drowned the world? Nobody stopped him?”

“I’m sure Team Aqua survived?” J offers.

Piers stares in open-mouthed amazement. When he finds his words again, he asks, “And your boss doesn’t mind having these people here?”

“No? He likes them, I think? They all fit the same pattern, you know. Guy with vision leads a band of outlaws to fulfill his goal… and the second they do, Rainbow Rocket picks ‘em up and brings ‘em here. Isn’t that what happened with you?”

“What happened to me? I’m not like them—” But as soon as he says it, he has to reconsider. The description she’s given is so vague, it could very well apply to him. If wanting his sister to be champion counted as a vision, then he did, technically, have a vision. Team Yell was, technically, a band of outlaws.

He purses his lips, not liking the conclusion he’s drawn.

J says, hesitantly, “I don’t know what you did back home. Whatever it was, I won’t judge ya. After all, you gotta be here for a reason, right?”

*

Piers thinks about that as he steps into the kitchen at 11:30 that night. He can’t begin to guess why he would be in this world, but he at least knows what his goal is at the moment.

It’s stereotypically Galarian of him, he knows, crawling out of bed for a spot of tea. That’s fine; it’s not like there’s anyone around to see him.

Then the door opens.

“...Piers?”

Even with one word, there is no mistaking the voice.

Chairman Rose stands in the doorway, frozen as though in shock. He’s wearing one of those grey suits he likes so much, though the shirt is wrinkled and the tie missing. He’d probably fallen asleep at his desk.

He doesn’t look like he fits here, in a group of dangerous men. Piers has to admit that he himself matches the aesthetic of the place; Rose does not.

Rose says, “What did you do?”

Piers says, “Why don’t I make us tea an’ we can talk about it.”

The chairman seems to agree to that, even getting out the teacups while Piers boils the water. This never would have happened in his home world, and yet it’s the most familiar interaction he’s had since he arrived.

When they’re sitting at the kitchen table with their tea, Piers begins: “In my world, I’m the leader of a group called Team Yell. My sister Marnie is the champion.”

“Oh?”

“We didn’t cheat.” He’s defensive, he knows, but it’s not like he and Rose had a trusting relationship before all of this. “She won fair and square, on her own talents.”

“I wasn’t saying otherwise.”

“An’ what about you, then? What did you do that got you thrown here — besides being a billionaire, I mean.”

In Piers’ world, using that tone of voice on that word would make the chairman bristle. Here, Rose looks more mournful than offended.

“Who did your Marnie fight for the championship title?”

“Leon…? Why, is somebody else champion in your world?”

“His brother Hop is champion now, but he battled Leon for the title. Or... he would have. I was impatient. I moved too quickly.”

Rose shifts in his seat, pulling out a pokeball. No, not just any ball — a master ball. The Pokémon inside looks like none Piers has ever seen: almost wormlike, spiny, glowing with a dim red light.

“You asked what I did to deserve being here,” Rose murmurs. “I’ll tell you. I forced Leon to fight a Pokémon more powerful than anything Galar had ever seen. He died bringing it to me.”

...Arceus.

It takes Piers only a moment to process this information and then decide he doesn’t want to hear any more of it.

Rose looks like he’s about to start on one of his rambling speeches, so Piers quickly holds up a hand. “I don’t want to hear it. Let’s talk about somethin’ else.”

“Something else, as in…”

“Your first battle. Your latest charity project. Whatever.”

To his credit, Rose is skilled at conversation. He easily transitions to discussions of his university days, the music theory class he’d taken as an elective. It surprises Piers how much he knows… and yet he can’t say that the discussion isn’t interesting.

It’s the first time Piers has spoken to the league chairman without worrying about Spikemuth. It will not be the last.

*

Archie speaks just enough Galarian to make Piers feel like an idiot.

It’s not like he’s never thought about human influence on the environment — he lives in a smoke-filled city, after all — but to hear Archie talk of pollution and the Pokémon affected by it, Piers has to admit that awakening an ancient Pokémon isn’t the worst solution out there.

Archie doesn’t seem to know that Maxie is alive and well and in the castle. Piers doesn’t tell him.

*

One day J brings him a composition book and a small electric keyboard.

“Since you write music,” she says sheepishly. “Sorry I couldn’t get you a guitar or something. I went with the next best thing.”

She leaves him alone, and he writes down some lyrics for a new song.

It’s about a fictional lost romance, but the imagery is all about being trapped in paradise, about missing the gloom of his hometown.

Galar is going to love it. If he ever gets back, anyway.

He’d asked about his present universe counterpart once and received a tablet that was somehow connected to the internet. His other self is doing well, both as a gym leader and a musician. Piers thinks about reaching out, but in the end decides not to. He wouldn’t believe this story if someone tried telling it to him; his counterpart is likely no different.

Days pass.

*

Maxie speaks just enough Galarian to make Piers feel like an idiot.

It’s not like he’s never thought about land as a resource — Galar is technically an island, after all — but to hear Maxie speak of erosion and human life, Piers has to admit that the idea of awakening an ancient Pokémon could be reasonable.

Maxie doesn’t seem to know that Archie is here, too. Piers doesn’t tell him.

*

He runs into Cyrus one morning at breakfast.

Cyrus asks, “Are you the one I hear singing in Galarian?”

He looks dead inside as always, which, Piers thinks, is a mood.

“Tha’s me, yeah. M’ name’s Piers.”

“Your music is very… spirited,” Cyrus says.

“Thanks?”

“I would prefer not to hear it.”

“Ah.”

*

Piers spends a lot of time talking to Rose. It’s not what he would have expected or wanted, but Rose is the only other Galarian around.

Still, he’s isn’t bad company when the league isn’t involved. He’s fond of art and architecture and all those stereotypical rich people things, but he’s also well-versed in popular culture.

(“I didn’t take you for an Avengers fan.”

“Admittedly it was not something I sought out for myself. My son Bede—”

“Wait, you adopted Bede?”

“Of course. Didn’t my counterpart do the same?”)

That’s why, when his throat aches from practice and there’s nothing else to do, Piers goes looking for him.

Rose is in one of the conference rooms. He’s usually there; he’s said before that it’s comfortably familiar to him. It’s the man he’s talking to who grabs Piers’ attention, though.

Rose says, “Piers, allow me to introduce you to Lysandre. He is a friend in my world, and his counterpart is just as elegant and driven.”

Lysandre looks down at him, magnanimous and regal. It should make sense that he and Rose know each other. They’re rich philanthropists, captains of industry; even with their different regions, it makes sense they would know each other.

And yet.

Rose, for all his billionaire capitalist near-dystopian command of the region, did not come from money. At one point he was poor. At one point he worked in the mines, dirty work.

Lysandre is an aristocrat. Lysandre is one of those smarmy bastards who believes that a person’s value depends entirely on whether they’re productive. People like him say that Spikemuth is poor because they don’t try hard enough.

When Team Flare began their attempt at apocalypse, the power spots went wild. Piers spent the day helping in Hammerlocke and trying not to worry about little Marnie all alone in their flat.

It was only later that Piers learned something like the full story, from Galarian translations of Professor Sycamore’s explanations.

He didn’t like what he read.

“I’ve heard of you,” Piers says. “Yer the one who wanted to kill all the Pokemon, right?”

Rose frowns. “I assure you, no one loves Pokemon like Lysandre—”

“It had to be done,” Lysandre says.

His voice is deeper than Piers’ or Rose’s, and his words hang heavily in the air.

“Lysandre… what…”

“My apologies, Elijah. Where there is a scarce resource, there will be conflict. With conflict comes suffering. Pokemon are destined to be used by humans; the only way to prevent it was to remove them.” He sighs a world-weary sigh, then looks to Piers. “I cannot confirm if I was successful in my world, but that was my intention.”

Rose pales. “If you’ll excuse me, I have to — I must —”

He doesn’t finish the sentence. In a moment he’s rushing out the door, unsteady on his feet. Piers follows him. He finds him leaning against the wall, clutching his chest and sweating.

“Are you okay?” Shit, he’s not having a heart attack, is he?

“I'm fine. Physically,” Rose says. “It’s just — my Lysandre wouldn’t do that. He wouldn’t talk like that.”

“Mhm.”

“I hate this place,” Rose says. “I hate everyone in it — except you.”

“Mhm.”

*

Piers walks down the hall to find his path blocked by that man in the snuggie.

“Mr. Piers, was it?” Ghetsis asks. “A pleasure to meet you. My name is—”

“I know who you are. Not interested.”

“Come now, what harm could I possibly do to you here? You lose nothing by listening for a few minutes.”

“If you’re going to give me that ‘humans and Pokemon should be separated’ bull, save your breath. Galar watched your stunt at the league. We know you don’t even believe it yourself.”

He tries to force his way past, but Ghetsis remains firm. He’s like Lysandre, much taller than any normal person has any right to be. He stands unmoving, but the smile on his face grows bigger and more unnerving by the second.

(Piers misses Raihan.)

“Of course not,” Ghetsis says. “I wouldn’t insult your intelligence like that. After all, a dark-type specialist like yourself is no doubt familiar with strategy. Especially in your league.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

Ghetsis chuckles. “You say you’ve seen my ‘stunt,’ as it were. I’ve seen yours, too. The league lets your town rot on purpose, and the only salvation they offer is for you to leave it? I know I would be angry, were I in your position.”

Deep breaths. He’s a manipulator; don’t let him get to you.

“And your champion — I’ve never seen someone so undeserving of what they were given—”

It’s only after Piers throws the punch that he realizes Ghetsis probably meant Leon and not Marnie.

Well, it’s no problem either way; Piers’ fist hits him square in the nose, making a satisfying sound as it connects. It seems Ghetsis is frailer than he looks. He stumbles back with a groan, giving Piers the chance to walk past him.

“Don’t talk to me again,” he calls over his shoulder.

Ghetsis only glares.

*

One day Piers opens a door to find a gigantic black Jellicent-woman hybrid on the other side.

“Ah,” J says when he stops screaming long enough to tell her what happened. “I see you’ve met the Motherbeast.”

He doesn’t dare ask what the story behind that is.

*

It says something that the emergency lights here are blue.

J rushes to him, grabbing him by the arm and pulling him down the hall.

“What’s happening?”

“We’re moving from our shielded position to a VLFS. The structure is currently occupied, so it’s not as smooth as we’d like. But don’t worry about it, Giovanni has a plan.”

A plan. Isn’t that reassuring.

There are grunts running everywhere. Piers catches glimpses of people in white and gold — the current occupants? They’re fighting against the Rockets.

Piers should help them. He’s a gym leader, and gym leaders are supposed to help people, right? Innocent bystanders vs invading criminals. It should be an easy choice. Piers should turn around — right — now — and…

...and he doesn’t.

He goes back to his room like a child, pretending he doesn’t see what’s going on around him. Let this region’s champion handle it, if there is one.

By the end of the hour, the lights are back to red.

*

Rainbow Rocket’s occupation of Aether Paradise lasts for an hour before someone comes tearing through the grunts.

Piers considers going out to meet them, but he holds back. He doesn’t feel like getting into a fight.

Still, his curiosity grows. A few minutes in and he’s walking out.

In the main room, a man holds two grunts at arms’ length. He’s tall, somewhere between Ghetsis and Lysandre in height. He’s wearing a baggy hoodie with a skull design on the back. He’s not a suited corporate type at all.

Piers decides he likes him.

“‘Ey, you two.” He pokes both of the grunts on their backs, nudging them away. “I’ll take care of this guy, a’right? Now scram.”

The grunts obey.

The man doesn’t seem grateful, but that’s reasonable: he didn’t look like he needed rescuing, really. He circles Piers, cracking his knuckles.

“So you’re with these guys, are you? Where’d ya put the prez?”

“I don’t know what you’re talkin’ about.” He holds up a hand, trying to ward off a potential fistfight. “‘M here ‘cause I train dark types an’ someone thought that makes a bad guy. M’ name’s Piers.”

The man puts his hands in his pockets, circling Piers. There’s something dark in his eyes; Piers sees it in the mirror every day.

At last the man says, “I’m Guzma, the boss of Team Skull. I like your shoes.”

His shoes, with the skulls on the heels. Punk recognizes punk.

Piers wonders if they’ve met before. He could have sworn, sometime during his stay here, that he’s heard the name.

Maybe Guzma’s counterpart is running around the castle somewhere.

“Who’s the prez you mentioned?”

“The prez. You know, the lady who owns this place? Lusamine. Tall white lady, hair like a cocoon down to her ankles?”

The Motherbeast. Or her counterpart, more likely.

“Haven’t seen her, sorry.”

“Hmph.” Guzma stomps to the wall and slumps against it. “Well, at least our champion’s here. She’ll beat you all down before long.”

Their champion. Piers pictures a muscular woman in her mid-twenties, a white cape flowing behind her.

“There she is! Hey, Moon! You find that Giovanni yet?”

In rushes a girl — no, two girls — both younger than Marnie. The dark-haired one looks up at Guzma and shakes her head.

“There’s one more room, Mr. Guzma,” her blonde partner says.

“Then go for it. Me an’ Piers here’ll make sure nobody goes after ya.”

The girls rush off. Guzma follows them with his eyes, and when they’re out of sight, he slumps back again.

“They’re good kids, Moon and Lillie. Didn’t have the best home lives, but they’re still holdin’ on… you gotta admire that, right?”

*

Giovanni calls the whole thing off. Apparently the others in this Rainbow Rocket gang got sent back to their universes by this scientist working for Aether. That simultaneously encourages Piers and pisses him off, because if this was possible all this time, someone should’ve offered him a ride home.

Better late than never, he supposes.

Colress has him and Rose in the same room, “because your universes have a similar frequency, so I can send you both home at once.”

Rose nods. “So, Piers, it seems this is where we say goodbye.”

“Yeah.” A chuckle. “Can’t say I’m looking forward to fighting with you about power spots and stadiums again.”

A wry smile. “Well… I’d give a farewell speech, but I believe you wouldn’t care for it. So let me say this instead: I am thankful to have had you here.”

“You, too.”

“And if I may ask you a favor…” Rose takes Piers by the shoulder, pulling him close. He whispers in his ear: “If your Rose is anything like me, he does genuinely care for Leon. Tell him to act like it, while he has the chance.”

Piers’ face feels warm. His chest tightens, and he feels dizzy… and then he falls.

He falls, and he lands on his face, and Arceus is that Marnie’s voice.

“Where were you?” Her voice has that pitch she gets when she’s about to cry, and Piers hurries to hug her. They’re sitting in… Wyndon Stadium? There’s Marnie’s Liepard, and on the other side of the pitch, a kid in a challenger uniform and their Kommo-o.

“How long was I gone?”

“Six. Freaking. Months. I went looking for you! But nobody had any idea where you could’ve gone… Where were you?”

He pats her back. “I… got lost. It’s a long story. ‘M sorry for leaving you, Mar. I promise I’ll never do that to ya again.”

*

*

*

When Champion Moon visits Galar for the World Tournament, she is introduced to their gym leaders.

She gives Piers a thoughtful look, but never says why.

#piers pokemon #rainbow rocket #DNARHMWIBAW

[laws-yellow-submarine]

Could I request a scenario with Law’s s/o trying to protect him during the fight with Doflamingo (where he already got his arm severed of and all). Like she knows that she doesn’t’ stand a chance against him, but tries to stop Doflamingo from attacking Law any further. Then she turns to Law and says something like "Hey Law, I love you. Please don't forget that." (so like the same words Corazon used). I'll let you take it from there but with a happy end please ^^

Hi dear! I love this request, especially since I hopefully plan to do something kinda sorta similar in my fic at some point (ya know, when I actually write the damn thing lol). I also haven’t written Doffy before so I hope he’s in character, and I hope you enjoy! (Also gotta say, the dialogue at the end of this was so therapeutic lmfao)

She heard Law before she saw him, his guttural scream sending a stab of fear through her as she finally reached the top floor of the palace. There before her stood Doflamingo and some really gross, snot-covered, old man. They didn’t notice her approach, both too focused on the bleeding young man lying beneath them. Her eyes widened at the sight, taking in the way Law clutched at his shoulder; the shoulder which previously connected to his right arm. Said appendage lay twitching only a short ways away, lying forgotten as the blond sadist ground his shoe into Law’s other arm. 

She acted without thinking, raising her sword to strike at Doflamingo as she ran towards him. She vaguely heard Law scream her name over her battlecry, but she had barely registered it before the pink clad man swatted her away like a pesky housefly. She felt the sensation of being cut all along her body, like razor wire being pulled across her skin, and she hit the floor hard enough that she was sure she felt her ribs crack. 

She attempted to push herself back to standing, but her arms shook too much to support her weight. She lifted her head, trying to locate her sword; out of the corner of her eye she could see Law struggling to get up as well. Suddenly, she felt something kick against her head, slamming it back into the floor, and then she was pinned at her shoulder. She cried out as Doflamingo ground his foot deeper into the cuts he’d inflicted, laughing like a madman at her futile attempt to deal him damage.

“Now that was a rich attempt! You brats have all got some nerve,” He barked out, pulling out his pistol to point at her head. She tried to find a way out of this, tried to think of some plan to escape his grasp, grab Law, and run; but deep down she knew she never stood a chance to begin with. Tears sprang to her eyes and she turned her head, once again catching Law’s eye. He was on his feet now, breathing heavy as his eyes seemed to be pleading with her; as though she could turn back time and prevent herself from charging in in the first place. 

“Hey, Law!” She started, causing him to pause briefly in his attempt to reach her. “I love you...don’t ever forget that, ok?” She closed her eyes and smiled at him, hoping that at least his last memory of her wouldn’t be that of a blubbering mess. Doflamingo began laughing again, pushing the pistol into her temple.

“My, Law, such sentiment! To think, after everything you still make the mistake of finding people to care for. Fuffuffuffu I’m going to enjoy taking another piece of you away!”

She clenched her eyes, bracing herself for her death; but through her haze of fear she heard yelling, getting steadily closer.

“MINGO!!!! -THWACK!-” came the sound of Luffy’s fist hitting the man about to shoot her. She opened her eyes in shock as the gun moved away from her temple. Unfortunately, Doflamingo’s grip remained unwavered. 

BANG!

The pain sent her into a fit, screaming as blood pooled around her shoulder. She thought she heard Law call her name again, but before she could think further on it, her body succumbed to the shock.

…

Her eyes flew open, taking in the open blue sky. Her body felt stiff, and a little sore, but overall there was little pain. Was this where you went after death? She glanced around, taking in the destruction of entire towns and cities around her. So she wasn’t dead? But...how? She sat up quickly, hissing as she put weight on her previously injured shoulder.

“Don’t move too fast, you’re not fully healed!” She stared at Law with relief, tears springing to her eyes at the thought that clearly they must have won. His arm was reattached, and other than some dried blood he looked whole and healthy.

“What happened?” She asked, allowing him to check her over. He was clearly as exhausted as she was, but he seemed to need this. He worked with a nervous energy she’d only seen on him in the most dire of operations, and she was just glad to see he was alright.

“What happened? You were an idiot! What the hell were you thinking trying to take him on?!”

“Me?! What about you?! You lost an ARM for fuck’s sake! You were in way more danger than I was!”

“You only lived because Straw Hat-ya happened to show up at the right time, and someone had a healing devil fruit. You got lucky, Name!”

“Oh, and you didn’t?” She looked at him incredulously. Was he really scolding her right now?! “Stop being such a hypocrite! How is what I did any different from what you did?!” Law looked like he was struggling to find an answer, but didn’t want to admit she was right. Finally, the fight seemed to leave him all at once, exhausted as he was, and he leant forward to rest his head on her shoulder in a rare act of public affection.

“I didn’t want to lose anyone else…” He muttered against her skin. She wrapped her arms around him, drawing him closer and stroking his hair while she leant her cheek against his head. 

“Well, I didn’t wanna lose you either...can we please agree to stop throwing ourselves into reckless situations?” She felt him smirk against her, and the smile grew on her face. 

They’d won, they were alive, and they were never going to let each other go.

#trafalgar law scenario #trafalgar law #one piece #one piece scenario #thanks for the ask!

[fic-xation]

First of Many

During a night of cards at the Inventory, Sam recounts the events leading up to his and Max’s first wedding.

Archive

“Soooo... Can I ask you guys a question?"

Brock and Ash exchanged an eye roll.

Claptrap ALWAYS seemed to have a question in regards to Sam and Max.

"Shoot." Sam said with a shrug, tossing a pair of chips towards the center. He never minded the little unicycle-dumpster-fire's innate lack of tact. In fact, he found a lot of Claptrap's mannerisms similar to Max's. The high-pitched voice, the manic eccentricity, the endearing vulgarity...

'... God Lord, do I have a type?' he suddenly thought.

"... What exactly ARE you guys?" Claptrap asked, his processed voice cutting through Sam's somewhat horrific epiphany. Sam, giving his head a stirring little shake, looked towards Claptrap curiously.

"... Like... our species?" he paused, before shrugging. "Well, as far as I know, I'm just your run-of-the-mill anthropomorphic Irish Greyhound. Max, on the other hand-"

"No, no." Claptrap gave his claw dismissively. "I mean, like, your relationship. Are you guys just friends, or dating, or nerf-buddies, or...?" he trailed off, visibly cowering under Brock's disapproving glare.

"Knock it off, Johnny Five, that ain't our business to know."

Claptrap's light flared up almost at once.

"Oh-!" he seethed. "Don't go givin' me that 'holier-than-thou' crap!" Angrily, his lens flitted between Brock and Ash. "We were ALL thinkin' it!"

Sam's brows shot up.

"... Really? ALL of you? ... Even GlaDOS?" he gestured towards the ceiling, and, as if on cue, the ivory skeletal frame of the Aperture AI lowered herself to the table.

"~Quite frankly, I don't really care one way or another.~" she chimed, her yellow sensor unnervingly affixed to Sam's face. "~But even I have to admit, you fail to follow the standard routine of a normal mammalian courtship... But then again, you two are not normal mammals, so I suppose it's just as well...~"

And with one graceful bow, she slid back up towards the ceiling.

"... Gee-" Max said, at long last looking over from his usual booth. "I didn't realize our personal life was such a hot button issue."

Ash leaned back against his chair with a sigh. "... Well, can ya blame us? You two are about as inseparable as me n' my chainsaw. Ordinarily, I'd just say you were real good buddies, but..." he shrugged. "I dunno, it's hard to tell with you whackos."

Sam, somewhat hot under the collar, readjusted his tie.

"... Well, since the whole room seems compelled to put me on the spot, I may as well say it." He glanced over his shoulder, briefly sharing a reaffirming smile with Max. "... Max and I are recently divorced."

... If if it weren't for the soft ambience of smooth jazz, one could've heard a pin drop.

Finally, after a prolonged moment of flabbergasted stares, Brock was the first to speak, carefully keeping his eyes to the minuscule font of his cigarette pack.

"... I'm, uh... I'm sor-"

"WHAT THE #@*&?!" Claptrap screeched, standing up against his wheel. "YOU TWO WERE MARRIED?! LIKE... LEGALLY?! IN FRONT OF GOD?! ... AND THEN YOU JUST... BROKE UP?! BUT YOU'RE STILL FRIENDS?! ... Not to indulge in a harmful stereotype towards robots, but... DOES NOT COMPUTE, MAN! DOES. NOT. FREAKIN'. COMPUTE!"

He then fell back against his chair, his servos evidently spinning.

"... Subtle." Ash quipped, raising his glass in a mock toast. Sam, however, looked confused.

"Broke up? ... What're you talking about? Max and I haven't broken up; we're just as in love now as we've ever been."

"We're just not married." Max continued, hopping up onto Sam's lap. He'd ultimately grown bored at listening in from a distance. Besides, these bozos were finally discussing a worthwhile subject... Him and Sam!

Now it was the table's turn to look confused. Once again, Brock's voice came first.

"... Okaaaaay, ya lost me."

"It's not that complicated, really." Sam said, offering the trio a bemused little smile. "See, every so often, Max and I get a divorce just so we can experience the pleasure of marrying each other all over again."

"Like buyin' a new pair of shoes once the old ones wear out!" Max piped up.

"Or, at least, that's what we ASSUME buying shoes is like." Sam added, helping himself to a sip of root beer.

Another bewildered silence fell over the room.

"... Wait, so-" Ash leaned his elbows against his table, pointedly staring towards the odd couple. "... Exactly how often does this happen?"

"Oh, we're on marriage number twelve now, actually." Sam beamed, seemingly oblivious to the stupefied silence over the remaining players.

Claptrap's lens fidgeted uneasily. "... That's like... romantic, bordering on masochism..."

"Ro-Masochism." Ash offered.

"... Okay, so-" Brock smothered the end of his cigarette against an ash tray. "I can understand wantin' to marry the same person over and over again-"

"Really?" Claptrap glanced over.

"... Well, not really, but I can humor 'em." he shrugged. "... No, what I don't get is, why go to all that trouble? ... Repeatedly, no less. I mean... wouldn't it be easier just to renew your vows and leave it at that?"

"Yeah, we don't believe in that baloney." Max scoffed, folding up Sam's cards into an origami swan. "I mean, what's the point in setting up a fake wedding if you're ALREADY married? It's a total sham."

"A disgrace to the sacred institute." Sam added solemnly.

"Here-Here!" Max proclaimed, shooting the paper swan towards Ash. He caught it almost at once, crushing it between his metallic fist, and dropping it to the floor.

"... Well, I guess I fold." Sam said, scratching his ear. "Pun not intended, of course."

Max rolled his eyes. "Liar."

"So... wait-" Ash held up his hand, drawing the conversation back on track. "Just how the hell can you n' Thumper afford eleven consecutive weddings? I'll admit, my experience with this sorta thing is limited-"

"Yeah-!" Claptrap broke in. "His last fiance wasn't exactly top-shelf material!"

"... In ANY case-" Ash continued through gritted teeth, as Brock slammed his steely fist against the robot's flat top. "Doesn't all that ceremony get pretty expensive after a while?"

"Not at all," Sam said, watching as Claptrap clattered to the floor like an oversized soup can. "Ya just gotta know how to economize."

"We're good friends with the president," Max said, absentmindedly picking at his nose. "And I'M a registered Minister, according to Nebraska. So, we never have to bother with hiring an officiant."

"Not to mention, we get most of our essentials from Bingo's Birthday Bonanza." Sam added. "Balloons, cups, goodies bags-"

"And of COURSE, the cake!" Max bounced a little at the thought. "Last year, it had a dinosaur motif. THIS time, though, I'm thinkin' more... Race car. What do YOU think, Sam?"

"Can't think of a reason NOT to," Sam smiled, tenderly setting his hand between Max's ears.

Brock scratched at his nose. "... So, basically, this whole routine is just an excuse to throw multiple parties in which you two knuckleheads are the centerpiece."

Sam and Max exchanged a look.

"More or less," Sam shrugged.

"Isn't that just a wedding is, though?" Max asked.

Brock had no choice but to chuckle, shaking his head lightly. "Touche."

"Ooh!" piped Claptrap, as he awkwardly clambered back onto his chair. "Here's a question for ya! You two got this whole crazy-train system down to a science... but what about your first run-through, huh? How'd THAT go down?"

"... What, our first wedding, you mean?" Sam asked, a little surprised.

"Hey, yeah!" Ash nodded. "Knowin' you two, that must've been nuts..."

"More importantly, who asked first?" Brock shot Sam a slight smirk. "My money's on ol' Rover Romeo over here."

Sam suddenly gave an embarrassed sort of laugh, shyly averting the table's curious eyes as he turned his muzzle to the side.

"... Well, it's, uh... It's actually a funny story..."

"Oh!" Max clapped his hands together excitedly, glancing up towards Sam. "Can I tell 'em, Sam? Can I, can I, can I?"

Sam paused, before easing back against his chair with a soft smile.

"Sure, buddy. Knock yourself out."

Squealing in delight, Max took to the center of the table, clearing his throat theatrically.

"... Well... it all began on a dark and stormy night..."

 ~~

The rain lashed the ancient cobblestones of our victorian manor like the cruel tongue of an unforgiving governess. I, clad in nothing more than my scandalously sheer negligee, sat alone in my bed chamber, coyly plucking at my harp like a fluffy siren of yore. There was a CRASH of lightning, when suddenly, my door FLEW open with enough force to rattle the chandelier! I gasped, retreating to my bedspread in an effort to save my modesty, but Sam strolled in all the same, beads of rain still fresh against his unkempt fur.

"Max-!" he cried. "I can't STAND it any longer! Your tender touch, your delicate fur, and the THROBBING of your MASSIVE-"

~~

Sam's hat came down like a burlap sack over Max's head, silencing him almost at once.

"... You'll have to forgive my associate." Sam mumbled, shades of red visibly peering through his fur as he dragged Max back towards his lap. "... He, uh... He's been taking some creative writing classes as of late."

"No kidding!" Claptrap announced, ever the enthusiast. "If I had a stomach, I'd be barfing it inside out!"

"... Yeah, that was..." Ash squirmed slightly.

"Gross." Brock concluded.

"... I was gonna say HEART, in case anyone was wondering!" Max shouted, slightly muffled through the material of Sam's stretched-out cap. "... Sheesh, people, get your minds outta the gutter!"

"How's about you let ME tell the story, buddy?" Sam said gently, finally freeing Max from the hat's pincer grip. He gasped for air only once, before shrugging.

"Eh, works for me. That was only a first draft, anyway."

"Much obliged." Sam turned to address the table. "So! You gentlemen ready to enter a proper flashback?"

"Hold it-" Brock held up a hand, stone faced. "Will there be any mention of the word 'negligee?'"

"... Not that I can recall." Sam said, quite honestly.

"Alright then." Brock lit the end of his cigarette. "Continue."

"... Well-" Sam gave the ceiling a ponderous glance, leaning his chair against its back two legs. "... I suppose the the REAL story starts with us cowering behind a tire pile in the city dump."

"And we're startin' off strong!" Max grinned.

~~ "I can't believe that innocent toxic waste mutated New York's over abundance of garbage into a monsterous, (yet vaguely effeminate,) shape!" Sam exclaimed, checking his gun for any remaining ammo.

"Ooh, lovely exposition Sam!" Max said,  his back to the rubber wheeled wall. "I just can't believe she wants ME to be her King of Crap! ... Why ME of all people?

"Could be your smell," Sam proposed, cocking the cylinder back into place. "Second only to her, you're the foulest thing in New York."

"... Saaa-aaam..." giggled Max, coyly cupping his hands to his face. "How am I suppose to concentrate on a life or death situation if you keep flirtin' with me?"

Sam felt himself flush slightly.

Why were Max's obvious jokes beginning to rub him the wrong way?

Suddenly, Max's ears began to twitch. Dropping the act, he hurriedly peered out from behind the mountain of discarded tires.

"She's comin' back!" he hissed.

Instinctively, Sam threw his arm around the rabbit as if shielding him from a bomb, and the two promptly ducked.

The putrid air of the city dump was suddenly made even worse, as the mucilaginous form of the twelve-foot garbage wench (or 'beldump,' as Max'd taken to calling her,) slithered by like a slug. She then paused, raising her misshapen head, as her divot-nostrils curiously flexed at the air.

Wordlessly, Sam threw both arms around Max, drawing him to his core as if suddenly desperate for a hug. Max, more than surprised, was thrown against his partner's chest like a ragdoll.

... His sensitive ears picked up the heavy hammer of Sam's distressed pulse, while the full weight of his heavy arms squeezed against Max's back...

Max, in spite of his best efforts, felt an odd warmth rise against his cheeks.

The beldump, with a disappointed sort of grumble, soon began to meander away.

Sam sighed, slowly loosening his grip on Max.

"... S-sorry..." he breathed, wiping at his forehead. "... I, uh... I had to hide your scent-"

"G-gee, Sam-!" Max broke in, smiling frantically. "... i-if ya wanted to cuddle, all ya had to do was ask!"

He laughed, though it was a far cry from his typical mischievous titter.

Sam's brow furrowed. "... Are you blushing?"

Max's ears shot up like corn stalks.

"... N-no!" he seethed, suddenly anxious to get away. "... It's... it's your stupid cologne! ... It's givin' me a rash!"

'Funny, considering I don't even WEAR cologne,' Sam was about to point out, when an idea suddenly came to mind. He quickly began to loosen his tie, before slipping off his jacket

Max's "rash" only worsened. "S-Sam, what're you- oof!"

Sam slapped his hat between Max's ears.

"This'll mask your smell." he said, affixing his loose-fitting tie to Max's throat. "Or, at the very least, it'll buy me some time to lure the beldump away."

He gently drew his jacket around Max's shoulders like a blanket, before plucking out a small tuft of fur. Max winced.

"Hey!"

"This should be adequate bait."

Gently holding the lock between his fingers, Sam stood up, and carefully surveyed the landscape.

"... Okay, lil' buddy. You just hunker down here 'till I get back."

Max's face suddenly dawned with distraught realization.

"... You're leaving me?"

Sam looked down. Underneath all that bulky clothing, Max suddenly appeared so much smaller. Any other time, that might've been amusing, but now...

It just broke Sam's heart.

"Only for a minute." Taking a knee, Sam offered his gentlest smile, in spite of Max stubbornly refusing to meet his eye. "Just long enough to draw her into the city."

Max, however, kept his eyes to the dirt, practically pouting.

Sam sighed. He knew what that expression meant. They'd made a unspoken agreement never to be separated for too long. Not after... well... everything that'd happened recently...

In a rare moment of tactile tenderness, Sam curled a finger beneath Max's chin, guiding his gaze upward.

"... I PROMISE I'll come back." he said softly, practically a whisper. Cupping it with a chuckle, he added, "After all, I got YOU to come back to, right?"

Max said nothing... He simply stared, as slack-jawed as a blind man seeing color for the first time.

... If this were a movie, the sacrificial hero might've planted a peck against his lover's forehead, either as reassurance, or goodbye.

But this wasn't a movie... And Max certainly wasn't his lover.

Compromising, Sam sweetly scratched at Max's drooped ear, before standing back up. Once he was sure the coast was clear, he made to run, when all at once, he felt Max scaling up the front of his shirt like an anxious reptile.

"Marry me." he said stoutly, looking positively fevered.

Sam scowled. He'd had his fill of cheap jokes for the evening. "... Max, c'mon, don't-"

"I'm not kidding," he croaked, his hands grasping at Sam's collar for support. "Please, Sam... marry me. Like... right now. I don't wanna be with anyone else. I don't think I CAN be with anyone else. Losing you the first time was..." he broke off, trails of tears and snot running down his face. "... Well, it sucked. Like, a lot." he finally choked. "... But the worst part was...  I finally realized just how crazy I was about you... But you were dead!"

He then began to laugh, but something in it made Sam cringe... It was a high, unsettling, hysterical laugh... Different from his usual variety, anyway.

There was no joy in it.

"Isn't that hilarious?" he continued. "And what's even funnier? ... I actually got a second chance to tell you how I felt... and I STILL chickened out! And now you're leaving me AGAIN, and... and..." he quickly dissolved into a fit of laughter and sobs, clinging to Sam's shirt with no intention of letting go.

... Needless to say, Sam was more than shocked... The same three shrieking words seemed to reverberate against his addled brain.

... How I felt... How I felt... How I felt...

... Funny. He wasn't nearly as shocked as one would think. If anything, Sam felt a kind of... serenity settle over him.

He'd known it, without knowing it...

... Max loved him... Max'd loved him for a good while now...

Of course he did... Of course he did! It was too damn obvious! It practically went without saying! And... and...

'... Holy hotpot party hosted by a Hostess Hoho...' thought Sam. '... I think I might love him back.'

"Officiate."

Max looked up, his face a mess of varying fluids. "... W... what?"

"You're a high priest, remember?"

Sam then flinched. Of course Max wouldn't remember, HE never experienced that.

".... N-no...?" he sniffled hesitantly. "... But I AM a registered minister, according to Nebraska."

Sam smiled, briefly relieved, before glancing around. Spotting a rubber band off to the side, he snatched it up, before twining it around the middle finger of Max's left hand.

"If you think I wouldn't want marry you, right here and now, you're even crazier than I thought."

Prying Max from his shirt, Sam set him down, and took both hands.

"Don't even bother asking anything," he said quickly, smiling a little. It was one of the few instances Max was ever lost for words. "You already know I do. I do a thousands times over, and twice on Sundays; never to anyone else but you."

"... D-ditto.." Max said at last, grinning incredulously. "... Th-then... I guess... b-by the power vested in me by the state of Nebraska, I now pronounce us-"

He didn't even have time to finish the sentence before he and Sam began to kiss.

It was the kiss of a thousand unsaid longings, the kiss of sweet, relinquished grief. It was cathartic, practically euphoric- 

~~

"- and the first of many to come." Sam concluded, beaming towards the wide-eyed faces of the Inventory regulars.

Ash huffed a short, disbelieving laugh, shaking his head. "So you two professed your love, got engaged, and then married, all within the span of a few short minutes..."

"In the middle of a stinky landfill, no less!" Claptrap added.

"Just for the record-!" Max said quickly. "Sam was TOTALLY exaggerating my little proposal. I was doing doughnuts on a tricked-out motorcycle, and tossed him a ring made out of pure gold. It was the smoothest thing in the world, and I did NOT cry!"

"~Max's temperature seems to be rising at an alarming rate.~" GladOS's voice rolled out coolly. "~Perhaps he is suffering another rash outbreak?~"

The table broke into a bout of good-natured laughter, as Max folded his arms grumpily. He already knew he'd never hear the end of that...

"So whatever happened to the garbage monster?" Brock asked, still smiling.

"Oh, that-" Sam waved his hand dismissively. "That was easy. Using the scent of Max's hair, I lead her back to our office. Once there, she immediately fell in love with the trash congregating in our workspace, and took that as her husband rather than Max."

"They then moved to Detroit to live among their own kind!" Max sighed, fluttering his eyelids. "It was like the ending to a fairytale..."

"Yeah, that's... one way of putting it." Ash mumbled.

"And how long was it before ya decided to get re-married? Claptrap asked.

"Three days." Sam answered, leaning forward to dig through his pocket. Fishing out his wallet, he opened it up to reveal a small photo guarded by a sheet of plastic. "We knew we wanted our second wedding to be a lil' more formal, so we pulled out all the stops." he pointed towards the lavish church setting, as well as Max's uncharacteristically grandiose top hat and tux.

"... Nice dress," Brock remarked with a sneer.

"I know, I know..." Sam smiled sheepishly. "It's a little old-fashioned, but it belonged to my Granny, and she insisted on me wearing it."

"Plus, she n' Sam have the same cuddly corpulent build, so it was an easy fit!" Max chimed in. Sam, rolling his eyes, pushed him to the floor.

"Well-" Brock raised his glass. "Cheers to your divorce, I suppose."

"And may many more follow!" Ash said, joining the toast.

Claptrap, however, remained motionless.

"... Does it bother anyone that the six of us guys just spent the last half-hour discussing marriage and weddings like an old sewing-circle?"

The table traded looks.

"Not really."

"No."

"Not even remotely!"

"'Course not."

"... Alright, just checking!" Claptrap held up his sippy-cup. "To Sam and Max!"

"To Sam and Max!"

~~

"Ya know-" Sam said, as he and Max barreled along their the long stretch of their familiar street. It was a perfect night for reckless driving. "We oughta invite our poker buddies to our next wedding."

"Oh, HELL yeah!" Max said, nodding vigorously. "It wouldn't be a dream wedding without 'em! Ooh-!" he grabbed at Sam's arm, nearly swerving the Desoto into an oncoming truck. Sam pivoted back almost at once, heart thudding, but smiling all the same.

"Think we could get GladOS to sing at our reception?" Max bobbed excitedly against his seat. "I would, and CAN, kill for her to do Nat King Cole!"

"We'll havta ask next time we see her, buddy." Sam chuckled, sparing a hand to pet at Max's head. "Though, personally, I wouldn't mind meetin' some of YOUR old card sharks... 'Specially that wrestler fellow, uh... What was his name?" Sam snapped his fingers rhythmically. "String bean?"

"Strong Bad. But PLEASE, call him String Bean once you finally get to meet him!" Max giggled. "I have GOT to see how that goes down."

Sharply rounding a corner, the two finally skidded their car into its usual spot, halfway hunched atop the curb adjacent to their building.

Making their way up the stairs, they soon found themselves in the comfortable chaos of their office. (Naturally, it didn't them long to re-accumulate all the garbage swept away by the beldump.)

"Well, that depends-" Max shrugged, as he and Sam crossed into one of the more residential rooms. Flopping down onto the patchwork couch, Max made an immediate snag for the remote. "When're you gonna propose already?"

"Guess I'm just waiting for the right occasion. Timing is everything, ya know. Here, scooch over."

With a sigh, Sam helped himself to a seat beside Max, and the two finally settled on something to watch.

"Ooh! Robot Terror From Beyond the Galaxy!" Max curled up against Sam's leg, and Sam, smiling contentedly, rested a hand to his back.

"Hope we haven't missed too much."

"Nah," Max shook his head. "We haven't even gotten to the marrow-suckers yet."

Sam nodded, and then glanced over. His partner's eyes were beginning to droop, and Sam wondered whether or not Max was about to fall asleep.

"... Hey, Max-" Sam whispered, lightly jostling the lagomorph's head. "... You wanna get married?"

Max chuckled, tucking his hands beneath his head as his eyes closed in full.

"... Well, DUH, Sam... A thousand-" he cut himself off with a yawn. "... A thousand times over, and twice on Sundays..."

Sam, with a warm smile, leaned over, planting a soft kiss to Max's forehead.

"You're the light of my life, lil' buddy."

#Thanks for reading! #Sam and Max #Sam and Max Freelance Police #Freelance Husbands #Poker Night 2 #Ash Williams #Claptrap #Brock Sampson #GladOS #slight angst #Sam and Max telltale spoilers #only slightly though #fanfic #fanfiction

[minijenn]

Universe Falls Chapter 72

Ehhhhh so yeah I rushed on this one not gonna lie, wrote about fuckin half of it tonight alone so ya its... sorta mediocre but nothing too bad, still pretty cute so I can appreciate that. Anyway here ya go, enjoy! 

Previous: https://minijenn.tumblr.com/post/188458922089/universe-falls-chapter-71

***

Chapter 72: Hit the Diamond

CALXFR FA, XIFH UHP AJTUL XIY EIE YENE HTUHGYU A STUCZ XIE CFCY KUVAO GT ESVUH DPF WZMDH EPBM OMML ACPVW XIETC XOJXI

A collective, equally startled, equally frightened gasp arose from the Gems and Pines alike as they caught the very first glimpse of the Ruby emerging from the Roaming Eye. As she coldly, quietly surveyed the surrounding area, fortunately she didn’t seem to take notice of the group right away, allowing them at least a little time to react to her absolutely unexpected arrival.

“Hey,” Mabel began with wide, curious eyes. “Isn’t that…?”

“Ruby?” Steven finished, though just as soon as he did, the young Gem was suddenly, sharply yanked aside by Garnet. Likewise, Ford did the same for Mabel, quickly following after everyone else as they rushed to momentarily hide away inside the barn just as even more Rubies began to emerge from the downed pod.

The eye Ruby hopped out of the ship with a growl, her expression still severe, even if the Ruby who came after her was the exact opposite. “Oh! What a lovely planet!” this next Ruby, whose gemstone rested upon her navel, quipped cheerfully as she slipped out of the pod to get a better look around. The next Ruby to emerge had her gem on her upper arm, and appeared much more serious as she aggressively jumped to the ground, violently plucking a flower before kicking it hard away from her.

“W-wait!” another Ruby exclaimed anxiously, her gem on her leg as she poked her head out of the ship. “So we just… get out and walk around?”

She received no answer as another Ruby, the final one and the leader of the pack with her gem on her chest, booted her out before addressing her squad sternly. “Alright! Listen up!” she exclaimed, taking a perch on top of the pod. “We’ve gotta pin down that Gem the scanners locked onto. Let’s fan out and search the area!”

The other Rubies nodded their agreement with this plan with various levels of enthusiasm as they began to split up and comb the barnyard for anything out of the ordinary. Yet even still, none of them really seemed to pay much attention to the barn, even as the group hidden inside it tentatively glanced out to observe them from afar.

“Whoa, look at ‘em all!” Steven exclaimed, admittedly amazed to see such a collection of Gems.

“Uh, anyone wanna explain why we’re hiding out from a bunch of walking, talking squares in here?” Stan asked rather dryly.

“Uh, because they tried to kill us with their space ship,” Dipper pointed out just as deadpan.

“Aw, c’mon, they can’t be that bad,” Mabel shrugged with a smile. “I mean, just look at them! They’re adorable!”

“They are NOT adorable!” Peridot huffed, cowering behind the barn door nervously. “They’re after me! This is the end of the line!”

“You weren’t kidding…” Lapis noted, raising an eyebrow as she looked to the green Gem.

“No, I wasn’t!” she shook her head morosely. “I told you; I disobeyed a direct order from Yellow Diamond, and I called her a clod… to her face.”

“Oh, honestly, you call everyone a clod,” Pearl remarked, rolling her eyes.

“Yes,” Peridot admitted, still clearly anxious. “But not everyone has command over all the armies of Homeworld waiting for the word to shatter me!”

In a meager attempt at making herself even more scarce, the green Gem scampered off, emptying a box that had otherwise been stockpiled with baseball supplies before curling up inside it to hide. For a moment, her soft, fearful whimpers could be heard under the box, that is until Steven stepped over to lift it off of her with a small, encouraging smile.

“Peridot, we won’t let them get you.”

“Yeah! If those Rubies want you, then they’ve gotta go through all of us first!” Mabel chimed in with a daring grin.

“Haven’t I caused you enough trouble?” Peridot asked with a small groan, still curled up into a small, tight ball on the barn floor.

“Oh, you certainly have,” Ford nodded, smirking slightly. “But that doesn’t mean you deserve to face Yellow Diamond’s wrath just for being a pretty persistent annoyance.”

“…Wow, thanks,” Peridot whispered, genuinely touched despite the somewhat backhanded dig.

“Don’t worry, Peridot,” Garnet assured, hands on her hips. “It’s our sworn duty to protect anything that calls this planet home. And that includes clods like you.”

“That’s my word…” the green Gem muttered, her voice still small and feeble.

“Listen up, everyone,” the Gem leader addressed the others firmly. “I have a plan. Or should I say…” She grinned, holding up her hands to reveal her gemstones on each palm, both of them already shining brightly. “We have a plan?”

That bright light soon overtook Garnet’s entire form until it slowly, calmly split her entirely. And, as expected, the glow faded to reveal Ruby and Sapphire, both in high, confident spirits as they held hands, still connected, despite now standing apart.

“Hello, everyone,” Sapphire greeted with a small, friendly wave.

“Ruby! Sapphire!” Pearl, Amethyst, and Ford alike all exclaimed, pleasantly surprised to see the couple making an appearance.

“HUUUGS!” Steven shouted, racing to embrace the pair, something that Mabel readily joined in on.

“Oh, great, these two again,” Stan remarked, rolling his eyes.

“Good to see you again too, Stan,” Ruby countered with a wry, knowing grin.

“So what’s this plan exactly?” Dipper asked the couple, curious.

Neither Ruby nor Sapphire offered a direct answer, instead turning to each other, still lingering close and affectionately all the while. “You’ve got this,” Sapphire said to her partner with a warm smile, imparting her with a brief kiss on the cheek for luck. “Just act casual.”

“Yeah,” Ruby nodded, bolstered by the blue Gem’s loving encouragement. “Casual.”

After a brief moment of steadying her resolve, the red Gem emerged from the barn, her posture stiff and her expression even stiffer as she rather awkwardly approached the group of Rubies still outside. None of them seemed to notice her slipping in to stand among their ranks as their leader called them to order once more.

“Focus, Rubies!” she snapped, still standing atop the Roaming Eye. “This is an important mission from Yellow Diamond, so we can’t mess it up.”

“Uh, h-hey!” Ruby spoke up anxiously, trying her best to not let how nervous she really was. “W-what are we all doin’ over here?”

For a moment, Ruby briefly feared her infiltration had failed as the other Rubies all looked to her skeptically, their expressions all borderline suspicious until the leg Ruby raised her hand innocently. “Yeah, what are we all doing here?”

“Ugh, I already told you ten times now!” the lead Ruby huffed, crossing her arms. “We’re here to retrieve the leader of the Earth mission!” She paused for a moment, narrowing her eyes at the group of similar Gems gathered before her and spotting one particular oddity among them. “Hey, wait a second… It seems like there are more of us than usual!”

“There’s supposed to be five of us,” the naval Ruby pointed out with a smooth smile.

“Five Rubies!” the arm Ruby echoed gruffly.

“Hm…” the lead Ruby mused as she proceeded to take a headcount. “One, two, three, four, five…” She nodded, apparently forgetting to include herself among the group, much to Ruby’s relief. “Tch, never mind. We’re all here.”

The entire group let out a relieved sigh at this, though Ruby’s in particular rose among the others as she realized she miraculously hadn’t been found out. At least not yet. “Now, back to our mission,” the lead Ruby continued devoutly. “The leader of the Earth mission must be around here somewhere…”

“W-well, she’s definitely not in that barn!” Ruby quickly professed, pointing towards said barn in the hopes that the other Rubies would take her word and overlook it. Unfortunately, of course, they didn’t.

“Whoa, I didn’t see that before,” the lead Ruby said. “We should go check it out.”

By now, Ruby was all but panicking, realizing that her attempts at acting casual were all but failing her. Even so, she maintained her calm act as best as she could as she hastily volunteered herself for the task before any of the other Rubies could. “Uh, I-I’ll go! By myself!”

Without sparing another word, Ruby ran off, hoping that none of her fellow Rubies would follow suit. And unfortunately they didn’t as she slipped back into the barn, where the others all eagerly awaited to hear the report of what she had gleaned from their unwanted visitors.

“They wanna search the barn!” the red Gem exclaimed, frantic as she pressed up against the wall.

“We heard,” Steven nodded fretfully.

“We saw…” Pearl frowned, eyeing the Ruby squad outside skeptically.

“So, it seems as thought they really are after Peridot,” Ford mused as he turned towards the green Gem. “You are the leader of this so-called ‘Earth mission’, aren’t you?”

“Of course I am!” Peridot snapped fearfully. “And they’re gonna come in here, find me, and drag me back to Homeworld where I’ll be entirely left to Yellow Diamond’s mercy. Which is really bad, since she doesn’t have any mercy!”

“Pfft, they aren’t even gonna get close, P-dot,” Amethyst assured, her manner turning aggressive as she picked up a baseball bat lying on the ground. “Mostly since we’re gonna ambush ‘em!”

“Yeah!” Stan chimed in, grabbing another bat. “Now you’re speakin’ my language!”

“Huh, you know we do outnumber them by like… a lot,” Dipper noted thoughtfully. “Man, if only I still had the Sword of Seasons! Taking care of them would be so easy with that!”

“What? You lost the Sword of Seasons?” Ford asked, raising an eyebrow as he looked to his nephew.

“Uh, I-I never said that!” Dipper quickly countered defensively, not quite ready to reveal the doomed fate of his now missing blade to the author who’d made it just yet.

“We don’t need any swords or bats,” Sapphire spoke up rationally. “No one needs to get hurt. Let’s be reasonable.”

“What should I do?” Ruby asked worriedly, lingering close to her partner for much-needed support.

Fortunately, the blue Gem managed to steady her, just as she always did by gently placing her hands over her own. “Just go out there and tell them this is a place where humans live.”

“…I don’t wanna go alone…” Ruby frowned, sighing sadly.

“Oh! We’ll come!” Steven brightly volunteered himself, Dipper, and Mabel.

“Yeah! What better way to convince those Rubies that there’s nothing but humans here than by showing them a bunch of humans?” Mabel pointed out with a smile.

“Plus, we could always give you some backup if you end up needing it,” Dipper added just as confidently.

“And here’s some backup for your backup,” Amethyst said gruffly, handing the kids her baseball bat.

“And here’s some backup on top of that backup,” Stan chimed up, presenting his favorite pair of brass knuckles to the group. An act that caught a series of critical glances from Pearl, Ford, and Sapphire alike. “What, too much?”

All the same, Steven took the bat as him and the twins allowed Ruby to ‘escort’ them out of the barn and over to the Ruby squad as they remained on standby to hear what she had to report. “I-I check the barn and I just found a bunch of humans there!” she exclaimed, overdramatically motioning to the trio of kids she’d brought along with her.

“Yep!” Steven agreed innocently. “Nothing here but us humans!”

“Yeah, just us humans,” Mabel added much more naturally. “There totally isn’t a whole bunch of Gems hiding out in that barn, that’d just be silly, cause like we said, there’s just humans in there.”

“Yeah… just humans…” Dipper echoed dryly, sending his sister a critical look for her lack of subtlety.

“…Really?” the lead Ruby asked, clearly doubting this simple claim.

“Yep! Looks like we failed!” Ruby cut in with a wide, forced smile. “Time to go back home and never come back ever!”

“Eh, I think we’d still better double check,” the lead Ruby said, looking past the group towards the barn. “You remember what happened last time.”

“Last time?” Ruby frowned, not having the faintest idea as to what she was talking about.

The other Rubies, however, simply laughed her confusion off as if it was the funniest thing in the world, bewildering her even more. “Oh, Ruby!” the naval Ruby chuckled with a wave of her hand. “You’re so forgetful!”

“Alright,” the lead Ruby spoke up, sobering the squad up to more serious matters. “Let’s search the barn!”

“Yes, Ruby!” the others all dutifully saluted, though once again, Ruby interjected in a desperate attempt at stopping them.

“Wait!” she exclaimed nervously, glancing around for something, anything that could get them out of this tight strait. “You can’t, b-because… uh…”

“You have to play baseball!” Steven interupted, largely without thinking as he stole the briefest of glances down at the bat in his hands.

“Baseball?” Dipper and Mabel both echoed, exchanging a baffled glance at this.

The Rubies, however, were even more lost than the twins were, looking to each other as they tried to make sense of exactly what this ‘baseball’ thing was. Fortunately though, Steven didn’t waste any time in explaining the terms that, by all accounts, he was largely making up as he went along. “Yeah! It’s a human thing. I-if you win, you can go inside the barn and look around, a-and if you lose, you… uh… gotta leave forever!”

Upon hearing these conditions, the twins looked to each other once more before meeting Steven’s glance back towards them, all three of them joining Ruby in desperately hoping this wildly reckless plan would somehow work. And yet, by some chance of fate or miracle or something else entirely, it actually did.

For the most Ruby and the kids could do was stare, dumbfounded, as the lead Ruby slowly nodded in agreement with this bizarre wager. “Base… ball…”

***

“Baseball?!” Just about everyone back inside the barn was equally confused upon hearing Steven’s impromptu plan, and understandably so. After all, between all the ways they could have possibly dealt with the Rubies, this was by far the most bewildering, something that Sapphire didn’t hesitate to point out right off the bat.

“I saw this as a possibility…” she noted thoughtfully. “Though I am surprised that this is the path we’re taking.”

“But why even bother?” Ford asked, sparing a brief glare out towards the Ruby squad. “We have more than enough manpower and resources to outdo five tiny Rubies—no offense to you personally, Ruby-” He corrected, though he still caught a rather sardonic glance from the red Gem all the same. “So why don’t we just save ourselves some time and take care of them the easy way as opposed to… the ridiculous way?”

“Because if we simply poof and bubble them, then Homeworld will just send even more in their place,” Sapphire noted simply, evenly.

“And,” Mabel interjected much more pleadingly. “We can’t just beat them up! I mean, just look at how cute and cube-y they all are! Especially Leggy.”

“Leggy?” Pearl asked, raising an eyebrow.

“Oh, me and Mabel named each of them based on the placement of their gems,” Steven explained. “There’s Leggy, Army…”

“Navy, Eyeball,” Mabel pointed to the other Rubies outside of the barn. “And… uh….”

“Doc!” Steven finished, giving the undecided lead Ruby a name at last.

“Well… that is easier than just calling them all ‘Ruby’,” Dipper shrugged, following the pair’s rather odd logic.

“So we gonna beat these squares at baseball or nah?” Amethyst cut in, getting the group back on track.

“Yeah!” the kids cheered, ready to do just that.

“All we gotta do is go out there and pretend to be human,” Steven grinned. “Well, I mean, the Gems have to pretend. That already comes naturally for me and you guys,” he nodded over at the Pines.

“Hmph, it sure does,” Stan remarked, slowly smirking as he glanced outside of the barn with an emerging idea. “In fact… that might be exactly what’ll get those tiny twerps out of our hair…”

“What do you mean?” Dipper asked, confused.

“Look, all I’m sayin’ is that short, loud, and cranky over here didn’t know jack squat about how things work here on Earth when she was holed up in the shack’s bathroom,” Stan began, motioning over to Peridot.

“Hey!” the green Gem huffed, offended. “I know plenty about the Earth and how it functions now!”

“Suuuure, you do, now,” the conman rolled his eyes. “But those chumps out there sure don’t.” Sure enough, as everyone looked out to the Ruby squad, they were still largely meandering about, uncertain of their new surroundings. While Leggy was fascinated with the feel of the grass she was sitting on, Army was aggressively chasing down a bee that had flown by her in the hopes of obliterating it, all while Eyeball was engaged in an intense staring match with the sun itself. “So its not like any of them would know if we… oh, I don’t know… tweaked the rules of this baseball game just a bit to tip the scales in our favor?”

“Grunkle Stan!” Mabel gasped, appalled. “I can’t believe you! Are you saying we should cheat?!””

“Uh, yeah, I’m saying we should cheat,” Stan said quite flippantly. “You wanna get rid of these square simpletons without beating them senseless, right? And ya wanna use baseball to do it? Well then, cheating is bound to be our best bet for making things go nice ‘n easy.”

“Hm… I can’t believe I’m saying this, but… I actually agree with you, Stan,” Pearl frowned diffidently. “After all, if we don’t cheat, then there’s a significant chance those Rubies could win, despite not knowing much of anything about the basics of baseball…”

“And then they’ll find me and I’ll be DOOMED!” Peridot cried, hunkering down in fear.

“Not as long as you stay here in the barn and hide,” Steven pointed out, offering the green Gem a comforting smile.

“And as long as we cheat,” Stan added with a satisfied smile.

“As… absolutely morally bankrupt as that is,” Ford remarked, sending his brother a dour look that he hardly even noticed.

“So… cheating at baseball it is then?” Dipper asked tentatively glancing around.

“Yeah!” Amethyst cheered daringly. “Cheating at baseball! And if that doesn’t work, we go back to the plan where we ambush ‘em!” Her grin widened as she held up a baseball bat once more, shaking it around threateningly.

“No, we don’t,” Sapphire shook her head. “Baseball… and, well… cheating should suffice. Hopefully.”

“Great!” Steven grinned, relived to hear this coming from the clairvoyant blue Gem herself. “So, is everybody in?” The others all largely nodded with varying degrees of enthusiasm, save for one, who had largely been hanging back in the shadows of the barn the entire time, completely unengaged in the conversation until the young Gem called her out. “Lapis?”

The blue Gem looked up, her arms crossed and her expression stoic, until she ended up folding into a small, snort of a chuckle over just how bizarre this entire situation really was. “This plan sucks.”

***

Not wanting to keep the Ruby squad waiting any longer than they had to, the Pines and the Gems made their last minute preparations for the baseball brawl ahead of them. In an effort to be more discreet, Pearl, Sapphire, Amethyst, and Lapis all shifted their attire to more casual wear, both for the sake of blending in and for hiding their respective gemstones in various ways. Likewise, Mabel encouraged the humans among the group to do the same as she took of her sweater and tied her hair up, relieved Dipper of his vest while turning his hat backwards, much to his annoyance, and encouraged both Stan and Ford to take off their respective overcoats to look more ‘sporty’. And once they were all set up and solidified on their plan, the collective group emerged to meet their opposing team, which Ruby made sure to slip back into without much notice at all.

“We’re the humans!” Steven announced, beginning the line-off of the supposedly ‘human’ team. “Steven!”

“Mabel!”

“Dipper!”

“Stan!”

“Ford.”

“Earl!” Pearl provided a false, rather clever name as she tipped her hat down a bit to conceal her gemstone.

“Amy!” Amethyst grinned, crossing her arms and adjusting the scarf around her neck to hide her own stone better.

“Bob,” Lapis said flatly, completely unengaged in the competitive spirit the others shared.

“And Sophie!” Sapphire finished brightly, electing a hot, flustered blush from Ruby on the other side of the line.

“Understood,” Doc nodded gruffly. “Our team is the Rubies! Consisting of… Ruby!”

“Ruby!”

“Ruby!”

“Ruby!”

“Ruby!”

“And Ruby!”

“Uh… we’re still gonna call them by their cute little nicknames, right?” Mabel whispered to Steven, aside.

“Oh, definitely.”

“Hey, hold up!” Doc interjected, eyeing the other team suspiciously. “Aren’t there more of you than there are of us…?”

“Uh…” Steven began, unsure of how to explain this very obvious disparity between the two teams. After all, they outnumbered the Rubies by three, a sight that just about anyone could see as plain as day. Fortunately though, he didn’t have to come up with a reasoning for this as Stan did so for him.

“Oh, what, you don’t know?” the conman asked, putting on a wry, knowing front. “Six to nine is how you’re supposed to play baseball. And since we’re on our turf, we’re the team that gets to have nine.”

“Hm… that seems a little unfair…” Leggy noted with a small frown.

“Nah, its totally fair,” Dipper shrugged, completely in on Stan’s act for the sake of the greater good. “You guys just don’t know how the game works. It’ll make way more sense once we actually get started.”

The Rubies exchanged something of a dubious glance at this, briefly chatting among themselves as they tried to make sense of this odd rule before Steven went on to explain the others. “So here’s how it works. We take turns throwing the ball at each other. The batter tries to hit the ball with the bat, and then they run around the bases. Whoever gets the most runs wins. You get three tires to hit the ball, but if you miss each of those tries-”

“Then you loose points,” Stan cut in succinctly.

“Huh?” Mabel frowned, confused upon hearing this. “No, you don-”

“And,” the conman continued, rushing to cover his niece’s mouth before she could blab out the truth. “Ya also gotta wear these shirts.” He held up five small-sized t-shirts, each of them reading “Baby’s First Baseball Game” in large, bright, rather embarrassing letters. “And only you guys gotta wear the shits because… uh… cause I don’t have enough for our team. Yeah, that works.”

“Stanley, why on earth do you have those?” Ford asked, sending his brother an incredulous look.

“…I have my reasons…”

“Alright, everyone!” Steven called both teams to order to finally get things started as he tossed the first baseball up in the air. “Let’s… play ball!”

And that’s exactly what they did. The Rubies were up to bat first, with the ‘human’ team taking to the bases and outfield. With everyone in position, Ruby stepped up to the plate first, sending Steven a coy wink out on the pitcher’s mound that she was on the same page as he was when it came to the plan. The young Gem nodded, winding up his pitch before tossing the ball her way. And, quite intentionally, the red Gem swung just a bit too late as it passed over the home plate and landed in Amethyst’s glove instead.

“Striiiiike one!”

“What?!” Army snapped from the sidelines, the other Rubies just as outraged to see one of their own miss such a simple ball.

“Striiiiiike two!” the purple Gem called as Ruby swung too early this time, trying her best to act casual about it as she did so once more.

“Striiiike three!”

“Oh darn!” Ruby shrugged, dropping the bat. “Guess I’m out!” At this, Sapphire let out a small chuckle from the far side of the field, playfully waving over at the red Gem, who discreetly smiled back at her.

“You swung too slow!” Army snapped her back into reality as she punched her hard in the back, prompting her to hurry back over to the other Rubies. “Do it like this.”

Steven was admittedly a bit more nervous as he pitched to Army, and with good reason. For not only did the arm Gem swing perfectly on time, but she hit the ball with such incredible force that it went flying hard and high up into the air, soaring past the field to the point that it disappeared entirely into the distant hills. “Aaaand… that’s called a home run…” Steven sighed, disappointed as Army proudly walked the bases in full.

Still, the next several rounds of the first inning played out in steady succession. The Rubies managed to score another point thanks to a precise hit from Doc, one that Ford tossed back to home plate just seconds shy of the chest Gem running over it. Even so, Pearl managed to land a lucky catch, striking Navy out instantly. Likewise, Mabel eagerly snatched up a ball hit by Eyeball and happened to tag her out just as the eye Gem ran by her base, though she did catch quite a bit of ire from said Gem in doing so. And in the process, the Ruby squad hit their first three outs, prompting not only a switch in sides, but a switch in uniform as Stan handed off the rather embarrassing t-shirts to each one of them (including Ruby, who took it in stride, considering the circumstances).

With this change, Amethyst was the first up to bat, seemingly hardly invested in the game at all as she reeled her bat back. However, she still managed to catch Doc’s pitch squarely, hitting it completely out of the park with a single, mighty swing. Still, to make sure none of the Rubies caught it, the purple Gem jumped into a spin dash, laughing wildly as she rolled around all of the bases before making it back home in record time.

“Nice!” Pearl cheered from the sidelines.

“See? Amethyst gets it,” Stan remarked with a satisfied smile. “That’s what I call cheating.”

“Wow! That purple human is really good!” Leggy exclaimed, amazed from the infield.

“Haha! Yeah!” Steven laughed nervously as he hurried up to Amethyst to push her away from the diamond. “Us humans, we’re, uh, full of surprises!” Even so, the young Gem dropped his voice down to a worried whisper to the purple Gem in particular, lest she blow their cover entirely. “Amethyst, be careful!”

Fortunately, the Rubies wouldn’t get any more possible cause for suspicious as Dipper stepped up to bat next. He was admittedly a bit shaky as he did so, not entirely experienced with the game, though he hoped his swordsmanship skills would somehow serve him well here as well. Even so, he did outright miss the first pitch, as well as the second, though he did hit the third ball successfully… right over to first base, where Eyeball easily caught it, instantly striking him out.

“Oh! Great job, Dipper!” Lapis cheered, finally breaking out of her consistently dour attitude as he walked back over to the bench, disgruntled.

“Uh… Lapis? I struck out…” Dipper pointed out with a confused frown.

“I know!” the blue Gem smiled somewhat obliviously, though clearly proudly. “I saw! And you did a amazing job of it! Congratulations!”

Dipper didn’t really know what to say to this as he exchanged a bewildered glance with Steven. Even so, the young Gem was quick to let out a leveling sigh as he took stock of their current status. “O-ok, this is fine, its just one out. We still have two more chances to catch up to them!”

“Um… you might not want to speak so soon on that…” Ford spoke up, nodding to home plate, where Sapphire had just stepped up to bat. With Ruby as umpire however, it was immediately clear from the get-go that both of them were more than distracted by each other.

“Heeeeey, Ruby,” Sapphire smirked, widely swinging as she missed Doc’s first pitch altogether. “Nice shirt.”

“Striiiiike one!”

“Heh, you really like it?” the red Gem blushed brightly.

“Mmhm,” Sapphire swung far too early this time, far before Doc could even pitch at all, though she hardly even seemed to care as she continued conversing with her significant other. “It brings out your eyes.”

“Aw…” Ruby chuckled, warmly flustered as she put on the act that she knew she was supposed to be playing at. “Say, haven’t I seen you somewhere before?”

“I don’t know,” the blue Gem all but ignored Doc as she winded up her next throw. “I don’t get off-planet much.”

“Striiiiike two!”

The pair of Gems shared an affectionate laugh over this, not noticing the confusion of both the Rubies in the field and the group watching from the sidelines.

“What’s going on?” Steven asked fretfully. “What are they doing?”

“Flirting,” Lapis said flatly.

“Uh oh…” Pearl frowned, catching the young Gem’s worry.

“Ooooooh my gosh! Those two just get cuter and cuter every time we see them together!” Mabel gushed, about the only one among the group excited by this turn of events. “Where’s my camera when I need it? I gotta capture this moment for “the Best of Ruby and Sapphire” section of my scrapbook!”

“Now’s really not the time, Mabel!” Dipper scolded, crossing his arms.

“Striiiike THREE!” Doc called as Sapphire missed her final pitch, finally breaking the couple out of their romantic revere. They exchanged a brief, anxious glance at this, both of them realizing as they met the disappointed glances of their teammates, that they had been the sole cause of their second out.

The team’s third out, however, did come after a successful series of hits that led to Stan scoring a home run, though an unfortunate catch of Ford’s first hit right after that led to another switch in sides as the first inning came to a close. Still, it didn’t take very long for the Rubies to get their first out either as Lapis narrowly managed to catch Eyeball’s high ball just by inching a bit over to the left. Wanting to ensure they didn’t fall too far behind, Stan enacted another cheating tactic as he heckled Leggy as she was up to bat with the old ‘swing batter batter’ trick, which worked far too well in the most innocent of the Rubies. However, the squad did score yet another point thanks to Ruby once again distracting herself by fixing her gaze on Sapphire in the outfield, accidentally hitting the ball in the process, eliciting an excited, if not misguided cheer from her partner. The hit allowed Doc to make it back to home, much to the other Rubies’ elation, save for the very one who had hit it in the first place as she happened to catch Steven, Pearl, Dipper, and a few others shake their head disapprovingly at her.

The next several innings all followed in what almost felt like a dizzying succession. With each changing of the bat between teams, Stan made sure to spice things up on the Rubies’ end of things, hoping that one of his attempts would finally be enough to trip them up completely. Between encouraging them to close their eyes to catch the ball better, to telling them to hold the bat upside down, the Rubies all gullibly fell for his ‘tips’, much to the conman’s immense amusement. However, even these scams did little to prevent the squad from maintaining their surprising lead, a lead that the ‘human’ team could never seem to catch up with, despite their best efforts.

Even if Steven, Dipper, Ford, and Pearl ranged from subpar to standard when it came to the game, Amethyst, Stan, and even Mabel managed to carry the team in most degrees. However, if there was any sole factor keeping them from getting ahead, it had to be Ruby and Sapphire. Despite several scoldings and warnings to keep their cover up, the couple simply couldn’t keep away from each other as they continued stealing loving glances from each other instead of stealing bases. They continued affectionately shooting the breeze instead of striking the ball. And, even as intentional as it was, they continued focusing less on the game as they focused far too much on each other instead.

As hectic as the game was getting, Steven and Mabel still made a quick check in on Peridot inside the barn as they hurried to fetch another bat to replace the one that Eyeball had snapped clean in half. “Hey, how’s it going?” the green Gem whispered to the pair, making sure to remain as out of sight as she could as they rushed past her. “Are we winning?”

“Umm…” Steven frowned as he looked back over to the game. Of course, what he saw was none other than Ruby teaching Sapphire how to properly swing, the pair whispering sweet nothings to each other all the while as Eyeball watched them suspiciously from afar. A sign that if the couple kept their continuous barrage of flirting up, then their cover would be blown to pieces in no time at all.

“Ahah! We’re doing great, Peri!” Mabel cut in with a loud, forced laugh. “No need to worry! We got this in the bag!”

“Y-yeah,” Steven agreed much more anxiously as they began to rush back towards the game. “E-everything’s gonna be a-ok!”

“You’re lying to me!” Peridot snapped angrily.

“To make you feel better!”

“…Thank you!”

Before anyone could even see it coming, the final inning of the game had arrived, and with it, a far-too close score for comfort. The Rubies had kept their lead throughout the entire game, though the other team wasn’t that far behind, set back by only a single point. A point that could cost them more than just the game if they didn’t somehow manage to score it back.

“Ok,” Steven began as the team huddled up to discuss this issue. “It’s the bottom of the ninth. We’ve got Lapis on second, but one more out and its game over for us.”

“Uh… it might end up being game over for us anyway…” Dipper noted, nodding towards home plate as Sapphire all-too-casually approached it.

“N-not if she hits a home run!” Mabel professed, hopeful.

“Why do I feel like the chances of that happening are… highly unlikely given our track record here?” Ford asked, frowning as Ruby and Sapphire engaged each other in playful conversation once more.

“Eh, we can always just tell them that there are more than nine winnings and that we keep going till we win,” Stan shrugged, unconcerned. “Its not like it won’t work; those Rubes fall for anything.”

“True, but do we really want to keep this going forever?” Pearl asked, voicing a sentiment that just about everyone agreed on.

“Looks like there’s only one thing to do then,” Steven took in a deep breath, determined as he looked over to the couple. “Hey! I call a timeout!” He managed to stop Doc just short of her first pitch, giving him enough time to slip up to the pair at home to give them a much-needed prep talk. “Listen, you two,” he began, his tone quite serious as he looked between the surprised couple. “I know its hard being seperated, but we have to keep them out of the barn or they’re gonna find Peridot, remember?! Ruby, stop being cute, and Sapphire, keep your eye on the ball!”

“Pun… intended?” Ruby attempted to joke, though it hardly amused Steven whatsoever.

“What did I just say?” the young Gem huffed, sending a warning glare at the pair as he headed back over to the bench.

“You really think this is gonna work?” Dipper asked, aptly nervous as Steven returned.

“We always got the ambush thing as a backup plan, so no worries,” Amethyst assured, patting a spare bat into her hands.

“Aw, c’mon, you guys, have a little more faith in them!” Mabel urged earnestly. “Garnet always comes through for us, which means Ruby and Sapphire will too! Right?”

None of the others really had much of an answer for this as they all intently looked to the game watch more, desperately hoping that the couple would do just that. However, the chances of that happening didn’t seem very good as Sapphire missed the first pitch, though not for a genuine lack of actually trying to hit it this time.

“Strike one!”

While a growing wave of worry washed over the team on the bench, the Rubies exchanged a confident collective glance, assured of their soon to come victory at hand. However, though everyone else had their doubts in the blue Gem’s ability to carry them home, her partner had no such concerns whatsoever. “Come on, I know you can do it,” she whispered to Sapphire, gently yet encouragingly. As anxious as the blue Gem herself was, Ruby’s warming words did manage to raise her spirits somewhat, though not enough for her to land a successful swing on the next ball.

“Strike two!”

“Just look at the ball,” Ruby instructed, her tone steady when everything else felt like it wasn’t.

“I’m trying…” Sapphire whispered back, gripping the bat tighter as she watched Doc wind up another pitch. “But all I want to look at is you.”

“Don’t worry,” Ruby grinned. “You can look at me when you’re running for home.”

The blue Gem took in a soft gasp at this, though ultimately a wide, loving smile filled her face, her affections for the red Gem soaring higher than ever before. In fact, this promise was just enough to provide her with the solid determination she needed to face the final pitch head on.

Confident that this would be the final ball of the game, Doc threw it fast and hard, surrounding it with burning flames as she sent it flying for home. However, unlike every single time before, this time Sapphire struck it, swinging wide to the point that she caught the ball and held it there. The blue Gem stood her ground, letting out a fierce shout as she doused the flames entirely, coating the bat in a thick, sturdy sheet of ice. And, fueled by both her resolve to win and her feelings for Ruby, she sent that ball flying, letting it rebound in an icy blast towards the skies.

There wasn’t a chance for any of the Rubies to catch it as it disappeared into the clouds, allowing Lapis to score a casual home run all the way from second base. Sapphire, on the other hand, was by far more excited, dashing between the bases all for the sake of reuniting with her partner once more. The team on the sidelines cheered with newfound elation as the Rubies all watched in sour disappointment while the blue Gem rounded third, laughing brightly as she made the final stretch towards Ruby’s awaiting arms.

“Come to me!” she encouraged cheerfully and Sapphire happily complied, leaping for her and easily falling into her open embrace. However, amidst their affectionate excitement, both Gems failed to notice as their forms were enveloped in light until that light ended up bringing them together one more.

Garnet still shared Ruby and Sapphire’s laughter as she landed on the ground, momentarily lost to the joy of her respective halves. That is, until she realized exactly what had happened and the many sets of eyes that were now on her as she did. “…Oops.”

“Welp, forget the whole cheating thing,” Stan remarked dryly, tossing his bat aside dismissively. “Cause this whole operation just fell apart.”

“I’ll say…” Pearl muttered tightly, already starting to prepare for the no-doubt violent fallout.

“They’re GEMS!” Doc shouted in appalled realization.

“We’ve been tricked!” Army growled, absolutely outraged by the deception as Eyeball joined in with a fierce, frustrated growl.

“What a turn of events!” Navy gasped, seemingly surprised.

“Huh? What?” Leggy chimed in, completely lost as to what had just happened.

“Sorry, guys,” Garnet apologized, rising to stand as the others all rushed to join her. “Game’s over.”

“Why, I bet all of those ‘tips’ you kept giving us about how to play baseball weren’t even true either!” Doc snapped at Stan specifically, though the conman hardly seemed to care.

“Uh, no duh,” the conman deadpanned, crossing his arms. “What was your first clue? The part where I told ya that only pansies wear catcher’s mitts while playing baseball? Or was it the shirts? It was probably the shirts, though I do have to give you twerps credit for actually wearing those things the entire game.”

Upon hearing this, Doc was the first to rip her t-shirt off in a heated rage, followed not too far behind by Eyeball and Army, with Navy doing so much more casually. Leggy, on the other hand, was the only one to hold onto the article of clothing a moment longer, looking down at it with a fretful frown. “Aw… but I kinda like mine…”

“TAKE IT OFF!” Army shouted, prompting the leg Gem to do so out of fear alone.

“That’s it!” Doc exclaimed boldly, ready to put these tricky humans and Gems alike in their place. “RUBIES! COMIBINE!”

The other Rubies quickly did so, all piling on top of one other in a steady formation that very quickly led to a fusion. Said fusion was ultimately just one singular massive Ruby, sporting all five of the gemstones of its various components as it towered over the group before it, large and intimidating as it let out a mighty roar. For a moment, no one really knew quite what to do against this surprisingly substantial threat, though in yet another sudden turn of events, they found they didn’t have to.

“WAIT!” Peridot cried from the barn, not hesitating to rush out of her hiding spot before the Ruby fusion could even try to attack the others. She scampered frantically across the barnyard over to the group, outright tripping and falling over herself several times along the way, but even so, she arrived to place herself in front of the others and in harm’s way instead. “Wait! Stop! Please! I-its me you’re after, right? I’m not gonna stand by and let my friends fight by battles!”

“Whoa, Peridot, that’s… surprisingly heroic of you,” Dipper noted, impressed as even Lapis nodded in awestruck agreement.

“Aww, Peri loves us!” Mabel chimed in, warmed by the green Gem’s sentiment.

All the same, the Ruby fusion simply leaned in, scowling threateningly down at the much smaller Peridot all the while. “Are you the Peridot assigned to the failed Earth mission?” she asked, her voice deep, slow, and admittedly scary.

“N-not sure if ‘failed’ would be the right word to-”

“Where is Jasper?” the Ruby fusion interupted starkly, catching just about everyone else off guard completely.

“You’re looking… for Jasper?” Peridot asked, beyond confused by this turn.

“Correct.”

“W-wait, but I’m the one who betrayed the mission!” the green Gem professed hotly. “Who called Yellow Diamond a clod! Who saved all these simple humans from sure destruction! The new leader of the Crystal Gems!”

“What?” Pearl looked to her, baffled upon hearing such a bold assumption.

“Excuse me?” Ford likewise echoed, hands on his hips as he sent the green Gem a critical glance.

“We don’t CARE!” the Ruby fusion snapped thunderously. “Tell us where Jasper is NOW!”

“Jasper, um… w-we know where Jasper is, she’s…” Peridot trailed off, looking to the others for some sort of explanation. Though of course, the only answer any of the other Gems really had to give was that she had fallen somewhere into the depths of the Earth back on the island. Something that they couldn’t very well just outright tell to the already incensed Ruby fusion standing before them now.

“WELL?!” said fusion shouted impatiently.

“Uhh…”

“Neptune!” Steven suddenly interjected, shouting out the first and most distant planet he could think of. “She’s on the planet Neptune!”

For what seemed like ages, no one said anything to this, largely since they hoped that this bizarre ruse would be enough to convince the Rubies. And sure enough, it certainly was as the fusion backed off, smiling contentedly with this information, however false it might have been. “Well, why didn’t you just say so?”

Both Gems and Pines alike let out a shared sigh of relief as the Rubies unfused, seemingly peaceful as they prepared to take their leave to continue their search for the missing orange Gem. “We all here?” Doc asked, doing another quick headcount of her team. “One, two, three, four, and… ha! Five!” She grinned, finally including herself on that count to square off her entire squad. “To the planet Neptune!”

“Let’s move out, soldiers!” Army called, beckoning the others to head back to the ship.

“Neptune! What a lovely sounding planet!” Navy grinned, skipping blithely after the others.

“B-but we just got here!” Leggy frowned, though she did stop short to pick up her discarded ‘Baby’s First Baseball Game’ shirt. “I’m just gonna… take this…”

“Let’s go, newbie!” Doc interjected, grabbing Leggy and dragging her, as well as her shirt, back over to the ship.

Out of all the Rubies, however, Eyeball was the last to linger, looking to the group before her intensely before she showed her stiff, admittedly frightening gratitude. “Thank you.”

And with that, the squad all piled up back into their ship, which roared to life once more as it picked itself up out of the ground and lifted up into the air once again. This time, however, it showed no signs of ill-intent as it simply warped itself away, disappearing back into the vast expanse of space from whence it came and leaving a very bewildered group behind in its wake.

“Uh… y-yeah, that’s right!” Stan heckled after the group even after their ship had left. “And don’t come back either, otherwise we’ll pound ya into the ground in some other sport, like… uh… anyone good at hockey around here?”

“Aw, I’m gonna miss those guys,” Mabel frowned. “They really were adorable when they weren’t trying to kill us.”

“Am I the only one who thinks that ended way too easily?” Dipper asked, somewhat concerned.

“Nah, man,” Amethyst remarked, hands on her hips as she shook her head incredulously. “Rubies are dumb.”

Garnet, on the other hand, smirked at this, adjusting her shades as she kept her sights set on the skies the Rubies had disappeared into, half of her knowing very well that out of all their kind, one Ruby in particular always had, and always would stand apart. “Not all of them.”

 Next: 

#jen writes #universe falls #gravity falls #steven universe #crossover #au #hit the diamond #steven #dipper #mabel #stan #ford #garnet #ruby #sapphire #amethyst #pearl #lapis #peridot #ruby squad #keyword is baseball

[apurpleaddledbaker]

Clown => Encounter Smol Clown

RP thread with @knivesandfaygo

In Which Derse Clowns Are Really Bad At This Looking After Themselves Bullshit >:o(

Gamzee

You are one Gamzee Makara and you think it's still pretty cold and snowing outside? You think? Not too real sure cause you've kinda been napping on and off in Eridan's room, he is not here or using it and you have permission so hibernate you have been doing. Either way you've emerged from the room to get some food and something warm in you. You haven't left your blanket cocoon fully though, motherfuck no, still cold as all kinds of motherfuck and you're gonna bring your favourite of the soft materials with you, no fucks ta be given. Yours now, you rubbed your face on it, it's the rules. So that's how you'd be found, wearing a blanket like one of those cape thingys and heating up some leftovers in the kitchen. S'all good.

Karako

Your name is Karako Pierot and you are having a pretty spiffy day. Still colder than the depths of someplace real cold that you don't know about since you didn't stick round to have much more probably schooling beyond basic reading. while you were picking up chocolate for that pink cat lady you just met today, you also snagged some of the best snack ever. MOTHERFUCKIN POPCORN. HONK!!! You with your normal level of eagerness and excitement, zoom into the kitchen to pop this good corn and douse it in butter and salt. YAS!!! As you rush in,  you encounter a blanket creature and come to a screeching halt with a startled honk.

Gamzee

You yourself are a bit startled by the sudden noise behind ya, lifting up your head where you'd placed it on the counter to be watching the spin spin spin spin spin spin - no, don't get distracted again, focus please - of the reheating miracle occurring 'fore your eyes and turn towards the source of it. Well, you haven't really lifted your head much, you're still pretty much resting it on the counter just more on ya chin than ya cheek. Ah ok, s'just your small bro Karako, s'all good. One of your hands emerges from the fabric to wave at him all sleep-dumb lazy, "hey there," the words have gotta be paused on account of you yawning, sharp, unperfect fangs on display before your claw closes with a snap. "Bro. What's gots you this fine morning?" It's late afternoon. Shhhhh, no time for technicals... time to nuzzle into your soft fabric, all rich violet and expensive softness, s'good shit. You're gonna steal it later.

Karako

Oh the blanket beast is Gamzee. That's not surprising really but it does make you grin happily. "Hey! I gots popcorn!" you honk with great glee. "Ima make so much and munch all up on the goodness!"

Gamzee

Blink once, long slow and hum a soft noise. "That's being sounding all kinds a motherfuckin miraculous, hope you enjoy that." Popcorns good, sometimes, when it's not oversalted and is butter-drenched. Good shit. "Just, just be ya careful ya don't get it stuck in ya motherfuckin teeth none, yeah?" That's popcorn right? Or is that something else?? You're not too sure, you're pretty sure it is but then again, pretty sure ain't mean no thing with your head. It's all very :o? Wait, no, focus again, not allowed to wander. "Imma be finishing with the reheating soon enough, then ya'll be motherfuckin free to it." There we go, good clown. "Ya been doing alright?"

Karako

You gasp with the horror which only a  popcorn enthusiast could at the suggestion you microwave you popcorn. "Can't cook popcorn in a microwave. Gotta do it on a stove! I done been learning how," you honk with a grin. To his question you honk, "Yeah I been real good. Fingers keep getting cold but I am doin great!"

Gamzee

Another little hum, a slight shift of your hand that might be dismissive or might be accepting, hard to be deciding on it right now, hard to be deciding on most things right now. S'good. "Whatever be making ya pumper sing bro, just don't be burnin the motherfuckin kitchen down else Deuce'll be an upset." You finally get yourself the energy together to be standing all straight-like, the bones in your spine popping and creaking with all their little unkind noises as you do and no, no blanket, not allowed to escape, behave >:o( Wait, what? "Cold fingers ain't good none," small bit a concern now, look at him a closer, bit clearer, bit more there in the moment. "Likely ta lose a hand that way, ain't you got gloves none?"

Karako

Oh whoops. You done gone and mad him worry. Bad little clown. You totally casually stuff your hands in your pockets after setting down the popcorn so he won't see your threadbare gloves. "Oh yeah yeah, I got gloves," you honk in an attempt to be reassuring as you smile. You're aware you have on your best winter stuff right now as you'd been too excited to properly change out of them. You know they ain't great, but you'll buy better stuff.... eventually... You suddenly feel guilty for treating yourself to popcorn.

Gamzee

Nah, now, you ain't acceptin none a that bullshit, 'specially not when you done pulled it yourself. Not happening little honk, not today. Your eyes narrow, you pull yourself a little straighter, outta that slouch now there you go. "Show me." His shit really ain't the best for this weather, that needs fixing 'fore the next season, ya'll run cold and the chill gets to a clown real motherfuckin bothersome like. Ya can fix that though, might maybe making a deal or two with the fashion sister ta help ya out on that front... Should also probably consider making a deal or four ta get a nice nice set a things for your own self, you ain't got no thing at all for if you get dragged somewhere real nice and uncomfortable expensin and - No, bad honk, back on track with you. Little honk first, other shit for later.

Karako

Your eyes are looking everywhere but towards him as you pull out your hands, stull gloved in the thin maybe just a touch too small mittens you've been using for the past.... You can't really remember how long ago you nicked these. See, gloves. You wear gloves like a good honk. It's all good. Ha ha....

Gamzee

You huff in something that might be a bit too similar to your diamond and reach out to be inspecting better what ya eyes tell ya, can't always trust 'em, liars they are at times. The fins of your ears twitch as you look at 'em, too small for his hands, starting ta fray and fall away in places, too worn to be doing much of any good. Yeah, ya'll gonna fix this shit. "Getting ya a new set," it's decided, you're using that firm steady voice ya be forgetting ya got too often. "I'll cover it, don't worry none about that. Get ya new stuff for the next season too, yeah?"

Karako

"But... But I'm making money now... I just gotta... save a lil..." you honk waiting for him to criticize you as much you are currently doing to yourself for getting the popcorn.

Gamzee

"Nope, I've gots it," no arguing little honk >:o| "Think it like... late hatchday gift or something," one day you will understand shit like that, probably not though cause you still don't give anything of the like even a bit of your attending but maybe. "Ya can save for something else, shoes that won't break or something." Motherfuck were good shoes expensive though, 'specially when ya had to get ones ya claws wouldn't tear through within a few weeks, the fuckers.

Karako

Your head bows and you bite your lip. You appreciate his kindness but you also feel... small... like a small bother folks gotta look after. At least he hasn't seen you fingers you think, a little relieved. You're sure you'll have them back to the right color with a little bit of heat. They do sting though. "I uh... Thanks... I kinda forgot about my hatch day. It was a while back," you admit with some honks. "I'm 19 of them human years now."

Gamzee

"Hey, now, none a that down-looking stuff," you curl your knuckle under his chin, nails curled towards your own self to keep them sharp sharp nails away from his skin. "We church, we look after our own," when you weren't tearing each other apart. "Sides, ya did me some lookin after when the greys had me small, making sure ya stay warmer and keep ya limbs is being the least I can be doing." Probably also the most, maybe, clown shrug here. "S'an alright age," you remember being that age, motherfuckin chaotic little shit you were, not yet grown into ya first adult moult. "S'alright ta forget it, I do mine." Difference being his was most likely just information slipping where yours was the most motherfuckin purposeful of ignorance.

Karako

You try to smile a little and honk, "Well you're bro...Looking after you was what I wanted ta do..." Oh... is... does he... feel the same about you? You're not a wriggler but, maybe he sees you like that sorta? You don't know. "Aight... Thanks ya, I'll be real happy for some gloves," you concede with a few soft honks.

Gamzee

You spend another second looking at him with your narrowed eyes, firm look 'fore nodding and letting him go. Time to get your retreating on back into your personal space and the blanket that is yours now because you've decided Eridan can't have it back, your pretty soft now. "Motherfuckin exactly, so Imma do it," that might have been a bit muffled, you don't real care much. Your leftovers must've finished their miraculous reheating while you were focused on Karako cause it's done and still now and ready to be all kinds of motherfuckin enjoyed so you're gonna do that now. Careful handling cause it's motherfuckin hot. "You was gonna be enjoying yaself some popping corn, yeah? Have a good time with that."

Karako

You honk with a nod while giving him a thumbs up. With a grin you honk, "Hell yeah I was!" Good. He didn't dig deeper. You'll have to get your fingers back to normal before he gets you any gloves that why he'll never know.

Gamzee

Time for you to be getting your eat on, out here. You aren't gonna be getting no crumb things in anyone's room, no you are not. You're gonna be the good guest so you can maybe do it again. Aside from the stolen blanket but that's just something that's gotta be accepted. Away you go, wave at the little honk, you're kinda done now.

Karako

You wave back and turn your attention back tot he popcorn. You look at it for a while after he leaves.... You shouldn't have gotten it.... You don't deserve the treat. You ought be saving for important shit that's gonna keep you alive and not a burden. You sigh and trod back to your room, curling up in bed and breathing heat onto your fingers. ....If someone takes your popcorn it'll serve you right.

Gamzee

Nobody's gonna be takin it cause you in all your absent-minding forget ta get you utensils so ya had to go back for 'em and noticed the packet. It has been shifted a bit with a note not ta be eatin it none, cause it's Karako's :o) The or else is implied.

#knivesandfaygo #rp log #discord rp #IC #Offline

[texanredrose]

(pulls up to window) yeah, can I get some purruby with 'announcing relationship to family and friends' and a side of 'awkward'?

Consider this a refried, deep fried special, with extra headcanons, free of charge *ding* order up.

Ruby fidgeted, looking around at the interior of the limousine with about a dozen awful scenarios bounding around in the back of her mind. This could go really, really bad, which she didn’t think would happen, but the thought it might made her restless. After all, it wasn’t every day that she had the chance to interact with legitimate royalty- okay, so that wasn’t exactly true, since she was dating Pyrrha, but she had no idea until recently that her girlfriend was actually the next in line for a throne, or that Remyscira’s monarchy still stood after all these years! Whenever they covered it in history classes, the teachers always made it sound like the small island off the coast of Mistral had joined the mainland’s government, like the line of Queens ruling over it had ended about a century ago, but nope! Apparently, that was still a thing!

So now, here she sat, in a fancy limousine beside her girlfriend, being escorted to the royal palace by a motorcade with her own family ogling just about everything in sight.

“Ya know, I gotta hand it to ya, Pyrrha. Never would’ve guessed you’d be into this sorta lifestyle,” Yang said, opening up the mini bar and grabbing a little bottle, pulling off the top and taking a sniff. Her nose immediately crinkled as she shook her head, muttering a curse under her breath. “But… I could get used to it.”

“It was very nice of your family to invite us over.” Taiyang chuckled, pulling the bottle from his eldest daughter’s hand and replacing the cap. “A shame Blake and Weiss couldn’t come. I would’ve loved to meet them!”

“Yeah, hehe, real shame!” Ruby offered a weak smile. She took solace in the fact that they really couldn’t be there, since Weiss had opted to go to Menagerie for spring break, but they also… didn’t actually extend the offer. She’d rationalized it at the time- Blake and Weiss were dating, they would obviously want to spend a lot of time together, and meeting royalty probably wouldn’t surprise either of them enough to change their plans- but now she kinda wished her roommate was there to chide her about being nervous.

What did she have to be nervous about, really? She and Pyrrha had dated for the past few years, they really liked each other, they’d spent a lot of time together between schoolwork and practices, and they liked each other’s friends.

Of course, the little detail that Ruby might’ve forgotten to mention to any member of her family that she’d started dating the Mistrali princess could have something to do with her sudden bout of nerves but… well, it wasn’t like Yang had owned up to dating either! They were both playing this weird game of ‘I kinda know you’re dating someone but you haven’t officially told me yet so we’re just going to pretend like it’s not a big deal’ which… honestly, it was exhausting.

“I’m sure you’ll have a chance to meet them once the school year ends, Mr. Xiao Long,” Pyrrha said with a smile. “It’s a pleasure to meet you myself and I’m sure my parents will be thrilled.”

“I’m not so sure.” He reached up, scratching at the back of his head. “I’m just a teacher from Patch. Not exactly suited to the blueblood life, though my daughters seem keen on making friends with them.”

“Hey, it’s not like we planned it!” Yang crossed her arms over her chest, probably just a little bit self conscious about the rough patches on her leather jacket. “We just happen to have a knack for getting uptight Princesses to relax. It’s a gift; you should be proud.”

“Well, I certainly am proud that you’ve both made so many friends while you’ve been away at school.” Taiyang glanced out the window as they pulled into the royal grounds, guards in shining metal armor patrolling the perimeter. “I was worried, ya know. A father worries about his girls.”

“Moms too; mine wasn’t exactly thrilled when I decided to study abroad,” the redhead said, sighing slightly. “She didn’t like the idea of me leaving home. Just… worries after me. And my sister.”

“Oh, she still lives with your folks, right?” Lilac eyes shone bright, a smile curling her sister’s lips. “Think she’d be up for a little arm wrestling?”

“You’re really going to challenge my little sister because you can’t beat me?”

“Hey, it’s not like you can beat me, either!” Yang chuckled, rotating her right shoulder. “Last time we arm wrestled, I swear you almost tore my arm out of socket.”

As the vehicle slowed to a stop, Ruby took a deep breath, watching as someone popped open the door. Yang was the first to move, never really liking being the passenger, and Taiyang followed, stretching out his back. She almost followed, but a hand grabbing hers stopped her, silver meeting emerald.

“We don’t have to tell them today,” Pyrrha said softly, giving her hand a little squeeze. “We can take our time.”

“No. I want to tell them, I do.” She sighed. “I’m just a little scared about how they’ll react. I mean… we’re not really good at this whole… royalty thing? If you hadn’t already noticed, which you probably had-”

“Ruby?” The redhead smiled wide, leaning closer and pressing a quick kiss to her cheek. “You’re doing wonderful. My parents will adore you, and your family. Just watch. Everything will be fine.”

She sincerely wished she could feel that sort of confidence but, really, how could she? When they were alone- just the two of them- it was easy; nothing whispered doubts into her ears. But around people, she’d always been a little more self conscious, a little more unsure, because people she could never understand the way she could machines. Nothing complicated about hydraulics or combustion- she could measure everything down to the smallest atom. That was easy!

Trying to predict how royalty would react to her family? How her family would react to her dating a bonafide Princess? Much different.

But the hand in hers reassured her, and she followed Pyrrha out of the limousine and up the literal red carpet. Into a building that looked like it hadn’t been changed in the slightest since the days when terrible creatures called Grimm roamed Remnant freely. She absolutely loved the architecture but it suddenly felt far more… imposing when also surrounded by fully armored guards.

“You know… Weiss would love to see all this,” she said, trying not to draw too much attention to herself as she clung to Pyrrha’s hand. “I think she’d appreciate the aesthetic.”

“Blake too; her own family maintains a similar estate in Menagerie, and they have guards posted more often than not, too.” The redhead chuckled. “I never thought I’d have so much in common with her. But I suppose that’s true with most of our friends.”

Our friends. Ruby swallowed as she tried not to imagine how that might change in the future. Honestly, she didn’t expect her family to object to her dating Pyrrha or for them to break up any time soon but… well, she also had to admit that her nerves were making those possibilities seem like real, tangible things.

What if Yang didn’t approve? Sure, her sister had only ever teased her about things before, and maybe she went overboard a time or two, but that was years ago. 

But what if she didn’t?

She was psyching herself out. Yang would probably be thrilled; she liked Pyrrha as a friend and teammate and they got on great. And Dad- he’d be super happy that she was actually dating, given how he’d worried about her not being able to make friends while away at college. This should really be nothing short of good news all around!

But what if-

Two doors were thrown open as they were escorted into a room with high rafters, a long table stretching from one end to the other and able to sit a hundred people easily but only two currently occupied the table.

“Oh, my, you’ve arrived early.” One woman stood- taller than even Pyrrha, with a more ornate version of the redhead’s tiara holding back burnt orange curls. But the eyes- she and her daughter had the same eyes, and they looked just as warm and friendly when she smiled. “Welcome to Remyscira. I am Hippolyta, Pyrrha’s Mom.”

The other woman stood- shorter, but with far more muscle, and that same set to her jaw that her daughter sometimes got when she was focused. And a sword at her hip, which was a bit odd, but considering they were effectively surrounded by people in armor, she supposed it didn’t look too out of place. “And I’m her mother, Antiope. Are you hungry? We can offer you some fruits, something light until the midday meal.”

“Oh, that’s very kind of you.” The man offered a hand, a wide smile on his lips. “I’m Taiyang, Yang and Ruby’s dad. I’ve heard so much about your daughter and she lives up to every expectation.”

“She does indeed.” Antiope accepted the gesture, turning her gaze towards Ruby- and Yang, briefly, but mostly those deep blue eyes rested on the smallest person there, and that didn’t make her feel intimidated at all. “And we’ve heard much about your daughters as well.”

“Yeah, I’m Yang!” The blonde cheerily greeted, waving a hand. “Thanks again for inviting us.”

“Well, of course,” Hippolyta replied with a gentle chuckle. “Pyrrha said she had something important she wanted to discuss and that she wished to speak with Taiyang as well.”

“Oh, really?” Tai glanced back at them, a furrow to his brows. “About what?”

Pyrrha looked at her then and she wouldn’t doubt that her girlfriend could find a way to steer the conversation clear of the topic if asked. But, this was kinda why they’d set up this whole trip, so they might as well let the cat out of the bag.

“We both wanted to, uh, talk to you,” Ruby said, trying to keep her voice steady. “We just… thought we’d let you know that Pyrrha and I are dating and we’re very happy so thank you for your support and please vote again next year!”

Silence fell upon the room until Pyrrha leaned closer to her. “Did you just quote an election campaign?”

“I panicked, okay, I’m trying.” She shot back in a low whisper, trying to ignore the irregular beating of her heart as her girlfriend’s parents exchanged a look.

“Well… if this is a serious courtship, we will absolutely respect that,” Hippolyta said slowly, blinking as she caught up with the information. “It’s a bit… untraditional.”

“How so?” Tai shrugged. “If you don’t mind me asking.”

“Here in Remyscira, we have certain… cultural expectations when one enters a relationship.” Antiope raised her hands in a placating gesture. “We realize that our traditions are unconventional elsewhere, so we of course take no offense, but it… is a little jarring.”

“I’ll say!” Taiyang laughed, though happiness shone brightly in his eyes. “Here I thought you’d go off to college and shut yourself in your room or your lab, but you have a girlfriend now? I’m proud, Rubes; she’s a very nice young lady.”

“I just can’t believe neither of you told me!” Yang started to chuckle, but the sound slowly died as her brows pinched together, and Ruby felt her dread flare up again. “Hey, wait a minute- two weeks ago, when I called you asking what you were up to and you said you were ‘studying anatomy’… you don’t take an anatomy course.” She raised a brow, the teasing inflection of her voice making her sister blush. “What were you really doing, huh?”

“I was studying anatomy!” She spat out the truth a bit too readily, because she could never lie under pressure to save her life. “Just not out of a book.”

Again, Pyrrha’s parents exchanged a look.

“Mother. Be reasonable.” The redhead tried to keep her voice level even as the two women seemed to be having a silent, private conversation.

“Oh wow, really, Rubes? Really?” Yang set her hands on her lips, clearly caught between teasing her further and letting it go, because on the one hand she probably thought it was hilarious how red Ruby was turning but on the other, not in front of the parents, come on.

Taiyang whistled. “Wow, my little girl’s growing up.” He lightly bumped shoulders with his eldest. “Looks like you’ve got some catching up to do.”

“Yeah, hehehe, about that…” She reached up, running a hand through her hair. “Um, maybe not as much as you think?”

“Ruby Rose.” Antiope’s voice rang out, clear as a hot blade sliding through snow. “Do you intend to continue courting our daughter?”

“Yes, Ma’am,” she replied, smiling when she saw the happiness shining in her girlfriend’s eyes at how readily she answered the question, without a hint of nervousness. She really did like Pyrrha… maybe even love her, because that little crush had turned into so much more over the years. “I do.”

“Very well then.” Without any explanation, the woman pulled her sword from its sheath, about five of the guards copying the motion. “You get a fifteen second head start.”

Eyes widening in shock, she turned towards Pyrrha. “You said they would be okay with this!”

“They will be, as long as she doesn’t catch you.” The redhead grabbed her shoulders, looking all too serious in that moment. “Trust me: run.”

“What are you-”

“Ten, nine-”

“Whoa, whoa, hey, what’s-”

“Yang, calm down, it’s cultural-”

“-eight, seven-”

“Dad, you’re just going to let this happen?”

“-six, five-”

“I’m being serious, Ruby, run, and don’t let her catch you!”

“-four, three-”

Without waiting for the rest of the countdown, Ruby turned and booked it back they way they’d come, knowing full well she didn’t stand a chance inside the home. She’d be just as likely to turn into those chasing her as away, and the open outdoors at least gave her some vantage. Idly, she thanked her father for taking them hunting when they were little. She might not enjoy the sport herself but she could certainly use that experience to help her as she heard a loud, rousing cry from behind her, like an army preparing to charge.

What in Remnant had she gotten herself into?

The sun sank low beneath the horizon, twilight finally giving way to nightfall as Ruby collapsed to her knees at the edges of the woods behind the royal estate. She’d spent all day ducking through the trees and running as fast as her legs could carry her, avoiding the literal hunting party sent after her.

But she really couldn’t run anymore, even as she heard footsteps coming up behind her.

“So… what… I… lose?” Struggling to catch her breath, she turned her head to see Antiope kneeling down beside her, sword once again in its scabbard.

“No, you won. You eluded us until sunset, as tradition states.” She offered a smile, equal parts proud and kind. “We firmly believe that love gives wings to those who feel truly feel it. When two people care for each other that deeply, they can outrun anything, but the true strength of love comes not to aid running away. It comes to aid facing the things that trouble us deepest… but I have a feeling you already know that.”

Rolling over, she laid down and stared at the sky above, still working on catching her breath. “I… I used to be really nervous around other people. Meeting new people… it just wasn’t as easy for me as it was for Yang.” She glanced at the woman as she sat down beside her. “But with Pyrrha… I dunno. It’s like I can face down anything.”

“That is love, Little One,” she said with a chuckle. “You come to a far away land, to the heart of its people, and you come bearing news you don’t know how we’ll receive. That takes a type of courage people think is all too common until they find themselves lacking it entirely.” She sighed, reaching out to clap a hand on Ruby’s shoulder. “I’ve always trusted my daughter’s decisions. I may not understand them, but they’ve never steered her wrong.”

“So… does this mean we have your blessing?”

Antiope laughed, reaching to undo her sword belt, gathering up the leather and holding it out. Ruby sat up, accepting the gift with furrowed brows.

“You may continue dating her, of course. I doubt we’d be able to stop her even if we’d caught up to you. She’s never been one for tradition.” The woman pushed herself to her feet and began walking away. “But if you intend to marry her, you should learn how to wield that. Betrothals are determined by duels.”

As Antiope walked back towards the royal estate, Ruby slumped back, still holding the sword belt.

“Well… okay…” she blinked. “I need to learn how to fight, I guess.”

While the thought itself worried her a bit, the idea that Pyrrha would be right there, cheering her on from the sidelines?

Worth it.

#TRR writes #Pyrruby #Expectations College AU #Two years later Ruby shows up with a giant fucking scythe and Antiope can't help but be impressed #'I said a duel and you bring a scythe #you've got spunk you're definitely the sort of person my daughter would fall for

[what-even-is-thiss]

Fic, All That’s Left

Request from an anon who wanted a prinxiety fic where Roman is a monster slayer and Virgil is a monster that’s a human slayer. Sorry I don’t do romance in this fandom, anon. I hope this is okay. Also like… @silly-aesthetic-me wrote a short fic about the demon thing and it’s romantic so I didn’t reblog it but I like the demon idea they had and kind of wanted to write a fic based off of it so I’m going with that. Sorta getting a Blue Exorcist vibe from what I did here. God, I love that anime. Also, this is the longest fanfic I have ever written, hands down. I really hope it was worth all of that.

Oh and there’s a disabled character in here. If I misrepresented anything I’m sorry. I tried to research but ya know, I’m able bodied so there’s probably something I overlooked.

Tip Jar

Warnings: Blood, violence, death, supernatural elements such as magic and demons. 9.695 words.

Abstract: What are we willing to do for our friends?

The air was too still for Roman’s liking. Something devilish was in the air. Something unsavory. Nearby a dark figure in a tree was having a similar thought.

The demon in the tree held the long black nail of his thumb in between his teeth and fiddled with it but did not chew. The human was just looking. Just peering around like it could smell something. Maybe it could but just didn’t know it.

The human smelled like expensive cologne and freshly cleaned clothes. A scent that could send one’s head spinning in pain if they had little experience. Humans are way too clean, especially this one. This one reeks of arrogance and determination. Almost reminded Virgil of the poor sap he had to posses in order to be here.

Could he really be that dangerous?

Roman stood on the railing of his balcony, trusting his own balance too much perhaps, but he knew he could stay. His short hair was being abused by the wind and the paper he was holding in his hand threatened to fly away.

A demon specifically targeting executioners. Exorcists that disposed of demons permanently. Still unknown what it looks like but thought to be possessing a human. Everyone was on red alert. A thin layer of stress was coating the order like wax on a paper cup.

There was something out there tonight. He looked out into the darkness, trying to get a sense of what it was. He reached into his pocket and held onto the small ring he kept in it.

What’s out there? Could it really be that dangerous?

There was a long period of observation, the human feeling the situation from subconscious clues and the demon smelling and observing the shadowy outline. The calm before the storm was sickeningly sweet, with the quiet fall breeze moving the colorful hair around.

Patience was never the forte of either demons or humans.

Roman jumped backwards onto the balcony.

“I know you’re there.” He said. “Why are you watching?”

A weight landed in front of him on the marble railing. A man about his age who could pass for a human if he tried appeared with long black nails and dark purple hair and a patched hoodie and jeans so distressed you could have sworn he just stepped out of a war zone and then haphazardly sewn some purple flannel over half the holes. His slightly pointed ears and sharp teeth gave him away. His eyes were pitch black and unreadable. As if his pupils had become so surprised they’d gone and consumed the iris and whites of the eye.

For a moment the two men just stared at each other. The demon was squatting on the railing so they were at the same eye level but then he slowly stood up and looked down at the well to do exorcist, a careful calculating look on his face. The bright dyed red hair of the human popped in the light coming from inside and stood in contrast to the well tailored casual clothes he was wearing. A jacket and button up combo that only the upper middle class could afford. A single piercing went through his eyebrow with unknown symbols carved into it.

“So what is the exorcist waiting for? An invitation?” the demon finally said with a sinister smile on his face. “I would think someone as talented as you wouldn’t need one.”

Roman pulled his left hand out of his pocket and slipped the ring onto his middle finger in one swift motion. His upper arm hardened and extended in one instant into a blood red blade.

“ Propius non veni, rex obumbratio.” Roman said, standing in a warning stance.

“That Latin crap doesn’t work on me, man.” the demon said.

Roman dodged a kick and jabbed, almost hitting his opponent’s arm and missing by mere centimeters.

The shadow king landed behind his opponent and yanked the chain off of his neck which turned into a curved blade and short handle. He turned to strike the exorcist from behind but Roman turned around impossibly fast and stuck his blade straight through the demon’s heart.

Some dark blood was spat in Roman’s face and the demon smiled weakly.

“You can’t get rid of me that easily. And I know your name. Do you know mine?”

He turned to shadow and vanished like water through sand. Roman pinched the tip of the blade with his right hand and his left arm returned to normal. He placed the ring in his left pocket.

“Virgil. The stories said you led people out of the mirror world. Why are you here? And what kind of fashion sense is that?” Roman asked the night.

The night did not answer.

“Please. Please play with me. Please?”

Virgil stood at the edge of his territory and paused at the blood line poured out in the sand as a nervous hand grabbed the sleeve of his hoodie. He turned around slowly and felt his bare feet shift in the black sand as another demon came into view.

Virgil gently put his hand on the other’s head and his touch met a mix of soft hair and dry blood from the wound in the other demon’s forehead.

“I’ll play with you when I come back, my friend.” Virgil said, a smile on his face and sadness in his voice.

The older demon wearing a blue shirt sunk away a little but smiled cheerily.

“Okay.” He said with the innocence of a child.

Virgil turned away and crossed out of his territory, heading for a portal. He resisted the urge to limp and clutch at his chest. That stupid executioner had done more damage than he’d like to admit, but that didn’t mean he could stop. This was more important than a stupid wound.

Roman fell to his knees and for a moment couldn’t breathe. After three seconds that seemed to last an eternity he gasped for air and supported himself on his hands, clinging to oxygen and in too much distress to think about how he appeared. The stone floor looked very nice and polished. Probably shouldn’t throw up on it. Throwing up on a polished floor is not what someone of his social standing does anyways.

“You came here to tell me that you had it in your reach and it didn’t die?” A cold voice spat above him.

“Please Mx. I have information. Let me give that much.” Roman said, looking up.

Cold eyes stared down at him. His supervisor moved their long hair back and tied it messily into a bun before folding their arms angrily.

“Fine. Stand up, executioner Prince. What do you have?”

Roman stood up and regained his composure, trying not to look at those steel toed boots they were wearing.

“I couldn’t kill it with one strike. It had to be a major demon. He traveled through shadows. It had to be Virgil.”

He received a quizzical look that made him want to protect his private areas.

“Virgil? The shadow guide? He has never been a threat before. If anything, he helps humans. Why would he want to suddenly come after us?”

“Mx, there has been another killing even since I got a hit on him. He’s recovered enough to fight back. Normal demons you strike them with an executioner’s blade and they disintegrate. Their very souls are ripped from reality. How did this one survive if he’s not one we’ve heard of?”

The supervisor turned away and walked slowly towards the abstract stained glass at the far end of their office. The heels of their deadly boots clicked on the floor and stopped with a kind of finality at the window.

“How’s your friend Logan doing?”

Roman held back a twitch. “He’s… improving.” He said with a tone that indicated perhaps they shouldn’t be talking about this.

“Talk to him about this. He was always the one with the solutions. Now get out of my office before I assign you to a task force or… something.”

“Whatcha drawing Virgil?” asked the bleeding demon whose brown hair was in desperate need of washing now.

“Pat, why don’t you go wash your hair in the river over there?” Virgil asked as he dipped his pen in ink and made another slash in the cloth he was marking. “You gotta stay clean or it’ll get infected.”

“But I wanna know what you’re doing!”

Virgil sighed. “If I tell you will you go wash your scalp?”

“Yeah buddy. I will.”

Virgil motioned for his friend to sit next to him on the sand and then he pointed a long black nail at the cloth and traced it along a specific line.

“See that? That’s a map. There’s the flip side of one of my rivers. There’s the human city of New York. There’s the east coast of large human country. There’s a place called Florida full of things that make no sense and there’s where a big mansion is that a bad exorcist lives in. Satisfied, Patton?”

Patton just nodded and went to do what he had promised.

Virgil’s face was hard to read because of his purely black eyes. He folded his makeshift map and took a deep breath.

“I know you wouldn’t like this, so why do I keep doing it? They did that to you. I guess that’s why. G’bye buddy.”

And he vanished into the sand.

“It’s dark as hell in here.” Roman said, stepping into an office.

“I wonder why.” said a voice from behind a desk shaped thing. “And what you would consider ‘Hell’ is actually much brighter than this.”

“Logan…”

“The light switch is to your left, by the bookcase. I think you’d remember that by now.”

Roman felt for the switch and took a moment to adjust to the light before sitting down on the small chair in front of the huge desk his friend was sitting behind.

“So what do you need? You never visit at work unless you need something.” Logan said, typing away at a typewriter with only nine keys.

“Well you’re right about that but the day ended twenty minutes ago.”

Logan felt for a watch on his right wrist and the placement of the balls near the center and on the side told him that is was indeed twenty past six.

“Oh. You’re right.” Logan grumbled.

“Don’t be so surprised.” Said Roman, a small laugh in his voice. “I’ve been known to be right from time to time.”

A ghost of a smile twitched at the corners of Logan’s mouth. “From time to time. So do you need something or not?”

“Yeah, I do.”  Roman admitted smugly.

“Well what is it?”

“You know more about the major demons than anyone else and your… condition. I know you have to open your eyes sometimes, Lo. And I know, I know you don’t like to talk about it, but I was wondering about a specific demon. One of the big ones.”

Logan’s posture became even more proper than usual and it became clear he was now focusing on his breathing.

“Would this… be the one that has been targeting executioners?” he asked.

“Yes, and I have my suspicions who it is. I’ve seen him, Logan. I think it was Virgil, the guide. He fit all the old stories. Disappearing in shadows like sand, ripped clothes, veins of black on white hands. Dead eyes like they were the void itself. It had to be him. Please, you know I’m right. I’ve got to be right.”

There was a pause.

“Yes, I think you’re right. I wish you weren’t. Is what you saw… was he wearing a distressed jacket held together with patches of purple fabric?”

Roman leapt up and took his friend’s hand.

“Yes! Yes! You’ve seen him?”

Logan sighed. “Just as dramatic as you ever were. Yes, I’ve seen him. We live in the middle of his territory. He walks around with a demon that’s almost human but not quite and has a huge gash in its head. I must admit I’ve stared at it. It’s one of the things about the mirror world that are more difficult to unsee. And there are a lot of things there that are difficult to unsee there.”

“Can you take me to him?”

“I’d rather not, Roman. Especially since we’re on the second floor right now and if I open my eyes it will look like there is a rather large pit of spiders underneath me.”

Roman began shaking a little in his expensive boots.

“Sp-spiders?”

Virgil blew a spider off the branch next to him. Creepy little thing. They weren’t any less disturbing here in the mortal world.

He fingered the crescent shaped pendant and ball chain around his neck absentmindedly, letting his nails rub together on his right hand as he gently held his left thumbnail in his mouth. He crouched in the tree and watched the old manor with its pristine white walls. This probably used to be a plantation of some kind. One where the strange human practice of slavery used to take place. Say what you want about demons, but they always give payment of some kind. They never owned each other.

There was usually only one resident here. But tonight there seemed to be two. One of whom seemed to never look around. They both felt like they were full of demonic energy of some kind, but very different. It seemed the executioner had willingly let it in while the other had taken it on involuntarily. The other one was innocent. Should he really strike tonight?

Maybe. There was time.

“If he knows where you live and somehow got past the protective barriers I set up for you then why did you ever come back here?” Logan asked, adjusting his sunglasses and then going back to feeling the raised bumps the strange device he was holding kept raising from a few clusters of holes on the end.

“Where else am I supposed to go? And you know how I work. I face danger head on.” Roman retorted.

Logan moved the device along a wall.

“All I’m saying is it could be beneficial if you were to disappear. You’ve failed to kill a demon and said demon is out to kill people of your occupation of whom there are less than two hundred in the entire world. With the way it’s going it looks like that number could be whittled down to zero and… hold on. Oh my.”

“He’s here isn’t he?” Roman said.

“Are both of you blind?”

The two humans jumped and Roman wheeled around to see the demon from last week. Roman reached into his boot and pulled out a blood red dagger which he immediately threw with deadly accuracy. Unfortunately for him, Virgil was extremely good at dodging.

“Where’s your blade hand?” Virgil asked casually landing on top of a shadow from a lamp on the wall.

“That is only supposed to be used in dire situations.” Logan said in a serious tone and turning his head to Roman for emphasis. His guess as to where Roman’s face was only ended up being off by about an inch. Roman pushed his head back into place out of annoyance.

“Can you save your couples bickering for another time?” Virgil said. “I’m kind of considering killing one of you.”

“We’re not a couple, we’re friends, and as exorcists we’re used to life threatening or even soul threatening situations. So why don’t you get on with whatever it is you’re doing?” Logan said, not wavering for a second.

“Spicy.” Virgil said, twiddling with the pendant around his neck. “I can see how you got cursed.”

Logan dropped his device and reached into his right pocket, pulling out a bright yellow stone on a ball chain like the type that would be used for dog tags.

“Et in lucem!” He said loudly and clearly.

A bright light flashed from the stone and Virgil actually found himself taking a step back. For a second all his senses went blank except for sight which was filled with a burning white. When the light cleared and his senses returned he looked around and felt. The humans had run, but not far.

How did the blind one even slow  him down?

“How did you do that!?” Roman yelled as they ran through the house, turning on every light they could reach.

“Although the curse… Ow! Roman, did you move your couch since the last time I was here?”

“No, but the maid might’ve. She does an excellent job, I don’t want her to feel bad. Wait, what were you saying?”

Logan got up from where he’d fallen and started running again.

“If you and your employees haven’t moved anything else, I’ll tell you.” he said angrily.

They ran down the stairs into the basement.

“Hold on a moment, friendo. I need help with the door. Right behind you.” Roman said.

“You’re going to get poisoned by this shelter.” Logan grumbled, but he went to help anyways.

Logan knew where everything was here. His spacial memory served him well as he found the center of the large two foot thick door and began pulling on a large handle in the center of it. The door slowly started moving out of its hole in the wall and when it was enough for Roman to put his hand on the side he started pushing on it. When there was a space wide enough for them to get behind it Roman tapped his friend’s shoulder and they got behind the huge hulking door and pushed with all their might until it finally clanged shut.

Logan panted, leaning against the door as Roman turned the wheel in the center of it to lock it shut. The seeing man slumped to the floor and weakly reached up to press a black button on the wall that turned on floodlights that filled every corner of the bunker with light.

“So, the light? That, what was that stone?”

Logan swallowed. “Well, the curse, the curse may make it only possible to see the demon’s world but… I think it helps with spell casting. I’ve grown stronger at the cost of real sight. And they say being hurt emotionally makes you better at magic. You know I‘ve never been one for strong emotions but…”

Logan choked on his words and pulled off his sunglasses to rub at his face. He opened his eyes and Roman was glad Logan couldn’t see him wince at the burn marks around his eyes and the milky whiteness of his pupils.

“But you can open your eyes here.” Roman said, putting his hand on the other man’s shoulder. “We’re underground. There’s nothing to see.”

Logan’s voice broke as he said “We’ve had this conversation a thousand times you half-wit. And there’s a… a demon out there, trying to take you from us and… oh God. Not now.”

Tears started flowing.

“Why now? Why here?” Logan begged as he hugged his knees on the floor.

Roman let him take a moment. He would have liked hugs and kind nothings whispered if that were him, but he had learned over the years that Logan wasn’t like that. He just needed a moment to compose himself.

After a moment there was a deep breath and Logan replaced his sunglasses.

“The stone was a citrine. One that actually came from the sun. They’re pretty rare. Now, how’re the spells?”

He stood up and walked to a double sided bookcase in the center of the room. He started touching the spines, reading them.

Roman sighed and tapped him on the shoulder.

“I’m right here, genius. It’s faster if you just tell me the book you’re looking for.”

“Oh, right.” Logan stopped touching the books with a hand gesture that suggested mild embarrassment.  “Banishing spells level alpha, 30th edition.”

Roman searched for about two seconds, saw the braille copy, and then pulled it out and dropped it onto the dining table sitting next to them. It landed with a loud slam, as it was about as tall as an atlas and as thick as an unabridged dictionary.

“Remind me again how you memorized over half of this.” Roman said.

Logan started feeling for page numbers and said “Unlike some people, I actually studied at academy instead of trying to steal from the armory.”

“I take that as a personal offense.” Roman said. “You’re getting better at that. Well done.”

Logan presumably found the page he was looking for and started reading it.

“I worry about where your priorities lie.”

Virgil considered the door carefully. There was all kinds of messy stuff painted on it in multiple languages. Latin, ancient Greek, old English, old Norse, several hieroglyphs from African, North and South American languages. He even recognized a little bit of old Mesopotamian. The Mesopotamians were older than him. Where did the humans get all this stuff?

Well whatever all this said it was obviously spells meant to keep demons out. Darn them. He couldn’t even sense any darkness inside. Except for… it was risky. Would it be worth it?

Of course. It had to be. It had to be.

Logan gestured for Roman to come over and he ran his hand over a specific type of pentagram symbol made out of dots.

“Can you make it out? Do we need to look in the regular print one?” Logan asked.

“No, I can make it out” Roman responded. “Where’s that one?”

“On the bookcase. See if it’s intact.” Logan ordered.

Logan heard a couple of clicks of boots on the tile floor and then an uneasy “Uh, Lo?”

Logan sighed. “What now?”

“It’s sort of bleeding. Black. And the center’s smudging as I’m looking at it.”

Logan hit his fist against the desk. “Crap. Well perhaps we should…”

There was a grinding sound of something metal being pulled apart and books hitting the floor. Logan gripped the side of the table as he felt the temperature in the room drop. A magical whoosh came from where Roman had been standing.

“Roman? Did you put on the ring? Roman!”

Logan got no answer but heard metal hitting metal and then metal hitting wood. Crap. Roman had attacked him. He can’t shoot a spell at that. While Roman is using that blade he’s susceptible to spells meant for demons.

Logan picked up the huge book and began running with it. He felt air move and dodged something. What, he did not know, but he managed to reach the door and through pure adrenaline rush turn the handle and yank it open with one arm.

It still took him several seconds though, long enough for something in the battle behind him to change and his shirt collar to be grabbed. He tried throwing the book behind him but he couldn’t aim correctly and in a moment he felt long nails pushing into his wrists and some shaped piece of metal fitting perfectly around the curve of his neck. Whoever was holding him smelled like fresh rain and tobacco smoke mixed with axe deodorant.

“Listen to what I have to say, and the witch doesn’t get dragged into the mirror world.” Virgil hissed.

Logan heard the sound of a blade scraping slowly on metal. It seemed like Roman was running his blade arm along the bookcase to think. Logan scoffed, feigning confidence.

“Honestly, who calls us witches anymore? And you wouldn’t open a portal here. We’re underground. And if you make a move towards the stairs he’ll strike.”

The blade came closer to his neck. It was in danger of breaking skin. Logan knew too well what that felt like.

“Would it be so hard for the scholar to shut his mouth please?” Virgil said. “I just have something to say.”

Logan wanted to swallow but was afraid that could push the blade into his throat enough to do damage to it. He remembered that five years ago he would have been looking. Noticing every tiny detail. He would be able to read Roman’s face and know exactly what was needed and why. They could communicate with their eyes. He could see where to aim if a spell was needed but now nothing. If he opened his eyes here all he saw was darkness.

“What do you have to say, Virgil?” came Roman’s voice.

“Oh, so you figured out who I am. Surprised much?”

“Not really. Well, don’t know why you’re doing this.”

The blade relaxed and Logan dared himself to take deeper breaths. The voice behind him was laced with a deep frustration.

“You… I overreacted to something. Badly.”

“You murdered ten of my coworkers.” Roman said forcefully.

“Like I said, I might have overreacted.” Virgil said.

“You don’t exactly sound sorry.” Logan growled.

“Will the witch please shut his mouth?” Logan heard as the blade began resting against his skin again and the nails buried themselves deeper into his wrists.

“So what do you want? Just let him go.” Roman demanded.

“Well what I want is the head of every executioner in convenient carrying bags that I can throw into the pit of spiders.” Virgil hissed, getting a shudder out of Logan, “But I can see now that might not be the best course of action, or what Patton would want me to do.”

Logan’s breathing slowed and his heart sank. He wished he could see what Roman’s face looked like. Probably not as defeated as his own. Roman didn’t see. Didn’t see what happened on the other side.

After a painful pause Virgil continued.

“Patton is a friend. He’s a very good friend. A mentor or… something along those lines. He’s the reason I started helping humans out in the first place. One of your filth tried to kill him because he made a mistake. And now he’s worse than dead. There’s nothing left there. He doesn’t remember one day to the next. I need you to fix him. Both of you.”

“Why in the Hell do you think we would help you? I don’t kill without cause but you sure seem to be doing your best to give me a reason.” Roman hissed.

“I thought you might say that, so I took the time to figure out something that might give you a little motivation.”

Roman looked over at his best friend since grade school and reached out and took his hand. Logan didn’t shy away, most likely knowing this was more for Roman than himself.

“You don’t have to do this for me, Roman.” Logan said.

“It’s important to you, so it’s important to me. I know I tend to be selfish but… you want this. I can tell.”

“If that’s what you want.” Logan said simply.

Virgil continued kicking around in the dirt.

“Uh, just like me to forget to leave a marker. Where in the Earth did I… oh. I should probably pay more attention to that.”

He kicked a fake bush over with his bare foot and revealed a small hole that seemed to be covered with purple plastic wrap.

“Wait a minute. The witch could have opened his eyes and told me where it is. What…”

“Do you think I have no sense of humor?” Logan asked.

The king of darkness smiled, showing his pointed needle-like teeth.

“Oh, you are going to live to regret that, Logan.” he said. “Well, everybody in.”

He jumped into the hole and the cling wrap looking cover didn’t move for an instant as he disappeared into it. Roman led Logan to the hole and he jumped in. Roman took a moment and then followed suit.

He immediately fell over, but it was like falling over after standing on your head. He looked up and saw he had fallen feet first out of the largest dead tree he had ever seen.

“Roman? Oh my.”

Roman turned around and Logan had removed his sunglasses. His eyes were still burned and the pupils were still milky white but he was… looking at him.

“You… you’ve got a scar on your arm.”

Nothing more had to be said. Logan could only see this world, so when he was here he could use his sight. Virgil gestured for them to follow.

Logan was right, Roman decided. Hell isn’t that dark. Well, this wasn’t technically Hell but it was close enough. The sun was a burning red like it was dying. Virgil kept jumping in front of them to prevent them from falling in hidden holes or canyons filled with magma or insects or any other number of unsavory things. The shrubbery and trees all seemed to be watching. Low level demons whether humanoid or animistic ran away in Virgil’s presence and if they dared to come close he hissed and pulled the chain off his neck turning it into a scythe or curved sword depending on the threat. Several monkey-like green things tried to carry Logan and Roman off several times but they could fend for themselves against small demons and so far Virgil had kept his promise and helped them when they needed it.

They walked for over an hour like this, mostly in silence. After the first hour attacks became less frequent as the landscape became more barren. Roman asked something that had been on his mind.

“Virgil? Is this what your daily commute consists of?”

“I was wondering that as well.” Logan chimed in. “I have seen you occasionally when I opened my eyes by accident or by choice and you seem to cover a large area.”

Virgil jumped off a ledge but held his sword out to stop the humans from following him. He calmly struck the head off of a cat-like thing and then gestured for the other two to follow him.

“Shadow travel. Humans can’t do it.” He said and then kept leading the way.

“So, how many humans have you led through here?” Roman asked, shaking a little green goblin off of him and fending it off with a red knife.

Virgil shrugged as Logan murmured a spell that made the goblin shoot off of Roman like a rocket.

“A few thousand probably? I don’t count.” the demon said before starting a climb up a small rocky ledge.

When they reached the top of the ledge Logan looked like he was about ready to pass out and Roman was rubbing his hands and trying not to think about if any part of him was bleeding.

“Home sweet home. This way.” Virgil said.

He led them through a small grove of black and purple trees, crouching and looking around every so often like demons tend to do and then led them to a wide expanse covered in black sand. A river of lava on one far end and a river of what looked like water on the other. Both rivers were so far away you could just spot them if you climbed a tall tree and shielded your eyes from the red sunlight.

Virgil led them through the course sand for about a mile, bringing them through another grove of trees and finally to a battered old house that seemed to be made of planks of black wood and a lot of hope.

“Why doesn’t it fall down?” Logan asked, clearly concerned.

Virgil just shrugged and jumped forward, landing right in front of the door. The humans had to run to get there as he opened it and they were told to get inside.

The inside was plain. The walls had small holes and the floor was stone. There was a small pile of bones in the corner, some of unknown shapes. There were pieces of paper, pens, and canvas stacked against another wall and along another there was a pile of rags with a sleeping figure on it.

Virgil put his necklace on and then tenderly approached the bed. He gently rocked the shoulder of the person lying there.

“Hey buddy. Hey. Hi. We’ve got some visitors.”

There was a sniff. “Hmmm? Humans?”

“Yes buddy, humans. Can you say hi?”

The groggy figure that sat up seemed to be both more and less human looking than his friend. His brown hair was matted with dry blood. His red and brown eyes seemed strangely human, especially in comparison to Virgil’s whose eyes were just blank. He wore a neat blue dress shirt and cargo pants with formal shoes. He wore a cardigan over his dress shirt that was far too big for him and would have made him look cozy were it not for the light blue color of his veins. His nails weren’t nearly as long as Virgil’s but they ended in a point and looked like they could easily cause some lasting damage.

“Hi.” It said. “Are we friends?”

“Well we just met your acquaintance but…” Logan began before Roman stepped on his foot.

“Uh, I mean… Yes of course. You must be Patton.” Logan said, trying to not express his pain.

“You can see.” Patton said before trying to lay back down and sleep again.

Virgil pulled him up a little forcefully. “You can’t sleep right now.” He said firmly.

Usually that blank face was unreadable but at this moment even with black eyes the shadow demon looked both incredibly concerned and dangerously hopeful. Patton fell asleep in his grip.

He let out a sigh. “All he does is sleep and mess around now. He’s like a human little kid and he can’t remember things from one day to the next. I really want to blame you but he wouldn’t want me to do that. Fix him. Make him better.”

The force in those last words made the exorcists take a step back. Some of the light in the dim little shack ran away in fear and it became even more dim. Black tears fell out of  Virgil’s eyes and the shadows started to move.

“Make it better! Fix what you did!” He demanded.

Both humans were frightened by the sudden change but kept their composure. The prize here outweighed the risk. They had discussed this beforehand. Find a way to fix the head wound and Virgil would stop killing executioners. If Patton returned to normal afterwards, there was a chance Logan could see blue skies again.

Logan stepped forward and took his satchel off of his shoulder, trying not to make any sudden movements. Further enraging an already angry demon is beyond suicidal.

He knelt on the hot floor next to Patton and made him sit up. There was a sleepy questioning hum and then the red and then the red and brown eyes opened sleepily.

“Hi.” he said groggily. “You’re a human.”

“Yes, and I’m here to help.” Logan said firmly but gently. “Can you hold yourself up?”

Patton nodded and did what he was told. Logan looked back at Roman who nodded and pulled a hidden red knife out of his belt.

“Liar!” Virgil exclaimed as Roman found a sickle at his throat.

“It’s not for your blood!” Logan said. “It’s for Roman’s! Put that away or he stays like this!”

After an intense moment Virgil slowly lowered his weapon and turned it back into a moon pendant before putting it back on.

Logan started murmuring in several dead languages, blending them together and making a hypnotic chanting sound as he wrapped a blue and silver cloth around Patton’s eyes and then over his head. Roman knelt next to him and rolled up his sleeve. He waited for Logan to stop chanting before handing him the magic knife.

“Just get it over with.” He said, covering his eyes with the other arm.

He bit back a cry of pain as the cursed blade swiped across his skin, stinging like acid and moving through his veins. He only dared to open his eyes when it was bandaged.

Virgil was putting on the bandages. Roman gave a confused look.

“Hurts, doesn’t it?” Virgil asked. “Getting a taste off your own medicine?”

“I’ve gotten it before.” Roman said, looking over.

They sat in the far corner of the room, watching Logan work with copper beads covered in Roman’s blood. Watched the wrapping and unwrapping of the wound several times and various stones being used.

“Is there any kind of sense to what he’s doing?” Virgil asked quietly.

“Oh now you talk?” Roman asked skeptically. “You want my head on a plate, remember Coraline?”

“Coraline?” The demon asked.”

“You know. With the button eyes and.. oh never mind.”

“Button eyes?” Virgil asked. “Like as in, those things on your shirt being eyes?”

“Well they’re large and black but yes.”

“That’s really disturbing. I do not want to see that.” Virgil said, disgust in his voice.

“Disturbing?” Roman asked. “Look who’s talking. Look where you live.”

Virgil shrugged. “You know, humans have been trying to point that out to me for centuries when they accidentally end up here. How horrifying it is. The only reason so many things ever attack humans is because they’re humans. When demons go into the mortal world they’re attacked because they’re demons. It can be frightening and stupid. Aren’t there exorcists that lead peaceful demons back or something? Kind of what I do in reverse? This is just a place. The mirror world is just a place. There are things to be afraid of both places. If someone likes you, if they hate you, if your clothes are going to fall apart, if you’re gong to eat tomorrow. All the same thing.”

“Sorry I think I fell asleep for a second, what was that, Tim Burton?” Roman said, a smug grin on his face.

“Oh screw off.” Virgil said, rolling his eyes. “Hey, what’s that?”

“Looks like he’s almost finished and… Hey!”

Virgil used Roman as a rest to push himself up on and leapt to the other side of the room.

“Your stupid nails dug into my scalp!” Roman exclaimed.

Nobody was paying him any attention. That was the problem with other people being hurt. They always got the spotlight.

Patton yawned and opened his eyes. He felt like he had just woken up from a bad dream he couldn’t quite remember, which was strange because demons dreaming is a rare thing indeed

There was a familiar pair of black eyes with a hopeful look that he had never seen before.

“Hey kiddo. What am I doing at your house?” He asked. “Do I smell an exe- oh!”

Virgil had engulfed the older spirit in a bone crushing hug and was breathing too hard. His face was one of shock and he gripped his friend’s hair and held on for dear life.

“I didn’t know you gave hugs.” Patton said happily. “What’s the big fuss? And your nails, buddy. The… the nails.”

The shadow demon let go out of embarrassment and seemed to mentally curl in on himself. “Sorry, Pat. You’ve just been gone for a while. Maybe I have been too.”

“Gone!? You killed five percent of the executioners on the force!” Roman exclaimed. “And…”

“Easy, Roman. It’s in the nature of demons. That’s what a temper tantrum looks like.” Logan said, putting a hand on his shoulder.

A quick explanation and a long trek through the same territory later, all four of them stood at the portal. Patton was giving his younger friend a death glare that reminded both humans of when Logan’s mother got particularly “disappointed”.

“Say it.” Patton said firmly.

“I’m… I’m sorry for attacking you, and killing your coworkers. And stealing your sewing supplies to alter my clothes” Virgil said, reluctance in his words.

“And I’m sorry for stabbing you in the chest and that one of my friends hurt your friend.” Roman said with a similar tone of defiance.

“Now, about my eyes…” Logan started.

“Oh yeah.” Virgil said.

He dug around in his hoodie pockets and pulled out a sheathed knife and handed it to Patton.

“Awww. You hung onto it for me?!” Patton squealed.

“Yup. I definitely prefer angry demons.” Logan said in disgust.

Patton unsheathed the blade which was leaf shaped and about the size of his hand. It was rainbow like and changed colors with the angle you looked at it like oil on asphalt.

“This is gonna look a little dangerous but just go with it, okay?” Patton said.

“I have my suspicions but very well. I have a trained exorcist executioner with me and I’m already blind in the other world so what do I have to lose?” Logan said.

“Close your eyes.” Patton said.

He pushed the flat of the blade against each eye putting gentle pressure on it for a few seconds and then told Logan to open his eyes. They had pupils again.

“You conspired with a demon? Two demons? One of them the fiend that’s been killing our kind?” The superior asked.

Logan tried his hardest not to look down at Roman clutching at his stomach on the ground. This was not how he wanted to spend his first day with his normal sight back. In the basement of a stone church where no sunlight could get in while his friend got kicked repeatedly with a fashionable pair of steel toed boots. Honestly, disciplinary action for executioners had to be mended. All other departments had gotten rid of physical punishment ages ago.

“Mx,” Logan said, trying to stay professional. “if I may, we have solved the issue, and preserved a valuable resource for humans that might wander into the…”

“I don’t wanna hear your intellectual mumbo jumbo silver tongue right now, Sanders. You got your sight back, congratulations, but you acted against orders to do it. You and Prince here are in a world of trouble. If I could take a knife to your skin too I would.”

Logan adjusted his wire-rimmed glasses with his middle finger and then helped his friend up.

“You’re welcome, for solving your little problem. I’ll see my supervisor later.” Logan said coldly.

He put one of Roman’s arms over his shoulders and supported him on their way out.

They paused at the church doors. The abstract stained glass shone all around them like a kaleidoscope. Roman had recovered enough to stand on his own but still clutched at his side.

“So nerd, are you ready to see the sky again? It’s about dawn.

“The pollution in this area should make the sunrise nice to watch.” Logan said, still not opening the door.

“Just like you to take the fun out of it. Go ahead. You’ve waited half a decade for this. You always talk about logic. Is it logical for you to not look?”

Logan flung the doors open and he had remembered correctly. They did face east. And he had never felt so much melancholy and happiness before now.

“He’s very sorry!” Patton called out as he and Virgil ran through trees.

“That’s not going to help anything Pat.” Virgil hissed as he pulled him inside the shadow of a tree and they flattened out. “Humans work differently. Especially exorcists. Why don’t you get that? Do humans ever summon us to make friends?”

“I always hope they will.” Patton murmured.

“Aha!” came a voice.

“Oh for the love of… move!” Virgil ordered, pushing the other demon along.

He could hide in the shadows but not move through them. What had they sprayed him with? If only he could have enough time to open a portal, or teleport or anything other than keep running.

It was all a blur. A missed shot. A flash of red blade. Patton jumping out of instinct. An already dark red blade dripping with even more blood. For the second time in his life Virgil saw his friend’s blood be absorbed into one of those accursed things but this time there was no movement. The axe hit just the right spot on the chest that even the strongest of demons couldn’t escape. He melted into the ground, leaving behind a pile of clothes, a blue and red stain, and his dagger.

There was a demonic screaming so loud and ungodly that Virgil could hardly believe it was coming out of his own mouth. He yanked the pendant off of his neck and began to move in a daze. The executioner with the axe fell, her chest cut clean open, the witch ran but but couldn’t escape. The marksman was shot through the mouth with his own gun and the two executioner trainees fell over, one of them bled out, the other was left with a broken leg.

Just as Virgil crushed their weapons and was about to hit the teen with a final blow he froze, his curved sword hovering above his head, ready to strike.

“No.” he murmured. “Stop. Breathe. It’s not too late.”

He put down his weapon and looked down at the trembling human. A normal apology wouldn’t work here. Humans typically didn’t go in killing sprees when something shocking happened. He had learned that the hard way.

“Your mentor killed my mentor.” He sighed. “I overreacted again.”

No response. Just blank terror.

“I’m going to take you to a hospital. Understand?” Virgil said, kneeling down. “A hospital. With doctors and hopefully therapists.”

To his surprise the young man allowed him to pick him up and carry him quickly to an emergency room parking lot.

“Now if you yell for help someone should probably come. I don’t…”

He couldn’t finish his statement so he just disappeared instead.

“I heard Logan disappeared.”

Roman jumped out of his skin and dropped the book he had been staring at.

“Demo- Virgil?” Roman said.

“That was pretty sudden.” Virgil said from the top of a table in Roman’s private library.

“What are you doing here?” Roman asked. “I’ve done nothing.”

“You’re reading.” Virgil noted.

“What of it?”

“What happened to Logan?”

Roman stared off into the distance for almost half a minute and then sucked in a breath through his nose.

“I haven’t seen him. At first I assumed he was just not keeping in touch. There’s a lot to go see after all, and work to do. But no one else has seen him either. It’s all very anticlimactic. I hate anticlimactic.”

“Patton’s dead.” Virgil said, chocking on the last word.

Roman didn’t move. “Why are you coming to me? One of the few humans who could kill you?”

“Because I overreacted again and I don’t know anyone else that would listen. He was my only friend. Where else do I go. It took me long enough to get myself to come here.”

“You?” Roman asked. “You are one of the ten most powerful spirits in history. A legend. The poet Virgil was named after you. And… you had difficulty approaching a human?”

“I have some issues.” Virgil murmured. “One of which is that my friend and mentor is dead, Mr. Prince. How in the Earth am I supposed to move on from that?”

“I don’t know if my best friend is alive.” Roman said. “You just got him back. Mine just got his sight back. And they’re gone.”

“No kidding, Sherlock.”

“Oh, so you do know something about human culture.”

“How can you sound so smug at a time like this?”

“Misery is the source of all comedy Jason Demon, that’s how.”

“I’m not Jason.”

“If you’re going to be bothering me you really need to learn more pop culture things because I reference them like all the time.”

People disappeared sometimes. It was always anticlimactic. Only a select few knew what happened afterwards. Those who were heard from again never said what happened.

Logan stared at the wall of the square cell. He had disappeared he supposed. No idea where he was or what exactly his charges were. Being blind had been much better than this. He could move and find meaning. If only there was more to tell.

Well, an unremarkable end to a boring life perhaps. No, his life hadn’t been boring. Thinking it had been anything other than extraordinary would be illogical.

“Let me help you. I know this guy.” Virgil urged, following Roman by walking along tree branches.

“No. I need to do this myself. Besides, if my superiors find out I’ve befriended a demon I could very well disappear and if I die before my time I want it to be dramatic.” Roman said.

“Who said we’re friends?” Virgil asked with a smirk.

“You visit my house regularly. I’ve cried in your arms. We fight things together and talk crap about human celebrities. What more is there?” Roman said.

“It’s only been six months. What’s that to humans? A hundred years?”

“Roughly.”

“Damn. You drop like flies. I’m gonna miss you I think. You’re like a puppy I’ve become attached to.”

“What kind of puppy?” Roman said playfully.

“A bloodhound.”

“Are you serious?” Roman said, completely solemn, “I’m clearly a poodle.”

That almost made Virgil fall right out of the tree.

“Now get lost. I kill things like this all the time without your help.”

“Okay I’ll just die of boredom then.” Virgil said before slipping into the shadows like falling sand.

Roman smiled and continued walking. The guide of the underworld could pretend he wasn’t dramatic all he wanted but that didn’t make it true.

Virgil slumped back on his pile of rags. He traced the edge of the dagger Patton had left behind. It changed color in the light just like it always did.

What was six months to a human?

Roman had told him the first six months is the hardest. Was that true? What about now? What about Roman? As aloof as he acted he was actually becoming pretty fond of the stupid over the top exorcist.

He really could be that dangerous, but still Virgil worried about him. He only had this friend for a small amount of time, and in that time he was destined to watch him wither away.

In the best case scenario of course.

Roman threw a dagger at the green tiger thing. It dodged. Crap.

He pulled out his ring and his upper left arm turned into a blood sword. The tiger snarled, smelling small amounts of demonic qualities. A traitor.

It pounced but Roman dodged, rolling away and missing the claws by inches. The tiger drooled and it’s saliva fizzled on the ground leaving dead patches. Perfect. just perfect.

Virgil showed up out of the shadows. He saw Roman and immediately thought he was in danger. He ran to help but then there was a squeak.

A puddle of green and black melted into the ground and ROman looked up.

“Did you follow me here? That’s… kind of rude.”

“No. I just knew where you were. That blade hand?”

Roman looked down at his arm. “What about it?”

“It hurts a lot. And it’s creepy.”

“Your face is creepy.” Roman said, pulling the ring off and looking in disgust at his pus covered arm. “Disgusting. I’ll need a shower at once. Goodnight, my friend. Please stop spying on me.”

Roman heard Virgil call over “We’re not friends, ape!”

“Whatever you say, poet.” Roman said, pulling a towel out of his bag.

“What do stones even do?” Virgil asked, flipping through bags. “Ugh. here’s the one that almost blinded me.”

“Nobody would be able to tell if you were blind.” Roman mumbled.

“Can we have one meeting where you don’t poke fun at my eyes?”

“Admit the sword hand is really cool.” Roman said, placing another braille book on the growing stacks on the bunker dining table.

“No. You became less human to be able to do that. It’s really disturbing.” Virgil said, flipping through a book.

“How do you read these?” he added in.

“Oh.” Roman said pausing for a moment. “It’s called braille. It’s a way to read by touching when eyesight is lost.”

He ran his hands along an otherwise blank cover.

“Phillis Wheatley. Well maybe I’ll keep this one. I don’t want to imagine I spent two years learning braille with him for nothing.”

“Why are you only going through his stuff he left here now?” Virgil asked. “I went through Patton’s house right away in case scavengers went through it. He had an actual house.”

“Maybe because I’m not a demon?” Roman asked.

Virgil recognized that sound. It was choking back a sob. Oh gods what is he supposed to do here? That comment stung a little but… oh no. Now he’s crying. What happens now? And, he dropped the books. Oh no. Now he has to say something.

“What… what do I…”

No, he’s not answering. He’s still crying. What does he need? Warmth? Virgil can’t provide that. He’s cold like ice. Understanding? He can’t give that. They may be friends now but it wasn’t like they could understand each other. What… what do you do?

“Do uh…”

Oh gosh is he about to attempt compassion? Ew. Abort. Abort! But there’s nowhere to escape here. The bookcase is still mangled and not providing any shade now the books are mostly gone. A friend. What would Patton do here? Probably hug. That’s not Virgil’s style. What is his style? Patton always told him what he needed. Humans don’t always do that.

“I’m sorry.”

Virgil looked up. Was Roman actually apologizing for something? He was. Roman Prince, the most narcissistic asshole he had ever befriended was apologizing for… crying?

“Why are you…”

“I’m supposed to be unshakable. But I suppose… when the ten months actually came I didn’t want it to. I thought…”

Roman gripped a huge spellbook in his hands and then clutched it to his chest and held on as if it could bring Logan back.

“Surely he would be one of the ones that came back. Logan can’t just disappear and die in such an anticlimax. That’s not what he does. Not what he… did. That’s not how he did things. He would go on his own terms. Not… whatever it is they do when people disappear. It happens so rarely these days we never thought..”

“You were putting off grieving for Logan.” Virgil realized.

“I suppose I was, now that I think about it.”

Roman woke up one morning strapped to a chair.

“Where…”

“Roman Prince, you have been charged with having personal relations with a demon and concealing your lineage.”

Roman couldn’t see anything. There was a bright light on him and the rest was darkness. It reminded him of being on stage as a young man. The audience can see you, but you can’t see the audience.

“How do you plead?”

“Am I being made to disappear?” Roman asked.

“How do you plead?”

“Where did you find proof of this?”

“How do you plead?”

“Get me my lawyer!”

There was a crash and a scream. Gunshots fired and there was the sound of an axe hitting stone. In a moment the lights turned back on and something cut the ropes tying him to the chair. Roman looked back.

There he was. In those stupid overly distressed black and purple clothes with patches all over them. He was like a badass emo ragdoll or something. He even had the blank button eyes.

“Prince doesn’t go quietly. Not on my watch.” Virgil said.

“Have there ever been darker angels than you?” Roman asked, standing up and rubbing his wrists.

“Save your painfully dramatic gratitude for later and start running, moron.”

They leapt through trees and over houses, never slowing down for a second. Finally sprinting down country roads, Virgil melting in and out of the darkness as Roman ran coming back every so often to get updates.

“Keep going. I don’t think you’re demon enough for me to shadow travel with you.”

“They’re a mile behind. You do use miles here, right?”

“And you complain about the weather in Gehenna. How is Florida this humid at night?

And on for several miles. Roman saved his breath and didn’t yell at the demon for his stupid commentary, but it was tempting.

They finally reached the manor house and Roman frantically began packing. Virgil even put on a backpack, a new experience for him, to carry a few spellbooks in braille they had set aside for an event like this.

“Is it possible to ever be comfortable wearing one of these?” The shadow king said as he struggled to adjust the straps without breaking a nail.

“No, let’s go!” Roman said, dragging Virgil outside.

Virgil hissed and panicked and Roman quickly let go of the demon’s arm.

“I’m sorry. I forgot you don’t like it when I touch you.”

Virgil took a moment to compose himself and then led Roman to a portal nearby. He gave roman permission to take his hand and they jumped through the purple cling wrap together.

Roman picked his nails with his knife, sitting on Virgil’s pile of rags.

“So why can’t you try to shadow travel with me?” He asked.

Virgil sighed. “I have told you way too many times. You’re only one sixteenth demonic. Probably less. It won’t work.”

“Oh you’re no fun.” Roman pouted. “You always think everything could end up in death or dismemberment.”

“Because it can.” Virgil responded like it was the most obvious thing in the world.

“And you want to help me while I’m on the run?” Roman asked skeptically.

“Well… what are friends for?”

“Aha! So you admit that we’re friends!” Roman exclaimed dramatically.

“You know one of these days I’m gonna lose my patience and straight up eat you.”

“And I’m certain I will be delicious.” Roman said, a classy smile on his face.

“Nah, I won’t eat you.”

“Why?”

“Because we’re all we have left.” Virgil said solemnly.

Roman let out a dark chuckle. “And to think I stabbed you through the heart the first time we met.”

“I’m still sorry for all those killings.”

“I forgave you for that a long time ago.”

Virgil leaned against the wall. Roman couldn’t help but smile when that mouth curved upwards and showed just the smallest hint of pointed teeth.

They had no idea how, but it was going to be okay.

#sanders sides au #sanders sides #platonic prinxiety #prinxety #virgil sanders #anxiety sanders #the emo #prince sanders #roman sanders #the other roman #thomas sanders #thatsthat24 #fanfic #fan fic #fanfiction #fan fiction #roman wrote a thing

[magic-magpie]

Forever Yours, Prompto

Sheesh, I haven’t been on in a while. I just haven’t had the motivation to write or anything, and so I kinda stopped going on Tumblr ‘cause then I’d feel bad for not writing. Not that I need to write, but I want to. But I’ve finally written something! I’ve gotten hella into FFXV, and Promptis has become my favourite ship of the series (I guess that was to be expected... the character dynamics are strikingly similar to my OTP of all time). I just love they way they interact and the brilliant, wholesome friendship they share! And yes, I do wish they’d be more than friends. Idk, I just feel like they’d be a really awesome couple. I’m not past Chapter Eight yet, though. But anyway, have this little Promptis fanfic I wrote! It’s an idea I’ve wanted to do for so long, but I’ve only just now been able to execute it. First time writing for FFXV, so my characterisation’s probably not perfect. Prompto’s incredibly similar to America from Hetalia though, and I write America frequently enough, so hopefully the characterisation works! Words - 1,883 Also, imagine the strikethrough stuff to be like actual scribble-outs.

Dear Noctis To Noctis Hey Noctis Hey Noct,

Okay, so, um, I’m writing this in the dead of the night outside of the tent using my torch ‘cause why not, eh? I mean, I don’t WANT to write out here (it’s cold and dark and SHIT I THINK A SPIDER CRAWLED ONTO MY ROCK FUCKING SHIT I JUST MOVED TO A TREE STUMP HOLY SHIT IF I WOKE ANY OF YOU GUYS UP I’M SORRY OKAY NOW WHERE WAS I) but writing out here where none of you know I’m writing is kinda safer, don’t ya think? (haha that transition tho) If I was writing some poetry or story or whatever I wouldn’t have to hide it so much, but it’s... not that. D’ya remember when we DID do that kinda stuff, back in high school? We’d make up lame-ass stories on the rooftop at lunchtime, trying to make weirder and weirder ones. I remember, my favourite was the one about the boy named Alaric Wrye who was actually a wolf in disguise and would sneak out every full moon to howl at the night but then his parents found out and so he was sent to the Wolf Institution to become a fully-fledged wolf and had to take a whole load of wolf tests and shit and then when he finally became a wolf he was crowned King of the Wolves and everyone had to bow down to him and – 

I kinda just realised how WEIRD that story is.

I think your favourite was the one about the small ant who wanted to be a super-duper famous singer so he made a rock band and started playing in gardens and stuff but then he grew enough of a following to start doing world tours and basically this small ant band was like hella famous in the human world but because none of the humans could see him properly ‘cause he’s tiny he took drugs to make himself massive but the drugs kinda killed him so he died as a massive-ass ant.

Yeah, that’s pretty weird too.

...Why am I talking about stories again? I’m not even WRITING a story. I’m writing a letter. To you. You’re not ever going to see it, but it’s for you.

Man, this is weird.

Well, I guess you’re wondering why I’m writing this, huh? Well, you WOULD be, if I gave it to you. But I’m not going to. I guess Ignis would call this a waste of his paper, but it’s only one sheet!

Okay, maybe it’s a little more. But STILL.

...Am I EVER going to start on why I’m writing this? I SHOULD, but, like... even the thought of WRITING it makes me nervous. Writing it would be like... making it definite. Absolute. Certain. That kind of thing. Currently, I can still pretend it’s not happening. I can still pretend I’m not thinking these thoughts, I’m not feeling these feelings. The thought of putting it down, of writing it in stone (or, well, paper) makes my stomach go all weird. Y’know how people talk about getting butterflies in your stomach? Yeah, I’ve got a whole KALEIDOSCOPE (yup, the word for a group of butterflies actually is ‘kaleidoscope’! I found that out, uh... two minutes ago).  

Having a kaleidoscope of butterflies inside your stomach is a WEIRD sensation, lemme tell ya. Like, imagine if EVERY time I hugged you the kaleidoscope started fluttering wildly and made you feel the things those protagonists of bad dating sims feel (although it’s impossible to be as cheesy and awful as that ‘Namco High’ dating sim. God, that was HILARIOUS. And terrible. But funny. I can’t believe we stayed up all night playing that shitty-ass game. We could’ve played King’s Knight or Mario Kart, but nope, we play shitty dating sims.).

...I just gave it away, didn’t I.

Anyway, as I guess you’ve guessed (or WOULD guess if you were actually gonna read this), I... love you like you think you’re hot want to date you want to kiss you want to just do stupid romantic stuff with you

Ah, fuck.

Okay, now I’m ACTUALLY going to say it. Just... gimme a minute.

Well, I just walked around the haven about twelve times and scrunched up the paper and threw it and then ran to get it back and almost got into a fight with some daemons but here we are.

I’m gonna say it. I’m gonna say it. I’m gonna say it.

Look, Noct. You’re my best friend, and the best person I know (don’t tell Ignis and Gladio). You’re funny (sometimes unintentionally), nice, fun to be with, and have really great hair. I guess it was only natural that I... started to like you.

Not like as in friend-like (although I still like you like a friend too), but like as in... like-like. As in, I want to go on stupid dates and randomly kiss you and cuddle when we have to share a bed and stroke your hair and give you flowers and wear each other’s clothes and touch our foreheads together and do those nose bump things and just do everything I’ve wanted to do for years now.

There. I said it.

...Why don’t I feel better? Why do I just feel WORSE? That wasn’t supposed to happen! I was supposed to confess everything into this letter and then I’d feel unburdened and I’d be able to finally let go of these goddamn feelings for you!

Oh. Right. It’s because I’ve liked you for years and my stupid heart’s become too attached to you.

I looked up stuff on how to get over your best friend, but it was all pretty unhelpful. They were all telling me to distance myself for a while! Um, no thanks. First of all, I don’t WANT to distance myself. Like I said, you’re the best person I know. Why would I want to spend any less time with my favourite person?! That would just be... boring. And second of all, I can’t distance myself, even if I wanted to. We share a TENT.

So... yeah. I like you. I like you too much, and I KNOW I shouldn’t, but I can’t help it! I’m really sorry, but I... just can’t.

I want to tell you upfront, I really do. But I don’t know whether you like me back. Sometimes I get these little feelings that you do. I dunno, sometimes I just catch you looking at me with this odd little smile on your face and then you’ll suddenly look away... or sometimes you’ll be a bit more touchy-feely than you need to be... and you tend to gravitate towards me whilst we’re walking... and you always seem to be closer to me than friends should be in a tent. But then, well, I’m probably misinterpreting all that because I so desperately want you to like me too. It’s confusing, isn’t it?

And then, well, if you don’t like me back, confessing to you would just be a dick move.

YOU wouldn’t class it as a dick move. Hell, you’d be pretty chill about it. But... I would. You’ve got so much on your shoulders right now. King Regis was murdered, Insomnia fell, Jared was killed, you’re going to get married, we’ve got to take back Insomnia, you’re pretty much the King... the list goes on. I know you, Noct. You’d feel guilty over rejecting me, and it’d weigh on your mind more than you care to admit.

Especially because, well... ‘cause you’re getting married.

I don’t know if you love Lady Luna, I don’t know if you love me, I don’t know if you love anyone at all. But I do know that you’re getting married to Lady Luna, not me. And if I ruined your special day with a stupid confession, I’d hate myself for it. It’s your special day where people are celebrating your marriage. That’s a day that’s supposed to make you happy, and it will, even if you’re not in love with Lady Luna (and if you are, then you’ll be on Cloud Nine!). She’s your friend, and you’ll be happy with her. I don’t want you to look at me on your wedding day with pity, I don’t want you to look at me and remember that I’m not enjoying the day as much as I should be.

So I’m not going to tell you how I feel. I’m just going to... just going to bottle it up and act like I always do!

Although, I get the feeling that my normal actions don’t cover it up well. I mean, I don’t think YOU’VE guessed (you’re kinda as emotionally-perceptive as a rock), but I feel like Ignis has, and maybe even Gladio. They haven’t said anything, but, like, I dunno, they just give me these... looks, sometimes. Like, I’ll just be leaning on you whilst playing King’s Knight and Ignis will just kind of... smile? It’s a small, tiny thing, but he still does it, I swear on the Six. And then I’m SURE that both of them just sorta... glance at me whenever we start talking about your wedding. I might be imagining things, but... I swear I’m not. So, like, I try to remove suspicion. Whaddaya think all that stuff with Cindy is? Yeah, she’s cool and nice and pretty hot and would probably be fun to date, but it wouldn’t be half as awesome as dating you would be. I just gush over her so that you’ll actually believe I’m head over heels for her instead of, well, you.

Come ON, we’d be so awesome together! We could go on dates to the arcade and order pizza at three in the morning and stay up watching shitty movies and I know we already do that but we could do it as boyfriends instead of best friends and I just 

...Sorry. Haha, I’ve gotta work on keeping my fantasies in check, huh?

...I wish I was the one getting married to you.

Okay, right! I guess that’s, er, my confession done then! I’ve written my feelings in a letter addressed to you which you’re never ever going to read, and so I should stop wanting you so badly!

...I’m never going to stop, am I?

But... even if I’m never going to stop liking you, I’m still going to be your best friend. I’m still going to do stupid stuff with you and take funny pictures and loudly sing terrible songs at one in the morning. I’m never going to be the one who you kiss, but dammit, I’m going to be the greatest best friend ever! And on your wedding, I’ll be the best best man Eos has ever seen.

Because loving you means accepting that I’ll never be anything more than a best friend. But it also means finding happiness and enjoying the special bond we do have.

Well, that’s that. I was going to throw this away into the lake, but... I think I’ll keep it. Just, don’t wear my jacket, yeah? And ESPECIALLY don’t check my front pocket. I’m warning you, Noct!

Love From Yours sincerely Best wishes Forever yours,

Prompto ✌ 

P.S. Sorry about the wet patches. They’re... not rain.

#FFXV #final fantasy xv #prompto #Prompto Argentum #My writing #Fanfic #Promptis #Angst? #Is it angst? #Idk #Unrequited love #Maybe? #I think Noct likes him back but knows that he has to get married to Luna and confessing would just add unnecessary complications #Noctis Lucis Caelum #Noctis #Noct #Fluff #Is it though #Letter #final fantasy 15 #Fanfiction #Prompto x Noctis #I think this is enough tags

[second-chance-stray]

(Split Ends) RP Log: Cravs has a favor to ask.

1 day prior... Cravs has left a folded note taped to Rising’s door.

I hate to admit it, but I need your help. Maybe Riylli's too, but I don't know where she lives? Can you pass this message along to her? There's someone in Limsa Lominsa that I promised to help, but I can't find them. It's...complicated. I'll tell you more about it the day of.

Cravs herself is nowhere to be found. She's been spending more and more time out of Heartwood's HQ.

- - - - - - - - - -

Cravendy Hound - As detailed in Crav’s earlier note, Rising and Riylli were instructed to wait outside the city on the fringes of the Zephyr gate. Any sort of explanation for why was lacking. From behind, a stranger dressed in red approaches...a stranger, that is, until she takes off her hat. Despite the fashion whiplash, there’s no doubt about it. It’s Cravs?!

Cravendy Hound: "Uh.....hey."

Rising Lotus was busy kicking rocks when the stranger approached them. She cocked her head as they approached, looking a bit confused until it was revealed to be Cravs. "...what's with the outfit? You goin' for a new look?" she snickered a tad, biting her lower lip to stifle any more giggles while she had a big grin on her face.

Riylli Aliapoh blinked, staring quite openly at the fancily-dressed Roegadyn pirate. "...Cravs..? The hells happened to you? Why are you all..." Riylli paused to gesture vaguely towards her, looking offended on Cravs' behalf. "...That!"

Cravendy Hound frowns...hard! It’s clear that she’s no fan of having to dress like this either. But when asked why, she fidgets for a moment as she tries to come up with a convincing reason. “It was in the closet, and, er....I was doin’ the laundry?” Cravs lets out a frustrated breath.

Cravendy Hound: “Okay, when we go into the city, don’t call me ‘Cravs’ alright? No ‘Cravs,’ no ‘Cravendy,’ no nothin’. The reason I’m dressed up is cause I may or may not still ‘ave a bounty on my ‘ead. And that, in fact, is also why I need yer ‘elp.”

Riylli Aliapoh puts her hands on her hips, but does stop to consider it. "Well... I suppose that makes sense... No one'd recognize you when you're dressed up like that for sure." She nods, then pauses. "Wait, you got a bounty on your head? What'd'ya do?"

Rising Lotus nodded, everything becoming much more clear now. "Well that makes much more sense at least, you clean up nice though I'll give ya that!" she couldn't help but snicker some more. "Also how high of a bounty? Jus' uh... curious. And yeah what did you do? Pirate stuff?"

Cravendy Hound gives Riylli a look of relief at her reaction - that’s a good sign. But her lips clamp shut when they ask why. She waves a hand dismissively. “When ye pirate, ye piss people off. And although a majority of folk in Limsa ‘ave a similar background...the people I’ve stepped on’ll probably ‘old a grudge against me till I die.”

Cravendy Hound: “I don’t give a flyin’ shite about clearin’ my name, but I don’t want to get thrown into gaol afore I can do what I came do to.”

Rising Lotus "How long ago was it, I mean..." she paused, choosing her next words carefully "Given the whole...you suddenly bein' back, would they even still be lookin' for ya? An' what's so important to be riskin' this for anyway?"

Riylli Aliapoh: "Shoulda worn a mask." She said with a suspiciously playful grin. "That's what the bandit folk do out in the shroud!" Her playfulness faded when Rising managed to remind her of Cravs' past, suddenly looking a bit concerned and waiting on her to continue

Cravendy Hound: “Maybe right when I came back the coppers didn’t know better, but now...well, let’s say I’ve gotten some interestin’ visitors even way out in the Shroud. So trust me when I say I’m sure someone’ll be keepin’ an eye ‘ere.”

Cravendy Hound gestures to the hat-and-mask combo that she’s currently holding. “If it works for bandits, it’ll work for me...hopefully.”

Rising Lotus "Well the explains that, but you still ought to tell why we're doin' it, since we're takin' the risk an' all." she crossed her arms. "You're my friend an' all, but I'd like to stay outa a cell jus' as much as you, so what are we riskin' it for?"

Riylli Aliapoh nodded thoughtfully. "So were the fancy lady's bodyguards then? I can work with that!" She flashed Cravs a teasing grin, though she was clearly a bit excited to play the muscle regardless.

Cravendy Hound: “Don’t worry, ye won’t be doin’ anything illegal. I owe someone a favor, and this someone ‘as a kid. A ‘ighlander lad no older than fourteen summers.” Cravs looks to her left and right, double checking for any eavesdroppers. “...Now, poor kid doesn’t ‘ave a father to look over ‘im anymore, so I want to check up on ‘im. Make sure ‘e’s doin’ okay.”

Cravendy Hound: “The problem? One, the kid is ‘ard to find. Two, the kid’s sensitive and unlikely to accept ‘elp from us directly. So I figure we can start by figurin’ out ‘is schedule, and then see if ‘e could use a little ‘elp. Like we could be...guardian angels from the shadows, or somethin’.”

Rising Lotus rubbed her chin. "Hmm alright, sounds like it'll be easy enough at least, jus' find some kid an' sorta...helpfully stalk him?" perhaps Cravs worded it better.  "Sounds like a plan then! What should we call you though instead of Cravs?"

Riylli Aliapoh blinked. She had clearly not been expecting such a kindhearted cause from the Roegadyn. She rubbed the back of her neck awkwardly, "...Huh. Thats... Well, if that's what you need help with then I'll give it, I suppose."

Rising Lotus: "You sure don't like kids that much huh?"

Cravendy Hound glances to Rising. “Why don’t ye come up with somethin’? The less it fits me normally, the better.”

Riylli Aliapoh: "I-I never said that! Kids are... fine. Quit pryin' dammit!" Riylli crossed her arms and turned away, acting way too defensive. "If it's gotta be a Seawolf name then I think you'd be the only person to even know the words."

(Cravendy Hound) seawolf name = keyboard smash lmao )) (Riylli Aliapoh) (Theyre basically just hellsguard names but in the seawolf language! (Rising Lotus) we used to play a game in the roe linkshell I'm in)) (Rising Lotus) bot or seawolf)) (Rising Lotus) also riylli you can finish her name!))

Rising Lotus grinned, clapping her hands together as the gears in her head started turning. Her eyes squinted as she studied her friend in the fancy garb. "Hmmm...We'll give ya a hellsguard name, make ya seem more like you ain't around here. Hmm.. Singing..." she looked like she was having trouble finding the second part.

Cravendy Hound raises a brow at Riylli’s curious reaction, both amused and surprised. “Hah, maybe I chose the wrong person to stalk...ahem. I mean, ‘watch over’ the kid!”

Riylli Aliapoh wasn't really thinking about it up until a particular bird's cry broke the silence. She pointed upwards. "...Gull?"

Cravendy Hound: "Singing....Gull. Huh." Cravs shrugs. "Well, slap 'lady' afore it and it'll sound plenty fancy."

Riylli Aliapoh was silent for a while, appearing to have something she was considering bringing up yet clearly hesitant

Rising Lotus: "Alright then /Lady Singing Gull/, Where are we going to start out search then? Well, Limsa, but WHERE in there?" she glanced over to the city. "If you ain't got a lead the markets would be a good place to start askin' 'round." she looked back to the two, awaiting their input. "..Not gettin' cold feet now are ya?" she raised an eyebrow at Riylii.

Cravendy Hound: “The boy’s name is Baldur Thorne by the way, for when we need to ask around. Ye two will do the talkin’ for me...cause I’m worried that if I open my mouth, someone clever might connect the dots.” Cravs lets out a tired sigh as she shoves her hat back on. Time to march straight into the nest of vipers. “I was thinkin’ of starting our search at the Hawker’s Alley.”

Riylli Aliapoh shook her head. "N-No, nevermind, Im fine. Should I make myself ready for fightin'? Not a lotta earth aether to manipulate once we get in there after all"

(Rising Lotus) riylli walking in with a bag of dirt xD)) (Riylli Aliapoh) (gonna fight exclusively with pocket sand (Rising Lotus) shshshaw!)) (Cravendy Hound) sand attack!! ))

Cravendy Hound kneels down to grab a fistful of dirt, which she hands to Riylli. “Don’t use it if ye don’t ‘ave to.”

Riylli Aliapoh stared and glared. "I was thinkin' more... Whatever, nevermind" She huffed, turning away and letting Cravs stand there with her dirt. "I'll figure somethin' out"

(Cravendy Hound) NOOO TAKE MY DIRT ))

Rising Lotus nodded. "Alright then if you say so, let's head on in then." she cracked her knuckles. "Alright, make you stay close to Cra- Err, Singing Gull here. Gotta look the part if we're playin' bodyguards."

(Riylli Aliapoh) (YOU DISRESPECT THE UNLIMITED POTENTIAL OF EARTH MAGIC

Cravendy Hound is offended at such blatant dirt rejection! She lets it fall between her fingers and stomps into the city.

(Cravendy Hound) she just has no clue how Riylli do that earth magic xD )) (Cravendy Hound) also once in Limsa we can switch to party for RP cause there are waaay too many people in there )) (Riylli Aliapoh) (She would totally talk someone's ear off if asked (Cravendy Hound) cravs thinks riylli can turn dirt into like, a deadly dirt dagger )) (Rising Lotus) I feel like regular dirt would be more for like whipping attacks with how malleable it is)) (Riylli Aliapoh) (She totally could if given enough time! Im gonna figure out a way for her to go off at the next tavern night lmao

(Cravendy Hound) As usual, Limsa Lominsa is buzzing with activity. Cravs steps confidently through the white stone pathways, though internally, she’s sweating bullets. She doesn’t stop walking until she finds a place that’s a little less crowded, and then turns to face Riylli and Rising. How does one mime to ask them to ask around? Cravs waves her hands around.

(Rising Lotus) Gave Cravs a single finger pistol, looking to the various venders, then back to Riylli. "You can take this side I'll ask across the way, keep an eye on Gull though since you're closer." she walked across the way and started talking to merchant in front of the double doors.

(Riylli Aliapoh) Riylli stared at Cravs for quite a while, trying to figure out what the heck that means. "Maybe we shoulda planned a little more before coming in here..." she said with a sigh, deciding to just do as Rising asked and approach the nearest vendor to ask if they'd ever heard of this rebellious highlander

(Cravendy Hound) The vendor closest to Rising is busy mending an adventurer’s gear. He looks up at the woman with a curious look. “You need anything repaired?”

(Cravendy Hound) Cravs steps back, out of the way of foot traffic, and scans the crowd. She’s searching for anyone resembling the kid. Meanwhile, the battlecraft supplier picks up a deadly looking axe and showcases it on top of his stand. “Welcome, welcome! Can I interest you in any of my fine wares? An axe, perhaps? Or, or maybe a staff, if you’re magically inclined!”

(Rising Lotus) "Well yes but it can't be fixed." she glanced back to her bomb of a spear she had with in a very public place. "Mainly here to ask ya if you know this lad, name's Baldur Thorne? Ever hear of him or seen him round these parts?"

(Riylli Aliapoh) "Hmm... Maybe you could, though I was more in the mood for some info if you'd be able to sell us some? You ever see a highlander boy 'round these parts? Name of Baldur Thorne? The lady over that way was a friend of her dads, and'd be willin' to pay some good coin if you can help us find him"

(Cravendy Hound) [For Rising] “Baldur? Thorne’s kid? Mm, he’s a hard one to find. Always working, doing odd jobs to make ends meet.” The mender sighs and hangs his head low. “It’s a sad situation.”

(Rising Lotus) "Workin' 'round eh, hmm, any idea what he was doin' last? And uh." she glanced over her shoulder "What happened to him if you're willin' to share. Person tryin' to find him didn't tell me much 'side from his name."

(Cravendy Hound) [For Riylli] “Maybe if you buy something, I’ll be put in a good, chatty mood...” The vendor looked expectantly at Riylli, and then to Cravs, who turned her head slightly. She steps up, opens her coin purse, and motions for Riylli to choose some random knick knack to buy. Hopefully, not something too expensive.

(Riylli Aliapoh) Riylli glanced up to Cravs before shrugging. Seemed a bit expensive, but it was her gil to throw away, and so she picked out a small dagger she'd be able to carry in her belt. Might come in handy anyroad. "There. You better not be wastin' my time."

(Cravendy Hound) [For Rising] “It’s old news. Kid lost his father, and ever since it’s been hard times for him and his mother. Some of us try to help him, out of respect of his father’s legacy, but there’s someone who holds a grudge against his family to this day. Powerful folk that we can’t do much against.”

(Cravendy Hound) [For Riylli] Cravs frowns slightly, but pays anyway. She had to look the part of a rich noblewoman with gil to burn, after all! The vendor accepts the gil happily and hands the dagger to Riylli. “Great choice! Now, you were asking about Baldur? Not my place to pry why, I suppose.”

(Cravendy Hound) [For Riylli] As he counts each coin, the vendor continues speaking. “The kid recently signed up with the marauder’s guild. Practically begged them to let him join. He might be out in the field, killing rats or whatever they send greenhorns out to do.”

(Rising Lotus) "I see, know how that can be." she gave ther merchant a nod. " 'Preciate the information, seems like you're all right good folk to be lookin' out for the lad." she gave him another nod before returning across the way next to Cravs, there to relay what information she had.

(Riylli Aliapoh) "Hmm... I'll check it out I suppose." She looked up to Cravs. "You happy with that, 'Lady Gull'?"

(Cravendy Hound) Cravs nods to Riylli. With the three of them back together, she gave a nod of thanks to the vendor and pulled away from the man. It felt a good time to share what they had found out and plan next moves...somewhere more private.

(Cravendy Hound) Cravs speaks in a low voice just in case. “Piss n’ wind Riylli, I won’t be able to drink anythin’ good for awhile after buyin’ that dagger! But I guess we did find somethin’ out. Baldur’s become a marauder, and probably out in the field right now.”

(Rising Lotus) "Wow you had to buy somethin', the repair guy told me what he knew like that." she snapped her fingers. "Asked a bit about this boy's story, seems like he's workin' to help out his ma. If we knew where she lived we could wait nearby or ask someone who lives near them."

(Riylli Aliapoh) "H-He was a weapon seller! I thought a dagger'd be the smallest thing he had!" She defended herself, crossing her arms and pouting like a scolded child.

(Rising Lotus) "Wait she don't get to keep that do she? Damn, I shoulda talked to the weapon guy, I'm the one that actually needs a new weapon.."

(Cravendy Hound) “Ye chose a fancy one though.” Cravs chuckles to herself. “Oi, as long as ye use it, think of it as payment for ‘elpin’ me out.”

(Cravendy Hound) “Good thing ye talked to the mender. If ye chose somethin’ I couldn’t afford, that’d be a bad look.” She smirks at Rising.

(Riylli Aliapoh) Riylli glanced down towards it. "...I guess I can find a use or two for it... Anyroad, should we go head out to the field now? Or maybe wait at the guild 'till he gets back? I wouldn't mind seein' some axe fightin'..."

(Rising Lotus) "Pffft. I guess I'll jus' keep this damn thing then." she thumbed back at her spear "It's on your head now if I blow up though.." she jabbed her finger at Cravs with a smirk. "Any how, either might be a good place to go, though lookin' for him out of town might take a while."

(Riylli Aliapoh) "Why'd you even bring that thing if it's so dangerous..." She muttered, taking a cautious step away from her.

(Cravendy Hound) “I’d like to go out and look for ‘im. It sounds like ‘e joined the marauders recently, so ‘e might not know ‘ow to use an axe properly. What was ‘e ‘untin’ again...rats?” Cravs ponders for a second. “Should be able to find some in central La Noscea.”

(Riylli Aliapoh) "You're the native, lead the way! Do we really need to protect him against rats though..?"

(Rising Lotus) "I misplaced that axe I was usin' the other night. That thing was cheap anyway. Plus Mayumi said it'd only blow if it was on, and even then I'd be able to tell when it was gonna blow." she looked out over the water for a moment. "Maybe as long as I'm here I ought to go see if my backup spear is still on that island..err, after all this anyway." she nodded  "To the rats!"

Cravendy Hound - Back to the battlefield! Cravs follows the dirt path, a woman on a mission. She stops suddenly and listens. Nothing out of the ordinary can be heard, but Cravs trusts the feeling in her gut and pulls Riylli and Rising behind a rock.

Cravendy Hound - And, several beats later, a highlander lad with warm brown skin and short dark dreads steps out from the long grass. (B) He’s armed with a rusty axe and his gear looks quite ratty and worn. There’s a single rat under his belt, and he’s on the lookout for more.

Riylli Aliapoh: "So... Back where we- ack!" Riylli is suddenly yanked backwards into the bush just before the highlander can spot them. She gave Cravs a glare regardless, before continuing in whisper. "He looks like he's doin' fine... You sure he needs our help?"

Rising Lotus regained her footing, watching the boy look out for his next target. "His axe does look like it's seen better days I'll give ya that...but you don't need anything too special for jus' huntin' those things." she was hunched over Riylli as she peeked around the boulder.

Cravendy Hound - The boy hefts the axe over his shoulder and dashes after another rat. He swings clumsily at it, missing it by a long shot, and the rat squeaks in fright as it disappears into the thrush.

Cravendy Hound stares longer at Baldur, and finally lets out a breath of relief. Riylli was right. He was hunting /rats/ of all things! She was crazy to have worried so much. “Aye...Maybe I could give ‘im some gil to buy better gear, but otherwise...”

Rising Lotus shook her head. "Don't think he'll accept it, the repair guy was sayin' lots of them were tryin' to help him out but he wouldn't take it. I mean if he knows them an' won't take it I don't think he'd let a strange give him a sack of gil."

Riylli Aliapoh sighed and brought her hand to her face, watching the boy's overexcited charge bringing back some painful memories for her.

Cravendy Hound: “If that’s the case, then I can find his ma and leave it while they aren’t lookin’. No one to return it to, no problem, right?”

Rising Lotus "Worth a shot I 'spose? Less he jus' uses it for food an' such, even still it's not like that's a bad thing."

Cravendy Hound - The relative calm is interrupted by a strange sound. Like a thousand somethings being shot out from a straw, followed by leaves being crushed. From so far, it’s hard to see what’s going on. For a second, you see Baldur struggle to get up from the bush he fell in, and then the boy goes charging after the unseen sound’s source in the distance.

Riylli Aliapoh 's ears twitch and she looks back up. "The hells was that..?" She asked, looking up to Cravs as she was the only one familiar with the wildlife here

Cravendy Hound is just as confused. “I...I don’t know. Never ‘eard anythin’ like that round these parts.” She gets up slightly, concerned.

Rising Lotus winced at the ruckus, hand keeping her steady on the rock. "Somethin' big for sure, there are goobue's round here right? Maybe one is havin' a fit?" she brought her hand over her eyes, trying to see if they could spot the source of the commotion from their hiding spot.

Rising Lotus looks around.

Riylli Aliapoh glances back towards the sound. "What do we do? Should we try to move up to get a better look?"

Cravendy Hound decides to risk getting closer. The boy was probably yalms away after whatever the thing was. Cravs kneels down near the bush Baldur fell in earlier and picks up one of many needles that are littered nearby. The corner of her mouth twitches down.

Cravendy Hound: "It's a needle." She looks over at Riylli and Rising. "There's nothin' here that'd leave this behind."

Rising Lotus cocked her head, looking at the tiny piece of metal in her hand. "You sayin' someone's tryin' to stick him with somethin'?" she squints and looks at the ground, seeing a few more laying on the ground.

Riylli Aliapoh scratched her head. "A needle? You got porcupine out here maybe? That's not... THAT dangerous." She offers, doing her best not to make Cravs worry

Cravendy Hound: “Do porcupines shoot their spines out like this?” Cravs asks Riylli. She nibbles the bottom of her lip - something didn’t feel right. “I’m not exactly dressed to fight...could you two go out and see what’s up? I’ll catch up later once I’m done changing.”

Riylli Aliapoh nods, motioning Rising to crouch down as she begins to silently creep through the brush. It wasn't exactly the same as hunting in the shroud with all its trees for cover, but she would do her best.

Rising Lotus followed Riylli, being a lot less subtle. "Eh he don't know us, no need to sneak up on him right? We're jus' too adventurer's passin' through an' checkin' out that big rumble."

Riylli Aliapoh: "Well... If it's nothin', we don't wanna get in the way of his fight do we?"

Riylli Aliapoh: "Kid seems like he's the type to chase glory. Not... That I would know."

Cravendy Hound - The closer you two get to the sounds of struggle, the more needles are littered all over the place. There’s a kind of sproingy sound, as something green jumps up in the air, just slightly above the tall grass. It’s a green, tubular, man-shaped plant. It’s...a cactuar! And it’s hopping triumphantly on top of Baldur, who lies thoroughly needled and face down on the ground.

Rising Lotus "Suppose I could see that. More glory means more jobs an' money." she blinked as at the sudden bouncing seedkin before them. "...Now what's that doin' all the way out here?" she furrowed her brow. "Cactuars don't live on these islands." she drew her spear, it humming to life as she moved to take care of the threat.

Riylli Aliapoh 's eyes go wide. "Oh what in the seventh hell is that?" She asked, looking up to Rising for a moment before following her lead and drawing her staff. "Whatever it's doing, let's not let it!"

Cravendy Hound - This particular cactuar has a little flower growing atop its head and looks tougher than the normal variety. It does a triple spin in the air in a single hop and moves strangely, its limbs stiff yet bouncy. Suddenly, it freezes, and then twists towards Rising.

Rising Lotus looked unphased even when spotting the flower sprout. She let it get a bit close before doing a low wide sweep at the seedkin, aiming at its midsection between all its limbs.

(Rising Lotus) Random! 875 (Riylli Aliapoh) (Do I have to attack or can I do other stuff?) (Cravendy Hound) you can do whatever you want haha )) (Cravendy Hound) heal, defend, run, talk, dance, whatever! :D )) (Rising Lotus) entice it with dancing Riylli. You know you want to))

Riylli Aliapoh suddenly grinned. "Oh, this is the perfect opportunity for some practice!" She said, clearly not taking the silly bouncing cactus man seriously. She begins to channel her spell, pulling aether up from the earth and gathering it in the crystal at the top, before unleashing it onto Rising. The Roegadyn warrior would feel a bit strange, though it would be difficult to place the change just yet.

Cravendy Hound - Rising’s hit lands squarely on the cactuar’s center of mass, causing it to go flying from the impact. It squeaks out a weirdly hollow sound when it lands, and then bounces back up, looking back with soulless eyes that make it hard to gauge whether it can feel pain.

(Riylli Aliapoh) (Stoneskin! Making her tougher in preparation for her to get blasted by needles (Riylli Aliapoh) (I kept trying to write the effects of stoneskin down but couldnt figure out how to without it feeling weird, so sorry for the long post time >x>)

Cravendy Hound - And it does, in fact, try to blast Rising with needles. A thousand, to be exact! They fly out in all directions from the cactuar’s body.

(Cravendy Hound) Random! 938 (Cravendy Hound) uohh )) (Riylli Aliapoh) (938 needles) Random! Rising Lotus rolls a 387.

Cravendy Hound - It’s a devastating attack, one that could cause serious (needle) injury. Thankfully, Riylli’s stoneskin helps defend against the worst of it, though the attack would still have moderate impact on Rising.

Rising Lotus smirked as the cactus was flung into the distance. "Jus' like when we use to hit 'em with sticks when I was a kid!" Lucky her for her, she knew the telltale signs of it about to attack and quickly brought her forearm up to cover her eyes. The first bit of the barrage didn't seem to harm her, though before she could wonder why the stoneskin wore off. She grit her teeth as this was just like when she was a girl too, her armor protecting the most of her but her exposed skin had some needles >

Rising Lotus protruding from it now. "Ngh... always hated that part." her right forearm had the most sticking out of it, her hand shaking a bit as she clenched it a few times to ensure she could still move it. She took a defensive stance for now, brushing her armored hand over her right arm to rid herself of some of the needles.

Riylli Aliapoh: "Ha! Everyone always looks at me funny when I say earth magic is more versatile than you'd think, but WHO'S LAUGHING NOW!" She plants her hands on her hips proudly, still not taking this seriously at all. "Feel free to praise me as much as you like~" She sung, ripping a chunk of earth from the ground and casually yeeting it towards the funny cactus man, thinking she could simply end it with one good hit

Cravendy Hound - Riylli’s rock is, certainly, yeeted over, smashing the cactuar back a couple of yalms. It’s tough exterior is starting to bruise in dark, green splotches. It hesitates, as if understanding that these two were on a whole other level than the kid it had downed moments prior. This pause grants you an additional opportunity to give it a good beating!

(Cravendy Hound) it is, in fact, just a cactuar so I don't think the battle should be a grueling thing :P  )) (Cravendy Hound) Baldur is just a lvl 2 noob that got owned by, like, a lvl 18 cactuar or something lmao ))

Rising Lotus enough of the needles removed from her arm now, she pressed their opportunity and dashed forward, trying to impale the thing on her spear. Malfunctioning as her spear may be, it was still plenty honed to shred through the seedkin's thick fiber!

Riylli Aliapoh grins and plants her feet into the earth, bringing her staff up above her head as she begins to channel magic. She was clearly enjoying the chance to show off, as she suddenly jams the tip of her staff down into the soil and injects the very earth with her gathered aether. Nothing happens for just a moment, before the ground beneath the cacti's feet suddenly explodes and launches it into the air

Cravendy Hound - Two things happen, in a very specific order. First, Rising stabs the cactuar with her spear, the thing dangling from the weapon’s sharp end like a weird kebab. Second, Riylli’s magic launches both Rising and the shisk-cactuar into the air!

Riylli Aliapoh blinks as she watches Rising fly into the air, having charge in during the brief moment of pause before her spell had gone off. "H-Hey! Don't just rush in like that dammit! Y'know I'm throwing rocks back here right!?" She calls out, not even apologizing because that would mean she had made a mistake, and she would never do that.

Rising Lotus grinned as her attack hit her mark, the cactuar firmly on her spear. Her celebration as short lived however as she was blown in the air with little warning, lucky dropping her spear and their foe in the process. Wasn't so luck was when she tumbled to the ground, the needs still stuck in her getting drove deeping into her body. She let out a pained shriek, grasping at the sections sections of exposed skin for the needles digging into her, but her gloved hand not precise enough to pick them >

Rising Lotus out, leaving her to writhe on the ground.

(Cravendy Hound) ohhh ouch D: )) (Riylli Aliapoh) (Oww)

Cravendy Hound - The flowered cactuar has been dispatched, but one wonders...what was it doing way out here? Such a question would have to go unanswered for the time being, given that both Baldur and Rising were dealing with a rather sharp situation.

Riylli Aliapoh hesitates, looking back and forth between both collapsed pincushions and having no idea what to do. "...H... Hey... Uh, you... you guys alright..?"

Cravendy Hound - The kid groans. Up close, it’s apparent that his shoddy armor did him no favors against the seedkin’s assault. Through bleary eyes, he looks at both Riylli and Rising and mouths ‘thank you’ before falling unconscious.

Rising Lotus was still letting out pained grunts as she was able to sit up in a way that she wouldn't be putting anymore pressure on the needles now deep in her skin. She could take a beating, but this was a very acute pain across various parts of her form. Her right hand was shaking worse than before as she clumsily undid her gauntlet, paying no mind to Riylli, and pulled her left hand out, trying again to pull the stuck needles out of her arm.

Cravendy Hound finally, FINALLY walks in. Very late. Suspiciously so. And still in disguise. But she’s here now. She carefully props the unconscious boy up and winces. It’d be best for a healer to look at him right away. When Rising gets up, she nods in the other Roegadyn’s direction. “Knew it’d take more than a ‘andful of needles to bring ye down, but still, that looks bad.”

Riylli Aliapoh shifted her feet nervously but remained silent, not even taking the chance to brag for once as she knew it would likely just lead to her getting yelled at.

Cravendy Hound: “Come on, lets get both of ye to town. There’re good ‘ealers there that should be able to patch ye up, right as rain.” Cravs slings Baldur over her shoulder, and it’s a funny sight seeing a ‘noblewoman’ hefting a peasant boy around.

Rising Lotus continued to tune out the others out as she gripped the first needle between her index finger and thumb, teeth grit hard as she pulled it out in a process that was not only pain to do, but probably painful to watch as well! Hands clenching until her knuckles were white, finally barked something at Riylli "My spear.. an' glove.." she was working on getting to her feet and couldn't be concerned about such things right now.

Riylli Aliapoh puts her staff away and nods, rushing over to grab what Rising had dropped. She briefly hesitated to pick up the spear before turning back to Rising, awkwardly holding the oversized thing in both arms. "Alright, lets go." She said, very obviously avoiding looking at the gross needle pulling going on

Cravendy Hound - The party would return to Limsa and entrust the boy to the healers of the Arcanist’s guild. There were many questions hanging in the air in the silence between them, some that Cravs had to answer for, and others that would have to be found out another day. Perhaps something to discuss a cup of tea back at Heartwood...but today, the mood was wrong. It was simply time to rest.

#ff14 rp logs #Split Ends #...is what I'll call this little collection of quests #Cravs coming up with her disguise: Look at all these nice dresses in the closet!!! #me: single tear rolling down ;o) #Cravendy Hound #Rising Lotus #riylli aliapoh

[shrinkingwmn]

I bought this weird Food Huggers thing ages ago for avocados and then stopped buying avocados, so it has been sitting in my kitchen all this time…depressed, alone, not being used, adrift and without meaning in it’s life…its sad really. To make it up to the little avocado Food Hugger I did the only humane thing I could think of…I bought avocados.

Oh the sacrifices I make in life *big epic sigh* 😉

So this is what it looks like…obviously.

It comes with two sizes in the package, the light green is the more realistic size, the dark green is to make you envious of places in the world that apparently get gigantic avocados in their stores. I have already donated the dark green one because no joke, I have never seen an avocado that would be large enough for that hugger, especially since these things are supposed to have a snug fit. Don’t think yoga pants snug, think leggings snug.

The idea behind this creation is that you can keep half your avocado fresh for longer than without. I didn’t really believe that claim but I will admit to being a sucker for tupperware and similar items that are shaped like the food they are meant to hold so really, I was doomed the moment I saw this thing. I am after all the person who bought a tomato shaped tomato holder and who keeps convincing herself she doesn’t reeeeally need the onion shaped onion holder even though it would look so cute in my fridge!

Anyways…

The avocado food hugger has some limitations, the main one being finding an avocado that ya know, fits. The hugger is supposed to be super snug on your avocado, it needs to make a seal. The first time I tried it my avocado was too small so there was no actual seal made and this was the result…

Not exactly what you want your over priced avocado to look like the next day. I would have done better to wrap it in saran wrap but hey, ya gotta live and learn right?

Next time I bought avocados I managed to find not one, but two avocados that fit in to this thing, yay me!

Here is how it looks when it is properly fit on to an avocado…

You can see where I push in with my thumb there is actually quite a bit of space where the pit is. The Food Hugger itself got a really good seal around the peel of the avocado, thought it was a bit of a battle getting it on there. I say battle like it was this big epic thing when really it was me, cursing under my breath as the avocado kept almost slipping completely out of my hands while I tried to cram it inside a green sorta stretchy avocado condom.

I guess the air in the pit area didn’t matter too much because the next day that half of the avocado looked like this…

Not bad at all. Sure, I lost some of the avocado to the inside of the hugger, but not too much, and yeah there is some browning of the avocado but c’mon, you can’t expect magic to happen, this is just a green silicone food hugger, not a fairy sprinkling fairy dust over everything.

The second avocado I ended up leaving in the hugger, in the fridge, for a couple days. Oops! It didn’t end well. When I took the hugger off the avocado there was mold around the edge of the pit where it meets the flesh of the avocado, there was excessive darkness to the avocado, basically, it was not edible and in to the compost it went.

That was a sad day for me. *sniffle*

In general I think the Food Hugger for avocados is fine, it sure makes the half of the avocado you put in the fridge look cuter than if you wrapped it in saran wrap, and there is less waste since it is washable and I don’t know about you but I tend to throw out saran wrap once I take it off of whatever I wrapped it around. So yeah, environmentally, it is probably the better option, but sadly it didn’t extend the life of my avocado past what the saran wrap was able to do.

It did however give me a good excuse to buy avocados; for that alone I think I am happy I bought it! 😉

Food Huggers Review I bought this weird Food Huggers thing ages ago for avocados and then stopped buying avocados, so it has been sitting in my kitchen all this time...depressed, alone, not being used, adrift and without meaning in it's life...its sad really.

#avocado #environmental choice #Farberware #food #Food Huggers #food storage #home life #kitchen tools #review