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squiddybeifong · 5 years

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Stars and Fire

Raven didn't necessarily regret giving Starfire what was basically permanent-access to her room, but she did regret being so casual in storing that pendant that Harley made for them a few weeks before. That night Talia had simply let the blonde wrap the braided twine around her wrist before they parted ways, her nose scrunching but her eyes brightening at the (presumably stolen) opal that shone like stained glass that now adorned her limb.

The Titan had simply wrapped the gift around her neck then placed it on her favorite bookshelf once she was back in the refuge of her room.

Of course, between a girls’ night-turned-sleepover and a rush to keep Silkie from eating yet another of her novels, Starfire found the little ornament. And while Raven would have waved aside any of the guys’ curiosities at where she found it (or when she even started wearing non-ring jewelry), she had gave in to the alien’s silent question.

Although ‘gave in’ was an understatement. In fact, her resolve all but buckled the moment the redhead’s gaze fell on her.

And that led them to now, floating just a few yards above one of the wires that made up the Golden State Bridge. The sky was surprisingly cloudless and the demoness’ magic cloaked them well. Taking a breath, Raven softly waved for the alien to follow her, silently pointing out the dangerous couple that sat under the bridge.

A soft gasp preceded Starfire's hand coming to rest on the cloak-covered shoulder. Her voice was low and worried, the two villainesses in her sights, "Raven…"

Her fingers nearly curled into a fist but black magic wove against her palm, stopping the energy’s glow before it could form. Green eyes flicked from the duo to the mage’s face as Raven murmured, "They won't fight us, I promise."

Starfire believed her, but still had to ask, “And you’re sure of that?”

Raven hesitated. When the alien’s head turned to her the words bubbled out, “We have an… agreement.”

The empath ran her tongue over her teeth at the warrior’s wave of disbelief, the admission escaping her in a flood, “No fighting or scheming or two-timing when we’re like this. It’s just the three of us… hanging out. I suppose.”

The end of her sentence lilted, as if Raven herself didn’t know exactly what the trio was. She shook her head (and tried not to let emotion sneak into her voice at the way Starfire was staring at her, good or not) and continued, “But they won’t be any more suspicious of you as they were of me when this started.”

Starfire glanced at the two villains and then back at the Titan, pulling her hand away from her shoulder, “How long?”

Raven didn’t even think to lie to lessen the blow, “Almost half a year now.”

The warrior closed her eyes, nodding slowly as she took all the information in. That matched up with the goth’s change in nighttime habits. And as much as she missed their shared late-night snacks with Silkie, Raven had yet to come home from her occasional excursions with any injuries. Although, half a year wasn’t too far from their triumph over Trigon, but the alien knew better than to ask now. Starfire’s eyes were brighter when she opened them again, a thread opening in her mind at her closest teammate’s choice.

Orange fingers touched the clasp to Raven’s coat, easily spreading the indigo apart to grab one of the mage’s hands. The stoic’s face wasn’t as blank as usual when Starfire quietly asked, "Yet you haven't told the others?"

Raven knew her question wasn't an actual query. The alien’s nostrils twitched at the silence, "Not even Robin?"

A brow arched over violet eyes, confused at the question. She blinked at the tall teen once, "Do you honestly think I wouldn't tell you first?"

Starfire tried to keep her laugh quiet, but her grin lit up her face and she pressed their foreheads together. Shoulders lightly shaking, she didn’t know if she savored the demoness’ gasp or the closeness of their bodies more. She squeezed Raven’s hand and giggled out, “Not really.”

Eyes opening, she tenderly smiled at the empath. Their faces were so close that they seemed squished, but her words were clear, “But if you think this is something you want, I’ll be by your side, my friend. Always.”

A quiet, comfortable silence passed between them and their locked eyes before the tiniest smile curled the mystic’s lips. Raven lifted her face until their noses brushed then ducked her head as she abruptly let the shadows release them, giving Talia a pointed look as the assassin's gaze immediately found their spot in the skies. After a beat Harley noticed the tension and looked to where the two Titans hovered, her face brightening as she waved.

Raven held her free palm up, turning to the redhead, "Ready?"

An emerald stare bored into her flushed face, "You truly trust them?"

"Not as much as the Titans, yet alone you, but I do." The empathy paused for a heartbeat as the words left her, and Starfire softly leaned close to kiss her temple. She got more hood than skin, but her empath tensed and then relaxed under the gesture. Starfire aimed an eager if reluctant smile at the goth, her body lowering an inch as she met Talia’s gaze.

She raised her chin, proudly and with as much confidence as only a warrior and a princess could, “I’m ready.”

“Took you long enough.”

Talia’s words were practically sneered out as she aimed a critical look over their new companion, her arms crossing. “Yeah,” Harley lazily strolled up and wrapped an arm around Raven’s shoulders. She winked at Starfire, “Y’all had Tally Marks getting impatient.”

The empath cut in before anything else could be said, “This is Starfire.” She slipped out of Harley’s grasp and stood between everyone, a small smile threatening to lighten her usually stoic face. All three women seemed to relax at the sight, if only slightly. Taking initiative since Raven was putting herself out so far for this, Starfire tilted her head as she glanced from Harley to Talia. She floated forward a few inches, a timid smile on her face.

“I… thought your name was Talia,” The alien said. Her eyes glanced at Harley as the clown jerked a thumb over her shoulder, bringing attention to the lines carved into the metal.

Raven shot the tall woman a look at the neatly etched destruction, but Talia merely shrugged. The assassin ran a tongue over her teeth, “We didn’t know if you were really going to show up. What with us being in your spot we figured we might as well have a timer.” Olive eyes shot to the redhead and she gave Raven another look, “Just in case.”

“I trust Star with this,” The demoness warned. She let some of her cloak fall away so she could wrap a hand around the warrior’s arm. Noting but not acknowledging the sideways glance her evil-inclined friends shared, yet alone the tiny jump and blush that dotted Starfire’s cheeks at her act, Raven added, “She’s the first and only one I’ve introduced this thing of ours to. So behav--”

Harley’s voice cut her off, “Introduced?”

The goth let out a huff at the interruption and Talia wrinkled her nose, focused on the rest of the sentence, “First?”

Starfire blinked and offered a smile as the blonde bounced up to her, a laughing sort of yelp escaping as Harley wrapped her in a hug, “Get in here, then!” Giggling, she hugged her back as hard as she knew she could allow, careful not to pop any ribs as she heard Talia take a step closer to the empath. Raven’s mutter was quiet, but Starfire knew that while Robin’s introduction would be important, it absolutely was set to come after Cyborg’s, at least a few more months in the future.

Harley took her attention as she let out cackle, pulling back to hold orange shoulders and take a good long look at the girl that Raven introduced to them. Her grin turned into a toothy smirk as she called over to the two brooders, “Hey Tal, Ray-Ray’s into redheads!” The clown winked at Talia and proudly shrugged a shoulder, “She’s got good taste.”

The doctor didn’t even try to hold back her amusement as both Titans flushed at her words, her laughter coming back as Raven pinched in between her eyes, “Behave.”

Starfire blushed as she scratched at her hair, avoiding Raven’s apologetic gaze as Harley teasingly shot out towards the assassin, “Although green eyed gals are just as fun.”

Talia rolled her eyes at the wink sent her way, her head snapping up as a light lit up downtown, a symphony of police sirens booming through the air a second later. She glanced at Raven but the demoness seemed unsure, violet eyes glancing around the parts of the city they could see from their spot. A breath escaped the teen then she spoke, “Doesn’t seem too bad; the police force can handle it but if it gets any worse we’ll go check it out.”

She glimpsed at her teammate to confirm and they shared a nod. But the villains (well, mainly Harley) were having far too much fun in participating in this trainwreck to let them go just like that.

“Ah,” Harley had obviously been taken with Starfire (but mostly with how Raven reacted when the alien was near), and she slung an arm around the teen’s shoulders. She had to go up on the tips of her toes to reach properly, but her smile was as shit-eating as possible as she sing-songed out, “Seems like Moonbeam just wants to gaze at some stars, huh?”

The redhead gave her a sideways glance, embarrassed at the teasing but comfortable enough to poke the older woman in the cheek, “Hush.”

Talia lazily strolled up to the alien’s other side, carefully considering her. She poked at a bronze bicep and nodded approvingly, “Super strength, correct?”

“And super durability, UV absorption, flight…” Emerald eyes inadvertently flicked to the goth, “Also instant language assimilation.”

Humming, Talia stood to her full height, “That’s impressive enough. At least she brought someone who can fight.” Starfire’s jaw twitched and the assassin tapped where her sword would have been held had they not met this way, adding, “Never in between us, of course. But this is a weakly protected city, you never know when your prowess will come in handy.”

As if on cue another light flashed through the sky, the explosion’s boom rumbling in their ears half a second later. Talia rolled her eyes, “Namudhiji.” She didn’t seem all too busy with the spotlights that lit up the sky. Typical.

Instead she craned her head back, looking at how the surge of light blocked off the sight of the stars. A brown hand ran through her long hair, unconcerned with the commotion. Her throat moved as she swallowed the air in her mouth, easily understanding what was to occur if the Titans had to go help out.

Only a few car alarms went off unsurprisingly; there wasn’t too much chaos this late at night but the heroes shared a look. Raven’s lips quirked down as she turned to the unlawful women she felt that she could call her friends, not knowing how to properly apologize for having to leave early.

The assassin tilted her head and mentally blamed her words on Harley’s observations, since now she couldn’t see anything else, “You two can go, don’t let us stop your date night.” Raven’s mouth opened indignantly and a dark finger pointed the teen’s way, “But you’re giving up half of a turn for sticking me with Harley for most of the night, Raven.”

Raven paused at the tiniest trickle of emotion that crept through the woman’s words, her eyes brightening at the same time Talia’s narrowed. Clicking her tongue, the empath let the closest thing to a smirk form on her lips, “Sorry for choosing this spot. I’ll arrange for you two to have a more romantic setting my next pick, then.”

Talia raised a brow at the mage and crossed her arms. She rolled her jaw but didn’t bother legitimizing the girl’s teasing with a reply, her gaze flicking between Starfire and Harley as they bid their goodbyes. Clapping the blonde on the shoulder, the redhead said something and the two let out simultaneous, loud bubbles of laughter.

The assassin tilted her chin, her face confident despite the horrid not-quite confessions they were tiptoeing around. She met the mystic’s gaze, looking more amused than she’d ever been, “You have a type.”

Raven didn’t answer her.

#with imagination #raven #talia al ghul #harley quinn #starfire #my writing #i know none of the like 2 people reading this care about spoilers but starrae is obviously endgame for this #i… don’t know whats gonna happen with harley tho ngl. part of me’s just like. dude. harlivy ofc #but ive got like 3 other wips of this n im kinda leaning for talia endgame #tbqh not knowing their shipname makes me hesitate. tarley? harlia? clownmurder is already taken and im just ???#i am unsure #another part of me wants to stay safe with harlivy and say fuck it and somehow make selina and talia a thing but #that’s asking for w a y too much character development even if its just hate fucking so maybe-prob-not #man should i bring donna into this?? maybe even diana too im??? maybe with the whole inevitable batman finding out scene #but to do star and donna bonding or jealous over each others crush on rae? either way harley must tease them but im just ?#wonderstarrae??? do i scream or do i write??? i dunno i have so many gay thoughts but not enough time to write them all h e l p #god i don't even know how long it'd take to figure out just how to write donna when she's more straightlace like dick is on this #she can't betray her twin!!! but maybe dating rae helps her change her mind???#sorry im spitballing in the tags but i wanna at least try to figure out the basics of where this is going yknow #keeping it open so y'all know how much of a mess i am

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rhaenyratargeryn · 3 years

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Exit Wounds (Cyberpunk 2077)

Pairing: Takemura Goro x (female) V Rating: Mature Summary: When his plans for revenge fail, V and Takemura are left right where they once started. A dying thief and a disgraced soldier, with as much in common as they lack and an improbable bond that holds them to one another. Notes: Post-Canon, Nomad ending. Spoilers for post-game! Read on AO3

They’d picked up a tail somewhere around the border. Whomever it was, they were skillful and cautious, but even still the Aldecaldos were able to lose them in a sandstorm across the Mojave. After a few weeks, it seemed that maybe they had even died out there in the hot sands.

Panam had taken V to a few experts along their trail, people who had done work for the family but so far, there had been little more than additional pills to take. She was swallowing a pharmacy every morning just to keep blood out of her mouth, but the worst of the seizures were under control and well— there was still time. Six months Alt had said, but maybe more. One had already passed and V felt better.

Well. Physically at least.

Inside her head things had changed, for better or for worse, was an academic argument that V hadn’t the time to ponder. She had, god forbid it, gotten used to having Silverhand in her head. The lack of Johnny’s familiar presence in her mind had left a strange sort of… loneliness in her. A feeling that wouldn’t leave her, a gnawing sensation that something was missing.

She had Johnny’s memories still and her own of him, though it did little to console her. She sat on the dusty fender of one of the trucks, rubbing a smudge from Johnny’s aviators, one of the handful of tangible mementos she kept of the old rocker. The sun above was already searing hot, the heat like a burn on the back of V’s neck.

“How far out did you spot um?” Mitch’s voice cut through her thoughts and V squinted against the bright daylight up at the two younger nomad drivers, Fiona and Tiger. They’d been sent out on a water run, returning from the nearest town several miles out with gallons full to keep the Aldecaldos going further across the desert.

“Cut us off. Started a fire fight. It was fuckin’ dicey, Mitch. We got lucky. Fiona clipped him and then his hood. Whole ride started smoking and then died under him.”

“Was it Arasaka?” V asked, replacing the aviators over her eyes.

Tiger and Fiona shared looks and then with a tentative nod, Fiona answered in the affirmative.

“We think so. He moved like a damn one man army, even with how fucked up he seemed.”

“Fucked up?”

“The guy was a monster, but it was like… I dunno. Like he was hurt?”

“Never corner a wounded animal…” Panam offered cryptically from where she sat alongside V, shooting her a worried look.

“Wounded animals got nothin’ to lose,” V said in agreement, then got up with a sigh, “You said you shot him? His car broke down too?”

“Yeah, probably right where we left um… you want us to go back, Panam? Make sure he dropped?”

“I’ll tag along. Hitch over with you both.” V said, Panam frowning at the suggestion, “I could jack in, find out what info he has got. I know Arasaka, Panam, I’m the best to check it out.”

“You don’t need my permission, V—”

“But?”

Panam scowled, turning her eyes to the other Aldecaldos and jerking her head to the side in a silent scram. They left, Mitch stayed, crossing his arms.

“The guy is toast. Why not just leave him?” Panam said, a sigh in her throat, “I dunno. I don’t like this, V. Arasaka hasn’t made a peep since we left. Thought we were keeping under the radar…”

“Clearly not.” Mitch said with a shrug, “And he might be toast. Or he mighta had back up. He might be on his way back to the NC to give up our location. We should make sure he is flatlined, if anything.”

Panam was the head of the family now, her word given final weight of law, but more often than not they had worked together as a sort of “council”. Panam was still getting used to Saul’s absence, an empty void that no one attempted to fill, because no one could ever do so. She looked to V and Mitch for guidance and right now it was obvious in the way she worried her bottom lip and flashed a look up and down V that she wished Mitch had agreed with her.

“You’ll keep outta trouble?” Panam said and V couldn’t help but crack a smile.

“I’m already dyin’, what other shenanigans could I get up to?”

Panam scoffed, clearly not liking the answer.

“Ugh, just be safe! Come back in one piece... or this shitty ass trip has been for nothin’.”

This was what having a family was all about though. Caring. Scolding. And now that she had it, V wouldn’t trade it for anything. Not for all the eddies and fame in Night City.

“Be back soon then.” V said, meeting back up with Fiona and Tiger with a short wave behind her.

---

It wasn’t a long drive to the spot where they had tangled with the possible Arasaka soldier and that actually genuinely worried V. They’d gotten close. Too close.

“There it is, can you see?” Fiona said, pointing her cigarette towards the ever larger growing mass of grey smoke.

“Pull off up here… Fiona, you stay with the car and I’ll take Tiger with me. You hear shots or us hollerin’ you peel outta here and go get the others, alright?”

“Yeah, yeah. Got it.” Fiona flicked ash unto the sand as she pulled the car up slowly to the patch of dried red earth, hidden in the shadow of a high rock and threw the gear into park.

Tiger followed V out, his rifle at the ready as he hung back a few steps. V had Johnny’s— no, her pistol. It was strange how well it fit in her hand, a perfectly balanced weapon that she loaded and readied with the familiarity of one who had used it for years, not a few weeks.

The remnants of the enemy jeep were still burning, fire crackling faintly from beneath the blackened and smoke streaked hood. The thing was already doomed before it took a few good shots to the metal, the paint peeling from the sides everywhere from overexposure to sunlight and rough sands. It was a junker, not exactly the kind of thing an Arasaka soldier would drive.

V came up around the drivers side while Tiger kept back, rifle ready for longshots. No one seemed to be in the car. V checked the handle with the back of her hand, feeling only the heat from the sun on it. She opened it quickly, hand going back to hold her pistol ready as she checked the passenger seat and back.

No one.

Frowning, she noticed blood on the driver’s seat, smeared across the old cracked leather. The trail continued on the ground, darkening the already caked red dirt with splotches. Any rations or water the truck held were taken and whomever was driving had begun to walk, following the tire tracks Fiona and Tiger had originally left behind.

V felt her blood run cold as the depth of her mistake fell on her.

“Tiger! Turn ‘round, get back to Fiona!”

“W-what?” the young man sputtered, gun up and ready as the panic in V’s voice clearly showed through.

“Get back to the damn car!”

V broke out in a run, leaving him behind as she tried not to let her heart surge with panic. Her eyes caught the blood trail on the ground… making its way to the same rock, the only place of shade, where they had parked the car.

By the time V was back in the shadow of the dark rock formation, her fear was confirmed.

Fiona was out of the car, her eyes wide and fearful and her hands behind her head as the man behind her pointed a gun to her temple.

A man whose cold, mechanical grey eyes cut right through V’s chest and threatened to suck the breath from her lungs.

Takemura’s lips twitched into a smile that was more sneer than anything. Surprise registering just for a moment on his features, or maybe it was more like shock.

“The very woman I have been looking for.”

Tiger had been right. Takemora was a mess. Even without the gunshot wound bleeding sluggishly at his side, his usual immaculate bun was loosened, strands falling across his sun-scorched face, darkening his already warm complexion with deep reds.

He was indeed a wounded animal, a wounded wolf, snarling and ready to take its prey with it to the grave.

V brought her hands up, holding her pistol out and quickly ejecting the clip and then the bullet in the chamber. Carefully, she set the pistol on the ground.

“A wise choice.” Takemura said, accepting her silent surrender.

“Let her go, Goro.”

“You insult me.” he spat, Fiona crying out as his grip tightened and jerked at the back of her neck.

“Fine! Fine— Takemura. Let her go. You came out here for me, yeah? Don’t need the kid.”

“What is one more life to you, V? You already have so many to answer for.” Takemura said, but despite his words, his grip relented on Fiona, “I am here only for one. One that mattered most…”

Takemura took the gun from Fiona’s belt, tossing it far off into the dirt before shoving Fiona away from him dispassionately.

“Do not move.” was all he said to Fiona, his eyes never leaving V’s. Takemura staggered forward. He tried not to let the pain show, but it was obvious he had lost too much blood. He wouldn’t survive that wound without help, but something in his eyes made V think… he didn’t intend to.

V didn’t run, didn’t even struggle as he reached out and grabbed her throat with a hand, sticky with dried blood. He dragged her in close, close enough that she could smell the smoke on his clothes and feel the heat of his breath.

A quiet seemed to come over him, an almost peaceful stillness. His eyes were half lidded as he looked down at her, his hand moving to hold the back of her neck more gently, almost in an embrace as the other held the pistol close to her head.

“... you should have left me to die that da-”

Takemura’s words were cut off with a strangled cry of pain as Tiger’s rifle thundered and a shot grazed over his shoulder and tore fabric and flesh from him. The impact was enough to throw Takemura off balance, giving V enough time to force him back onto the ground, scrambling for the pistol in his hand.

It was a dirty fight— more of a scuffle than anything as blood loss and dehydration seemingly had already sapped the former Arasaka bodyguard of much of his strength. V did him the favor of knocking him across the head with the butt of his pistol before he could get up and risk another shot from Tiger. Somehow, V felt the younger man wouldn’t miss the second time around.

Tiger clamored down from the rockface, rifle still up and ready for another shot.

“No! He’s down!” V hovered over Takemura, shielding him from Tiger’s barrel.

“I missed um, V! Fucker still breathing.”

Fiona had scrambled up from the dirt, rubbing away the clean spots where her tears had made trails down her cheeks.

“Yeah and he’s gonna stay that way, alright? Just… just check on Fiona and get the damn car going. We’re taking him back to camp.”

“V, what? No. No, no way. We can’t take some Arasaka spy back with us!”

“He ain’t Arasaka.” V said behind clenched teeth, straining to haul up the dead weight of her former partner in crime, “Eh… hey, help me here will ya?”

Tiger stared, dumbfounded as his rifle went lax in his hands.

“Look, we need to know what he knows. We can do that better somewhere safe and with him not leaking to death so help me get him in the damn car.”

If V had thought Tiger and Fiona put up a fuss on the drive back, she had not fully imagined how Panam would react. V wondered to herself if Saul had ever yelled at Panam this way before, because it certainly matched the kind of ferocity she had seen between the pair.

“Are you listening to me, V?!”

How could you miss it?

V’s inner voice, which sometimes still sounded a lot like one Mr. Silverhand, provided in his deadpan voice. It was an imagined voice, but it still brought a smile to her lips as V let herself indulge in the fantasy that he remained with her.

“Jesus… completely ignoring me. V. You brought an Arasaka spy to the camp. We can’t let him go now! Our best bet is to put two in his skull and burying him in a sand drift and hope his friends don’t come looking!”

“No one is gonna come lookin’, Panam. He’s former Arasaka. Outcasted. Exiled— whatever you wanna call it. He doesn’t got any back up. They don’t even know he is here and would kill him as surely they would any of us.” V said, leaning back in one of the camp’s creaky metal folding chairs.

Even in the firelight it was easy to see the lack of faith in Panam’s expression as she paced around the firepit, raking her hands roughly over her face.

“Former Arsaka, current Arasaka. Shit, V, you think that matters? I got a half dead highly trained killer in this camp who wants to off you.”

V shrugged.

“Oh my god, you are impossible!”

“I’m the only one he is a danger to, so I don’t know why—”

“Do not finish that sentence. You know damn well why.”

Still managing to piss off everyone, I see. Fucked off to the furthest outer reaches of the net and Johnny’s words still somehow played in her head.

“Sorry.” V said with a grumble, resting all four legs of the chair back to the ground, “He might know something. And if he does or doesn’t, we can just patch him up and drop him at the nearest town.”

“Oh, yeah. Real nice, V. So he can come after us again?”

“I’m not gonna kill him.”

Panam sighed— well. It was more like a half assed hoarse yell from the back of her throat, but V thought she meant it as a sigh.

“... they manage to fix him up at all?”

“Yeah… yeah it looks like he had one shot of Bounce Back left. Kept him from flatlining when he took that hit to the side. He was already healin’ up. Bullet was through and through. Tiger only managed to graze him. Kid got nervous or else your old friend wouldn’t have a face right now.”

Panam crossed her arms, still fidgeting from side to side.

“That ain’t even his worst problems. Guy probably hasn’t eaten in days and his water ran out long off too. This… well. I don’t think he was planning on going back to NC.”

After a moment, V stood, rubbing both hands up behind her neck and then back down with a groan.

“I don’t think so either.”

“You… gonna see him?”

“You got him restrained?”

“Yeah, V. He’s in and out. Was delirious for a bit, but they managed to get some water in him. V… he’s in a bad way.”

“...s’my fault.” V said, words a half mumble, “You heard on the radio. Our plan got Hanako Arasaka killed. I… didn’t want that, but Alt had her own plans, ya know? Christ, at the time I didn’t even think to know, I was just trying to keep alive.”

Panam shook her head, “We lost people too. Saul. Teddy. Bob. … fuck, nearly lost more. You didn’t know Alt was going to stage a hostile god damn take over. He can’t blame you.”

“He will.” V said, her voice quiet, “I… I’ll try to talk to him. At least keep him from doing anything stupid thinking we got plans to flatline him.”

“Yeah, just… be careful, V. Like I said. The sun does weird bullshit to your head out in this place.”

V only nodded, gripping Panam’s shoulder just briefly as she passed towards the tent where they were keeping Takemura.

---

Two armed nomads were outside the tent while another two had been inside while Tom, a former ripperdoc and current nomad senior, had worked on Takemura. The three had left to give V some space, but the other guards remained outside nearby.

Takemura was laid out on one of the cots, his ruined shirt cut and stripped from him, leaving him bare from the waist up except where bandages were wrapped tightly around his middle and then up around his shoulder and back. V had always seen the exposed trace of chrome that wrapped around his neck and along his jaw, but now she could see where cyberware traced across his bare arms and lined one side of his ribs. Their purpose, V couldn’t say, and most likely, they didn’t work anymore given Takemura’s burned status with Arasaka.

The rest of his body was, at least by appearances, organic. Smooth olive complected skin over toned muscle. Takemura’s face gave away his age. The lines on his forehead and around his mouth indicated years of deep thinking… or deep scowling, but otherwise he had kept himself at peak condition. A work requirement no doubt of being a top Arasaka bodyguard.

His breathing was sharp, but steady enough. His eyes were closed, but a grimace rested permanently across his features even in sleep.

V pulled up a chair, turning it backwards as she straddled it and leaned her arms against the back frame.

“... you look like shit, man.” she said, not expecting an answer. She didn’t get one either, not a vocal one. Instead she got the faint clatter of metal against metal as Takemura moved and the cuffs holding his arms to the bed rattled against the frame.

She had flinched at the sound, embarrassing herself.

His eyes opened, the pale grey like moonlight slicing through darkened clouds. He looked hazy, drugged up… his eyes looked over at her with only the vaguest recognition.

“... V?”

“Yeah, it’s me.”

“I am… not dead. A dissapointment.”

“Sorry— you were hoping we’d put two in your head while you slept?”

Takemura made a gruff sound that V took as an affirmative.

“Would have made it easier.”

“Uh huh, you know they got hotlines for this kinda thing.”

Takemura groaned, “I remember. You said same thing in Night City.”

“I’m sure someone in camp would be happy to help you out if you try shooting me again.”

Takemura went silent at that, turning his eyes upwards towards the top of the tent with a deep frown. Like he was remembering something he had, for a moment, forgotten.

“I will kill you, V. For what has been done.”

“I didn’t have anything to do with Hana-”

“You insult her by speaking her name.” his voice was harsh, pain straining the words as he tried to sit up and found himself unable to bear his wounds.

“...I’m sorry, Takemura. I didn’t— it wasn’t— I didn’t want anyone to get hurt… I was dying. Like literally in that moment fucking flatlining. I did what I had to try and sever that relic from my head and… and that AI did what she wanted.”

“You let it in. It turned systems against Arasaka. Hanako-sama— Hanako-sama was shredded by hacked mech units. Beyond recognition! And you tell me you didn’t know? You knew it would be nothing good.”

“... when I was there, when Alt took over… she was only attacking soldiers who attacked us. I don’t know what happened with Hanako-sama, but—”

“And now I have told you what happened to Hanako-sama.” Takemura said, his words clipped, “Get out— better still, let me die having done my duty.”

V swallowed thickly, rolling her lips together before she said quietly, “I’m not gonna do that.”

Takemura did not respond. He shut his eyes, as if he refused to even give V the dignity of looking at them. His brow was tight, pained and yet still grimly determined.

There were things she still needed to ask him— did Arasaka know where he was? Did he still plan to bide his time and kill her? V felt her heart throb at the very idea that this man who she had trusted, had worked with, had saved her… now utterly hated her.

He had sent her one message after she had left Night City, standing among the rubble and ruin of Arasaka Tower.

Rot in hell, クソ野郎.

In all honesty, the way he had spoken, the things he said… well, she hadn’t expected to hear or see him again. V had done with that knowledge what she did with most things… hit delete on the message and then buried it in the back of her thoughts with Jackie and the other countless people she had let down. These things were all just part of the sins she figured she would pay for in six months when her body finally succeeded in killing itself. A part of her had even wondered if the agony of that, the pain of each seizure, the waking exhaustion, nausea and memory loss… if her suffering could tip those scales even the slightest. Make it even.

Just another fairy-tale dream. Johnny’s voice scoffed in her imagination.

Maybe suicide was still his intention, but it was obvious now to V the means of that demise had changed. Takemura couldn’t get Yorinobu now, but he could get her. The one who had promised to help him gain his revenge and then denied it for him forever.

V stood and quietly left through the tent flap, barely giving an appreciative nod to the guards out front as she staggered off to her own tent, feeling sick from the faint throb that had begun to pulse in the back of her neck… from regret. From guilt.

Her vision cut, lines of static racing across her sight and making shapes turn into nothing more than incomprehensible blurs. V felt the world shift and jerk from side to side, the ground rising up to meet her as she tripped over her own feet and fell with a thud to the dirt.

Even laying there, voices of alarm tuned out and far away, faces blurred and unidentifiable, V could feel the churning turning sensation as the Earth spun slowly through space. Falling, through silent cold space.

Like Jackie, like T-Bug. Like Johnny.

Like all the dead that had come before her.

Breathing deeply, V curled her fingers into the red sand, and held on.

Not yet, V. Not yet.

#goro takemura x v #goro takemura #v cyberpunk 2077 #cp 2077 v #goro takemura x female v #takemura x v #takemura x female v #cp 2077 #cp2077 #cp 2077 fanfic #cp2077 fanfic #cyberpunk 2077 fanfic #multi chapter #friends to enemies and then enemies to friends and friends to lovers #fun fun fun

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wntersfire · 3 years

Text

GET TO KNOW ME TAG GAME

Before I start I would just like to say (tw alcohol for now and question 19) sorry for any spelling mistakes or if I ramble a little. To cut a long fuckin story short I mis read the measurements of my shot glasses and so instead of having two cocktails I’ve had the equivalent of four in the space of an hour and a half. Being british, im not gonna let a good drink go to waste either so im onto my third/sixth now.

Tagged by @clints-lucky-arrow (an actual goddess among us mortals)

1. Why did you choose your URL?

So this reason is two-fold. One, I didn’t watch star wars growing up because I was dumb and didn’t understand the politics (it wasn’t until my boyfriend sat me down and explained it literally in January of this year that I actually got it) but I loved Sci-fi and space so the next best thing was Treasure Planet (2003 film, Available on didney+) My favourite scene is the ending when Long John Silver (spoilers) is about leave before he can be arrested and Jim confronts him. Seeing how much his character has grown, Silver says to Jim, “Look at you, glowing like a silver fire. You’re something special, Jim. You’re gonna rattle the stars, you are.” It literally makes me tear up every single time I watch it and its one of my favourite lines of all time. Second, this was actually quoted in one of my favourite book series ‘Throne of glass’ by Sarah J Maas. I adore the character of Celeana and again one of my favourite quotes from TOG is when Queen Elena says to Celeana“ You could rattle the stars. You could do anything, if only you dared.” Every time I read that line I literally get chills and I actually have plans to get this tattooed on me lmao

2. Any side blogs?

Yes my fanfic blog @second-stars-totheright (I like puns and I used to love peter pan)

3. How long have you been on tumblr?

I joined when I was 13 for the fanfiction and lurked for a very long time, just reblogging and liking things until I deleted it when I was 17. Re downloaded the app and got my account back back around February of this year (when I was 19, now 20) and since then I’ve found it much friendlier and actually interacted with people this time around, and actually started posting my work on here!

4. Do you have a queueue tag?

No. This is my general postings blog so I just kind of stick anything funny or worth keeping here, but I probably should make one!

5. Why did you start your blog in the first place?

As I said to read fanfiction (anyone wondering it was 5 seconds of summer fanfiction. Anyone who judges me in the comments its fair game 🥺) but I re-downloaded it this year because I noticed with my work on Wattpad, while I had some do really well (one has gotten 130k+ views) its very difficult to actually interact with readers and get feedback. I’ve only accumulated that high of a number after 5 years of it being on there, and so tumblr is just so much more personal!

6. Why did you choose your icon/pfp?

I did it this morning as I was getting tagged in this lmao. I wanted a cartoon girl who looked like me but because I had a specific colouring (ie my hair is black with a blonde streak at the front & my eyes have both blue and green segments because I have heterochromia) I couldn’t find any that looked like me so I recoloured a cartoon girl I found on pinterest.

7. Why did you choose you header?

The white clouds fit the stars theme and it looks pretty with the purple. ✨💜

8. Whats your post with the most notes?

“That girl is a problem | Javier Pena x Agent!Reader part 1” with 105 notes on my fanfic blog.

9. How many mutuals do you have?

I am still a little tumblr idiot when it comes to this so if someone could tell me how to find out I'll edit this

10. How many followers do you have?

72 on here, 107 on my fanfic blog (AND I LOVE ALL OF YOU ACROSS BOTH OF THEM MWAH, MWAH KISSES FOR YOU ALL 💜💜💜)

11. How many people do you follow?

165 (it was 700+ but the other day I unfollowed a bunch of accounts that haven’t been active since I followed them when I was 13. There were LOTS)

12. Have you ever made a shit post?

I mean all you have to do is look at the Nomad memes I make (UNAPOLOGETICALLY I might add 😤) for @clints-lucky-arrow to know I absolutely have. That series has a hold over me im telling you. I black out when I start reading and I awake with a bunch of meme editing apps open and my feelings tugged at from her amazing writing.

13. How often do you use Tumblr each day?

If I’m with my boyfriend which is like two days a week, rarely, but now I’ve finished uni, I’m on here all the god damn time. I feel so comfy and safe interacting with you all, not to mention some of you guys are funny as hell.

14. Did you have a fight with a blog once?

Not really on here, I haven’t received any hate luckily but I prefer not to spoil how comfy I am here with arguing.

15. How do you feel about ‘you need to re-blog this’ posts?

I’m a little confused by this I dunno whether I’ve just never come across any like this or if Stars is being a bimbo on the tl again. However, I only reblog things I’d like to keep for future reference or if something deserves to be shared to everyone else like a fic rec or a piece of art. (As Mack said, I’ve re-blogged so many in the past promising me money or luck and I am still broke as shit so what does that tell you).

16. Do you like tag games?

Yes!! I love reading everyone elses and getting to know my mutals better!

17. Do you like ask games?

Again yesss because it means I get to send love to my mutuals and get to know them better! I tend to not participate though just read their responses because I sometimes feel like I’m bugging people clogging their inboxes even though I know that’s the point idk I’m a hell of an over thinker sometimes 🥳

18. Which of your mutuals do you think is tumblr famous?

It’s been said before but @clints-lucky-arrow (wow you rlly owning this post bby girl) but I just remember lurking on Nomad early February and liking and reblogging her chapters so I could keep them to re-read cause that’s how much I instantly loved it and when she followed me I realised who she was and lowkey had a starstruck moment bcus id been ciaght up in her work for weeks and too nervous to make contact. Also @arduadastra, I saw her work all over the pedro tags for so long and now I’ve gotten to know her she is the sweetest girl!! We usually fan over Javier Pena gifs together, she’s solely responsible for ‘That girl is a problem’ bcus of her gif sending at 1am giving me Javi thots and now it’s my most successful one on my blog. And most recently @pedrosgirlx followed me this morning and her work is genuinely some of the best I've seen on here, as I said this morning it is the Sistine Chapel ceiling of Mando art it is actually jaw dropping!! I cant believe all these creators are rlly giving us this content for free and yet being so talented AND the nicest people I’ve ever met!!

19. Do you have a crush on a mutual?

No, although I hold a lot of them dearly as friends. 15/10 would treat you lovelies to a drink of your choice if we ever met (any of you from the uk who drink I’d get you a pitcher from Whetherspoons)

20. Absolutely no pressure tags:

anyone who wants to join! a lot of people I would have tagged have already posted theirs so go for it if you like the look of it!

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crystalninjaphoenix · 4 years

Text

New Places

A Stitched Story

JSE Fanfic

Bit of a simple concept, really. With the truth revealed, Jack, Chase, and JJ have to regroup. And meanwhile, Schneep has to deal with his own magical crisis, and things get crazy fast. I don’t want to say too much because of spoilers, but I think it’s fun ^-^ Also google Rot13, Atbash, and Base64 for some fun easter eggs that might just be enjoyable to me but I’m including anyway because screw it it’s my writing. Anyway, even if there’s not too much happening and it looks longer than it actually is, hope you guys enjoy!

Tagging @septic-dr-schneep for inspiring this AU with this post.

Read where it started: Stitched Together | Season One

Also I’m finally starting a taglist for this dfajklfh: @bupine @violet--majesty

It was a lovely morning to be waiting on a doorstep so you could ask the house’s occupants if you and your friends could stay there because the place where you’d previously been staying had been found by the demon who’d been hunting you.

This thought passed through Chase’s head just before he rang the doorbell for a second time. He couldn’t help but laugh, the sound almost hysterical.

Are you okay, Chase? JJ asked. He was leaning heavily on Jack, his ankle still injured.

Chase shook his head. “Yeah, I’m fine. Guess I’m a little...frazzled.” And who wouldn’t be? He’d just found out the monster chasing them was actually their dead friends fused together, then one of his friends turned out to have magic and proceeded to disappear, and now they’d been run out of Jack’s apartment, where they’d been staying, and he’d turned to the last relatively-safe place he knew. Assuming that she’d let them stay, of course.

The door swung open. There was a woman standing in the doorway, blonde hair pulled back in a messy ponytail. She was wearing the uniform of the diner she worked at, so she must’ve just gotten off a shift. For a moment, she just stared at the three men on her doorstep. And then she gasped out, “Chase?!”

Chase coughed awkwardly. “Hi, Stace. It...it’s been a while, hasn’t it?”

“You’re damn right!” Stacy’s tone wasn’t angry, just bewildered. “Wh—what are you doing here?! What are they doing here?!”

“Long story,” Chase sighed. “Can...can we come inside first?”

Stacy silently stood aside, letting the group enter the house.

The suburban house was relatively small, but it was very neat and tidy. There was a couch pressed against the window, a television against the opposite wall, an armchair, a coffee table, and two tiny bean bags in the corner, one yellow, one pink. Jack guided JJ over to the couch, where they both immediately collapsed.

“What the hell is going on?!” Stacy asked. “I don’t see you in person for months, your friends say you’ve disappeared but won’t tell me what’s going on, then next thing I know you’re back, and whenever you call me you won’t tell me what’s going on or why you can’t see our kids!”

“I told you, it’s dangerous,” Chase said tiredly.

“What—okay, I-I understand that, but if that’s the case, why are you here now?” Stacy spluttered. “If you’re in danger, why’re you bringing it here? The place where there’s a five-year-old and an eight-year old?!”

“I know, it’s stupid, I’m sorry,” Chase mumbled.

Stacy paused. Chase normally would’ve been more defensive. There was something wrong here. She looked around at the group. “Where’s your doctor friend?” she asked.

Chase flinched. “You, um, noticed he wasn’t here?”

“Well, yeah, the other two are here, and you guys almost always travel in a group,” Stacy said. “Is...is something wrong? Where is he?”

“He’s...we don’t know where he is,” Jack piped up. “It’s a long story.”

“You keep saying that,” Stacy sighed.

“Well it is,” Jack said. “Look, I’m sorry, Stacy, but our last safe place has just been...found out. We don’t know where else to go.”

“...huh.” Stacy ran her hand through her hair, and loosened her ponytail.

“If you kick us out, we’ll find somewhere else,” Chase said.

“I’m not gonna kick you out,” Stacy scowled. “Not now that you’re here. I just—”

“Mom?”

Everyone in the room paused. Standing in the doorway connecting the living room to the rest of the house were two young girls. The taller, toffee blonde one was holding the hand of the shorter, sandy blonde one. Stacy smiled at them. “Hey sweeties.”

The shorter one was holding a plush doll in one hand. Her eyes widened. “Daddy? Is that you?”

Chase waved. “Hi, Lily. Yes, It’s me. Hello, Moira. It’s good to see you.”

“What’re you doing here?” Moira asked, squeezing her sister’s hand.

“It’s complicated, honey,” Chase said. “Me and my friends are gonna be staying here for a while.”

Lily gasped, suddenly looking delighted. “Yea!” She broke free from Moira’s hand, running over to Chase. She threw her arms around him. Chase froze, stiffening. His eyes darted around the room, landing on every adult. Lily was totally unaware of her father’s distress.

Moira, however, wasn’t. “Lils, come on, let’s let them talk for a bit.”

“Aw, okay.” Lily let go and retreated back to the hall, and she and Moira disappeared back into the house.

Chase went and sat down in the armchair, covering his mouth and shaking slightly. Jack stood up and took another seat closer to Chase, though he didn’t move to touch him.

Stacy stared at all of this in silence. “This...this is all so confusing,” she said. “Chase, what...?”

“I-I don’t want to talk about it,” Chase said, the sound muffled by his hand. “Just...can we have some time?”

Stacy nodded slowly. “Alright. You can explain to me later, if you want to. I’ll...I’ll be around.” And she turned and left.”

After a long moment of silence, Chase took a deep breath. He straightened. “Okay. I think we need to decide where to go from here. For starters...” He looked at Jack. “How’d you just instantly come to the conclusion that Anti was Jackie and Marvin? Just...h-how?”

“Um...well...” Jack shifted on his seat. “Me and JJ were talking about this yesterday. I, uh, apparently have magic vision now.”

“What?! Since when?!”

“Since JJ replaced my eye.” Jack tapped the skin under his right eye, the one that was brighter blue than the other. “We’re still not sure why, but it...it means I can sea people’s souls.”

“You can what?!” Chase could only gape at him.

“Yeah. They look like glowing balls of light in people’s chests.”

Chase folded his arms unconsciously, over his chest. “Can...you see mine?”

“Yeah, it’s yellow. And it has these...” Jack shook his head. “I-I don’t know, these groove things. I think it’s because of what An—anyway.” He coughed. “How I knew they were him, was that...I looked at Anti’s soul, and it was a bunch of red and blue...shard-like things. Held together by that green string. You remember that? I-I saw it, and I reached forward, and I pulled it out...and then Anti disappeared and we found Marvin and Jackie. Later, I-I looked at them with this soul vision, and they...didn’t have...normal soul lights. They both had red and blue shards.”

There was evidence that Marvin and Jackie preformed a transference spell before they died. JJ said. It’s black magic. Very black magic. It takes apart people’s souls and switches the pieces around, then enhances them. It will give the two participants special abilities, but at a cost. It must’ve gone wrong, and somehow Anti is the result.

Chase laughed. “Okay. Cool. That’s fine. What...what do we do about that? Ho-how do we get them back?”

Jameson froze. Chase...he signed slowly. I don’t think there’s a way to get—

“Shut up!” Chase shot to his feet. “Of course there’s a way! There has to be a way! They—they’re probably stuck in there! We have to get them back!”

Chase. Jameson leaned forward, trying to be gentle. If their souls were torn apart—

“There has to be a way!” Chase repeated insistently. “I mean, if magic is real, then we can fix this! I-I know maybe you’ve never heard of one, fancy magic man, but you’ve never heard of something like Anti, either! So there’s got to be a way!” He looked at Jack. “Right?”

“Wh—I mean, yeah, of course,” Jack nodded. “That makes sense. Besides, we’ll never know if we don’t try.”

Jameson shank back, looking a little ashamed. I’m sorry. The signs were small. I suppose you two are right. I was just trying... He stopped. You’re right. We need to try.

“Yeah, but first, we need to find Schneep,” Jack said. “What...what happened to him?”

“I dunno, I guess it’s his magic. That he suddenly has. For some reason,” Chase mumbled. He sat back down, shrinking into the cushions of the arm chair.

“Yeah, what is that kind of magic anyway? Where did it come from?” Jack wondered.

Jameson shrugged. I’m unsure for that latter question, but for the former, it appears Henrik can teleport, somehow. Or maybe it’s that he somehow affects the world around him to make regular walking easier for him. Like wormholes.

A hint of a smile drifted across Chase’s face. “Yeah, explain it to him like it’s wormholes, he’d like that more.” The smile faded away. “So, he freaked out and teleported away. Where did he go? How would we find him? He didn’t have his phone on him, so we can’t even take the risk of Anti finding us to call him.”

“I guess we’ll have to find him the old-fashioned way,” Jack figured. “By looking around and walking for him.”

“That could take forever!” Chase gasped.

Yes, but it’s the best we can do, JJ said. He winced. Or rather, it’s the best you can do. I’m afraid that I’m still in no condition to walk around. I do appreciate that you two helped me here, but I would just slow down your search.

“It’s okay, JJ,” Jack reassured him. “It’s best if you just stay here and heal up.”

“Should we start looking for him now?” Chase wondered. “I mean, the sooner the better, right? But we did just get here. Would it be weird to leave right away?”

“I don’t think it would be,” Jack shrugged. “We can just tell Stacy where we’re going, and when we’re gonna be back.”

Yes, I think it would be better to start earlier, JJ added. Who knows where Henrik could be now? He could have gone a long way, and be getting even further.

“No time to waste, then,” Chase said, nodding. He stood up again. “C’mon, let’s get going.”

— — — — — — —

With no further ado, Chase and Jack went back out onto the streets of the city. The morning was clear, with a few wispy clouds high in the sky. It was an average morning, with people strolling out along the streets, going about their various business. Chase and Jack would occasionally stop one of them, asking if they’d seen a man who looked similar to the two of them. None of them had.

They stopped for a break around noon, the spring sun high in the sky. They sat down on the curb of the sidewalk. “Should we get something to eat?” Jack asked. “We’ve been out for a while. And we didn’t exactly have a good breakfast.”

Chase shrugged. “I dunno. Whatever you want.”

“Well, I don’t want to go somewhere just for me,” Jack said. “So are you hungry?”

Chase just shrugged again.

Jack stopped talking, looking at Chase and frowning. Something was up, he could tell. Chase was being pretty...passive. “Are you okay, dude?”

“Yeah, I’m fine.” Chase balled his fists, scrunching up his pants.

“You don’t look fine,” Jack pointed out.

“Well, I am.”

“No, you’re not,” Jack insisted. “C’mon, you can tell me what’s up.”

“You wouldn’t care about what’s up!” Chase suddenly burst out. He gasped, hand flying to cover his mouth.

Jack was left speechless. “...what?””

Chase suddenly stood up, quickly walking away, down the sidewalk. Jack didn’t hesitate to follow, rushing to catch up.

“Chase?! Chase!” Jack called after him. Chase didn’t turn around, pushing past people on the sidewalk as he rushed away. “Chase! Slow down!” Jack picked up the pace until he was able to reach out and grab Chase by the shoulder. With a yelp, Chase spun around, pushing away Jack’s hand. “You can’t just say something like that! Of course I’d care!”

For a moment, Chase looked like he wanted to keep running. Then he slumped. “I know, I know you would, I-I don’t know why I said that. I just...you have all your shit going on, it feels stupid to bring you into mine, too.”

“No, it’s not. It’s exactly the opposite of stupid. Bring me into your shit. Tell me what’s going on!”

“No, it’s stupid, it really is.” Chase folded his arms, looking down at the ground.

“Well, I’m not gonna drop it until you tell me what’s going on,” Jack said. “So might as well get it over with.”

Chase looked around. There weren’t a lot of people around, and definitely none in earshot. He sighed. “It’s just...you have a cool power, dude. JJ has magic. Schneep has magic, apparently. And then I’m just...here.” He blinked furiously, eyes watering. “I don’t do anything. All that I’ve done is get kidnapped, possessed, get un-possessed, and now I can’t handle anything! I can’t even fucking let my own daughter give me a hug without freezing up! And you guys are doing great! You’ve all had to deal with shit, and you’re not like this! So why am I—just—worthles—” He choked up. And he realized tears were leaking from his eyes.

Jack took this all in, staying silent. His expression was hard to read. And then he stepped closer to Chase, taking care not to touch him. “Chase Brody, never say that you’re worthless.”

“Okay,” Chase said automatically.

“No, I mean it. You think we would’ve gotten this far without you? No! You remember when you shot Anti, despite him still having a hold on you? That was the most badass shit I’ve ever seen! And that was you! You’re amazing!”

“But you guys—”

“No no no, stop it,” Jack said firmly. “Stop comparing yourself to the rest of us, we’re not all the same. You’re right, we’ve all had to deal with shit, and it’s all been different shit. You notice how Henrik avoids going to sleep? Or how I couldn’t leave the apartment for two whole months and outside still kinda freaks me out? None of us are doing great.” Jack shook his head. “And even if it was the same shit, we still would’ve reacted differently. Because we’re different people, and comparing yourself to others only hurts. If there’s any comparison you should be doing, it’s to yourself. And Chase, you are doing so much better. Think of how you were doing a few months ago. You’ve been improving. And yeah, maybe you don’t have magic, but you’re still strong. And don’t you forget it.”

Chase’s tears were still flowing, but for a different reason. “Thanks, Jack.” His voice cracked. “I guess I needed that.”

Jack smiled. “If you ever need it again, just tell me.”

“I-I’ll keep that in mind.” Chase wiped his face on his sleeve. He took a deep breath. “Alright. So, we keep going, then?”

“We keep going.” Jack nodded. “We’re bound to find Schneep eventually.”

Yet, the sun lowered in the sky, the blue faded to pink and then purple, the hours passed, and they still hadn’t found him. They returned back to Stacy’s house, agreeing to look again tomorrow.

— — — — — — —

He didn’t know where he was.

He didn’t know how he got there.

He’d been back in the apartment. Anti had appeared. Anti had taunted them, telling them that he was the other two. And somehow, he knew this wasn’t a lie. Marvin and Jackie had been acting so odd once they’d returned, and he couldn’t...he couldn’t feel where they were, like he could with other people. Now, he wondered if that ability to feel people had anything to do with...what else he could do.

He didn’t know how to describe what happened next. He wanted a weapon, so he reached over and grabbed one. He wanted to attack, to be at the front of the action, and all of a sudden Anti was right in front of him. And so he fought. He fought for the two who’d gone and the three who remained. But it was too much. Things were spiraling out of control. He’d take one step, and suddenly the room reoriented around him, and he was somewhere else entirely. It was spinning around him, he was one place and then another. He couldn’t breathe. He couldn’t steady himself. His head was swimming. It hurt. He screamed, and then he was somewhere else.

It was a strange place, he knew that much. The texture of the walls were unfamiliar, the furniture in unexpected places, the sound of a construction crew nearby completely different. He couldn’t hear or feel anyone nearby. Maybe it was a living room. In a house he’d never been in.

His vision was different. Well, it was still effectively gone, but that static that he’d been seeing ever since coming out of the Nightmare had disappeared. It was instead replaced with plain blackness. Alright, that was a slight improvement, but why?

He tripped across a wrinkle in the rug, falling to the floor with a cry. He didn’t stand up again. There was probably other things to trip over.

After what felt like an hour, he heard the muffled sound of footsteps. Someone was coming, he could feel it. That got him to climb to his feet. He headed for the nearest wall, feeling along the perimeter of the room. There had to be somewhere to hide, or somewhere to get out, somewhere to get out—

And then the wall disappeared. The sound of construction was replace by tweeting birds and a cool breeze. He stumbled as the floor under his feet became uneven, turning into soft dirt.

“What the fuck...?” He muttered.

“Hey!” Someone shouted. He cried out, turning towards the sound. Someone was coming closer. “This is private property!”

“I-I am sorry, I-I do not know how—how I got—” he stammered.

“Speak proper English, please,” the someone said dismissively. “Stay here while I call the police.”

He yelped, backing up. He felt the prickly branches of a bush dig into his back. No no no, this place wasn’t good either, get out—

And as he was backing up, he tripped over something else, falling over what felt like a wooden chair and landing hard on a carpeted floor. Suddenly, there were a lot of voices. And he could feel a lot of people nearby. They felt different.

“What the hell?!” “Jesus, that scared me.” “Um, Ms. Mae? I think—” “Unauthorized teleportation—” “—supposed to have a smoke effect?” “What’s up with his eyes?” “—don’t recognize him.” “Sir, are you alright?”

Too many people. He tried to stand up, and somehow rammed his head into something. He yelled, withdrawing.

“There’s a bookshelf there, sir,” said one of the voices. “Are you alright? Can you...wait, can you see us?”

He squeezed his eyes shut, shaking his head. Not here, somewhere else, not here, somewhere—

And the world shifted again.

And again.

He wasn’t sure how much time was passing, but it had to be a significant amount. He’d stay in each place for as long as thirty minutes, or as few as thirty seconds. Never anywhere he recognized by touch. Sometimes he’d get his bearings enough to try and find the room’s exit, or walk down the sidewalk, or figure out exactly where the hell he was. But the world always shifted again, even if he didn’t want it to.

Sometimes there were people. He tried not to stay there too long. They’d think he was crazy. Sometimes it was a room, sometimes it was outside. Once there was water lapping around his ankles.

Where was he?

Where were the others? He had to find them. He had to find out if they’d gotten away from Anti, or if he needed to rescue them. Not that he was sure he could, with the world constantly changing. Sure, he’d managed to stab Anti once or twice, but that might’ve been beginner’s luck. Didn’t mean he wouldn’t try, though.

He was outside again, on a sidewalk. The air had cooled down significantly, and he could feel less people around. The sound of the cars passing by were less frequent. Time had passed.

No, he was in a noisy building, people shouting, dishes clattering.

No, he was in a wide-open space, instruments playing discordantly.

No, somewhere boiling hot—

No, somewhere with the ground kicking up sand—

No, somewhere quiet—

Somewhere loud—

Somewhere soft—

Sweet-smelling—

Grassy—

Cold—

His heart was about to pound out of his chest. His mind was swimming, a lightheaded feeling. There were swirls of colors swimming before his eyes. Patterns of phosphenes.

Ticking—

Crashing—

Dizzy—

Heavy—

Too much, too much, too much—

Something broke.

He saw a hospital room, a single bed surrounded by medical equipment. There was a man in a snap-back cap, sitting on the floor like he’d been knocked down, and another man in a ragged white coat, staring down at him. His expression was a combination of shock and anger. “I do not you would forget so easily,” the man in the white coat said. “But maybe I am mistaken. If what I have seen you doing is what I think it is, then maybe your mind is missing entirely.” “Wha—no, I—oh my god, you’re alive.” The man in the cap stood up, looking a bit dazed as he looked the other up and down. “We all thought the worst—I mean, we never gave up hope—well, ░▒░▒░▒ got close, I think, but maybe that’s just the pessimist in him. And there was that fucked up postcard back in March…but you’re back now. You’re back.” He smiled, a small expression filled with relief.

He was in the middle of a dark field, city lights in the distance. They were close enough to make out buildings but too far to walk to. A man in a black cape and purple and white mask was walking. His hand was held up high above him, blue crystallized lights dancing around his fingers, illuminating the area. He spun around, looking for something. He said something under his breath, and the blue light flared, shooting out. Something laughed. “You talk too much,” said a voice, seeming to come from everywhere. The man spun around, blue light twirling away. Shuffling movement in the darkness, and then there was something, something gray and smiling and with blackened sharp nails, tackling the man to the ground. Something red splashed.

he was standing behind someone, a young man in a button-up shirt, who was holding a ceramic mug in two hands. the man was in the doorway of a living room, watching two other men talk. They appeared to be arguing. “i don’t own a green t-shirt, ░▒░▒░!” this man had his hair pulled back, waves falling down his back. “you know i don’t like them! you can go look in my closet and hamper if you want,i don’t have anything like that.” “well, who was it, then?” this one had a snap-back cap and a dirty jacket. “what, are you saying that someone was pretending to be you—” the man in the doorway suddenly paled. he dropped the mug he was holding, and it shattered upon the floor with a loud crash. the other two turned to look at him. “░▒░▒░▒░? are you alright?”

Ur jnf yvfgravat gb na nynez evatvat guebhtu gur nve. Gur juvgr-jnyyrq unyyjnl jnf yvg hc bayl ol erq rzretrapl yvtugf naq n fgenatr terra tybj. Gurer jrer gjb svtherf va gur pragre bs gur unyy, bar ylvat ba uvf onpx, gur bgure xarryvat arkg gb uvz. Gur bar xarryvat jnf cerffvat qbja ba gur bgureâ€™f fgbznpu, jurer n qnex fgnva jnf fcernqvat npebff gur oyhr fuveg. â€œFuvg, unat ba, whfg unat ba,â€ gur bar xarryvat fnvq. â€œV xabj fbzrbar jub pna uryc, jr whfg arrq gb svaq uvz.â€ Gur bar ylvat qbja tebnarq, naq bcrarq uvf rlrf. Fbzrguvat jnf tybjvat juvgr. â€œFghcvq nynezâ€¦â€ Ur ernpurq hc, unaq gerzoyvat. Fgenaqf bs juvgr yvtug pheyrq nebhaq uvf nez, gura fubg njnl, jenccvat nebhaq n obk ba gur prvyvat. Gur zrgny pheyrq nf vs vg jnf pynl orvat gjvfgrq. Gur nynez fgbccrq, naq fbzr bs gur erq rzretrapl ohyof ohefg, envavat qbja tynff naq yrnivat gur fgenatr terra tybj nf gur bayl fbhepr bs yvtug.

Sv hzd z uzhg ullw ivhgzfizmg, nlhgob vnkgb. uoflivhxvmg ortsgh org fk gsv yfrowrmt, z xlmgizhg gl gsv wfhp lfghrwv gsv drmwldh. Z nzm dzh hrggrmt rm z yllgs rm z xlimvi, dizkkvw rm z xlfkov ozbvih lu xolgsrmt vmwrmt rm z tivvm qzxpvg drgs ufi zilfmw rgh sllw. gsviv dviv yzmwztvh zilfmw srh mvxp zmw z kzgxs levi srh vbv. sv dzh hgzirmt zg hlnvgsrmt zxilhh uiln srn gszg ollpvw orpv z nzm rm z ivw sllwrv, yfg gsviv dzh hlnvgsrmt...dilmt. Rgh uzxv dzhm’g erhryov. “Blf pmld, dv ivzoob hslfow hgzb lfg lu gsrh, ĵŀ½ýªś,” hzrw gsv gsrmt rm gsv ivw sllw. “Bvzs, r urtfivw gszg lfg dsvm gsv wlxgli gsrmt prxpvw nv lfg lu rgh xrgb,” gsv nzm nfggvivw, iloormt srh erhryov vbv. “Gdrxv.” “Yfg.” Gsv gsrmt uozhsvw z hnrov. gsv gvvgs ollpvw...dilmt. “R dlm’g orv, r ivzoob dzmg gl hvv rg tvg rgh wfv. Xzoo rg pzinz, ru blf dzmg.”

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

“Stop!”

He gasped, and suddenly everything was still. Very still, in fact. Almost unusually still. He couldn’t hear anything nearby. He couldn’t smell anything nearby. He couldn’t feel anything other than the ground beneath his feet. But he could feel something...someone? Were they the source of the voice that shouted “stop”?

“Gods, was not expecting that. What’re you doing? How’d you get here?” The voice sounded familiar...but also different.

“I—I—” He couldn’t answer either of those questions. “I do not know. I-I am sorry if I upset you.”

A short burst of laughter. “You didn’t upset me—well I mean, I am kind of busy right now, but I can take a break to figure out what the actual fuck you were doing.”

“Doing? What—where am I?” He realized he was shaking a bit. Nerves, maybe. Or exhaustion. From whatever that had been.

“Hmm. You can’t see, can you? Otherwise you’d be having a stronger reaction than that.” Footsteps approached him. “Here, let me just—”

He felt hands on his head, pressing fingers into his temples. And then he felt something else, some kind of tingly, static sensation. He yelped. And then suddenly, he saw himself. Not from the perspective you would expect, but like he was looking through someone else’s eyes at himself. He could see the scars under his eyes for the first time. Then the perspective changed, like someone was looking to the side. And he saw...lights. Tiny green orbs of light, extending off in all directions, for forever, against a black sky. They were reflected across the horizon, but he wasn’t sure if that was because the floor he was standing on was reflective, or if the floor was transparent, showing a void all around. He gasped, and the hands were withdrawn. “Where am I?” He repeated, in a hushed voice.

“...how do I explain this?” the voice muttered. “Alright. Do you play video games? You likely have a few friends who do.”

“Um...yes, I have friends. I play a few games, I suppose.”

“You know how a level of a game has a map? The map makes up the environment, and it’s made of all the various assets the game has.”

“Yes.”

“You know how, in some games, if you do just the right thing, you can glitch outside of a map and into the empty space beyond? Where you can see the whole map from a new perspective.”

“I...yes.”

“Well. Welcome to the empty space around the map, Henrik.”

Schneep gasped. “How do you know my name?!”

“I mean, I guessed you were one of them.” The voice sounded casual. “The accent gave it away.”

Schneep shook his head, backing away from the voice. “Is—is this real? Am I having a hallucination?”

“Why, do you have those?”

“Someti—that is none of your business!” Schneep snapped. “How do I get back to where I was?”

“Good question, normally you wouldn’t be able to.”

“What?!”

“But the fact that you were glitching outside and looking at other ones is a good sign that you’ll be able to. Though, judging by your reaction and recent memories, this is a new thing for you.”

“You looked inside my—?!” This was too much. Schneep fell to the ground, collapsing to his knees. He covered his mouth and tried not to hyperventilate.

“Oh, I shouldn’t have done that, should I?” The voice asked. “I just thought it would be helpful if I understood where you were coming from.”

“How is this happening?” Schneep whispered weakly. “Jameson, he told me I had magic, b-but I did not think—! It would be like—! Wh-why do I even have this? What happened to make it?”

“Another good question.” The voice lowered, like he was also sitting on the floor. “Well, it sounds like this isn’t something you had your whole life. Were you exposed to any kind of magic for an extended period of time? Say, a few months.”

Schneep immediately started nodding. “I-I got stuck. In this place called...the Ni-Nightmare.” He shuddered. “It was for months.”

“Well, shit. You have to get your soul ripped out to go there.” The voice fell silent for a while. “So, I’m no expert, but I can give you my best guess. Your soul probably got used to being outside your body, and while it was in the Nightmare, it began to adapt to the new environment. Once it was returned to your body, it settled back in, but the properties it picked up started to seep into your body as well. It would probably lay dormant for a while until you needed it to start acting weird, probably triggered by stress or something. And now, I’m guessing everything’s hit the fan for you.”

Schneep nodded. “It was like...everything around me was changing. I could not control it.”

“Of course you can control it.” He could practically hear the voice rolling his eyes. And moderation, of course, so you don’t end up glitching too far. I mean, eventually you would’ve drifted off, bouncing between other worlds. You’re lucky I stopped by.”

Schneep paused. “Who are you?”

Laughter. Chillingly familiar, yet somehow...more relaxed. “If I told you my name, you’d probably recognize it. But I probably shouldn’t, in case the me in your world isn’t as nice. Never mind that, though.” A shuffling sound, like the voice was standing up. Then the voice grabbed Schneep’s arm and pulled him up. “I think it’s best if you don’t stay here. Just in case there are more effects.”

Schneep shook his head. Everything was moving fast. “H...how would I get out of here?”

“Well, you got in, didn’t you? You can get out, if your powers brought you here. You just need to control them.”

“How?” Schneep asked in a small voice.

“You start by not controlling them.” Schneep’s expression must’ve shown, because the voice chuckled. “Abilities like this are part of you, if they’re anything like mind. As much as your arm is part of you. Do you make an effort to ‘control’ your arm? No, you just think about what it’s supposed to do, and it does it. Glitching to other places is just an easier way of walking. Think about where you want to go, and go there.”

“What? It cannot be that easy.”

“It is. You might need to practice, though. But for now, just relax. If you freak out, it’s likely that your powers are gonna freak out too.”

“I think I figured that out,” Schneep grumbled.

“Yeah, that’s probably how you ended up here, huh?” The voice sounded like he was smiling. “Just take a deep breath, and think about using your powers to get back where you came from.”

Schneep hesitated. “What if it goes wrong? Are...are you going to give more advice?”

“If you don’t go back to your world, yeah. But once you’re there, I can’t follow you. I can access the In-Between, and my own world, but nothing else without concentrated help. It’s one of the few rules I follow.” The voice shifted, now sounding a bit irritated. “Now can you hurry? I said I was busy, and unless I want some black magic kitty causing havoc, I gotta get back to that.”

“Okay, okay.” Schneep considered asking about that, then decided it was a better idea not to. He took a deep breath. Just think about it, huh? Alright. He wanted to go home. He imagined a doorway opening in front of him, and on the other side was where he wanted to go. He took a step forward—

And ran his shins into a coffee table.

He cried out, jumping backwards. Okay. Alright. This was better. He wasn’t in that weird...place anymore. He reached forward, bending down to feel the surface of the coffee table. It was wood, felt fairly big, and there was an indent right in the middle.

Schneep froze. That wasn’t just an indent. He recognized the feel of the knick in the wood. He ran his fingers over it a few more times, awakening a long ago memory. One time, Marvin had visited his apartment, but neglected to tell him he would be practicing throwing knives. He dropped one right on the living room coffee table. Schneep had ranted his ear off that night about how the blade had left a knick in his table.

How many times had he ran his hand over that dent in the wood? Especially after he’d thought his friend had died...he wasn’t about to forget the feeling of it, no matter how long it had been.

But he had to make sure. Schneep stood up, feeling around the edges of the room. Yes, there was the glass wall to the balcony. There were the houseplants in the corners, now dried up and dead from neglect. There was his second coat hanging off the hook near the door. He’d ended up home.

Schneep sat down hard on the sofa. So. Maybe that voice’s advice wasn’t too bad.

It had been...a long, long day. An absolutely insane day, in fact. He needed to process all this. He lay down across the cushions, staring into nothing. His vision was back to blackness. Which he didn’t mind, in comparison to the static. If that was part of his new abilities, he’d take them all.

Okay. Start with processing the simpler-to-understand stuff. Anti was back. Doing alright so far. Anti was actually Marvin and Jackie—nope, that one needed more attention.

Some part of Schneep knew they’d always been dead. He’d seen their bodies. He’d examined their bodies. You don’t come back from that. And even if they somehow magically recovered for a bit, he knew they weren’t the same. He’d figured out by now that he could feel people, which must’ve also been part of his powers. But he could never feel them. They weren’t people anymore. They were ghosts. Remnants.

Schneep wiped away at the tears suddenly trickling down his face.

And now, all that was left of them was Anti. Anti, the worst parts of each of them, now hell-bent on tormenting them. Maybe if they got rid of Anti, Marvin and Jackie could finally have some peace. In whatever came next.

He reached vaguely to the side. He needed a weapon, something suitable for defeating Anti. And surprisingly, his fingers wrapped around something. He pulled it back, feeling the item over with both hands. A pair of...scissors? Odd, but he supposed they were just a pair of knives attached together. He tried again, reaching to the side, this time thinking about a knife. And this time, he grabbed a kitchen knife. Huh. Apparently, he could summon things now, too. Though...was he actually just reaching through some kind of wormhole to grab something from somewhere else...?

Schneep shook his head. He’d figure it out later. For now...he was tired. And again, he needed to process this. He set the scissors and the knife down on the nearby table.

They needed a plan. They needed to be together. And Schneep needed more time to adjust to these new abilities.

So that would be what he’d do next. He’d figure out how to use these powers to their best, find their strengths, weaknesses, and limitations. Then, when they came for Anti, he wouldn’t know what hit him.

With a sigh, Schneep closed his eyes. Yes, he’d be prepared for that day. It was coming soon.

#jacksepticeye #jacksepticeye fanfiction #jacksepticegos #septic egos #septic egos au #chase brody #jameson jackson #dr schneeplestein #antisepticeye #stitchedstories #fixing stitching #brigid writes fanfiction

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maerose-late-at-night · 4 years

Link

Chapters: 1/? Fandom: EastEnders (TV) Rating: Not Rated Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: Callum "Halfway" Highway/Ben Mitchell Characters: Callum "Halfway" Highway, Ben Mitchell, Jay Brown, Lola Pearce, Lexi Pearce, Stuart Highway, Lorraine “Rainie” Branning, Mick Carter, Whitney Dean Additional Tags: fluffy and sad, sad and fluffy, basically our bbs, ballum - Freeform, Hurt/Comfort, hurt!Callum, Ben is beautiful and sad and I love him, Squad to the rescue!, Lola and Lexi are queens Summary:

He’d winked like an idiot, more than happy when Callum had leaned in slowly, kissed him sweetly and touched the side of his face in that way he did. His warm, big hands enveloping all of Ben, making him feel safe and warm. Loved.

Now he wishes he’d been braver. Had been strong enough to look Callum in the eye and utter the words that’d been on the tip of his tongue for months. Of course I love you, Callum. I’ve loved ya for a long time.

Or: my take on the upcoming Valentine's Day episode and all the spoilers surrounding it.

***

The day had started off great. Amazing, even.

Then everything had gone terribly, terribly wrong.

He’d woken next to Callum and just marveled at him for a minute. Couldn’t help but smile at the way his hair had gone all soft and floppy during the night. Rid of all the product, his boyfriend looked like one of those weird macaroni penguins at the zoo: tall, soft and utterly ridiculous. Ben had actively resisted the urge to touch, not ready to wake the other man just yet. Instead he’d carefully shifted, propping his head onto his curled up palm, and snuggling a little more into his pillow. Just breathing. Never losing focus.

He’d marveled at the thought that just one year before, he hadn’t even known Callum existed, let alone how far he’d fall for the man. How scared he’d feel when everything became too real and there was a real chance they’d make it; an even bigger chance he’d stuff it up. The time they’d spent apart was like a knife inside his chest, twisting and pulling every single minute. It was a damn near miracle that they’d found their way back and he was thankful every day.

So, while Valentines day might be a schmalzy commercial business, he knew Callum actually cared about all that sappy romance. Didn’t mean Ben didn’t feel slightly (alright; very) uncomfortable all the same, which is why he’d made a point of concentrating very intently on the milk’s expiration date when the other man finally walked into the living room.

And noticed the stuffed bear Ben had placed near his breakfast bowl, holding a big red heart that read I ruff you beary much.

For a second everything was quiet, only the sound of Ben’s spoon clattering against his bowl as he one-handedly ate, accompanied by the soft love ballads the radio was croaking out on this Holiday of Holidays.

Callum had huffed a little. “You joking me with this?” There was a little laugh in his voice, but an equal amount of wonder.

Ben glanced at him sideways. “Hm?”

“Ben!” A real laugh; pleased and warm and perfect.

“What? Doesn’t come as a surprise to ya, does it?”

“Wha’, that you ‘ruff me beary much’?” He’d grinned, eyes sparkling. “Yeah, I- I might have suspected something.” Callum had paused a little. “You’ve never said…”

Ben had raised his eyebrows playfully at that. “Hence the bear, Callum.”

His hands shake as he draws them to his face, pressing against his eyes in a futile attempt to keep the tears at bay. There’s still red splotches on them. Red splotches and streaks from where he’d grabbed at Callum, had begged him to just open his eyes, look at him and smile. There’s a faint taste of copper on his lips too, though that might just be his imagination.

Ben looks up at the sound of children bickering - apparently fighting over who gets to hold a big and blue “It’s a boy!!” balloon. Their mother threatens to take it away altogether if they don’t shut up and be quiet. She’s got a a scarf draped across her arm, herding her little ones in the direction of the maternity ward.

Callum should’ve been wearing a warmer jacket.

Funnily enough, that’s one of the things his mind is stuck on. Callum and his warm-blooded disposition, refusing to wear anything but that - sexy but flimsy - bomber jacket while the rest of human race was all duffled up.

It’s cold here, too. He’s sat in the reception area at the front entrance of the hospital, near the sliding doors that let in a whoosh of icy February air every time they open and close. Stuart won’t let him anywhere near his brother now, so this is the closest he’s going to get. Watching people come and go, all different purposes and state of mind, while the man he loves is fighting for his life in one of the operating rooms.

He hopes Callum somehow knows he’s here.

Ben had tugged at Callum’s belt loops when he’d made a move to go to work. “Let’s skip work today.” He’d murmured, kissing his way up from Callum’s collarbone to the underside of his chin. Choosing not to register his boyfriend’s long-suffering sigh.

“The dead don’t care it’s Valentines, Ben.”

“Au contraire, Mister Highway,” He’d exclaimed. “I’m sure the dead would urge ya to spend more time with your gorgeous and (more-importantly) still-alive boyfriend, and you know,” he’d cupped Callum lightly through his jeans, “seize the day.”

Callum had answered him with a frankly spectacular eye roll. “That might honestly be the worst pun you’ve ever made.”

Ben had just bitten the side of his jaw, feeling his boyfriend go boneless as his touches intensified. Just like that, babe.

He'd sent him a positively predatory look, then led them to the bedroom, tugging his clothes and leaving kisses like breadcrumbs all the way.

“Do bears even say ‘ruff’?” Callum had asked him afterwards, his arm around Ben as they lay together. “Ain’t that dogs?”

“Dunno.” Ben had said, twisting his face so he could better look at him.

“Maybe he’s got some sort of identity crisis.”

He should have never let Callum leave the bed.

Ben should’ve kept him safe.

#ballum #ballum fic #callum highway #ben mitchell #benxcallum #callum x ben #frankly this is crap #but it's been haunting me and I forced myself to write it down #so yay for pushing through #will be continued #but I'm struggling tbh #eastenders #ee #ee ballum #sometimes I write stuff #Valentine's day #otp: ballum

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prophetparadox · 5 years

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Birds of a Feather: Father and Daughter

AO3/Masterlist

Wordcount: 1,924

I FINALLY GOT THIS DONE, HOLY SHIT THIS TOOK WAY TOO LONG AND I’M SORRY.

Okay, so I’ve been working on this fic on and off since August, I think? Anyway, it’s taken way too long and I’m so sorry. This isn’t a Prompto/Katia story, but it is important to Katia’s backstory and I wanted to write it so hopefully that doesn’t bother people! I really wanted to write about her and her adoptive father Stabilis since I couldn’t do so in the main story. There are spoilers for the main Birds of a Feather story though, so don’t read this if you haven’t read that one yet!

This is normally where I’d tag people, but I really don’t know if people even want to be tagged anymore. Sorry.

Stabilis Ferrum was a simple man. He had a decent job, a nice home, and a happy life. Sure, he might not have had a partner in his life, but he didn't mind. He never expected to have a family because of that, but it wasn't a big problem for him. He figured he'd live his life to the fullest, surrounded by friends. He certainly didn't expect becoming a father out of nowhere.

He'd been taking a vacation in Altissia, trading the busy royal city for a relaxing getaway. He'd been seeing the sights, enjoying the food, just about anything he could think of. And then he came back to his hotel room one night to see an ethereal woman standing there, holding a small child in her arms. The child was asleep, and very dirty. He'd never seen the little girl before, and before he knew it the woman was telling him to raise her. He tried to protest, saying he'd never been a father before, but the woman wouldn't take no for an answer. And without being able to retaliate, the woman left, leaving traces of a chill and the little girl.

Stabilis looked over the sleeping child. She had brown hair that went past her shoulders. The only thing she was wearing looked to be a white hospital gown, now covered in dirt and frayed. On her left wrist were two markings on each side. One appeared to be some kind of barcode, the other a chocobo feather. The woman had said little about this girl, merely that she had no home and no memories. He hadn't questioned her on either front. He couldn't help but wonder just what this kid had been through. Just as he'd been thinking about what to do, the girl woke up.

She sat up and looked around the room, clearly confused. She finally turned to Stabilis. "Where am I?" she asked softly. "Who are you? Who am I?"

Well, this was a problem. He thought he'd have more time to figure out what to tell her. Might as well be honest, he guessed. "Don't worry, you're safe here," he said, trying to keep this girl calm. "You're at a hotel in Altissia, my room specifically. My name is Stabilis Ferrum, though I suppose you can call me 'dad'. As for who you are, I was hoping you could tell me that. I found you on the streets all by yourself so I don't know anything about you," He figured it wouldn't matter if he embellished the truth a little bit, he couldn't exactly tell her that woman had just left her here. He got closer and leaned down so he was eye level. "Do you remember anything at all about yourself? Your name, your age, where you're from? Anything will do."

The girl sat there in silence, likely trying to remember something. After a while, she sighed and looked down at her hands. "Sorry mister, I can't," she said. "Well, except I'm 6. I just turned 6, I think."

Stabilis smiled, putting a hand on her shoulder. "That's okay, you remembered something. You don't have to strain yourself." he said. He pulled out a small pocket book and checked the date. September 28th. He figured that would make her birthday nearby. He marked it down as the 26th, figuring it didn't matter if he was a few days off.

"How come I can call you 'dad'?" The girl asked.

Stabilis looked back at her. "Well, you don't have a family, so I guess I'm gonna adopt you. You're my daughter now."

The girl didn't seem to understand. "Daughter?"

How to explain this to a girl who didn't know what he meant? "Well, it means I'm gonna take care of you from now on. Once I'm done here, I'll take you home with me to Insomnia."

"The royal city?" The girl asked. Well, that at least gave him an idea that she had basic knowledge. That'd make putting her in school easier, he couldn't exactly home school her with his job. He couldn't believe he was already thinking about about her education.

"Yes, the royal city. That's where I live," Stabilis explained. "I'm not royalty or anything, but that's not important. I'm staying here for a couple more days, so I'll get you some new clothes before we leave. Unless you want to keep wearing that." He gestured to the hospital gown, getting a shake from the girl.

Her stomach began to growl, clearly she was hungry. "I'll order some room service so you can get something to eat." He began to stand up and head for the phone, but a tug on his shirt stopped him.

"Wait!" He looked down at her, a scared look on her face. She pointed to the strange barcode on her wrist. "Hide this! It's bad!"

"Bad? What is it exactly?" he asked.

"I dunno, but I don't want people to see it! It's bad!" she repeated, tears forming at the edges of her eyes. Whatever it was, she was worried about it.

"Alright, let me see what I can do," He looked around the room, trying to find something he could cover it with. He looked at the watch on his own wrist. That would work until he could find something else. He'd have to look for something while he bought her some clothes. He took off the watch and adjusted it so it fit around her smaller wrist. "There, that should do for now, Katia."

"Katia?"

"Oh, right. Well, you don't know your name, and I have to call you something, so I figured Katia could be your name," he explained. "I've always thought it was a pretty name, and decided it could be yours. Katia Ferrum, do you like it?"

She sat there in thought again, a small smile creeping on her face. "It's pretty. I like it." Katia said.

Stabilis smiled, standing up. "That's good. I'm gonna get you something to eat now, okay? You sound hungry."

---------------------------------------

He still couldn't believe it'd been so long. Fourteen years had passed, and he watched his daughter grow into a fine young woman. She'd even managed to make friends with the prince! Granted, he wasn't the type who cared about sucking up to royalty, he was just glad his daughter had managed to make such a great friend. Of course, there was also the Argentum boy. They got along better than anyone. He had a feeling there was more there, not that he'd pester his daughter about it.

"Hey dad, how do I look?" Katia's voice snapped Stabilis out of his thoughts. He looked over to see her wearing the Crownsguard fatigues she'd been given. He looked at her and felt proud. What parent wouldn't in this moment?

"You look amazing," he said, getting a smile in return. "They fit you perfectly."

Katia laughed a little bit. "Well I'd hope so, otherwise I'd have to get on the Marshalls case about it! I just hope the guys like it, it sucks having to keep such a huge secret in!"

"I'm certain they will," Stabilis took a sip from his mug of coffee. "You're heading out to Altissia to meet them, right?"

"Yep, I'm not about to miss Noct's wedding. I can't wait to see the look on his face when he sees me there!"

"He's not leaving for another week though, why head out today?"

Katia shrugged her shoulders. "Because it's more fun to surprise him? Besides, once the wedding starts I won't be able to see any of the sights! I wanna enjoy Altissia while I'm there."

"Alright, alright. I know I can't stop you," Stabilis walked over to her, a feeling of dread suddenly overwhelming him. It felt like if she left, he'd never see her again. He knew she was an adult, but deep down he couldn't help but worry a little bit. "Are you sure you want to go there alone? I wouldn't get on your way." He tried not to make his worry too obvious.

Katia just rolled her eyes. "Dad, I'm gonna be fine. Besides, you're starting to get old, no offense. I doubt you'll be able to handle Altissia at your age."

"Hey now, I'm not that old!" he laughed.

"You're old enough! I can't let ya slow me down!" The two laughed together.

Stabilis sighed. Her mind was made up. He just had to hope that his worries were unfounded. "Okay, I trust you. Just try not to get into any trouble, okay?"

"Come on dad, it's me! You got nothing to worry about!" She began to walk away so she could grab her bags.

No matter how much he tried to push it back, the fears kept coming to the front of his mind. He didn't want to believe that once she walked out that door, that she'd be gone forever. She was too important to him. He'd never had a family before she showed up that night, he didn't want to lose her.

"Alright, I should be going," Katia's voice snapped him out of his thoughts. He looked over to see her heading towards the door.

"Wait!" he shouted, startling his daughter. He rushed over as fast as he could. "You can't leave without giving me a proper good-bye, now can you?"

Katia rolled her eyes. "You're right, how could I forget?" She placed her bag on the ground and hugged Stabilis, as he did the same. He tried his best to hold back tears, he had no reason to cry after all. Perhaps his worries were simply due to the fact that she was a young woman now, and eventually all children leave home. He didn't need to worry about that. She'd be with her friends, and maybe she'd call home saying she finally got with the Argentum boy. He was a kind soul, he'd be what she needed. He told himself all this, and yet he still hesitated to let her go.

"I love you, sweetheart." he said, hiding his worries with a smile.

"I love you too, dad," Katia replied. "I'll miss you."

"...I'll miss you too."

The two let go of each other, knowing this couldn't last. "I'll call you when I make it to the hotel. Or if some disaster happens, whichever one comes first." Katia said, picking up her bag.

"I hope it'll be the first one. I can't help much since I'll be here after all." Stabilis went back to his coffee, sipping down the bitter brew.

"You and me both," Katia stopped for a moment, going back to her father and kissing him on the cheek. "Wish me luck!"

Stabilis kissed her cheek as well. "May the Six keep you safe on your journey."

Katia headed out the door, leaving him alone in his house. He walked into the living room, picking up an old photograph of the two of them. He took it not long after he adopted her, both of them were smiling. Times were simple then, now everything was changing.

Of course, he knew not of the events that would take place in Insomnia a week later. He knew not that he would die in the attack on the royal city. He knew not that Katia would hear of the attack and desperately try to contact him in the hope that he was alive. Nothing could tell him the future. All he could do was reminisce on the past, and hope his daughter would have a happy future.

#Final Fantasy XV #Final Fantasy 15 #FFXV #Prophet posts #Silver and Iron #Birds of a Feather

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thorongil82 · 5 years

Text

Silver Rings for a Web of Love - Chapter 2

Can also be read on AO3 here:

Chapter Summary: How to ask out your crush who doesn't trust you while keeping your superhero identity a secret.

Chapter: 2/?

Words: 8422 of 12023 total

A/N: Hi. Sorry for the delay. Just quickly, yes, I’ve seen Endgame. There will be no spoilers in this chapter, and I’m not sure how much I’ll use of it. Mainly, I’m still going to stick to my original idea. Onwards!

Chapter 2 - What to Say?

Song of the Chapter: Iris - The Goo Goo Dolls

“You are my paradise and I would happily get stranded on you for a lifetime."

~ Unknown

“Peter!” Aunt May cheerfully greets as she opens the apartment door up to her nephew, quickly enveloping the spiderling in a big hug.

“Sorry I'm so late,” Peter apologises as he wraps his arms around his aunt.

“Aw, nonsense,” May says as she waves him off, untangling her arms from his. “Tony let me know beforehand. Not that I think he should've taken away from our time together, but that's just how these things work out.”

May steps aside, her long auburn hair sweeping around behind her back as she lets Peter walk into the apartment. Over the years, more pictures of Peter seemed to take up the free space around the rooms. Whether it be along the walls or lining the drawers, more and more memories seemed to envelope the space the Parker's lived in. And, since the younger Parker has left to live in his own apartment with Ned, the number only seems to have grown exponentially, along with the pictures of her and Uncle Ben.

Apart from the great increase of family photos, everything appeared to be relatively the same as Peter stepped through the door. The layout still remained the same, no matter that the number of inhabitants had downgraded from two to one. From within the kitchen, the sizzling sounds of food frying over the stove-top hisses away with the slight flicks of smoke wafting over, while sitting on one side of the dining room table is Ned with his head face down in a laptop, only glancing up slightly to see his best friend walk through the door.

"So, you've already ordered Thai?" Peter jokes with a grin, only to receive a firm smack on the arm from his Aunt as she walks by. "Hey!"

"Don't 'Hey!' me, I'm still trying here," May defends as she moves into the kitchen.

“Hey, dude,” he greets, holding up his fist over the screen.

“Hey, Ned,” Peter replies, walking over and doing their special handshake. “What are you doing? I thought you finished your exams today.”

“Yeah, I did. I'm just helping Betty out with her assessment,” he answers with a giant beaming smile. “She was panicking about how she couldn't get what was wrong with it and that this was going to cost her everything, so I offered to have a look over it for her.”

“Isn't that a little counter-productive?” Peter questions as he slings the backpack he had been carrying all day off his shoulders and onto the floor.

“Not really,” Ned replies as his eyes drift back down to the screen. “A lot of people will get others to check their work for errors before it gets submitted, and that's mainly for jobs.”

“Doesn't that kinda depend on the work?” Peter inquires as he slides into the chair opposite his best friend.

“Not necessarily,” Ned responds. “Besides, I'm only really checking for spelling, grammar and punctuation. I'm not changing any facts or anything like that.”

“Wasn't Betty the one that was stronger in English?”

“Apparently it helps to have someone else read it,” Ned shrugs. “Something about it being a lot easier to spot someone else's mistakes than your own.”

“Still seems a little detrimental to me.”

“You do it for others at Stark Industries,” Ned retorts, not even looking up from his laptop.

“And wasn't that what you both did with Michelle for your college applications?” May adds from back within the kitchen.

“Okay, okay,” Peter surrenders, bringing his hands up as he slips his backpack off his shoulder and slides into the dining table chair opposite Ned. “I just think that it's a bit different. Exams and assessments are supposed to be about what you can do.”

“So, what did you and Stark do?” Ned questions, excited eyes flickering up from the laptop screen.

No matter how long Peter had been running around as Spider-Man, Ned always seemed just as excited about the prospect of his best friend having adventures with other superheroes. Perhaps getting even more excited over time.

“Not too much. Just helped with a new Iron Man suit design,” Peter explains. “Figuring out some of the adjustments and calibrations that would be needed to get it working the way Mr. Stark would like it to.”

The young Parker leans forward in his chair as a stupidly broad grin explodes across his face.

“Mr. Stark really wants to try and get one up on Shuri. He's trying to compress the nanites further so that he can fit more of them into his chest-piece. We're also going to make them move and react faster than ever. Mr. Stark's also planning to improve on the energy absorption system. He wants to not only absorb the kinetic energy of an impact, but also transfer it throughout the suit so that it can be released in different ways. Not just having it all explode around him, but also focusing it out into a directed blast.”

“But not just that!” Peter exclaims as the chair beneath him slides away across the apartment floor, pushed out as the spiderling leaps to his feet. “We're also looking at transforming the energy between states, so he can feed the harnessed energy into his power conduits, or use it for his repulsors, or thrusters, or any of his equipment! Obviously that part is the most complex. But if we can manage to make it work … I'm telling you, man. It's going to be so cool!”

“Awesome! When do we get to see it in action?” Ned asks as he leans forward, fully facing Peter as the laptop and Betty's assessment are completely forgotten.

“Uh … I dunno,” Peter admits, his face dropping slightly. “It depends. I mean, it's not necessarily going to work straight away. There will more than likely be some trial and error involved. Plus, it's not like it's going to be produced quickly. These things can take time.”

“I think it would be unlikely that Tony Stark would just wear it out right away anyway,” May adds in from the kitchen. “And hopefully we don't need him wearing it any time soon. I don't know about you both, but I've had enough alien attacks for quite a while.”

“Alien attacks are awesome!” Ned rebuts loudly, nearly jumping out of his chair. “You never know what new technology they'll bring in!”

“Yeah, and besides, it's not like it'd be the strangest thing Mr. Stark's ever done to just wear a suit for the sake of it,” Peter tags on, nodding his head.

“Still,” May seemingly grumbles as she shuffles from the sizzling wok to the bubbling saucepan, “I would be fine with another end of the world event not appearing for more than a few years. If not for my heart's sake.”

“Why's that?” both Peter and Ned question as they tilt their heads towards the older Parker with furrowed brows.

“Why do you think?!” May asserts strongly as she spins around, brandishing a wooden spoon at the pair. “My nephew goes gallivanting off in a skin-tight outfit at the first sign of danger! Maybe I'd like for him to be safe for more than a passing day or two!”

“Oh … uh, right,” Ned mumbles as he sheepishly turns his gaze back to the laptop screen he had momentarily forgotten about, while Peter slouches over and guiltily stares at the wooden tabletop, his face burning slightly at his Aunt's assertive tone.

It hadn't been a good start when May accidentally found out about Peter being Spider-Man. At first, after seeing him drag the mask off his head the day he turned down Mr. Stark's offer – and subsequentially passed the 'test' – she had been furious. Peter had never seen his aunt so enraged. He swears on his life that she could have even faced down Hulk in her state and the humongous muscular being would have backed down. He was forced to sit on the couch as she vehemently shrieked, yelled and teared up over how “stupidly reckless” he had been, by both sneaking around in his vigilante persona and hiding everything from her. He had thought it was bad enough, until Mr. Stark was then rung up and brought over, both teenage nephew and billionaire hero incurring her wrath. The eventual compromise, to which Peter could keep being Spider-Man while May could have some peace of mind, was an imposed curfew where there was no patrolling allowed while he should be at school, if he had homework, after 10 PM on a school night and after 11 PM if there wasn't any school the next day. He also had to answer every call and reply to every text message that she sent while he was zipping through the skyline, while also letting her know when he would be back, and she was to receive a full medical report if he ever got injured and needed to be treated at the compound upstate.

Over time that rage had diminished, far quicker than Peter had expected it to, until May seemed to have accepted that Peter could handle himself safely and responsibly – what wasn't reported on the news stations wouldn't hurt her – and the curfews all but disappeared. It had gotten so much better to the point that she was far more relaxed and happy with his heroics, despite her worries, and would even suggest for Spider-Man to come and offer his support to groups that she was helping with. This also included possibly joining in with a homeless shelter program that she had been planning on creating for a while. When Thanos and his alien friends attacked, Peter almost expected the curfews to return once he had finally been saved and flown back home, but instead May was so relieved that she hadn't truly lost another loved family member that she just wanted to make sure he was safe, sound, and enjoying life. And with her homeless shelter, now called F.E.A.S.T., taking off in the months of despair and confusion after The Decimation, both Peter and Spider-Man set to work helping draw publicity to the noble foundation, while Peter looked to aid May with taking care of the people who came.

Even so, despite her gradually growing optimism of Peter's superhero persona and actions, May would still grip onto an understandable fear that his selfless nature and desire to help, both she knew were very admirable traits, would someday result with her sweet nephew ending up like the loving uncle that had raised him to embrace those attributes. And occasionally it would bubble to the surface. Just like now.

The apartment falls quiet after May's short outburst, split only by the occasional click of keys pressed on Ned's keyboard and the sizzling of the stove top, before being broken as Ned glances up and meekly asks, “Are you going to get the same upgrades?”

“Maybe,” Peter answers, not entirely sure himself. “I might just get some of them. If any, probably the faster nanites.”

“And why did he ask you to go today? Don't you normally go tomorrow?”

“He's flying out tomorrow with Ms. Potts to spend some time away before the wedding.”

“Do you know where they're going?” May asks from the kitchen, having turned back to the wok.

“Well …” Peter drawls as he fishes through his backpack before pulling out the envelope. He opens it up and pulls out one of the boarding passes. “Looks like they're going to New Zealand.”

“Dude, did you steal Mr. Stark's pass?!” Ned exclaims, as the clattering sound of wood against metal comes from the kitchen, followed shortly afterwards by wood hitting the wooden floor.

“What?! N-No!” Peter abruptly leans back at Ned's exclamation. He watches May reach down and pick her wooden spoon off the floor before tossing it into the sink, her eyes looking at her nephew. “I was invited to the wedding. And to the celebrations beforehand.”

“Holy shit …” Ned gasps, his eyes going as wide as dinner plates.

“Honey, that's incredible!” May squeals as she moves round the kitchen bench and over to Peter, hugging him from behind and giving him a light kiss on the forehead.

“I still can't believe I was invited,” the spiderling admits as he shrinks into himself.

“The wedding's in a fortnight, right?” Ned asks, answered by a short nod from Peter. “So when are you flying out?”

“This Saturday.”

“Why that early?” May inquires, leaning back from her nephew.

“Well, Mr. Stark said that they wanted to spend some time just relaxing with the other Avengers before the wedding,” Peter explains as he fidgets with the envelope. “Take a break from superheroing.”

“Well, you look like you could do with the rest,” May says, her hand ruffling through her nephew's hair. “Do you mind if I see the invitation?”

“Yeah,” the young Parker shrugs as he searches through the envelope before pulling out an invite, also inadvertently dragging the other invite out with it. Peter separates the two beautifully decorated cards and hands one to his aunt, who glances at the other as she takes it before reading the information.

“Why do you have two?” she inquires, her eyes darting over the words.

“Uh, because I'm allowed to bring a guest,” Peter slowly answers. “I'd have asked either of you, but I know you're both busy.”

“Aw, man!” Ned moans, burying his face in his hands. “I almost wish I wasn't going to visit family. I'd have loved to go!”

“Ned! Don't you dare think about ditching your family, or poor Betty,” May scolds, fixing Ned with a glare.

“So, who're you asking, then?” Ned perks up again, his excitable state instantly replacing his short regrets.

“No one, probably,” Peter quietly answers.

“Why not?” May questions.

“Well, who else besides you two would make sense? No one else knows about me being Spider-Man. And besides, it's not like they'll keep it under wraps that well.”

“Just because you can't keep a secret doesn't mean other superheroes can't,” May reminds him as she hands him back the invitation.

“W-What?! I can keep a secret.”

“Please, Peter, you could barely keep your alter ego a secret,” she responds with a wave of her hand.

“Hey, barely anyone knows that I'm Spider-Man,” Peter retorts as he slides the invitation back into the envelope.

“And how many people have you told?” Ned asks with a raised eyebrow.

“N-No one,” Peter mumbles.

“Exactly,” his best friend nods, accepting the high five from a grinning May as she takes the scenic route round the table to get back into the kitchen.

“... Shut up,” Peter pouts, trying to fix them both with as intimidating a glare as he can – which is not very scary.

The apartment falls quiet once again save for the sizzling sounds in the kitchen and the occasional clicking of Ned's keyboard. Outside, Peter can hear the general hustle and bustle of Queens life in the early evening, along with the shouted voices from a flat downstairs that may require a visit from a man dressed in red and blue if it keeps up, and the muffled sounds of the TV a couple of doors over and across the hall that belongs to a particularly nice old lady named Mrs. Thompson who May has enjoyed tea with for the past ten years, before focusing in on a set of footsteps clunking heavily along the corridor until they come to a stop in front of May's door.

“Peter, can you get that please?” May calls out from the kitchen.

“Yeah, sure.”

Peter leaps up out of his chair and deftly springs across to the door. Opening up, his eyes widen as they fall upon a taller woman who's bushy brown hair is pulled back into a bun save for a couple of curly bangs that delicately fall down the side of her face, wearing a zipped up grey hoodie, a pair of torn and faded denim jeans, and bulky combat boots covering her feet.

“M-Michelle?!”

“Weren't expecting me, loser?”

“No, n-not really …” he admits. After a tentative gulp his lips part again, only to flounder as the vast number words he possesses in his vocabulary suddenly go on strike and refuse to work in any form – nary a gargle, whisper or squeak, and his brain enters a state of shock that lasts until she clears her throat.

“So … are you going to let me in?”

“Huh? O-Oh, uh, yeah, sure,” he manages to utter as he steps aside to let her in.

As soon as she manages to step past the threshold of the apartment an auburn blur rushes out of the kitchen in a speed that the younger Parker has barely witnessed before.

“Michelle!” May greets with a beaming smile, sweeping MJ up in a hug that stiffens her up. “How are you sweetie?!”

“I'm good,” Michelle replies softly with a smile Peter cannot see as she melts into the arms of Aunt May, hugging her back and resting her head on her shoulder. Peter knows that no one can resist the warmth of his aunt - not even the almighty Michelle Jones.

Peter gently closes the door shut and shoots a questioning look at May, who simply responds by maintaining her loving smile and raising her eyebrows back at him.

“Sorry I'm late,” MJ says as she breaks the hold.

“No, you're right on time,” May replies, dismissing her apology with a wave of her hand. “Dinner should be just about ready.”

“So we've already ordered Thai?” Michelle jokes, getting a laugh from May as she walks back into the kitchen.

“Wait, why do I get hit for saying that and she doesn't?” Peter questions.

“Simple: you're a loser, and I'm me,” MJ speaks up as she sits down at the table in the spare chair beside Ned before turning to her table neighbour. “Hey, loser number two.”

“Hey,” Ned absentmindedly greets as he continues looking over Betty's project. “Hang on, I'm number two?”

“Congratulations, you can hear clearly.”

“Why am I number two?” he asks in confusion.

“I wouldn't argue. You don't want to be number one,” she states, gesturing to Peter who shares Ned's muddled expression

“Uh, thanks?” Peter replies uncertainly.

“It's not a compliment.”

“Thanks,” he repeats far more bluntly than the first as his shoulders sag.

“Peter, can you give me a hand?” May asks from the kitchen.

“Sure thing.”

Peter heads into the kitchen and, seeing May gesture to the cupboards and drawers with the end of the wooden spoon, starts to pull out bowls and cutlery for everyone.

“Why didn't you say she was coming?” he whispers.

“I forgot,” she whispers back, her small smirk giving away her lie. Peter just stands there mid-reach for a bowl, glaring at her until she sighs and amends, “Okay, I didn't want to make you nervous.”

“Nervous doesn't cover it.”

“Don't tell me you've made it worse again?”

“No!” Peter hisses sharply before covering his mouth. At a quick glance over the counter and seeing that Ned and Michelle didn't hear his outburst, or at least aren't responding to it, he continues on. “At least, I don't think I have … I had only just started making some sense of her before Mysterio. Now I'm back to square one.”

“It'll be fine, sweetie. If she hated you, she wouldn't be here.”

“She would. She just wouldn't be talking to me.”

“There, you've still got something figured out.”

“ … Doesn't that applied to everyone?”

“Ok, you've still got a lot to learn,” May admits with a sigh.

“Too much,” he agrees with a nod.

“Hey, why don't you ask her to Stark's wedding?” she whispers, her eyes brightening while his widens at her question before narrowing to a squint.

“Mr. Stark put you up to this, didn't he? Is that why you invited Michelle?”

“What? No! I'd already invited MJ before he called me about you. Why? What did he say?”

“He thinks I should invite her,” he mumbles.

“You should,” May agrees, holding out a hand. “Bowl.”

“I can't,” Peter opposes as he hands her a bowl, which she starts scooping rice into out of the saucepan.

“Why not?”

“How would I explain everything?” Peter asks as May moves on to adding the fried vegetables in. “She doesn't know that I'm Spider-Man.”

“You haven't told her,” May points out as she hands him the meal and gestures for another bowl. “And that hasn't stopped anyone finding out yet.”

“Still-”

“I think it's a good idea,” May presses on, filling up the second bowl and handing it to Peter. “It'll help you both get closer again.”

As she glances back at Peter after he hands her the third bowl, she notices the calculating expression of his as he stares off at a randomly chosen point in the floorboards, lost deep in thought.

“I know that look, you're overthinking again.”

“Am not,” he replies, snapping his attention back to May.

“It's not like anything will happen there,” she promises filling up the third bowl and swapping it for the last one. “Who would be silly enough to attack a place crawling with Avengers.”

“Don't jinx it,” Peter groans, rubbing his face with his hands.

“It's only jinxed if it happens,” May points out with a raise of her spoon. “Which would mean you'd need to bring her.”

“So, that's another reason not to invite her.”

May pauses for a second before answering. “That worked against me, didn't it?"

“The point is, that you always overthink things when you're worrying for others,” May continues at her normal volume as she gathers her bowl and cutlery and takes it over to the dining table, leaving Peter to carry Michelle's and Ned's. “It's sweet, but you need to relax. She'll be fine. Ned, put your laptop away.”

“Yes, May,” Ned says as he starts to put it to sleep while Peter sets MJ's food in front of her, the girl perking up at May's words.

“Peter's worried about a girl?” she asks as Peter sets Ned's meal in front of him while he is sliding the laptop into his bag underneath the table.

“Yes,” May simply states as she pokes through the food with her fork and spoon, while Peter simultaneously pulls back with a sudden, “N-No!”

“Don't worry, it's just work related,” May explains, causing Peter to groan as he goes to grab his food from the kitchen.

“So, who's this mystery girl?” MJ questions with a face schooled for many long years to give nothing away, her elbows on the table resting either side of her bowl while her hands are clasped together above it.

“Why are you so interested?” Peter snaps as he sets his bowl and cutlery down.

“Peter!” May scolds.

“Sorry,” he mumbles.

“Fishing for new material,” Michelle answers. “Not that I really need it for you. There's just so much to tease you for. It's a bottomless pit.”

“Th-This looks really good, May,” Ned says, glancing nervously between his two friends. “Smells delicious too.”

“Thank you, Ned. Truthfully, I just fried up some of the leftover Thai in the fridge.”

“So it is takeaway!” Peter exclaims, getting another light smack on the arm from May.

“Hey, I did cook the rice at least,” she defends while Peter rubs the area she hit. “I'm sorry, MJ. I was trying to make something different, but it kinda went up in smoke.”

“It's fine, May. Just so long as there isn't any meat in mine.”

“I made sure there wasn't meat in any, just to be safe.”

“Thanks.”

“So, how are your exams going, MJ?” May asks as they start to dig into their dinner.

“They should be fine. Same with the assessments. Just one more tomorrow,” she answers with a swallow before looking at Ned. “I take it Betty asked you to read over her work?”

The rest of the meal passes by with few events, just some causal talk, May asking questions of how MJ's holding up, and a few choice barbs flung by the snarky warrior over to the young Avenger. When they are all finished, Peter insists on collecting up the bowls and cutlery and washing up, despite the protests of his Aunt, leaving him now washing up the dishes in the kitchen.

“I should be going,” Michelle states as she rises up from her chair, though stops as May reaches a hand over.

“You don't have to go. We've got chocolate ripple cake for dessert. And I think the boys are going to put a movie on.”

“No thanks, I should go get ready for tomorrow. Make sure I'm prepared and all.”

“Well, I'll give you a slice for the road.”

“You don't have to-”

“Oh, nonsense,” May waves her off before looking over her shoulder. “Peter!”

“On it!” Peter shouts, grabbing a tea towel and quickly drying his hands before diving into the fridge.

“It was good to see you again, sweetie,” she says, pulling her into another hug that MJ accepts much quicker than the first. Michelle breaks away with a smile before walking over to Ned, who has gotten his laptop out once more.

“Bye, Ned,” she says, holding out a hand for a fist bump.

“See ya, MJ,” Ned says as he returns it. “Keep in touch over break?”

“Yeah, sure. Sorry, I've just been busy with school.”

“Yeah, we all have.”

MJ moves back around the table just as Peter bumbles out of the kitchen, sliding across the floor in his socks and bumping into a set of drawers. She manages to choke her laugh into her hoodie while he's busy fixing it and schools herself back to the blank canvas by the time he turns back around. With a slight tinge of faint crimson across his cheeks, he holds out her sizeable share of ripple cake tightly wrapped in glad-wrap. Silently, she takes it from his hands and pockets it in her hoodie along with her hands.

“Bye, dork,” she says before she walks to the door.

Peter waves awkwardly to her back and manages to stutter out, “Y-Yeah, see ya,” as she opens it, before glancing at May.

“Ask her!” his aunt mouths.

His mouth opens up again to fire back some sort of excuse, but for the second time that night the working words have gone on strike. Union has managed unity amongst every sound and syllable, turning them all in opposition of him again. No matter what his brain suggests as a compromise, there's no pleasing them. Not even the promise of using simple basic English properly. And yet, what whips everything back into shape is the sudden slam of the door behind Michelle making him jump and shifting everything into high gear. Diving for his backpack, he scurries inside for the envelope Mr. Stark gave him which had, by some means, managed to fall underneath his work and textbooks.

'This is a bad idea! This is a bad idea!' his brain runs on a loop as he finally pulls it free. Rushing to the door and wrenching it open, Peter darts through and spots her just before she makes it to the elevator.

“Michelle! Wait!”

MJ sighs and stops just short of the elevator doors, turning around as he dashes up to her

'This is a bad idea! This is a bad idea! This is a bad idea! This is -'

“What is it, Parker?”

“U-Um ...” Peter stammers out before clearing his throat, hoping that his words will stay working just long enough to finish this. “W-Well, today – earlier – obviously earlier, I-I got something Stark – from Mr. Stark. Not just any something; a big something. Like, monumental-”

“Get to the point, Parker,” Michelle interrupted, pulling her hands out of her pockets and crossing her arms across her chest. “You're not making any sense.”

“U-Uh, r-right … So, um, you know about Mr. Stark's wedding? To Ms. Potts?”

“No, I haven't heard about the wedding every media platform's been spending too long covering instead of actual important social issues.”

“O-Oh, right …”

'This is a bad idea! This is a bad idea!'

“What about it?”

“U-Um …” her starts again, before deflating with a sigh. “Don't worry. It's nothing. S-Sorry.”

Peter turns around and goes to walk back, until he feels her hand on his shoulder.

“Clearly not if you came running after me. What is it?”

“W-Well … I got invited,” he states, rubbing his free hand against the back of his neck.

“Huh …” she manages to utter, the blank canvas adding some life as her brows rise slightly higher over her widened eyes, “You must do some really important work for him to be invited to something so important.”

“I-I guess?”

“Is that a question or an answer?”

“… both?”

A heavy silence falls between the two of them before Michelle speaks up again.

“… So, is there anything else? Or were you just looking for compliments?”

“No! I-I … It's just … I've been allocated a guest for the trip and I … uh …” he stammers out before taking a deep breath, “… Iwaswonderingifyouwantedtocomewithme?”

“… Can you repeat that? Not all of us have super hearing, you know.”

“W-What?” he squeaks, his face draining of colour.

“Not all of us have super hearing,” she repeats. “Like your pal Spider-Man?”

“O-Oh, right. Um …” Peter clears his voice as the colour returns too quickly to his face, rushing past his normal tone and turning into a beat red blush. “I-I was just wondering i-if you wanted to come with me? T-To the wedding.”

Michelle's eyes widen again and her lips part slightly. She makes a move as if to speak, but it seems as if whatever she was going to say got caught along the way.

“Um … Look, Peter,” she starts, her head dropping slightly and tilting to the side, “I dunno-”

“You don't have to!” he exclaims, jolting her back to looking at him. Quietening himself back down, he continues with, “I-I was just asking … I knew May and Ned couldn't come-”

“Oh, so I'm third choice?”

“No! I-I mean, I see why it looks that way, but May is family and Ned's always been interested in this stuff, so i-it just seemed more likely that they would come. N-Not that I asked, because I already knew they couldn't come.”

Peter had kept his head trailed on the floor as he tentatively stammered through his explanation, meaning that he had completely missed the small smile that had managed to creak through Michelle's filter and painted itself across her canvas while he bumbled through his excuse. A small smile that had already been painted back over, along with the rest of her expression, ready to start again once more.

“Why not ask that girl that you're so worried about?”

'That's what I'm doing!' his insides exclaim, building up and waiting to be released. Instead, what came out was, “We aren't that close, me and her.”

MJ slowly nods before she admits, “Look, I don't know-”

“You don't have to!” he repeats again. “I mean, I don't want you to feel pressured into it. Just that, you know, if you didn't have any plans for spring break, and you wanted a holiday-”

“Oh no, my usual routine of wrapping myself in blankets and reading every book in sight with no end of tea is ruined now,” she complains dryly.

“O-Oh, right. Well, enjoy your plans, I guess-”

“I was joking, loser,” she smirks with a shake of her head. “I've got nothing on.” The smirk falls from her head as she continues, “It's just, last time we planned something for us, it didn't go well.

Peter slowly nods, remembering the disaster with Mysterio and his goons that Michelle could never understand. He takes in a deep breath before asking, “… So that's a no?”

Michelle sighs and leans up against the wall, staring off at a point on the ground.

“… I don't think I'd get along well with Stark when I'm there, regardless of if he's paying for the trip or not,” she answers.

“Ms. Potts will also be there,” Peter countered, remembering Michelle's admiration for her. “Also the Avengers.”

“Seriously?!” she exclaims, raising her head in time to catch Peter nodding. “How'd you get on that invite list?”

“I dunno.”

'Tell her! Tell her!'

“I've, uh, done some things for them. Tech upgrades and modifications.”

'And, also, I'm Spider-Man!' his mind continues on to mock him. 'Sorry for not telling you sooner. Friends again?'

“Th-That's it,” he finishes with a swallow, waiting in silence as MJ's squinted eyes stare at him. Every time she's looked at him that way, he always felt like she was doing more than observing; she was looking straight into his soul to find some answer. If there was any way that she knew he was Spider-Man, it was through that look.

“I don't know, Peter-”

“I could also owe you a favour?” Peter interjects again. “Something- Anything that you want.”

“Anything?” she questions with a raised eyebrow.

“Y-You know, within reason,” he clarifies. “I'll even get you a dress for it.”

“You don't think I've got a suitable dress?”

“N-No! Th-That's not-”

“What if I want to wear a suit instead?” she inquires, the ghost of a smile returning to her lips as she watches him crumble.

“Then I'll get you a suit. Whatever you want.”

MJ just manages to clamp down on the laugh just after it starts, with a small smile that still manages to pluck a melody along his heartstrings.

“I'm just messing with you, Pete,” she states, still keeping the smile on her face. A smile that he can't remember being directed at him since their trip to Europe. “You make it way too easy.”

“R-Right,” he says, slowly laughing.

“Where is it?”

“Plane ticket says Auckland, New Zealand,” he replies, pulling out one of the invitations and handing it to her.

“And you're leaving …?” she asks, reading over the page.

“Saturday. Morning. Day after tomorrow.”

“Thanks for the large warning,” she mutters quietly.

“Sorry, I only found out today,” he responds, causing her to look up and eye him again with her soul piercing gaze. Suddenly, Peter wasn't too sure if he should have said anything, considering her quip before about super hearing. Or if it was just because she didn't mean to say it aloud.

“Thanks for the warning, Stark,” she mutters again before handing the invite back. “I'll think about it, okay?”

“Y-Yeah, that's fine,” he replies, taking the invitation and sliding it back into the envelope. “Just, you know, let me know tomorrow. Or May, and she can tell me.”

“I'll be sure to message late.”

“Uh, maybe at a more reasonable time? You know, for the clothes and all? In case you do decide to come?”

“What, you haven't been sizing me up now?” she asks, giving Peter a sly look that sends the crimson fire burning across his face once more, spreading quickly down his neck.

“N-No! No!”

“You sure?” she says, pushing away from the wall and moving towards him. “A lot of guys would be admiring a body like mine like a piece of art.”

“G-Good for them?” he gulps as he backs up.

MJ backs him against a wall and leans in, his eyes fluttering down to her lips just inches away from his own.

'Just lean in. Kiss her,' a tiny voice whispered in the back of his head. 'You know you want to see if she still tastes the same.'

There was a time, though brief, where he knew exactly what she tasted like. It was heaven, or as close to it as he was ever going to get. So vibrant and shocking, sweeter than the sweetest honey, an unforgettable taste that would linger on his lips long after the smallest peck. And they were few, now just a memory of sweet torture. The whole concoctions of senses and visions builds at the tension eating away at his will while he shrinks down in a crimson mess. That is, until the smile that spreads its way across her morphs into full blown laughter, pure and joyful, the beautiful sound he hasn't truly heard in years that ever since has both blessed and haunted his dreams at the same time.

“You really make it too easy, dork,” she laughs and backs away, allowing him to release the breath of hot air trapped in his throat that he hadn't realised he was holding back.

“W-When's your exam?” he manages to spit out, pushing himself uneasily off the wall.

“It goes from 8 to 11,” she answers, getting just a nod in response as she walks over to the elevator doors and presses the down button. “Apparently we get too much sleep as it is.”

“Well, mine starts at 1, s-so just m-message any time before then, I guess. Maybe 12:30 at the latest?”

“Fine.”

The elevator doors whine as they slowly slide open, sticky metal rubbing against one another. Michelle gives them a tentative glance before stepping in and hitting the ground button.

“W-Well, see you,” Peter says, giving her another awkward wave that she finally sees.

MJ just stares at him through squinted eyes as the doors start to close, before smirking as she raises her middle finger just at the last moment. Peter lets out a loud sigh and puts his head in his hands before he makes his way back to May's apartment. When he gets inside, he closes the door before falling back against it and sliding down to the ground. Ned glances up from his laptop before taking a double-take at his crumpled friend, May quickly joining him.

“What did she do to you?” Ned asks, slowly hovering away from his chair.

“I have absolutely no idea,” Peter admits, taking several deep breaths as he spreads out his enhanced hearing, listening for any trouble on her end.

All he can hear is her softly humming to herself as she rides down, while Mrs. Thompson's TV has been switched off and the shouting from downstairs seems to have gotten louder. Looks like they'll need a visit from Queen's red-and-blue domestic expert, though they'll have to settle for Spider-Man instead. At least the suit is in the backpack.

“You asked her?” May inquires. “Properly?” Peter just nods. “… And?”

“I'll find out tomorrow.”

Michelle stretches her arms up above her head as she leaves the exam hall with the swarm of students. She had finished early, as she expected, but not as early as she thought as stupid Parker's stupid proposal kept worming its way into her head as she was trying to think. Still, she finished early, but of course she wasn't allowed to leave until time was up anyway. Not without failing, as the examiners said, which wasn't something she wished to push today. At least she had a chance to think about it, more than she had already antagonised over the decision much more than she felt she should have last night when she was meant to study. Beside her, her friend and roommate, Cindy Moon, sighs happily, her utensils cluttered in her arms.

“Finally it's over!” Cindy Moon sighs happily beside her, her overly large collection of writing utensils and highlighters cradled in her arms, “I'm so happy I could just collapse here and now!”

“I'll call the ambulance,” Michelle drawls, pulling out her phone from her jean pocket to check for messages. Nothing. “Tell them to expect the usual.”

Cindy giggles and bumps into her, “It's not that normal.”

“It's way too common for it to be considered normal,” Michelle retorts, sliding her phone back into its designated pocket as another friend and their other roommate, Betty Brant, jogs up on her other side.

“Time to celebrate, girls!” the blonde cheers. “Clubs and drinks tonight!”

“Don't you need to pack for Ned's holiday?” Cindy questions.

“No, I'm already packed. Besides, we're leaving Sunday. There's plenty of time.”

“Yeah, in which you'll throw out half your clothes an hour before you need to leave because it just doesn't feel right, and then antagonise over what else to bring,” MJ points out.

“That never happens,” Betty dismisses. “You worry too much.”

MJ and Cindy share a glance, remembering last year's trip where she was crying with her clothes strewn on the floor around her empty suitcase with 10 minutes before they left. Then again, MJ knew that Cindy stressed about packing for an entire week beforehand and keep meticulously checking even the smallest detail to make sure it was right, so she had no room to talk either.

“Drinks do sound good, though,” Cindy admits with a thoughtful nod. “Michelle?”

“Maybe,” she shrugs.

“So you're not going with Peter?” inquires Betty, drawing a sigh from Michelle.

“I haven't decided.”

“Wait, what's this?” Cindy asks in confusion, glancing between the two.

“Peter asked MJ to go to Stark's wedding with him.”

“Seriously?!” Cindy squeals, her hands jerking up to cover her mouth only to stop as she realises she's still holding her equipment.

“Not so loud …” Michelle mumbles with a wince.

“How have you not decided yet?!”

“Because I'm not that big on Stark,” Michelle starts to list off on her fingers, “Because I'm not that big on a bunch of big muscly superheroes who'll argue over who's the most macho. Because I don't want to be around a bunch of corporate yes men who are way too old and creepy to contribute to society. And because it's Peter.”

“Is the last point for the positive or negative?” Cindy stage whispers to Betty, leaning in behind MJ's back.

“Probably positive,” Betty muses. “Outweighs those three negatives.”

“Seriously?” MJ says, folding her arms over her chest with an unimpressed eyebrow raised.

“Hey, regardless of what you say, I know you still haven't gotten over Peter,” Betty says as she keeps walking, the other two quickly catching up and keeping pace. “And the way you treat him doesn't exactly help your case.”

“How I treat him?”

“Well, it's not exactly normal for girls who claim someone's broken their heart to playfully tease them,” Cindy joins in, a hand somehow free from the clutter in her arms tapping her chin thoughtfully.

“I don't tease playfully. Wait, what do you mean, 'you know'?”

“Drunk Michelle tells me things that Sober Michelle is too afraid to say,” Betty answers candidly with a sing-song pitch.

'I'm going to have to sit down and talk with Drunk Michelle,' Michelle internally broods. 'If she keeps lying like this, I'll end up in a mess I'm not going to get out of.'

“And it's because of this that you keep turning down dates and don't do anything outside of one night stands,” Betty continues. “You should give one of those boys a chance.”

'Forget the talk. Drunk Michelle's meeting the firing squad tonight. With full prejudice.'

“Cindy-rella!” calls out a male voice from across the courtyard.

“Zekie!” Cindy perks up and runs over to the source of the pet name, running into the arms of a tall black man with short stubby dreadlocks, her utensils scattering on the cobble floor beneath them. Michelle notes him as her boyfriend, Ezekiel, as their bright grins morph together when their lips crash into each other's.

“How'd it go?”

“I dunno,” Cindy replies. “I'm worried I messed it all up.”

“Nah, you're amazing! There's no way you didn't get top marks.”

“No way, top marks will go to this girl,” a smooth male voice says coming from behind Betty and Michelle.

“Speaking of boys …” Betty says, turning around.

'Speaking of creepy …' MJ sours internally, also pivoting to the source of the sound with a scowl.

Striding over towards the group, dirty blonde hair slicked back, tight button-up shirt that hugs his muscular physique with the top buttons left undone, and tight jeans clinging to his legs, is the heir to Oscorp Industries, Harry Osborn; charmer, playboy, womaniser, millionaire in his own right, flashing a smile that would make any girl swoon.

Any girl not named Michelle Jones.

“What do you say, MJ? Top of the class yet again?”

“It's Michelle, Osborn.”

“Whoa, slow down,” Harry chuckles, “I haven't even gotten the ring yet.”

“Fuck off,” she growls, turning her back to him.

“Still as feisty as ever, huh? Calm down, MJ. I was just joking,” he says, placing a hand on her shoulder, which is quickly smacked away as she spins back round.

“I told you. It's Michelle,” she snaps, glaring at him and jabs a finger in the air in front of him. “Okay?”

“Whatever you say, princess.”

Michelle huffs and folds her arms over her chest, not failing to notice how his bright blue eyes travel down her body, taking in every little piece that they can see. A cold chill darts across her skin like a sickness as his gaze continues to linger while it travels back up her body, no doubt undressing her in a way that would be as uncomfortable as possible if she ever had the displeasure to live it out.

“Some friends of mine were talking about heading around to my mansion and getting a head start on the drinking before the clubs all open up,” he finally speaks after what feels like an eerie eternity for Michelle, his eyes peering into her own. “Interested?”

“Betty and I were thinking of going out later anyway,” Cindy jumps in, holding hands with her boyfriend as they walk over, their free hands holding her once again collected equipment.

“Excellent,” Harry says, barely letting his eyes leave Michelle. “You're welcome to join us.”

“We've still got some things to take care of too, though,” Betty points out.

“Alright, then we can swing round and pick you up on the way to the clubs.”

“Sounds like a plan.”

“What about you, princess? We can grab a drink, get to know each other more personally,” Harry says, turning back to Michelle. “I can even invite you to join the getaway to California. Just think; hot sun, busy beaches, lots of parties. You can put all those fake girls to shame with that beautiful body of yours.”

“Nope. Not a chance, Osborn,” MJ replies, sidestepping the arm he went to throw around her shoulders and sliding her phone out of her pocket. She quickly unlocks it and opens up her messages to Peter. “Gotta pack. I've got plans. Far away from you.”

I'm in Dress and favour included

'Thanks for making that choice so much easier. Only thing you've ever been good for, Osborn,' she thinks as she gets a quick buzz back.

rly?!?!?!?!?!

Yep Shocker Details?

“Really?” Osborn questions in surprise, his brow rising up. “What kind of plans?”

I'll send them 2 U l8r After exam

“One's that don't involve you.”

Pick text speech or normal and stick with it

… Please tell me you picked normal

“That sounds lonely,” Harry croons in his sultry tone.

“It sounds peaceful,” MJ jabs back.

I picked normal

I don't believe you

Y not?

You took to long to write that Also, your last message

“So, where are you going?” Harry continues to inquire, leaning in to try and peer at her phone. Without looking up, Michelle tilts it away from his eyes, keeping it close to her body.

“Somewhere not Osborn related.”

Fair For your dress, go to 154 on 32nd I'll let them know u r coming

MJ's brow furrows as she reads the address. From what she remembers, that's meant to be a top end shop filled with custom makes and designer makes that only people with some decent cash can afford.

“That'll be hard to do,” Harry presses on. “Osborn is a household name, after all.”

“Right. Up on the same level as Stark himself,” MJ sarcastically retorts with a roll of her eyes.

Isn't that that really expensive new place?

Yep

“It is,” he stresses. “And soon will rise above. There's lots of money in Oscorp. Which means plenty of riches and fame for me. And anyone that's personally involved.”

“Aw, you say that to all the girls,” Michelle says, putting on a fake sweet voice that sounds deliberately off.

Stark's paying for this, isn't he?

He asked me to go there for sizing yesterday

So you're not getting me a dress?

“Just the special one.”

“Just one? You're getting old, Osborn.”

Hey It counts in my book

Fine But only because you didn't have to offer

“I think you'll find I'm young enough in all the right places,” he leans in to whisper with a smirk, “if you'd care to take a look sometime.”

“No, I'm not up for playing Doctor.”

“Right now?”

“Ever!” she growls, taking a step back.

“Hey, Cindy? Maybe we should get going?” Betty interjects nervously, stepping in between Harry's cool and calm persona and Michelle's fiery spirit fit to burst. “Let Michelle finish her packing.”

“Yeah, okay,” she nods, untangling her fingers from Ezekiel's and quickly pecking his lips. “I'll see you later.”

“See you soon,” he replies, handing her back the utensils he was carrying.

“And I'll see you later, princess,” Harry grins at Michelle. “Still time to change your mind.”

“Don't count on it,” she huffs as she storms away.

“MJ, wait up!” Betty calls after her as she and Cindy take off after their friend.

Forget sending me the details Mind if I stay tonight?

I'm staying at May's tonight She should be fine with it I'll check Why the sudden change?

Just thought it'll save travelling between two houses

Oh Right

Don't get excited, Parker

“Sorry, I should have defused that a lot sooner,” Betty apologises as they finally catch up to Michelle's long legged stride.

“That would have helped,” Michelle grates as she receives another couple of buzzes, this time from May.

Honey, you're more than welcome to stay. Whenever you need to.

Michelle has to smother the smile bubbling up with the special kind of grateful feeling that only May Parker's warmth can give before turning to her friends and roommates.

“I'm not staying tonight.”

“Where are you going?” Cindy asks.

“I'll stay at May's. Peter's there and it'll save travelling all over in the early morning,” MJ explains. “Plus I'm not wanting to see that slime ball again.”

“We'll make sure they don't come to get us before you're gone,” Betty assures her.

“Thanks.”

A/N: Please feel free to let me know what you think. Hopefully the next chapter shouldn’t be too far away. At least not as far as this one was. Until next time, adios!

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starvonnie · 6 years

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Rating: Teen And Up Audiences Archive Warning: No Archive Warnings Apply Category: M/M Fandom: The Transformers (IDW Generation One) Relationship: Megatron/Rodimus Characters: Megatron (Transformers), Rodimus, Original Cybertronian Character(s) Additional Tags: Transformer Sparklings, Fluff and Angst, Hurt/Comfort, Alternate Ending

Also on AO3

"It's a lot like Earth, huh?"

Megatron registered that Rodimus had said something, but his processor didn't bother to decipher his words. He was far too invested in the sparkling nestled in his lap and the task at hand. Gently stroking Flare's crest, his optics slowly shuttered and his winglets came to rest on his back. It was too early to tell if they would become actual wings or doorwings. Or maybe a spoiler like his carrier. They were already quite expressive.

A hand brushed Megatron's exposed crest and it made him jump, roughly jostling Flare's, who squeaked.

"Sorry, sweetspark," Megatron murmured, petting where he had hurt. Smoothing over his own crest, he turned with a frown to look up at Rodimus.

"Sorry. I was trying to be gentle." Rodimus laced his fingers together. "You're a lot better at that than I am."

Flare had been disturbed from his almost-recharge state, but a few more careful combs through his crest had him close again. Optics half-shuttered, ventilations slowing, basking in the sun. His little hands shifted closer to his face and he nuzzled into them, giving a little sigh.

"I still can't believe we made that," Rodimus murmured with wonder, sitting down beside his conjunx and lightly leaning on him. Putting a hand over his chest, he added, "Especially from my spark."

Megatron turned and pressed a light kiss to the side of Rodimus’ helm. “Your spark is what made him so beautiful.”

Rodimus smiled and leaned his helm on Megatron’s shoulder. “It was a joint effort.”

Megatron said nothing to that but leaned a little closer to Rodimus while he kept petting Flare’s crest. His little optics had closed again and his winglets settled again. Right in his favourite sleeping place. His easiest, they’d found. A tiny spike of jealousy at not being his favourite was quickly dismissed. Flare still spent a good deal of nights slumbering right on Rodimus’ chest, close to the spark that had given him life.

“Maybe in a few months we can take him exploring,” Rodimus said. “When he can walk on his own. Maybe even transform.” He beamed. “I can’t wait for his first transformation.”

"We shouldn't stay for too long," Megatron fret, giving a glance back at the ship.

"This planet's uninhabited," Rodimus said. Then, when something flew by, he added, "At least by intelligent life forms. So it's not like anyone's here to report us."

Megatron gave a low growl.

"Just a few days," Rodimus compromised. "All Flare's known is the inside of that ship."

"I know." Megatron's words were little more than a rumbling in his chest.

"Hey." Rodimus hugged Megatron's arm, running his fingers along his forearm. "I know you're worried, but it's been quiet for so long now. Maybe they've stopped looking for us. It's not like we've caused any trouble."

"Not lately," Megatron agreed begrudgingly. "But that doesn't erase what I've done."

Rodimus sighed and let his hand slide down Megatron's arm until he could interlace their fingers. Waiting until Megatron curled his hand around Rodimus', he said, "We've got to be there for Flare, now." He smiled when their sparkling shifted in recharge, letting his smile slip into his tone. "We can't worry about the past now. We have to give him a good future. He can't have that as long as we keep him cooped up in that ship."

"I know that, Rodimus." Megatron turned away from him, away from Flare, his crest rising and falling in waves. "They wanted a trial. A verdict. I can't give them that now. I can't leave Flare." He resisted the urge to disturb his sleep. It was hard to not stroke his crest, especially since he knew how nice and relaxing it felt. If it was done right, anyways. Turning to his conjunx, he brought the hand he was holding to his mouth, kissing it gently. He met his optics as he said, "I can't leave you."

"You don't have to, now." Rodimus smiled warmly. "We can go wherever we want. We can make a new home."

"You two are my home."

Optics softening, Rodimus murmured, "Then I guess it doesn't matter where we are. Here is as good a place as any. Plus, there's tons of energon here. All we have to do is refine it."

"They'll find us if we stay for too long," Megatron said.

"Then we won't stay for too long," Rodimus said with a shrug. "But it can't hurt to have somewhere to come back to when we need a break. We could build a semi-forever home, yeah? Maybe underground. We'll shield it."

Megatron didn't answer him. As long as they were both with him, they weren't safe. It killed him to know that Flare's best protection was to have him as far away as possible. If they could somehow take him back to Cybertron, or the Lost Light, he could have a normal life. So long as he never revealed who his parents were. If he had left before Flare knew him. His absence would only damage him now.

Picking up Flare, Megatron cradled him in his arms. He was so small. So vulnerable. And for something with his CNA, pretty damn cute. He only briefly awoke when Megatron stood, but his optics closed as quickly they had opened. He cradled up to Megatron's chest, his ventilations tickling his Autobot symbol.

"No good-byes, no regrets," Rodimus murmured as he stood, too, reaching up to stroke Megatron's face. "I know that look. I know what you're thinking."

"I'm sorry, Rodimus, I just..." He held Flare more protectively.

"Nope. You don't get to do this. I don't care what you think would be better for me, because I know that my life has only gotten better with you in it." Rodimus reached over Megatron's arm slowly, knowing when he held Flare like that, he saw just about anyone as a threat. Sometimes it would take him a moment to remember that his own carrier wouldn't hurt him. He got a small growl, nearly inaudible, but he was able to find Flare's cheek to give it a light caress. "You've given me a sparkling. I always kind of wanted one, but... I dunno... I didn't think I'd make a very good parent."

“You have given me so much, Rodimus,” Megatron murmured. “More than I could ask for. More than I should ask for.”

Rodimus stretched up onto the fore of his pedes and kissed Megatron’s sagging cheek, realizing just how old the weight of his feelings made him look. How the years made his spark, his frame, weak. How he, too, would never be the same mech he was before the war. Before Nyon fell. Before his spark had tasted the infinity that was the Matrix.

“Megatron, I love you. I don’t love you because you manipulated me into it. Hell, you pushed me away so much I figured you really didn’t want me. You didn’t ask for this, I gave it to you. Don’t beat yourself up because you accepted it. And besides, you knocked me up, so you’re stuck with me now.” Rodimus ended his mini speech on a little laugh, trying to play up the humour of the situation.

Megatron still frowned, but a little less than usual.

“So, whatcha think they’re gonna turn into?” Rodimus changed the subject. “My bet’s on a car.”

A shrug was Megatron’s only reply.

“C’mon, Megs, it doesn’t hurt to guess. And it doesn’t hurt to take a break. Please? The ship’ll notify us if anything gets close.” He rested a hand on Megatron’s arm just shy of Flare’s slumbering form. “What good will you be to him if you aren’t rested if something does happen?”

Playing to Megatron’s sensibilities usually worked. Usually. When Megatron still refused to speak to him, he returned to the comforts of humour.

"Maybe he'll be a gun," Rodimus teased. He chuckled as he said, “We’ll wake up to a hole in our ship and Flare will just be sitting there on the floor.”

The sigh Megatron gave was so loud and long that Rodimus wouldn't have been surprised if they had heard it all the way from Cybertron. Wouldn't that be something? Their journey ended with Megatron's inability to sigh like a normal mech. The humour was somewhat lost when Rodimus saw his optics, though. Saw how he hugged Flare closer. If he weren't so enamoured with their creation, he might have fears that his sire intended to crush him in his arms.

"The war would follow me here," Megatron whispered so quietly that Rodimus almost didn't catch it.

"Hey..." Rodimus stroked his conjunx's cheek, but it did nothing to relieve him of his anguish. "I was only kidding. I'm sorry."

"No." Megatron shook his helm, a much more reasonable sigh following. "No, it's not you. I have much to regret, Rodimus. A life's worth. And I said I wouldn't feel it, but I do. I regret that you and my son have to live with my mistakes. Flare may very well have a normal life once he is ready to be on his own, but it will be one where he cannot acknowledge his parents, much less be proud of them. And I wonder... I wonder what will lessen the hurt. Should I tell him all that I've done? Or should I allow the universe to do it? One way or another, he will know. He will know what I've done. He will understand why he was born on a ship rather than Cybertron. Why we were never in one place for very long. Why sometimes, when we made planet fall, I could not follow. Why we were always on the—"

"Woah, woah, woah..." Each "woah" was softer and slower than the last. Rodimus stroked the arms that held Flare all the while, though his face showed no comfort. "How long has this been on your mind?"

"It never leaves, Rodimus."

"Well. I guess I have to tell these thoughts that they've overstayed their welcome, hm?" He gave him a little smile. "I think we need to amend this whole regretting thing. Maybe forbidding it was a bit extreme. But letting it consume you is just as extreme, don't you think?"

"But—"

"No 'buts.' What's done is done and cannot be undone. The war happened. We happened. Flare happened. No amount of wishing or regretting is going to make any of that change. Do we tell Flare? That’s up to you. But you're right. One way or another, he's going to find out. And yes, there's a chance he may never speak to you again. But..." He encouraged Megatron to unfurl, but it was only by his conscious choice that that happened. Slowly, but surely, he relaxed, then turned more towards his conjunx. It was a rare moment that he allowed himself to take comfort in Rodimus. "But there's a chance that he won't. And, like the past, there is no way to change his reaction.

"You know, I seem to remember some grumpy old mech telling me that worrying about whether or not I'll make a good parent wouldn't make me a better parent. That all I could do was my best with what life has given me. And what life has given me is a loving conjunx and a beautiful sparkling. And Megatron, if I was given the chance to do it all over again, I would choose you. I would choose this. Just maybe next time you don't shoot me through the spark?" Rodimus placed on Megatron’s chest with a smile, emitting nothing but love through his field to let him know that he held no resentment. Still, though, was the light of regret, or rather, lack thereof, in his red optics. "Joking helps me," he murmured. "But I can stop if it doesn't help you."

"It's not the jokes, Rodimus. It's knowing that you're right. That there's nothing I can do to change this. That I've doomed Flare to a life in my shadow, no matter where he goes."

"Okay, Megs, you really gotta lighten up. You know how sensitive Flare is to our fields right now, and yours is just a mess of bad feelings." When Megatron snapped his back to his frame, Rodimus said, "That doesn't mean hide your feelings you dummy. That means you need to forgive yourself. Yeah, yeah, I know what you're going to say, and I know. I doubt I could forgive myself for starting a war, and maybe that's too tall an order for anyone. But forgive yourself for feeling this regret and let yourself try to move on. Because as long as you're stuck here, you are 'dooming' Flare. Though not in the way you think. He's going to see the constant worry and fear in you. No matter how great you are at keeping your feelings hidden, they'll bubble to the surface eventually. Do you really want to spend all this time worrying and regretting when you could be enjoying watching our son grow?"

Like they had planned this, Flare awoke and cooed, and so did Megatron's field. A rush of warmth overcame the three of them as he finally allowed himself to smile and bring Flare close to his face, placing a kiss on his tummy that had him giggling.

"See? You could be doing this instead. Enjoying what life has given you."

"But I don't deserve all of this, Rodimus." While he smiled, his optics turned dull as watched Flare.

Rodimus was tempted to snatch Flare away and get him out of Megatron's mess of a field. Especially when he started to fuss. The energy must be pricking at his little winglets in the same way Rodimus' spoiler was because they were flapping similarly, trying to dislodge what wasn't actually there.

"Yeah, maybe you don't. But so what? You have it. Now maybe you can stop upsetting our son?"

A tiny face, scrunched up from discomfort, turned to his sire for answers and grabbed at his face. It almost seemed like he was trying to smooth out the lines on Megatron's face, and eventually they did relax, though it was by his own doing.

"I'm sorry." Megatron kissed Flare again, shutting his optics tight and ventilating deeply as he calmed his field. Doubt and worry still niggled in the far reaches of it, but Flare was back to smiling and trying to poke his sire’s optics out.

Flare laughed. The sweetest sound in the universe. He laughed and papped Megatron’s cheeks, blissfully unaware of everything beyond this small interaction.

“My little solar flare,” Megatron murmured affectionately.

A little slice of the sun went from smiling to yawning once more. He blinked rapidly, those big, Matrix blue optics of his dimming just a little. He instinctively got closer to Megatron, but in this half-standing position, he couldn’t get comfortable.

“How about you lie down?” Rodimus suggested. “I think you both could use a nap.”

“I can’t.”

“Then just lie down,” Rodimus said. “Please? For me?”

Megatron resisted for a few moments, then relented with a sigh. He passed Flare to Rodimus, who fussed for a moment and then calmed as Rodimus ran a gentle finger along his winglets. Still, he turned to watch Megatron get settled on the ground. Once he was on his back, he returned Flare to him, and their bitlet quickly settled on his chest, curling up not unlike Ravage would. Rodimus joined his family, lifting Megatron’s helm onto his lap.

“Comfy?” he asked.

“Yes.”

“Just try to relax, yeah? All I’m asking is you try.”

Megatron half-shuttered his optics. “Alright.”

Flare already fast asleep, Rodimus watched his conjunx. Mainly, how his crest rose and fell as though breathing. Occasionally it would prick up and Megatron’s optics would flash open with a burst of red light. He would settle again, but his optics never fully closed.

"Can you teach me?" Rodimus asked, hand hesitating over his crest. "If it relaxes you half as much as it relaxes Flare, then I wanna learn. I don't think you've let down your guard for over a month now."

"I can't afford to," Megatron said.

"You're not alone here, you know," Rodimus said, anger creeping into his voice. "I can protect myself. I can protect my son." He forced his voice to soften. "You don't always have to be the one doing all of the protecting."

Megatron turned his helm so he wouldn’t have to face Rodimus. "If anything happened to you..." He hugged Flare closer. "Or to Flare, I could never forgive myself."

"Don't you trust me?"

Red optics looked up.

"Don't you trust me?" Rodimus repeated.

"Of course I trust you, but—"

"But nothing. I'm keeping watch, and you're going to have a nap. Right after you teach me how to handle your crest." With as light a touch as possible, Rodimus put a finger on the base of one of the quills. He pulled away immediately when he felt Megatron flinch. "Sorry. I guess I'm not good at being gentle."

"No, it's my fault." Megatron took a hold of his conjunx's hand and kissed it. "Since I never take my helmet off, it's more sensitive than it should be. I doubt that even I can make touching it feel pleasant." He tried to do it, and it wasn't as shocking as when Rodimus did it, but it wasn't exactly enjoyable, either.

"Why did you keep it covered, then?" Rodimus asked, stroking his face in lieu of his crest.

"It makes me vulnurable."

Rodimus nodded with understanding, continuing to stroke his cheek as Megatron’s optics slowly shut. “You can be a little vulnerable. I’ve got you.”

Without opening his optics, Megatron shifted Rodimus’ hand from his face to his crest. He winced a little, but after a few gentle strokes his face relaxed and sire and sparkling didn’t look so different.

He didn’t sleep. Rodimus could tell. His shoulders still felt stiff and his hands still protectively cradled Flare, but it was a start. He kept his optics closed, at least. A little bit of vulnerability. A little more trust in his conjunx.

A little slice of a normal life.

#megarod #megatron #rodimus #megatron/rodimus #sparklings #flare #starvonnie writes

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lil-area-sfw · 6 years

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Well, that certainly was ah, uh... one of these things? Right, a finale. Yeah, that was that thing. Wah.

Yes, the finale… And I have so much to say that I think if I put everything I have in my head it will end being a looong post… Eh, I will be doing a long post anyway, just shorter than the original long post I have in mind… You get that, right? ^ ^’

I think it’s been a while for people not being spoiled so, no spoiler tags and here I go.

I didn’t know they will air both episodes Divide and Conquer at the same time. I’m one of those people who prefers to have their weekly things, because I know that if we get all at once, the material will end and I’m almost sure the hiatuses become longer. I dunno why the decision if each episode lasted 22 mins. Well, it wasn’t a bomb so it’s better :3

Now for the first episode, Divide.

We start the episode with a missing Queen Moon and we can see Star should take her obligations right away. I never thought we will see this situation in show. I liked that. We could see how Star takes it and how she experiences by herself the level of her mother’s work.

Marco really takes his *squire job seriously*. I don’t know why but, in this moment, I could feel that reason more like an excuse than ever. Here he felt like he uses that to be with her… more than in other occasions for some reason.

I was wondering where River was. Then he was there. Offering emotional support ^ ^I really wonder why in situations of missing queens the king can’t take some responsibility. Politics sucks sometimes ^ ^’. All the weight goes over an inexperienced teenager… just like when Moon’s mother died.

Yes, the part when Star was overwhelmed with responsibility was something. I specially liked when she went to Glossaryck for counseling like old times but he only gaves her a helpless look. Ouch.

And well, there was a meeting to talk about the situation. They let us know that Mina already fought with Meteora and lost… Why they skip those epic moments…? >.

Also, we can see that Star sure is mad with the council members now. Too bad for Dad Rhombulus…

Then after all this and Star almost making a hasty decision, we have this… Dude!

Marco offered himself to handle the situation. He sure rocked there. Looked so cool.

Yes, despite me having troubles with all the time skip situation and wondering why he still has a 15 years old mind, it’s really nice that they referenced Marco still has the abilities he learned. It’s WAY better than swapping that under the rug. We never know that before, I suppose he remembered them while traveling with Hekapoo again, closing portals.

But anyway, Marco looks on pair with Star now, he can kick magic and stuff ^ ^

Being honest, I didn’t like at first that he resisted Spider with a top hat but then I saw that those are friggin 16 fighting experience years, 16! And Star is on pair with that :3

I loved the zoom out of the battle. They, face to face panting… taking a breath. Two skilled friends having a wonderful match.

And then Star checking her good friend too… Just checking :3It’s interesting that Marco already knew what she was checking for XD

The episodes had many moments between them both and I specially liked how Star tried to look tough but ended accepting she was scared and wanted some confort. And what’s better than a hug of your best friend whom you have feelings for :). Of course it was easier for Marco to accept he was scared too.

After this we go through spaghetti and they trying to look as two cool best friends in front of other people but failing miserably. Yeah, we love to see those dumb heads in denial. You’re not fooling anyone… stop. Ok don’t stop, it’s funny ^ ^

The following part of the episode is the division of both of them, hence the name of the episode. Marco will try to delay Meteora and Star will search for her mom.

I need to say that I liked the team. It was a bit strange not seeing Rhombulus there tho.

So Hekapoo has a crush on Raventalon… Neat. Less Marco harem’s vibe is fine by me >:) *cough*

And yeah I noticed Tom has an attire that looks like a fire nation one. Nice cameo :PNot much to say here besides the assembly and the beginning of the fight.

We switch to Star into the magic realm. She finally founds Moon following the traces of dark goo she leaves. At first I didn’t notice but then I saw that she was “Washing off” the dark magic corruption in the magic waters. I have to say that Moon looks cuter without all that pompous make up.

You know what? Whatever the case, I felt good for her. Being queen with so many responsibilities and with the task of taking hard decisions since a young age, I can see why she’s so serious and strict. So, it was nice to see her so relaxed and carefree after all that time. I know she enjoyed that despite not remembering her own family. Well, I mean, she spent time playing with her daughter after all :)

Yeah, Star went in with a contingency plan but making it short, it didn’t work. She ended playing carelessly in the dimension while their friends waited for her. Portal shuts down. That would be a nice cliffhanger for next week but oh well, not complaining ^ ^

We have Conquer right away.

We take where we left and then we know the magic realm has some kind of upside down waterfalls that work like portals to other dimensions. I wonder if that would play some important role in upcoming happenings. I think they will.

I mean, what is this? Why are they showing it? Is this Hekapoo dimension or something?

They also got into a barrel that is shut and we never know what’s outside… I mean, it should be something more there, right…?

Here’s something a bit weird. After Star failing miserably with all her attempts to remember and go out with her mom, this dude appears…

And just says that they shouldn’t be there and transports them outside. I wonder what was that… but also, I wonder another thing. Star is transported to her room and appears sleeping, so she thinks it was just a dream until she’s fully awake and then concerns. Yeah concerns about her mom because she’s not there! So, Ok, Moon shouldn’t be there, but where she should be then if not her home? Where is she? It doesn’t look like she ended in her castle. Lets’ hope this leads to an interesting story.

Ok, switch to the battle. And yes, I must say that I loved it. Finally a fight! I really missed that in Battle of Mewni. They skipped the fights and that was a really lame decision. I mean, if Star vs Toffee was something near this, I wouldn’t have any complaining!

That teamwork, I love teamwork! ^ ^With the exception of Ponyhead who got defeated quickly because she couldn’t see with the dam helmet on. You can have anything on your head now and that’s all you do?… Ah, Ponyhead, I don’t dislike you but you’re a difficult character.

Also, as I said the team was really good but if I have to choose the best guy there, that’s Tom ^ ^. For sure! He went overboard with everything. He even looked like the most skilled person there.

Dam, he sent Meteora to the underworld! Sure it didn’t last long but not even a council member of I dunno how many years old, made any move in the dire situation.

Of course, that couldn’t be all. If that were the case it would be interesting but sure unfulfilling.After all that, we see how Meteora defeats each one of them and we are left with just, yes, Tom and Marco. Marco with his experience in the other world and Tom being Tom… Yes, for sure he was something.

So, the moment under the rock when they think everything’s lost. Two things I liked from it: First, Tom not looking so stuck anymore, he was such a nice guy even acknowledging Marco’s his best friend now.Second, Marco already confessed Tom about the kiss after feeling guilty cause all the support Tom gave him. Yes! No secrets and hidden things drama! That thing’s over! Also, maybe that will make people raging about the kiss change their minds a bit. I always say that we should wait for the next episode before going nuts. I want to think this is the case :3

Ok, what was I saying? Oh, yes, did I say Tom was awesome in this episode?

I’ll say that again :)

Dude! Tom was awesome in this episode!

He thought Marco was lying to him to make him leave. Then he discovers he wasn’t lying and he doesn’t lose it, just stays there protecting his best friend. Also that trait of having hundreds of demons inside makes him practically immune to Meteora’s soul sucking. Someone please tell me Tom sucks, I want to laugh XD

Of course, Marco will not stay there waiting for his friend to get soul depleted, so he acts anyway and we end with a soul less Marco.

Tom carries Marco and only Marco to Star. The moments when Star realizes Marco is gone aren’t particularly detailed as shocking but we can see how Star reacts and feels, even more when she decides to go to heal him to the sanctuary. It doesn’t work and yeah, this episode has many endearing moments, so hug for Tom too and we can see how is he trying to fulfill the promise to Marco to keep Star safe. But yeah, Star has gone for a big character growth so she will not run from his problems anymore.

Interesting thing there, is that just as Star didn’t know about Tom’s tail, Tom didn’t know about Star’s butterfly form. Every time we’re shown how not that close they are :/ Tom’s a nice guy, I knew he will going to be the Jackie 2.0 of the relationship. Oh well.

Final scene and we got our DARN FINAL BATTLE. Finally! I’ve always said that the writers learn from mistakes of previous seasons and this is not changing my mind. Tom as the other love interest got plenty screen time and development and the villains weren’t dispatched with an unfulfilling and fast deux ex. I wish they could’ve done this earlier. Look at that scenario and action scenes! X)

Then the moment many of us liked. Before a defeated Star we see how Eclipsa comes in (She was missing before, I must clarify) takes the wand and it goes to its Eclipsa form! That shows that the wand can go to his other forms if the bearer wants. Moon grabbed the wand several times but it stayed in Star’s form, so it was a bit confusing.

Ok, I was saying… That woman is too OP… plz nerf! Maybe it’s because her daughter didn’t counter attack but besides that, Meteora always looked so resistant but she comes in, blasts her a couple of times and then encloses her easily in some sort of bubble. Done.

For sure, this moment was heavy…

It’s not like I cried a bit or anything… *cough*

And yeah, defeating her restored everyone to their true self.

Again, lovely Starco moment when she jumps to catch Marco and only Marco. Then this.This episode is full of them ^ ^

Yeah, it was interrupted by Tom but I didn’t mind at all! It was a cute moment between those three. I wonder what does Tom thinks after all this… He knows about the kiss, he of course knows about the Blood Moon, he witness those moments. I hope they don’t take long for him to say something about that. I mean, how can the writers stretch that in a not annoying way? Can they…?

Well, after looking at a sad Elcipsa that seems to have lost everything, Star gives the wand to her… Some people were shocked by it but I thought she will do that since the trial when she knew she’s not form the royal bloodline.It was whoa. Eclipsa even accepts the wand after discovering that his daughter is alive, just deaged to a baby. Then they left, leaving a confused Star and Marco there. I know I’m not the only one puzzled by the happenings.

Oh, and yes, Glossaryck is fine and was pretending all this time or something. Was he? If so why? What’s with this dude? “I’ve been trying to tell you about Globgor” Yeah but why couldn’t you talk like a normal person before?? -__-

I have to mention the voice actor change here. They even made a pun in show. Well, it doesn’t sound as good to me. What a shame… I hope it grows on me tho. But Adam said that the new opening will grow on me because it was just that we got used to the previous one… and it didn’t. The current one just doesn’t go as well with the music and is not that lively as the previous one. It’s good… but not better. Let’s see if it’s different with Glossy.

Ok, ok, I think this really has been a long post so, I’ll try to not extend myself so much more.

That final scene was something. Eclipsa entering to the place where her husband is and saying “Hello, my love, we’re home…”

What will happen after this? What are they hinting? Eclipsa doesn’t look like a schemer but this gave a vibe of her planning something against all odds.

She doesn’t look like the evil queen people talked about… at all but we ended with her in front of a BIG crystallized monster. Does that mean something? Is he evil? If so, will Eclipsa join him or maybe will she be controlled by his beloved hubby?

I just know a thing: This cliffhanger is like 10 times better than the one in season 2. Well done SVTFOE crew! I will be expecting nice things for the last season (Ah, that sounds a bit sad ^ ^)Now, hiatus, come to me! I don’t fear you!

Hope you didn’t get bored with all my crap and read it til here. See you in another one of these :P

#arearants #SVTFOE #star vs the forces of evil #season finale #Divide #Conquer

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maychorian · 6 years

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Weekly Voltron Fic Recs #62

A bit of life news: I am moving to a new position at my workplace working for a team that is currently very backed up, so my free time at work that I usually use to read fanfiction is about to disappear for the foreseeable future. It’s a good career move for me, and once things calm down I might have even more time and even be able to work from home. But in the meantime, yeah, I dunno how much fanfiction I’ll be reading. Whatever I do read will definitely get put in a list, though, haha.

Rules: You can find past weekly rec lists here, and non-list recs in my general fic rec tag. Also follow @maychorianrecs for individually tagged posts, the easier to search and reblog. This is stuff I like, and I have a huge bias toward Lance, hurt/comfort, and general fluff, in that order. Gen unless otherwise noted. Please comment on the fics if you read and enjoy them!

Passing Grade by IcyPanther Words: 6,998 Author’s Summary: If Lance stayed in the shower long enough maybe the water would wash everything away. Maybe it would make him forget unwanted hands and the scratchy couch. Maybe… A sob tore through his throat. No. There was no forgetting. But he did have to paste on a smile and try to because no one could find out. Otherwise it was all over. AU - College My Comments: Mind the tags. There was a time when I sought out fics with this exact scenario because it fed something very needy inside me. It still hits all of those buttons super hard, and I really enjoyed reading this sort of story again, featuring my favorite character, written by an author I trust. I’ve already re-read it a couple of times, and I’ll be returning to it again, I’m sure.

The Cost of Winning by IcyPanther Words: 9,598 Author’s Summary: “The Blue and Green Paladins serve no purpose to the Empire,” the Galran commander smirked at his bound captives. “And as such you have no use except as arena fodder.” He chuckled. “Give us a good show before you die.” / Lance is determined to protect Pidge and save her from the arena. She will not die here. Over his dead body. Hopefully it’s not quite that literal of a promise. My Comments: Superb fic, possibly the best I’ve read from this author yet. The action is great and the plot is tight and suspenseful. Wonderful platonic Pidge and Lance, both getting beat up, both badass and protective of each other. This kept me at the edge of my seat.

All That Glitters Isn’t Gold by IcyPanther for wingedflower Words: 9,998 Author’s Summary: It started with Allura wanting something shiny for an upcoming gala. She, Pidge and Lance venture to a marketplace to find just the thing in a billed afternoon of relaxation and fun. But what they ended up finding was not jewelry at all. / “Welcome to Tyrol’s slave trade, Tyrol at your service. Or, well,” a dark grin lit the trader’s face. “I suppose you are at mine.” My Comments: Mind the tags. I really enjoyed this fic, though it went to some dark places for a little bit. Always fun to see Lance bonding with his teammates. And also getting hurt and then comforted.

And Molasses by Lemon_Lemmings Words: 4,008 Author’s Summary: “That’s not enough.” Hunk motions to the cookie mountains. “I need to make more.” “How many more? I can bake.” Hunk gives her a skeptical look.Pidge crosses her arms. “My cookies might not turn out as perfect as yours, boo hoo. At least they won’t be contaminated with the plague.” My Comments: Excellent sickfic with wonderful characterization for Hunk, right on the money. Pidge stepped up to the plate and took it like a pro. I could definitely see this happening, no question.

Atlas Cannot Stand by AnaliseGrey Words: 3,609 Author’s Summary: He and Lance had taken Red in to infiltrate a low-traffic Galra base- or at least, it was supposed to be low-traffic; it was just their luck they’d try to hit it when some dignitary was visiting. They’d made a good show of it all things considered, but in the end they were outnumbered and overrun. Lance had been up high, covering him from a catwalk, but was surprised by sentries coming at him from both sides of the walkway; there hadn’t been anywhere for him to go, and they were on him too fast to use his jetpack. Once they had Lance, Keith had surrendered quickly, not wanting to get Lance hurt. He could still feel Red growling quietly in the back of his mind, trapped in the hangar he’d left her in when they arrived. So far, her particle barrier was holding, but she wasn’t leaving until he was, and he wasn’t leaving without Lance. My Comments: The torture is pretty brutal in this one, but I loved the bond between Keith and Lance and how desperately they wanted to help each other.

May They Rest at Ease by ambivalentlangst Words: 2,539 Author’s Summary: Soldiers are created to say “vrepit sa” and die in a blaze of glory for their empire. They are not created to babysit kids, but some don’t mind, because someone has to keep the cubs safe. The universe they defend certainly doesn’t. My Comments: Season 5 spoilers. I adore this. So much. The two soldiers who palled around with Pidge, Hunk, and Lance essentially adopt them as their cubs, because those are three are far too young and don’t deserve to suffer. This fic makes my heart sing. It’s so sweet and lovely, despite the savagery of war.

Everywhere Cats by Engineer104 Words: 7,363 Author’s Summary: A mysterious mishap transforms the Lions of Voltron into…cats, who are more troublesome for their Paladins than for Zarkon’s Empire My Comments: Super fun and cute! I will continue to mourn the relative dearth of animal transformation crack in this fandom until I am satisfied, but this was a good fix, though nowhere near enough. So cute, sooooo fluffy.

I Once Loved the Stars so Truly, but I Have Learned to Fear the Night by Spazzcat Words: 5,638 Author’s Summary: Samuel Holt has loved the stars his entire life, despite where he ended up because of it. Ironically it’s not until after his rescue that he starts to hate their gentle gleam in the darkness, a cruel reminder of everything he’s lost. My Comments: Lovely alternate version of Sam finding his family. It hurt, but the ending made up for it, and the language along the way was gorgeous and vivid. Great OCs, too.

In the Dust under the Stars by cleanlittlesecret Words: 5,521 Author’s Summary: The woman entering his office must be close to seven feet tall if not taller, has long and pointed ears, and is entirely purple. She has to duck to avoid hitting her face on the doorframe, and Iverson is so busy staring at her with his mouth open that he barely hears Mick say something before shutting the door behind her. What in the Sam Hill is this? (Or, AU where Krolia stayed on Earth to raise Keith, and most people are not as bothered by her as they probably should be. Plus some other changes.) My Comments: Season 5 spoilers. Lovely canon divergence AU with a great Krolia and a cute though impulsive Keith. The details really made this story come alive; it’s very well-written and enjoyable to read.

Poison by IcyPanther Words: 2,876 Author’s Summary: Lance is fine. Or, at least he keeps telling himself that. He’s most definitely not a victim of the unknown disease with no cure sweeping through the city. Nope. But now he’s coughing up blood? Maybe… maybe he isn’t so fine after all. / “H-Hunk,” he whispered. “I… I think I’m s-sick.” Hunk let out a sound somewhere between a sob and a laugh. “Yeah, Lance. You are.“ My Comments: What a great Lance-centric sickfic with super good comfort and a tense plot. I’ll never tire of these kinds of fics.

The Grim Particulars by yet_intrepid Words: 5,575 Author’s Summary: “Can’t believe Kolivan trusted these guys,” Keith mutters. He shifts awkwardly in the tight space, trying to alleviate some of the pressure on his arms, which are cuffed behind his back. “I always knew they were sketchy.” “They’re illegal weapons dealers,” Shiro replies. “Of course they’re sketchy.” Keith grunts, half-angry and half-amused, and gives up readjusting his position. It’s just as well, really, Shiro thinks. They’re in a tiny closet on a tiny ship, and there’s barely room for them to sit shoulder-to-shoulder, knee-to-knee. My Comments: Beware the tags. This is a grim story, as the title implies, not for the faint of heart. But good, as everything from this author. It catches you in the gut. Gave me some deep thoughts, too.

Thicker than Water by Fernandidilly_yo Words: 4,574 Author’s Summary: (Set right after season 5 episode 5)“How long?” Keith asks, taking another step into Kolivan’s office, his legs feel unstable underneath him, his body disconnected and flimsy. “How long have you known Krolia is my mother?” My Comments: Season 5 spoilers. I really like nuances of this story. Keith’s reactions and emotions all feel very realistic and true to his character, and I liked Kolivan in this too. Great stuff.

Bits by Lemon_Lemmings Words: 3,107 Author’s Summary: Violence is an acquired taste that Hunk inevitably accommodates. My Comments: Angsty and harsh and a little grim, but I absolutely believe that Hunk is like this. War is hard, and it’s not fair.

dear child of mine by glitteringconstellations Words: 2,365 Author’s Summary: Krolia went to Earth in search of a Lion, and found a family, instead. She learned what it meant to love and be loved, and she learned that sometimes, loving someone means letting them go.Or,Krolia cradles Keith in her arms for the last time. My Comments: Season 5 spoilers. Sweet and sad and lovely. I love this vision of Keith’s mother and father before the war. Or during the war, but in a peaceful interlude.

Mama is… by nigiyakapepper Words: 4,134 Author’s Summary: “A spy!” “Spy!” “Up in space!” “ ’pin space!” Keith is two. It’s one of his good days, judging by the boy shrieking with joy for no other reason than the enjoyment of the act. K - - - - -, his dad, moves as if to chase him around the sofa in their living room. Little Keith moves in turn, a ‘patta patta’ of tiny feet stomping on linoleum. He giggles while clutching his shirt—then full on screams and toddles away when his dad lunges after him. - - Who Keith’s mom is as Keith grows up. My Comments: Season 5 spoilers. Lovely snapshots of Keith throughout the years, missing his mother. I’m so glad he had such a good father, but then it hurt to lose him, too.

In Darkness We Shall Fight by Haleykim84 (tristen84) for BlackFriar Words: 6,795 Author’s Summary: Shiro and Keith are on a stealth mission that goes wrong. With no back-up and Keith injured, they struggle to get out alive. My Comments: A rollercoaster of a fic, fantastic action and wonderful teamwork and protectiveness between Keith and Shiro. It felt sort of classic, in a way, the OG duo back at it again. Fun and exciting read.

Of Crossing Swords and Crossing Lines by wingedflower for IcyPanther Words: 8,144 Author’s Summary: Written as part of a fic exchange with IcyPanther, following the prompt “shopping trip went wrong”. For the first time in his life, Keith sees something at the space mall that he actually wants. He’s willing to do everything to get it - especially if it involves ignoring Lance, who tries to talk him out of it. Things end up as well as expected. My Comments: A great, fun read with some interpersonal conflict and Lance getting hurt. Always a great combination for fic.

Previously Recced Fics That Updated:

Beacon (43262 words) Shadows of Stars (182291 words) A Dragon in Thy Pocket (10018 words) As Color Fades Away (293755 words) Weekend Guests (16351 words) I'm not the Lance You think I am (79775 words) Back from the Edge (10869 words)

#voltron legendary defender #fic rec #weekly voltron fic recs #vldgen

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parf-fan · 6 years

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2018 in-house shows posted!

Once more, no mention on their facebook page or in their emails, but I suppose that’s what I’m here for. If you go to PARF’s website, you’ll find that the list of in-house shows has at last been updated for this season. I took the liberty of copy-pasting it all here nonetheless.

King’s Court King Henry and Queen Catherine host the visiting king and queen of France. Never before have so many monarchs gathered upon a Mt. Hope stage! Will the Master of Revels, Sir Walter Roderick Kensington, be up to the task of entertaining four royals? Join them at the Endgame stage, and watch the saga of the Field of Cloth of Gold commence!

(I am so pleased that they specifically mentioned the question of whether Sir Walter will be able to cope with four monarchs.)

Human Chess King Henry and King Francis, in the spirit of friendly competition, have agreed to match wits in a game of Human Chess. All the denizens of Mt. Hope, from lowly peasants to noble knights, will take the board as members of the kings’ armies. But as the ring of steel fills their ears, and the thrill of battle heats their blood, will the contest stay friendly for long?

(I didn’t read the above description, for it undoubtedly contains what would count as spoilers to me.)

Ultimate Joust

As the sun sets upon Bosworth Field, four knights will meet in mounted combat, as a crowd of thousands looks on. Come and cheer for your favorite knight; thrill to the pounding hooves and the clash of steed and steel. Join the royal court and all the villagers of the Shire, in the epic Ultimate Joust that has made Mt. Hope famous.

(I didn’t read the above description, for it undoubtedly contains what would count as spoilers to me.)

Finale in Song

As the festival day draws to a close, the town gathers for a final celebration of song, dance, and laughter. Join King Henry and Queen Catherine, along with King Francis and Queen Claude of France, and the entire town of Mt. Hope, in a village event that reveals the very heart of the Shire.

(I didn’t read the above description, for it undoubtedly contains what would count as spoilers to me.)

Grand MacGuffin Melee Good Master MacGuffin has not had much luck with his establishment. It seems like every new business venture he tries always winds up in a massive brawl. But this time, he has decided to attract a fancier sort of clientele. Come attend the grand opening of MacGuffin’s Gallerie of Fine Arte. With such a high-class aspiration, what could possibly go wrong?

(I’d finished reading this before I registered that it was for a show I consider storyline, and therefore didn’t want spoilers for. That said, this can only end well.)

Disasterpiece Theatre The Master of Revels, Sir Walter Roderick Kensington, has assembled the shire's best performers (who had nothing else going on at the time) to delight our guests with a masterpiece on the stage. They present a different modern story with a 16th century twist every weekend; and of course when Sir Walter tries to get something done-- anything that can go wrong will go wrong. It will truly be a Disasterpiece!

(As soon as I’d read the title and the fact that the description starts with naming Sir Walter, I was already dying with laughter. I am so glad that character and his particular style of overwroughtness managed to become so iconic. This promises to be fantastic. I predict that they will definitely adapt Mean Girls, if nothing else. I also vote for an adaptation of Newsies. Les Mis would be great, but I dunno that that counts as “modern”, and it’s also a little long, ya kno?)

Bloody Best Attend the tale of Shakespeare’s Macbeth, He Who Would be King of Scotland. ‘Tis forty minutes of brutal combat, murder most foul, and disturbingly comic violence. And blood. There will be blood.

(B l o o d y B e s t i s t h e S c o t t i s h P l a y. Which should be interesting, because the entirety of the grounds count as a theatre, and it’s only safe to name the play if it’s in the script. So what if someone tries to interact with the performers regarding the contents of Bloody Best after the show is over? Would improvised interaction be close enough to keep them safe? Or will it call down the curse if they are forced to utter it in that circumstance? And if the latter is true, will they then be able to get to the edge of the grounds / the gate into the performer-only area [that is, leave the theatre] in time to be able to perform the ritual to lift the curse? Most importantly, am I cruel enough to put this to the test?)

The Sirens The pirate crew of the Relentless Contessa is out for blood and gold...on any other normal day, but today, they are taking a break to demonstrate their fierce musicality, daring boldness, and filthy pirate jests!

(THE SIRENS ARE PYRATES THIS TIME AT LAST FINALLY YESYESYES I HAVE BEEN WANTING THIS FOR YEEEEAAAARRRRS!!!) (No Bloody Shame [THE BLOODY SHAME!] though. I’m sad.)

The Rakish Rogues What happens when two French Nobles and two English Nobles are employed by Their Majesties to entertain the masses? They don't know either! Watch these charming nobles sing revelrous songs and regale you with rowdy vulgarities.

(After years of the Rogues being in some of the more lightweight outfits, their day of reckoning has finally come. Boys, welcome to the excessively heatstroke-laden life of a noble.)

The Irish Revels The three Eugenia Sisters, proprietors of The Wild Rose Inn, are celebrating the return of their father by reassembling the family band. Join them for rousing Irish folk music and quirky family values.

(THE IRISH REVELS ARE RETURNING THE IRISH REVELS ARE RETURNING THE IRISH REVELS ARE RETUUUURNIIIIINNNNNG!!!!!) (Yo, the MacGuffin Stables and Tavern has competition!)

Friday Knights Come see our Improv Track perform feats of mental, verbal, and physical agility for your entertainment! Presented in 2 acts, the first half is a competition of comedy as 2 teams face off against each other in "Whose Line..." style improv games hoping to earn the laughs and love of our audience judges. Then, after the intermission, both teams come together to perform a completely improvised musical based on the audience's suggestion!

(Quite pleased this is back. Rest assured I shall actually attend this time.)

Neighborhoods Kings and Queens are great and all, but what do the average citizens of Mount Hope do on a festival day? Seek out these interactive stories that you can get involved in all over the shire to find out! Provide your expert opinion at a Town Hall Meeting; help track and arrest a wanted thief (or help the thief escape!). Get involved in the happenings of Mount Hope and influence the lives of its inhabitants at these scenarios found not on stages, but in the neighborhoods all around the shire.

(So.... literally exactly what it’s always been. It’s just listed here this time.)

Music with Their Majesties Take a break with Their Majesties, as they demonstrate Their musical merits and host the best of entertainment from the realm.

(!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!)

Robin Hood You think you know the story of Robin Hood? You've probably never heard it like our Apprentice of Revels and her rag-tag team are going to tell it to you.

(........ Apprentice of Revels? There’s a Apprentice of Revels now? Sir Walter has a hecking apprentice this year! I’m like really really hyped about this character’s existence. For some reason, my mom is convinced this role is gonna be played by Katie Markey.)

Finale Dumb Show Have you missed every Plot Show during the Faire day? Did you not even know there WAS a plot? Arrive to the Globe Stage 15 minutes before Finale In Song to catch up on what happened in the silliest way possible!

(I am left with a deep-seated happiness over the Dumbshow’s return. But they wrote it wrong. I have it from the actors, it is oNE WORD!)

The Legend of One-Eyed Willy The Cabin Boy of the "Relentless Contessa" has been tasked with finding more members for the ship's Pirate Crew. Come join his crew, and witness the tale of the most feared pirate to ever sail the seven seas! Presented by The Mount Hope Players!

(was One-Eyed Willy aboard the original Bloody Shame [THE BLOODY SHAME!]? That wold be a good reason to fear them.)

King's Cavalry Join the Master of Revels and The Lady Mayor for some literal horse-play on the chessboard directly before our Human Chess match! Bring your nipperkins so that they may join the King's Royal Mounted Cavalry!

(Everybody who, like me, attends King’s Cavalry because they went to Chess early to secure good seats, Y’ALL BETTER FUCKIN’ CLAP AND CHEER FOR THOSE KIDS, I SWEAR!)

King Arthur: The Legend of Murray Everyone knows that King Arthur was the Wizard Merlin's greatest apprentice, but did you know Merlin had another apprentice after Arthur? Come experience the tale of Merlin's OTHER apprentice: Murray!

(I’m gonna have to figure out how to make this fit with the canon of BBC’s Merlin, friggin’ fantastic.)

Is... is there no Tournament Joust this year then, or....

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izzy-b-hands · 6 years

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K screw it we’re talking about the TV show. I have an idea of a title, but it isn’t set in stone, but maybe I can tag it with that, so if you don’t wanna see this stuff you can blacklist it?? Y’know what, let’s go with this one: ‘aly’s show in progress’. I searched it first to make sure it doesn’t coincide with anything else on here as a tag, lol.

If you guys read this all (and it is a lot, lol) and wanna talk about it, have thoughts, or just like the idea of it and wanna let me know, please do. Any feedback on this baby of mine makes me so happy.

Also, I’ll throw the rest of this behind a cut so if I ramble it won’t take up as much room for y’all.

Guys if I had a way to make this now, I so would. I even have bits of soundtracks ready to go (orchestral backing tracks--the theme song I keep hemming and hawing on who should create it, but probably not me, lol.) I know they say don’t share your stuff in progress, but right now this is such a far shot from ever being produced that I feel safe in talking about it (also because like with all my other works that I have planned to sell or produce, I’m getting copyright on just to be safe.)

So to be honest, I can’t recall how much I’ve written about it on here, and it is 12:30 AM and I can’t be bothered to search my own blog so we’re starting from scratch.

Working title is Liminal Space--a show about people who have no reason to be together in the place they are, but that’s where they’ve ended up. For now, they can’t seem to leave (that’s elaborated on further in the series) and why would they--when food is somehow replenished, and money isn’t a concern to survive. Sure, the woods sometimes glow and strange people and creatures keep showing up, but every place has something weird, right?

Specifically, we focus on a set of adult characters-names come about within the first few episodes, but in the credits they are noted as their roles in what is essentially a drive thru town-an abandoned school, a two-level hotel/restaurant set up, a wildly unnecessary car sales lot and building, an abandoned cabin, woods, and a haunted house that magically appears one day. All of this facing a highway (the haunted house on one side of it, everything else on the other.)

Our main cast consists of:

The Kids--A boy and a girl, about six and ten respectively. They are literally found by the Waitress one day near the highway, and since no one appears to claim them, the town just sort of adopts them. This means everything from home schooling them about a world that no one else really remembers for sure, plus keeping them safe from the weird shit that goes on in the town. Is it a lot for two kids? Yeah, but they could have been dead on the edge of the highway, so things are pretty good overall for them. Not sure on who to cast for these either, since young kids might outgrow the roles pretty quick--plus they might not be in every episode, if only to allow for some scarier plot lines and more serious topics to be addressed. They end up rooming in the haunted house, via a secret tunnel and a plot line in one of the very first episodes.

The Waitress--unsure of cast member. It keeps rotating between various actresses and musicians, to be honest. She works at the restaurant/hotel, despite it never really having customers (except for a few episodes with guest stars.) Nobody questions how or why they keep it running--it gives her something to do, and she gets to chat up the Pianist (which is a big Plot Point later on in the series so I will only elaborate so far here lol.) Rooms at the restaurant/hotel, in whatever room will open each night (the keys to all the rooms aren’t always there.)

The Pianist--Johannes. In part because I have no clue if he can play piano or not, but if he can’t then we get a silly in-joke here that the Pianist is supposed to play at the restaurant/hotel where the Waitress works...but then we never see him play it. This character is a lot of dry wit, and I feel like he’d carry that well. Rooms in the restaurant/hotel, sometimes in an actual room, sometimes under his piano on the floor if he’s writing music and no one (read: the Waitress) puts his ass to bed.

A quick key thing to note about any cast members--they don’t have to change how they look outside of the show, aka no band members have to chop off their hair or anything like that to play their role. What they look like outside the show, is how their character appears.

The Teacher--Henrik. He’s a little bit quieter a person, just like this character. He also seems to have a knack for reactions (aka every photo of him making a face or video of him rolling his eyes dramatically suggests he’s someone who can actually use his face to act and not overdo it.) That’s what I want from this character--when shit’s going down, he’s the book smart person in the room; he’ll help look up and figure out a solution, but we get to see him rolling his eyes or giving us some reaction that suggests he isn’t doing this passively (I also have some choice sarcastic lines for him--the ones that aren’t supposed to hit you until a beat has passed, then you and the other characters realize they just got burned horribly.) He is the one who gets to try and home school The Kids, despite only have a few books to work with--but he’s smart enough to teach them a lot of things without text books, and generally dislikes the ones they have since a. half of them are out of date and incorrect or b. show info from a universe that isn’t theirs and so aren’t useful. Rooms in the abandoned school, which he often makes repairs to himself (because they can’t exactly call out for a contractor to do so, and because he’s got the brains to not just fix but improve the building with what he has on hand.)

The Man Out of Time (aka yes, a time traveler)-- John. I can’t quite explain why he feels like the best fit--the character came into my head, already as John. I can’t explain this character’s full deal without giving a full ep synopsis, but to give some summation--to save the town, he sacrifices his ability to travel back to his time. He’s a straight up good guy; he wants to help these people even though he ended up in their time and town on accident and barely knows them. He ends up residing in the abandoned cabin, as a happily accepted new neighbor. He’s a nice guy, plus that’s one more person to make sure The Kids aren’t accidentally killed by like, an inter-dimensional squid or something--that’s a nice bit of stress alleviation for all the other adults.

The Car Salesmen--Jack Black and Charlie Day. A set of very panicky brothers, selling cars that have never worked (like, they literally have no engines or wheels...) But they insist that they are needed, and that the cars will work, when It comes for them. What is It? Why should they fear It? All anyone gets is panicked laughter as an answer, so they just roll with it all. Besides, who doesn’t like window shopping, even if the cars aren’t necessarily something you could ever use or buy? Everybody tries to be accepting and calming towards these two, who are almost always convinced that It is on the way. They mean well, the poor things. They room in the building of their car sales lot--there aren’t any display cars in it, so they can keep sleeping bags on the floor.

The King--I swear to god, I thought up this character before Avatar Country came out. It is a pleasant coincidence that Kungen is who I chose for this role (in part because I mean...his nickname literally means The King. As of Avatar Country’s release, we have proof he is a good king. Why not keep a good thing going?) And he is literally a king--who shows up one day, claiming to be king of their town (that is really barely even quantifiable as a village.) No one knows what to make of it, so they roll with it, because he doesn’t actually make them act like much of subjects--he might ask for food randomly during the day from the Waitress, or ask them how the ransacking of neighboring towns is going (it isn’t, because no one ever leaves the town, but he never seems bothered by that.) Otherwise, he just likes to hang out and ask everyone what they’re doing and educate them on the Royal History--how and why he became king, what he’s done as king, etc. For a king, he’s down to earth and just likes to visit with people. Maybe he’s lonely--they’ll never know for sure. Rooms wherever he feels for each ep he’s in--but ends up a lot a the hotel/restaurant, as it has the most rooms of any building in town. Technically a series regular, but yet not--kind of like the Kids, in that sense. This is subject to change as I keep writing though; he’s ended up in a lot of eps so far, lol.

The Waiter--Tim. Can’t fully reveal this character’s deal without major spoilers, but he plays a big part in the Waitress’ story arc (a no duh, per the character title, lol.) I needed someone who has good natural humor, good comedic timing, and can do good impressions (for a few episodes particular story arcs.) That, and someone who seems like they’d be up for a character with a weird backstory--not a bad one, The Waiter isn’t a villain, but it is a complicated one. Once he’s in the town though, things are good--and his character is well-liked, for a whole variety of reasons that again, if I elaborate on more I give away a bunch of Big Ass Plot Points. So maybe later, lol. Rooms at the hotel/restaurant, and works there too once his character is introduced.

The Doctor--Brendon Small. Catchphrase is “I dunno, I’m not a doc...wait, I am. Still, I dunno.” A very tired physician who drove in one day to catch a cup of coffee after driving all night, then found after he left the restaurant his car was gone. One of the only citizens who isn’t wholly chill with being perpetually stuck in the town--he can sense something’s up with this place, but he can’t quite explain it. Despite his catchphrase, is actually a very good doctor--sometimes possessing knowledge of how to heal things he’s never seen or dealt with before, which kinda freaks him out. Rooms in the abandoned school with The Teacher--which leads to occasional shouting arguments between them, if only because you can’t always put two very smart and active minds together like that with time to spare to talk, and expect them not to argue over some things (like what the town would do if a plague rolled through, why don’t the Kids seem to grow at all, etc.) Despite this, they do enjoy each other’s company, really.

Guest Stars consist of so many--like so many you guys. I can’t fully explain these all without giving away full episodes, and some I can’t even mention yet, so a lot of these are gonna be a bit of a mystery unless any of you guys want to message and talk plots:

The Drifter--Rob Zombie

The Pianist’s Brother--Ville Valo

The Fixers--the McElroy brothers, because these characters require chaotic weird energy and a variety of personalities, and I think they would have all that covered very well. What do they fix? Well, if I told you that I’d be giving something important away.

Slash--as himself. Yes, really. He’s baffled as to why he was given directions (incorrectly) to this place, when it was supposed to be directions to a regular gig.

The Skeleton in the Closet--Tobias, but in Papa I gear (provided he agrees to ‘reanimate’ the papas for this lol.)

The Priest--Tobias, but in Papa II gear. Shows up to try and fellowship with them (for Lucifer, of course.) Ends up a bit disappointed and confused--not because they refuse to believe, but because he’s informed he just missed Lucifer by about five years. Its a fun episode, this one.

The Flirt--Tobias, but in Papa III gear. Literally just Papa III being lost and utterly useless at reading a map to find his way elsewhere. Takes a liking to all the adults, aka all the adults are getting hit on (but will he actually sleep with any/all of them? That’s a secret for that particular plot synopsis.) Eventually gets on his way, but is missed.

The Pied Piper--Tobias, as the Cardinal. Playing along with the Rats thing here a bit. But he doesn’t lead the Kids, nor rats out of the town--what is it then that he takes with him? Another Plot Point to remain hidden for now.

The One of the Woods--Doug Jones.

The Trickster--Taika Waititi. This isn’t even really a role, I’m more or less just asking Taika to come have fun for an episode and vamp it up.

There’s more guest stars I’d love to note here, but if I do I again risk major spoilers that I’m not quite ready to give up, lol. More to come later, perhaps.For now, yes, three out of 12 are technically the same person. Tobias would hopefully be up for all of that, lol.

Setting: Ideally, somewhere in Sweden, since by the time I get this anywhere near production I’ll hopefully have been living there for years. May as well keep it local, plus there are certain locations out there that I have in mind and want to use. But I’m open to other places--so long as it is appropriately creepy and deserted like. That is to say, the highway this town is by is only rarely busy. Otherwise they barely see cars, and the few they do see rarely stop. So essentially an abandoned highway is what I need, lol.

I could go on here (even just about the soundtrack I’m working on) but I’ll stop because I think this is getting long. Like I said before, if anyone has feedback, or any interest in this and wants to talk about it--you’ll make my year if you let me know! If not, that’s cool too, but I’m sick of letting all this rattle about in my head--I want to share it and talk about it, even if I can’t make any of it happen right now!

#text post #Alyssa talks about her writing #aly's show in progress #Avatar and Ghost fans that follow me #hit me up on this lol #I doubt any of my dream cast would ever agree to this show #but I can hope right?

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ted-hyung · 7 years

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So I hear you're a b1a4 supremacist, and I'm here to learn. I'm a bit overwhelmed by the amount of content so if you could help a sistah out and hit me up with some links or just a list of must watch variety show things or livestreams or reality shows or whatever that they've done, i'll be forever grateful thank youuu

jfc i’m fucking honored you came to me, anon-sshi ok wow.wow.

buckle up and listen it’s gonna be a messy ride full of keyboard smashing also caps locking is that even a word.

THE ALMOST ULTIMATE B1A4 VARIETY SHOW LIST, bc even as a supremacist, i have memory flaws but keep your faith in oppa amen.

1. MTV MATCH UP WITH BLOCK B aka THE CORE OF BECOMING A BANA

watch it here >>> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cTBLwEGG-Jw

praise the lord bc after 6 years and counting the gems are still up on that site. i’m telling you i have been coming back to MTV match up at least ONCE A YEAR. it’s that great, it’s THAT LEGENDARY i pity new idols who don’t get to experience variety shows with MTV i’m not even joking. please watch it.

* fun fact: do you know who invented being awkward on variety shows? CNU. broad shoulders? CNU, established 2011. long hair don’t care? shin dongwoo, blood type A.

2. B1A4 SESAME PLAYER (2012)

watch it here >>> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BPmDyLdeUxQ

i said on my previous B1A4 post that 2012 was a blessed year for BANA. 3 albums and LOTS OF VARIETY SHOWS asfjksak listen oppa is old and was blessed with gods of variety shows that appeared on sesame player: INFINITE then MBLAQ (if you have time just google it with english sub they’re amazing). B1A4 was considered a super rookie back then, their popularity was still behind both infinite and mblaq yet there they were. it’s like the upgraded version of MTV match up, sans the humiliation lmao.* fun fact: who invented being a lazy scholar slash the original bear? CNU. did grandpa jinyoung make his first appearance on sesame player? YOU FUCKING BET im wheezing at the subway scene PLEASE WATCH THE WHOLE SERIES.

3. HELLO BABY (2012)

watch it here >>> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bJ8EdHl3m9Y

im fucking ugly crying dude what the fuck thanks to baro i understood that i have to level my body and eyes when talking to lil kids like—so they feel comfortable with us and not spooked etc. also if you’re handsome like jinyoung then you’re instant favorite. the babies are so pretty here I WANT TO KNOW WHERE THEY ARE NOW IT’S BEEN 5 FUCKING YEARS? THE FUCK?

* fun fact: what’s the best catchphrase in all kpop land? ask gongchan and his ellipunt. he knows dude, he knows.

4. MTV SELCA DIARY

watch it here >>> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qvBMgFobZe8

i believe this was a short series like 2 eps? and they were in japan and as they played hide and seek gongchan was locked out of their hotel because he went out to the balcony located in the hallway to hide and the door is locked from the inside. it’s safe to say i was worried af for his fate. spoiler alert: just watch it please lmao.

5. WEEKLY FUCKING IDOL

LISTEN WHO INVENTED DONI AND CONY’S STANDARDS OF BOY GROUP DANCING TO GIRL GROUP’S CHOREOGRAPHY? IT’S SANDEUL. trust me doni said so, unfortunately i couldn’t remember which episode that he said to a rookie boy group that had to do the girl group dance challenge and they showed sandeul’s footage dancing to… GIRL’S DAY SOMETHING JESUS.

here have some lq screen caps:

you can watch the episode featuring sandeul dancing to girl’s day something and my hyung 01 jinyoung stiffly dancing to sunmi 24 hours here >>> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mUVykgefD-Q&list=PLaN3K4K4nBGYzzy2Nq9eDm98SESmx8sco&index=10

(dude, thank me later jinyoung KILLED me).

6. MNET GO!B1A4 ROAD TRIP (2014)

SOLO FUCKING DAY ERA GOT ME

watch it here >>> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kGH8MG0qYm8

tbh i haven’t finished bc i believe they weren’t properly subbed before? or maybe i was lazy? BUT IT’S ALL SUBBED NOW do you know who invented being unfortunate for the camera? it’s sandeul, bc his ice cream got snatched by a seagull and it just so happened to be filmed on camera.

ok i’m not sure how many eps are there but this one >>> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iEuj066JVQI has ma bro CNU grooving with another bro. do they make you want to go grab your bike now? yes they do.

7. ASK IN A BOX (2015)

just watch it in 1080p i swear https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VWDpnoN6xrQ

8. ????????

9. while we’re at it please watch them singing and dancing to their sister’s ultimate song ‘1 step 2 step/step by step’ composed and arranged by jinyoung here >>> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mfh8okrsTnw

10. ok tbh i dunno their new stuffs fuck. there’s always their channel on V live app, but their videos rarely get subbed there le sad face. if you understand korean though, please subscribe to their channel lmao. i’m tagging the best B1A4 guru @cybercnu maybe you can enlighten us all? also my fellow BANA le liz @alizardbird

anon-sshi, i hope you will have a good time watching all of the videos above. the links should work and you can search the next episodes on each respective youtube channels. i hope you will laugh until you cry or cry until you understand why this oppa is a B1A4 supremacist lmao.

that being said, i would like to thank you deeply for showing your interest in my brothers. it’s been 6 years and counting so tell your friends about them too lmao. FIND THEM ON SPOTIFY - LOOK UP THE LYRICS TRANSLATION and if you’re into korean drama watch jinyoung and baro’s dramas. follow their instagram and twitter accounts. follow oh my girl and I (cha yoonji) and ONF and wm_ggumnamu accounts. there’s a post on tumblr saying self care is stanning WM entertalent groups and it’s true LMAO.

thank you have a great weekend oppa spent two hours compiling this.

# CREDITS: http://b1a4tv.tumblr.com/vs

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLaN3K4K4nBGYzzy2Nq9eDm98SESmx8sco

#B1A4 #bana #jung jinyoung #baro #CNU #sandeul #gongchan #wm entertainment #recommendation #* answered thank you #* le post

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victorluvsalice · 7 years

Text

11 Questions Meme

RULES

Always post the rules.

Answer the questions given by the person who tagged you. 

Write 11 questions of your own. 

Tag 11 people (or however many you want)

Tagged by @dont-offend-the-bees (w00t)

1. tv show character you like the best, and the one you relate to the most? (can be the same character, no judgement!)

Um -- this is difficult to answer since the only TV show I’m watching regularly right now is Whose Line Is It Anyway? Oh, and MST3K, but that feels more like a weekly movie. XD I can safely say Colin Mochrie is my favorite performer on Whose Line? -- the man is a marvel, especially when paired with Ryan Stiles. As for relating. . .all those audience members and guest stars who have no idea what they’re getting into when asked to perform with the gang. XD I’d probably freeze up too if I had go up there!

2. is there a song you feel compelled to listen to on repeat whenever it comes on at the moment? if so, which one?

Not particularly, though this has happened a lot in the past. The closest so far is the boss theme for the first “Adam” boss fight in Nier: Automata (you know, the “this cannot continue” song).

3. night owl or early bird?

NIGHT OWL. I am very good at staying up later than I should and I hate waking up early.

4. what are you favourite types of fanfic to read? fluff, angst, 5+1, soulmate aus? go nuts!

It can depend on my mood -- I’ll gravitate more toward angst if I’m gloomy myself -- but I actually like more fluffy, slice-of-lifey, domestic stuff, honestly. Or fics where someone gets magic or super-powers and has to learn how to use them. And I’m kind of a sucker for hurt/comfort-style stuff -- I just love a character who’s been whumped getting to cuddle with a loved one. (Not obvious from my own fanfic at all, right?)

5. what’s your fave soundtrack (musical, tv show, movie, video game etc)?

Well, my three main fandoms -- BTTF, Corpse Bride, and the Alice games -- all have great music associated with them. I think I’m going to have to go with Alice: Madness Returns for favorite, though, as it has some of my absolute favorite music on it (”Card Castles In The Sky” is GORGEOUS). I’ve been listening to CB’s soundtrack as “going to sleep” music for a while now, though.

6. last item of clothing you bought for yourself? was it something you wanted or something you needed? or both?

Er -- do shoes count? I needed a good pair of “transitional” shoes since spring this year has consisted of a lot of days where you can wear some lighter pants and such, but it’s too cold for sandals. Took a while, but I finally found a pair that work. (Nautica brand -- the soles have ship rope patterns :D)

7. what do you do on nights when you can’t sleep?

Mostly lie there and make up little Valicey fanfics in my head. If I can’t sleep because of nightmares, though, I’ll turn on a light and read something. Weirdly enough, I tend to gravitate towards my Terminator 2 making-of/script book during these moments. I dunno why.

8. do you have a film or album that makes you feel warm and safe and like you’ve come home after a really long day? which one?

*thinks about this* I’m gonna have to go with Enchanted -- it’s my favorite Disney movie, and it still gives me the warm fuzzies when I watch it. :)

9. do you hate spoilers or lap them up?

Depends on how big the spoiler is, and if I’m going to be consuming the media in question. I can still enjoy a work after being spoiled, but I like to avoid the big plot twists in stuff I’m going to be looking at myself. (Although, honestly, even knowing those without context can make me look forward to something -- I’m spoiled to hell and back about some of the stuff in Dirk Gently’s Holistic Detective Agency, and I still really want to watch it to see how all these pieces fit together.)

10. do you have something (a movie, book, fanfic, anything really) that makes you feel really inspired? does it motivate you to create, or clean, or just keep on living?

You’ve seen my problem with AUs -- I have TOO MUCH that inspires me. XD A little more seriously, the pairing this blog is named after is my favorite inspiration. If I’m having a sad or frustrating day, I can make myself feel a lot better by looking at old fanarts, or rereading favorite bits from old stories. And, again, look at the AU thing. It’s really nice, having an OTP (and, sometimes an OT4 or more) that makes me this happy.

11. favourite cryptid/monster/eldritch horror?

Am I allowed to say Mantorok from Eternal Darkness: Sanity’s Requiem? I love his design, I love that he can exist in multiple timelines, I love that he’s an eldritch horror that may in fact be on humanity’s side. It’s not a sure thing, but just the idea -- it’s a cool flip of the usual “we are trapped in an uncaring universe with uncaring creatures on all sides.” I also love the bosses from Bloodborne, because FUCK they look cool. (Gotta rewatch some of that...)

My questions:

Do you have a favorite genre of music, or do you just listen to whatever you like and that’s that?

Which do you prefer, writing or drawing?

Cake, cookie, or ice cream?

What’s your favorite humor site or webcomic?

What’s your dream career?

Which superpower would you rather have -- the ability to rewind time, or the ability to split off multiple copies of yourself?

What’s your favorite season?

Dance Dance Revolution or Guitar Hero?

Do you chew gum? Do you have a favorite flavor if you do?

Strangest prize you’ve ever seen available in a Dave & Buster’s/Chuck E. Cheese’s/similar establishment?

Have you ever actually handled a VHS tape?

My taggees: @nebbychan, @yarrayora, @kuujo, @poesdaughter, @raventears12

#meme #facts about me #you would catch me when I wasn't totally obsessing over a song #admittedly I do have a fondness for my latest song saturday #that's a good band #and such a nice piece #queued

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mysticalmistake · 7 years

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What about the RFA + Unknown seeing MC's big scar, and she got it because she protected them during a dangerous accident or something??

Oh goodness These are gonna be after everyone’s good/after endings so spoilers ^^Also this is going into how MC got the scars, and it’s in the second person POV, so I trigger warning for getting hurt I suppose? Not sure how to tag that. If there’s anything you want me to tag it as, let me know! OKAY so Seven isn’t in this because I’m having a major writers block on his. I intended to go back and add him, but everyone else is done and I hate this ask just sitting in the drafts, as I finished a while ago. So I’ll post this now, and when my brain works right again I’ll add him in. Quick thanks to the other monds for helping me with ideas~!~Mod L

Yoosung

Yoosung didn’t normally take house calls to see patients, the vet who normally was was on vacation so he decided to take one. You tagged along, and re-read to him the issues the owner told the receptionist on the phone.“Okayyy… it’s a dog. Oh! A rottweiler! Those are so cute!”“Honey…” “Sorry! Anyways, the owner said she’s been acting weird lately. She hasn’t been responding as much to anyone, and was a bit snippy when a guest came over. They’ve had her for three years and it’s unusual behavior for her”.“Hmmm… Are you sure you want to go with me? I don’t think it’s a good idea for you to be around an unwell dog-”“It’s fine! I’m helping you today. I’ll let you have your own space, and I’ll do what you say”.He chuckled softly. “Okay dear. Well, we’re here”, he replied, pulling into a driveway. You both got out, and walked up to the door. The owner eagerly greeted you, saying their dog was in the back room. You both entered the house, and you grew nervous hearing the loud barks. The owner slowly opened the door, grabbing the dog’s collar as she lunged as you. “I’m so sorry, I don’t know why she’s like this”, the owner apologized, trying to calm her dog down. “Ah, it’s fine”, Yoosung reassured her, setting down his supplies. “So can you explain what else is going on?”“Oh, yeah. She just has been acting up lately”, she explain, and reached behind her to grab something. As she got distracted, the dog stared at the two of you. You felt yourself tense up, growing nervous. “Yoosung”, you said softly.“It’s fine honey”, he whispered back. “Just relax. If you stay tense, you’ll make her nervous. Can you hand me the otoscope?”You reached in the bag, keeping your eyes on the dog. You didn’t realize you pulled out the wrong tool, and Yoosung laughed as you went to hand it to him. “This isn’t it silly. Here,” he went to reach in the bag, but accidentally dropped the tool in his hand, and it rolled towards the dog. “Whoops”, he laughed, going to pick it up. The dog started baring her teeth. You jumped, pushing Yoosung arm out of the way. You jumping scared her, causing her to sink her teeth into your arm.“Oh my god!” The owner cried out as she grabbed her dog, pulling her away. Thankfully she let go easily, but her initial bite still broke your skin.“MC!” Yoosung quickly grabbed your arm, pulling bandage out of his bag. “Why’d you do that?” He winced as he wrapped the bandage around your arm. “Tell me if I’m hurting you..” he turned to the owner, who had quickly put her dog back in the other room, still apologizing. “It’s okay! I’m gonna take her to the clinic. Our other vet will be back in tomorrow, so I hope you can wait until then. Needless to say it’s a good idea to wait on any guests”.~“Sweetheart.. You shouldn’t have done that! Look at your arm…”“I know, I know,” you replied, turning your arm to look at the mark. “Now I have a cool little scar now!”He shook his head, kissing your forehead. “Sure honey”.

Zen~So rather than make this after his after ending I’m making this during the main story when he has to run to the apartment. Mostly because it always kinda annoyed at how absolutely helpless the game paints you out to be. Hope no one minds! and no bomb button in this i’m sorry~

You swallowed hard, facing the strange man who brought you here. “Ah.. The RFA princess”. He reached his hand out to you. “You see how many lies hide in this place, and there’s even more. Come with me. I’ll take you to paradise. There will be no lies. Nothing that can hurt you. Just take my hand”.You shook your head, backing away until you bumped into a table. “I’ll never go anywhere with you,” you snapped, reaching behind you and picking up a book Rika had left behind. He sighed. “I didn’t want to have to hurt you… So make this easy on the both of us. Won’t you take my hand princess?”You bit your lip, pretending to be uncertain. As one hand laid on the hard cover book, you reached your other out.A smile spread across Unknown’s face, as he stepped closer to you. He went to take your hand, and you tightly gripped his wrist. His smiled turned into confused right before you swung your hand other hand around, slamming the book against the side of his head. He grabbed it in pain. “Gah, son of a-”You grabbed random items off the shelves, throwing them at him as you tried to get to the door. It wasn’t working very well as he continued moving foward, getting closer and closer as there was a sudden pounding at the door. You jumped, turning to face the door. As you were distracted Unknown grabbed your arm, trying to get his arms around you. You weren’t sure who was at the door, but regardless you cried out. “H-Help me!” You kicked around, trying to get out of his grip. The door swung opened, and Zen ran inside. He quickly ran to you prying Unknown off. “L-Let her go!”As you broke free from his, his eyes filled with anger as he looked at you two. “Y-You! You’re not suppose to be here…” He turned towards you, pulled a knife out of his pocket. “You’re getting.. in my way!” He growled as he lunged at Zen. “No!” You ran towards him, colliding into him before he could reach Zen. The knife sliced along your shoulder, cutting through your sweater. You pushed him off you, holding your shoulder as Zen punched Unknown, knocking him to the ground. He ran over to you, panicking at the sight of your shoulder bleeding. “Oh my god… Are you okay?”“Yes, I’m fine but-” You looked over his shoulder, just to see Unknown crawling back out through the window he broke to get in. “He’s gone! We have to go after him!” You went to get back up, but Zen gently pushed you back to sitting down.“He’s gone. We need to take care of your shoulder right now,” he said, pulling out his phone. “Put your hand over it, I’m calling Seven and I’m going to get something to put over it. Where’s the first aid kit?”~“Ahh”, Zen flinched as he pulled the band aid off your shoulder. “I mean, at least that’s a cool scar!” Seven exclaimed. Zen’s glare quickly quieted him. You giggled. “Thanks Seven”.He shook his head. “God, don’t thank me. I’m so sorry! That was so dumb of me to leave you there alone”.“Well, there’s something we can agree on”, Zen sighed. “You shouldn’t have jumped in the way. I could’ve handled him!”Seven shook his head. “I dunno man, it kind of looks like she saved your butt”.Zen rolled his eyes. “…. I know! But I don’t want to hear it from you”. He took your hand, kissing it. “It was a bad idea… but thank you”.

Jumin

“A toast, to the new opportunity given to us today. May C&R see growth and prosperity through this”.“Cheers!”As glasses clinked and people cheered, you took a sip of champagne, feeling safe with Jumin’s arm wrapped around you. “You have quite a way with words, dear”.“I meant it all. This is the largest company we’ve purchased, and if it works out like how we plan it to it’ll be our most valuable asset”.“I’m excited to see you do well”, you kissed his cheek. Jumin couldn’t help but smile, but quickly recomposed himself as a guest walked up to him. You introduced yourself then toned out their idle chatter. Your mind wandered to how good it’ll feel taking your shoes off once you got home. Jumin always had everything specially made for you, heels are still heels. You came out of your daydream when you heard Jumin groan softly, and looked around. A man in a suit was stumbling around the room, but didn’t seem well. He had a bottle in his hand and his suit wasn’t properly on at all. “Jumin? Who’s that?”“He was in an… unofficial partnership with the owner of this company. They were good friends, and he helped influence many of the decisions the owner had made. That being said, he was never a legal partner, So when he opposed the company being sold to us, there was nothing he could do but argue with his friend. He was… a headache during the deal. He can still keep his manager position under us, but he’s very stubborn about all of this being a bad idea. It’s a shame he can’t see the opportunity in all this”.“Mr. Han, he’s coming this way. Should we show him out?”“No, not yet. I don’t wish to make the tension between us any worst, but stay near”.“Yes Mr. Han”.“Jumin!” The man managed to get to you two. “Hello. I hope you are here with good intentions”.“Of couuurse!” he slurred out. “I’m just here to congratulate you on the big deal! It’s a nice company you got here. I wonder what you’re gonna do with it?”“You still have a position as-” “Oh, don’t bother! I don’t want work under your corp,” he sneered. “As soon as that deal was finished I quit. We weren’t meant to be under you. We had a damn good business, and you’re gonna ruin it!”Jumin cleared his throat. “If these actions continue I hope you know we’ll have to show you out”.The man sighed, his grip on his bottle tightening. “You’re right. I’m just here to congratulate you. So you can have this!” He snapped has he swung his bottle at Jumin.Both of you jumped back, and you raised your arm to stop the bottle from hitting Jumin. You let out a cry as the bottle broke against your skin as a guard tackled the man to the ground.“Oh my god,” Jumin took your arm, pulling out a hankerchief to wrap around the cut. “Get a doctor. Now!” He snapped at bodyguard. “Why did you do that? Oh, you’re bleeding a lot… Come on,” He lead you out of the room.~“Ooooh, look at this scar~!”Jumin shook his head. “Does it hurt?”“Not anymore! I’m fine sweetheart”.He rested his hand on your leg. “We have bodyguards for a reason dear. Please don’t ever do that again”.You shrugged, kissing his cheek. “Sure sweetheart. Now let’s go home. I miss Elizabeth~”

Jaehee

“Ahhh… I’m so excited!” Jaehee exclaimed. “We’re opening in a month.. I can’t wait to see all our hard work come together!”You laughed, wrapping an arm around her. “I can’t believe we did all this ourselves… And it looks so good! But how are we going to know if we’re doing well if we haven’t tested any products to sell?”“… Do you want to bake some cupcakes?”“Yes.”Jaehee laughed. “Okay, let’s take a short break”.~You pulled a pan out of your oven, setting it on the counter. “Jaeheeee~! They’re all done!”She walked in, carrying a small box. “Oh!” She beamed as she set down the box. “They already look so good! But here, I found these tools we forgot to put away. I think they’ll be okay in the pantry above you?”You looked up, reaching to open the small doors. “There’s nothing else in here, so that sounds good!”“Ah, we’re both to short to reach that… Don’t we still have that small ladder?” She asked. Before you could answer she was out the door looking for it. You chuckled to yourself, turning the oven off. You poked at the cupcakes, flinching at how hot they still were. Jaehee came back in with her little ladder, propping it up in front of the pantry. She climbed up the steps, turning towards you. “Mind handing me the box dear?” She asked, looking into the pantry with a hand extended to meet yours with the box.“Of course I wouldn’t~” You replied, going over to pick it up. As you brought it back, you paused before handing it to her, noticing a small scruff on the counter you hadn’t before. It was in the back room, so no customers would see it. But you were mildly annoyed, as you thought everything was perfect. You wondered if it could be washed off?As Jaehee was wondering if all the tools could even fit in that pantry, she didn’t realize she was still leaning her body towards you, waiting for the box. Before she knew it her weight had tilted the small ladder, and it started falling before she could regain her balance. “M-MC!”You jumped, immediately dropping the box to catch her. As she fell in your arms, one was near the pan of cupcakes and your arm pressed into it. You cried out as Jaehee regained her footing, and you could lift your arm off it. “Oh my god, MC! I’m so sorry!” “It’s fine!” You quickly replied, covering the spot with your hand. “Are you okay?”“Yes, I’m fine! I just got distracted,” she replied taking your arm and moving your hand.You laughed. “Good timing, because I was too,” you said before wincing as she turned your arm to look at your burn. “Oh no… Come on, let’s run this under water,” she said, pulling you to the sink. ~Jaehee gently rubbed burn cream into your arm. “This’ll leave a pretty bad mark.. I’m so sorry!” You laughed as you kissed her cheek. “It’s okay. I’d rather have this then have you fall”.Jaehee blushed, intertwining her other hand with yours. “God, where would I be without you?”

Unknown

You were out at lunch together, your arms linked together. Saeran was still nervous to go out casually, so you stuck close to his side. You were laughing at something you two were talking about, and managed to cause a him to have a small smile. You both had finished your lunch and were hand in hand as you left the restaurant. As you walked back to Saeyoung’s house together, you went down a small alleyway together. It wasn’t much faster, but it took you to his home, and he was still anxious around too many people. It was much quieter, and both of you enjoyed the silence as you walked. Saeran had become so used to the sounds of your feet walking along he immediately noticed the sound of another pair of feet walking. As you walked on, oblivious to the sound, he glanced behind his shoulder. There was a person walking a ways behind you, and although he couldn’t see them Saeran felt the mysterious figure’s eyes staring at the both of you. He looked forward again, quickening his pace. Before you could ask, he whispered “I think that person is following us. Just follow me”.You bit your lip, nervously doubting if they were or it was just his anxiety. Regardless you held onto him, keeping up with his pace. Before either of you realized it, the figure was right behind you two, and grabbed Saeran’s shoulder. You both spun around as they lowered their hood. “Saeran! Don’t tell me you’ve forgotten me~”The color drained from his face as he faced the mysterious man, pushing his hand of his shoulder. “What do you want?”“Don’t be rude, introduce me to your lady here!” His grin sent a chill down your spine. Saeran was at a lost for words, so the man continued talking. “Fine, I can do it myself. Nice to meet you, I was an old friend of your man here. Was. You see, we were in a paradise together. Not just us, there were more. We all had a life, and we were all happy,” he growled, his expression growing more sinister. “Then, your man had to get an itchy trigger finger. We know to defend ourselves and paradise, but he ruined our Savior’s life. He ruined all of our lives-”“Stop”, Saeran snapped, interrupting him. “That life wasn’t great. We weren’t happy. You’re delusional, and what’s done is done”.The man laughed, one hand reaching into his pocket. “You’re really funny, you know that? Now, what kind of follower would I be if I didn’t try to avenge my Savior?” He grinned again before pulling a knife out of his pocket. As he thrust the knife towards Saeran, you instinctively shot your arm arm to block him from hitting him. Doing so cause the knife to leave a gash on your arm, and as you pulled back Saeran grabbed the man by the collar, slamming him against the alley wall. He continued to hit him with his fists and against the wall until he was unconscious, and dropped him. He kneeled down to you, gently taking your arm. “What the hell was that?” “H-He was going to hurt you…”“Next time let him! Better me than you,” he sighed, helping you back to your feet. “Come on, we need to get this fixed up…”~“It’s still stupid you did that,” Saeran said, shaking his head. The scar left behind certainly wasn’t pretty, and caused him to wince every time he saw it. “I think I understood that the 200th time you said it,” you giggled.“Just… Promise not to do that again please?”“Nope~” You smiled, kissing his cheek. “I’m always gonna want to protect you”.He sighed. “I don’t need you to protect me… but thanks” he mumbled.

#mystic messenger #mysme #Yoosung Kim #Jumin Han #Jaehee Kang #Zen #Hyun Ryu #Unknown #Saeran Choi #Mod L

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