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nataliedanovelist · 4 years

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Meet the Pines

When ten-year-old Stanford Pines accidentally stumbles across a time machine, he then finds himself in the middle of a forest and somewhere he finally feels ta home.

For @persimmonpollywog, who inspired me to bring an idea to life.

~~~~~~~~~~

January 1960-something

Stanford held his jacket a little tighter around himself. It was chilly here in the wintry late-afternoon, but it was better being cold on the Stan O’ War than being warm at home. Here, no one called him a wimp. Here, no one saw him as a freak or a loser. Here, he was free to be as upset as he wanted to be. He didn’t want to cry, but if he couldn’t hold it in any longer than at least no one was around to see it.

Yesterday had been a bad day. Crampelter had cornered Stanford after school, while Stanley was busy talking to some girl, and eventually had the ten-year-old pinned to the cold concrete with a knee to his back, pulling his arm back and almost dislocating his shoulder until Stanley came and shoved the bully off his brother. All of the boxing lessons were starting to pay off as Stanley walked away with less scrapes and bruises than normal, but he still had to serve after-school detention today. The twins tried to hide their injuries on the way to the bathroom, but Ma saw them and knelt to look them over. Before Stanley and Stanford could convince their mother they were okay, Pa showed up and snapped, demanding if the boys had lost another fight and when they were going to quit getting their butts handed to them. Ma then stood and shouted at Pa and the two screamed at each other for what felt like forever while they fixed each other up with their first aid kit and spent the rest of the night in their room to avoid the fighting. No kid likes hearing their parents yell.

Stanford’s shoulder didn’t hurt as much anymore and the bruise on his back was still big and purple and black, but at least he could hide it. As much as Stanford tried to ignore it, even reading a book he normally would have enjoyed, the voices in his head kept on shouting at him.

“Dorks and losers!”

“FREAK!”

“When are you gonna stand up for yourself like a man?!”

“DON’T TOUCH ME!”

“Watch it, Six-Finger’s got the plague!”

“You’ll NEVER make any friends!”

Stanford closed his book, shut his eyes, took off his glasses, and scrubbed at his eyes with a fist and pinched the bridge of his button nose to try to compose himself. Stanford then used his blurry vision to look down at his birth defect. His vision became even worse when more tears formed, eventually making the boy buried his head in his arms and he quietly cried. Crampelter was right. Stanford was never going to make any friends. No one would ever want him around.

Okay, maybe Stanley did, but he wasn’t here right now, and how long it would be until Stanley decided he was tired of being made fun of? Stanford truly believed that Stanley was cool enough to make it on his own. He’d bet his chemistry set that if Stanley had never defended Stanford, never been his brother, he wouldn’t be made fun of as much as he was now. Sure, Stanley Pines messed up a bunch, but he was funny and smart in a way you can’t teach to somebody and girls seemed to like him. What was stopping him from getting any gal he wanted and being an all star boxer or a superhero? His freak of a twin. The mistake.

These thoughts plagued and poisoned Stanford, who let them flow and then leave him. While he didn’t disbelieve these bad thoughts anymore, they were no longer screaming at him, so he had the strength to go home. Maybe he’d feel better in his warm bed instead of the cold unfinished ship.

Stanford stood and smiled hopefully at the Stan O’ War. Last summer, right after the boys had turned ten, they had found the shipwreck sailboat in a cave and took it as their anchor for a better future.

“One of these days, you and me are gonna sail away from this dumb town. We’ll hunt for treasure, get all the girls, and be an unstoppable team of adventurers.”

Stanford carried that message with him nearly every day, and he doubted the day would come when he stopped. He picked up his backpack and started on the walk for home. The wind howled, making Stanford shiver, and he picked up the pace. He wished summer would get here, he didn’t like the cold. Something on the sidewalk in town nearly made Stanford trip, but he caught himself in time and turned to see what it was.

The boy raised an eyebrow to find a tape measure. It was black and yellow and had two weird triangles on it. “Huh. I don’t recognize that company.” He muttered to himself as he picked up the measurer. He pulled on the tape, as children will with these types of tape measures, and he realized too late that it didn’t read inches and centimetres; it read years, but Stanford had already released the tape and then he was gone with a flash.

~~~~~~~~~~

May 2016

After the flash was gone, one of the first things Stanford noticed was that he was warm. Really warm. And something was crackling behind him and smelled like burning fabric. Stanford threw off his backpack and stomped on it until the little fire went out. Once that panic was gone, new panic came as he realized he was in the middle of some woods. He had never been in the forest before, except for the little patches by the ravine, but the ravine was dangerous and only for stupid teenagers, so Stanford didn’t go there if he could help it.

Once he knew he was safe, he looked down at the tape measure. “What the heck is this thing?” He asked himself as he cautiously pulled out the tape. It read measurements of time instead of measurements of space. He slowly let the tape back in the machine and put it in his jacket’s pocket, deciding it would be best to try to figure this weird tape measure out later. More importantly, when was he?

Stanford looked around the fellow pines he was surrounded by and he smiled at the peaceful smell. It reminded him of the holidays and when Christmas trees would be up for sale at the park. Stanford understood his family didn’t celebrate Christmas, and he was fine with instead celebrating a holiday that lasted seven days, but he wished just once they would bring a pinetree into their house just to make all the rooms smell nice. Stanford could hear birds, for once not choking on glass or honking. They either tweeted or knocked on wood. Here, in the quiet and in the warmth, Stanford felt much better than he did five minutes ago, despite being in a strange setting and far away from home.

Stanford thought he could hear the vague sound of a car, and so the boy hurriedly followed him to it. Where there was a vehicle there was probably a town. Stanford saw a dirt road and watched as a car drove one way. He could follow it, but when he looked toward where the car had come from, he could have sworn he saw a wooden structure of some sort through the trees. Stanford emerged from the woods and walked alongside the road.

“Okay, the tape measure had been set to forward.” Stanford thought out-loud to himself to try to think clearly. “And if there’s cars, I’m definitely in the future, but how far? I didn’t see how many years ahead it sent me. Maybe I’ll finally meet a robot!”

As Stanford walked along the old road, it became clear to him that either he hadn’t time traveled that far into the future or he was somewhere considered “old” by this time’s standards. Stanford awed happily at an old cabin with a triangular roof with a big sign that read “Mystery Shack”, but the S was on the grass. There was a goat munching on a tin can and it looked at Stanford with it’s weird yellow eyes, but Stanford grinned at the goat and carried on his way.

“What is this place?” He asked himself. “Some kind of haunted house?” The word “Mystery” was enough to lure him towards the building and he saw a door with a sign that read “gift shop,” so Stanford decided to check that place out first.

A bell greeted him and Stanford smiled at the little shop. A pretty lady with a hat and a green question-mark t-shirt was at the cash register, helping an old lady buy a keychain with a spaceship on it. Stanford grinned as more and more things were his taste. There were baseball caps with pinetrees, question marks everywhere, some kind of Aztec wheel in the back, a monkey-fish - no! A Mer-key! - in a tank, and newspapers and magazines full of supernatural evidence. Stanford grinned and took a newspaper with a UFO on the front and opened it.

Before Stanford was too sucked into the story of the alien-sighting in Wyoming, he could hear the lady at the cash register groan and say to the old woman, “I’m sorry, ma’am, this drawer is always getting stuck. Here, let’s see if my husband has any change for you.” And they walked through a door with red curtains.

Stanford looked at the register. It looks pretty close to the one at Pa’s shop. Curious, Stanford sat the paper down and went over to the drawer. There was a toolbox open by the vending machine, so he borrowed a red screwdriver and pulled a flashlight out from his jacket and got to work to try to fix the cash register.

He found the clip that wasn’t releasing and managed to temporarily open the drawer, but the issue was, for the time being, you needed the screwdriver every time you wanted to open the drawer, so Stanford unscrewed some screws to look at the drawer’s workings and he patiently fixed the clip so it was hooked the way it should be. Stanford smiled proudly at himself, happy to help that lady, and he put the drawer back together and closed it with a little ding.

“Whatcha doin’, dawg?”

Stanford jumped a foot in the air and looked up to find the lady back with a big man beside her, the big man standing in Stanford’s way of leaving the counter. He was a chubby guy and reminded Ford of a gopher. He had a red fez with a golden crescent (kinda like Pa’s if Stanford was being honest) and he wore a suit and an eyepatch.

Stanford was shaking as he realized how bad it looked to have some kid standing by the cash; if this was Pa’s store he would have called the police. “I’m sorry, I’m so sorry! I just wanted to fix your drawer, I’m sorry!” Stanford yelped and sat the screwdriver down on the counter and shoved his hands in his pockets; he didn’t want this big man to think he was stealing anything, cash or tools.

“Whoa, whoa,” The big guy said and with his hands up to stop him. He was smiling nicely at Stanford and he slowly began to calm down. “It’s okay, dude, I get it. You’re not in trouble. Now let’s see if you fixed this old girl.”

The big guy reached over to the register and pressed a button. The drawer slid open gracefully, making the lady and the big guy grin. “Wow. I’ve never seen that thing work so well.” The lady said.

“Me neither, and I’ve been here for fifteen years!” The big guy patted Stanford’s shoulder. “You did a good job, dude. I’m impressed.”

Stanford’s face suddenly felt really hot, like the kind of hot it gets when someone points out his six fingers, but his gut wasn’t squirming around in the usual bad way. And Stanford found it hard not to smile. “Th-Thank you.”

“Thank you,” The big guy said with a grin. “What do I owe you for a job well done?”

Stanford stared at the big guy, wondering if he was joking, but the big guy and the lady just smiled at him and suddenly he noticed how empty his stomach felt. “Can I have a snack?” And he pointed to the vending machine.

The big guy grinned and nodded. “Sure, dude! Hungry?” Right on cue, Stanford’s stomach growled. He held his jacket tighter around himself and blushed, but the big guy and lady just chucked.

“No wonder, it’s almost lunchtime.” The lady pointed out as her watch told her it was almost one.

“Well, hey, Abuelita would love some more mouths to feed.” The big guy said and asked Stanford, “Why don’t you ask your folks if you can join us for lunch?”

“My parents aren’t here.” Stanford said, unable to believe what was happening in front of him. “It’s just me.”

“Oh. Well, wanna stay for lunch?” The big guy offered nicely. “You don’t have to if you don’t want to, but we’d love to have you…”

“Yes, please!” Stanford answered happily. “Sounds like fun!”

“Sweet!” The big guy dipped his fez to the boy and said, “Mr. Mystery at your service, little dude! But you can call me Soos! This here my wife, Melody. Want a tour of the Mystery Shack before lunch?”

“Sure!” Stanford even pulled out his notepad and pencil from his jacket and held it ready for note taking.

Soos laughed, grabbed an eight-ball cane, and led the way through the doorway with red curtains. Stanford was amazed to find a little museum full of odd stuff! Left and right there were strange anomalies and attractions that were just the coolest! Stanford had only seen stuff like this in his dreams, and now it was all here in front of him.

Soos cleared his throat and declared, “Dear gentleman! Looking around my Mystery Shack, you’ll see many wondrous befuddlement, unlike anything you have ever seen before! Feast your eyes, on the dangerously adorable Unicat!” And he gestured to a fluffy orange tabby with a unicorn’s corn tied to it’s head. The kitty was sleeping on a fluffy cat’s bed and Stanford grinned and began to sketch it.

“Now beware, tourist, not only could this guy make you sneeze, Mr. Wiggles is so adorable he can literally bend you to his will.” Mr. Mystery warned with wiggling fingers. “One minute he’s purring in your hand and the next he’s biting your hand, but don’t worry, just give him a treat and he’ll be putty in your hands, dawg.” Soos pulled out a bag from his suit and asked, “Wanna give the Unicat a treat?”

Stanford grinned and happily let Soos shake a treat onto his palm. Mr. Wiggles woke up and sat patiently on the bed. Stanford gave it to him and scratched Mr. Wiggles under his chin while the kitty munch on his treat and purred. Then he was ready for his nap again.

“Up next, I give you a rare picture of a horse riding another horse!”

The whole thirty-minute tour Soos amazed Stanford with the Rock That Looks Like a Face, London Bridge made out of popsicle sticks, other strange photos and articles framed on the walls, and finally the good ole Sascrotch. Stanford attentively asked questions and Soos happily answered all of them.

This little guy was reminding Soos of a younger version of himself more and more. He was helpful and nice and kinda shy and quiet, but Soos could tell this dude was special. Soos wondered if Mr. Pines felt this way about him when he first came to the Mystery Shack.

Melody eventually called Soos and Stanford in for lunch and Stanford let Soos put a hand on his shoulder and led him through the “Employees Only” door. Stanford was surprised to find what appeared to be a house. Not that he was too surprised, Stanford’s family lived above their shop, but still. It looked like a really nice place to live. He had always wanted to live in a cabin! “Wow, you have a really nice house.”

“Thanks, dawg.” Soos patted his shoulder and pointed towards the kitchen. “Mm. Smells like Abuelita made tamales!”

Melody was fixing glasses of water while Abuelita stirred a pot. Stanford smiled at the old lady in an apron with soft old-lady skin. She smiled and shuffled over to the boy. “Aye! ¡Qué niño tan dulce! Hola, niño! Look at you! So thin! You must be hungry.” She cooed and made Stanford sit at the table so she could pile his plate high with rice, beans, and tamales. “Here, eat up.”

Stanford didn’t know much Spanish, but he did know one phrase. “Muchas gracias, señora!”

Ma was a great cook, but she didn’t look much Mexican. There was a taco place that was okay, but this was real Mexican food and it tasted so good! Stanford, who hadn’t eaten since lunch, was starving and happily cleaned his plate while he listened to Melody and Soos talk about work and their plan for the day. They occasionally asked Stanford something and let him talk, but Stanford was happy to quietly eat and the grown-ups respected that.

“Oh, you’re a twig, niño,” Abuelita commented as she carried the plate full of tamales over to him and gave him another. “Here, have some more.”

“No, gracias.” Stanford said politely, making sure to say thank you.

“I asked if you would like more tamales.” Abuelita said with a bit of a scary voice and a stern look. One glance at Soos and Stanford saw him smile and nod his head, advising to accept the food.

“Uh… si?”

“That’s what I thought you said.” Abuelita said happily and gladly piled four more tamales on poor Stanford’s plate.

A few minutes later, a door opened in the distance and a voice called teasingly, “‘Sup, Mr. Ramierez!”

“In the kitchen, Wendy!” Soos called back.

“Aw man, Dipper and Mabel not here yet?”

“No, bus doesn’t get here for a few more hours.”

“Dang it.”

Stanford looked at the doorway and his jaw dropped. A very pretty red-headed girl with freckles, a blue flannel, and one of those pinetree hats, stood with jeans and hiking boots. Stanford was kinda reminded of Stanley; they both gave off an atmosphere of confidence and bigger-than-what-you-expect attitude. Wendy looked at the new guy and smiled. “Great, did you two kidnap some kid?”

Soos laughed and ruffled his fluffy brown hair. “Nope! This little dude helped fix the cash register.”

“Oh, new handyman, huh?” Wendy asked as she stole a tamale off his plate and leaned against his chair.

“Well,” Soos shrugged and smiled at Stanford. “If he wants the job, sure.”

“Wait, really?” Stanford asked. “You want me as a handyman?”

“Sure! Why not? You know how to fix a golf cart?”

“Well, I don’t know if I…”

“Boom!” Soos threw a random question-mark staff t-shirt at his face and announced happily, “You’re hired! One size fits all, dawg! The golf cart’s okay for the most part, but it’s not quite charging right. Think you can look at the battery or the charger?”

“Oh,” Stanford was having a hard time taking this in. First these guys actually liked him, and now they wanted him to stay and work?! He grinned from ear-to-ear with shiny brown eyes, hopped off his chair, slipped off his jacket, and changed shirts as quickly as possible so he could put his jacket back on over his staff t-shirt. “Okay!”

“What’s your name, anyway?” Wendy asked as he patted his hard enough on the back that he went “oof.”

Stanford opened his mouth, but hesitated. If he was going to stay here, some time-cops might come looking for him. Or he might mess up the time-space continuum more than he has. But what if it was always supposed to be this way? What if Stanford Pines went missing and was never found again? What if somewhere there was an unsolved report of a missing boy that no one missed? What if Stanford had found that tape measure for a reason? Deciding to play it safe and making up his mind to start over and stay, Stanford quickly answered with, “Phil.”

~~~~~~~~~~

The golf cart was easy to find. Stanford popped the hood and saw the battery. It was a bit too advanced, not because of the technology, but because Stanford is only ten and had never fiddled with a car battery before, but he knew enough about batteries as a whole to teach himself what to do. It turned out the goat had chewed on the cord so sometimes the battery would receive charge, sometimes it wouldn’t, so all Stanford had to do was fix it with special black tape.

After that, Stanford went inside to see if anything needed to be fixed or to ask Soos what he wanted him to do, when he caught a glimpse of someone climbing up a ladder. Curious, Stanford climbed up and opened a little door to find Wendy up on the roof and sitting in a lawn chair.

“Whoa, what is this place?” He asked.

Wendy smiled with a soda in her hand and said, “Just my hang-out. Great place to come to hide from work. Wanna a soda, bud?”

“Sure, thanks.” Stanford smiled to see that familiar Pitt soda now in a can. Really weird, considering he was used to bottles, but he knew how to open a can and found he didn’t mind the change in containers for his drink.

“So, Phil,” Wendy said casually. “If you could go anywhere in the world, where and why?”

Stanford sat on the roof with his feet dangling off the edge. “I don’t know. I want to travel the world. I want to see it all.”

“An adventurer, I like your moxie, kid.” Wendy said. “Gravity Falls is alright, but I wanna go see a big city, like New York or even just San Francisco.”

“I’ve been to New York.” Stanford shared. It was true; the Big Apple was only an hour drive (two if there was bad traffic) from Glass Shard. “I wouldn’t want to live there, but it’s a nice place to visit. Lots of museums and historical records…”

Wendy laughed and shook her head. “You’d like my friend Dipper. He’s a nerd, too.”

Stanford’s cheeks turned red, happy that this pretty girl seemed to like him. Not that he ever had a chance with her! She was eighteen and he was ten. “Who’s Dipper?”

“My best friend.” Wendy said proudly. “He might be a nerd, but he’s also, like, the coolest guy I’ve ever met. A good friend, too. Hey, you’ll actually get to meet him today! He and his sister Mabel are coming to spend the summer and they’re supposed to get here some point today.”

“Cool! I’m excited to meet them. I don’t have any friends back home.” Stanford let slip.

“Well, you’ve got some now.” Wendy reassured the kid and lightly punched his shoulder.

Stanford punched back as he laughed and he then asked, “So, what’s your favorite type of snack food?”

“Oh man, I can’t just pick one. Popcorn’s a big one. Really, anything salty. You?”

“Does jelly beans count or is that a candy?”

“Naw, man, that’s a snack food.”

“Jelly beans it is, then!”

“Phil! The portable toilets are clogged!” Soos called from inside the shack.

Stanford took a minute to register who his new boss was talking to and then sighed and stood up. “Back to work.”

“Later, dork.” Wendy said with a wink and Stanford climbed down with a dorky smile.

The red head sighed happily as a breeze drifted by, free from having to make-up an excuse as to why she can’t attend to the bathrooms, and she sipped her soda and watched the sun slowly sink. A little while after Phil left, Wendy heard the familiar roar of a bus and saw it pull up to the tourist trap, but instead of a small group of tourists spilling out, two teenagers walked out with their arms full of luggage and a pig at their feet.

“YES!” Wendy stomped her boots on the roof and yelled, “THEY’RE HERE! DIPPER! MABEL!” Using her trusty pinetrees, Wendy climbed down and ran to her favorite pair of twins and hugged them. “I’ve missed you, you weirdos!”

“Aw, Wendy!” Mabel cooed.

“We’ve missed you, too.” Dipper assured her and the hug ended so they could look at each other properly.

Dipper had hit a growth spurt since last summer and was now an inch or two taller than Mabel. He wore an opened blue flannel over his orange t-shirt with his jeans and Wendy’s borrowed hat. As tradition, Wendy swapped Dipper’s pinetree hat for her fur cap back and they high-fived when Dipper fixed his cap so it didn’t cover his eyes. Mabel still wore her sweaters and skirts, but now her hair was only shoulder-length and her braces were long-gone. Today she wore her yellow “Hug Me” sweater with a pink skirt and headband to match.

“Wow, you guys look great!” Wendy complimented. She noticed Waddles making his way to Gompers and them falling asleep on the porch with the goat.

“Thanks,” Dipper said as he rubbed the back of his neck. “Can you believe we’re the same age as you when we met?”

“I know, right?! It’s so weird!”

“DUDES!” Mabel and Dipper braced themselves as a heavy man swept them up into his arms and squeezed so hard their faces turned blue. “I missed you two so much! I’ve got a bunch of new attractions to show you and fun stuff to do this summer! This’ll be the best one yet!”

“Soos, can’t breathe.” Dipper wheezed.

“Who cares?” Mabel said hoarsely. “Anything for a Soos-hug.”

Soos finally managed to let them go and he grabbed their suitcases for them. “Here, let me help you dawgs get settled in your room. You’re still cool with sharing with your grunkles, right?”

“Always are.” Mabel reassured him. With Melody and Soos in Ford’s old room and Abuelita in Stan’s old room, that only left the attic for guests, so every summer when the Pines family came home they had to share, but with two pairs of bunk beds and plants of woods for some alone time during the day, it was comfortable enough for the summer. Besides, it was a good way to make up for lost time during the fall, winter, and spring.

As Soos, Wendy, Dipper and Mabel went into the house by the back door, Mr. Mystery called out, “Hey, Phil! C’mere, there’s some dudes I want you to meet!”

“Who’s Phil?” Dipper asked.

“My new handyman!” Soos said proudly as he sat the suitcases on the stairs for a few minutes. “Really smart dude, fixed the cash register and the golf cart already!”

“Aw, you have your own wittle Soos!” Mabel exclaimed with rosy cheeks and bright eyes. “Well I can’t wait to meet him.”

“Yeah, he’s kind of a nerd like you, Dip-Dip.” Wendy added as she elbowed him.

“Well how long has he been working here?” Dipper asked.

“Just today.” Soos answered. “I really like him. I think he’ll end up being a member of the family soon enough.”

“Sorry, Mr. Mystery,” A voice called from outside. “I only got one toilet unclogged, but I’ll clean the others!”

“It’s okay, dawg,” Soos hollered back.

The door opened and the ten-year-old looked around. “You wanted to see me, sir?”

Dipper and Mabel dumbfounded. It was like seeing a cartoon character come to life. That little sunburnt boy in all those childhood photos Ma Pines and their grunkles had shown them was now right here in front of them in a Mystery Shack staff t-shirt and brown jacket, smiling at the little gang. He cocked his head and looked curiously at the teenagers, who were looking at him like he had lobsters crawling out of his ears. Embarrassed, Stanford’s face turned red and he hid his hands behind his back.

“Yeah, Phil, this here is Dipper and Mabel!” Soos introduced, writing off the twins’ reaction as shocked by the boy’s cuteness and Phil’s quietness as shyness from meeting new people. “Dudes, this here Phil! If you need something that needs fixin’, just go to this guy right here.” And Soos ruffled his hair playfully, making Stanford feel better and smile with his blush still intact.

“Uh… nice to meet you.” Dipper muttered.

“OH MY GOSH!” Mabel ran up to Stanford and scooped him up into a hug. “You’re SO CUTE! Who’s a wittle guy, who’s a wittle guy?! Is it you, is it you?” She cooed and hugged him tightly and combed his hair with her fingers.

“Whoa, hey!” Stanford squirmed a little bit but slowly stopped fighting. He had never been swallowed with so much hugs before and kinda liked it. “N-Nice to meet you. I like you. You’re weird.”

“Great,” Dipper said slowly and moved towards his sister to grab her arm. “So why don’t we get to know Phil somewhere else.” And he dragged them off somewhere else.

Wendy looked at Soos curiously and asked, “What was that all about?”

Soos shrugged and picked up the suitcases to take them upstairs. “Teens are crazy.”

~~~~~~~~~~

Stanford was engulfed in darkness until a bright light was turned on by a pull of a metal string. The boy blinked his eyes to adjust to the light and found he was in some sort of small, dark, cramped space with the two teenagers in front of him, side by side. The girl, Mabel, was grinning really big, but the boy, Dipper, had his arms crossed over his chest and looked both stern and worried. They both somewhat looked familiar to Stanford, but he couldn’t figure out why.

“Alright, what are you doing?!” Dipper hissed at Stanford. “How did you even get here? And where’s the time machine?!”

The idea of playing dumb wasn’t going to work, Stanford realized, as he paled a sheet and swallowed nervously. “You… You know I’m from the past?”

“Yes, we do, Stanford Pines.” Dipper said firmly, making Stanford shiver.

Mabel noticed this and thought her brother was being too harsh, so she slipped in, “But we’re really happy to see you, Ford!”

“But what you’re doing is really dangerous.” Dipper warned in a calmer tone. “By missing in the past you’re jeopardizing the future.”

“You don’t understand.” Stanford insisted. “No one back home will miss me. I’m a nobody in the past, but here people actually like me. Why can’t I stay?”

“Now wait a minute,” Mabel said gently and put a hand on one of his shoulders. “You really think Stan won’t miss you?”

Stanford froze at that. The idea of Stanley all alone made his chest ache, but he shook his head and looked away from the teenagers before him. “He’s better off without me.” He mumbled.

“No he’s not.”

“Yes…”

“No, he’s not.” Dipper insisted and sat on a box to be eye-level with Stanford. “Listen to me, I don’t know if you noticed this or not, kid, but we’re twins, too. We understand more than you think we do. Sometimes you think you’re not good enough and sometimes you think it’ll be better for both of you if you went your separate ways, but… but family sticks together, no matter what. It doesn’t matter if it’s a twin or a parent or just a really good friend, one day you’re gonna realize how much you need your family and I really really hope for you it’s not before it’s too late.”

Stanford, frustrated that he didn’t have a good comeback, decided to turn the tables. “Now, wait a minute, how did you even know I was from the past? And how did you know about Stanley?”

Dipper and Mabel exchanged uneasy facial expressions and Mabel then said to Stanford, “Look, Ford, please. You have to trust us. I know things are hard for you right now, but things will get better…”

Stanford scowled at that. They weren’t listening! They just didn’t understand! “You don’t know that! You don’t know what I’ve been through! I’m a nobody in the past, I’m a freak in the past!” And he even held a hand out to their faces so they could see his six fingers. With tears in his eyes, the boy yelled, “This is the one place I feel at home, and I won’t let you take that away from me!” And with that, Stanford pulled the time machine out of his pocket, threw it on the floor, and smashed it with his sneakered foot.

“Stanford!” Mabel scolded.

“What did you do?!” Dipper yelled as he got on his knees and began to scoop up the broken pieces.

Stanford spun around, opened the closet, and left without another word.

“We should’ve told him we were family.” Mabel said quietly.

“No,” Dipper snapped as he stood up and exited the closest with his sister. “If he found out it could mess up our present. We need to try to get him to go back to Glass Shard.”

“All while keeping it a secret that we’re Pines, too, and also keeping it a secret that Phil is baby Ford?” Mabel clarified and rubbed her forehead. “And you do realize we’ve got until tonight when Grunkle Stan and Ford come home and will definitely recognize him?”

“I know.” Dipper sighed. “I’ll work on fixing the time machine. You’re better with people, you try to convince Ford to go back to his own time.”

“You got it, Dippin’ Sauce.” Mabel said and went off to try to find her wittle uncle.

Stanford was true to his word and went straight to finish unclogging the toilets, so that kept Mabel away from the most part and she got distracted catching up with Wendy. As the sun got lower into the sky, Dipper sat on his bottom bunk and fixed the time machine, meanwhile Mabel had to try to earn Stanford’s trust, but the little guy was doing a good job of avoiding her.

Time was running out, and after Stanford raked the yard, cleaned the gutters, washed Soos’ truck, and a bunch of probably unnecessary chores just to keep him busy, Soos proudly patted Stanford’s back and said, “Good job, little dude! You can go home now.”

“Oh,” Stanford rubbed the back of his neck bashfully. “Uh, are you sure there’s nothing else I can do, sir. M-Maybe I can sweep or…”

Soos raised an eyebrow, picking up how sweaty and nervous the kid was about going home, and he smiled gently. “Hey, I get it. I’m not kicking you out or anything. If you wanna stay, stay as long as you want. Heck, you can spend the night if you want to. The couch is always here.”

Stanford smiled up at his new boss. “Thank you so much, Mr. Mystery.”

“Hey, you can just call me Soos.” He offered. “And if you need to talk, I’m here for you, dude.”

Stanford nodded. “Okay.”

Mabel pulled out all the stops. She laid a bunch of arts n’ crafts stuff laid out on the card table and she stopped Stanford as he passed the living room. “Hey, S-Phil! Wanna make some puppets with me?”

“Oh boy, you’re not hungover some puppet-boy again, are you?” Wendy asked as she entered the room, oblivious to Stanford’s scowl.

“Haha! Nope!” Mabel said as Wendy sat with her. “Just felt like setting the arts n’ crafts master free tonight! Whaddya say, Phil? Wanna get in on this? We could make hand-turkeys, or finger-puppets, or paint our nails?”

“No, thanks.” The boy said coldly.

“Aw, come on.” Wendy teased and laid her hands out on the table. “Here, Mabel, I’ve been meaning to do my nails, mind fixing me up?”

“You bet, sister!”

Stanford stomped off angrily, but Mabel somehow managed to stay focused and she left Wendy, confused and alone at the table, so she could go after him. “St… Phil, wait! Let’s just talk.”

“Talk about what?” Stanford snapped and turned back to look at her angrily. “You’re trying to get rid of me! Why would you wanna talk to me if you don’t like me?”

Mabel gasped and covered her mouth. Stanford was so confused, having no idea why she suddenly looked so sad and hurt, and she sunk to her knees and put a hand on each of his shoulders. “That’s not true, Ford.” She whispered quietly. “Not only do I like you, but I love you. We all do. Which is why you have to go back to the past.”

Stanford blinked with surprise at finding Mabel looking so sad. It hurt more than he thought it would. And there it was again, that feeling like they had met before. She just looked so familiar… “But I don’t wanna go back.” Ford tried to explain yet again. “Why should I go back?”

“Cuz if you don’t the entire timeline could change.” Mabel stressed as calmly as she could, but she was failing, her arms trembling. “I can’t tell you too much, but… but by being here instead of your own time, you’re not doing things that’ll shape today. You have no idea what could happen, none of us do, but that’s what’s so scary.”

“Oh, come on, what could I do that’s so important it messes with time?” Stanford dared to ask.

Mabel opened her mouth and closed a few times, like a fish out of water, but with no explanation, Stanford shrugged her hands off of him and turned to the door. He tried to slam it to make it clear to Mabel he wanted to be alone, but in his fury he had stupidly closed the door with his right hand still on it, crushing his fingers.

“OW!”

It was a painful door jam, the kind that made your eyes water and made you wonder for a second if your hand was broken. Stanford held his hand by the wrist as his hand immediately swelled and looked red. Mabel covered her mouth again and got on one knee in front of him. “I’m sorry, I’m sorry! Let me see…”

“Whao, what happened?” Soos asked as he and Melody emerged from the kitchen and Wendy came out of the living room.

“S-Phil closed the door on his hand.” Mabel said as Stanford held his hand close to his chest and hid it with his uninjured hand.

“Aw, poor dude.” Soos went up to him and held out a sweet hand. “Here, lemme see it.”

“N-No!” Stanford stuttered. And took a step back, now being on the porch with everyone else inside. “It’s fine, I’m okay.”

“Don’t be afraid, Phil, just lemme take a look at it.” Soos said as he fixed his eyes, trying to see past the uninjured hand at the hurt hand, but then his eyes widened. No, he must have miss counted. No, he didn’t have… “Phil, lemme see.” He said firmly.

“No!” But Stanford was too slow and Soos had grabbed his hands as gently as he could and held the hurt hand, not only to check if it was broken, but to count his fingers. Suddenly a lot of things were clicking in Soos’ head and he felt like a big dummy dumb for not noticing who this little dude was sooner.

Soos, Melody, and Wendy gasped, making Stanford’s eyes sting. He blinked to make the stinging go away; he should be used to that kind of reaction. He yanked his hand out of Soos’ grasp and shoved both hands in his pockets.

“Dude!” Soos gasped, looking horrified. “Wh-Why didn’t you tell me?! I can’t believe…”

“Who cares?” Stanford asked, not looking at any of them. “It’s just a stupid birth defect.”

“No, I mean why didn’t you tell me you were Stanford Pines?!”

That got him to look up, terrified, and he saw the three shocked faces and the sad one Mabel wore. “But… But…”

“Sweet Paul Bunyan.” Wendy gasped. “It’s really him…”

“I thought you seemed familiar, but I just thought you were a lot like me!” Soos yelled in shock as he held his head. “But it turns out you were a lot like Dr. Pines?! MY MIND! It’S EXPLODED!”

It was slowly sinking in that these guys didn’t care that he had polydactyly; they cared that he was from the past, and apparently his older-self knew everyone here. Was that why Mabel and Dipper freaked out so much? “Wait, you… do you know me?”

Soos stared at Stanford in complete shock. “Of course we know you, dude! You’re…”

“Our friend!” Mabel interrupted. “A really good friend!”

“Yeah, man.” Wendy backed up. “Look, you’re a really great kid, but…”

“But you need to go back home.” Melody finished for her.

Stanford’s whole world was shaking. “Wh-What?! But you…”

“I know,” Soos said and got on one knee to be closer to his eye-level. “But… Dr… F-F-Ford, you’re… you’re a great kid, and we’d never do anything to hurt you, but you have to go back.”

The poor boy’s chest was suddenly feeling really heavy. His eyes were stinging again. He scowled angrily. He desperately didn’t want to go back home, but what was the point of staying here if no one wanted him around? “I thought you guys were my friends.” He croaked, unable to keep his emotions out of his voice.

“Stanford,” Mabel took a step forward, desperately wanting to hug him but she was treating him like a scared animal who would run off at the sight of too much movement. “We are your friends, but you have to trust us…”

Stanford squeezed his eyes shut and darted around for the woods, planning to just run and run until no one could find him, but something he didn’t see stood in his way and made Stanford fall flat on the grass, barely a foot away from the porch. Mabel, Wendy, Melody and Soos all hurried onto the porch and simultaneously gasped. Dipper came out with the fixed tape measure in hand and announced proudly, “Okay, I’ve fixed the time machine and - what the HECK is going on here?!”

Stanford had bumped into whatever he had hit so hard his glasses were skewed, but when he fixed them he marveled at who stood before him. A tall guy with a round gut, a brown coat over a t-shirt and worn jeans with boots, and a red beanie looked down at him. His gray hair passed his shoulders by an inch and he looked so much like Pa, but the sparkle in his brown eyes and the way he looked completely confused but took everything with a grain of salt was something Stanford could recognize anywhere. He didn’t even question it.

He hadn’t realized how much he had missed his twin until he was standing right in front of him. Who cares if he was old? With a trembling lip and wet matching eyes, Stanford lunged into Stan’s legs and hugged him tightly, burying his face in his jeans, the top of his head just barely reaching his hip.

“Whoa there,” Stan’s gravelly voice was strange to Stanford, but his strong hands still hugged him in return and rubbed circles into his back. “It’s alright there, Sixer. You’re okay. You care to explain what’s going on here, Poindexter?”

It sounded like Stan was no longer talking to Stanford. He wiped his button nose and eyes and barely let Stan go, just enough to look up at someone who was standing next to Stan. Stanford almost screamed, but he bit his lip in time. He didn’t need to look at this man’s hand to know who he was. He had Stanford’s fluffy hair, though gray with a light streak around it, he had Stanford’s cleft chin, and while this man also looked like Pa, there was only one person who could resemble Stan that much.

“Incredible,” Ford awed and pulled out a green journal from his blue coat and opened it. Like Stan, he also wore blue jeans and boots, but he had a red turtleneck under his blue coat from the looks of it. “I thought I had another year or two…”

“Did you clone yourself, you weirdo?” Stan asked.

“What, no! Of course not!” Ford laughed.

“Oh, this is that shapeshifter dude you were telling me about.”

“No, Stanley, it’s really me.” Ford knelt as he looked at Stanford, who still clung onto Stan’s leg tightly like it was a life preserver in the middle of an ocean. “Over fifty years ago I came across a tape measure while you were serving detention that transported me from Glass Shard to this place. Is that what happened to you?” He asked his younger self.

Stanford nodded. Ford smiled at him kindly and Stanford managed to smile back. He looked up at Stan and squeaked as timid as a mouse, “Is… Is that really you, Stanley?”

Stan chuckled and patted his shoulder. Did his brother always used to be so cute? “Yeah, kid, it’s me. Holy Moses, would you look at this little guy. You look just as I remember you, Stanford. Except not nearly as puny.”

“Hey, I’m not that small!” Stanford defended.

“Yup, that’s the stubborn brainiac I know!” Stan laughed.

Stanford smiled at him and then got an idea. Stanley would always have his back! He’ll help him! “Stanley, they’re gonna make me go away! Tell them I don’t have to go!”

“Make you go away?” Stan repeated and then looked up at the crowd and saw the time machine in Dipper’s hand. “Oh, don’t wanna go back to New Jersey, huh?”

“But G…” But Wendy covered Mabel’s hand before she could say anything else.

Stanford ignored the meanies behind him and gave Stan the saddest puppy-dog eyes he could muster. He could practically see his brother crumble. “I mean, I could never tell you no, Sixer…”

“Stanley,” Ford said as he put a hand on his shoulder. “I would like to speak to myself in private.”

Stanford didn’t know how to feel about that. His little fingers tightened ever so slightly on Stan’s jeans.

“Oh, sure.” Stan then snorted and added, “If you can let go of my leg.”

Ford chuckled and held out a hand to his younger self. “Come on. I want to show you something.”

Stanford still wasn’t sure. He looked into those deep brown eyes that matched his own, the same brown eyes he saw when he looked in the mirror. Or looked at his brother. Or his mother. Or Dipper or Mabel. Stanford glanced back at the other pair of twins, having a hunch, but he knew that there was only one person that was going to tell him what he needed to hear and wanted to hear in a certain way, so Stanford slowly let his brother go and took his own polydactyl hand.

Ford smiled and walked with the ten-year-old into the house alone. Stanford looked up at his older self and smiled. Ford caught this and chuckled. “Do I look as you had hoped?” He asked.

Stanford felt his cheeks get warm again, but he ignored it to talk to himself. Who else gets a chance to talk to themselves like this? “Did you get better at boxing?”

Ford laughed, knowing why Stanford asked that; the child was clearly happy he would grow up to be somewhat fit. “I did, actually. I’m still not as good as Stanley, but that’s okay. I actually kept fit from field research and travelling.”

“You’re an explorer?!” Stanford gasped.

“We’re an explorer.” Ford corrected. “We are with Stanley.”

“So,” Stanford felt more comfortable with Ford as they entered the gift shop, so he asked, “Where exactly are we?”

“This is our home. We built this place when we first moved here.” Ford explained as he stood in front of the vending machine. “It’s changed a lot, but so have we. Excuse me.” He let go of Stanford’s hand to click a button on his watch, making the vending machine open. Stanford gasped and Ford took his hand again.

“So robots don’t take over the world?”

“Not yet, anyways.”

“Do we ever get better at talking to girls?”

“Better? Yes. As good as we want to be? No.”

Stanford giggled at that. Maybe there was hope for him, after all. The odd pair went to the elevator, Ford typed in the code, and then they travelled down to the third floor.

Stanford gasped to find a bright, colorful lab. What used to be dark and dingy and dusty was now loud and bright and full of projects ready to be resumed now that Ford was home for the summer. Twinkle lights hung from the ceiling, pictures and books littered the desk, and a big window displayed a big work-room full of projects. The Electron Carpet was rolled up and on a wooden shelf, a motorcycle in the works was in the work-room, and the big machines were fizzing and blinking on either side of Stanford.

“This place is amazing!” He cheered with pure delight.

“Yeah, beats working in a boring office every day.” Ford chuckled. “The lights were Mabel’s idea. Says a workspace needs to be fun. Do you want to see what I’m most proud of?”

“Yes!” Stanford took off for the work-room, thinking Ford was going to show him a microprocessor, or a machine that would benefit all of man-kind, but inside the giant room he could hear Ford chuckling and he found his older self still in the lab.

“No no,” Ford patted his ribs. “It’s right here.”

Stanford raised an eyebrow, confused and hoping it wasn’t going to be a stupid metaphore (he never enjoyed poetry), but Ford pulled out a photograph and Stanford gently took it, thinking it was going to be an award ceremony or a monster or an invention that wasn’t in the lab anymore.

The boy was beyond surprised to find himself in the picture, standing on the broken Stan O’ War with Stanley. Stanford could remember when this picture was taken, it had only been last summer, and from what the boy could tell, this copy was very old and worn. Stanford looked up at Ford to find him smiling peacefully.

“It was our first real achievement, our first big project, and it will always be the one I’m most proud of because we did it with our brother.” Ford explained.

Stanford smiled at himself, but then it went away as he thought about it. He was really willing to leave Stanley behind for all of this. Sure, mostly because he believed Stanley would be better off without him, but how much of it really was just Stanford trying to hide the guilt of leaving his twin alone. “Is… Is Stanley mad at me?”

“Oh, no.” Ford quickly reassured. “When we send you back, it’ll be like you never left.”

Stanford looked back up at himself and saw the picture of someone who looked really similar by his shoulder. Ford noticed Stanford’s averted eyes and he moved to the side so Stanford could look at the picture on the desk. A boy that looked a lot like Stanford had two fingers up by a girl who also looked like him with braces and long hair. The boy was wearing Dipper’s hat.

Stanford took the framed photo and Ford chuckled. “Stanley’s right. The resemblance is uncanny.”

With the pictures of ten and twelve-year-old Dipper, Mabel, Stan and Ford all in front of Stanford, he swallowed and asked, “Dipper and Mabel aren’t just friends, huh?”

Ford chuckled and shook his head. “No. All those people upstairs are your family.”

“So… if I go back now, then all of this will be my future?” Stanford asked, his eyes moving around the room and staying up at the ceiling for a few moments.

“Well,” Ford put a hand on Stanford’s shoulder and said, “That depends on you, you got to make the right choices. But I know you will. Remember, I’m you. I was once a ten-year-old kid looking up at an older version of myself, being told the same thing. Time travel is confusing, but you’ll find what goes around comes around, so if I experienced this,” And Ford gestured to the boy in front of him. ”Then it’s extremely plausible you will experience this,” And Ford gestured to the old man he was.

Stanford grinned and gave himself the picture back and sat the framed photo on the desk. There was still one last thing on his mind. Stanford hesitated, took in a deep breath, and dared to ask, “Does that mean Stanley and I will always be best friends?”

Ford held his cleft chin, hummed to himself, and then said slowly to himself, “I think you better get back to your own time and find out for yourself.”

Stanford sinked in stature and admitted, “I knew you were gonna say that.”

Ford chuckled and offered his hand again. “That’s because we are one smart kid, Sixer.”

~~~~~~~~~~

When back up to face the family, Dipper gave Stanford the time machine and said, “Now, it’s already set to backwards, so just go back fifty-two years and you should land right at the second you came from.”

“Thanks.” Stanford accepted the tape measure and looked at Dipper and Mabel. “I’m… I’m really sorry I got mad…”

“Hey, that’s what family’s all about.” Mabel said, waving the apology away.

Stanford smiled and nodded, then figured he owed them a hug and gave them one. Dipper was surprised, but hugged back, meanwhile Mabel was tearing up and sniffing as she hugged Stanford back tightly.

“Are you crying, pumpkin?” Stan asked.

“I’m… I’m gonna miss him…”

“I’m right here!”

Everyone laughed as Stanford let the teenagers go. Wendy ruffled his hair and said, “Had fun with you today, Stan Two. Feel free to get yourself a pet dinosaur on the way home.”

Stanford snorted and saw Wendy hold out a hand to him, wanting a high-five. He hesitated, then smiled and gave her a well-earned high-six. He then turned to Soos and Melody and said, “Thanks for hiring me, Soos, and giving me a tour.”

“Aw, you’re welcome, Little Dr. Pines.” Soos said.

“Just be careful going home.” Melody advised. “Don’t let the time-cops catch you, don’t go anywhere else, don’t do anything you wouldn’t do…”

“Yeesh, you’re worse than Ma.” Stan teased.

“Yeah, about that…” But Soos was interrupted by his adoptive father.

“Now move it, you knucklehead.” Stan said as it was almost dark outside. “Quit moping around too, it’s not like you're never gonna see us again. We’re your family!”

Stanford smiled and nodded. “Thanks, Stanley. See you earlier.”

“Love you, little brother.” And Stan punched Ford’s shoulder as he laughed.

“Yes, yes, enjoy it while you can.” Ford commented as he rolled his eyes, and Stanford pulled back the tape and released.

The second his ten-year-old self was gone, Ford held out a hand to Stan and clenched it a few times until his twin grumpily forked over some cash.

~~~~~~~~~~

January 1960-something

Just like Dipper said, Stanford was right where he was before he disappeared. He checked the clock in the window of a bakery and saw that no time had passed. He sat the time machine down for the owner to find and raced home, excited to tell Stanley everything.

But when bedtime came and Stanford was above Stanley and sharing his adventure, Stanley only said, “Wow, great story, Sixer!”

“It’s not just a story, Stanley, it’s real!” Stanford insisted. “It actually happened! Don’t you believe me?”

“A future in which you’re more fit than me?” Stanley clarified and blew a raspberry. “I bet you five bucks it never happens.”

Stanford grinned, knowing he was destined to win. “You’re on.”

#GF #fanfiction #meet the pines #meet the robinsons #gift #thank you so much for reading!#remember that bitches love comments

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avatar-state-kate · 4 years

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The Love Triangle Revisited: an accidental use of character parallels

When the love triangle is introduced in season 1 it is framed by Pema giving advice to Korra- this story aligns Mako to Tenzin, Asami to Lin, and Korra with Pema.

When Mako/Korra falls apart in season 2 most people forget Pena’s story and the love triangle between Tenzin/Lin/Pema, however I want to argue that connecting these two love triangles was in fact correct- they do mirror each other- but the character alignments were wrong.

I want to argue that the proper coralations are Asami/Pema, Mako/Lin, and Korra/Tenzin.

How Korra parallels Tenzin

Korra and Tenzin have a lot in common as both are Aangs living legacy- Korra as the avatar and Tenzin as the leader of the air nation.

Both have character arcs in which they need to form identity independent of this legacy. Tenzin in giving up the desire to be the perfect model air bender and Korra in forming an identity outside of her ability to be the Avatar

How Mako parallels Lin

This is the most obvious, especially in season 2. That these two characters similarities are brought to the forefront the season that Mako/Korra break up I find very telling.

Mako and Lin are both detectives, both workaholics, and both keep their emotional selves private

Both have arcs about connecting to others, opening themselves emotionally, Lin by reconnecting with her family and Mako by developing a found family with the Krew and learning to forgive and trust Kai.

Both characters are action oriented, they show their emotions/love. This is most apparent in the fact that both characters have a big self-sacrificing moment, Lin in book 1 attacking the equalist to allow Tenzin and his family to escape, and Mako in the finale with the colossus.

Lin and Mako both have issues reconciling their SO the person with their duty/legacy. Lin did not want to have kids and didn’t understand Tenzins need to carry on the air nomad culture, Mako in season 2, while ready to jump into a fight was not very helpful in helping Korra navigate politics as the avatar and didn’t understand the stress that put her under. Lin’s sacrifice foreshadows Mako’s, it is the greatest demonstration either gives to their devotion to their friendship with their exes as well as coming to terms with their legacies as Lin’s sacrifice was to Tenzin and the air nation, and Mako’s for Korra and the world (her responsibility as the avatar)

While ultimately they are there for Tenzin and Korra respectively, and it is demonstrated that they do care for them deeply, this does not mean that they can sustain a romantic relationship. Romantic relationships have different demands then friendship, and while they achieved that end as friends - as demonstrated in each’s sacrificial moments- I don’t ultimately think it would work romantically. For one as a friend Lin doesn’t have to be the mother of Tenzin’s children and live on Air Temple island - but really for Lin and Mako I don’t think they have an emotionality that is compatible with the emotional needs of Tenzin and Korra. At their core Mako and Korea’s fights were miscommunication, wherein Korra wanted emotional validation and Mako wanted to take action. As friends this can work- when you don’t want to problem solve you call a different friend. For an SO that isn’t an option.

How Asami parallels Pema

Unfortunately Pema has limited screen time and most of their parallels have to do with their function within their respective love triangles, but as non-benders they are both shown to offer unique skills to situations that while not primary to the fighting aspect are just as necessary- Asami building the dragonfly suits and Pema leading th evacuees (again this is a stretch but I’m doing my best)

While this is an extrapolation on Pena’s part, based on what has been said and on Asami’s character, I don’t think it is a leap to say that Pema provided Tenzin with the emotional validation he needed. He and Korra have similar struggles and thus probably needed similar affirmation (affirmation Lin did not provide). Again, Korra and Mako feel apart because when Korra wanted emotional validation Mako tried to problem solve- whereas Asami provided Korra the emotional support she was looking for.

In conclusion, the original alignment had Mako at the center, it was his choice (Korra or Asami), however as the show goes on we realize that what we are watching is Korea’s choice (Mako or Asami). Knowing that it is Korra’s choice then, while the Tenzin/Pema/Lin triangle appeared to predict Makorra I’m actuality it was pointing to Korrasami all along.

Note: I’m aware that this is all unintentional in that Korrasami wasn’t planned, but I think that supports the character arcs more? Like because they made Korra and Tenzin so alike, and Mako and Lin so alike they were never going to work out

#sorry if this is a mess #first time posting a long meta #korra #tenzin #lin #lin beifong #mako #asami #asami sato #pema #lok #legend of korra #lok meta #legend of korra meta #meta #avatar #not kate

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derireo · 4 years

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a3! as part-timers

I FINALLY FINISHED IT AGAIN. Thank you all for being patient with me because I really liked these headcanons and Tumblr just decided to delete them all <3

WARNING: rookie Chikage Utsuki will be included! (this means spoilers for Act 5 are present throughout).

It's canon that Sakuya works with Misumi, but I have no clue as to what their jobs are. Let's safely assume that Sakuya works at a cafe! His bright disposition and cheerful smile is bound to put a smile on customer's face, but he's a little clumsy when it comes to making drinks so his co-workers always tell him to stick to the cash register. It suits him anyways, being able to talk to different people of different walks of life. He mostly works in the mornings, only after he manages to get Masumi to school on time. He is a customer favourite no doubt, and he brings in a lot of tips for all of the workers to share! Many of the children that come by love him, and especially teachers who are running late to work deem him the sunshine in their life.

Masumi would work at a music shop. Not to be obvious or anything, but music is possibly one of the only constants in his life and he grew a deep bond with it while staying alone at home for most of his life. So when he manages to get a job at shop in inside Veludo Mall, he's ecstatic. Although he gets to spend less time in the dorm (which means less time with the Director), Masumi absolutely loves perusing the endless aisles of music cds, vinyl records, posters, and so much more. He's also very diligent at his job, organizing things perfectly and on time and even helping out customers even though he doesn't really want to. His coworkers grow so fond of him to the point that they let him listen to his own music while doing his job, headphones on while he reorganizes things on the shelves.

I don't really know what part-time job Citron would have, but I know he hangs around the Veludo markets a lot. He's there all the time, helping out the lovely ladies at their food stalls by actively advertising their products of the day and even charming young couples into buying some trinkets at another stall. His charm is very effective, smile so dazzling and eyes so hypnotizing that you can't help but follow him towards a stall where they're selling handmade mochi or fresh produce. This is all volunteering though, Citron doesn't get paid with money. What he does get paid with is lots of hugs and groceries to bring home to the dorm-- much to the delight of Izumi and Omi! Citron's so popular at the markets that he receives a greeting from every single stall while he passes by. And he never leaves empty handed!

Tsuzuru tends to boast about the countless number of part-time jobs he's had. From gas station worker, to waiter, to library work, he has done a lot of things. I don't really think it's something to brag about because if I had that many jobs I would probably d-word. But working at Mankai as a playwright, that's already his dream come true. I don't think he'd want to work anywhere else when he's writing stories and bringing them to life like he has always wanted and it makes me happy to see that he's living out his dream. If anything, if he does work a part-time job, it's probably to get extra money to spend on his younger and older brothers since he's such a family man. And because his stories bring so much attention to Mankai, Sakyo compensates Tsuzuru very generously.

Gaming is Itaru's part-time job. Taruchi is a mysterious persona who is crazy good at video games and has a soothing voice. The kick is that nobody knows what he looks like and Itaru would like to keep it that way. He's a popular streamer and Let's Player so there's no doubt that he is raking in a lot of cash. How he finds time to juggle an office job, Mankai, and streaming is beyond me, but it is absolutely impressive because despite how lazy he seems to be, he is a diligent worker who is very good at entertaining people. Plus, nobody knowing what his face looks like brings in a lot of intrigue and fans. Itaru always baits his fans that just maybe he'll reveal his face to them, but never does. Everyone loves his teasing and Itaru loves messing with people. One of the top streamers on his platform and he's proud of it. The appearance of Banri's NEO also helps a lot with bringing in viewers. (The extra money he makes is donated to the Mankai fund box)

Not gonna lie, but with Chikage being a spy as well as an office worker, I don't think he has enough time to have another job on top of that. As we saw in Act 5, he worked tirelessly on his computer, rarely sleeping. Being a spy is hard work, and now that he realizes that Hisoka may not have betrayed the organization, he now has to work to keep Hisoka's location hidden from enemies. Can you imagine being an office worker tho.... could never be me. Sry Chikage and Itaru lmfao but that sounds painful. Anyways, if Chikage isn't actively working for the organization and isn't posting on his curry blog, maybe he's doing tech support? He's always sitting at his computer so he might as well you know lmfaoo

"I'm too famous to work a part-time job" he says while at the same time applying to work at a bonsai shop. Who are you kidding, Tenma? Also pretty sure the owners don't really care so he gets the job right away since they're in desperate need of help. Tenma acts kind of bratty as it is his first time having a job that isn't acting, but he gets knocked down a few pegs when he has to carry around heavy bags of soil and nutrients for the bonsai trees. Eventually, he comes to love his job, seeing the owners as part of his family as they take great care of him while he works at their shop. Unfortunately, there will still be those fans who will watch him as he works at the bonsai shop, but Tenma uses it to his advantage, saying that if they want to look a little more, they're going to have to buy a bonsai tree. The owners are like ??? wtf tenma ??? but inevitably, it brings in a lot of business;;;

Yuki would definitely work at a boutique as an apprentice!! Working with different types of fabric and body shapes and frills, god, what a dream come true for him! Sure, making costumes for Mankai is one thing, but those are costumes, not actual clothes you would wear outside on the daily. His skill in clothes is amazing and it amazes his mentor who watches on proudly as Yuki sews something gorgeous every single time he comes to help. And Yuki absolutely loves being there too, getting to work on normal every day people who aren't huge hulking men that manage to ruin their measurements every time Yuki makes something for them. Plus, using this experience from his apprenticeship helps him a lot if he so chooses to go to a school for fashion. I'm rooting for you, Yuki!

Working at a manga store, Muku is absolutely in love. He's already in the Library Committee at school so might as well work somewhere book related, right? The boy was lucky to get the job at his favourite manga shop at the mall, and he doesn't even need to wear a uniform! As long as he wears his employee lanyard and name tag, he is all good to go! Being surrounded with his favourite book series and figurines and posters alike is very exciting for Muku, and he works extremely well with customers who need help looking for recommendations or gifts. His enthusiasm charms everyone he talks to and he becomes a customer and workplace favourite after a couple of days. His avid hobby of reading manga is apparent to everyone he comes across, and when he meets another customer who is just as dedicated to manga as he, they have long talks while Muku convinces them to buy more books.

Kazunari would definitely work at an arts store. Cliche, I know, but he wouldn't want to be anywhere else! Michaels would be a good place to start, but knowing how great he is at aesthetics, I think a paint store would do him well too. Both places would mostly have university students as their workers anyways so Kazunari would fit in right away! Popular with customers due to his enthusiasm with art, Kazunari gets a lot of requests for help when choosing certain pigments and wallpapers for bedrooms and large scale art projects. His knowledge with the subject of art is deep and wide, so he is able to answer any questions thrown his way. He is so loved at his job that when he eventually quits to achieve bigger things, they throw a party for him and all promise to visit and watch his next play!

It's canon that Misumi is a freelancer, which means he works any type of odd job and never sticks to one for too long. The job that he has kept the longest is the cafe one where he's with Sakuya. He actually helped Sakuya get this job at the first place, and when they work together, they're a force to be reckoned with! They bring in a lot of tips together and since Misumi is so quick on his feet and speedy with his hands, there's never a line up for drinks. Everything goes out the door just as fast as they had come in and his co-workers love him for it. He is also very popular for his fanged tooth and eye crinkling smile! Many regulars give him triangles as their tips! And if Misumi isn't working at the cafe, he's helping out as a mover because he's quick and strong (like we saw in HaGT), or he is helping out the local mailman. Because the mailman is growing older in age, Misumi takes it upon himself to help him deliver the rest of the mail so that the sweet old man can go home early. Misumi is always seen running around the neighbourhood with the mailbag!

I know this will sound weird, but I think Banri would fare well as a tutor. Knowing that he can just flip through a textbook once and immediately know what to do, I think it would do everyone good if he helped tutor those who struggle. Although I bash Banri a lot (as a joke) I am still able to see that he cares very much for others. He has rarely struggled in his life and clearly doesn't understand the hardships of the other members when they can't seem to do this or that, so he does his best to put himself in their shoes so he knows what he can do to help others who are struggling much the same. So Tsumugi helps him get a tutoring gig, and he hits it off right away. It's impressive really, how he's able to help students understand concepts they once thought they would never be able to get and it makes Banri happy. Banri is someone who wishes to help others-- he even says that he wants to help Mankai grow by bringing back the knowledge he learns at Veludo Arts. And I don't think he'd need the money, so he donates most of it to the Mankai funds.

Is it cliche of me to put Juza in a bakery? You know, sweets, confectionaries. BREAD. God, knowing how Juza grew up with a loving mom who almost always baked sweets for him and Kumon makes me want to cry. I love them so much. Anyways, he'd be a little clumsy in the back kitchen so I think he would just stick to decorating pastries and mini cakes and all that. It's a very curious thing to watch as a customer, a young, mean looking man scrunching his eyebrows as he puts a smiley face on a cupcake. It's cute. There's also another part of me that wants to see him work as an apprentice for shūji, or traditional Japanese calligraphy. Knowing that Juza studied it when he was younger (and that's why his signature is nice), it would definitely be pretty cool for him to do scrolls and stuff. It's a tough job though, considering the art of Japanese calligraphy is an important thing, and every stroke and word you write counts. It's a beautiful art form though, and Juza could make a pretty penny out of commissions.

After learning about journalling from Izumi, Taichi most definitely applied to work at a stationary shop. He's a bit clumsy with it, but he's got the spirit and that's all that matters! Strangely enough, this is one of the rare times where he isn't actively vying for attention, but for some reason he gets it a lot here. It's not like he minds or anything, but please, ladies, quiet down ^^; He is a favourite in the workplace though since he's so energetic and is always eager to help out customers; especially the old grandmas who are looking for gifts to give their grandchildren. The old ladies love him too, and they pamper him a lot much to his bashful enjoyment. And since his coworkers know that he loves journalling so much, they give him a lot of extra stock to bring home so that he can share it with Izumi and Omi! On a less serious note, he'd probably do public dance battles outside with his friends to get a quick buck.

Man... Omi would work at a bakery too. Most likely he would work with Juza because that would make sense, and both of their presences at the bakery shop would attract a lot of attention. Two, hulking dudes working at a bakery shop? Count me in pls. He'd be the one working at the back kitchen, baking everything and such. I would have also liked to put him in a restaurant, but considering that you can't become a sous chef or even a head chef until years later (due to the hierarchy and training), I don't think I want him to do that. He's already studying to become a business major after all so it would be difficult to juggle two separate things to study for. He would also work great as a photographer, but he doesn't do any taxing jobs unless it's for Mankai or very close friends. His friends always pay him too much, but they insist he keeps the money (which he puts into Mankai funds) and as compensation from Sakyo, the older man lets Omi indulge in buying expensive ingredients for that night's dinner.

Why is Sakyo working so hard? I'm getting worried. He works as Mankai's accountant and is part of the Yakuza; those are already two stressful things to work for. He has so much to do and there's always a lot of plate considering he manages a lot of Mankai with Matsukawa and Izumi, and on top of that he always acts as Mankai's Papa, Accountant, and Grumpy Old Man at the End of the Street. And when he isn't doing anything at Mankai, Patriarch Izumida calls him in for a task to do at Ginsenkai or the area they patrol. He also owns a freakin' diner that is under Ginsenkai's care like?? wtf Sakyo. He works so hard, spends tireless days to help keep Mankai afloat and it makes my heart hurty </3 Sakyo was my first crush so I can't help but worry a little and he's my comfort character whenever I'm way too engrossed at looking at Omi's huge bahonkerz so pls... Sakyo take care of urself I'm begging. Also most of the money he earns goes to his family, and the rest is for Mankai's funds.

Tsumugi on the other hand would stay as a tutor since it's canon! Sure, he has a bit of competition now that he's helped Banri enter the tutoring scene, but he's still got his loyal students to take care of. He is a very diligent worker and is very smart so working out problems is nothing too hard for him. He cares for each and every student he has, writing personalized study outlines for them as well as keeping notes on them with what they're struggling on, what they're excelling at, and even takes notes on their study habits and how long their attention lasts for until they need to take a break. Tsumugi makes sure that he is teaching his students properly and cares for them a lot. If not tutoring, he is helping at the local Veludo flower boutique and is very popular there. He helps create a lot of bouquets with deep meanings, but sometimes those bouquets he makes are gifting to him right after, lmao

Ugh as for Tasuku, knowing how good he is at fixing things, he would be great at an electronics store or a mechanics shop. He has a natural talent at fixing things and I can only assume it's because as a child, he really loved tinkering with items that were laying around the house. Plus, knowing that he has an older brother, he probably had a lot of Gundam sets laying around that sparked his interest in building things. You've seen him fix a lot of things right? To his motorcycle, his car, the television, my heart, omfg he can do it all like wtf. He becomes so skilled at fixing cars that he somehow acquires the skill to soup them up too?? When did those big ass rims get there? Where the hell did those damn hydraulics come from? That sort of thing. God he would look so sexy in a classic Ford Mustang </3 On the other hand, I think he would be great at becoming an acting coach. He might give Yuzo a run for his money.

It's canon that Hisoka has a job, but no one really knows what it is I think. I believe he would be a mattress tester! Remember that backstage story with the All Male Lap Pillow Competition or whatever? Hisoka is basically a connoisseur at all things soft and comfortable because he chose Izumi's lap as the most comfortable. He said it was so soft (god I wish I were him) that he could fall asleep and he did!!! Absolutely amazing. With his picky sleeping choices, Hisoka is able to tell whether this or that mattress prototype is good to go or needs some working on. The benefits to this job is that he gets to sleep a lot too because of course, they need to see if the mattress is good enough to sleep on!! Of course he gets paid in money, but since his managers know that he loves marshmallows, they pay him in that too.

Does Homare really need a part-time job? He's basically a renowned writer, it's just that Mankai seems ignorant to the fact. Tsuzuru and Muku has found a whole bunch of his books in the library for goodness sake so of course he's making mad bank! In HaGT he had a business meeting with a publisher/editor so you can't really tell me that he isn't good at his job because if he's having international meetings?? UHM. Of course he's famous literally what is he at Mankai for? The Found Family??? GOD OF COURSE you can stay Homare I love you so much. But seriously, he is super rich, and because he loves Mankai so much, he helps out and chips in to fill the Mankai funds so that they can stay afloat.

And here we have Azuma. I am not going to lie, but I am very protective over Azuma when it comes to his part-time job. Azuma was lonely for a huge chunk of life, unable to fill the void where his family used to sit in his heart. So he picked up skincare, and then he picked up cuddling/escort. His job in the past was full of false security and fake love that would never seal the cracks in his body, but when he found Mankai, something was different. He felt like he belonged somewhere. Especially after Nocturnality, it's obvious that Azuma has finally found his home. So I don't want him to go back to his cuddling/escort job;;; but if he wants to work again, I think being a skincare consultant would be really good! Since his skin is so flawless, many customers would flock to him for advice and the best products to use. His gentle voice and soothing caress as he rubs cream into his customer's skin is hypnotizing, and he shares his skincare routine with anyone who is willing to spend the time, effort, and money into making their skin look pretty like his.

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lo-55 · 3 years

Text

Tilt The Hourglass ch. 6

Maul adjusted the small holster against his hip and pulled his cloak tighter around him.

He never would have pegged Fett as being a tailor, but the mando had pulled out a thread and scissors and hemmed the cloak to fit Maul. It fell until halfway down his thighs, where he had pants and boots now. They hadn’t had the time to get Maul a full flight suit or any armor, but he was clothed at last and his long sleeves even connected to finger-less gloves.

The dark cloak was pulled tight over his head. On his right hip was a small blaster, and in his new boot was a vibro-knife each. They weren’t lightsabers, but they would do.

He felt wrong to not have his ‘saber against his hip, especially when they boarded the ship. He could sense them as soon as he stepped on board. The bright light’s of two Jedi, two lights he knew well. Kenobi and Jinn.

He’d recognized Kenobi as soon as he’d seen him, hovering near the ship and looking like a convict about to be executed.

As soon as he saw him he knew he had to get on board that ship, with or without Jango.

This was Kenobi. Tiny, although a head taller than Maul himself, he was barely old enough to be out of their silly little temple. Maul needed to see him again.

Maul didn’t know what he was going to do when he saw him. He didn’t know if he was going to stab him or demand answers that Kenobi certainly wouldn’t have.

Like what had happened. Two years ago, a bit more now, Maul had died and woken again. Decades in the future Kenobi had cut him down and ended a rivalry that spanned a lifetime. Why? Maul hadn’t been able to find information on it. Not that he could risk looking very hard without tipping off his master, mind.

Still.

He still had a scar on his hand, one triangle and one square pointed into his palm. One sith holocron and one jedi. Their voices still echoed faintly in his memory.

Soon, he needed to take another trip to Malachor. Perhaps this time he could take Young Kenobi with him. The boy wasn't a sith. He didn’t have even the sliver of possibility for it that Ezra had possessed.

Maul had done his best to make Kenobi Fall, and each time he had failed. Even in the end, Kenobi hadn’t hated him. He’d offered him only kindness.

There was a reason that Maul had tried to get him to help him stop the rise of the Empire. The two of them were equally the best and worst examples of their respective orders. Between the both of them they could have kept Sidious from becoming emperor. True, Skywalker would have had to die, but Kenobi had lost his master, his lover, and Maul didn’t even know how many others. He would have survived losing his Padawan, if it was for the ‘greater good’ or whatever jedi preached.

He was a good person. Disgustingly so.

Malachor was a graveyard for Jedi as much as Sith. Maul could use that to convince him if he really had to.

Jango gestured to him to follow along.

Maul didn’t like deferring to anyone, but he would play along for now. It was better than Sidious.

If Maul had ever met someone worse than him he could not recall.

The pair boarded the ship just in time to see a young human being assaulted by a hutt, the creature’s fat fingers curled around his throat.

It took Maul a total of two seconds to realize who it was, and by that time Jango had already closed the distance between them and pulled his blaster. Jango levelled it at the hutt’s head.

“Let the boy go,” he ordered, his voice level. The Force was muffled through beskar, helmet’s especially, but Maul had spent time enough with Mandalorian’s that even with Jango’s helmet firmly in place he could still feel the anger that rippled through him.

Mando’s and their children.

“Hah? Why would I do that? We do not tolerate spies here! This is offworld terf, and we will-”

“Drop. The. Boy.”

The hutt eyed the blaster wearily before he tossed the body.

Right at Maul.

Maul caught him on instinct. The weight of Kenobi almost knocked him down, but Maul held firm. Had Kenobi always been so much taller than him?

Maul kept a weary eye on the hutt, and Jango, ready to draw his blaster and fire. He could take four of whiphids before they got within arms length, and Jango could take the rest in that same time.

The hutt cussed them out and made his leave, with the whiphids following along behind him.

Maul looked down and froze when he found burning blue eyes staring back up at him.

Young Kenobi was… not what he’d expected.

He was tiny, for one thing. Baby faced, with all the puppy fat of youth that Maul, even younger than him, had mostly lost by now. He was thin and gangly the way humans’ were when they were getting ready for a growth spurt, and his hair had never been so red in the future. The last time Maul had seen it it had been almost entirely white. Had he always had freckles?

Maul didn’t know what he’d expected to find in his rival, but what he found was a kid.

This was not the padawan that had cut Maul down. This was not the knight that had hunted him half across the galaxy. This was not the hermit that had held his dying body by fire light.

This was just-

Obi Wan.

Blue eyes rolled back in his head and Kenobi dropped in his arms.

Maul looked up to find Jango with his visor tilted towards the pair. He felt bemused. Maul frowned at him and swung Kenobi over his shoulder’s in a firemen’s carry.

“Shut up,” he snapped at the mandalorian.

“I didn’t say a thing.”

“You didn’t have to. You have a very expressive visor.”

Jango snorted at Maul’s blunt accusation.

“Perhaps I do. Let’s see if Clat’Ha has a place we can bunk down and check on your little friend there.”

“He is not my friend!”

Jango ignored him entirely and picked his way across the floor to the inside of the ship. There were panels missing and wires spilled out across the metal floors like the guts of a massive beast.

Maul mentally categorized all of the easy access points, vents, weapons, and potential ambush zones.

Finally they found Jango’s friend, the human woman in charge of the Arconan Mining Company. She took one look at Kenobi, still limp over Maul’s shoulders with a ring of bruises blossoming around his throat, and marched them into a small closet that served as a medical bay. Apparently mining was a dangerous occupation. Who knew?

Maul let her take Kenobi from him and lay the boy down on a hard cot before she found a bacta spray and some bandages. A medical droid floated near by and glued a cut on Kenobi’s brow shut.

“Are you alright?” Jango touched his shoulder. Maul twitched, but didn’t break the hold. He glanced up at the blank visor.

“Fine. Why wouldn’t I be?”

Worry emanate from Jango, amplified by their contact.

“It’s not always easy seeing other’s get hurt. Especially ade. Children.”

Maul squinted up at him. “People get hurt a lot around me,” he said slowly, like Jango was a particularly foolish child. “In case you forgot. I would have shot the hutt dead. Or hit him under his right arm. The third lung located there is close enough to the surface that the right pressure would rupture it and he would choke to death on his own blood. At least that young. An older hutt would be harder without a blaster. They’re very annoying.”

Clat’Ha stared at him over Kenobi’s body before she looked to Maul’s new ‘care taker’.

“...Jango what the fuck are you teaching this kid?”

Before Jango could even defend himself Maul wrinkled his nose at her.

“He’s barely had me two days.”

Maul hadn’t even learned that on Orsis. He’d learned that during his rise as a crime boss for the shadow collective, when he’d been forced to kill a few hutt’s to properly send a message.They would obey him or they would die. Maybe he should start building his criminal empire again.

There was an idea.

One for later. He needed resources he didn’t have yet, and Jango was as Mandalorian as they came. They wouldn't let a kid go easily. They would protect younglings with their lives if they had to.

In retrospect, Maul should have advised Kilindi and Daleen to seek them out. But Sidious might have ripped that information from his mind, so perhaps it was for the best that he didn’t.

Wherever they were he knew they were okay. Kilindi was resilient and Daleen was intelligent. Maul had faith in them.

That didn’t mean he didn’t worry about them, or miss them. They were his.

“Three,” Jango corrected mildly. “You were unconscious for the first one.”

“Ah, yeah.”

Somehow that only seemed to alarm Clat’Ha more.

What a strange woman.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Maul couldn't tell if he hated or loved this ship.

The ship itself was a hot mess, a wreck waiting to happen and it was probably older than everyone on it combined. It was dark in places where the wires needed replacing, and the whole thing was divided between two mining companies.

The entire thing was saturated with animosity and hostility, and Maul drank it in. He pulled the distrust and anger out of the air and wrapped it up in a little ball inside his chest for later. It was a technique he’d figured out himself years ago. How to skim off the top emotionally. Theoretically it could be used to take an enemies fighting spirit and enhance an allies, but Maul had never really tried to do that.

He preferred to enhance himself, and he was an assassin and a warlord more than a general. He fought on his own or in small groups in dark spaces, not in open fields with legions under his command.

His little trick on Mandalore was an exception.

Maul was even able to drink up the negative emotions that Jinn released into the Force. Irritation, worry, things that Maul hadn’t noticed when he had faced the man before. It was probably because the crew had misplaced a little jedi and everyone was in a tizzy.

Maul could have ended the confusion, but where was the fun in that?

Instead he sat with Kenobi.

The boy had somehow managed to develope a fever and Jango had insisted that he be watched at all times. He’d woken up while Clat’Ha was with him, and Maul was fetching lunch with Jango. Every Time they saw the hutt’s on board Maul had to physically stop himself from trying to kill the slugs.

Jango seemed to be able to tell how he felt, even though he was about as close to a Force Null as a man could be, and went out of his way to try and keep him from interacting with them. Outside of food runs it wasn’t hard. They were here for the Arconan Mineral Harvest Company, or whatever they were called, and that meant that they stuck to their side of the ship.

The jedi master, Jinn, was the same.

Maul couldn’t help but note that the ‘ever compassionate’ jedi didn’t show up to help Kenobi until his fever lowered the boys mental shields enough that his distress saturated the air in the room.

When Jinn walked in, Maul stayed perfectly still and watched him go to Kenobi. He lay a hand on the boys brows and did… Something.

Some jedi thing. Maul watched the fever start to fade and Kenobi’s eyes finally flickered open.

Blue. Fuzzy and somewhat delirious.

"H-how?" Kenobi’s voice was hoarse and rough. Maul had the distinct feeling that he was intruding on something here. Strangely, he didn’t care.

"Don't try to speak," Jinn said quietly, "You've had a bad fever, but I've taken care of it. Your wounds turned out to be worse than initially assumed."

Maul nearly gagged on the raw hope that floated off of Kenobi in response. "Is it really you?" he asked.

Qui Gon smiled, the first time Maul had seen such an expression on his face.

"Yes, it's really me."

“Did you come to look for me?” Obi-Wan asked hopefully. Maul nearly snorted. Well of course. This was his master, wasn’t it? Jedi always came for eachother. They were fools like that.

(a quiet voiced asked if he would not have gone after Kilindi and Daleen if he could have. If he was not himself intending on going to find Savage.)

Qui-Gon shook his head. “I‘m on my way to Bandomeer as well. I‘m on a mission for the Galactic Senate. Our missions have nothing to do with each other.”

“Still, we‘re together,” Obi-Wan insisted. His voice trembled with faint hope. “You could show me –”

But Qui-Gon shook his head.

“No, Obi-Wan, that‘s not why I‘m here. Our destinies lie along different paths. Now is the time for you to get to know the people that you will serve. You must forget about me. You must serve the Jedi in ways other than as a Knight. There is honor in that, too.”

He did not say it cruelly, but it was clear that Qui-Gon‘s words struck Obi-Wan like a blow. He tried to hide it, but his eyes were sad and his shoulders hunched.

Meanwhile, Maul was reeling.

Jinn was not Kenobi’s master? Was that why he didn’t have that silly little braid? And, more important, what did he mean Kenobi wouldn’t be a knight? That couldn't be possible! Kenobi was the best of their order, he was the first jedi to beat a sith in combat in centuries, and, at the risk of sounding arrogant, Maul was one of the best trained sith in generations. Sidious, and even his master had never gone out and tested themselves against actual Jedi the way Maul had. Even before his dual with Jinn he’d already begun his head count. He had more true combat experience than the both of them, and it infuriated him in ways he couldn't even begin to describe that he still lost to Sidious.

How could Kenobi not be a knight? It didn’t make sense.

Was this how it had happened before? Or had Maul and Jango’s presence somehow changed Kenobi’s padawanship?

Maul hadn’t done much to change the events of the world besides try to stop the massacre at Galidraan. Besides that he had only been at Orsis, and then Mustafar.

Maul, barely more than a shadow pressed into the corner of the wall, watched numbly while an arconan shyly made his way into the room and introduced himself to Kenobi. Apparently word travelled fast on the ship, and the arconan miner’s had decided that Obi Wan was as much a hero as Maul and Jango for stranding up to the Hutts.

Not that Kenobi had done much besides get strangled and struck. He even said as much.

“Well, sit down and introduce yourself,” Obi-Wan said at last, waving the Arconan closer.. “In this

place, I need all the friends I can get.”

“It seems you are in luck, then,” Jinn said with a mild nod towards Maul. Kenobi’s head whipped around, apparently seeing Maul for the first time. Yellow eyes met blue evenly. He would not look away from this boy. Kenobi looked away first, to the arconan.

“Our name is Si Treemba,” the Arconan said, perching on a chair. The room was getting crowded. “We know yours is Obi-Wan Kenobi. We would be honored to be your friend.”

When attention turned to him again, he said simply, “Maul.”

Maul could see the question on Kenobi’s lips, but he didn’t get to ask it. The door to sickbay slid open. Clat‘Ha strode in with an impatient expression, and Jango at her side. He made quite the impression. Jinn’s shoulders tightened and his hand drifted closer to the lightsaber at his hip. .

“Good, you‘re here,” she said to Si Treemba, who scrambled to his feet.

Clat’Ha turned to Jinn grimly. “We have a problem,” she said crisply. “Someone has been tampering with our equipment. Young Si Treemba here discovered it on a routine inspection. We have three Arconan tunneling machines in stock, and all three have been sabotaged.”

“How so?” Qui-Gon asked.

Si Treemba stepped forward. “The thermocoms that monitor the tunnelers‘ hull temperature have been removed, sir. And the coring couplers have been rigged so that they will not disengage.”

Maul didn’t know mining equipment well, but he recognized most of the words. Thermocoms were used on certain stealth ships entering high density atmosphere’s to avoid blowing up when coming in quick and fast. If the ships overheated they would blow. He imagined that the drills did the same thing.

Then a hutt arrived, and the whole situation turned into a not-so-passive-aggresive show down between Jinn, the Hutts, Clat’Ha and Jango.

Maul watched it with growing irritation. All their problems would be solved if someone would just kill the hutt. He was guilty and everyone knew it.

But the jedi wouldn’t do such a thing.

Maul rolled his eyes when all that came of the argument was hot tempers and bland accusations of specism. Clat’Ha ran off to find her miner’s, with Jango in tow. He shot Maul a look that clearly said ‘stay out of trouble’. One Maul promptly ignored.

Qui-Gon shook his head sadly.

“There is a strong hatred between those two. Neither of them will listen.”

Listen to what? Maul rolled his eyes under his hood. The hutt was crooked and after power and the human was probably little better. A touch more concerned about her people maybe, and she hadn’t tried to get Jango to shoot him in the head, even if it would have been easier.

Joy. Morals.

“I don‘t understand,” Obi-Wan said. “Why did you let the Hutt go? He may be innocent of the crime of which he has been accused. But I‘m sure he‘s guilty of others.”

“Yes, he‘s guilty,” Qui-Gon agreed. “But Clat‘Ha has her defender. As Jedi, we are bound only to defend those who have no other means of defense.”

It was all Maul could do not to laugh outright. He had seen jedi become generals. What would Jinn have done if he saw their precious defenders of peace fight a war and send men to die on their behalf.

“Still, one of Jemba‘s crew has to have sabotaged those tunnelers. Why doesn‘t he try to find out who did it?” Obi-Wan asked.

Qui-Gon answered, “Because if one of Jemba‘s men did do it, it will make him look bad before the miners‘ guild. He might be ordered off Bandomeer permanently. He knows that, so he won‘t point any fingers at his own.”

“Ah,” Si Treemba said. “And Clat‘Ha must feel the same. If anyone learned that one of her workers tried to frame Jemba, the miners‘ guild would be furious.”

“But it shouldn‘t be to hard to find out who really sabotaged the tunnelers,” Obi-Wan pointed out excitedly. His eyes were bright with a spark of determination in them.

Qui-Gon cocked an eyebrow. “This is not your affair,” he warned. “If you went looking for those thermocoms, all you would find is trouble. You must stay out of it. And stay away from the Offworld side of the ship. You‘re not fully recovered yet, Obi-Wan.”

Qui Gon left the trio in the infirmary.

“...so we’re going, right?” Maul asked without being prompted. He looked at Obi Wan, who did look a bit sheepish.

“We’ll need to search anywhere a thermocom could be.”

“They’re small,” Si Treemba said helpfully, and held up his hands to display their size.

“It won’t be too hard to search most of the ship, but the hutts will make it hard when we get closer to them. Best leave those ones to me, little jedi,” Maul advised.

“But, I hardly know you. I couldn't ask you to do such a thing.”

“You’re not asking, and I’m not giving you a choice. Shut up and start looking on this side of the ship, before your master finds out what you’re doing and scolds you.“

Kenobi’s gaze became downcast. “He is not my master. I am not his apprentice, nor am I duty bound to obey him.”

Maul started to grin. He’d never expected such a rebellious streak from him. Maybe there was hope for the little jedi yet, when he was still this young.

“Then fuck him. Let’s go to work.”

Kenobi gaped at him while Maul stood and, with practiced ease, pulled a vent free and vanished inside of it.

#Darth Maul #darth maul time travel #time travel #Star Wars #star wars the prequel trilogy #star wars time travel #obi wan kenobi #qui gon jinn #jango fett #si treemba

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fairiesnova · 4 years

Text

Fun in the Sun

Late entry for the Gratsu Summer Solstice Event run by @fuckyeahgratsu for the prompt: fun in the sun

Note: The kids in this fic are apart of my Erzajane Home is Where They Are series but this fic can be read as a stand alone.

Read on Ao3

“Are you sure you can handle this?” Erza asked shifting from one foot to the other. It was a nervous tick. One that years of staring down enemy after enemy should have gotten rid of. But Erza did not stand before him as guild master of Fairy Tail. No, Erza stood before him as a nervous parent hesitating at the thought of separating from her children despite them both knowing she needed the break. The tell-tale signs of pure exhaustion were written all over Erza’s face weighing down her body. It wasn’t too obvious of course, this was Erza, she still keep that level of grace in her movements and a blank stare to ward off any prying questions. But he knew Erza and so did Gray.

Natsu looks over to his husband to find him staring worriedly at Erza. Gray’s teeth sunk into his lower lip in a way that made Natsu’s eye linger before traveling up to the eyebrow scrunched high on his face. He too could see what Natsu saw and knew they needed to do this.

With practiced ease, Natsu called a wide cocky grin onto his face. “Oh, come on Erza, we’ve babysitter for you a bunch of times remember?”

But as Gray and Natsu could see though Erza’s facade, she could see through theirs. She narrowed her eyes at them. “Rhea. You babysat Rhea alone. I’m warning you now that this is not the same. Rhea has always been self-sufficient even when she was younger. Andre can be…difficult sometimes. Toddlers are a lot of work.”

Gray interrupted this time moving closer to the mother. “Stop trying to scare us off Erza, you know that only gets us fired up.” Natsu’s grin turns into a smirk as he redirects his attention to Gray. “Stealing my lines now Snowflake.” Gray gives him a challenging stare back but says nothing. The two just smirk at each other like idiots in the Scarlet-Strauss yard speaking a thousand words without a sound. Erza always held strong for their guild, for Gray and Natsu, no matter the cost to her. That type of behavior had led to her self-destruction more than once, and each time the boys were there catch her before she fit the ground.

There was no way they were going to leave without the kids.

At that moment, the door opened again, and Rhea walked out. Heading their instructions, she brought along with her a bathing suit and towel carried on her cake-shaped backpack. The eleven-year old looks between her two rowdy uncles and her tired mom. Secretly, she had noticed that both her mothers had looked more down the last few weeks. Between issues at the guild and Andre tearing through whatever he could get his hands and/or teeth on, her mothers were always fixing problem after problem. Rhea tried to make up for it by being extra good. She cleaned up after herself and did her chores without her mother’s asking. She even tried to talk to Andre about being good too, but he just stared and giggled at her as if she were telling a joke. Rhea wasn’t anymore immune to that cute giggly face than her parents and ended up on the floor reading him stories.

Still. She was going to keep being good for her uncles as well. Especially since they seemed blissfully unaware how much of a little terror her brother has been for the past few weeks.

Mirajane smiled at Gray and Natsu and so did the little person slobbering on her dress. Andre giggled as Gray made silly faces and went willingly into his arms. Her turned to shoot a I-told-you-we-could-handle-it look at Erza only to be stopped by the same look of hesitance that flashed over Mirajane’s face.

At this rate, they’d never leave. Gray and Natsu exchanged looks again and subtly nodded to each other. It’s game time.

Gray started down the pathway with Andre in his arms and Rhea following right behind them. Natsu waited for them to move further down the road before stepping forward to grasp both women’s shoulders. “Listen, you two deserve this break. We all know how hard you’ve been working both at the guild and at home. Me and Gray handle the kids for a few days, just trust us alright?” Without waiting for an answer, he kissed both women on the cheeks and grabbed the baby bag Mirajane had brought along with her. With another reassuring grin, he headed to meet his lover.

“Natsu wait-” He turned to see Mirajane and Erza’s hands intertwined. A look of sincerity on their faces as they whispered, “thank you.”

This time, the smile that came onto his lips was genuine.

He and Gray had spent hours arguing over where the best place to spend a week with little kids was. They had come to a standstill glaring from opposite sides of their kitchen table when Happy’s fish went sailing through the room and ended up dropping between them. When Natsu turned to yell what the hell was that for! Gray’s eyes had lit up in the mesmerizing way.

Now here they were in a 5-way race across the beach. Happy won of course, the cheater, but Natsu gladly headbutted Gray out of the way allowing for Rhea to race past him. In retaliation, Gray picked Natsu up off the ground and swung him around under the eyes of a giggling Andre. Andre had given up on trying to race on his short unsteady legs pretty early and instead seemed content to run his fingers through the sand and watch his uncles wrestle. Rhea was celebrating her victory with Happy by trying to bob for fish underwater. At the sound of a scuffle, she raises her head and turns to the fighting men fight men on the beach. She jolts up out of the water when recognizes her uncles. “Are they okay?!” She askes Happy worried. The blue cat just rolled his eyes. “Yeah they’re fine. That’s just their version of fun. Come on, the fish aren’t going to catch themselves!” Rhea hesitates, but as she looks back she could see the little details she missed before. The light tone in their voices as they called insults back and forth, the smiles they exchanged when one managed to pin the other, the way the hands lingered and caressed the other in between moves. In that moment, they reminded Rhea so much of her own mothers when they bickered back and forth just to have an excuse to get closer to each other. With a smile she decided that Happy was right and they continued their dives.

The rest of the day passed by in a splash.

Natsu tried to teach Rhea how to swim while Gray wadded around the shallow end with Andre on his hip. Then they broke for lunch and devoured the triangle sandwiches Mirajane had packed. Shortly after eating, Andre fell asleep on Natsu’s chest while the rest of the gang built sandcastles. They spent some more time in the water until the sun started to set and both kids movements began to slow. They were in the process of packing up their stuff when Gray placed his hand gently over Natsu’s, “so, kids hun?”

Natsu squeezed his hand back. He didn’t need to respond to the question verbally. The look exchanged between the two lovers spoke a thousand words.

#gratsusummer2020 #gratsu #gray x natsu #erzajane #erza x mirajane #ftlgbtales #ftlgbtfics #femslash fairies #minerza #fuckyeahgratsu #fuckyeaherzaxmirajane #my writing

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bebepac · 4 years

Text

WIP 08.05.2020

Couldn’t resist using a Five Gif on the 5th for my WIP Wednesday post. I’m actually trying to see what I can do with a TRR/Umbrella Academy crossover. I really want Rumor to be the cause of something crazy to happen in TRR. We’ll see what i can come up with there.

Up first, the one that got all the Drama

The Crisis

Pop’s Place Chapter 8

* still in writing process*

Jason’s fatherly instincts kicked in immediately. He pulled Mia close to him. Jason was trying hard not to cry himself as they quickly wheeled Pop’s stretcher into the hospital as they were frantically working on him.

He gently stroked Mia’s back and hair trying to soothe her. Jason glanced at Liam. His eyes welled with tears. Both the kids were terribly upset.

When Mia composed herself a little more, they walked inside the hospital and were led to a private waiting room. The room made Jason immediately nervous. It was a small room, away from the main waiting rooms, and they were the only people in this room. It looked to him like the kind of room, the hospital used to deliver bad news in. Considering how Pops was brought in, they were probably preparing for the worst case scenario. Jason wasn’t at church often as he should mind you, but in this moment he felt he had to do something.

He looked at Mia, who still had a tight grip on his hand. “Would you like to pray with me?”

Mia nodded, as more tears fell down her cheeks.

Liam could count the number of times he’d ever been to church on one hand. But he nodded as well. Because he would do anything it took to help Pops make it.

Mia reached for Liam’s hand, and they stood in a small circle.

“Heavenly Father, we come to you not for ourselves, but for someone that is extremely close to us. We come to you for Kelvin Jones, Pops. He is a loving Father and Husband, Mentor, and Friend. We ask you to wrap your arms around him and touch his heart and heal it. His work on this earth is not done yet. Heal him Lord, so that he may continue his work here on earth surrounded by all those people he loves and loves him. Please give us this miracle Lord, as our hearts and souls are heavy right now. These things we ask of you, in the name of the Father, the son, and the holy spirit. Amen.”

“Amen,” Liam and Mia said together.

Jason wiped the tears from Mia’s eyes. “I’ll stay with you as long as I can okay?”

*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^* next up *^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*

Time to Say Goodbye

Fast Forward Chapter 14

*still in writing process*

(You may have been wondering what happened to Von after Chapter 9 the Round Table this chapter takes us through that as half of it is right after Liam got home from the hospital post surgery.)

“How is he?” Von asked.

“He’s asleep again. He was awake to eat, and shower, and hug the kids for a little bit. But he fell back asleep.”

“How are you Riley?”

“I’m a mess. He was dead. Liam was dead. And in those moments those minutes I thought he wasn’t coming back, something happened in me. I still love him Von, and we have to try to fix what is damaged about us. And I know in my heart that’s not what you want to hear. I know you came here for me. I knew it when you walked through the door. How you still feel about me, I feel it radiating off you. And I know you feel like you made a mistake when you left me that day in New York. But you didn’t.”

“Yes I did Riley, because I lost you.”

“I don’t think you would be where you are today with your music if I had gone to California with you Von. You wouldn’t have made it.”

“How do you figure?”

“I wouldn’t have waited this long, with so much inconsistency in my life. That part of me is just like my Dad, Von.”

“Yet you came to a foreign country for a man you had spent a night with.”

“My intent was only to spend a week here with him. A week turned into forever because I fell in love with him. I knew he was my forever. When you take vows Von, they’re for better and worse. I’ve hit the worst part. And I have to work through it with Liam, and I want to.”

Riley wiped her tears away.

“You think I’m making a mistake.”

“Yes, one that could end your life or the lives of your children. What if he doesn’t change Riley?!?!?!?! You’re pregnant, you have to think about the baby you’re carrying. Please come back with me.”

*^*^*^*^*^*^*^* next up *^*^*^*^*^*^*^*

The Crown Visits the South

University Student Ellie Chapter 2

*still in writing process. nearly complete*

Riley went to Triangle Town Center to get Liam a few lighter weight lighter colored outfits. It had been a while since Riley had been at a clothing retailer as all the clothes she owned were tailor made to perfectly fit her body. Riley laughed thinking of her husband still stark naked standing in front of the air conditioning unit. Riley came back to the hotel room to still find Liam naked.

"You know… it's ironic now I am finally seeing you for who you are Liam Rys. When we had that time period where both Adam and Jaiden hated wearing clothes, you insisted they got it from me. That naked time wasn't a thing you did."

Liam sat up. "Because I get it, and this feels so good. Get naked with me Riley."

"I was born in the day Liam Rys not yesterday, and we legit have 45 minutes before dinner. That’s not going to be enough time for us, if I get naked.”

“You’re right my love.” He looked Riley over. “You’re all mine tonight, after we get back from dinner.”

Riley changed clothes, and Liam put on the light weight linen suit Riley had picked up for him. Liam sighed contentedly.

“No flaming balls?” Riley asked

“No flaming balls My Queen.”

They met Chris and Emily for dinner at Sullivan’s Steakhouse.

“You have to try the cheesesteak egg rolls, Riley you will love them.”

“They sound strange and weirdly delicious at the same time. I’m in.”

*^*^*^*^* end of chapter teasers *^*^*^*^*^*

Still in the pipeline: The thoughts are still bubbling on these, as I don’t have anything more concrete on them to do a teaser as of yet or since last week: Life of Riley Chapter 17: Summertime in the NYC , and At Long Last.

Tagging some peeps that might be interested in some teasers and some writers yo peeps what ya’ll up to

@queenjilian @dcbbw @burnsoslow @axwalker @indiacater @cordonianroyalty @glaimtruelovealways @sophie-and-shizuku @kingliam2019 @gabesmommie1130 @hopefulmoonobject @hopelessromanticmonie @queen-arabella-of-cordonia @islandcrow @batgirlassociationofgothamcity @jared2612 @lovablegranny @queenwalton @sanchita012 @mom2000aggie @gkittylove99 @mrsdrakewalkerblog @choicesficwriterscreations @kimmiedoo5

#bebepac writes #fast forward #pops place #University student ellie #trr fanfic #trr fandom #trh fanfic #trh fandom #trr mc x drake #maybe trr mc x liam #trh mc x liam #king liam of cordonia #queen riley #riley brooks #umbrella academy #umbrella academy crossover

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anika-ann · 4 years

Text

Hands Too Cold, but Heart of Gold - Pt.3

The Mission

Pairing: Steve Rogers x reader, Matt Murdock x reader (no SR x MM x r)

Word count: 2700

Summary: Avenger!reader AU, love triangle. Mission in progress; You’re going in. Spoiler alert: it goes about as well as Steve expected.

Warnings: violence, blood, swearing, banter, unconsensual drug use (kinda?), injury

Story Mastelist

────── ·❆· ──────

“Alright, guys. We’re clear about everything? I’m coming in first, opening the door for you. Natasha, you’re with Clint, you’re going after Vasiliev and intel. Frosty and Daredevil are onto the girls and their guards. Tony, try to get to the basement level, I’ll join you as soon as possible. Questions?”

“Won’t Secretary Davis be pissed about Frostbite coming to save his daughter instead of Captain America?” you noted, a bit annoyed that you actually had to ask that question. You couldn’t care less and you were actually fine with your task, but… sadly, this was politics too, not just a rescue mission.

Steve sighed. “I’m the leader of the mission. I’ll be everywhere, that has to be enough.”

“What’s in the basement?” Clint questioned and you could see a shadow of worry covering Steve’s face as he put on his helmet.

“I don’t know. And I don’t like it. That’s why I’m sending the least vulnerable people there.”

You gulped, chill running down your spine. You didn’t like they should be going there just the two of them. “You should wait for us.”

Steve shook his head. “Can’t do. If there are weapons the guards can use against you, we need to secure them.”

“Goddammit, Steve! You told me-“

“You have your orders, Frosty. Follow them. You know this distribution of resources makes sense as it is,” he shut you down, his blue eyes piercing yours in warning.

You knew he had told you something he didn’t want to tell the others and you shouldn’t have pulled it out. But you trusted his instincts and you felt like this was the source of his concerns and the others should know that.

You raised your chin, crossing the short distance between you and the Captain.

“You don’t go there alone. You stay with Tony.” He escaped you gaze and you grabbed his forearm. “Steve.”

He looked back at you, his eyes burning with honesty. “Same goes to you, Snowflake. Everyone. Don’t do anything on your own. We’re a team. Don’t forget that.”

As if someone could ever forget being a teammate to any of you – you were all a bit too special for that. But you could see what he meant.

The team nodded in agreement, gradually leaving the jet. They ‘parked’ it about a mile from the building Tony had located the girls in, nothing but woods around you. You kinda envied Tony his suit – what you wouldn’t give for a flying suit to avoid the running right now. Or any time, really.

Alright, stop whining. Let’s do this.

────── ·❆· ──────

You hated Steve sneaking in alone, but he was your best shot; he could be the most subtle apart from Natasha, who lacked the super-strength needed for breaking the locks. You could have frozen the locks, made them fragile and broken them easily, but Steve was better at hand-to-hand combat, which allowed him to get rid of the guards. Also, his body was less vulnerable. You agreed with Steve being the best choice; however, that didn’t mean you liked it.

When he opened the back entrance for you, you couldn’t supress the wave of relief; he seemed unharmed. It was ridiculous, because the mission barely started, but you hoped that from now on, he wouldn’t be alone.

“The hostages are in the west wing of the building,” Tony’s voice sounded in your ear and you nodded, glancing at Steve one more time. He smiled at you warmly before taking off.

“Stay safe,” you murmured as if he could hear you.

“Let’s go,” the Devil encouraged you softly and you both broke into a jog. Time to save some sorry asses.

The Devil turned out to be a good partner in crime – he always stopped you before taking a turn, warning you when someone was close, which gave you enough time to prepare yourself and won you the element of surprise. Also, he totally kicked ass; so far you had had the opportunity to see him in action once, because your own opponent had already been knocked out, and if you would say you didn’t forget how to breathe when seeing his quick sharp blows, you would be lying through your teeth.

“You okay?” he had asked you then and you had just shaken your head to snap from your trance and beckoned to him to move.

And then there was the door. The door, because Daredevil tilted his head to side, his hand on your forearm to pull you closer.

“Fifteen heartbeats. Four of them younger and scared. That’s our girls,” he whispered almost soundlessly into your ear and you bit your lip, nodding in acknowledgement.

“Weapons?”

“Few riffles.” His jaw tightened. “Probably knives, it’s hard to tell. There is no wood or water in the room as far as I can tell, but there’s lots of metal, the sound is bouncing off it – I think the girls are on the floor, leaning their backs against it.”

You stared, awe-struck, forgetting to try to imagine the picture he was drawing for you; instead, you were watching him as he had a look of the highest concentration on his half-face.

“You okay?”

You blinked, waking up once more. Jesus, get a hold of yourself, loser. “Yeah, sorry. Just… it’s incredible.” He seemed puzzled. “What you can do.”

A brief smile raised the corners of his lips. “Thanks. Not too bad yourself. Work your magic.”

You obeyed, touching the round doorknob, its metal immediately covering in a layer of ice and spreading to the whole door – its temperature dropped enough for the molecular structure to change.

Daredevil spared one more glance at you and the two of you simultaneously kicked out; the door shattered as if it was made of thin glass.

All hell broke loose. You barely managed to disarm two shooters by icing their weapons before a spray of bullets rained your way and you had to take cover behind one of the metal cabinets, the Devil throwing his billy clubs and disarming two others while knocking one out.

“I’m icing the main alley, you okay with that?” you hissed over the distance and he immediately nodded.

Your hand hit the floor, sending a thick belt of ice down the route – to your satisfaction, you could hear the gunmen curse and few of them went down with a thud and blind gunfire to the ceiling as they slipped.

A second later, the path was clear of ice, the distraction allowing you to attack again while the Devil sneaked into one of the smaller alleys, surprising the men from behind.

Freezing their hands was the priority; the weapons fell on the ground one after another. Unfortunately, that also meant the men went after you and they were really pissed. The ones who could still handle to carry some kind of a weapon switched to blades; Daredevil had been right.

You did your best to fight off everyone who came at you, using an icicle through their limbs when necessary. It was a method far from your favourite, but it was efficient when needed.

The floor was quickly covering in a layer of bodies of unconscious men. It took them a while to realize that their buddies were being attacked from behind by Daredevil – idiots, lots of them.

Receiving a kick to you lower back sending you into a cabinet, making your belly meet the edge, put you into the category of idiots too.

Shit, how had you missed this one? You quickly turned, still leaning onto the cabinet and blocked his lunge by kicking his stomach, making him stumble backwards. Next thing he knew, he was frozen to the wall and you punched him unconscious.

You spun on your heels to look for another opponent, ducking on instinct – a second later, a knife was sticking out of the wall in the same level your head had been.

A crack echoed in the room, followed by an agonized scream. Your gaze shot in that direction immediately, seeing the Devil cracking a guy’s wrist and dislocating his shoulder. You winced. With the man being the last one standing, you only guessed he had been the one to throw the knife. And Daredevil just elbowed his face, his own teeth barred in a savage grin which only a fool would call a smile. The man fell to the ground.

“Remind me to not to piss you off. Ever,” you panted, approaching Daredevil’s masked figure. His hands were clenched in fists, his chest rising and falling rapidly, but he seemed fine. He snapped his head higher to face you better, his posture relaxing just slightly.

“Same goes to you,” he beckoned to one of the bastards who had their thigh stabbed with an icicle, impressively big even for you.

“Didn’t have the time to be gentle.”

“Incoming. Six more men. Fair sharing? Four for me, two for you?”

You gaped at him, not sure if he was kidding or not. The smug was so evident even on his half-face and you just couldn’t-

“Wipe that smirk off!” you hissed at him, laughing, spinning to the girl who didn’t get the memo and hadn’t hid yet. “Go to the corner, take cover. Things might get messy again. Anyone hurt?”

You took the zero response as a no. Devil confirmed your theory. Because of course he would know. He knew fucking everything.

“Which door?”

Daredevil beckoned to the one that were still in place. You grinned, creating a layer of black ice right away. They deserved a proper welcome. Daredevil gathered his weapons and prepared himself too.

Three fingers on Devil’s hand raised.

Two.

Now you could hear the gunmen too.

One.

You hit the ground with your palm once more and let the black ice spread under edge of the door too – they threw it open with their balance already shitty. You and your partner used the advantage immediately. They were disarmed before they even realized what was happening.

The Devil was right in the end – you only got stuck with two opponents, the thugs probably assuming you were the lesser problem. Sweet summer children… the winter is coming, bitches.

By the time you were done with yours, Daredevil was still fighting two of his own, one of them just throwing himself on the armoured figure; you quickly created ice for his feet to be stuck in. He almost lost his balance from the momentum with his feet suddenly disabled. The Devil sent the other man down with a powerful hook, soon elbowing the one standing pretty much frozen behind him to his face. The man lost consciousness immediately, his body going limp; you released his feet.

“Thanks,” the Devil called out and you spent one precious moment shooting him a smile. A second later, his billy club flew inches from your face, successfully taking down a guy behind you that you apparently hadn’t knocked out properly.

“Thanks,” you parroted, your smile faltering. Sloppy.

“That’s why we’re partners, right?”

For a second, you lost yourself in the lopsided grin he gave you. Shit. You heart. His smile widened.

“Get a room,” one of the girls whined and you snapped from your trance, squatting to her to untie her hands. “Thanks.”

“Fuck,” Natasha cursed in your earpiece and you tensed. Had not everything gone as smooth as with you and DD? “Steve, get out of there. NOW.”

Your heart must have stopped that second; she sounded as if she was panicking. Natasha Romanoff never panicked.

“What is it, Romanoff?” Steve asked lowly, a little out of breath. You could hear him fighting and your feet itched to get to the basement. But someone had to stay with the hostages.

“I’ll go,” Devil whispered, brushing your arm and you wordlessly pleaded him to rush. He disappeared in the doorway.

“Just get out! It’s a set up. They’re experimenting, developing an antidote to the serum that-”

She was cut off by gunshot and you sprang to the door as well.

“Stay in position, Gerda! I’m heading his direction,” Devil’s voice sounded in your ear and you had no doubt he was talking to you. You forced your feet to stop, gritting your teeth. If you weren’t so on edge, you might appreciate the nickname he had come up with.

“Steve, run,” you ordered adamantly, silently praying and absently checking on the four girls in the room. They were just bait. Vasiliev knew that taking Secretary’s daughter was a way to get Captain America here. Fucking shit.

Come on, Steve, don’t be a dick, don’t play hero and just get your ass out of there. It’s over anyw-

Three more men burst into your room. Shit. So much for things being over.

You didn’t worry about getting them seriously hurt now. You froze their guns first, their shocked screams echoing in the room as the icy metal gave them an immediate frostbite. Then you created a layer of black ice under their feet, their lunges in your direction ending up in their limbs tangled together. Some of them were frozen to the floor by hands, some of them by their feet, sides. You didn’t give a fuck. You knocked out all of them, stabbing one of the other goons who came back into consciousness with icicle through his forearm. He roared in agony and passed out again.

A different scream made your blood run cold.

You never heard that sound before, but you were sure as hell whom it belonged. It was Steve’s. Steve was in pain. And in horrible pain, because you had never heard him scream.

“Shit!” Tony cursed through the comms and the sound of his repulsors came next. “Romanoff, get the documents on that substance and head to the jet. I’m bringing him in and calling Banner right now.”

You barely heard him over Steve’s cries, though they were falling silent. You didn’t think that was a good sign.

And then they died out completely.

For a second, the world stopped. Everything froze as if you had blasted your energy, yet nothing went cold. No, the time itself must have frozen.

“Get out of your asses!” you yelled after the girls, startling them all. You were coming to the jet right now, all of you, because you couldn’t leave them here, but you wouldn’t worry about the goons. Others would take care of them or the clean-up squad of agents coming after. You needed to see Steve. Now. “NOW!”

The girls shrieked, but complied, stumbling to their feet.

“Move it,” you hissed. “Down the corridor, stay close so I can protect you, but for fuck’s sake move.”

You barely heard them muttering something under their breath, your pulse too loud in your ears.

Steve was hurt. Steve was probably injected with some fucking anti-serum and— you blinked away your tears. Not now. You would see him first and then came to catastrophic conclusions. Not now, not now…

The way out of the building was endless.

“Faster!”

The girls immediately did as you ordered. They were probably scared of you; you couldn’t care less. Your friend was in unbearable pain. And shit, you felt cold all over your body. You hadn’t felt that for a while.

Tony had cut himself off, so you couldn’t hear him until you stumbled into the quinjet, seeing his figure hovering over Steve’s, lying unconscious on the improvised bed. There was a hologram of Bruce’s face, Natasha flipping pages for him; at your incoming, she handed the file to Tony and went to help you with the hostages.

“Stay here,” you hissed at the girls, pacing to the bed.

Steve’s back arched, his body in spasm and you gasped, reaching for him.

“Don’t touch him now, let it be.”

“You’re kidding right?!”

“He’s right, convulsing person shouldn’t be held down-“

“Read you fucking files, Bruce!” you shot back, but clenched your hands in fists to stop yourself from touching Steve. You vision blurred.

“Hey, cool it, Elsa!” Tony snapped at you, trying to make a sense of the files as well. “We’re trying! You have a Ph.D. you haven’t mentioned ye-“

“That’s it,” Bruce called out, astonished. “She needs to cool him down until you get him to me!”

Glares of everyone in the room locked you in. You tensed, horrified at the suggestion.

“You want me to WHAT?!”

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Part 4

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Tags: @mermaidxatxheart, @murdermornings, @elisaa-shelby

As always; anyone wishes to be added/removed, shoot me an ask or a message.

Thank you for reading!

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hhgossip · 4 years

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HIDDEN HILLS WEEKLY ISSUE #1

IN THIS ISSUE OF HIDDEN HILLS WEEKLY, WE ARE TALKING ABOUT THE OUTRAGEOUS LIFE’S OF OUR VERY OWN RESIDENTS IN OUR GROWING GATED COMMUNITY! FROM LOVERS REUNITING TO A MESSY PUBLIC BLOWOUT BETWEEN TWO FORMER LOVERS! LET’S GET STARTED HIDDEN HILLS !

BREAKING NEWS: ANNIKA BADIE AND JAYDEN HANSEN CAUGHT ARGUING OUTSIDE OF NASHVILLE’S FAMOUS GAYLORD OPRYLAND RESORT !

a night that started out like any other award show: full of glitz and glamor, some good music and laughs, rewards and praise for a years worth of hard work. who knew ( or could predict ) it would end with tears and a public screaming match ? the 54th annual country music awards were nothing short of spectacular, and a proud moment for some of our very own hidden hills residents. margarita trejo, performing her award winning song the bones winning awards for female vocalist of the year, song and single of the year. cameron nelson, performing his newest hit cold as you, winning awards for male vocalist of the year and album of the year. as well as annika badie performing her newest single hole in the bottle winning the award for musical event of the year. cameron nelson and annika badie ended up honoring country music sensations brad paisley and carrie underwood with a spark-filled tribute performance of the duos song “remind me”. the set was the first time the two artists had collabed since nelson’s last tour where badie starred as his opening act. it was a memorable night with huge names all coming together for a night to celebrate country music with stars like: morgan wallen, eric church, miranda lambert, carrie underwood, brad pasiley, hosted by reba mcentire and darius rucker. the evening ended with hansen and badie caught on camera linked hand in hand singing along trejo’s closing performance of the bones, their son lorenzo ( age 5 ) seated happily between the two. after parties were roaring throughout the night in the streets of nashville, though it seemed that two of the award winners opted out of the festivities. fans and hotel staff say that badie was seen in the hotel bar hours later alone, chatting with some fans as she ordered the house a round of drinks and shortly after nelson showed up. the two had a few drinks, talked, and eventually ended up leaving together.

neither were seen until the next morning, nelson photographed leaving the hotel on his own, everything seeminly returning to normal or so opryland resort staff and guests thought it safe to assume. roughly an hour later, sources say there was a noise complaint to about the suite belonging to badie and before security had the opportunity to address the situation and ask the occupants to tone it down, staff say jayden hansen ( father of annika’s only child ) was overheard yelling in the hallway something along the lines of, “enjoy your flight back to wherever it is you decide to go. either back to hidden hills or cameron’s room.” the "peter pan” songstress was seen shortly after running after hansen barefoot in nothing but a t-shirt asking him to come back to her room and talk. neither jayden’s team or annika’s team chose to comment at this time, both teams saying badie and hansen asked for privacy and thanked fans for respecting their wishes at this time. though it was hard to ignore that only a day after her arrival back in hidden hills, badie was photographed outside fellow songstress isabelle amor’s home neither nelson or hansen in sight. so does this mean the end of jayden and annika ? is there a budding romance between country’s newest and most sought after bachelor cameron nelson and country vixen annika badie ? or is this the beginning of a new messy southern love triangle ? we’ll keep you updated, but we hope for the sakes of all involved that fans get some good music out of the dramatic events of this past weekend !

BACK TOGETHER: ZEKE KING AND ISABELLE AMOR CAUGHT OUT AND ABOUT SHOPPING FOR JEWLERY!

the heart wants what it wants, doesn't it ? well hidden hills residents, ever since we got the word that isabelle amor, 28, moved into our lovely gated community, we all have wondered when she and former beau, zeke king, 27, ( also know as isaac king ) were going to bump into each other ! it looks like it’s finally happened, maybe it just had to happen beyond our closed gates ?! here’s what we do know that the former lovers were spotted in a jewelry shop together. king was reportedly there for about ten minutes before amor arrived to the shop. employees stated that both celebrities were well mannered and very kind to them. the big question on everyone everyone’s mind ? why they were both at a jewelry store in the middle of the day ?

well our sources tell us that king was checking out the engagement ring section and while amor came in not long after initially asking for a birthday present for a certain someone in her life before king had caught her eye ( or so they were trying to make it seem ). the singer was the one who reportedly greeted the talk show host and actor. according the the employees, the two stood there talked for about an hour, and they were said to be nothing but smiles and laughs. king even asked her what type of ring that she liked the best. belle pointed at one and according to employees and said, “i think this one is the most beautiful one they have, it’s the one i’ve always wanted.” with a smile on her lips. now there were no signs of king’s current girlfriend, nicole hampton who he’d recently rekindled with after her mid-august almost vegas wedding to actor theo dean or either heartthrob’s children. is there trouble in paradise for hampton and king ? are our favorite problematic off again on again duo working towards making things take a turn towards on again ?

WEDDING ON PAUSE... : JORDYN GELLER AND CALEB WALSH PUT THEIR WEDDING ON HOLD A G A I N!

just a few short weeks ago, NFL linebacker for the LA chargers caleb walsh took to twitter to announce that he and long time lover model and singer jordyn geller were in fact weeks away from the wedding we’ve all been waiting for. in late 2018, only a week before their orgininal wedding date, the power couple confirmed their split for the first time. sources close to both families say the “i hate u i love u” singer caught cold feet and the couple spent a year apart. though both had some very public flings in that time, eventually geller and walsh reunited. they’ve both said their reunion was almost inevitable when walsh’s football season came to an end and he found his way back in hidden hills.

though many were excited to see our favorite lovers confirm they were in fact back together, not everyone was happy about it. zeke king, close friend of geller, has countless times on twitter poked jabs at the idea of his disapproval - as well as caleb’s ex-girlfriend annika badie. that didn’t seem to stop the love birds from deciding to head back to the idea of heading to the altar. after months of speculation from the public and fans on twitter, caleb walsh comfirmed the question on many people’s mind: he and jordyn were in fact engaged. the wedding was set for novemeber 10th at the montage hotel in laguna beach, the couple was said to have spared no expense and it was set to be the wedding event of the year but to everyone’s surprise ? the wedding was put on hold. and no, this time it wasn’t per jordyn geller’s request. it was because of scheduling conflicts on the hotel’s end and walsh’s games. will these two ever really say i do ? i guess time will only tell !

CHEATING SCANDAL: SPENCER STONE AND LANIE SINCLAIR FIRST A BABY NOW THIS ... !

lanie sinclair was spotted early friday morning leaving the home of her ex fling, 5 second of summer band member spencer stone. neighbors tell us the young actress was seen leaving the house with her two young children, wearing a shirt that appeared to have belonged to stone. we can only imagine what happened between spencer and lanie that night. the two are currently expecting their second child together, even though they both are in a relationship with other people. fans of sinclaire and stone seem to “ship” the pair together more than they do with their actual partners ! could the two be rekindling their romance ? only time will tell. we have reached out to representatives of both parties and lanie’s boyfriend and girlfriend ( scout kessler and paige ricci ) and spencer’s girlfriend ( frankie hart ). we have not received any comments from those involved, but we cannot wait to see how this unfolds.

#hidden hills weekly.#hidden hills weekly : 2

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silverdragon-imagines-blog · 4 years

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Counter Clockwise - Chapter 2 - Dawn of the First Day

[Here’s the next chapter of “Counter Clockwise” the second fic in my “Threatening Darkness” series. Again, I’d like to remind you to check the tags and warnings before you read this, just in case. And let me know if I need to change the tags as well. I hope you enjoy ^u^]

[WARNING(S): Body horror, Trauma from past adventures, Emotional/mental abuse.]

Read it on AO3

The next morning, Time awoke to the sound of murmuring. It was quiet, coming from across the room where Twilight and Four had slept. He focused, feigning sleep while he tried to listen in

"-thing wrong"

"-world-"

"-memories?"

"-find them-"

Time decided it was enough, opening his eyes and getting up from the bed, halting the conversation in its tracks. He glanced at them, seeing both Twilight and Four looking at him worriedly as he reached to put on his armor and boots. Wild seemed to slowly be stirring, sitting up and rubbing his eyes.

"Glad to see you're all awake." Time said, Wild flinching into alertness, "We should get moving soon. Wild, I'm sure you have something in that Slate of yours for us all to eat, correct?"

Wild nodded, grabbing the Slate and pulling out a few apples, passing a few around to everyone. There was no conversation as there normally would be during breakfast. It was too tense, they were all too nervous, though Time had no doubt that some of that worry was for him rather than their missing companions. Soon enough, they finished the meager meal, gathering their items up to leave. When they approached the Reception Desk, Time noticed Anju standing there, looking older than she had been, yet so much happier now than before. He so badly wanted to talk to her, but there wasn’t time. He needed to move on, needed to find the missing heroes, and quickly.

The clock was ticking…

They left shortly, exiting the building and leaving through the East Entrance to the expanse of plains that made up Termina field. In the distance, Time could see the looming form of the Stone Tower Temple, just as ominous and imposing as before. He shuddered, memories of the Garo and ReDeads that lurk there appearing subconsciously, along with the other horrors that occurred there. He shook his head, ridding the past from his mind if only for the moment, and saw his three companions looking at him.

"You know this place, right? Where should we go first?"

Time thought it over, Ikana was closest, that was true, but he could feel the dread welling up at the thought of stepping foot in there. They would be unprepared, not to mention the enemies that lurked there. It was just too risky. Snowhead was also not far away, yet that too would be dangerous with what little they had. Then there was the Great Bay...

"We're going to circle the town. Check the Great Bay first." he decided, and the others nodded, following Time as he began heading towards the beach.

It was just as he remembered it really, a vast beach of white sand with a flock of seagulls flying overhead. The Temple visible in the distance, and the fishbone guitar marking the grave and serving as a memorial to the departed Zora, Mikau. He must have hesitated upon seeing it, the flowers near it were fresh, as though someone had been there recently to place them on the sand, and Wild seemed to notice it too. The scarred teen walked past Time, moving closer to the memorial.

"Mikau, legendary guitarist of the Zora tribe..." Wild trailed off, a faraway look in his eyes.

Twilight must have caught on to the look the other had, realizing that his protégé could very well go into a memory here, and he pushed past Time to stand near him, a hand placed carefully on the teen’s shoulder. He looked back at Time, an unspoken agreement to stay with Wild until whatever memory he regained passed. With a nod of his own, Time and Four headed closer to the water, looking out at the Bay. Getting to the Temple, as that was the only place Time would think that one of their group would be, was going to be difficult. As it was, he couldn’t get there on his own, much less with a passenger.

Time could see the cave that led to the island where Lulu was, but he knew he would need to find a way to it through the water. And as far as he knew, Four couldn't swim.

"Follow me," he spoke, leading Four through the cave.

There were no monsters to greet them, which was a small mercy. Gazing out across the water, there would be no way for Four to come with him... unless...

"You can hold your breath, correct?"

Four nodded, though he seemed confused at the question. With that confirmation, Time reached into his bag, hand closing around the mask- no- the soul of the Zora musician. He put it on, instantly feeling the pain that comes with transforming his Hylian body to that of a Zora, and yet, it hurt worse than it had when he was on his second adventure.

He could feel his eyes changing to ones that were more suited to seeing through the water. Fins sprouted from his arms and sides of his face as scales grew to cover his body. His hands grew webbed between the fingers and his feet much the same. The armor he wore melted and changed to suit his new form better, the weight growing slighter.

As quickly as the pain came, it left. Time turned to Four, where he was standing open-mouthed in shock, and he chuckled at the sight before bending down slightly for him to climb on his back.

"As soon as I hit the water, hold your breath," his voice, mixed with that of Mikau's, warbling as the other Zora's voices did.

Four confirmed that it was fine again, and with a running start, Time's body hit the water. He tried to navigate through the water quickly, Four moving his hold around Time's neck for a better grip, attempting to not jostle his passenger with his sudden movements. He tried to be mindful of his passenger, moving quickly but trying not to jostle the other with his movements. As they got closer, he surfaced, letting Four take a few breaths while he determined the distance left to travel. He swam the rest of the way with his head above the water, letting Four get off at the beach of the small island.

As he climbed onto the island himself, his gaze landed on the Zora cloaked in purple standing near the center of the island, hands clasped at her waist. She didn't look any different than she had when he first met her, save for how she seemed much more at ease, less sad than she had been. She seemed surprised by the two, but as she looked at Time, she started smiling. There was no way to fool her, she had known that he wasn't her partner shortly after rescuing her children, and yet she hadn't seemed to mind that he had looked so like the departed Zora.

"It's nice to see you again, Link."

Time, still wearing the Zora mask, smiled.

"Likewise, Lulu."

Time got out of the water fully, moving over to her to explain the situation, how they needed to get to the Great Bay Temple. Four stood off to the side, gazing at the island they were on and to the far off island that had to be the temple. Turning around, he looked back towards Clock Town, eyeing the ominous-looking Moon hanging above the clock tower.

'Looks like the old man wasn't lying.' Blue huffed, and Four found himself agreeing.

There was something there though, he couldn't place what exactly was bothering him. As he zoned out, keeping his gaze on the top of the Clock Tower, he thought he saw a figure standing there underneath the moon. Too far away to see, and yet, he felt as though they were familiar though he couldn’t place why.

"Hey, Four, Lulu is gonna help us get to the Temple." Time spoke up, and Four snapped out of his thoughts, paying attention to Time.

The elder hero looked slightly worried as Four made eye contact with him, though it was harder to tell with how he looked now as a Zora.

"You alright?"

"I think so..." Four shrugged, turning his head back to the tower in the distance, "something just... feels familiar. Or at least, it feels off... It doesn't matter though. I'm ready to go whenever."

Time folded his arms, a flash of concern appearing on his face until Lulu began to sing behind him. Soon, rising from the water, a turtle as large as an island approached, palm trees on its back swaying with his movements. Time looked fond as the creature approached, and Four found himself smiling along with him.

"Four, this is the deity that protects the Great Bay."

The great turtle seemed happy as it saw Time, more so when he finally removed the mask. Four could see the relief on Time's face as he returned to his Hylian form. After a brief discussion, one that Four couldn't quite catch, they both were on the back of the turtle, heading for the Temple of the Great Bay.

Entering the Temple was the easy part. And that was the only part that was easy. Though the puzzles were all completed, and the way to the Boss Room was clear, the water made it difficult to move through it.

'We really should've learned how to swim' Vio helpfully supplied, Four rolling his eyes in response and accepting his fate of being carried through the Temple on Time's back, holding his breath when the other donned the Zora mask and swam through the maze of passageways.

As they reached the last platform, a spout of water between them and the Boss Door, Four spotted a familiar scrap of fabric on the ground near the door. Quickly jumping over to the platform the door was on, Time bent down and picked up the knitted blue fabric, torn and coming apart, with a single golden triangle still visible.

"Warriors was here."

Four could see the way that Time began to shake, clutching the scrap of Warriors' treasured scarf. It may not have been well-known amongst the group, but Four knew there was some sort of connection between the two. The way that both of them seemed to feel at ease with one another and the few pranks that Time had pulled on the captain... This must have been hard to take.

"He's going to be fine, Time," Four reaffirmed, and Time seemed to come back to himself, carefully pocketing the scrap.

“I know…”

They both stood, facing the door and with a nod, they entered, seeing a gaping hole in front of them. Time donned the Zora mask again, motioning for Four to follow. They both jumped in, landing feet first onto a platform surrounded on all sides by deep water.

There was no indication that Warriors was around, no way of telling where he could be. The room wasn't very big. Then, they heard a laugh. An echoing laugh that seemed to come from all around them, causing the two to whip their heads around, trying to locate the source.

Shadows began to surround them, coming out of the water and gathering into a more Hylian form. Soon, Dark Link stood before them, shadows obscuring his features except for the piercing red eyes.

"Well, well, well. Look who decided to join us." he spoke, beginning to approach the two, "I'm surprised that you managed to get this far, Hero of Time. You didn't feel crushed by the weight of your past?"

Time flinched at the words, and Dark's eyes narrowed in glee. The shadows began to lift from Dark's form, showing Warriors, scarf and all, save for the piercing blood-red eyes and the razor-sharp grin on his face.

"And now you're searching for him, isn't that right." Time began to shake as Dark changed forms again, looking just like Time had when he was in the War that had consumed Warriors' world.

"If you want your dumbass big bro so badly," his voice warped, sounding more like Time's had, "then come and get him."

The shadows exploded outwards, cloaking the room around them and blocking out any and all light. Dark's laughter echoed around them, putting the two heroes on edge, Time shaking in barely concealed horror.

'How could he have known that nickname? How did he know about that time in his life?'

"Time, we need to focus. C'mon, you need to help me out here." Four called out, backing into Time to grab at his arm. The other flinched for a moment, relaxing once he recognized Four.

"Just tell me what to do, Time." Four spoke again, letting go of Time's arm and holding out his sword. "We can take this guy."

"So you think, Hero of Minish," Dark spoke again, his voice much closer, almost as if he was next to Four, "And yet, you seem to be missing an important piece."

Four swung his sword in the direction of Dark, anger burning bright and blue in his arms and eyes. Instead of a cry of pain, however, there was a very. Loud. Shattering.

Four fell to his knees, the pieces of mind crying out as one of them spiraled into panic and guilt, the rest following. Time began to move in front of his downed companion, sword raised to strike at an unseen foe and protect the best that he could. There was no way to fight him, not now. There was just no way.

It was hopeless.

A small light began to shine, piercing the darkness. Time looked down at Four, seeing his sword shining with the four colors on his tunic. The other stood, seemingly unaware of what was happening. With a swipe of his sword, the shadows were cut and Dark's laughter ceased. The room was no longer obscured by shadows and sprawled out in the center of the platform at Four's feet was the unconscious form of the Captain.

Time felt distress crawl up into his throat, a strangled noise escaping him as he approached Warriors. He placed a hand on the others' neck, feeling a slow but steady pulse.

'Thank Hylia for this, for keeping him safe'

Time glanced back at Four, who still stood with a faraway look in his eyes. He looked tense, eyes flickering with different colors, enough that Time could tell something was wrong.

"Four?" he tentatively called out, and the other turned to him, still not back in the present, "Warriors is safe now, we need to get back to Twilight and Wild."

Four took a deep breath, closing his eyes as he did so. Then releasing it through his mouth. Repeating this motion a few times, Four seemed to regain his senses, opening his eyes to reveal their usual light brown color.

"I'm okay. It's okay," he mumbled to himself, sheathing his sword and then crossing his arms, gripping his hands into his sleeves as though holding himself. "'m sorry you had to see that..."

Time looked worried, reaching out a hand for Four to grab while he held on to Warriors with the other. Four grabbed his hand, the center of the platform erupted with light, and the two were whisked away.

When they opened their eyes again, they were back on the beach, Wild and Twilight running towards them where they had appeared. Warriors was beginning to stir, and the sun was starting to set in the distance. He stood, carrying Warriors as Twilight led them back to the Inn. Wild and Time stole glances at Four, still gripping at his sleeves, mumbling to himself. They could only worry.

#linkeduniverse #linked universe #linkeduniverse fic #hero of time #Hero of the Four Sword #Dark Link #silver writes #threatening darkness #//body horror #//emotional/mental abuse #//trauma from past adventures #[body horror starts when Time puts on the Zora Mask and ends in two or so paragraphs]

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idk-maybe-i-did-it · 4 years

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Scars: Year four, Chapter seven

Remus Lupin x Reader

Warnings: Implied neglection at home, scarring,

“ Hey Remus!”

The taller brow haired boy turned his head to look at the person running towards him. He immediately stopped and went to help her pick up the small suitcase in her hands, which she could carry herself with ease. " You know I can carry that right Re?" He turned and nodded once more before wrapping his arm around her shoulder. Remus thought something was missing on her face and he just couldn't piece together what it was.

" My parents are gonna love you."

_________________________________________

The two of them stood and waited for the other three boys to catch up before they boarded the thestral driven carriages headed for Hogsmeade station. They entered their compartment in the train soon after leaving the carriages.

Remus sat next to Y/n by the window in an attempt to calm her nerves. " How do you know they'll like me Rem? What if they hate me and make us stop talking?" She had been the pulling on the ends of her hair and biting her lip slightly in anticipation and it was just killing Remus to watch her do that.

Soon Remus couldn't handle her nerves and ranting. He pushed his hands down on her shoulders and forced her to meet his eye. " Y/n love, stop worrying. There're going to love you. My siblings'll love you and they'll love you too. Just trust me okay." She let go of her hair and nodded.

He sighed and let go of her shoulders before slumping back against the seat and waiting for the train to come to an end.

The full moon was next week and he wondered if Y/n remembered to bring the ingredients for Wolfsbane with her.

Oh Godric he hoped she did.

Eventually the train came to a stop and the group of teens had to get off. Peter immediately spotted his parents and left to go with them, James and Sirius spotted the Potters and the two adults gave all four of them hugs before departing with James and Sirius.

Y/n turned to Remus and looked around. " Do you see them Remus?" He shook his head as a no before turning back to the crowd and stretching up to see even further back.

After around three minutes the two of them heard someone call his name.

" Remus! You're back! Mum and Dad and Kiya and Mare are waiting for you and your girlfriend at the car. C'mon I was sent to find you two." A little brown boy around the age of seven started tugging on Remus's hand before he squatted down and scooped him up in his arms.

The little boy squealed and buried his face In Remus's collarbone before releasing and looking behind him at Y/n. The kid cracked a grin that showed all high shiny white teeth before waving his hand quickly. " Hi, I'm Y/n. I'm assuming that you are Jamal?" She asked the child politely with a smile while they walked.

He jumped down from Remus' arms and ran into hers where she happily picked him up and held him at her hip. Remus looked back and smiled as he saw them bonding together. His hand soon found its way to her small suitcase and he held both of their small collection of things while he walked in front of the chatting pair.

Soon enough they reached a car with a family of four waiting besides it. Almost immediately after Remus set their two bags down he was tackled to his knees on the ground from hugs. A taller girl who looked about 18-20 with faded reddish brown hair in a pixie cut with overalls was now holding him in a headlock while a younger girl who looks to be seven with pigtails tied in a braid at the back of her head was squeezing the air out of his lungs. Eventually the two let him go and helped him up before two adults stepped up to him.

Remus's mother, Hope, looked to be about and inch or two taller than Y/n and his father, Lyall, looked to be a head or two taller than Remus; which was quite a difference considering Y/n's head came up to Remus' neck. His mother immediately engulfed him in a loving hug after he had knelt down and after letting go she took his face in her hands, examining for new wounds most likely. After her embrace Lyall shook hands with his son, ghost of a smile on his face.

Y/n stood to the side and watched the loving embraces with a sad smile. Yes, she was happy he could experience this with his family but having to watch its still brought a pang to her heart all the same.

The last time she had felt safe and welcomed in her family was when her parents were still together and the divorce papers were yet to be thought of.

Jamal poked her cheek and grabbed her face in his hands, turning it side to side.

" What's wrong N/n? Why do you look sad? Are you not hugged at home? Do your parents not give you love and affection? If you're not hugged at home then I'll make sure to give you huggles every day and show you love and affection too!" She smiled at the child. " You're sweet Jamal..."

Remus turned and noticed Y/n was slightly downcast so he thought of a way to light her face up.

He turned his head and bent down to present Y/n in a comedic way. He turned and moved his arms in a showy way to present her to his family before waggling his eyebrows making her face flush with embarrassment. The eldest girl came up to her first and shook her hand with a smile before the youngest girl came up and attached herself to Y/n's legs making them buckle slightly.

The kid buried her face in Y/n's calf before she looked up at her with an innocent smile, " Hi pretty lady, I'm Kiya. What's your name?" Y/n's face flushed for the second time in the past minute and Remus had to cover up his laugh with a hacking cough.

Jamal leapt out of her arms before standing next to Kiya and telling her something under his breath so no one would hear. " Pretty lady's name is Y/n and I promised I would give her lots of hugs because she doesn't get hugs at home!" He then proceeded to make a Superman pose and salute the taller girl and his adoptive brother. Hope walked up to Y/n and took her hands in her own.

" I'm Remus' mother but you can call me Hope. You must be Y/n, Remus never shut up about you last summer. You're just like he described you as,

" Beautiful H/c hair, sparkling E/c eyes, soft S/c skin, and you just happened to wear the shirt he anyways describes you in too! It's a pleasure to meet you at last Y/n." She stopped rubbing circles on the backs of Y/n's hands and engulfed her in a motherly embrace.

She stood shocked at first before melting into the hug and relishing in Hopes arms.

Just one thing confused Remus. Was Y/n not loved at home?

And Remus made sure to take not of how shocked she was at first and how relaxed she was after.

Those reactions were unusual for Y/n, but they were the same ones Sirius had after first meeting the Potters, and the same one Jamal had after first meeting the Lupins.

Soon Hope pulled back and Y/n had a small giddy smile on her face, Remus thought it lit her face up and made her shine. Yet, she did well to remember how, 'Remus never stopped talking about her'.

The girl slid into the cars backseat next to Remus and nudged his rib age with her elbow, " So, couldn't shut up about me huh?"

Remus' face flushed and he lightly shoved her shoulder, " Shut up."

____________________________

Once they reached the Lupin household the children and adults exited their vehicle and Remus grabbed the two small bags that belonged to both him and Y/n. When they walked in he waited in anticipation to see what Y/n thought of his small home, her mouth stood slightly agape as she turned around in their home slowly.

He stopped in the living room and rubbed the back of his neck expectantly. " So, how'd you like it. I mean, I know that it's small and not really much but- but it's home."

To his surprise she turned to him, " It's wonderful Rem. Absolutely, wonderful. And it feels so homey." The backs of his ears turned pink and he nodded.

Y/n picked up her small bag before following Remus up the stairs and to his room. After kicking the door open he threw his suitcase on the bed before taking hers and doing the same thing except delicately; in case the potions ingredients were in it.

Y/n took a moment to observe his living space before turning her attention back to him.

His walls were lined with bookshelves and even with that in mind he still had piles of books splayed haphazardly across the room in random places. He also had a desk in the top right corner of the room and his walls were a dark blue color. He had a full bed placed diagonally in the top left corner so there was a triangle behind it where the bed singled off into it and the sheets were galaxy print, he also had a tall, not his height tall, brown dresser in the bottom left corner of the room and a small bathroom in the middle of the beds wall.

" Well, I hope you don't mind but Kiya and Jamal share a room and Mare refuses to share a room so you're stuck in here with me. And I know it's dorky and really cheesy but don't be mean about it okay?"

She cracked a cheeky grin and looked up at him, " I think it suits you."

He nodded and cocked his head to the side to get a better view of her face.

Something ticked in the back of his brain and he knew there was something off with her face. He just couldn't put his finger on what. Remus reached out and cupped her face in his hands causing her to flush again, while he attempted to figure out what was missing. He looked at the pink color carefully dusting her cheeks before it clicked.

The scar on her nose, it's gone, which is odd because she had it yesterday.

Remus squinted his eyes and when he looked closer to her face that there was a dusty power coating the part of her face, just distinguishable if you looked close enough. And he soon realized that she had covered the scar in some of Kayla's make up.

Remus pulled away and walked away to grab a rag. Once he got back his large hands once again cupped her face as he gently brushed away the powder covering her face and scar. It didn't take long before he could see the mixture of light purple and dark red of the jagged cut across her face start to appear.

After he finished that task he disposed of the rag and traced a finger over the cut on her face. " Why would you want to cover it up Y/n? My family wouldn't judge you because of it. If anything they would probably just ask you where you got it and if you needed help. Besides, when you keep it covered up I find it harder to find you in a crowd because you're so short."

Remus tried to lighten her mood up a bit with the last joke, which indeed did have an effect on the girl.

She reacted by elbowing him while he laughed and help up his arms in surrender. She huffed in malice. " I'm only three inches shorter than you dipshit!" Remus laughed at the girl and she smacked his arm lightly only fueling his laughter.

After he calmed down Y/n started to talk, arms crossed over her chest, leaning against a wall. " I don't really know why I covered it up other than just not wanting them to see it. I mean, I know that they'd probably try to give me something to help it heal but other things come along with it too."

Remus quirked an eyebrow at her after she showed no signs of continuing the sentence. She sighed and looked down at the ground. " If they see they're going to get suspicions Remus, and suspicions are the last thing I want right now."

This statement only added to his list of questions and made him even more quizzical. " Why would you be worried about suspicions, I mean there's nothing to worry about unless you have a reason to keep the suspicions hidden Y/n."

Y/n stayed quiet after that and Remus's head started to churn with questions and newly uprooted suspicions. " Wait is that why you're wearing lon-"

Luckily for Y/n, Hope had called for them to come down for dinner, sparring her from Remus' questions. Before they could walk out the door she grabbed his elbow to stop them.

" What am I going to tell them, if they ask questions?" He glanced back at the girl before continuing to walk, " Just tell the truth Y/n..." He reached back and grabbed her hand before pulling her along after him while rubbing small circles on the back of her hand.

Remus led her over to the table and they sat down in the last two places. The Lupin family tried to hide their lingering gazes and additional glances at the girl but it was hard to do so. Eventually Y/n started to get annoyed so she decided to voice her thoughts, " I know you have questions. If you want to ask, just go ahead and do so. The stares are becoming slightly agitating."

Everyone slowly quieted down and Kiya meekly asked, " are you like remus?"

Y/n's mouth opened slightly and she shook her head slowly, brows furrowed.

Mare spoke up next, " Do you want something to help it heal faster Y/n? Remus should have something that can help." Remus shook his head a second after the question and said, " I ask her that question everyday and she always declines."

Mare nodded slowly, Lyall and Hope exchanged a look before returning to their food and Jamal stayed oddly quite through the entire exchange.

After everyone was done Hope had asked Y/n if she wanted to help her with the dishes and she told her yes. While her and Hope washed the dishes Remus and Mare played cards at the table nearby and the little ones were playing with their toys in the living room.

The main reason for why Remus was playing cards with his sister was so he could think through all the suspicions he had about Y/n. He was just about to beat Mare at garbage when he heard a tinkle of glass breaking. His and Mares heads both snapped over to the sink where Y/n had just dropped a glass and was now standing frozen to the spot, eyes wide with fear. Or horror? Remus couldn't piece it together.

After a moment of silence Y/n snapped out of the phase and crouched to the ground, scooping up the sharp shards of glass in her hand, in turn collecting blood. " Y/n stop. Drop the glass you're going to make yourself bleed!" Hope sank down next to her and grabbed the glass shards from her hands in a napkin before handing them to Remus. " It's only a bit of blood though..."

Y/n kept her head down as she stared at the floor, as if expecting Hope to yell at her for something. " No, Y/n dear I'd rather lose a glass then see you collect blood from picking it up. If you can see blood somethings wrong. Come over to the table and I'll fix your hand up."

Before she left Y/n meekly said, " but mum says if you see blood you're doing something right..."

Remus went over and helped Y/n up from the floor before taking her hand in his and examining it. In Remus' opinion that was not a little bit of blood. Practically her whole hand was bleeding.

Remus guided her back to the table and sat her down before Hope came. Mare had left soon after the interaction occurred, leaving the three of them alone.

Once Hope had sat down and started to clean her hand up Y/n feebly asked,

" You're not mad at me? You're at least going to yell right?"

Both of their heads shot up after that and they didn't see a trace of joke on the girls face. Hope soon finished bandaging her hand up before leaning on her elbows and looking at her. " Why would I yell at you for breaking a glass? It was an accident and we can very much just buy a new one. Did you expect me to get mad at you and yell?"

Hope paused and looked into her face.

Y/n opened her mouth and quickly said,

" You can yell if you want to. I mean, I won't smart-mouth back or blame you for anything."

Remus looked at his friend and started piecing things together.

Hope pulled the girls hands into her own and looked into her eyes.

" You didn't expect me to backhand you did you?"

Y/n's composition changed entirely after that question and her voice came out feebly and weak, " you mean you're not going to?"

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Kiya is pronounced like Kiya from Avater the Last Airbender/Legen of Korra's Kiya: (Kya would be better but I liked to spell it this way)

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