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heartfeltcierra · 1 year

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Reacting to you making/giving them a friendship bracelet Pt. 2 (Zoro, Luffy, Sanji, Bartolomeo, Sabo and Law

AN- I hope you enjoy part two of OP character receiving a friendship bracelet! (You can find part one that included Roger, Ace, Shanks, Marco and Doffy here)

MasterList

Characters- Zoro, Luffy, Sanji, Bartolomeo, Sabo and Law

Warnings/Contents-Fluff, All SFW, Mentions of fights, Law's is a little angsty and a bit longer.

I'll be posting a marine version tomorrow night including Koby, Garp, Smoker and Issho

ʕ•ᴥ•ʔﾉ♡ More under the cut

Zoro

🍶 Zoro was confused at first but smirked seeing what it said “Best swordsman huh?” “You need to make one for curly brows that says “Dumbest cook.”

🍶 Immediately took that back saying he wants to be the only one you make bracelets for

🍶 He noticed there was some spare room on the bracelet, so he came up with a idea to fill the blank spots

“You were pretty tough.” Zoro said, putting his swords back into their sheath. “I’ll get my girl to add you to my bracelet.”

“Excuse me?” Despite being half dead, the bloody man lifted off of the ground with a rather angry expression. “What the hell does that mean?”

“You see this?” Zoro bends down, showing the man the many beads decorating the bracelet. “They represent my victories, and since I won against you, she’ll add a bead to it.” The man could only give Zoro a baffled look knowing he was now nothing more than a mere bracelet charm. “Anyways, nice fight and all but I gotta go. Which way is the exit?”

“To the left.”

“Thanks.”

“You fool, that's the right!”

(To bad the bracelet doesn’t have a GPS)

Luffy

🍗 Rubber boy was very excited when you gave it to him

🍗Would walk up to strangers to show them saying “Y/N made me this, I bet you're jealous!”

🍗The only person that was genuinely jealous was Sanji

🍗 Tries to take good care of it, note TRIES

“Y/n…..” You look and see Luffy peeking his head into your room with an unusual gloomy look on his face.

“What’s wrong Luffy?” He padded over to you and laid the bracelet, or more like parts of the bracelet in front of you.

“It broke earlier during the fight. ” You knew from his tone he felt bad. “I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay!” You rummaged through the remains and smiled realizing the damage wasn’t irreversible. “I can fix it.” The frown on your captain’s face was finally replaced by that wide smile you know and love. “I’ll even make it more durable so it’s harder to break!”

“You’re the best.” Luffy nearly sent you to the floor as he snaked his limbs around your body. “Also can you make one for my other wrist?”

“Sure what do you want it to say?”

“Meat.”

(I mean it’s Luffy, what did you expect?)

Sanji

💛-You might as well have proposed to the man

💛- Picks you up immediately and starts spinning saying “We might as well plan our wedding~”

💛- A little bummed to hear you weren’t proposing, but is still eccentric that you made him something

“What kind of fighter doesn’t use his hands?” The beaten looks up at Sanji

“Listen pal, my hands are only meant for two things. For Cooking…” His serious face scrunches up to his signature lovestruck idiot. “And for wearing bracelets made by my dear Y/N-Swan~”

(Please make this man more bracelets)

Bartolomeo

💚 -His soul ascends into the clouds seeing that you made him something (Bonus points if your a straw hat pirate)

💚-Would fall to the ground and cry for a good half hour claiming he was “unworthy.”

💚- But despite loving the bracelet, he NEVER wears it

“Look at what was bestowed upon me.” He proudly holds up a small display case. “A friendship bracelet handcrafted by none other than Miss Y/N.”

The entire Strawhat lovers congregation would ooh and awe at the encased bracelet.

“I could sit all day and bask in the sheer awesomeness.” Bart hits the floor with tears running down his face. “I just…I love her so much.”

“Oh no boss man’s going down!”

“What do we do?!”

“I don’t know, but we better figure something out. Were losing him!”

Luckily after a cold towel and some fanning, the Barto Club was able to revive their green haired leader.

(Please do not make this man any more bracelets , unless you want to send him into a coma.)

Sabo

🎩- You had no idea what you were really getting yourself into

🎩-You know how people flex their engagement rings? Yeah Sabo’s going to do that… a lot

🎩-“Oh this thing? Well my beautiful Y/N hand crafted it for m-“ Would go on and on when literally no one asked 💀💀💀

“Y/N come quick it’s Sabo!” You follow Hack in a full blown panic as he leads you down to the RA’s infirmary.

“Sabo!” You see him lying in one of the beds breathing heavily with a towel on his forehead. “What happened?”

“Y/N….” You rush to his side and he takes your hand in his. “I’m sorry. But…” Tears roll down his face. “I promise I did everything in my power to save it….”

“To save what Sabo?”

“My…..my…..MY BRACELET.”

….

“I’m leaving.”

“Why?” 🥺

“Sabo you literally went into shock, scared everyone half to death and ended up hospitalized , over a bracelet.”

“But it’s not just any bracelet.” He frowns. “You made it for me.”

“And I’ll make you another one.” You playfully roll your eyes. “So tell me what exactly happened to it?”

“To be honest, I burned it off accidentally.” He nervously scratches the side of his head. “I’m still not quite used to my new powers.”

“I see.” You nod. “I’ll see if I can somehow make one that’s fireproof.”

“You will?” The blonde smiles and wraps his arms around you, pulling you down with him on the bed. “I love you so much!”

“I love you too.” You let yourself relax into his hold. “With that being said, can you promise me that you'll never do this again?”

“You have my word not only as the chief of staff, but also as your overly dramatic boyfriend….. that I may do this again.”

(Sabo is a absolute drama queen and you cannot tell me otherwise)

Law

🫀- And the crowd goes mild

🫀- Literally had no initial reaction

🫀- Law would stare at it, then back at you, then back to the bracelet, then back to you

🫀- Poor man is not good at showing his emotions, so bear with him

“Why?” Law gives you a confused look while staring at your labor of love.

“Because I wanted to.” You shrug your shoulders, a little hurt seeing the lack of reaction.

“I see.” Law doesn’t put the bracelet on, instead he puts it in his pocket. “Thank you.” He immediately turns his attention away from you and goes back to working.

“Sure” You turn away with a frown. “I’ll go now, see you later.”

The second you leave the room Law is pulling that bracelet back out of his pocket while sporting the deepest shade of red on his cheeks.

He was so caught off guard and over the moon because of how cute and excited you looked while giving it to him that he completely went brain dead.

But he was now back to his senses and remembered the frown on your face as you left the room.

~~~~

You were laying on your bed sulking when you heard a knock on your door followed by a “It’s me.” You recognize your boyfriend's voice, but you're still hurt from earlier so you don’t reply. Instead you bury your face deeper into the pillow

“SHAMBLES.”

“I didn’t say you could come in…” You spoke into the “pillow” which is now none other than Law.

“You also didn’t say I couldn’t.” His tattooed arms pull you closer into his chest.

“Guess not.” Despite being angry at him, you can’t help but enjoy the closeness. “Is there something that you need, captain?”

“Yes there is actually.” Law says in a matter of fact tone “I have a very important task to assign you to.” You look up at him completely confused. “I need you to make me a bracelet with our jolly Roger on it.”

“You want another bracelet?” You pull back from his hold. “I didn’t think you liked the first one I gave you.”

“I didn't like it, I loved it... see.” You smile seeing the bracelet was in its rightful place on his wrist. “So do you think you can do it?”

“Of course I can.” You jump up from the bed and run over to your desk that was covered in different colors of twine. “I’ll work on it right now!”

Law feels relieved seeing the smile he fell in love with back on your face. Mission accomplished. He was about to leave the room to let you work, but couldn’t help but notice a huge pile of bracelets sitting in a basket on your dresser.

“Damn Y/N you really like making these don’t you?” Law said while rummaging through the bracelets.

“Law, wait!” It was too late, he was already holding the cheesy couples bracelets you made out of self indulgence. “I umm. I just made these for fun..”

“Oh really?” Law smirks while spinning the bracelet around his finger. “If you don’t mind, I think I’ll take this one with me.”

“Are you sure?”

“I’m sure.” Law nods before throwing the other bracelet into your lap. “And you should wear yours too.”

Law leaves you an embarrassed mess, but at the same time, despite his “cool guy” act, he was just as embarrassed if not more. Why does she have to be so cute???

(Won’t say it out loud, but is loving the fact he now owns a bracelet that say “I ❤️ Y/N”)

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lisbeth-kk · 3 months

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Sherlock fandom.

Chasing Ataraxia

Always in motion, if not physically then mentally, the latter sometimes being more exhausting than the former. His brain never rested, and it made him frantically tug at his curls in despair before seeking out Mycroft and later Victor. Both were able to distract him and his thoughts that were whirling around in circles, making him dizzy.

Mycroft wasn’t exactly the physical type and encouraged Sherlock to use his brain by solving puzzles. Oddly enough, that calmed him because his thoughts were focused on one matter instead of creating chaos, firing all sorts of information at him in a constant loop.

Victor took him on adventures with their wooden swords and tricorn hats, playing pirates at the shore of the lake. Sherlock was happy and free in those moments, laughing heartily, his brain occupied with finding hidden treasures and chase the invisible enemy.

***

The six-year-old boys cried in each other’s arms the day before Victor’s departure to Canada.

“Why can’t you stay with me?” Sherlock wailed. “We have a big house. You can sleep in my room. There’s space for you there.”

“I want to, Lock, but I can’t. Perhaps you can come visit?” Victor said while stroking Sherlock’s hair.

Sherlock looked at Victor with red-rimmed eyes and hope rose in him.

“Yes!” he exclaimed. “I will. Promise.”

Sherlock’s hopes were shattered by Mycroft.

“Canada is far away, Sherlock. It’s better that you realise now that it’ll be difficult to travel that far, than to keep your hopes up. I’m sorry, brother mine,” Mycroft murmured when Sherlock threw himself into his arms and cried until his throat was sore.

***

“I’m going to find a new friend,” Sherlock stated when school started again.

“Be careful, Sherlock,” Mycroft warned him. “Not everyone is like Victor.”

As always, Mycroft was right. Sherlock was a passionate boy; it was all or nothing. When he got older Sherlock realised that his search to find another best friend and soulmate was a fool’s quest.

In his Greek lessons at Cambridge, he read about Ataraxia, which was described as a kind of freedom from disturbance in the mind.

The phrase hit him like a fist to his solar plexus. That one word described just what he wanted to accomplish. He did sometimes manage to get the feeling from the drugs, but it lasted too short, and the aftermath was taxing.

***

When Greg Lestrade decided to trust Sherlock, some of the excitement from his days with Victor came back. He got to chase visible enemies through a city he knew better than any cabbie, and his brain focused on puzzles. It was perfect except from one thing; he was alone on his adventures. Mycroft was no use anymore with his intricate government work, always too busy to pay his brother much attention.

Where can I find someone who’s willing to share this crazy life?

Sherlock knew he had built solid walls around himself. For protection against bullies, but he had a door in those walls. A door with a keyhole.

When John Watson lent him his phone at Barts one of the last days of January, Sherlock gave him the key to that door when he asked him to meet him at Baker Street the next day.

After John had tested the waters with him at Angelo’s, and later had shot that awful cabbie, Sherlock knew his search was over.

@flashfictionfridayofficial @totallysilvergirl @keirgreeneyes @calaisreno @safedistancefrombeingsmart @phoenix27884 @gregorovitchworld @helloliriels @topsyturvy-turtely @raina-at @peanitbear @sabsi221b @a-victorian-girl

#flash fic friday #sherlock fandom #sherlock #john watson #sherlock fanfic #bbc sherlock #johnlock #FFF237 #a fool's quest

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vveakfish · 6 months

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do you have any thoughts about the core four whose gender(s) are basically just a trans fruit cocktail that you would like to talk about? because I would love to listen

oh boy DO I !!!

I have So Many thoughts about them Anon, so thank you for giving me an excuse to try and put it into words beyond “Damn, these bitches trans! Good for them.”

Honestly, there are so many different ways to explore these characters genders based on how you choose to interpret their life experiences, and their aesthetic changes, and their relationships with each other. I am of the belief that any of them could be trans in any direction

But, that said, I Do have particular gender headcanons for YJ that i am very fond of, so thats what I’ll be talking about today.

(Small disclaimer. I have not finished all of the comics referenced in this. I am using the information i have to inform these, but you know, i might come back to this post at some point in the future and look at it like “wow, i don’t agree with any of this anymore.” And i think thats okay.

I’m just here to have fun, and i thoroughly enjoy these little guys, and think abt them alot, so enjoy

(also if you dont want to read 4.1k words of blorbo gender analysis, or would like to avoid spoilers for Superboy (1993), Young Justice (1998) & (2019), and Red Robin (2009) in varying degrees of detail, or you just want to see what lables i assigned them, scroll down to the bottom <3))

lets get started.

Bart:

Bart's gender is the most complex, but his thought process about it is also the most simple. I think his view of gender would be very much influenced by the fact that he grew up in VR in the future like…

A body is just an avatar, do what ever the fuck you want with it.

That said, the lil guy has always given me transmasc vibes. These vibes, however, are by no means binary.

He understands that in the 21st century a lot of people do not have his sort of “throw things at the wall and see what sticks” approach to gender, so he’s okay with being put in the box of Boy™. But his gender is a lot more * hand waves vaguely *

Clothes don’t have gender in his eyes, they’re fabric you put on your body. Wear what ever you want forever!

Bart in skirts is something i have seen many people draw/talk about before, and its something i agree with wholeheartedly. He likes hair clips, and like, those loud (actually loud and visually loud) beaded bracelet type things that ravers wear. He like nail polish. He doesn’t grow facial hair, but he wouldn’t care if he did. He’s not on hormones, but he definitely considered it for the bit. “Gotta drink my boy juice” Kind of vibes.

For him gender has Nothing to do with performance, its all about comfort. About wearing what feels right, regardless of whether or not he’s adhering to expectations of masculinity.

Yes, he Will wear that god awful outfit out of the house, haters can die mad

Cassie:

Anon, I need you to understand how much i love early yj98 cass. She is everything to me — her process of coming to terms with herself, and being able to watch her start to feel at home in her own skin. It makes me absolutely feral.

lets see if i can explain why… succinctly

When we first meet her in yj98, her identity as “Wonder Girl” is this sort of amalgamation of What it Means To Be A Hero in her eyes. She has her party city blunt bob wig (Because Diana is who she looks up to), the gloves, leather jacket, goggles combo (that so clearly take inspiration from Kon).

At this point in her life Wonder Girl is not really her. Its very clearly a mask she’s putting on. which is what makes it the perfect avenue for her to explore gender expression without it having to actually be about her gender.

I think the part that specifically makes me feral though is her… we’ll call it admiration of Kon.

The girl is a self proclaimed Superboy stan + theres all the weird not-drama between Cassie and Cissie over wanting attention from Kon. (And i say Not Drama bc its like… Kon flirting with cissie (which like… have you met 90’s Kon?? he flirts with everything that moves) and Cassie being upset that he’s Not flirting with her. and cissie is just along for the ride. She’s not quite as much of a flirt as kon is, but she has her moments)

All of this to say i feel like its impossible to have a conversation about Cassie’s gender without also talking about her experiences with comphet and lesbianism.

At the beginning, Cassie sees Kon — this cocksure, conventionally attractive boy with powers that (at first glance) seem very similar to hers, and felt something about it. And, in the way of teen girls who have been told since grade school that they’re supposed to like boys, Cassie comes to the conclusion that what she feels for Kon must be romantic in nature, right?.

All of this, the jealousy over Kon and Cissie flirting, basing her costume off Superboy’s (intentionally or otherwise), the fact that she wont let her team see her without the wig and goggles at all for so much of yj98. To me it all reads as the tangled mix of undiscovered lesbianism and gender dysphoria that the poor girl simply doesn’t have the words to define yet.

So, then what IS cassie’s deal with gender???

i am so very glad you asked.

She, too, is a transmasc of the nonbinary variety.

I think her relationship to femininity is complex, and ever changing. She doesn’t feel comfortable performing femininity the way the world expects her to, but she is also part Amazon. And i think having a relationship with both Diana and Donna would greatly influence how she felt about femininity as a whole.

The Amazons are strong, their femininity isn’t about beauty, or being soft spoken — it isn’t about Men at all. On Themyscira, to be a Woman is about bravery, honor, skill, and in some ways, divinity. Getting closer with her Amazonian sisters would change her relationship to womanhood immensely.

But it still wouldn’t feel Right. She would be able to see that womanhood can be defined differently, but that wouldn’t change the connotations that womanhood had as she was growing up. She’d never be able to lean into it the way Diana or Donna do — they both grew up only having woman defined as strong and brave and confident. Their experiences are not analogous.

The baggage of growing up a girl under the patriarchy wouldn’t just… vanish because she sees that it Doesn’t have to be that way. In some ways, the knowledge that it didn’t have to be that way could make her dysphoria all that stronger (especially if she hasn’t quite deciphered that dysphoria is what she’s feeling).

but i think there would be a point where two things sharpen into focus for her.

fiirstly she has a big fat crush on cissie king-jones.

and second (which would only come AFTER realizing her feelings for cissie) is that what she feels for Kon is Not the same as what she feels for Ciss.

She didn’t want to be with Kon romantically, she just wanted his gender.

I could see her experimenting with wearing a binder, liking that she can get rid of her boobs if she isn’t feeling them that day.

She already has her short hair, and her leather jacket and jeans, and shes big and buff and strong (because she deserves to be butch!!! okay???).

I still think she would use she/her pronouns, but she wouldn’t be picky ab it (if she gets called sir while at the pizza place, she’s not going to correct them.)

But here’s the kicker — I think leaning hard into her masculinity would be EXACTLY what she needs in order to actually ENJOY expressing femininity again.

When putting on the mask that is ‘womanhood’ becomes something that she can Choose to do, rather than something that is being forced on her, it can be pleasant. Like playing dress up.

She has a new appreciation for it, especially since her friends respect her gender, and she knows at the end of the day, when she takes the makeup, the clothes, and the wig off, underneath it all she’s just her.

(Small addendum re: TT’03 Cassie’s fem phase. I have Many thoughts about this as well, and while they end up in roughly the same place, i exploring her experience with comphet and her decision to dress in a more traditionally feminine in that run is something id like to explore in another post (once i’ve actually read the run too.)

Cissie (bonus):

This one should be shorter than Cassies, mainly because my reasoning for it is much simpler.

YJ'98 (#11)

She lists all these names, all of them feminine except for Fucking Ralph. “One weird phase” she calls it.

To me, Cissie is a transgirl through and through. She has this huge list of femme names she tried on while she tried to find the one that fit best. She mentions ralph in this off handed way, as if its not important, and i think thats just her way of dismissing her deadname as something of little consequence.

(that said, i think there’s lots of fun to be had with transmasc cissie, or tried transing-her-gender and realized it wasn’t for her Cissie. But as a transfemme, tgirl cissie is So important to me <3)

Kon:

other people on here have made posts about Kon’s gender that are much more coherent than this will be, but i’m putting the words down anyway. bear with me.

Kon’s experience with identity (especially in his earlier years) is almost entirely about the external rather than the internal.

Kon has his whole life planned out for him from the moment he opens his eyes. It’s simple really — become Superman.

So you have this freshly hatched teenage boy, saving the world as Superman (not the Only one, but definitely the coolest one (Kon would argue)). All eyes on him, all the time. In some ways, performance is inseparable from who he is. From the very beginning, everything he does is on display.

He starts his life with a Name (Superman), a life path (…again, Superman), and all the confidence of a sixteen year old jock with nothing but wins under his belt. then it all gets taken away.

Turns out Clark ISNT dead, and the world doesn’t need its pint sized superman anymore now that its got the real thing.

enter Superboy

Kon’s entire identity, his whole purpose for being alive, was to step into the shoes of a dead man who is no longer dead. So where does that leave our genetically engineered test tube baby?

lost, and extremely confused.

But he’s good at using his charisma as a shield, and even better at keeping himself busy. His problems aren’t there if he doesn’t have the time to think about them, right?

and i think that’s true about his gender as well.

Similar to Cassie, his discovery and exploration of his gender feels incredibly tied to his sexuality (to me). If you’ve read sb93, you know Kon’s deal with women. He is cute & conventionally attractive & he's like superman with a fashion sense, so of course there are people fawning over him.

And he loves the attention. He likes that people want him, or that they are looking at him. The issue is he doesn’t have the life experience to realize that their reasons for paying attention to him are often very shallow, manipulative, or selfish.

He isn’t treated as a person very often. He’s a brand, a product, a tool, a weapon. He’s arm candy, he’s a photo op, he’s a headline, he’s a paycheck. And it takes him a long time to be able to tell the difference between someone Liking Him & someone Using Him.

For the longest Time, Superboy is all he is. He doesn’t have a name outside of that identity (except for the various pet names the women in his life give him (kid & pup, mainly)).

And even when Clark does give him his real name, Kon-El, its still Attatched to his identity as Superboy.

I dont think that he would really even be able to start dissecting how HE feels about his identity until he’s much older.

Part of this would come from the space to be someone else that gaining a civilian identity would give him. As Superboy, the goal has always been to stand out, to be seen, to shine like the sun.

As Conner Kent, he has to blend in. He doesnt want to draw attention to himself, or the Kents, or Clark. He has to fit in, which was never something he had to do as Kon. And i think it would kind of chafe at him — but he wouldn’t really know why.

I think he’d chalk it up to how different of an experience it is. Not being loud, having to be normal™. And so i think he’d just… continue to play the part. For a while anyway.

And like, part of being Normalest Boy Conner Kent would also involve actively un-queer coding himself for the sake of fitting into the ecosystem of Smallville High. and its like…

Young Justice, as a friend group, is SOOO queerplatonic. The lines between romantic and platonic intimacy are so blurred, and Prior to Kon’s YJ days he he was also like… living with these woman who he had complicated relationships with that also blurred the lines between platonic, romantic, and sexual (…looking at you, Knockout).

So learning where the line is when it comes to how he can acceptably interact with his civilian friends (particularly the boys) would Really open his eyes to just how close he is with Bart and Tim, and how similar his feelings for them are to his feelings for… lets say, Simon Valentine.

But i dont think That is what would actually tip the scale. I think realizing that these feelings for his friends aren’t considered ‘normal’ would make him shove them down deeper. As ‘Conner’ anyway.

from here it could go two ways, right?

Either we get Teen Titans ‘03 t-shirt Kon, who sheds his GNC 90s swag in exchange for adhering closer to traditional (read; boring) masculine gender roles.

or we get a Kon who leans Harder into his punk roots, but its a conscious choice now.

(this isn’t even digging into how he would feel once Jon comes into the picture, because while Kon cares for that boy Deeply, his feelings abt the new kiddo in the family could also be very complicated. But that’s a post for another time.)

Personally i prefer the second one.

Kon has always been a curious kid, i love the way he makes pop culture references, and how he bases his behavior off of 90’s teen tropes that he Most Definitely learned from TV. In his early days this wasn’t done in a research way necessarily, but he Did want to learn what it was like to Be a Teen™, and TV was the easiest way to figure that out.

(and, playing in the space of Kon adaptations, his love of media/pop culture, and just over all thirst for knowledge, are present both in the Reign of the Supermen Movie, and in his iteration during the n52 (which is one of the few things i personally have internalized from reading n52 Superboy/Teen Titans)).

But post gay awakening, i feel liked he’d be interested not just in behaviors, but also the context of them. Digging into punk as a subculture rather than as an aesthetic. Learning about its connections to queerness, and community, and self expression. And i think this would be extremely freeing for him. (especially if this were around the time of Jon becoming Superboy v.3, but again, not the point of this post.)

this all culminates in Kon being like yk? gender just… isnt for me. Like, it takes im a long time to get to this point, but realizing that the path that was set out for him is just one of the potential paths he can take, and while he might not know where this new path will take him, its his, that that matters.

And also like, Because his friends are who they are, he’s seen different versions of queerness, and transness, but i think it would take him a bit to see himself as someone who Isn’t Cis bc like… he doesnt have dysphoria in the traditional sense.

He’s still the beefcake he’s always been, but i think he’d start playing with makeup when he realizes it makes him feel good (he shows up the the cave one day with smudgy eye liner and Cissie is immediately like a) you look so good and b) can i Please do your makeup? (and then she does it, and he looks so pretty, and he gets these weird giddy feelings that he doesn’t realize is gender euphoria until his friends start talking abt gender euphoria)

His uniform starts to get more personalized too, like the designs where he has knee patches, and all his little belts, and stuff. maybe he starts experimenting with showing skin. bc he deserves it

(’its for maximum sun exposure!!!’ is the what he tells clark… he’s not sure if clark bought it or not)

And hey, exploring gender presentation more as Superboy might help him do the same as Conner. Cassie will take him thrifting, he’ll try of a flowy skirt or a sun dress or something and then its Over. Gender euphoria part two, electric boogagloo.

In the end, its about realizing that adhering gender roles (and truthfully, any socially imposed ‘rule’ about self expression) is something he can simply Choose not to do. And i think this freedom would be something that benefits him in his civilian life as well.

His gender is: literally what ever, man.

Tim:

Ok, here’s the thing about Tim and gender, right? I think he’s kind of just comfortable as he is. He’s good at playing the roles he needs to in what ever situation hes thrown into. ‘Robin’ and ‘Tim Drake’ (and even ‘Tim Drake-Wayne’ if you want to split hairs) might be masks he wears, but that doesn’t mean they’re any less him. if that makes sense. like…

Lets look at the differences between Bruce (or Brucie) and Batman for a second. They really are different people. Batman is who bruce is at his core, ‘bruce’ is this sort of liminal space between the cowl and his public persona, and then theres Brucie™, and well, you know how he is. These are personas that Bruce puts on.

With Tim its like he just highlights different aspects of himself when a situation requires it. (oh no, the autistic!Tim head canons are being loud today.) But like, he’s Always been masking. And i think this is something he would look at as like… getting a good grade in adapting. or something. He’s comfortable, all the roles he plays are ones he’s familiar with, and he doesn’t really question who he is outside of who he needs to be.

That is, until Caroline Hill makes an appearance.

I feel that the decision to go undercover as a woman was a wholly practical decision in the moment. It’s what the mission required, and therefore tim stepped up. Its just another mask, right? Surely this wont awaken anything in him…right?

But this is an entirely new mask. And i think it might like… shift the way he looks at/thinks about the other masks he puts on. He was able to step into a role that was very foreign to him, and it Worked. (and he felt pretty, which like… woah, thats a new feeling. and he kinda liked it? file that under ‘thoughts he doesn’t have the bandwidth to process right now.’ Bruce needs him back at the cave! its time to debreif! and he has a biology test tmrw! no time for gender scaries!!!).

I think it would take a while for him to be able to admit it to himself though. Because like… hes Not uncomfortable with his body, but he also keeps thinking about how good he felt dressed up femininely, and how he felt powerful, in a way. That putting on that mask felt just as good as putting on his domino.

Personally, i think itd be funny if instead of coming out right away, Tim doing undercover missions essentially in drag becomes a recurring thing. And i imagine some people give him a hard time. (not in a transphobic way or anything, i just mean like, teasing him fondly or what ever.) (Also, i like to imagine that when cissie Did kons makeup, bart and Tim jumped in there too bc like hey why not, and hoooooo boy, if Tims egg hadn’t cracked before then, it sure would have cracked after.)

The thing about him is, i’m not sure if he’d come to the realization himself. You know, that he would like to present femme sometimes, in a situation that has Nothing to do with a mission.

I could see Tim convincing himself that its a pointless or frivolous desire, which is Why he relegates his time presenting femme to when he can prove that it’s useful.

but i have this image in my mind, right? Of him, taking his makeup and wig off, and hes chatting with whoever is in the room with him (literally anyone else mentioned above… or Dick). And Tim’s just talking about how he wishes he could present this way in situations other than missions.

and the other person in the room is just like… i mean, you literally can.

and hes just like…. shit you’re right. i Can :0

I could probably go further into depth abt this, but i think this just frees him to start playing with gender more as Tim. and start to recognize when he’s feeling more masculine, more feminine, or somewhere in between.

His gender isn’t consistent, its this thing he’s constantly listening to, and trying to understand. but in the mean time, he can paint his face, and wear pretty clothes, or dress like just Some Guy, or be a hedgehog dressed in traffic light colors, or what ever his heart desires.

As far as like… how He describes his gender, i think he’d say something corny like bi^2 (bi of both the sexual and the gendered varieties). Or shrug, handwave, generally give a non-helpful vague description. Or tell who evers asking to buzz off.

(small addendum wrt Kon and Cassie in TT’03. I haven’t read this run yet, so i didn’t really include it in this post. But i Do have thoughts about what might cause the two of them (my gnc besties from my comics books) to lean sooooo hard into traditional gender roles after being So Queercoded in their other appearences. Before i talk abt that though, i want to read the comic. So, that will have to be a post for another time)

ANYWAY, heres that TL;DR i promised.

Bart: NB Transmasc Cassie: NB Lesbian (of the transmasc variety) Kon: Agender Tim: Fluid (bi-gender) + Cissie: Transgirl

Thank you soooooo much for giving me the opporrtunity to ramble abt the silles and how Not Cis i think they are. Love you forever.

#𓆟 #𓆟 | 📨#anon #disclaimer: this all for fun! i love these kiddos & am working on reading more of their comics #And my thoughts here are based on things that i have extrapolated from what they have gone through in canon & how that might influence #their relationships to their own genders #Core Four #Young Just Us #Bart Allen #Cassie Sandsmark #Cissie King Jones #Kon-El #Tim Drake #LOL will Tumblr let me post this now?#(i spent like... 15 minutes futzing with the formatting just for it to go 'srry cant post this hehe'

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crashcitycentral · 10 months

Text

[ Concept: Bart uses the Camcorder Preston gave him to leave Preston a message vlog style that he’s given after his death, cause the concept was there but never touched and I want Preston to know his best friend didn’t just disappear. ]

Bart sets up the camcorder on the top book of the stack on his desk, angling it to face the chair he had sat in front of it. It was the one Preston gave to him, and he finally figured out what he wanted to record. A little memo for Preston to find.

He flips open the screen and presses the power button.

The video starts with Bart’s arm still outstretched to the camera, tongue stuck between his lips as he fiddles around with the controls. “Oh. The red means it’s on, right? Shoot!” The clip cuts to static for a few moments before it’s back again and this time he’s in his chair.

“Got it to work! Man, technology here is so confusing. Nothing like from my time.” He shakes his head. “Hey, Pres. you may know me as Bart, or daredevil Allen. If you’re seeing this, well, I’m guessing I’m not around anymore. But that’s okay! I probably went out super cool.”

“Man, where to start. I guess I wanted to tell you my secret but I didn’t know how. Max says I have to keep it hush hush but. I dunno, I don’t want to. Not from you.”

“Carol knows, though she kinda figured it out. It was an accident really, I ain’t never been too good at this secret identity stuff but here goes. I am Impulse.”

“Saying that finally is… wow. I’m sure you have a lot of questions so I’ll try to go over everything in this before i run out of space on this rinkidink camcorder you gave me. Er, no offense.”

“The Flash is my Grandpa and second Flash is my second cousin, once removed. I was born in the year 2980. Crazy, right? That will probably make some stuff I did or said make sense now, huh?”

It cuts again, this time to him upside down in the chair, back on the seat and feet kicked up in the air. “I want you to know you’re my best friend. Which is why I’m tellin you all this.”

“Max isn’t really my uncle, but he is my Guardian after Wally… anyways, he’s got superspeed too but he like, never uses it. Lame. He just coaches me on the sidelines. And Helen, she’s great! Like my big sister. She’s Max’s daughter but doesn’t have powers.”

“Oh! Y’know my dog, Dox? He’s got super intelligence! Not entirely sure how…”

“The first superhero I was friends with was Grant. Er- Damage. He’s cool, you’d like him a lot. I haven’t seen him much nowadays.”

“I’m on a new team now. ‘Young Justice’ they call us. Awful name, right? Like hellooo, we’re trying to get out of our mentors shadows. I’m not even a sidekick!”

“I met Rob on a skii trip before we met in the masks, can you believe that? He’s smart. Like Carol. I hope they never meet or we’d be doomed!”

“There’s superboy. He’s kinda like the block-head jocks at our school but he has moments where he’s okay.”

“Wondergirl is awesome! I saw her pick up a car a few days ago. Wish I got it on camera for you, you’d love it.”

“Secret and Empress are really cool as well. Secret is like, super nice and matches my energy. I don’t know if you’d know who Empress is, she just joined us, but she’s got a sword! Won’t let me use it…”

“There’s Slobo, he’s a pretty rock and roll kinda punk, pretty sure he’s goth or somethin. One of them head-whippin’ screamers we hear on the banned radio stations.”

“There’s this girl, Arrowette. She’s like, my superhero best friend. Or maybe I just befriend blondes.” He pauses a moment and looks up at the camera. “You’re still my number one, though.”

“Even with all these heroes and powers, you, Carol, and Roland are… different. I dunno how to describe it. It’s like… you’re normal, and treat me like I’m normal, y’know? We’re just kids when it’s us. No responsibilities.”

Bart goes quiet and the tape cuts again to him stacking cards into a tower. “I’m not really sure what I’m expecting to happen to me. Max says I’m ’danger deficit’, whatever that means. I just want you to know that.. I’m not really gone? If I have to go away for a mission somewhere far away or if I fall through a wormhole, you’re still my best friend.” He huffs a sigh, the breath knocking down his cards.

The next cut shows him juggling a rubix cube, bouncy ball, and boomerang. “Did you know I have a brother? Yeah, me neither. Remember that time my mom visit? Well, she’s from the future too, like me. She told me she had another son named Owen who’s in this century too. Think I’ll ever get to meet him?”

“I never met my dad but I heard lots bout him from Mom and future Grandma. He was killed right after I was born by my other grandpa. Sprocked up, huh?”

“There’s my cousin Jenni! You remember Jenni, right? She was my partner for the talent show last year. Her hero name is XS and she works with superheroes in space! It’s awesome, right?? That’s where I met Brainy too. He’s kinda mean but in a funny way.”

He’s back in his chair again, chin propped on both his palms and legs kicking out under him. “Grandpa says he doesn’t believe in me. Wally says I’m annoying and negligent. All I wanted..” he shakes his head and covers the camera with his hand.

He’s up again, this time wearing his Impulse suit, holding his arms out like he’s showing off. “Cool, huh? Batman named me Impulse, though he said it was a warning. He’s kinda a stick in the mud, but the whole ninja stuff is cool. Too strict for my taste though, I wonder how Rob puts up with it.”

“I guess I don’t have much else to say. I hope you get this someday and I’m not making a fool of myself, talking to a camera for nothing. Don’t tell Max. I’ll see you later, Pres.”

The video ends.

#bart allen #preston lindsay #impulse #let my boy be happy #fixing plot

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falling-in-reverse-thewolfverse · 2 years

Text

Jason's Gutair

Reverse Robins

Bruce thought Jason wanted gutair lessons to pick up girls but he really just wanted them to annoying his family.

♡

After a long night of patrol

Damian: let's outs an exhausted sigh collapsing onto his bed

Jason:kicks door open with gutair in hand 🎵"So you had a bad day!"🎵

Damian:"TODD!!!" covers ears with pillows

Jason:🎵"Sing a sad song just to turn it around!'🎵

Damian:tosses pillow hits Jason square in the face

♡

Dick:sleeping peacefully

Jason:"awe, how cute" pulls out gutair 🎵"WAKE ME UP INSIDE!!!!"🎵

Dick:squeaks in suprise falling off the bed

♡

Steph:walking in the house with her mascara running down her face because of rain

Jason:starts pulling out gutair

Steph:"Please don't"

Jason:🎵"I fell in love with an emo girl!"🎵

♡

Cass: smiles at Bart

Bruce:"No"

Jason:🎵"Her daddy said he ain't worth a lick, when it comes to brains he got the short end of the stick"🎵

Bruce:"Jason please don't helping me"

♡

Cass:trying to practice a really hard dance

Jason: sneaks in quietly with his gutair🎵"WHAT DOSE THE FOX SAY!?!!"🎵

Later

Jason:walking around on crutches "Worth it"

♡

Jason: strumming gutair🎵"There's a history between Girls like her and guys like me, cowboys and angels"

Tim:"No one wants to hear another country song"

Jason:🎵"The secret side of me-"🎵

Tim:"NO! YOU DO NOT TURN A SKILLET SONG COUNTRY!!!"

♡

Bruce trying to reform a villain

Bruce:"I promise we can help you"

Jason: practically vibrating as he pulls out gutair

Bruce:"Robin no"

Jason:🎵"You run with me and I can set you free!"🎵

Villan: "..."

Bruce:"Robin you can't do this every time I talk to a villain"

Jason:🎵"SO TRADE THAT TYPICAL FOR SOMETHING COLOURFUL, AND IF IT'S CRAZY LIVE A LITTLE CRAZY!!!"🎵

Later

Dick:"Can we watch this movie?" Holding up The Greatest Showmen

Bruce: "No, never again!" Runs out of room

Dick:"what was that about?

Jason: Sitting on couch smiling smugly

♡

Damian:"So Rose finally dumped you"

Tim:"What-No she just went to see her dad"

Jason: comes out of nowhere with gutair 🎵"He was a skater boy she said see you later boy!"🎵

Tim:"Rose didn't dump me!"

Jason:🎵"He wasn't good enough for her!"🎵

♡

Bruce:"You know when I was-"

Jason:🎵"A young man my father took me into the city to see a marching band"🎵

Damian: had to listen to that song every day when he was Robin "Drop the gutair or so help me!!!!"

Jason:🎵"He said-"🎵

♡

Steph:"ugh it's so boring we need some music"

Jason:pulls out gutair "What do you want to hear?"

Steph:"I though Damian destroyed that"

Jason:"I bought five backups with his credit card"

Extra

#batfam #reverse robins #batman #tim drake #reverse batfam #damian wayne #jason todd #dick grayson #red hood #incorrect quotes #Batfamily #Reverse Robin Au #Reverse Batfam Au #robin #red robin #Stephine brown #Cassandra Cain #The Wolfverse Earth 301 #Jason Todd plays guitar

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punkscowardschampions · 10 months

Text

Site GC & Cali & Jali & Marly Pt.1

Ali: 🌠☄️⚡️💥🌠

Ali: Give me something to do

Moses: 🔥?

Ali: Reliably keeping the home fires burning 👏

Ali: Do yous want me to bring my drugs or my dealers, ‘cos I am a less reliable chemist atm

Bartley: Your mates will know better than to come ‘round our way

Bartley: So, you should invite them 👌

Ronan: What he said

Ali: They’re not real ones just 👶🚴

Ali: Carly knows them too, right?

Carly: cute 👶s

Johnny: We don’t need any more scum on our site, keep them away

Ali: Not cute to you and you’re cool with my lacklustre offering, rodger that

Carly: should be cool w how easy 🍭🍬 is to take from em

Carly: whats cuter than that? 🎀

Ali: Want to go see them first?

Ali: not feeling the ❤️🧡💛💚💙💜 yet

Carly: 🌞☔️🌈

Ali: I think I left my wellies there, you can borrow ‘em

Carly: 👣💧🦆

Moses: 🔥 will still be burning when you’re done messing in puddles

Carly: grand ❤️🧡💛

Moses: cute

Ali: 😳👐🔥 or is it just me

Ronan: He’s giving it a lash there for sure, like

Carly: jealousy is 💚 & - craic to be sure, boy

Bartley: No one has time to be jealous with you, nor need, what they say

Carly: yer man there has loads to say for someone getting himself so 👅 tied w me

Ali: 😏

Ali: entirely too much talking is happening here, not enough doing

Carly: @ ro ro w my what she said

Moses: If you’re gonna keep on playing with little boys, I’m afraid that’s not going to change, girls

Carly: v manly & 💪 to give it out to the others like theyre 👶

Moses: Come find us when you want to find out the difference, yeah

Bartley: Yeah, that don’t make them little girls, no? 🤔

Johnny: Enough

Bartley: You’re being dead creepy, Mosey boy, see

Carly: yous are all acting the maggot it’s been said

Carly: quit your messing theres a 🔥 to start

Ronan: She’s a point there

Moses: I’m the only one doing anything, none of yous can talk ‘til you’re bothering yourselves up

Carly: 🥺 ah poor 👶

Ali: You need to get in the party spirit, lads

Carly: 🎇🥳🍄😵‍💫💥🤩🌟🥴✨😝☄️

Ali: You know the line…

Johnny: Move yourselves is my line

Ali: And they do all seem to listen when you talk

Ali: must be oldest perks

Johnny: It’s knowing what’s good for ‘em sense

Carly: 💪🥊🤕

Bartley: You wish, women aren’t allowed at fights

Carly: sure look 🙄🥱

Carly: I’m a lover not a fighter, yous would be wise to catch yourself on more that way

Bartley: Tell John boy

Johnny: A girl don’t tell me a thing

Ali: Unless they have a good idea

Johnny: And that you’ve not, the good idea was on Moses

Ali: What’s a 🔥 without company though, no offence, Moses

Ronan: Full offence all of yous, she is better company

Carly: aw thats the spirit 💞🥰💕

Ali: 😁 I could be inclined to be now

Moses: You’re welcome

Carly: I don’t have faves, youre always welcome, mosey

Moses: What a backhanded compliment, Carls 😏

Carly: 🖐🍑 if you want but u know what I meant

Bartley: We got it

Carly: all love all the time, even for you, b boy

Ali: 🌞🍄🌈🍃

Ronan: I don’t have faves btw, Carls

Carly: you best not 🍯🍓🍦🍑🍒🍍🍉🍰

Moses: Peace and love, is it, Ro?

Ronan: She has her charms too, need showing again, is it, Mosey boy?

Moses: As I said, you’re welcome

Carly: don’t you love me no more? ☹️😢

Moses: Christ, you messer

Carly: I think you're unreal idk y youre being like this to me 💔👿

Bartley: 🤣🤣🤣

Ali: Shut up, Bart

Moses: I’m not being like nothing

Carly: I’d help you w the 🔥 but I’m a girl

Carly: they’d only chuck us on it 🔮📿🧿

Moses: We’ve got it handled, you don’t need to worry yourself

Ali: [Private to Carly]

Ali: Are you okay? 🔮💛

Carly: yea 🎱

Ali: Do you really not have favourites?

Carly: not of the lads 🪀💜

Carly: do you?

Ali: I don’t know, not yet

Ali: I thought maybe you really really loved Moses

Carly: thats gas 😅

Carly: today I don’t even like him 💔👿

Ali: It does sound it now 🙃 but I was 💭 I’d feel like a total dick if I didn’t do more than tell Bart to shut up about it anyway

Carly: why you’re my fave 🐅🌻🪐🌞

Ali: 🤫 on not being one of the lads, eh

Carly: cos you could build a more savage 🔥 with your 👀 closed & they’d be ☹️😢

Ali: but we’ve got 🍆 envy

Ali: bless ‘em

Carly: number 7 when I’m bothering myself with number 2

Carly: & they say they get it 🙄🥱

Ali: you have to pretend they do though, until you can guide them towards the actual answer, that’s what works best

Carly: 👶👶👶👶

Ali: a full-time occupation

Carly: I’d be fit to go work for a nursery like

Ali: You can’t leave school too, I’ll be TOO bored 🤯💀

Carly: [insert a generic as hell irish name here to be her mum’s because she’d insist you call her by it as you’re besties] would have us cleaning caravan 1st ⛓🧹🧼🧽🧺🔒 no tah

Ali: Tell me about it

Ali: I’ll take babysitting these boys over my little brother any day of the week

Carly: hes sweet though

Ali: He might look it

Carly: he acts it w me 😇🍼🧸🌼🧃

Ali: 🤔

Carly: but hey all your brothers love me

Ali: of course

Carly: 🍯🍓🍦🍑🍒🍍🍉🍰 how I said

Ali: Do you think Johnny would take me to see my brother?

Carly: he’d do anything u want

Ali: Yeah but

Ali: he’ll want to take the piss, when he realises what for and where

Carly: give him the best reason to keep his gob shut & he will

Carly: you’re his fave 🔮💙🍀

Ali: 🍯🍓🍦🍑🍒🍍🍉🍰 whether he deserves it or not

Carly: u deserve to see your brother

Carly: I’ll get [her mum] to take you if he’ll not

Ali: you’re the best

Ali: worth x1000

Carly: 😳🥺😵‍💫

Ali: because you’re sweet for real, not just to catch 🐻🐻🐻🐻

Carly: ily for real 🐝💛

Ali: do they hate us or love us

Ali: do you think they even know?

Carly: with site lads & me it’s always both 🌞☔️

Ali: I need to be that sure

Carly: theyre less sure of you too but that’s class

Ali: my ☘️s looking a little plastic

Carly: you’ll be grand theres still loads of 🔮💙

Ali: My ma did me that favour

Ali: I’m gonna ask him, fuck it

Carly: he’ll say yea but if he don’t we’ve a backup 🎲

Ali: [Carly’s mum] 🌟

Carly: go for it 🎯

Ali: 🏹💀

Ali: Distract the others? I’m not taking this to the public forum for a debate 🙄🥱

Carly: 🍆📏

Ali: I’ll owe you even more if you really have to witness that… again 😇

Carly: away with ye 🐝👼🏼🦋🧚🏼‍♀️🍃

Ali: 🥺😽😽

Ali: [Private to Johnny]

Ali: Can I talk to you, and not have to hear 3 other opinions and perspectives?

Johnny: Talk about what?

Ali: I’ve got a problem and maybe you could help

Johnny: With who? Those dealers, is it?

Ali: Of course not, they’re harmless

Ali: I need to go somewhere, it’s not that far and I can pay for petrol

Johnny: You don’t need to worry yourself about what it costs

Ali: I’m not trying to take the piss, like

Johnny: It’s never worked like that with favours, you know

Ali: yeah, I know

Ali: I need to go see my big brother, my parents don’t want me to but they’re thinking like I’m a kid who’d be scared to see where he is

Johnny: He’s in [whatever the place is called because of course you know everyone would, it’s town goss]

Ali: Yeah, that’s the one, bit too far to walk or bike without some prior planning at least

Johnny: I can take you

Ali: Really?

Johnny: Yeah

Ali: I proper appreciate it, seriously

Johnny: You’re no kid, your parents have that wrong

Ali: It’s an excuse anyway, for them not going, the proper kid they’ve got to look after

Ali: he’d get a better reception in prison, I know that

Johnny: And my opinion on how family matters are meant to be handled

Ali: I value your opinion, as a friend

Ali: no one can talk properly in a group chat

Johnny: It’s just us here now

Ali: I asked you because you don’t talk to fill space, not just because you’re older, you still aren’t old enough, technically

Johnny: The rules you’re talking about don’t apply to me, I live by the only ones that do

Ali: 🙏🙌?

Johnny: That’s part of it

Ali: It’s a shame I can’t set you up with my sister

Johnny: For her, my family’ll set me up when I’m ready to settle with a decent girl

Ali: Do you already know who, like a shortlist?

Johnny: It’s a community, we all know each other

Ali: I suppose so

Johnny: You wouldn’t marry a stranger, we’ve that in common

Ali: Intriguing in theory but terrible in practice

Ali: I don’t suppose I’ll marry anyone

Johnny: You don’t hold any of the values we do

Ali: I don’t know about any, the compare and contrast hasn’t been that extensive

Johnny: You don’t behave like any of our girls would, it tells me enough

Ali: I’m not going to attempt to marry one of you, it’s okay

Johnny: You can’t, so

Ali: Shame for me, so I’ve heard

Johnny: I’ll hear from you when you’re looking to go

Ali: Aren’t you going to speak to me tonight?

Johnny: You pointed to the difference well enough, they’re all there then

Ali: I wasn’t pointing anything out to mean we can’t talk

Ali: I’m not a kid, like you said, I know you don’t like me like that

Johnny: I can’t be getting a word in, unless I keep on putting my foot down, like you said

Ali: That would require me to ignore you completely

Johnny: You probably should, like

Ali: Maybe

Ali: I have my own rules too though

Johnny: Yeah

Ali: See you later then

Johnny: Maybe

Ali: Please

Johnny: Yours and Carly’s sugar and spice thing don’t work on me

Ali: Hm but it does on Moses so you know I’ll be very bored if you don’t show

Johnny: If I show it’s to keep him away from her

Ali: Understood

Johnny: Later then

Ali: What about the other two?

Johnny: What about them?

Ali: Do you care if they go near her?

Johnny: A word from me and they won’t

Ali: but you know how that looks

Johnny: I know everything I need to about it

Ali: Okay

Johnny: Tell her yourself and I’ll not have to

Ali: I can’t tell her what to do

Johnny: I can

Ali: Do you want me to be jealous?

Johnny: Are you?

Ali: I know when to be quiet too, like

Johnny: I don’t know that you do

Ali: You’re not going to take me at my word on that one?

Johnny: If you was one of us, yeah

Johnny: but your word’s no good as it goes

Ali: Should’ve known

Ali: wait and see doesn’t work in this situation

Johnny: No it don’t, I’d wait and see quiet’s the last thing you are

Ali: Only because you’ve been trying to leave for the last 10 minutes and I won’t let you

Johnny: I’m still here, there’s plenty enough for you

Ali: I’m grateful to you, about the brother thing

Ali: it’s not the only reason but a big one

Johnny: Family’s important

Ali: It is, more important than some of mine want it to be at the minute

Johnny: You’re not turning your back, that’s what matters

Ali: I couldn’t, it’s not an option to me

Johnny: It’s not meant to be an option for anyone

Ali: I’ll work out how to tell them, literally doing so hasn’t really worked so maybe I do talk too much

Johnny: I’m not saying you do here to kick you when you’re down

Ali: I knew we were friends, boy

Johnny: No you didn’t, you don’t know what we are

Ali: Isn’t that half the fun?

Johnny: I knew you were having fun

Ali: Don’t you want me to?

Johnny: It’s a with not at thing

Ali: Oh my God

Ali: you think this is like… sex tourism, that I’m that arsehole???

Johnny: Your mate is, be careful who you hang ‘round after if you’re bothering yourself with what I think

Ali: She has to live where her mum makes her

Johnny: It don’t make her one of us and she wants to stop acting like it before she gets stopped

Ali: There must be a reason they’re tolerated here, have been

Johnny: Like you said, tourists are good for what they’re good for

Ali: Then you should like her

Johnny: If she left after 1 week or 2 I would

Ali: and I don’t care what you think, just if I’m being perceived like that at all

Johnny: You come across like a peeping Tom into my life, but you don’t care about our ways

Ali: I care, I don’t try to adhere to them, because that’d be like I was pretending to be one of you

Johnny: You care about what’s fun for you, same as Carly

Ali: I ask everyone questions, I just like to know things

Ali: as it bothers you I won’t ask you more

Johnny: It’s not your playground

Ali: It’s yours, I know

Johnny: She’s too comfortable and now so are you

Ali: For your liking or just in general?

Johnny: Have a look about and see who’s looking back at you feeling disrespected

Ali: You’re the first person to bring it to my attention but I’ll be vigilant next time I visit

Johnny: You know, you can’t say you don’t, my work here’s done

Ali: I know that not everyone feels the same as you do

Ali: but sure, I’ve got some things to think about now

Johnny: You’re welcome for it

Ali: I’m not trying to think right now though so I better go

Johnny: Mind how you do go

Ali: You don’t need to concern yourself with that

Johnny: But I am concerned, so

Ali: Why?

Johnny: Carly has made enemies, sure, I’m not one of yours

Ali: You just think I’m a voyeur

Johnny: And how am I wrong?

Ali: because I consider the people I come to see my friends, not a spectacle

Johnny: I don’t know that I want my family having friends like you

Ali: You’ll have to take it up with them, I’m not refusing friendship on the basis of culture

Johnny: Being a culture vulture you wouldn’t, like

Ali: Keep insulting me like it changes anything

Johnny: If I was insulting you I’d say worse

Ali: Of course

Johnny: It’s a clash, culturally

Ali: In which my polite interest is unacceptable and you saying whatever you want about me is fair game

Johnny: In which you and Carly are trying to collect us like trophies

Ali: Maybe you’re just attractive, you’re doing yourself a disservice by making it all nefarious

Johnny: It’s your game not mine

Ali: There’s no game

Johnny: Play it somewhere else

Ali: You don’t want to be collected, I got it

Johnny: Off you go then

Ali: Do you act like a dick just to counteract the nice thing you’re doing for me

Ali: I wasn’t about to tell any more than you were

Johnny: You tell on yourself when you’re here

Ali: Not about that, it’s private

Johnny: Yeah, this warning wasn’t put in there for ‘em to contribute to either

Ali: Bart might back you

Johnny: I don’t need their backing, it’s me and you talking

Ali: Just saying what we both know, Ronan likes me and Moses doesn’t mind as long as he thinks I’ll sleep with him like a good tourist should

Johnny: I’m neither of them

Ali: I didn’t get your names confused, I know where I am

Johnny: I’ve got my own views and I do what I reckon is proper to

Johnny: you’re not Carly, don’t act like her when 1’s too many enough

Ali: and now I’m a bad imitation, charming

Johnny: You’re not’s what I’m saying

Ali: You’re funny but also so confusing

Johnny: What’s confusing or funny?

Ali: You show that you hate me by being quite nice, or that you like me by being quite mean

Ali: either way, it’s topsy-turvy enough to be 🙃

Johnny: Taking you to see your brother is separate, he’s your brother

Ali: it’s not the singular nice thing you’ve ever done

Johnny: It probably is

Ali: and if I was playing a game, I’d use the dead sister, gone brother card all the time now

Ali: but I won’t

Johnny: There’s places you don’t go, or it won’t feel like a win

Ali: I hadn’t assumed I was playing fair

Johnny: I had, you’re trying to prove me wrong about you being amoral like her

Ali: You’re going to settle down when you’re like 16

Johnny: Maybe I’ll be 18

Ali: How’d you get so serious

Johnny: Not wanting Carly don’t make me serious

Ali: I wasn’t aware you didn’t so

Johnny: Fun with, you read it, if you’re not against me I’ve got nothing to get serious over

Ali: I’m not planning a coup

Ali: all I want is… I don’t know

Johnny: Come find me when you know

Ali: Only if you can give it to me

Johnny: Yeah, but saying what we both know, what can’t I give you?

Ali: You don’t know what I want yet

Johnny: I’ve got it handled, whatever it is

Ali: Oh, alright then

Johnny: Wait and see does work here

Ali: I might make a list…

Johnny: You’re a girl it’s in your mind to

Ali: I don’t think that’s in the Bible

Johnny: It’s in my life experience

Ali: Make big promises, you want to cash them, that’s my experience

Johnny: Go big or home is universal

Ali: Must be

Johnny: Everyone’s heard it

Ali: Inappropriate time to say you sounded like my brother, as you already think I’m going to hell

Johnny: Promising you’re not burning tonight don’t count as big

Ali: Appreciated, nonetheless

Ali: Don’t know how you’d dress to burn at the stake, not like I have though

Johnny: Moses would ask what you’re wearing

Ali: Yeah, he would 😅 like an old-school pervert in a phonebox

Johnny: I sounded like your brother how?

Ali: Not that one, I wasn’t slyly calling you mental

Ali: My other older brother, he has lots of mottos like that

Johnny: You’ve not been slagging me back half enough, maybe you do have some decency in you, a knowing of how to behave like a girl should

Ali: Hilarious

Ali: I’ll have to warn you when I feel like insulting you now

Johnny: Still playing fair there

Ali: I can’t help being a delight, sorry

Johnny: You’ve good as promised to delight me now

Ali: I do, it’s not intentional but you are welcome

Johnny: What’s intentional? I’d go for that instead of

Ali: That’s a wait and see

Johnny: How you’re dressed, is it?

Ali: Yeah, I can’t lie about it, that would look stupider

Johnny: You could lie about who it’s for

Ali: I don’t know any of you well enough for it to be more than an educated guess at what you’d want to see

Ali: but it’s always intentional

Johnny: Guessing what they want to look at don’t need much education, Carly knows

Ali: but it’s me and you talking right now

Johnny: And you’ve got more about you than her or we’d not be talking

Ali: I’m not going to join in bad-mouthing her, you know

Johnny: Loyalty is something else important

Ali: She’s nice to me, her ma was going to take me if you couldn’t

Johnny: How nice she is, what they say, is her trouble

Johnny: and her ma, you know

Ali: People have their reasons, usually things they can’t do much about

Johnny: Her reason being she don’t live by no rules, can do as she likes

Ali: Can she?

Johnny: Sure, she reckons it to be so

Ali: I wouldn’t say there are no consequences though, would you?

Ali: People at school are pretty awful to Carly, no doubt her mum gets a similar treatment

Johnny: Behave shocking, you’re treated shocking, way of the world, no?

Ali: If only it were that fair

Johnny: It is here

Ali: Perhaps they like the certainty

Johnny: You’d be needing to ask your mate about that, I don’t know

Ali: I’ll try to remember

Johnny: You letting me go now or what?

Ali: Maybe

Ali: how’s the fire coming along?

Johnny: It’s down to Moses how it is, I’ve my own things I’m busy with

Ali: Oh, I see, I’ll have to ask him then

Johnny: You will, I’m [doing something to fix that bike they are riding in those gifs but idk about that I’m not a mechanic like Alison is]

Ali: You could’ve told me, before I bothered walking all the way to Caleb’s instead

Johnny: There’s still work to be done before you’re not walking, tell you that

Ali: 😁

Johnny: You could be here passing me [whatever tools he needs for this, because that’s obvs her only job as a girl, rude sir she’s more capable than you]

Ali: Wow, I can’t believe you trust me to know what a [namedrop the most basic tool] is

Johnny: I’d nod to it, you can follow where I’m looking, can’t you?

Ali: You’ll see, won’t you

Johnny: What you keep on saying

Ali: We can pretend I just stood there and watched, it’s okay

Johnny: You’re dressed for nothing else, you reckon

Ali: How sweet, you care about my laundry

Johnny: I’ve sisters, I know what they care about

Ali: You’re adorable

Johnny: You’re a girl, what you trying to fight that for?

Ali: I don’t think I am?

Johnny: You don’t think you’re a girl, how’s that?

Ali: No, I know I’m a girl, that just means something different to you

Johnny: Yeah, yous have lost what it means

Ali: Can’t it mean both, or however many things we want it to?

Johnny: No

Ali: At least you’re to the point

Johnny: You don’t have proper men in your life, that’s your trouble

Ali: Do you think travellers are happier than us lot, on the whole?

Johnny: Than yours, I’ve heard about all your brothers

Johnny: and your sisters

Ali: Hardly a fair comparison, everyone knows we’re fucked up

Johnny: I could say I don’t know no unhappy travellers and you’d go I wasn’t being fair there, I’m biased or whatever

Ali: just asking one of my many questions

Ali: Maybe you’ve got the right idea, I’m not claiming to

Johnny: We do marry your lot sometimes, not my family, but there are travellers who would

Ali: You’re strict

Ali: I got that

Johnny: It’s a community, you don’t agree with everyone in yours

Ali: Maybe no one, starting to seem

Johnny: Keeping it going, how it’s been and is meant to be, is important

Ali: Well, it was kind of you to say there’s hope for me yet

Johnny: I’m not a monster, like

Ali: Will you invite me to your wedding?

Johnny: You’d have to be yourself, it’s not for non-travellers

Ali: 😏

Johnny: You’ve time, some of my uncles waited ‘til they were 21

Ali: I’ve never been to a wedding

Johnny: I’ve not been to one of yours, can’t say what they’re about

Ali: Depends on all sorts, what sort of religious you are or aren’t, how minted, how much you like attention

Johnny: Will we crash one and see?

Ali: Umm, YES

Ali: That’s the best idea you’ve had today

Johnny: Hey now, Moses got in before me, can’t be helped

Ali: He’s trying harder to impress, that’s all

Johnny: Ah sure, he does need to at most things

Ali: What happened to loyalty, eh? 😉

Johnny: Ask it of him if you can get a word in between him and Carly

Ali: You can be the cockblock

Johnny: Thanks a million

Ali: Doesn’t seem like the sort of thing a girl should get in the middle of, like, so sorry

Johnny: Happy to go along when it suits

Ali: She’s mad at him anyway, I happen to know

Johnny: We both know she’s not

Ali: Perhaps not enough to save your evening, no

Johnny: You don’t need to worry yourself for my evening

Ali: That means you’re going to ignore me

Johnny: It means she don’t matter enough it’s written off

Ali: It’ll happen anyway, even if your face makes him wait ‘til he reckons you’re not looking

Johnny: And on his head it’ll be, her and the trouble she brings

Ali: We’ve got a bike to fix anyway

Johnny: I have, you’re to watch me, girl

Ali: You expect me to watch you all night

Johnny: Get out of it with your thinking it’ll take all night

Ali: It will if you don’t let me help

Johnny: You’ll not tell ‘em?

Ali: Nor ruin your bike, I’ve mended my dad’s loads

Johnny: Maybe you can help

Ali: I can, you just have to let me

Johnny: Just with [something easy but not piss easy af so he’s giving her the tiniest ever bit of credit lol tis progress]

Ali: Alright

Ali: It’s a date 🔩🧰🔧

Johnny: I’ve parts to go for now but I’ll see you when I’m back

Ali: That’s okay, gives me time to hang out with Ronan or he’ll be pissed off with me

Johnny: He’s better taste than his brother has

Ali: You heard, he doesn’t have favourites

Johnny: I did

Ali: but we’re friends, when he used to go to school, we had some lessons together

Johnny: I knew he never liked school for itself

Ali: Who does? It’s beyond boring if you don’t make it fun yourself

Johnny: He’s there to learn to write and the like, not make friends with you

Ali: I didn’t stop him, did I

Johnny: You’re stopping me here, maybe, so

Ali: Fine, fine, go on then

Johnny: Later, Ali

Ali: 👋 In a bit

Carly: [Private to Moses because Winnie insists]

Carly: are you 😤😠 @ me?

Moses: At you? Why would I be…

Carly: idk but u can say if you are

Moses: You didn’t need to ask if I loved you, did you

Carly: I’m sorry

Carly: & for calling you unreal in front of the others

Moses: Yeah, so you knew what you did wrong

Carly: yea, I’m sorry though

Moses: Are you?

Carly: I’ll keep saying it if you want

Moses: just tell me why you’re sorry

Carly: for the others slagging u, like

Carly: I don’t want you to be 😤😠 or 😳 cos of me

Moses: Nah, don’t trouble yourself

Moses: I don’t care that much, you must be thinking of my little brother

Carly: what else do you want me to be sorry for?

Moses: I don’t

Moses: just don’t make me look like that again

Carly: k, sorry

Carly: again, for you

Moses: Sorry is boring, Carls

Moses: do better

Carly: I’m picking up you can have the best 🍭🍬

Moses: That’s more like it, hopes it can be a proper party aren’t totally dead

Carly: it’ll be a deadly party, I’ll bring it

Carly: 🎇🥳🍄😵‍💫💥🤩🌟🥴✨😝☄️ how I said

Moses: It needs to be, been too quiet lately

Carly: 1 thing I’m not never, you’ll be my friend again before u know ❤️��💛

Moses: 😏 True enough, you were talking way too much, don’t remind me

Carly: shut me up then, boy

Moses: Not yet, no

Carly: it’s not a no never

Moses: I’m not shooting myself in the foot because you were being a gobshite

Carly: 😄 my gob’s good for too much else, sure

Moses: Fuck’s sake 😆

Carly: & I do think youre unreal 👀💙🌊🌌

Moses: So you’re with me tonight, got it?

Carly: 🥺 yea

Moses: If you go anywhere near any of the others, I won’t even look at you for a month

Carly: what others? I’m w you

Moses: I better start being nice to you then, hadn’t I

Carly: you can still be 😤😠 I’ve not fixed it for you yet

Moses: I know what you like, subtle as that were

Carly: subtle is - craic, no fun

Moses: A smidgen wouldn’t hurt, at times

Carly: I’ll make it up to you however you like

Moses: Fair, it is pretty good craic winding Johno up for me

Carly: now he don’t love me seriously

Moses: He’s moody, don’t you worry about him

Carly: he’s scary

Moses: oh just to girls like yourself, no one else is taking his stropping too serious

Carly: I am a girl like myself so

Moses: I’ll look after you

Carly: 🥺 k I can’t talk too much if thats what you’re saying

Moses: I’m nice to people who are nice to me

Moses: you’re not scared of me, are you?

Carly: I like how I’m scared of you

Moses: Good answer, like

Carly: & you’ll look after me, you’ve said it now

Moses: because you’re going to make it worth my while

Moses: if you’re throwing yourself at everyone in vicinity, you get what you deserve and that’s not protection

Carly: I’ll do what you tell me to do

Moses: It would be a shame if you got hurt, you know

Moses: it’d give me no pleasure to see it

Carly: I’m about giving pleasure it’s all I want 🌺🐝

Moses: If you give it to me, you’re guaranteed to get it back

Carly: I’ll give you what you want too

Moses: You’re very sweet

Carly: ah I have tried to let you know it

Carly: maybe it were too subtle for you 🍯🍓🍦🍑🍒🍍🍉🍰

Moses: and maybe you got lost

Carly: I think I know my way round, don’t worry yourself about that

Moses: You really shouldn’t waste your time with the younger ones, you know

Carly: give me something to do & I’ll not bother

Moses: Are you with your friend right now?

Carly: yea but where do you want me & I’ll be there? 🐝🦋🍃

Moses: Yous need to pick up first, don’t rush

Moses: you could send me something though

Carly: k wait 💙

Carly: [and obvs do because this is who you are, ofc you will]

Moses: Do you like her?

Carly: I love her

Carly: do u like her?

Moses: I like you more, promise

Carly: you’re the lad I like most

Moses: That’s smart of you

Carly: I’ve not been called smart before

Moses: You’re proper smart, when you remember to act it

Carly: remind us when I need it & nothing has to go wrong 🌞🌚

Moses: I might

Carly: [send him something else to sweeten the deal here]

Moses: How am I meant to keep my hands to myself

Carly: you’re never meant to, like

Moses: I’m not meant to go near you but

Carly: but forbidden 🍎🍐🍊🍋🍌🍉🍇🍓🍈🍒🍑🍍🥝 you’ve to eat me

Moses: Tell your mate she’s gonna have to miss you

Carly: 😋 will I walk home?

Moses: Can’t you run?

Carly: I’ll be 😵‍💫 but sure that feels grand too 🌌🚀🌠🪐☄️

Moses: Poor baby, what you said, was it?

Carly: I don’t remember

Carly: no comment, can it be? 😶

Moses: You’ll be feeling shy when I get you in front of me

Carly: I feel I’m about to drown when round you 👀💙🌊

Moses: I want to see how red you can go

Carly: 🍓🍒🍎❤️

Moses: You want to drown, I’ll make it happen

Carly: watch you don’t yourself making me so 💦🌊

Moses: You gonna let me feel it when you get here

Carly: with all the parts of your body you want

Moses: You won’t be able to ignore that part of me

Carly: I can’t ever, had me thinking about it all the time

Moses: The way you look at me isn’t subtle

Carly: sorry

Moses: no you’re not

Carly: I’m sorry I can’t run no faster

Moses: Me too

Moses: but you’ll be happy that I’ve got no patience left when you do get here

Carly: please can’t you come get me?

Moses: I can’t walk never mind run

Carly: y can’t you drive, you can even hammered I’ve seen it

Moses: The idea of you crawling holds too much appeal rn

Carly: [do it because obviously]

Carly: theres that to watch back much as you like, so please 🙏💙

Moses: You’ve no shame, have you

Carly: catholic guilt passed my caravan by

Carly: nanny tried but I’m a girl like me, yea

Moses: I’ll show you what you’re missing in the car

Carly: you said you’d be nice to me & I’ve fucked my knees up for you w that carry on 🍓❤️

Moses: No rest for the wicked

Carly: am I though or am I 😇🙏💙

Moses: Oh, you want to be a good girl now, is it

Carly: for you

Carly: best girl you’ve ever ever had

Moses: I’ll still fuck you ‘til you can’t breathe, doesn’t matter how well you behave now, I want it

Carly: til I go ❤️💜💙

Moses: Say it’s what you’re after

Carly: I want it

Carly: I’ve been after you to fuck me for forever, years & years

Moses: By God, you’re such a state

Carly: you got me in it only u can fix it

Moses: I never did but I’m glad you’ve no daddy around

Carly: me too

Moses: What I can offer is better

Carly: hes making no offers but don’t let that make you less than unreal

Moses: Is he really a traveller? No one knows him

Carly: [her mum, I need to give you a name ma’am] don’t know him neither

Carly: what can I say but ah sure look, you know 🔮🎱

Moses: She is the one that made you this state, sure

Carly: don’t you love me? 😏

Moses: Don’t start that again, you

Carly: start your car up & I’ll behave

Moses: Joker, that’s what you are

Moses: but I’ll be on my way

Carly: cute of you not to call us a 🤡 there I wanna keep on w being smart

Moses: You barely wear any slap compared to most the girls I know

Carly: my hands are too shaky

Moses: Not the only one with that little problem neither

Carly: but if you want me to for later I can ask ali to help me

Moses: I’ll have to think about that one

Carly: k let us know when youve decided

Moses: You are too innocent looking

Carly: why ive to act up so hard for you to see I’m not

Moses: oh I know

Carly: not yet but youre on your way to knowing 🚗❤️💜💙

Moses: So shut your mouth for now and I’ll be there before you know it

Carly: [a video of her holding her breath for the drowning of it all]

Moses: That’s not distracting at all

Carly: will I stop then?

Moses: We both know the answer to that

Carly: cos I need you to stop me

Moses: I’m no babysitter

Carly: I’m not your baby, you don’t talk to me like that

Moses: Neither of us would like that

Carly: but if it’s a show youre after like I’m a kid & I’m making you watch you can see how I can fit my ✊ in my mouth, it exists here on my phone for the craic

Carly: [and do send him that cos why wouldn’t you]

Moses: How much of a show-off you are reminds me of Bart

Carly: for that one I am sorry 😶

Moses: 😏 you really should be

Carly: I really am

Moses: He’s less of a smart arse than Ro but it’s still not working for me

Carly: I only 💭 you might like it lads at school did

Moses: I already told you the difference between little boys and men

Carly: yea though I need showing still

Moses: Someone’ll have to

Carly: you have to I cant ignore no part of u no more

Moses: I’ll still give you a lift

Moses: have to see if you can turn me on again

Carly: when you see how much I am

Moses: How do I know that’s not for your dealer, or your pal, hmm?

Carly: cos I legged it from em on your say

Moses: Good thing they don’t make her pay, be pretty poor behaviour, that

Carly: she’ll forgive me, what about you?

Moses: To be decided, nightmare

Carly: you know its all for u to decide

Carly: everything you do or don’t do to me

Moses: You can ask very nicely and I’ll debate if it’s more fun making you sweat it first

Carly: please

Moses: What d’ya want, girl?

Carly: you

Moses: yeah, and why’s that?

Carly: cos you keep on being more & more unreal

Moses: That is pretty nice, well done

Carly: I’m not good at this but I hope you know what I mean & it’s some sense

Moses: You’re much cuter when you’re nervous and not trying so hard anyway

Carly: I’m always nervous about you

Moses: You can trust me

Moses: I will give you what you need, even if I play with you a bit first

Carly: idc I just want to give you what you need

Moses: Yeah?

Carly: yea 😳🌺

Moses: You can stay in my ‘van, as long as you don’t let anyone see you leaving

Carly: I swear I’ll be invisible then like, in the ☁️s

Moses: Just how long do you want to keep me happy

Carly: as long as youre happy w me I’ll keep on

Moses: Maybe I’ll let you be a regular visitor then

Carly: I hope it’ll be so 🔮🎲🍀🐇🌠

Moses: You can tell Ali but that’s it

Carly: you can trust me too

Moses: Let’s not get carried away, nightmare

Carly: whether my da’s a traveller or no, I’m up on how this works, boy & I know what you want

Carly: I’ll say nothing to the others

Moses: If you’re to start it, I’m the one who can make your life hell

Moses: you be sure to know and keep knowing that

Carly: I’m only after heaven from you

Moses: 😅 Alright, sweetheart, you knew who to come to for it, give you that

Carly: yea

Moses: Lucky, could be letting one of the others bore you to tears right about now

Carly: but you wouldn’t cos you want to be the 1st lad I’ve let do things to me & 🍀 yourself

Moses: What have you done, how far have you gone?

Carly: only just 💋 some

Moses: Wow

Carly: I told you I want you for it

Moses: you can have it

Carly: & you’ll look after me how you said?

Moses: Promise, like

Carly: cos I wasn’t gonna give u the knowing of how special you are but I’ve gone & told you now

Moses: now I’ll be careful, otherwise I would’ve ended up hurting you by mistake

Carly: idc if u hurt me do what you want

Moses: You’d care

Carly: I care if you think I’m a 👶 now

Moses: If I thought you were a baby, I’d steer clear of you, leave you for my brother

Carly: don’t just cos I can’t shut up & said I’ve not done this before 😳🍒

Moses: I’m going to take it, you’ll compare everyone after to me

Carly: I’ll think of you forever

Moses: You’ll miss me

Carly: you’ll miss me too when you’re married

Moses: That’s a while away, I’m not Johno

Carly: can I be a regular visitor til its not a while away?

Moses: Long as you don’t give me a reason why not, sure, why wouldn’t I want a visitor like you

Carly: 😁☁️🌼🌻🍀🌞🌈🌚🌟

Moses: dope, come get in the car

Carly: [literally run and do that gal for better or worse lol]

1 note · View note

danny-chase · 3 years

Note

Yer a lil cutie patoot :)

Also lol what if Young Justice were all actual RPI students? What’s everyone’s major? What clubs are they in? Are they RAs/LAs?

Kadjska I've thought about this too much after seeing this (for those of you who don't know that's our goddamn college's freshman dorm)

Aight lets go, majors (slashes are dual majors we do that):

Tim - undeclared engineering -> CSE because Bart wanted someone to take data structures with and now he's in too deep, minors in cog sci and phys

Bart - GSAS/CS -> GSAS/E-arts

Kon - Business, math and econ minors

Cassie - MechE/Aero

Anita - EE/CSE (best majors I'm biased)

Cissie - ME -> BME, minor in math

Greta - Biochemistry minor in physics

Various headcanons

They're all in board game club (pshh I'm not biased), which is how the girls group met the guys group

Tim, Bart, and Kon all procrastinated and didn't pick roomates and got signed up to triple in Barton together

Tim and Bart are in the Pokemon Go club

Kon is (not so secretly) in the yugioh card club

Cassie, Anita, Cissie, and Greta have a DND campaign going, Anita's DM they met through the club freshman year and get an apartment together sophomore year

I feel like Anita and Greta would make great LAs and Cassie and Cissie would be awesome RAs

Bart plays ultimate frisbee

Kons a hockey player

Cassie is a mentor for the local robotics team

Cissie's on LEAP this is non negotiable

Anita is a math mentor for IPERSIST

Greta's in WMP (women's mentoring program), she ropes all the other girls in the following year

They all play intramural dodgeball together, despite Tim having multiple concussions throughout their season

Cissie is in RPI players and archery

Anita and Greta are in key club

Greta is in band she plays the tuba cuz i said so

Tim is in the radio club and later joins the embedded hardware (i think that's it's name) club

Kon does the improv comedy club

Anita is on ballroom dance team and NSBE

Bart's also kinda in game dev and is totally in the DDR club

Cassie, Anita and Cissie are in SWE

They tear the boy's door of its hinges and sled down EMPAC hill freshman year

Tim and Bart die in data structures together, no one sees them for 2 weeks straight and all of a sudden they're back again, they probs take it first semester with Cutler (Tim signed up a week late, they both had comp sci credits)

Anita would get on with Prof. Sawyer really well and probably be a TA for Circuits

Anita and Tim gripe about how hard ECSE is all the time guys it sucks it's awful I'm okay

Tim and Cissie both had breakdowns due to data structures and intro to eng design respectively, Cissie screamed at her group ala Cissie yelling at the JLA style, and now they both go to counseling

Kon is relentlessly bullied for being a business major but the inherits Lex's business sense and makes more than everyone combined

They all explored the basement of West Hall, Greta pretended to stay behind, but instead she ran over there first and freaked the fuck out of everyone pretending to be a ghost

Barts part of the underground furry ring

Tim cosplays for genircon

Bart was fine at CS he literally just got bored during algo and switched

Barts that one GSAS student who does immaculate work but if he's bored he does nothing at all, so only like 3 people can work with him - 90% of the battle is keeping him invested in the game

Cassie and Cissie climb up on the roofs of buildings to make out get time away from the chaos

Dick dropped Tim off at school because Bruce was on a business trip, and did that thing that my mom did and invited a random person (Greta) to dinner so he could ensure Tim had at least one friend

Tim got out of arch because he got a summer internship at WE, Cassie got out for academic reasons

The girls definitely have bathroom talks at least once a month

Kon dresses as SIS man for halloween

The boys use the barton couch cushions to make forts when they live there

I can keep going but i think this is too much already keiajdifo guys RPI's a fucking nerd school and i for one am a fucking nerd

#asks #rpi #tw rpi #fucking rpi #good ole rpi #may her fame neeeevvvveeer die #here's to old rensselaer #okay I'll be done now ily bestie #we need to go take a pic in that elevator #i CANT BELIEVE WE LIVED THERE BEFORE I WAS ON TUMBLR AND MISSED OUR MOMENT #*us standing together while dogsitting*#me: hey that's the barton hall elevator with MILLIONS OF NOTES HOLY FUCK QKFISH #you: wait no that can't be right #you: holy fuck you're right #*3 months later*#BARTON HALL IS IN MY GODDAMN FANDOM 💀💀💀💀💀💀

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mybrothershands · 3 years

Text

MBH/Dumpling Crossover

featuring @diddlesanddoodles lovely characters and edited by @thundering-sussurus

"No," Cairo said blatantly before Ka had a chance.

Farris eyed Cairo with a deadpan expression.

“Luckily, we ain’t so desperate a condition as to be needin’ yer services,” Farris replied, but there was a single vein along his temple that pulsed in repressed irritation. His eyes moved back up to Ka and he asked, “Ye always let that one talk fer ye?”

The man clamped his hand over Cairo's mouth. A lump had formed in Ka's throat, and he swallowed. "Ah... I, that is." He took a deep breath and steadied himself. Something about the man made him anxious, and he could not help but shuffle in place a bit. "No, I thank you very much for... for letting me work."

He glanced over at the men working the enormous pumpkins. It was so odd to see so many halfling giants in one place. They were a far cry from being human, and yet their weathered hands seemed small and delicate as they worked. Somehow they had cultivated larger foodstuffs, and Ka found himself a bit jealous. They did not look as lumbering or stupid as he must. There were so few foods that were to-scale for his kind, and yet these people seemed to have every luxury and more, even if some of the animals were a bit... unorthodox.

He quickly looked away, realizing he must have been staring. Ka's eyes moved to Nenani, still sitting comfortably in Farris's arm. It was then he realized this must be the man who watched her while she was sick. The giant cocked his head ever so slightly. Maybe there was more to this man.

Ka picked his head up, meeting the little giant's eyes for the first time. They were a piercing pale green, and he felt as if they might bore right through him. He cleared his throat, trying not to look away. "Is there anything I can do in the meantime? Anything at all. Decorations hung, moving tables..." he cringed before offering the next suggestion, thinking of what he might be asked to do to those poor birds, "...unloading the wagon?"

Farris did not miss the heavy reluctance in his voice.

“I know a tenderfoot when I see one. So stop lookin’ like a panicked scullery maid,” Farris admonished.

Scullery maid? Still, Ka nodded at the instructions, more than happy to listen in silence. "Yessir, thank you," he said when Farris was done, then eyed Avery. He was not sure how he felt about being called a beanpole, but, in any case, he seemed to have gotten over his shock well enough. Past that, he did not seem as hard as Farris. None of them did.

Cairo, however, was getting testy at constantly having his mouth shut by giant fingers. "You're gonna suffocate me," the human grumbled when he was finally free. His companion ignored him and listened for instructions.

“Avery and Bart will handle the birds. Yer with Saen on pumpkin duty. They need broken down, cut up, and fried so my bakers can get them into the pies and into the ovens for luncheon service.” He turned around to call out towards the black-haired cook sitting among the piles of pumpkins. “Avery. Come and start in on these birds. I want the first batches roastin’ within the hour.”

Avery stood, looking utterly relieved to be taken off pumpkin duty, and marched towards them. His step faltered, however, as he got his first real look at Ka. But he squared his shoulders and continued towards the cart, trying to play off his momentary hesitation.

“Fuckin’ hell,” he said, glancing him up and down as he fished two of the birds from the back of the cart. He held one under each of his burly arms. “Who’s the bean pole?”

“Ka’s helpin’ out today,” Farris replied dismissively. “Now shut yer gob and get to it. The spice mixture is in the green jar on the counter. Should be enough fer all of ‘em, so don’t be too heavy handed.” He turned towards Ka and jerked his head in a clear indication for him to follow. “We move fast down here, understand? Ye have a question? Ask it. And I ain’t no babysitter either. Only child down here is the lil’un.”

Farris led him over to the fire pit. A table had been placed nearby, and on it sat a few knives, a long handled wooden spoon, and two large crocks: one of butter and the other of honey. Farris eyed the knives and then said, “I’ll get a more size appropriate knife fer ye. In the meantime, sit down and Yale will be back with yer breakfast.”

"Thank you," Ka said as he approached the pit. He nodded politely to the one called Saen and noticed how the little giant's hair stuck up in the front. At first glance, he looked a bit puckish, though that was yet to be determined. Ka found and palmed the pumpkin Avery had left behind. There was a patch of the orange skin the skin already shaved off, he noted. Taking a moment to study it, Ka sat down near the table and took one of the small knives, despite Farris's offer.

After a few attempts to work with the little knife that felt like a kid's toy in his hand, he seemed to remember something. "Oh, I actually have... my own." He pulled on the strap of his satchel, then flipped the top open, producing a six-foot blade that was definitely not a kitchen knife. It was blunted and had several nicks in it, however, apparently unloved. He reached out, arm easily closing the distance, and held it into the flames for a moment to burn off any filth.

"I am Ka, by the way," he said, eyeing the man who looked about his age. "He told me your name, but... I'm afraid I've already forgotten."

Putting down his own knife, Saen extended a welcoming hand to Ka.

“I’m Saen,” replied the cook with a wide friendly smile. Ka at first reached out with his left hand to shake, but then realized his error and switched the pumpkin to his other hand and shook with his right. It did not feel too small, as he thought it might have. It was more like shaking a boy's hand, though calloused and firm.

"Saen," he repeated.

“And don’t mind Avery none," Sean continued. "He’s got all the tact of a mule and as much sense as a rusted penny.”

“I heard that!” Avery called as he came back up the steps from having delivered the first two birds to Bart.

“Maybe ye were meant to!” Saen retorted with a cheeky grin. Avery threw up a rude gesture as he went to the cart to collect two more birds. Saen just laughed and said, “Ye should be grateful this one came to rescue from prep work. Yer right shit at peeling.”

Yale appeared then at the top of the steps with the two meat pies, bundled up in a clean tea towel. He stopped to talk to Farris for a moment before continuing on towards Ka and Saen.

Nenani pulled at the kitchen master’s shirt to ask a question. “Fine. Just keep outta the way now and don’t be a pest, eh?” Farris warned before crouching down and releasing Nenani onto the ground.

“I won’t,” she promised and scampered along after Yale. Farris eyed the courtyard and the workers within before turning and taking the steps down into the kitchen.

Careful not to touch the still-hot blade, Ka made quick work of the gourd, peeling the skin away in long, thin ribbons. Both Yale and Saen watched with no small amount of awe at how Ka made such fast work of the gourd. With a wide grin, Saen turned to Yale. “Can we keep him?”

The pumpkin fit like a large potato in his hand, so the task really was not that difficult for him. Still, he bit back a smile and pretended to be too focused on his work to notice. Then two sets of feet approached, one big and one small, and he picked up his head. "Hello again," he greeted Yale. Finding Nenani on the ground, he thought it might be safe to release Cairo and set the pumpkin on the table. He double-tapped his chest as a warning before fishing the man out of his pocket.

Cairo grumbled a bit, but stretched as soon as his feet were on the grass. "Stiff as a board," he groaned, then reached his hand in his britches and scratched his rear.

Meanwhile, Nenani walked up to Cairo but stopped a few feet short. She bounced on her heels, a little bashful and said, “Hello.”

The man frowned, eyeing her with a squint. He looked the girl up and down, then squinted further. He turned his head and spit on the ground. "Can I help you?" he growled.

There weren’t many humans in the castle, and Nenani had wanted to ask the man questions about his life with Ka. But any questions she had died on her tongue as she stared down at the floor where Cairo had spit. She made a face and, looking back up, met his gaze with a disapproving frown. “That’s gross.”

He raised a brow. "So it is," Cairo said, a bit bored. He jerked his thumb back towards the kitchen where Farris had disappeared. "That one there, little man, he take care of you?"

She nodded. “Yeah. Everyone in the kitchen kind of does, but Farris is my actual guardian. See?” She reached into the top of her dress to pull out her marker. It was nothing but a simple leather strap with a struck metal medallion, and she held it up to him, showing off the side with Farris’s seal.

Cairo furrowed his brow and gave a simple grunt. "Collared you, then," he said. Still, it was rare he met one who did not fear the giants. Even Ka she had been kind to. Crossing his arms, he studied the piece, but did not move to touch. "Why?"

“It’s not a collar,” Nenani insisted with a mild glare. “It’s supposed to let everyone know I’m allowed to be here and to leave me alone. Because if you don’t have a marker, you might be trespassing. And not everyone here likes humans and might try to hurt you.”

The man regarded her for a moment. That did not bode well for him; then again, he had not planned to leave Ka's side, either. He thought for a moment longer, then spoke slowly. "We don't have anything like that," Cairo began, "but Ka does have a pocket that lets the regular folk know he's safe."

He had detested the idea of the marker at first, but on second thought, it might be quite nice to silently say that one was protected by a giant. A bit of a trophy in his mind. He then looked back and realized something else. "With protection comes..." He paused, trying to think of the correct word, and then realized what a stupid thought he had had. "I don't think it would be proper for me to wear one. It's my job to keep him safe, not the other way around."

She regarded him with confusion at first, looking back towards Ka and all his towering height and substantial bulk and then back at the much smaller Cairo. She smiled knowingly. “That’s what Jae says about Barnaby and Maevis. That Barnaby is more Maevis’s guardian than he is his.” She tucked her marker back inside her dress. “But don’t be worried about not having a marker of your own. Farris’s permission is good enough. No one will bother you while you’re here in the kitchens. I’ve only had one giant try and hurt me since I came here. I threw a pepperseed in his eye.”

Cairo raised his brow. "Good girl," he lauded. "And what did little man do when he found out?"

“Bart told Keral first,” she replied.

“What’s this about Keral?” Yale asked, having heard only the tail end of their conversation. He had moved to the fire pit and the large flat pan that had been placed atop a thin metal rack of sorts to hold it above the fire.

“I was telling him about Thrist trying to eat me that one time,” Nenani answered matter of factly.

Yale growled darkly at that. “Yeah, that swine-faced fucker ain’t gonna be tryin’ that again. He’s lucky Farris wasn’t around or he’d have had his arse fer curtains, and Keral would be down a scout.”

Cairo made an awkward snort before wiping his nose on his shirt. Eat her? What kind of hellish nightmare was this place?

"Do I put the pieces in there?" Ka asked, indicating the pan. He had finished skinning the pumpkin and rolled up his sleeves before uncorking the gourd. In truth, he had heard the conversation as well, but he was already squeamish at the idea and did not think he wanted to hear the rest of the tale.

"Down a scout?" Cairo asked, oblivious to Ka's discomfort. "You mean he ain't dead?"

“Aye, but first slice ‘em thin-like. They’ll cook faster that way,” Saen told Ka. He looked to Yale. “Lil’ man has a point though. Never did figure out how Keral managed to keep Thrist’s neck out of a noose.”

Yale shrugged, lips pinched into a frown. “I suppose bein’ the king’s favorite has it’s perks. So long he keeps him far away from the lass, I’m content with whatever hell trek Keral sent him on.”

Saen turned to Cairo. “Ye see, Thrist is a blue coat ranger. Ye might ‘a spotted one or two of ‘em here and abouts, but mostly they’re out in the provinces and the wilds, keepin’ an eye on things and reportin’ back to Keral who then reports to the King. He’s the captain of the Blue Rangers. Back when the Blood King was still alive, they were a bunch of murdering thugs. But since Keral took over, he’s been tryin’ to bring the order back to its original purpose.”

“He’s also Farris’s brother,” Nenani added.

"Brother," Ka muttered under his breath. There was a wafer-thin sneer on his face that faded as he shook his head. He hollowed out the pumpkin with a finger, holding the orange guts in his palm for a moment before holding them out. "You keep the seeds?" he spoke up in a kinder tone.

"And Farris would have wrent him limb from limb," Cairo said slowly, watching Yale's face as he said it.

“I’m sure he has his reasons, but I can’t say I wouldn’t have paid good coin to see that,” Yale replied. He sighed in resignation. “But Keral isn’t a bad sort, even if his men are pieces of walking rubbish. Probably the most cheerful man in the whole castle. Until ye make him mad and then he looks a lot more like Farris.”

“And his whiskey is top shelf. Got a bottle of it fer my nameday a few years back. But careful," Saen added. He gave Cairo a wink. "It’s got one hell of a kick.”

Ka adjusted his seat, still unsure what to do with the pumpkin guts in his hand. Finding no better place to put them, he tossed the glob into the fire and went to slicing up the pumpkin on the table.

Meanwhile, Cairo put a hand to his heart. "What! You take me for a drunkard? No, no, no no no," he waved both hands before himself. "Lost my uncle to the devil juice," he declared.

“Apologies,” Saen replied, shamefaced, and he raised his hands to placate the human. “Meant no offense. Sorry fer yer loss there, lad.”

Ka promptly knocked the man over with a knuckle. "Dirty liar."

"Hey!" he spat, brushing the dirt from his person as he got up.

The giant turned to meet Sean's eyes. "He likes mead. Had to carry him home half the time-- hey! Don't kick me! Old fart."

"You didn't let me finish," the human growled, glaring up at him. "I had him right where I wanted, too."

"Saen is nice, you shouldn't do that to him," Ka said plainly. This earned him another kick in the shin.

Saen recovered from his surprise quickly, looking to Yale with a haughty grin. “Ye hear that, Yale? I’m nice.”

Yale had grabbed up some of the sliced pumpkins and tossed them onto the pan with a knob of butter, and they began to sizzle. He waved the wooden spoon at his fellow and retorted, “Only ‘cause he’s never seen ye lose at the pebble toss. Or yer tantrum afterwards.”

“Ah, I don’t lose that often,” Saen replied, suddenly defensive.

“Well, the three shillings I won off ye last month say otherwise,” Yale replied as he turned his attention back to the frying pumpkin. He abruptly turned back to Saen as a memory suddenly resurfaced. “And then there was the time ye bit Kol.

“Oi. He stole my sausage,” Saen replied with a frown. “Fair punishment fer the crime.”

“Well, I think you’re nice,” Nenani said and Saen turned to smile at her.

“Why thank you,” he said.

“Even if you bite people,” she added with a grin.

Saen’s smile drooped and he held his arms out in exasperation. “It was one time, and I was drunk off my arse!”

Had Ka been wrong? Maybe his first impression had been right. They were not being rude, at least not to him, but it reminded him how little he knew. He was just an outsider, after all, so decided to keep his mouth shut for a little while. Since Yale had deemed his sliced pumpkin worthy of the frying pan, he regarded the small pile of gourds and wondered just how many pies they planned on making. He shrugged, taking another pumpkin and tossed end over end a up a couple times before setting to peeling again.

Cairo, however, had no such convictions. "You," he said, hammering a finger at Saen, "I like you." He crossed the lawn towards him, much to Ka's dismay. "So what's this about the king's whiskey," he paused, recollecting, "and what the ripe devil is a nameday, for that matter?"

Saen began slicing up more pumpkins but paused at Cairo’s question, regarding the human with a look of horror.

“Ye mean ye don’t have namedays where yer from?” Saen asked. “To celebrate ye bein’ a year older?”

The human squinted up at him. "It's a birth-day, you fool. Because it was the day you were...?" He shrugged. "Unless you hatched from an egg. I suppose you do look a bit like a lizard, then."

Saen slid his knife through the flesh of the pumpkin and paused, staring off into space as he realized the silly mistake he had made. “Oh. Birthdays...huh. Yeah, those.”

Off to the side, Nenani laughed. Saen sent a brief glare her way, but it left soon as it came and he moved on. “As fer the whiskey, it’s ain’t the king’s. Keral’s a bit famous fer his whiskey round here. He doles it out to those he deems worthy of it every once in a while. Farris may still have a bottle. Ask ‘im nice like and he may give ye a nip.”

“Best wait till end of day though,” Yale advised in good humor. “We ain’t bluffin’ about it havin’ a right kick. And we don’t need ya wanderin’ ‘round only fer ye to lose yer footin’ and fall arse end into the fire.”

Saen snickered. “Yeah, just ask Jae."

"Mmh," Cairo grumbled, waving his hand. "Never been one to ask nicely myself." He knocked twice on Saen's shin.

At the motion, Ka watched the man with round eyes and slowly shook his head back and forth. Still, Cairo did not seem to care, and repeated the motion.

Saen looked down curiously and titled his head. “May I be of assistance?”

By now, Ka was visibly shaking his head, openly nervous. The human either did not notice or simply ignored him. "Up, I said," Cairo laughed. He eyed the orange stains on his hand. "Wipe your grubby hands off first, mind you. I don't want to smell like rotten fruit in an hour."

“Oh. Alright then,” said the cook, pleasantly surprised. He sat his knife down and roughly wiped his hands onto his apron before bending down. There was a moment’s hesitation as Saen tried to think of the best way of picking the man up. Unlike Nenani, Cairo was an adult and therefore taller and with considerably more heft to him. In the end, he used the same technique he employed with the little girl, which was to shove his hands under the human’s arms and lift him up. Perhaps it was simply that he was more accustomed to the weight of a small human child, but Saen was a little taken aback by just how much heavier Cairo was. Though really he shouldn’t have been. He did his best to not let it show on his face as he lifted the man onto a clean spot on the table.

Cairo winced a bit as the giant pinched the old wound in his ribs. Once set down, he let out a puff of air and brushed himself off. "Boy you got little girly hands, don't you?"

"Cairo..." Ka warned, though this time did not bother to look up. His stomach rumbled again, and it was then he remembered the pies Yale had brought. He hurried to finish skinning the pumpkin.

Saen tucked his hands under his armpits and pouted. “...don’t have girly hands...”

From the fire pit, Yale started to laugh.

The human took a bow. "My apologies, Princess. Would you like me to kiss your ring?"

With a sudden devilish smirk, Saen grabbed a piece of sliced pumpkin and pushed his ring finger through it and then shoved it in Cairo’s face. “Go on then.”

Yale turned to Ka. “Sorry about that one. I’d say he’s normally not like this...but I’d be lying.”

The big man shrugged. "Don't apologise to me yet. Mine may do worse," he said as he chopped up the pumpkin on the table. Just as he said it, Cairo pricked up as though offended.

"What!" he growled, scrunching up his face at the slimy vegetable.

The human's mood seemed to change then, and he put on a mask of haughtiness. "Your grace, I was only jesting! I wouldn't dare touch thine ring. Tis too great an honor for a lowlife such as myself... but if you insist--" He then took not the ring finger, but Saen's middle finger, and bowed before it. Cairo then proceeded to stick his tongue out and lick the knuckle.

“Oi now!” Saen snapped loudly, pulling back his hand in disgust, but the force of the movement caused his pumpkin ring to fly off of his hand and up into the air. And when it came back down again, it landed on top of Ka’s head.

The little man roared with laughter, while his giant friend was left with a sticky bit of pumpkin in his hair. Ka sat there a moment, eyes distant and unmoving. At last he drew a deep breath, let it out slow, and deadpanned, "Your highness, I think you have lost your ring."

Nenani covered her mouth with her hands to stifle a giggle, looking back and forth between them. Saen drew a breath to make a retort when a bellow sounded from the archway.

“I’M HEARIN’ A LOT ‘A TALKIN’ AND NOT A LOT ‘A WORKIN!”

Both Saen and Yale, more than accustomed to Farris’s hollering, turned their focus to their work. Nenani, still growing use to the sheer volume her guardian voice could achieve, was startled badly and jumped.

Ka gasped and hunched his shoulders at the sound. "Sorry!" he squeaked, though he knew the man could not hear him. He took the pumpkin from his head and pitched it into the fire. It had been a fairly solid piece, but his hair was still sticky in places from the stuff. Cairo, he noticed, had not budged other than to turn in the direction of the voice and square his shoulders as if to fight.

The giant then caught sight of Nenani still pulling herself together. "Are you okay, little one?" Ka murmured.

She blinked up at him and then nodded with a small sheepish smile. “Yeah. I’m still getting used to how loud Farris gets sometimes.”

“Bit of a wonder we ain’t all deaf,” Yale murmured to Ka with a suppressed grin.

“Do you ever yell like that?” Nenani asked Ka. The question came more from a curiosity about Ka’s height. Farris was one of the taller giants she had met and Ka towered over him. If Ka were to get as angry, she wondered if he was that loud.

Ka glanced from Nenani to Yale and then back again. He shook his head as he reached for one of the pies. He hesitated, remembering Farris's call, and chose to grab another pumpkin instead. "I haven't raised my voice since I was a boy," he admitted. "People get nervous when I use my normal voice, so I try to be quiet."

"Y'ain't that bad," Cairo growled.

Yale gave Ka a strange look. “Nervous? Why would they be nervous? I agree with yer brother. That’s plain stupid. What’s other people’s business if yer voice is a tad loud?” Yale gave Ka an appraising look. “Fer as tall as ye are, ye don’t seem to care fer the attention.”

“I always thought it would be really inconvenient to be really tall,” Nenani mused. She had found a small rock on the ground and had picked it up and was idly passing it between her hands.

Saen laughed and replied, “We could say the same fer ya small folk being so short. Ye get winded just climbin’ the damn stairs.”

Ka shrugged at Yale's question, but found the words strengthened him a bit. Even if the man was a giant in his own respect, it felt good to hear some encouragement on the subject. "You are... much more confident than I," he decided.

The giant shook his head as he peeled. His voice got quiet and apprehensive. "I've scared people before. Humans, mostly. I don't like it." He forced a laugh. "Maybe I worry too much."

Cairo picked his teeth. Upon finding something, he pulled it out on his fingernail, then stuck it back in his mouth. "Sure do," he grumbled. He turned to Sean and curled his lip. "I don't have to climb your stairs, midgey boy."

Saen grinned and poked the human’s middle. “Maybe ye should start,” he quipped.

Near the pit, Yale was considering Ka with a little more of a critical eye. He took the sight of him in and his words and pieced more of the puzzle together. He understood easily the apprehension that came with interacting with humans, though he and the rest of the staff and Farris all made jokes and snarky remarks about popping them into stews and pies. It was all a balm against the festering wounds left behind by the war. It was easy to joke to and make light of it all. It was their morbid way to reconcile with the very real evils they had done. That Farris had done for them. To save them. But Yale held himself just as responsible as Farris. No matter what the kitchen master told him. He too remembered those faces...

He looked to Nenani then, who was watching them with an open curiosity. Innocent. She knew only bits and pieces, and even then, he wasn’t sure she knew anything of the whole truth. If she did, she never let on.

He took the slices of cooked pumpkin and dropped them into a shallow earthenware dish. Staring at the other slices still sizzling along the hot metal pan, he spoke to Ka.

“Didn’t use to be. Confident I mean,” Yale admitted to him. “When I was younger. Durin’ the war and all. Scared a lot of humans in my life. And I'm talkin' real terror. Wasn’t my choice to do it, but I did.”

Ka was silent for a moment, trying to think over Cairo's angry exchange with Saen. The humans here had been foolish enough to wage war with the giants? Behind that, what had they done to deserve their wrath? He shook his head and decided to ignore it. "I... haven't had to kill anyone, fortunately. There was that one, erm, accident with a dragon rider, but..." Ka shrugged as he rolled the pumpkin over in his palm, unsure how to finish his sentence.

He then glanced over to where Nenani stood and recalled how protective Yale had been of her. If so much had happened to him, how had he recovered so well? He himself had been a mess the time he had hurt Cairo. Then again... "I suppose there are bad humans just as there are bad giants," he finished.

Yale nodded with grim understanding at Ka’s words. There was no need for him to say anything else as his meaning was plain as well as his regret. It only served to confirm in Yale’s mind the kind of man he was and it brought forth a feeling of smug contentment. He wasn’t always as good a judge of character as Farris, but he wasn’t bad either. He felt pride in knowing his initial assessment of Ka had been right.

#crossover with doobdles

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incoherentbabblings · 4 years

Text

Earth 3 Stephanie is a Sad Person and Tim Kinda Made Things Worse Whoops

Earth Three Steph is sad for a lot of reasons but the inadvertent taunting Tim gives her by simply loving his Stephanie lots is certainly up there.

Like, if we are taking Bendis at face value here, either not everyone on Earth 3 is evil, or Stephanie Brown is legitimately one of like...three examples of not evil people on Earth 3... somehow?

Side note. This sounds so mean but YJ... is not a complicated series. Some folk were desperately trying to pull threads saying Bendis was building up this really intricate theory that the reason Zatanna’s mind magic didn’t work on Steph was because she wasn’t actually Steph she was EVIL!Steph and not the real Steph and that was the reason Earth Three Steph was good is because Earth Three is after all supposed to be the morality of the main heroes and villains flipped and maybe these two Stephs has switched places at some point and this is why Tim and Steph are going to break up my dislike of her character is totally justified guys...

The truth is... Bendis just didn’t go with that cause it didn’t suit the story he was trying to tell. Either he doesn’t know how Earth Three works or he didn’t care (or both). YJ 2019 is not the place for morally complex superhero comics. The good guys are friends who love each other, the bad guys are obviously bad and kinda incompetent.

So Main Earth Steph is good. Earth Three Steph is good. Or rather, is good in that she hates short sighted selfish people. Which is what her Young Justice are.

Long post under the cut because it’s me and I can’t do brief to save my legs if they were tied to a woodchipper.

Hey! You! Yes you! Are you a young fellow with a big brain and big ideas and a slightly off kilter mental state? You may have a Stephanie Brown forming a crush on you! Are you a young fellow with a big brain and big ideas and a slightly off kilter mental state with a desire to better people’s living standards? Congratulations! Somewhere there’s a Stephanie Brown falling in love! Oh what’s that? You’re not using that big brain and big ideas and off kilter mental state to better mankind? You’re literally just doing it for shits and giggles and to impress another girl? Well now there’s a Stephanie Brown who thinks you’re a waste of space! You’re a self-absorbed lazy git!

Joking aside, it’s interesting that her biggest umbrage with these guys is their lack of foresight and hedonism. The inequality of the power they hold over others, and the fact that they are wasting that power on benefiting themselves and trying to one up each other. She’s been trying to slow the decay nearly singlehandedly, seemingly before the Crime Syndicate ever made their way across for events like Forever Evil. But she’s been doing it alone for a long time, and her drive was starting to falter when YJ crashed up.

So, you have this girl who somehow is one of the only genuinely kind hearted people on this planet - trying to do right by the downtrodden - who apparently knows Earth 3′s Tim Drake well enough to not be frightened or threatened by him. And maybe she liked him romantically? Idk I guess it’s how relevant you take her snarking about Drake’s crush on Amaxon, could be just her snarking, could be partial resentment - like a sort of why her and not me sort of tone. Idk, ymmv there. We get no indication of how Earth Three Tim feels about anything really (like I said, Bendis is not aiming for complexity in this title).

Point is, this is a Stephanie Brown who, from what we see, is very, very, very alone. And what’s the very first thing Tim says to her?

How loved his Stephanie is. There’s a lot of that. Our Tim’s Stephanie is very, very, very, loved. Earth Three Stephanie...is not. But Tim’s language here is just him conflating the two girls into one. ‘I am in a very intense relationship with you’, ‘all I want to do is get home to you’, ‘God, I miss you so much’.

And Tim doesn’t flipping help matters by going off on her like this. And then when Bart punches her out Tim’s body language is not the way you hold an unconscious stranger plus Bart just takes Tim’s word for it that because this girl is Steph she’s not evil??? Like where is the logic? I love her on my Earth so on this Earth it must be the same? Tim...

And he continues to be overly familiar with this Steph (‘mesmerizing’ TimoTHY please) and she’s just trying to do right by them to get them back home. She’s trying to draw a boundary. She’s not his girl back home. That girl is waiting for him.

But Tim just cannot make the distinction at all.

She’s trying to do the right thing but this Tim is making things complicated. How awful must it feel to be faced with someone who loves you, but not you. Someone who has a big brain with big ideas and wants to help you help others. Someone who is in love with you.

But it’s not you.

Someone who crashes into your world, and helps liberate a city. Just because he can and it’s the right thing to do. He won’t go home to his girl until it’s done. He came here for a reason.

Stephanie Brown is still so closely tied to hope, even on Earth Three. She holds on to it for what looks like a helpless fight. She thanks YJ when they restore it to the city. She implies that the people of Earth Three aren’t inherently bad or violent, it’s just all they've ever known and give them some time to readjust. Hope springs anew and all that. She’s still really good with kids, and she’s really protective over them still.

And apparently a few other of these visiting folk again immediately warm up to you the moment they hear who ‘you’ are like oh ‘you’re’ really are liked over the border and ‘she’s totally in love with Drake too!’

Wait what? BART whaT? Does Bart have like...super people reading skills? Is it that obvious how much Stephanie is kinda yearning for that other Stephanie’s life and relationships? Is that it? Can he see that she’s jealous? Can Tim?

Side note: Still going feral over Steph and that little dark haired child heavens above

Considering in the previous issue she was all ‘this world is not your problem’ only to say ‘Come with me. Or don’t.’ and ‘I mean, it’s up to you. It’s a hell of a leap of faith’. Like, she’s not discouraging them from leaving at all, it’s just... half hearted do you want to go? Yeah. You do. You should. You’re sure? You should... You sure?

Tim leaves her with just a simple kindness. A thank you. And a lingering stare. I don’t know how to read that. Maybe something did get cut from the script? What is it implying? That Tim is reluctant to go? Regardless, Steph cries.

Say goodbye to that boy who has a big brain with lots of clever plans and a good heart and holds you gently and has nice friends who just want to help and be friendly to you. And you’re loved. Loved beyond dimension boundaries.

But it’s not you.

And that’s why Tim kinda made things worse for Earth Three Stephanie Brown. You can’t miss what you’ve never had. Except now she knows what she is missing out on. Now she knows what she’ll never have. And ouch my heart just broke.

#dc #timsteph #tim drake #stephanie brown #timsteph meta

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iphoenixrising · 4 years

Note

hey we haven’t heard anything from you in a while. everything good? How’s life treating you? All my love for one of my favorite batfam writers!💗💗💗

Hi babe.

Ah sorry, I’ve been super busy at work and with kiddo :( I mean, I’m still writing when I can, but it’s just time and motivation. My project has really taken off (reads as: expanded) and most nights I’m chipping away at the massive amount of documentation for not only a Java-based framework, but an entire Platform *sob* So, it’s just such a huge amount of old articles and brainstorming sessions and meeting minutes and just ugh. I mean, it’s kind of interesting to try tracking all these things down and figuring out how they’re going to work together since the developers (from 12 to 50-ish, my God and now they want me to read markdown and do pull requests for comments and shit because this is my fucking life) are still working on the platform services, the development environment, and all these fucking tools I’ve never heard of (Kubernetes, wtf is this thing??) so I’m learning a foreign language almost tbh.

Did I mention *sigh*?

ANYWAY, also some of the things I’m working on that are like Batfam are a little more...I dunno, just things that a bit harder for me I guess, but even if I write just a sentence or two, I still count it as a win.

But like...I said something about a Sentinel / Guide Au, and even though I’m at what would be a good stopping point, I’m not very happy with it :/ So, if you’d like to see kind of what I’ve been doing, I’m going to throw down what I’ve got below the cut.

Warnings:

DickTim, Angst

Sentinel/Guide Au

After he brings B back from time, send the Dark Knight back to Gotham, he gives in to things long overdue, and trains with Shiva–

–to be an effective Guide.

Years of suppressants made it literally hell without them, trying to keep his shields up, trying to push out the telepathic traffic suffocating him the second he opens up just a crack.

Shiva, of course, had been her cheerfully murderous self, plying him with the full onslaught of a powerful Sentinel.

"You will be drawn to us from now on, Little Bird. You will want to protect us, bring us back from the abyss. If you choose to allow your powers as a Guide rein free, then you must learn to fight against the urges."

The fucked-up part is–

–she's right.

If he wants to stay in the life, wear the cape and cowl under the new name, go back to the Titans (since they've been looking for him again, fly-bys and searches for his tech), then he needs to learn how to deal with what he can do and how to deal with the instincts that come along for the ride.

It's not enough that Shiva is in the middle of hunting down a few former students ("They have made...the wrong choices."

"That's rich coming from you, you know."

"We all have a code, Little Bird, and I am no different.")

but they managed to run into a few other Sentinels along the way.

He'd like to say he'd taken his ass beating like a pro at this juncture in the vigilante game, but the reality is, they'd had to take shelter in a shitty lean-to, so he could be tragically, metaphysically hung-over.

He gives up the cowl and suit, utility belt and sundries. He goes as a wrecked teenage American boy, changing it up from the last time he trekked behind Lady Shiva and took on her adversaries. He tries not to think about Dick or Jason, Dami or Alfred, tries not to think about the confused look on B's face in his safe house, drying his hair after a long shower, trying to readjust to the current timeline.

("You aren't going back to Gotham?"

"I still have things to do."

"...there's something you aren't telling me."

"There's a lot I'm not telling you."

"Come to me when you're ready, Tim. No matter what, you're always going to be one of my Robins.")

Instead, he learns how to keep himself, and the Sentinels around him, safe and sane while trying to stay two steps ahead of the next fight, the next clue, the next "training."

In Shanghai a few months later, he knows it's time to move on when people part ways for the brightly clad superheroes coming en-masse down the packed street for him.

Well, moving on it is.

Going back to the Tower, away from the Bats and Gotham and the Rogue Gallery (thinking about facing the Joker this raw and open is fucking terrifying), was the best he was going to get considering the circumstances.

Those circumstances being the pointed twitch over Kon's eye and Bart's very intense gaze.

"You were supposed to call, asshole. The OG Batman has been back in Gotham for like months and you've just been, you know, chilling with Lady Shiva?"

Tim, who is so out of bullshit at this juncture, feels better after a hot shower and some old sweats with a Superboy t-shirt, throws up his fucking hands.

"All right, fine. I never told anyone. I...I've been on suppressants since I was a kid, just like my mom. Guides..."

"It's not that bad anymore!" Cassie tries helplessly, the first to actually reach across the table for his hand.

The instant connection makes them both gasp. It’s a shallow one, just a dip under her natural shield (he knows it’s Cissy, the Guide that’s been helping her until now, bringing her back whenever she hits a Zone, recognizes the touch of their Arrowette), just a skim over her immediate emotions this thing now untried and how utterly calm he makes her just by hands lightly placed.

"O-ooh," is soft while his fingers tighten, his eyes sharpen, his shields constructing around her, his instinct to protect.

"Not necessary," Gar chimes in, still leaning against the door between the kitchen and communal entertainment room, "we're all good in the Tower, T."

Is what shakes him out of it, hastily pulling away from Cassie's hand.

"Wow." Wonder Girl breathes out, eyes soft and half-mast, looking at him dreamily.

"Nope." Because he can already feel the headache coming on, how her hand tries to grab back at his.

“We could fight better together, Tim!”

“Do you even know how strong a Guide has to be to take care of four Sentinels?”

In one terribly creepy singular move, Bart, Kon, Gar, and Cassie give him that look.

You know, aimed at his face.

"No one," Bart cuts in, eyes wide at the exchange, of Tim's aura warm and inviting suddenly stronger, reaching out... "Tim, T. No one has to know."

The flash of fear, a residual from the tunic, makes him hedge back a subtle step back.

Kon pointedly grips him by the bicep, over his shirt while Bart moves enough that his shoulder bumps into Tim’s ribs, halting the possible escape attempt.

“Okay, okay, backing off. New powers are about a bitch, not like we all haven’t been there once or twice.” Kon soothes over, taking small steps and tugging until Tim is moving with him closer to the communal kitchen where his seat is empty at the island, and they can possibly get proof the guy actually eats.

“Amen,” Cassie throws up a hand and is already digging through the fridge until she finds–

–the last grape Zesti.

Tim’s eyes narrow dangerously on that singular can, his body moving before his brain can take over because he’s sliding on his old chair, the can cold against his fingers, too thirsty for caffeine that he can’t even.

Sure, it’s a trap, but with these guys, at least he knows it.

“I’m very not ready to do anything remotely Guide-like in the field,” the soft ca-saaaa as the can opens. “You want me to sleuth, fight, and strategize, then I’m all for it.”

Bart is just suddenly in Kon’s usual seat beside him, spinning around in tight, fast circles, “you mean you’re thinking about coming back? To the life?”

“Dude, that would be stellar.”

Tim side-eyes his besties, “it was never in the plan to-to stop.”

“Can’t blame us for assuming, you know,” Gar grins toothily, “no Red Robin for a while, my dude.”

Tim goes quiet, staring down at the can between his hands, shoulders hunched over.

“At least,” Raven’s voice is smooth and soft, comforting, “tell us why now, Tim?”

“Why now?”

“Why begin training as a Guide now?” She clarifies, sliding into the seat across from her, and the coolness of her aura, not a Sentinel, but something purely Raven puts his frayed nerves at ease, makes it easier for him to find the words.

“I turned 18,” and he can’t look at them while he admits to it, “and...and I figured out who my Sentinel is after Ra’s kicked me out the window.” (I was fine going out that way. It was fine. I was saving Wayne Enterprises from the League of Assassins, I was fighting the good fight. It shouldn’t have happened that way...why did it have to happen that way?)

“Oh,” and Cassie’s eyes get huge.

“Ra’s al Ghul is your Sentinel?!” Bart fairly screams.

“No dude,” Tim rolls his eyes and finds his can suddenly fascinating. “It’s...Dick. He’s...yeah. It’s him.”

“I didn’t hear that,” Kon hurries, standing shock-still, “I didn’t hear any of that.”

“Not him,” Bart is gritting his teeth because dammit, why couldn’t Tim have been his Guide? The universe was totally, wholly unfair.

A muscle in Tim’s jaw flexes, his nose pinkening along his upper cheekbones. He blinks watery eyes, takes a deep, deep breath to try and keep himself under control.

“Yeah,” and Tim sighs a little, the ache in his chest more acutely painful when he thinks about that moment waking up in the Cave, Dick in the Batsuit without the cape/cowl combo smiling down at him, still painfully unaware of the connection drawn tight between them.

(He doesn’t need me. He’s got Babs and Dami. His Guide and his Robin.)

Getting the absolute fuck out of the Manor had been his first order of business once he’d come to, just sprouting whatever placating bullshit Dick needed to hear to let him go without much of a fight (this time).

Finding Bruce and staying the hell out of Gotham hadn’t helped the pull he inexplicably felt, or the pressure of minds around him that had sent him to Shiva in the first damn place. His Guide abilities were overcoming the suppressants, so he was out of time...and out of options.

Still, even with the training, he occasionally has the dreams at night. Not the usual array of awful nightmares from his real life, Jason shooting him in the chest at point-blank to make sure the job gets done this time, Bruce dying right before his eyes, turning into that skeleton husk Superman brought to them thinking it was the real thing, Damian sneering at him with the katana held high, spitting out how it’s time the real Robin took his rightful place just before bringing the blade down–

No, no, it’s even worse than those.

It’s shadowy hands touching him, the warm wet of a mouth over his skin and scars, gentle voice in his ear telling him how beautiful he is, how much he’s needed, wanted, how it’s not just because of what he is or what tunic he used to wear, it’s all because he’s Tim. He doesn’t wake up when his dream self realizes it’s Dick over him, those blue eyes taking him in, pinning his wrists down to look over every inch of his naked body. He doesn’t wake up when Dick starts preparing him. He doesn’t wake up when Dick kisses him hard and desperate. He doesn’t wake up when the tears dry on his face and their bodies line up.

“Mine,” his dream Sentinel doesn’t even hesitate, “Don’t ever run from me again. Do you understand me, Tim?”

Just before Dick pushes, he wakes up, panting and hard, his instincts going crazy enough that he has to meditate to calm down.

Cassie gently wraps her hand around his shoulder, making sure they don’t have skin-to-skin contact this time. “I’m sorry,” she smiles gently at his frown, “I know you and Dick have had some...issues in the past few years.” But he can read the guilt in her face. Back when everyone thought Bruce was dead and his cape had been yanked out from under him, Dick had sent Cassie to try talking some “sense” into him. She still feels awful for jumping on the same train everyone else had been riding, the ‘that guy is suffering from depression’ instead of believing he might actually be right.

(It still stings though, doesn’t it?)

He doesn’t say anything back, just looks out one of the big windows and pulls out of her hold to take a drink of his Zesti.

“But,” Gar quickly jumps in, “you’ll stay in the Tower and fight on the team again, right? Like, no more trips with World’s Deadliest Assassins?”

Tim visibly hesitates, pausing with the can up to his mouth.

Slowly, he lowers it, his eyes taking on a cold calculation that is and isn’t like their old Rob. “Like I said, I can’t be a Guide for anyone, and I mean that. Second, I told you the truth in confidence, so I expect everyone to keep my secret. Third, I’m not anywhere near ready to go to Gotham or face the Bats, so for now, I’m fighting under the radar. If those aren’t acceptable stipulations, I’ll grab some of my clothes from storage and be out of your Tower.”

“Storage?” Kon glances around at the team, “Tim, buddy, why do you think we’d have your stuff in storage?”

“I assumed Dick would already approach you about making Damian part of the team,” his tone is absolutely empty, emotionless. “And there’s no way both of us could be here at the same time, so...” he lets them put it together from there.

The look of utter devastation on Kon’s face makes him feel slightly better.

Coming back when Cassie, Bart, and Kon have his back, just like they were closer to the end of their YJ run, makes the transition easier than it realistically should have been.

And it really might just be how low the dose of suppressants are now, or that he feels comfortable stepping into Robin’s role on the team, just with a different name, a different mask. It might just be how Bart has a tendency to hover with that hummingbird energy coming off him even when he’s seemingly standing still, maybe it’s Kon’s TTK pressing at his back even if the guy is across the room, maybe it’s how he and Cassie have leadership meetings where they just binge watch reruns of Gossip Girl and eat ice cream to bemoan their woes.

But maybe, it’s how he can feel them pulling at his shields unconsciously. Maybe it’s how he can sometimes push back enough, can skim just the edges to get impressions of angry, sad, depressed and gently erect a mental shield without delving deep without permission, can give them the space they need from their intense senses and powers.

Just another way he can be the regular guy on the team, working under the radar. So much a part of his role in the first damn place.

He doesn’t realize it becomes something normal until they take the good fight a little too close to Gotham for his liking, but the choices were few and Luthor is such an incredible ass hat that Tim actually plays it down, dresses up as CEO Tim Drake to divert their baddie while the team takes apart his latest weapon of mass destruction on the down-low.

What he absolutely doesn’t expect is to leave the lobby of one of the most posh restaurants in Metropolis–

And walk face-first into Dick Gryson’s chest.

(Technically, it’s Nightwing, but really, this doesn’t make the sitch any better.)

A hand, black with blue fingerstripes, covers his mouth, and the sound of a grapple retracting is a pending oh no that he doesn’t fight the vigilante pretty much kidnapping him off the street in broad daylight.

He can only thank God it isn’t skin-to-skin contact because his inner senses are flaring this close to the Sentinel, his Sentinel, that he has to grind his back teeth to keep himself in check. He pulls away the second they land it on solid rooftop, shoving his sleeve back to check the team’s status on his hidden wrist computer.

Mission success!

“Imagine my surprise,” Nightwing growls, hand on his shoulder to spin him around, “when I find you having lunch with someone like Lex Luthor instead of taking my damn calls, Timmy.”

Stepping out of that hold is subtle because Tim is looking over the side of the roof, adjusting his tie to try putting some distance between them. “I’m undercover. Those are the things people like us do when we’re running an Op, Nightwing.”

Those whiteouts narrow on him, a trick only Dick can really pull off effectively. “None of that tells me where the hell you’ve been for the last year since you left to find Bruce, found him, and didn’t come back.”

His back straightens, eyes looking away when the irritation and heat of anger hits him harder without the nice little cocktail of suppressants and stabilizers, makes his own shields tremble at the burning sear along the edges of his consciousness.

Instead of saying something he might come to regret, Tim sucks in a breath through his nose and works through the bolt of pain, gathers his shields around himself to keep the Sentinel from unerringly lashing out at him again.

“What the hell are you even doing here? Recon on Luthor? For which nefarious plot?”

A black and blue hand slashes the space between them, “not even important, Tim. So, how about you call your team and tell them you’ve got some Bat business because we? Need to talk.”

“I’m sorry, what now?”

“You heard me. I’ve been trying to get in contact with you for weeks.”

“I sent back your case files, asshole–”

“Not about cape and cowl shit, Tim!”

“I don’t even know what you’re talking about right now,” even though he does, he really does. He just doesn’t know why it has to happen now.

Nightwing, however, has had enough of the talk and with a whip of his arm has a bolo out and thrown, his natural speed as a Sentinel might be slower than someone like the Flash, but it still has Tim wrapped up tight faster than he can realistically dodge.

The sight of the vigilante Nightwing swinging through Metropolis with the CEO of Wayne Enterprises over one shoulder would be big news in the city if anyone had been bothered to really look up.

The hotel is nice Tim thinks while wiggling around on the bed where Dick pretty much dumped him. His fingers are already getting the bolo loose from around his upper body by the time Dick has the mask off and the Nightwing suit unzipped to flop around his waist.

The Gotham Knights t-shirt underneath is a new one since the old faded one got blown up in that little explosion in the ‘Haven a few years back.

Dick lifts and sets a chair down with a pointed clack, sitting down to watch Tim squirm his way up. He’s got the bolo loose enough to brace his palms.

“What part of I’m in the middle of an OP–”

“Don’t care,” Dick cuts him off ruthlessly, those blue eyes hard and jaw tense. “I honestly don’t give a crap about the Titans right now.”

“Well I sure as hell do thank-you very much,” Tim pulls the bolo off, tosses it across the room with an angry flick, facing his former mentor, former partner, former friend with those old feelings creeping up his throat to make the taste in his mouth coppery and bitter.

“The only thing I care about right now is that I finally caught up to you. The last time I even saw you was that swan dive–”

“I’m aware. Being kicked out of a window is pretty memorable, even for people like us,” he keeps it deadpan, keeps the anger and irritation, the feelings of shit like betrayal and it must have been so easy to throw me the fuck away.

“The point is, smart ass, you left the Cave and haven’t been back. You only answer my emails about cases and bad guys. But when I ask you to come back home, which I have, Tim, I don’t even know how many times, and I get nothing! We need you–”

“Why would I come back to Gotham for you?” Is what spills out of his mouth, something bitter and foul. “You’ve already got a fucking Robin to be your little brother, remember?”

Welp, there goes playing it cool.

But watching Dick jerk back like Tim had landed a physical blow was more satisfying than he wanted to admit.

“Are you kidding me right now? You’re still angry about that? I’ve explained to you exactly why–”

The irritation in Dick’s tone, obvious disgust when he leans back and crosses his arms over his chest is just about enough.

“You explained it just fine. You made your choice, so everyone just has to deal with it, right? Yeah, that’s really being my equal.”

Tim makes himself stay deadly calm and cold, moves his legs away from Dick’s to stand and take a few steps away from the seething Sentinel to adjust his tie and try to get his hands to quit trembling.

“I can’t believe you’re acting this childish, Tim. I’m really disappointed with you right now.”

“Glad we’re on the same page, Dick, disappointed in each other,” but it strikes him anyway in the small, sad place where he held on to the hope they could still work everything out somehow and at least go back to being friends. A small part that’s been slowly dying in degrees, and that last hit is enough to make it so absurdly painful.

(All those years in the R, fighting the good fight, being brothers, having each other’s backs, and it all ends here, doesn’t it?)

“What? I did everything I could do for you! I–”

“If that’s what you want to believe, then that’s fine. I don’t have any reasons to argue with you,” staring at his own reflection in the mirror, seeing the red start to creep over his cheeks, his eyes get overly shiny, Tim Drake straightens his spine and flexes his own shields.

He keeps himself together enough to turn on a heel and walk calmly to the door.

“Tim, just...okay, just wait. Let’s talk this out–”

He doesn’t even turn, hand already on the knob, just pulls open the door and takes a hasty step through. It’s only the first step, but Dick is still just suddenly there, trying to snatch at Tim’s wrist with a bare hand, managing the brush of fingertips over a pulse.

“Don’t leave like this,” Is the last thing Dick says before the electric shock slides up his spine, the pull to all his senses almost has him on his knees.

The touch has Tim lurching away, jerking his wrist up to cradle against his chest, the red burn of Dick’s emotions beating at his shields harder with just a simple graze.

It ends with Dick still in the doorway, braced against the frame, gaping, and Tim leaning heavily into the wall across the hall, a wince on his face.

Stupid metaphysical connections and shit.

The touch hadn’t been enough to, you know, like bond them or anything, but it’s widely believed True Pairs didn’t even have to touch to get impressions from one another.

“You asshole,” he seethes at that shocked expression.

“You feel like I betrayed you,” is low and thick, Dick’s eyes a little dazed with what he picked up through the momentary connection, “it hurt you so much when I made Dami my Robin because I didn’t even talk to you, I didn’t trust you. You think I just threw you out of my life. How could I ever do that to you...?”

If Tim was a better Guide, on a higher dose of suppressants, he would have been able to keep himself closed off enough that if they did manage to touch, he could have kept Dick out of his shields, wouldn’t have given him the ability to skim over shitty emotions.

If Tim was a better Guide, he wouldn’t have the urgent need to run.

But welp, here they are.

As the thought takes shape in his brain pan, that he’s in his civilian day-ware and can run down the hall while Dick –still half in Nightwing– is trapped in the doorway, his knees firm and his eyes dart wildly to the side, giving himself away.

And since Dick was Batman, is Nightwing, is a Sentinel, he sees the writing on the wall and absolutely refuses to let it happen. Dick shoves with his arms, darts out into the hallway, makes his suddenly weak knees work enough to shake up Tim’s plan, seizes the apparent Guide, his Guide, in a princess hold and get back before the door even starts to close.

“Put me–!”

But Dick folds his legs to sit with his back against the door, and wraps both arms around the struggling third Robin. He can hold onto Tim better than a bolo anyway.

The push at Tim’s shields is a pressure he isn’t used to dealing with, and it’s painful to fight against it rather than just let the tentative connection open. His hands curl into fists in his lap, trying to strain against the arms pinning him while concentrating on strengthening his shields.

He doesn’t realize he’s whispering, “no, no, no,” under his breath.

“Please,” Dick lays his forehead down on top of Timmy’s head, “please don’t go. Not now. I’m finally...Tim, I get it now. I swear, I get it.”

“...doesn’t matter. Too late.”

“That isn’t fair,” the smallest shift and Dick is breathing against his throat, making him shiver, “I just found out you’re...a Guide. My Guide. We haven’t even started yet. It can’t be too late if we haven’t had a beginning.” It gets worse when Dick breathes in his scent deeply, a noise coming out of his chest.

“We have had a beginning,” he bites out, fists tight, concentrating on keeping his shields strong but flexible, “we’ve had years–”

“And I’m not ready to throw all of that away.”

The pressure against his mental shields finally eases up as Dick raises his head, gives him a little shake to make him look up.

“You already did, remember?”

“I didn’t... I never threw you away. That’s not what I meant or wanted. Yes, I should have handled things better. I know that now, and I’m sorry I hurt you. I was sorry before, I just didn’t know how to tell you, how to make it better between us.”

Tim’s eyes narrow, and he doesn’t let up in case this is one of those diversionary tactics to put him in a false sense of security.

(They fight bad guys. Sometimes, they have to cheat, and he wouldn’t put it past Dick to do just that.)

“I don’t know what you think is going to happen here,” he finally tries, staring up into those blue, blue eyes (I trusted you once, and fuck if I’m going to let you do this to me again). “But whatever it is, you’re wrong. I’m not going to come back to Gotham and be your Guide. I’m not going to bond with you because the universe says I’m meant to be some kind of magical counterbalance.”

Dick’s expression crumples, his arms go a little slack.

“Tim, we’re...we’re a True–”

“I don’t give a fuck about True Pairs, Dick, not anymore. Babs has been your Guide since you both presented. She wants the job, she can damn well have it.”

It’s not a fight to push against Dick’s arms the second time and stand up out of his lap.

“You’ve loved me since the moment you put on the cape, Tim. I know you have.” When what he means is I know now.

“I loved you before that, you asshole, and you betrayed me. You don’t get that chance again.”

Turning away shouldn’t be this easy now that Dick knows the truth, but it is, and the very last parts of him still hoping, still craving, are just as easily–

–wiped out.

Dick’s eyes are watery when the door hisses and creaks upon opening, and it’s an automatic thing, reaching a hand up just expecting Tim to take it.

“Tim. Timmy, please.”

“Good-bye, Dick,” is already fading with rapidly retreating footsteps. At least he can keep some of his dignity because Dick will never know he falls the fuck apart as the elevator goes down.

Author’s notes:Here’s why I don’t like this: 1. I want to talk more about why Tim chose Shiva as the Sentinel to teach him how to be a good Guide. Like, I want to explore that dynamic more because I’ve never really had the time or space to write Shiva as we see her in Tim’s Robin run.2. I wanted to go more into the expanded senses of Sentinels and how to - hell, I dunno, make it seem to be a little closer to cannon maybe? Like point out some of Dick’s greatest escapes and be like part of that is due to his Sentinel power. 3. Dick says some shitty things, and I don’t give him any context. Like, at that point, he legit believes he did the right thing at the time, and look! Tim’s Red Robin so everyone wins! But yeah, once he got under those shields, the truth shakes him up. 4. I dunno, this au might not be for me. It doesn’t feel very different from some of my other angsty things I guess but meh. Who knows, I might fix it someday :D

#winter answers #with angst #and frustration #sentinel!au #Tim Drake #Dick Grayson #the titans!#my fics #my writing

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why-do-i-like-you-ya-dumb-bean · 4 years

Text

Prompt time!!!

Here is a Rejanis prompt that my friend @elphabuddy sent me! I loved writing it. Hopefully it’s turned out well!

Regina does something that strains her back and turns into an absolute bitch because she’s too proud to admit that she’s in agony (or that her back even gives her issues anymore). Janis connects the dots and takes care of her.

From upstairs Janis heard a loud thud from the George’s basement and then a tone of voice she hadn’t heard in over two years but had been hearing since she had gotten to Regina’s. This though was the harshest it had gotten.

“Jesus fucking christ Gretchen can’t you do anything right?!” Regina yelled.

By the time she made it downstairs, everyone had frozen and there was ear crushing silence. Janis being on the stairs was able to take in the whole sense. The gang had been rearranging Regina’s basement since getting back from their first year at college. All of them surprisingly had chosen to work at the same local grocery store. They figured once they finished post secondary things that they might drift apart and wanted to have this time before full adulthood would likely pull them apart.

“Regina I-I’m sorry I really thought I had a grip on it.” Gretchen frightfully stammered out.

“Don’t say sorry to me! Say sorry to Janis! It was her TV that you dropped!” Regina said, throwing an arm towards the punk. Janis watched with slight surprise as a twinge of pain crossed the blonde face. Well that’s interesting. Janis thought.

“Hey guys why don’t you all head home for the day? Regina and I can take over. We’ve pretty much reached my stage of the design anyway.” Janis said casually. There was a moment of pause before five bodies started moving. Gretchen, still looking frightened, tried to stammer out an apology. Janis wrapped her in a bear hug and whispered in the brunette’s ear. “I know that wasn’t your fault. If you could before you go, find her rice heating pad and put it in the microwave for two minutes that would be awesome. Then just toss it down the stairs. No reason to come back into fire before I calm her down. Okay?” Janis waited to feel Gretchen nod before releasing her to go upstairs.

As soon as the basement door shut she turned her attention to Hurricane Regina. “I’m fucking fine thank you very much. Everyone’s just been showing their ineptitude today and it’s pissing me off!” Regina bitched.

“Oh of course.” Janis said finally walking over to Regina, her arm crossed tightly. “It wouldn’t have anything to with the fact that you’re in pain right? That hasn’t turned you into a raging bitch before.”

“I’m fin-” Regina tried to say. But when she swung her up to point in Janis’s face she gasped in pain.

Janis rolled her eyes and stepped into Regina’s space. The punk had noticed during their senior year that Regina couldn’t really handle Janis in her space. It made her all flustered and would cause her to just start rambling. It confused the hell out of her for a bit, but while on their first college winter break Janis’s suspicions were confirmed when the blonde came out as pansexual. From there Janis tested the boundaries to see if it was just girls in general or just her that could cause nervous Regina. Through some “research” she found it was really just her and the slightly emo drive thru girl at Taco Bell that got the blonde all riled up.

“What did you do to your back?” Janis asked pointedly, putting her hands on her hips giving the blonde a once over.

“I didn’t do anything. I-I’m fine.” Regina huffed. That ever familiar pink tone was on her cheeks.

Janis smirked. “Oh cool then let’s try and lift the TV and take it upstairs since it’s probably broken. We can put it back in my truck.” Regina’s eyes trailed to Janis’s and glared. “What’s wrong? If Gretchen was really the one that caused it to fall, then with me helping you it should be fine.” Janis watched the fire fade from Regina’s eyes and saw a glass come over them.

“Jan… I’m sorry.” Regina said with a hitch in her voice. “I didn’t mean to, I swear. I-I-I…”

Before Regina could flounder more Janis wrapped the girl in her arms. “It’s okay you stubborn idiot.”

“But it’s broken. It was expensive.” Regina mumbled into Janis’s shoulder.

“I won it at a school raffle. We can paint the wall white and all pitch in to get a projecter for like a hundred bucks. It’s gonna be fine Reggie.” Janis said softly while rubbing her friend’s back. “Now will you please tell me what’s wrong with your back. Remember I’m going to school to be a physical therapist now.”

“I still can’t believe you’re giving up art.”

“I’m not?” Janis said, pulling away from Regina a bit but still keeping a hand on her shoulder. There was a silence. “Did I not tell you my plan?”

“No? Did you tell everyone else?” Regina asked, looking hurt.

“I thought I told you at Hecki- Oh shit you were sick that day. Reggie I’m going to school to be a PT and will be incorporating art into it. There’s been a surge in the desire to incorporate art into PT because it can really motivate people that are struggling. I can have my cake and eat too, don’t worry.”

“Jan that’s so cool I’m so proud of you.” Regina said, seemingly in aw. Janis watched Regina carefully. The blonde’s bottom lip was being captured by her teeth and was definitely giving her a very slow once over. “Can you really help me?” Her tone was quiet but somehow dangerous.

It made heat flow through Janis. “I can try. This past semester was all about muscles.”

“Well that’s good because I fucked up some muscle in my upper back this morning trying to move the couch by myself.” Regina said rubbing the back of her neck while wincing.

Janis gaped. “Why would you do that?”

“Because I’m a strong independent woman who wants to impress girls by saying I move huge objects by myself.” The former queen bee said, quirking an eyebrow at Janis.

Before Janis could answer the basement door opened and down flew the heating pad. “Oh goody.” Janis said excitedly. She grabbed and brought it over to a shocked looking Regina. “You hate asking for help but if it’s offered you typically say yes… especially if I offer it. So I had Gretchen find this.”

Regina rolled her eyes but there was a very present blush on her cheeks. “You lowkey know me the best so whatever. Why that?”

“Lay face down and just relax.” Janis commanded pointing to the couch. There was a pause and a defiant look in Regina’s eyes. “Now.” Janis said, cocking an eyebrow and tilting her head. Janis watched in satisfaction as Regina huffed but heeded Janis’s words and laid down, her face turned out to the punk. “Now where does it hurt princess?”

“The upper right kind of by my shoulder blade and close to my spine.” Regina whined.

Janis poked around the area until Regina took in a sharp breath. The punk felt around a bit more and realized there was a huge knot. “Jesus. Did you really just do this today or have you been doing dumb shit for the last week?” Janis asked peering down at Regina who had a guilty look on her face.

“I may have taken a few extra shifts at Barts. And those shifts might have involved stocking.” Regina mumbled. Janis placed the heating pad on Regina’s shoulder and the blonde let out a satisfied groan.

“Regina Blaire.” Janis said, shaking her head. “You need to be more careful. I don’t want to be getting phone consultations when we’re older because you decided to be reckless.” Janis flopped onto the ground facing Regina.

“Who said I’d be calling you for help?” The blonde sassed.

“Well you called me this past semester for your boyfriend’s knee so I’m pretty sure I’ll be getting more calls.” Janis said, the slightest bite in her phrasing of ‘boyfriend.’ She looked away from Regina. She hated that she felt a little jealous of that boy. It fell silent for several minutes.

“Henry isn’t my boyfriend you idiot.” Regina smirked, breaking the silence.

“Oh sorry fuckbuddy.” Janis said, rolling her eyes.

“Ugh grow up Jan. He’s not that either, he gay dumbass.” Regina laughed.

“He’s- oh… well that’s cool information.”

“You really thought he was my boyfriend?”

“Well yeah you were calling each other babe so I just figured…”

“Well you figured wrong. And even if he was straight he’s not my type. I’m more into brooding artsy idiots who think they know everything.” Regina said cockily, giving Janis an obvious once over.

Janis let out a nervous laugh and stood up. “Okay I think that’s enough heat for now. Let’s see if things have loosened up.” Janis pressed around the area and things had gotten less tense, but it wasn’t necessarily going to be fun for Regina. “This isn’t going to be like a spa. You’re going to be in some pain while I release the muscle.”

“Honestly you could saw off my arm and I’d be fine with it so long as the pain will go away. I haven’t been able to sleep for a couple of days.” Regina said bluntly.

“Why haven’t you gone to the chiro yet? They’d be able to fix this in like one section.” Janis asked.

“Well as you know my dad is trash and left us and mom doesn’t get her insurance until two months into working for some dumb reason. We still have two weeks to go.” Regina said casually.

“Oh right.” Janis said pushing into the knot. Regina let out a hiss quickly followed by a groan. “Too much?” Janis asked nervously. She knew what she was doing but still this was Regina. She didn’t want to cause more harm.

“N-no it’s fine. Do whatever you need to do. If it gets too bad I’ll tap out.” Regina said, hissing out the last bit of the sentence as Janis pressed in a little harder than the last time.

“Okay. Well I’m going to warm up the whole area a little bit before I really dig into the knot. So just breathe evenly and relax.” The artist said gently.

“I thought this wasn’t like a spa.” Regina teased.

“Yeah well I changed my mind. Plus my professors would kill me if I just tried to yeet this knot out of you without a little bit of a warm up.” Janis laughed as she ran a hand up to the back of Regina’s neck and slowly kneaded the muscles while resting the other hand on her lower back and pushed ever so slightly to stretch. The other areas were nearly as tense as the blonde’s shoulder blades. She applied more pressure to Regina’s neck and circled the tense muscles until they relaxed. Regina let out a gentle hum and Janis smiled. The punk moved both hands to either shoulder and began loosening the muscles there as well. Everything was so tense. “Jesus Reggie you need to get a professional massage. You’re as stiff as a board.”

“Why waste my money when I have you?” Regina said in a dreamy tone.

Janis felt blush creep into her face. Before she could stop her brain she spoke. “Who said this was free?” She managed in a smooth tone while pulling a soft sigh from the blonde.

“How much should I venmo you Jan?” Regina asked sarcastically.

Janis let out another nervous laugh. Jesus christ what was wrong with her? “A dollar is fine. It’s a flash sale today.” She said far less smoothly. She looked down at Regina and caught a smirk on her lips.

“That’s reasonable.“ She sighed.

Janis rolled her eyes at herself. Smooth, very smooth Sarkisian. She let out a huff and tried to center herself. She spent a few more minutes loosening the muscles around the knot until she felt confident that it would detangle with the least amount of pain possible.

“Okay Reggie the not fun part is about to begin.” Janis started circling the knot gently. “You ready?” Janis looked down and caught Regina nodding her head. “Okay to start I’m going to hold my thumb in the center of the knot and push for a bit and all I need you to do is take deep breaths for me.”

“Okay.” Regina hissed out as Janis’s thumb began to sink further into the stubborn muscle.

“Reggie, take five deep breaths for me.” Janis said. She watched the blonde back’s heave and hitch with each breath as she applied slightly more pressure with each hissing exhale. On the fifth breath Janis added her other thumb and slightly jostled them. She felt the muscle starting to release and pressed down harder knowing it needed just a little bit more. Regina let out a pained whine and whimper. “I’m almost done Reggie I promise. Just take as big a breath as you can and exhale slowly. I’ve got you.”

Regina whined again but complied. As the breath came up Janis pressed down harder than ever. Her heart skipped a bit hearing Regina’s muffled cry as she exhaled. Halfway through Janis felt the stubborn knot release and heard some strangled satisfied noise come from the blonde who had buried her face in the cushion. Janis very slowly started to circle out and away from the where the knot and been and gave Regina’s back a once over to make sure nothing else was messed up. A non-muffled sigh caught Janis’s ear and she looked down to see a blissed out Regina.

“Wow that was amazing. Thank you Jan.” Regina sighed while sitting up on the couch.

“It’s no problem I got some practice this past semester.” Janis said plopping down next to the blonde.

“Ohhh those girls must have been lucky.” Regina said with a smirk, turning so she was facing Janis better.

“What-oh geez-no no that’s not-it was for the muscle class. People paid like ten bucks to come be live practice dummies.” Janis said frantically.

“Speaking of money…” Regina said while taking her phone out of her pocket. “I need to send you that dollar.” The blonde giggled.

Janis immediately tried to grab the phone. The blonde moved her arm away. “Regina Blaire you’re not sending me money.”

“But you provided a service. I need to repay you somehow.” Regina said with a pout, still holding the phone out of reach and placing a hand on Janis’s sternum trying to keep her just far enough away.

“No you don’t. Put the phone away!” Janis demanded, still reaching. But she stopped when she felt a grip on her shirt. She looked down and found Regina’s hand. When she looked at Regina there was a very mischievous look in her eyes. Janis was trying to speak but Regina was leaning very close to her and her brain and mouth had decided to take a vacation.

The blonde was only a few inches away from her and still had a grip on her shirt when she spoke in a warm low tone. “Really? There’s nothing I could do to say thank you?”

Janis couldn’t believe what was happening. Where’d useless pansexual Regina go? Janis was supposed to be the slick one. She had a whole plan! The punk’s brain wasn’t firing so the plastic spoke again. “I have an idea that I think you’d like but it does also benefit me so I don’t know…” Regina pulled her bottom lip between her teeth ever so slightly, leaning even closer. “What do you say Jan? Will you accept my form of payment?”

Janis was starting to wonder if maybe she tripped down the stairs. But against her doubts she just nodded her head. Regina giggled excitedly and pulled Janis into a kiss. The punk immediately melted and placed a hand on the blonde’s hip. It wasn’t too long before Regina pulled back. The pair locked eyes and Janis couldn’t help but pull the blonde back to her for just a second longer.

“Am I going to have to fix your back every time I want one of those?” Janis asked dopily, finally able to find words.

Regina giggled and rubbed her chin thinking. “Hm I think if you say yes to a date tomorrow night at Ula’s, all requests for kisses can be free of charge.”

“I think that’s a pretty good deal.” Janis snickered before pulling Regina in for another kiss. She knew changing majors had been a good idea.

#writing prompts #rejanis prompts #rejanis #prompt #fanfic #mean girls #janis x regina #regina x janis #Regina George #janis sarkisian

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ikenbar · 3 years

Text

Mr.Love: Ike’s Choice CH4 PT4

Warnings: Some more juicy Victor Angst! (tho not as bad as the previous part... wait for part five for that...) also some fluff, playful banter, corny jokes, backstory, aaaaaaAAAAND (say it with me y’all) CLIFFHANGERS!!!! and this one’s a dozy! :D

(Chapter Four (Victor and Gavin) Prologue, and part one, two, and three can be found here!)

Please read the author’s note (and the beginning of the story) on chapter one part one if you’re new here :D

And an additional note in the previous part of chapter four part three here! (I promise these notes are important)

Chapter four:

Part four:

Victor struggled to keep me talking, to stop me from pushing him away, but it was too late. I had said my piece. I ripped myself away from Victor’s arms and locked myself in the bathroom. After an hour or so to myself, I left the bathroom to find that Victor had packed away all of his things and was nowhere to be seen. The only thing that was left on the desk was the small yellow bowl and my spoon.

Days had passed and my condition had gotten better. People had come and gone but Victor hadn’t been one of them.

The day of my release finally came and I was relieved to finally be out of that awful hospital gown. I straightened my leather jacket as I looked at myself in the mirror. My burn was healing slowly but the doctor said I could finally move with it. Granted, that movement being minimal and I would need to replace my bandage daily. I did a quick pat check of my pockets. The keys that Bart had brought me for my apartment jabbed into my hand. I walked out of the bathroom and I checked my watch. 11:13. Chris should be here to pick me up soon. I looked up and looked around the room, ready to say goodbye…

“Victor?!” I gasped.

Victor stood in front of my hospital bed, looking at my last hospital report with a serious expression. He wore his usual business suit and black tie but something seemed off about him. Something I couldn't quite put my finger on.

Victor turned to look at me, tactlessness riding in his eyes as they met mine. He placed the clipboard back onto the end of my bed and turned to face me straight on, shoving his hands into his pockets as he did so. He looked me up and down. “It’s good to see you out of bed.” Victor said, his voice a tone of professionalism that I had nearly forgotten about. I tensed slightly.

“What are you doing here?” I asked, dismissively.

“I’m taking you home.” Victor said casually. My heart skipped a beat.

“N-no. Chris is.” I said stubbornly. Victor sighed and started walking up to me slowly. I felt my body tense even further.

“Chris asked Bart to take you.” Victor said casually, as if he hadn’t noticed my uneasiness, “Then Bart had an emergency at a shoot so he asked me to pick you up.” Victor looked down at me, casting an intimidating aura around us. “Do you have a problem with that?” Victor asked, arching his eyebrow. I paused. From where I was standing, I could just make out the smell of his expensive cologne. A memory of the last night we spent together flashed in my mind.

“...No.” I finally said after a pause that had lasted far too long, “We should get going so you can go back to work.” I turned and walked to the door.

“Don’t worry about that.” Victor said, following close behind me, “Have you eaten today?”

“I was going to order in once I got home.” I said, pulling open the door and holding it for Victor. He didn’t walk through it. He only stared at me with an indignant face.

“Eating take out isn’t good for someone who is trying to heal.”

“Well I can’t rightly cook in my condition.” I arched my eyebrow and leaned on the door with my good arm. Victor arched his eyebrow to mimic mine.

“You have a family, don’t you?” He asked, folding his arms, “Can’t you go to them for food?”

“Let see,” I looked up and tapped my chin in thought, “Right now Maria is working at the hospital, Bart is at the so-called ‘shoot’, and the kids are at school. I suppose I could pick Lola up from day care and have her cook for me. Though, I doubt I'll get anything more than some mashed carrots.” I flashed a look at Victor.

Then froze.

He had a look on his face that sent nostalgia pushing through my heart. Nostalgia for when I was in a meeting with him and we joked about nicknames, when I was at Souvenir, when we joked and teased each other on the car ride home... When he showed how much he wanted to be a part of my life and he told me to confide in him for anything...

When he showed how much he cared...

I eased my shoulders as I looked at Victor, taking in that nostalgia that overcame me. Victor’s expression relaxed, as if he felt it as well. We stood there for what seemed like forever...

An image of a black mask flashed behind my eyes.

I tensed my shoulders and directed my eyes away from Victor as I cleared my throat. “Do you plan on taking me home or did you want to stay here instead?” My professional tone had returned as I looked down at my watch.

Hesitation lingered in the air. After a long, tedious moment, I felt something over my head. I looked up and found Victor had placed his hand on the door, holding it in my place. I turned to him and found that he was already looking down at me.

Victor gestured to the door, ushering for me to go through it. I wavered for a moment, watching Victor closely as I did so. His expression didn't change. He merely looked at me with an emotionless demeanor and strange emotions in his eyes. I quickly looked away from him, not wanting to have another staring contest, and walked out of the room. Victor followed behind me, shutting the door behind him and we began walking down the hallway in silence.

“We’re going to have to stop by the store before we go to your apartment.” Victor spoke defiantly and seriously, making me jump slightly, “The produce may not be as fresh as I’d like but there isn’t much we can do now.”

“Alright.” I said slowly, “Why?”

Victor sighed, as if the question was too dumb for him to answer. Nonetheless, he replied, “If you insist that no one can feed you, then I suppose I’ll have to do it myself.” All the blood in my body dropped to my shoes. Victor pulled out his phone and tapped it for a moment before pulling it up to his ear. “Mr. Mills, prepare Souvenir for-"

I reached up and yanked the phone Victor's hand. "Mr. Mills? It's Ike."

"Oh! Miss Ike!" Mr. Mills' familiar voice rang happily over the phone, "How are you feeling?"

"I'm... feeling better, thanks. Don't worry about opening Souvenir. Victor was overreacting to something I said."

"Well, alright then!" Mr. Mills laughed, "let me know if you change your mind!"

"I will. Goodbye." I hung up the phone and shoved it into Victor's chest. "Would you cut it out?!" I huffed, glaring up at him, "You've done enough for me! Besides it’s almost noon, don't you have a company to run?"

"Today is my day off." Victor said calmly, a stark contrast to my rising frustration towards him, "It wouldn't be out of my way. Besides, eating healthy when you're healing allows your body to heal faster, meaning you'll be back to work just as fast." I opened my mouth but Victor held up a hand, "You can pay for the groceries if you're so concerned about me going out of my way for you.” With that, Victor’s pace quickened, signaling that he was finished with that conversation. I sighed and rubbed the bridge of my nose. This man will be the death of me faster then I’ll be the death of him...

>>>

The car ride between Victor and I was silent. I sat in the back of the car, keeping my head facing the window and not daring to start a conversation. Victor felt differently though. “What do you feel like eating?” He asked casually, keeping his head facing the road.

“I’m not picky.” I said, keeping a tactless tone as My eyes glazed the buildings we passed, “You decide.”

“Are you allergic to anything?”

“Not unless you use a recipe with bees in it.”

“You’re allergic to bees?” Victor asked, seemingly interested in learning more.

“Mildly.” I said. Silence washed over the car again.

“You’re quite the conversationalist.” Victor said in a teasing tone. I hummed my response but said nothing more. Silence washed over the car again. “... How’s your arm?” Victor’s tone softened dramatically. I rolled my eyes.

“How many times do I have to tell you that I’m fine?” I sighed, moving my hand from under my chin to rub my face, “I told you, I don’t feel any pain.”

“That doesn’t necessarily mean that you’re fine.” Victor said defiantly, “You could just be saying that because you’re keeping the pain to yourself like a dummy.” I growled and turned to him, prepared to argue, but one look of his face made one thing clear to me.

He wanted me to fight him.

Though his face was stoic, I could still read traces of amusement in his eyes. He wanted me to fight with him. He wanted to banter… a part of me did too. I wanted so bad to give him a snarky quip, a sarcastic comment, an arched eyebrow and snide grin. But I couldn’t. We would become too close and...

I shut my mouth and turned back to the window. “What?” Victor teased, “Are you afraid that I’m right?”

“No.” I sighed, tone flat and emotionless, “Just… not in the mood to fight.” I felt Victor’s eyes on me but I made no motion to meet them. I swallowed back the rising lump in my throat as I leaned my elbow back onto the window, resuming the position I had, and cutting Victor off from any further conversations.

Victor watched Ike through the rearview mirror of the car, unsure of what to do next. He tried conversating, joking around, calling her dummy, he was even making her dinner! Why was she so adamant on pushing him away. She called him from Souvenir as someone she could trust. Was she lying? Was calling him a mistake? A joke? Did he really not mean as much to her as she did to him?

Victor sighed and adjusted the mirror so it was facing the back of the car once again. How could he? She didn’t remember the spoon… his spoon. The one he had given to a little girl all those years ago while he was perfecting a pudding recipe for a girl he liked. At that time, that little bushy haired girl had been the only friend he had. And, though she had never met his crush before, she knew how much she meant to him and tried to help him in any way she could. Without question. That little bushy haired girl who made him warm and happy inside, that made him question his previous feelings, that made his day with the purest of smiles. That smile never seemed to leave her face back then…

What happened to her?

I frowned as we walked into the supermarket. The place was bustling with people with late lunch plans. I looked up at Victor, who had just walked to my side. “It’s pretty busy today.” I sang, folding my arms and arching my eyebrow, “It may be faster just to get take out.” Victor looked down at me and arched his eyebrow.

“What? Are you afraid of a little crowd?” Victor asked snarkily. He walked further into the store and to the small stack of vacant carts, “You’ll have to stay close to me so I don’t lose you.”

“That’s what I’m afraid of.” I grumbled, walking up to Victor, “Can’t you just give me a list? I’m sure we can leave faster if we split up.”

“Nope.” Victor defiantly said, “You’re sticking with me.”

“I’d rather jump off a cliff.”

“Ike, I’m responsible if you get hurt.”

“Oh my, you’re right. I may start some beef with the lunch meat.” I looked up at Victor, “If I’m not careful, they’ll send me back to the hospital.” I was prepared for a snarky quip back…

Victor’s eyes locked onto mine. A hint of an indecipherable emotion played in his eyes. I felt a slight warmth in my chest…

Which I promptly squashed as I cleared my throat and avoided eye contact with him as I looked around the store. “We should get shopping.” I said, backing away from Victor slightly. I started walking forward, looking at the food around me. It didn’t take long until I stopped in my tracks. I turned to look at Victor. He was following close behind me, watching me carefully. Once he caught my eyes, he arched his eyebrow.

“Is there a problem?” Victor asked as if he knew what the problem was without having to ask. I rolled my eyes and walked to the side of the shopping cart.

“What do we need to buy?” I asked impatiently. Victor chuckled and pushed the cart forward.

Our time at the store seemed to pass swiftly. After Victor had started shopping, he had gotten into a sort of zone. He seemed to be lost in finding the right ingredients to whatever dish he had planned. But Victor didn’t dismiss me entirely. He kept a close eye on me and constantly asked for my input for what to buy. Though I didn’t reply with more then one word, it didn’t stop him from doing it with every product he came across.

I paid for the food like Victor said I could and left the store, Victor holding nearly all of the bags himself. I chose not to say anything about it, knowing full well that he’d want me to…

I couldn’t…

I won’t…

“...I could have taken some of those bags you know.” I huffed, more angry that I had broken my silent treatment then that he had taken the bags for himself.

“You shouldn’t overwork your shoulder.” Victor said seriously. I looked up at him with a glare.

“I’m. Fine.” I growled, hitting each syllable with deliberacy, “Besides, what is one bag full of lettuce going to do? Hold me at gunpoint? Speaking of which,” I looked down at the bags and their contents, “You sure bought a lot of leafy greens.”

“Dark leafy greens hold a lot of vitamins and minerals that will help aid your healing process.” Victor said defiantly as we neared his car, “You’re complaining about eating your vegetables? I thought you said you weren’t a picky eater.”

“I’m not. I just figured you had mistaken me for a bunny-... rabbit.” I cursed to myself. I did it again! I fell back into our natural rhythm! I need to stop or-

“I think I can tell the difference between a bunny and a dummy.” Victor chimed. I scoffed and rolled my eyes.

“Oh really! Well good on you! That was a skill I had to take years to master!”

“Excuse me?” Victor chuckled.

“Yeah! It only made sense after I tried to use a rabbit as a puppet.”

Victor laughed.

I looked up at him in shock.

Did I really make Captain Capitalist laugh?!

Victor looked down at me, laughter still remaining in his eyes as he met mine. “What?” He chuckled, “Do you really think so little of your own jokes?”

“No.” I said, his contagious smile creeping onto my face, “I just… I don’t think I’ve ever heard you laugh before.” Victor arched his eyebrow.

“Oh? Well maybe that’s because some dummy hasn’t said anything funny before.”

I clicked my tongue. “Ah man. You were doing so good! But I’m actually a bunny.”

“Oh, I’m sorry.” Victor said through a hardy chuckle, “My mistake.” He bumped me playfully with his grocery bags before he approached his car with his keys. I stalled a moment, watching him open the trunk smoothly, despite the bags in his hands. A warm feel settled in my chest. Maybe talking like this with Victor wasn’t as bad as I made it out to be. Maybe we can be close but I can steer the topic away from… what was going on. We may not be as close as he’d like but maybe what we could be is work buddies. There’s nothing wrong with that, right? Besides,...

I felt a slight burn push through my cheeks.

Victor looked so handsome when he smiled.

Victor turned to look at me, catching me off guard. “Are you just going to stand there?” He asked, reaching one of his now empty hands out to me. I shook my head and walked over to him, the warmth in my heart becoming stronger.

The car ride home was short but it may have just been that way because Victor and I had spent it bantering. He didn’t seem to want to change the conversation over what useless thing we had been discussing. Victor seemed perfectly alright arguing uselessly over nothing. Perhaps he could tell that I didn’t want it to change. Actually, at that moment, I didn’t want anything to change. But I knew it had to as we pulled into my apartment parking lot.

“You still have that bike?” Victor growled as he parked next to my motorcycle.

“Jealous?” I teased, unbuckling my seatbelt and popping my car door open.

“Hardly.” Victor rolled his eyes as he followed my movements, “You seem like a well rounded person. Why would you want to risk your life on something as dangerous as a bike.”

“To spite you.” I sighed and left the car, smiling at my bike, “and Sam would kill me if I got rid of it.”

“Sam?” Victor asked, popping the trunk of his car again, “Why’s that?”

“He helped me pick her out.” I brushed the handle of my bike gently, “He was obsessed with motorbikes when we had first met. When I was finally old enough to get my own, I let him pick it. Once I bought it he promptly devalued it by slapping a corny sticker on the side of it.” I knelt down and touched the out-of-place dino sticker, “Even though, to me, he had made it priceless.” I sat there a moment longer, admiring the bike. Eventually, I sighed, stood up, and turned to face Victor. He was already looking at me. His eyes had a sort of haze to them, obviously lost in thought.

“Don’t tell me my story made you cry.” I teased, walking over to him. Victor blinked and met my eyes, “I made you laugh and cry in one day! Bart will never believe me.” Victor rolled his eyes.

“Just grab the bags I left for you.” He deadpanned, moving to walk to my apartment. I looked in the trunk. Two measly bags sat waiting for me. One containing eggs; the other a package of spinach. I ran my tongue over my teeth in annoyance but took the bags anyway. I closed the trunk and rushed to catch up with Victor.

As we neared my apartment, I pulled out the keys from my pocket. As I flipped through the keys, I glanced up. A small package sat on my door mat. I arched my eyebrow and stooped down to pick it up. I looked it over carefully. There was no packaging label, no return address, no address on it at all. It was just a small cardboard box that, after a small shake, contained something light and hard.

“What is it?” Victor asked, coming up from behind me.

“Dunno.” I said casually, tucking the package under my arm and turning my attention back to my keys, “Probably someone from the family with a get well gift.”

“What makes you say that?”

“No address on it.” I opened the door then plucked the box from under my arm. I turned it in the air so Victor could see, “Whoever sent it had to know where I live. It’s probably Sam. He does this kind of thing a lot.” I entered the apartment and flipped on the lights. Nothing had changed, except that some of the plants that I kept around the room had wilted. I clicked my tongue as I walked into the room, sliding off my jacket and hanging it up carelessly next to the door.

“You and Sam are close.” Victor said, following close behind me.

“What gives you that idea?” I teased, tossing a pair of guest slippers down by Victor’s feet.

“He told me about the watch you gave him one of the days they visited.” Victor said, sliding on the slippers easily.

“Oh really?” I scoffed, walking into the kitchen and placing the shopping bags on the counter, “And what did he say about it?”

“That you bought it for him when you moved out. And that you engraved it so It was more meaningful.” Victor walked up next to me and placed his shopping bags next to mine. He looked down to me meaningfully, “‘Wherever you are-’”

“‘I’ll be there.’” I recited, feeling a soft blush push through my cheeks, “Yeah I know the saying. Sam must have really liked you if he told you all of that.” Victor hummed as he started unloading the contents of the shopping bags.

“He’s a good kid.” Victor’s smooth voice was proof that he meant it.

“Yeah,” I said walking around the table and to my entertainment center, “He is.”

“Where is your trash?” Victor asked from the kitchen.

“Under the sink.” I called as I plucked a box cutter from one of the higher shelves of the center, “First door, you can’t miss it. I’ll show you where everything is in a second.” Some rustling came from the kitchen but Victor said nothing more. Unwilling to keep Victor waiting, I quickly slid the boxcutters knife down the tape of the box and flipped it open…

The boxcutter slipped from my hands.

A glistening green light reflected from the lights of my apartment and into my eye, making me squint but not breaking my eye contact from what was in the box. A pitch black, full faced, high quality mask sat on top of a layer of crinkled brown paper.

And on its forehead sat a green gemmed and gold laced scarab.

The box crashed to the ground, causing the mask to slip out of it and hit the floor with a clack. A small black card flipped out from under the mask. It fluttered in the air before sliding just in front of my feet. In calligraphic writing, the bold, poisonous green letters read:

“Get well soon.”

(Next)

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awhitehead17 · 4 years

Text

Would You Go If I Asked You?

TimKon, High School AU, Prom, Friendship, Suit Shopping, Fluff, Humour, Getting Together.

Summary: It's that time of year when everyone talks about nothing except prom. Tim hates it. He doesn't want to go and has repeatedly told his friends this, they just aren't listening to him. However, his adamant decision about not going becomes questionable when his best friend appears at his house, dressed to the nines, and asks him a certain question.

Enjoy! :D

“Cassie that’s beautiful!”

“You’re going to look stunning!”

“I wished mine looked like that!”

Tim rubs his hands over his face and groans. Thanks to Bart, Jamie and Kon he had been left alone at the lunch table with all of the girls in their friendship group. While he loved them all, being alone with them while they gossip and talk about dresses and make-up wasn’t something Tim enjoyed doing.

At the moment, because it’s that time of year, all they were talking about was prom. Cassie was showing everyone at the table a picture of the dress she will be wearing. Tim catches a glimpse of the photo and has to admit, that was a stunning dress. A long red dress, covered in a gold glitter pattern, the glitter wasn’t too in your face but was just enough that in certain lighting you could see it sparkle.

This goes on for most of lunch, the girls each show the others what dress they’ll be wearing or are planning on buying. Tim blanks out of the conversation in favour of his phone, how could the guys leave him to the wolves like this? He knows that Kon and Jamie both have football training (a short session during lunch) and how Bart is stuck in chemistry catching up with work, but that didn’t stop Tim from scowling and cussing them out.

It was nearing the end of lunch and most of the girls start to get up from the table, saying their goodbyes before leaving for class. Soon enough it was just Cassie and Tim left at the table.

“Sorry for ignoring you Tim.” She says apologetically turning to face him.

Tim shrugs and gives her an easy smile, “Na don’t worry about it, I know what you girls all get like. Especially this time of year with prom around the corner.”

“Yeah. So…” She trails off looking at him expectantly.

He raises an eyebrow, “So what?”

She huff and smacks him in the arm, “You know what! Got yourself a nice looking tux yet?”

This time Tim huffs and shakes his head. It was only a matter of time before that question came up, though he’s surprised it didn’t come up earlier when the whole group was together.

Cassie sighs, “Tim come on, we’ve talked about this. Why don’t you want to go? It’ll be fun and everyone is going.”

Tim shrugs, “I don’t know, I just don’t see the point in going. I don’t really want to go if I’m being honest.”

“There’ll be food, music, dancing and we’ll all have a blast because the whole group is going!”

“Sounds great, I hope you have fun.” Tim deadpans. She uses that same line every time when trying to convince him to go.

That’s when the first warning bell rings, indicating the end of lunch and to start getting to class. Together they start getting up and walking to class. Before they part ways, Tim turns to her, “I’ll think about it.”

She doesn’t look convinced, “You said that three weeks ago. Better think quickly because it’s only four weeks away!”

They part ways and Tim shakes his head. Right, another four weeks of nonstop talking about prom and everything surrounding the topic. Great times.

“I’ve still got to decide on what colour I want. I know what style I want but just can’t pick a colour. I’m stuck between light grey and dark grey.”

“How dark is the dark grey?”

“A charcoal kind of grey.”

“I would say go for that one. It’ll match your hair better.”

“I suppose.”

Tim was ready to smash his face into a brick wall. If anyone thinks that girls are worse than guys for getting ready, or worrying about their appearance, they are very wrong. Guys are just as bad, if not worse, than girls.

It was after school and they were chilling at the local park on the grass in the nice weather. It didn’t take long for the conversation they were having to turn to the topic of prom. Tim just couldn’t get away from it.

Bart had brought the topic up wanting opinions on what suit colour they think he should get. Kon and Jamie immediately jump in on the topic and offer him their opinions.

Kon leans back on his arms and looks up at the sky, “Man I’m glad I got mine done early, saves me worrying about it now and at last minute.”

Next to him Jamie snorts, “The only reason you’re done is because your Ma made you get it early. We all know you would’ve been getting it the day before amigo.”

Grins at him, “but my point still stands. What about you? You got yours yet?”

Jamie nods, “Nearly, just need to get a tie now.”

“Aw man that's what else I gotta think about!” Bart exclaims, “I need to work out whether I get a tie or a bowtie!”

The two of them start bickering about what would look better and Tim decides just to let them get on with it. That’s when Kon turns to him, poking him in the leg to get his attention. “You’ve been awfully quiet Timmers. How about you? What suit you got?”

Tim takes a breath and reminds himself that Kon is his best friend and lashing out at him for the question, when he very well knows Tim’s opinion on prom, wasn’t really acceptable. “I don’t have one and I won’t be getting one. You know that I don’t want to go.”

Kon frowns and Tim feels slightly guilty for the harsh tone of voice he had used but thankfully his friend doesn’t take any offence. “Well I didn’t know if you had changed your mind about it yet that’s all. There's still time if you do want to go.”

He shakes his head not really want to hear it. Thankfully, Tim is saved from that conversation when the others get their attention again.

“Hey guys, we’re going to go shopping this weekend to look at accessories. Want to come?”

Kon sends Tim one last look before turning away, “Yeah sure. I’ve got nothing better to do anyway.”

They all look at Tim waiting for his answer and after a moment of debating he shrugs, “Fine, at least it’ll get me out the house for a bit.” He rather not go, there was a new RP game that was coming out this weekend that was calling his name but as he said, at least he’ll get out of the house and at the same time be with his mates.

That Saturday afternoon Tim finds himself in a clothes store trailing behind his friends. They had been to at least three different shops before this one in search for accessories for Bart’s prom suit. Bart has been leading them all over the mall for several hours looking for what he wants and it didn’t seem like he was going to be stopping any time soon.

He and Jamie were over by the ties looking and comparing different ones while bickering about everything the other pulls up. Tim rolls his eyes at their behaviour. At this rate they’ll be leaving this shop with empty hands.

Tim was soon distracted when a heavy arm wraps itself around his neck, he’s then forced to bend over as knuckles rub harshly against his scalp. Letting out a squawk Tim fights back until he’s released, he pushes the other body away and stands up straight to sort out the damage that had been done to his hair.

Opposite him Kon was laughing and Tim couldn’t fight the smile that makes its way onto his face as he watches his best friend. After a moment Kon gets a hold of himself and chucks his arm back over Tim, this time letting it rest against his shoulders.

“Would you stop frowning man? I swear it’s going to end up sticking and you’ll look like that for the rest of your life. What’s wrong dude?”

Tim sighs and shrugs, “Nothing, I’m fine.”

Kon’s other hand comes up and flicks him in the ear. Tim complains and rubs the sore spot. “Yeah right dude, I know you, remember.”

Well he’s not wrong, they’ve known one another since they were pubescent teenagers. Kon gives him a squeeze, “Now come on, we may as well make use of our time because I don’t think they’ll be finished arguing over ties anytime soon.”

His best friend leads them through the shop and Tim simply lets him, it wasn’t until they were standing in front of suits that Tim gives him a disapproving look. “Just at least look at some of them, see if any catches your eye!”

Tim rolls his eyes and goes to argue but seeing the determination on Kon’s face he thinks better of it and decides to humour his friend instead. Looking can’t hurt anyone right?

Two hours later, somehow, Tim finds himself walking out of the store carrying a new suit. He doesn’t know how it happened, just that it did and how it was mostly Kon’s fault. Jamie and Bart also walk out of the store carrying something of their own. Bart now has a bowtie that matches the colour of his suit and Jamie walks out with the tie he wanted.

Tim still doesn’t know if he’ll go to prom, even after finally getting a suit for it. He couldn’t deny that spending the day with Kon, just the two of them by some extent, was actually pretty nice. They don’t spend a lot of time together just by themselves, the only thing that would have made today better would have been if they were doing anything else other than suit shopping.

Three weeks go by and it’s finally the night of prom. His grade at school had been buzzing and that’s all people could talk about. Tim very much wanted to skip the day at school but he was forced to go anyway. Somehow he came out the other side still somewhat sane.

However he wasn’t going.

He didn’t want to go. The suit he brought a few weeks ago remains hung up on the back of his bedroom door completely untouched and still in its bag it came in.

Instead, he was choosing to spend this night in his comfy clothes, surrounded by his favourite snacks and watching a few new films that’s popped up on Netflix recently. At least that’s what he was planning because then a knock came from the front door and Dana was shouting up to him.

“Tim, your friend’s here. I’ll let him up!”

Tim barely had time to try and work out what she means when his bedroom door was opening and revealing his best friend. His mouth drops open when Kon walks into the room, dressed in a navy tux with a white shirt, fancy dress shoes and his hair was styled and jelled back. He looked hot.

Kon beams at him, his smile unintentionally finishing off his whole look. He looked perfect. Not that Tim was going to tell him that of course.

“Hey man.” Kon greets him in the end.

Getting over himself Tim sits up on his bed and shoots his friend a look, “Hey Kon. What you doing here? Shouldn’t you be with everyone else?”

“I thought I’d make a small diversion on my way to Cassie’s.” He explains giving Tim a once over. “You’re not dressed.”

Tim rolls his eyes, “Kon I’m not going, I’ve told you this. Therefore I don’t need to get dressed. I hope you all have a good time though and I’ll have a look at the photos later on.”

Kon sighs and Tim feels himself bristle at the action. “That just won’t do…” Kon mumbles to himself before walking around Tim’s room, he finds Tim’s suit hanging on the door and picks it up, bringing it over to his bed.

“Now come on, get dressed, shouldn’t take you too long and we can be at Cassie’s by the hour.”

Tim glares at his friend and crosses his arms over his chest, refusing to even make a comment at the behaviour.

Kon’s frown soon morphs into his puppy dog eyes look, the one he uses when he wants to get his own way. “Please Timmy.”

“No Kon. I am this close to telling you to fuck off right now.”

“Oh come on dude please!” Kon whines, he then moves and sits down next to Tim on the bed, throwing an arm over his shoulders. “It won’t be the same without you man. Please come, at least for me if not anything else.”

Tim snorts at his words, “You asking me to prom Kon?” He teases with a small smile. In the back of his mind he’s screaming at the idea of it.

Next to him Kon stiffens, “Would that work? Would you change your mind if I asked you?”

Most likely. “Well I know you wouldn’t actually mean it now though.” Tim comments with a raised eyebrow.

Kon shoots him a determined look and stands up off the bed, he moves around so he’s in front of Tim and kneels on the ground. He reaches out and takes one of Tim’s hands in his own, holding it steady, “Timothy Jackson Drake, would you do me the honour and be my date to tonight’s prom?”

God, why does this seem so much like a wedding proposal? Kon looks absolutely stunning and the way he was just looking up at Tim with hope in his eyes. Tim feels his barriers finally break, the ones he’s had up since this whole prom nonsense started

“Yeah okay, fine. I’ll go.” Tim mutters in the end, defeated. He wishes that it was really real, not that he’ll ever tell Kon that. He’s kept his crush very close to his heart and hasn’t told anyone about it, he’s really tried to not make it obvious the entire time.

Once again Kon beams at him, he stands up and makes Tim rise up with him. Before Tim could protest Kon was wrapping him up in a hug and holding him close. Tim tenses for a moment but soon relaxes into the contact.

They pull apart but neither of them actually let go of the other and Tim finds himself staring up at Kon’s face. He doesn’t know who moves first but he certainly knows when their lips make contact, the world could end and he wouldn’t have even noticed.

Kon’s lips were soft and kind of tasted minty, he feels the other teens hand rise up and cup the back of his head as they tilt their heads to accommodate the action better. When Kon nips his lips Tim lets out a moan and opens his mouth which Kon instantly takes advantage of.

They eventually separate and Tim blinks up at him, wondering what the hell that was all about. Did that really just happen?

“Okay so I have wanted to do that for a really long time and I really hope this doesn’t end our friendship, but in all seriousness would you actually like to go to prom with me despite you obviously not wanting to go. I know the group is all just going as friends but I would really like it-”

Tim stops Kon’s nervous rambling by kissing him again. This time keeping it short and sweet.

“Yes, you know what yes, I’ll go with you to prom Conner Kent. And I have also wanted to do that for a long time.”

There’s a pause between them but eventually Kon leans forward and rests his forehead against Tim’s, smiling dopily. There’s a similar smile on Tim’s own face that he doesn’t bother try to fight.

No one comments when they turn up late to prom. Their group of friends all smile knowingly at Tim and he gets the suspicious feeling that he had somehow been set up on the whole thing, especially when no one comments on how he’s turned up after, very clearly, stating he didn’t want to go.

Tim wasn’t going to complain however, especially not then because he gets to hold Kon’s hand and dance with him, he’ll just demand answers out of them all later on. He’s glad he went prom after all.

#Tim Drake #Kon-El #timkon #TimKon Week 2020 #cassie sandsmark #bart allen #high school au #prom #tim really doesn't want to go #maybe someone can change his mind...#friendship #humour #fluff #jamie reyes #shopping #fanfiction #general rating #day two

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high-functioning-lokipath · 3 years

Text

Chapter 2 - The Empty Hearse

"Bollocks!" Lestrade exclaims at hearing Anderson's latest fantastical theory.

"No-no-no-no! It’s obvious! That’s how they did it! It’s obvious!" Anderson insists.

"Derren Brown?! Let it go. Erin and Torry are dead," John sighs. Why he had to sit here and listen to this garbage he truly did not know.

"Are they? Are you sure?" Anderson persists.

"The bodies, Philip. It was them. It was definitely them. Molly Hooper confirmed that," Sherlock said, finally added his two cents in.

"No, she’s lying. It was Jim Moriarty’s body with a mask on and another from the morgue!"

"A mask?!" Greg scoffs. Anderson nods eagerly. "A bungee rope, a mask, Derren Brown. Two years and the theories keep getting more stupid. How many more’ve you got for me today?" He sighs, shaking his head. Anderson had called the three of them over to Speedy's for a morning cuppa. Ever since the fall, Anderson had been oddly kind to Sherlock and John. Sherlock seemed to tolerate his presence, however, Sherlock had completely stopped solving crimes. All he ever did anymore was sit at home or go to the old folks’ home and play bingo with them. Even then, bingo had been a recent development only done once every 3 weeks.

"Well," Anderson continued with his theory. "You know the paving slabs in that whole area – even the exact ones that they landed on – you know they were all-"

"Guilt," John interrupted. He couldn't let the man continue. When Anderson started sharing his theories, Sherlock couldn't bear to hear even one without breaking down. Now he could stand a few but the more wild ones tended to still bother him. He looked sternly at Anderson, glancing briefly towards Sherlock who was on the verge of tears. "That’s all this is. You pushed us all into thinking that Sherlock was a fraud, you and Donovan." Anderson looks down sadly, only raising his eyes a little to look at Sherlock for a moment.

"You did this," Sherlock whispered. "And it killed them, and they're staying dead," He continued, voice getting louder with every word. "Do you honestly believe that if you have enough stupid theories, it’s gonna change what really happened?" He yelled. Picking up their cups of coffee, Sherlock and John start to walk away.

"I believe in them," Anderson says, just loud enough for the two men to hear.

"Yeah, well that won’t bring them back," John replies before they head out the door. Greg pats Anderson's shoulder sadly.

"Look, mate, I can't say that I agree with you. But," He trailed off. He wanted to think one of these ideas could be true but he didn't want to give Anderson false hope. "But I'd be lying if they didn't sound wonderful to me." Philip looked at his ex-boss, a smile slowly forming.

"Thanks, Greg."

At the cemetery, Sherlock and John gaze down at the headstones, their eyes haunted with memories and loss. Tears begin rolling silently down Sherlock's cheeks.

"Here," a female voice speaks, holding out a handkerchief. Sherlock nods and takes it from her. She steps to his side and takes his hand. He clasps it tightly before whispering, "Thank you, Molly." John smiles at them slightly and walks away by himself.

In a small, dirty hotel room somewhere in Serbia, Torry and Erin are attempting to clean up after their last mission. Erin was in the bathroom cleaning numerous cuts on her arms and legs. Torry had opted to simply flop down on the bed and try to avoid leaning on her own bruises.

"You know," Erin said walking out of the bathroom. "I've been to hell and back and hell was nicer than this." Torry laughed loudly as Erin sat on the bed with her.

"You can't make me laugh like that! The last guy we took out got me in the ribs and it still hurts!" Torry groaned as she tried to stop laughing.

"Oh, that's true," Erin replied. "Ugh, I feel like absolute crap. No, strike that. Worse than crap."

"Me too, but we need to try to get some rest. Who knows where Mycroft will say we need to go tomorrow," Torry said, climbing under the top blanket.

"Ok. Aren't you going to use the blankets? It's cold!"

"I don't trust this bed."

"That's true. I don't trust half the places we've been to. I'm going to need a really long shower, maybe with bleach, when we return."

"Mhm," Torry replied, already half-asleep. Erin settled in and closed her eyes.

*Knock knock knock*

Both girls sat straight up. "Who could that be?" Erin whispered.

"I'll check," Torry replied. She got up slowly and crept up to the door. Looking through the peephole she groaned. "Are you kidding me?" She flipped the locks and swung the door open.

"Good morning, ladies."

"Mycroft! What the bloody heck, man?" Erin yelled. "It's nearly 2am!"

"Thus my greeting of ‘good morning’ rather than ‘good evening.’"

"What do you want?" Torry demanded, flopping back down on the bed. "Ow, that hurt."

"There’s an underground terrorist network active in London and a massive attack is imminent. Sorry, but the holiday is over, darlings," Mycroft grinned. "It's time to go back to Baker Street."

Later that day, at about 2 pm, the girls were almost finished cleaning up at Mycroft's office and spa. "I needed that," Torry sighed, coming out of the bathroom in a fluffy white robe and plopping down on the sofa.

"Please don't get that wet,' Mycroft commented from behind his newspaper, nose wrinkling.

"Oi, don't get ya knickers in ah twist, mate!" Erin exclaimed in an impressively accurate accent. Mycroft raised an eyebrow but quickly returned to reading. She was returning from the dressing room where she had been supplied with a pair of brown slacks, an army green button-up and a cream cardigan. "Your outfit's in there, Vic," She said. Torry nodded and went to the dressing room. She came back out a few minutes later wearing black slacks and a deep plum-purple, short sleeve shirt that had faux rolled-up cuffs.

Back at Baker St., John was trying very hard to figure out what was wrong with Sherlock who was sitting on the sofa, reading a book. "What are you reading, Sherlock?"

"An old, American, murder mystery series that Molly suggested."

"Oh, ok. So who did it?"

"Not a clue," Sherlock replied almost happily.

"Not a clue?" John yelled. "Sherlock! That's the 6th time this week alone that you've done something completely normal or have not deduced something quite obvious! First, it was the crap telly, you actually enjoyed it and didn't interrupt it! Second, that God awful thing you called music that you turned on. Third, you actually, willingly called your parents to see how they were doing. Fourth, you put away the last of your experiments and actually said that the fingers in the fridge were gross. And fifth, and this really takes the cake, fifth, you went out and bought milk. And it's only Wednesday! What is wrong with you?"

"Nothing, John," Sherlock replied, casually turning a page.

"Nothing? How about the fact that you're constantly texting or, worse yet, calling Molly? What about that?"

"We're dating, John. I suppose we are trying to keep it somewhat quiet so I guess it's expected that you didn't notice."

"Dating?" John asked, voice cracking slightly. He felt like he'd been punched in the gut. "Already?" He whispered.

"It's been long enough." That angered John once again.

"Long enough? Long enough! You have no idea what long enough is! You obviously didn't care before and you don't care now! Long enough, my eye. It's only been a year. I thought you'd changed. I thought you'd gone crazy and become normal but I was wrong. You're not normal, you're a machine," John slammed his hands on the desk. "I'm going out. If you aren't back to normal by the time I'm back, I'm leaving for good." John grabbed his coat and left. Sherlock tried to keep reading the book but he couldn't. He finally closed the books and set it on the coffee table. Sighing, he leaned his head in his hands. He grabbed his cell phone and sent a text.

Molly, we need to talk. Can we have dinner at 7 at the Landmark Hotel on Marylebone Road?

- SH

John wanders up and down London Streets, not paying much attention to where he's going. The streets quiet down and suddenly he has a strange feeling that someone is following him. Looking around, he thought he saw a glimpse of two very familiar faces but they quickly disappeared. Realizing he walked himself to St. Bart's, he shakes his head and thinks he imagined seeing them. He decides to continue walking, once again getting lost in thought and not paying attention to where he's going.

Sure. Is something wrong?

- Molly

Nothing is wrong. But I have something to ask you.

- SH

Ok. I have something I need to tell you too so this will work perfectly. See you tonight!

- Molly

John hears someone walking behind him but again sees no one when he looks. "Seriously?" He groans realizing his location once again. He walked himself to the cemetery now. Sitting down and leaning against one of the headstones, he starts crying. "Dang it! I didn't even cry this much when I broke my arm in primary school!" He hears a slight chuckle and then someone shushing another person. "Hello?" He calls out. "Who's there?"

Behind a nearby tree, Erin looks at Torry nervously. "Go on, get!" Torry whispers.

"But-" Erin protests, but Torry just rolls her eyes and shoves her out into the open. John hears the noise behind him and whips around.

"Erin?"

"Hi, John," She replies awkwardly, toeing at the ground. He walks slowly towards her but stops about 5 feet away.

"No. I-I must-" He stutters. He closes his eyes and takes a deep breath. "You're just dreaming. It's not real. Now stop doing this to yourself!" He commands. Slowly reopening his eyes he sees Erin still there. "Oh my God. Please tell me I'm not dreaming again. I can't take much more of this." His voice breaks at the end, tears rolling down his face.

"I'm here, John. Really," Erin replied softly, holding out her arms. He ran to her pulling her into a tight hug.

"I can't believe it's you. I saw you-" he stopped suddenly, pulling back and holding her at arm's length. "I saw you die!" He yelled, anger now seeping in. "We're standing at your grave for Pete's sake! Why did you do that to me? What were you thinking? I have half a mind to punch you for it!" Erin winced at his questions, a guilty look washing over her face.

"I deserve that," She sighed. "We did it for you and Sherlock. We-"

"For us? For us! How could that possibly have been for us?" He yelled.

"Moriarty was going to kill you," Torry said, stepping out from behind the tree.

"Torry? Oh no," John said, mildly panicked. "Ok, ok. So we would have died, you saved our lives, I'll listen to the whole story later but this is, um, oh dear."

"What's wrong, John?" Erin asked.

"What time is it?" He said.

"About 6:30," Torry supplied. John nodded and pulled out his phone. After checking something he breathed a sigh of relief.

"Ok, let's go back to Baker St., we need to discuss something."

"Is Sherlock home?" Torry asked hopefully. John shook his head

"Not right now. But we need to talk first and I'd rather not be standing over your graves to discuss this." The girls nodded and the three of them began the walk back home.

At the restaurant, Sherlock was sitting at a table, waiting for Molly. "Molly, I was thinking and-" he stopped. "No, that's not the right way to ask her." He was trying to practice what to say. "Molly, we've known each other for so long and it only makes sense that-" he stopped again. Shaking his head, he sighed. "I hope I say it right when she gets here," he mumbled to himself. Just them Molly walked in. Standing up, he smiled and waved at her. She walked over to the table and gave him a hug. He gave her a quick kiss on the cheek which had become their usual greeting. He held her seat for her and then sat down again himself.

"So, Sherlock-"

"So, Molly-" They both laughed when they started talking at the same time.

"You first, Sherlock."

"Well, uh, why don't we eat first?" Molly nodded and he waved the waiter over.

John unlocked the door to the flat and went to the kitchen immediately to make tea. Erin and Torry hesitated at the door briefly, still nervous about returning. "Come on in," John called out. "He's not home." They walked in and sat on the sofa. "Here, nice fresh, hot tea." John set two cups on the coffee table in front of them.

"Thanks," they said. "So," Torry said. "What is it you needed to tell us?"

"Sherlock is, well, he's been seeing Molly." Torry froze immediately.

"Seeing? As in dating?" Erin asked.

"It would appear so," John replied sadly. “They’re having dinner right now at Landmark Hotel on Marylebone Road.” Torry stood up quickly and grabbed her coat.

"Where are you going?" John asked her.

"The Landmark Hotel. I need to see this for myself."

"If you want to get up close, then may I suggest a costume change?" Erin smirked.

"I like your thinking," Torry replied with a smirk of her own. They popped into 221C quickly, where neither Mrs. Hudson nor the residents of 221B had entered over the time of their absence. "How would this be?" Torry asked a few minutes later, walking back out from the bedroom in a crisp white shirt, and a black jacket to match her slacks.

"Almost perfect. But I think you're missing one thing," Erin replied.

"And here it is!" John said. "Here, it's my old black bowtie from my fancier days," he teased. "It's clip-on for easier use."

"Thanks," Torry said, putting it on. "Now let's go." Torry marched off briskly in the direction of the restaurant.

"We should go too," Erin said. "Quickly. She might murder someone." John nodded emphatically in agreement. Arriving at the restaurant a minute after Torry, John and Erin looked frantically for her.

"There are Sherlock and Molly," John pointed out. The two were sitting at a cozy table talking, giggling, and sharing their food.

"Poor Torry," Erin said. John nodded and continued looking for Torry.

"Table for two?" A familiar voice asked.

"Torry! How'd you slip in so fast?" Erin whisper-yelled.

"Girl was going on break. She said table 6 is empty until the 9 pm reservation. Shall we?"

"We shall," John smiled, taking Erin's arm. "I always did want to take you out here." Erin blushed and leaned on his shoulder a bit.

"Hopeless romantic," She teased. He winked at her, making them both giggle.

"Can we please move along?" Torry hissed. She took them to their table which was surprisingly close to Sherlock and Molly's table. After seating them she asked what they would like to drink.

"You're actually going to do this?" John asked.

"Only way I can stay close without suspicion. So what'll it be?"

"2 glasses of water to start," John replied. "And don't worry, we'll keep an ear out for you." Torry nodded and headed back for their waters. If they were quiet enough, John and Erin could hear the conversation between Sherlock and Molly. Right now, it would seem the two were almost done with their dinners and discussing what to get for dessert. Torry still hadn't returned from the kitchen yet.

"How long do 2 glasses of water take?" Erin asked. John shrugged and then shushed her.

"I think the subject is changing," he whispered. Before Sherlock and Molly could decide on dessert, Sherlock spoke up.

"Molly, I need to ask you something," He said nervously.

"Ok," Molly replied, taking a deep breath. "I actually have something to ask you too. But you go first." Sherlock nodded and fiddled with the napkin.

"So, uh, a-are we, um, well, are we dating?" He stuttered. Molly chuckled.

"That's actually what I was going to ask," She smiled softly. "Look, Sherlock, I know you don't read social cues well so I'm going to spell it out bluntly. From my point of view, this past year has simply been me supporting you and helping you after, well, after Torry's death. I like you, Sherlock, but only as a friend. My lovesick puppy days are past."

"Ok," Sherlock replied softly. "I understand. I-" He paused, taking a shaky breath. "I guess I just was on the rebound," He admitted. "Thank you for everything though. I don't think I could have done that myself."

"Sherlock, I'll always be your friend. I just wish I could help you more. But you need to allow yourself time to grieve. I honestly have never seen you so, well," She blushed, a smile peeking on her lips. "Normal." Sherlock laughed and nodded.

"John said the same thing practically. I think I just need more time." They both smiled and Sherlock got up to pay. Molly stood as well and gave him a hug. "Thank you," He repeated.

"Seriously?" Torry yelled.

"Oh great! Her timing couldn't be better," Erin yelled sarcastically, throwing her hands in the air.

"How dare you date someone so soon after I 'died'!" Torry yelled. Sherlock turned to look at her and immediately paled. His eyes lit up but it wasn't clear whether it was in terror or joy. "You should have waited at least 1 ½ years!" Torry whacked him upside the head, messing up his perfect curls.

"You're alive!" He choked out, eyes brimming with tears.

"Of course I am you, idiot! Do you really think I would have made us a date at Angelo's if I had truly been 'leaving'? Oh, and Molly? This is my man, not yours. Hands off!"

"Well it's quite obvious we're not dating," Sherlock intoned in his usual 'stating-the-obvious' voice.

"What are you talking about? I saw you two-"

"You don't understand, Torry!" Erin exclaimed. Sherlock looked just as surprised at seeing her too. "They were just talking-" Erin tried to explain to Torry what happened. Meanwhile, John tried to snap Sherlock out of his daze.

"Mate? You alright?" John asked, waving his hand in front of Sherlock's face.

"Huh?" He replied, breaking his stare. "Oh, uh, yeah. They're alive."

"Yeah, well, no duh, Sherlock!" John teased, smiling. Sherlock smiled too and then suddenly remembered Molly.

"Oh! Molly! Did you know-"

"Yes," I helped. "That's also why I wanted to make sure with you where we stood. I knew they were almost back." She grinned widely and hugged each of the girls. "Glad to see you both made it back safe. I'm going to head home now. Don’t worry about dessert, Sherlock. You four have a lovely reunion, ok?" Erin and Torry smiled and nodded in reply. "Congratulations, Sherlock," Molly said softly, hugging him goodbye. She headed out of the restaurant quickly, leaving four very happy people behind.

"Shall we eat?" John finally asked after a moment or two of stunned silence.

"Yes," Sherlock immediately replied, quirking his lips. "But not here." He held his arm out to Torry.

"Certainly not," Torry replied, taking his arm. "To Angelo's!" They headed to the door with John and Erin following in like manner.

"You know what actually has surprised me the most today?" John asked as they walked to the restaurant. "Sherlock actually remembered to pay the check without me." The girls laughed and Sherlock blushed slightly. "It's amazing that he still remembered something so normal with you back."

"What do you mean?" Torry queried.

"Well," Sherlock chuckled, scratching his neck. "I have been acting a bit differently."

"Differently?"

"Normally," He admitted. His face fell, a deep sadness covering his features. "I guess it was my version of going crazy. With John and Molly there to keep me from doing something really idiotic-"

"Like drugs?" Erin asked. Sherlock nodded before continuing.

"With them there, I kept myself together but I still lost all desire to solve anything. It got to a point where I tried to but I couldn't. It was terribly boring but I couldn't do anything about it." He stopped walking and turned to face Torry. Gently, he brushed a stray hair off her face and added, "I need you, Torry." She blushed brightly and leaned forward giving him a head boop causing them both to laugh. Erin and John remained silent during the exchange and smiled at the couple. Erin quietly slipped her phone out of her pocket and took a picture of them. After a few moments, the four continued on to Angelo’s.

"You know," Erin finally said. "Moriarty was right. "It killed him in the manner of killing his desire to solve crimes."

"What are you talking about?" John asked.

"Let's just head to Angelo's and we'll explain everything there, ok?" Erin replied. They nodded but Sherlock seemed to be mildly distracted.

"Can we stop by the flat first? I forgot something."

"Sure, Sherlock," Torry replied. Sherlock texted John a cryptic message and John smiled softly.

"What's that?" Erin asked him, seeing Sherlock's text.

"Oh, nothing. I think I forgot something upstairs too. Can you two girls wait down here for us?" The girls nodded and they headed up.

"Any clue?" Torry asked. Erin shook her head. A minute later, the Baker Street Boys came back down. Sherlock had his trusty Belfast back on and his hat. John had changed his jumper. The four then proceeded on to Angelo's as planned. Upon arriving, Torry and Erin both got enthusiastic hugs from the proprietor and their usual table was made up for them. John whispered something to Angelo. His eyes lit up and he nodded vigorously. He scurried off to the kitchen and returned with a candle.

"So tell us all about it," John said.

"Well, shortly after Moriarty's failed trial, we got a visit at 221C," Erin began explaining. Angelo came back with salads and the story paused for a moment but quickly resumed at Sherlock's urging. The girls took turns explaining the different plans that had been made in preparation for the final act.

"When we got to the roof, Moriarty told us something we weren't expecting," Erin said.

"He told us that he had 4 snipers at the ready," Torry explained. "He said if his men didn't see us fall, there would be 4 shots. Lestrade, Mrs. Hudson, and-"

"Us," Sherlock finished. Torry and Erin nodded. "So at that point, you had no choice but to go with the worst-case scenario plan."

"We didn't want to," Erin whispered, near to tears from reliving the events of that day. John took her hand and squeezed it comfortingly.

"Moriarty said it would be a poetic death for you," Torry added.

"Seems he was right in a way," Sherlock said. "I didn't do anything. I didn't want to without you." Sherlock smiled at Torry and opened his mouth to say something more but changed his mind.

"Why don't we order dessert?" John asked. Once it was ordered, John excused himself to the restroom. Curiously, Sherlock got a text message a minute or so after John left the table. When John returned, Angelo brought dessert out: 2 luscious pieces of cake, one for each of the couples to split. Before they could eat though, Angelo spoke up.

"Wait! Wait! I want to take a picture of you all together again!"

"Alright," Erin chuckled. She scooted her chair closer to John and Torry scooted closer to Sherlock. Angelo took a picture and then asked them to wait again while he checked it.

"Whoops! I dropped my spoon," John said, getting on the floor to pick it up. "Sherlock, it bounced over to you. Can you get it?"

"Of course," Sherlock replied, getting down on the floor as well. Neither girl noticed Angelo was no longer taking pictures but rather was videoing.

"You boys are silly," Erin commented.

"But I suppose that's why we love you," Torry added. The girls looked at each other and chuckled.

"Well in that case," Sherlock said, getting on one knee. John mirrored his movements.

"Will you marry me?" John and Sherlock asked their girls as they held out their respective ring boxes. Angelo smiled brightly, snapping pictures too as he videoed.

"Yes!" Torry squealed, holding her hand out. Sherlock grinned and put the ring on her finger. He stood and she jumped up giving him a hug. "Do you mind a little PDA?" She asked him. He raised one eyebrow but shook his head. "Good," she replied with a smile. She then kissed him and ruffled his hair. They pulled apart and both broke into giggles. He smiled sweetly at her and gave her a soft kiss on the forehead.

Meanwhile, on the other side of the table, Erin too had said: "Yes!" But instead of jumping up like Torry, she knelt down in front of him and wrapped her arms around his neck in a hug.

"Oi! Haven't even put the ring on yet!"

"Ok! Ok!" She laughed. She let him put it on her and then kissed him earnestly.

"As nice as that was," John said a few moments later. "Could we get up now?" Erin chuckled and they stood up. Sherlock and Torry were just finishing their exchange and the two, newly engaged couples smiled at each other.

"Ok! Now another picture altogether!" Angelo announced.

"You knew about this didn't you?" Erin exclaimed.

"I videoed the whole thing," He admitted. "Now get together for a picture!"

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diddlesanddoodles · 4 years

Text

DUMPLING ch 39

(Chapter warning: Discussions of death and gore)

See bottom of the chapter for bonus art and a new addition to the Dumpling Playlist.

Farris lead them out of the tent and into the kitchen camp and they were greeted by the absurd sight of all of the kitchen staff surrounding a group of seven or so humans, most of whom looked absolutely terrified, and then one lone human who stood outside the group was waving a sword in the air as he angrily shouted at Bart. “...WILL NOT LET ME THROUGH THIS INSTANT, I WILL RUN YOU THROUGH!”

“Through what? My big toe?” Bart asked with a laugh. He could not look less intimidated by the man if it had been a dust bunny shouting at him.

Farris let Nonna down and she snorted at the sight of them, calling out, “Riley, stop swinging that thing around, it’s not a damn toy! We’ve already made a piss poor showing and I won’t have you insulting these good people any more that you already have. Put that poker away and shut your gob or I’ll be telling your mother she needs to teach you better manners.”

The so name Riley turned to look at Nonna, eyes wide and disbelieving. “Nonna! You aren’t hurt are you?”

“I’m fine you great cow pie!” she snapped back at him and earning a few snickers from some of the kitchen staff. “Now do as I said and put that damn thing away.”

Riley tightened his grip, looking back and forth between the giants around him and then back to Nonna before looking up at Farris. “Tell your men to back away first.”

Farris regarded the little squire with a flat look, displeased at being given orders and especially by someone so annoying, but conceded by glancing at Bart and jerking his head. Bart nodded and began to usher everyone back to their tasks. “C’mon now, let ‘em be, lads. Back to work, the lot of ye. We’ve had our fun.”

Avery made a long disappointed whine. “Aw, come on now. I was this close t’gettin’ that lil’ fella in blue to piss himself.”

Riley watched the giants leave with suspicious and wary eyes, but once they were a comfortable enough distance away from the group of humans, he sheathed his sword. He turned his attention back to Nonna, but paused, eyes shifting to stare behind Farris where Yale stood with Nenani cupped in his hands. The man’s eyes widened and he shifted nervously for a moment before abruptly bending himself in half. “Y-your Grace!”

The other humans looked at Riley in surprise, following his trail of sight and when they all saw Nenani, they mimicked him and dropped into dramatic bows with mutterings of “Your Grace.”

Yale snickered, lowering his head to whisper to Nenani. “Princess Dumplin’...”

“Nooo...” She whined. Her face turned red with mortification when she heard Avery and Kol both add their own flamboyant your grace’s from across the yard. Farris glanced back at her with a raised eyebrow and she frowned back at him miserably. “Please make them stop...”

But he just grinned at her and shrugged.

“Well, you heard her,” Nonna told the group. “Stop with all that silly nonsense. You’re embarrassing the poor girl.”

Riley’s face made several jumps between conflicting emotions before finally giving a small bow and muttering an almost inaudible, “My apologies.”

Nonna nodded in satisfaction before turning to look up at Farris with a pleasant smile and patted his boot. “Thank you for help, Farris, you’re a peach. But I believe I can manage them from here.”

“As ye say,” he replied and stepped back, crossing his arms. Nonna looked up and waved a beckoning hand at Yale.

“Go on and let the girl loose, young man. We’ve come all this way so we might as well give her all these presents we’ve trudged up along with us.”

Nenani perked up. “Presents? For me?”

Nonna regarded her with a sly grin. “Well what did you think it mean to pay homage?”

Yale laughed as he let Nenani down and she hurried to catch up to Nonna as she reached the group of humans. Many of them were pulling the packs off their backs and rummaging inside, pulling out objects, some wrapped and some not. And though they all were still sending wary glances towards the giants who were still watching them all from their work stations, the humans seemed excited to be presenting their offerings. Nenani did not know how to feel about it all. It felt strange to suddenly be in the company of many folks her size, having become so accustomed to living among giants and even more so when they were throwing gifts at her.

But so long as they kept their your grace’s to themselves, she supposed it was all in good fun.

Riley stepped up to Nonna, bending to whisper something into her ear to which Nonna nodded. Riley was a tall young man, dressed in a long dark gray gambeson coat, and green trousers. He look only a few years older than Jae. The leather of his belt was oiled and shining with a silver buckle of intricate silver. He wore a short stubble beard and his hair was a fluffy mob of dusty brown and his face was set firmly into a scowl. His hand still rested on the hilt of his sword as he cast his gaze around the camp. They lingered on Farris and Yale and neither giant missed the way he was looking at them. Yale wiggled his eyebrows at him, daring the human to try something, but all Riley did was scowl back at him.

“Now, my girl,” Nonna said, gently taking Nenani’s arm and guiding her towards the group. “Most of these gifts are going to be things you don’t really need and never asked for...”

“Nonna!” Riley barked at the woman in indignation; momentarily turning his head from the giants.

“...but I can assure you that they were all made with love and care and the finest craftsmanship we possess.” Nonna finished, ignoring Riley. One by one, each of the group stepped up and held out their offerings with a short greeting. Thankfully they kept it informal. Among the gifts was a light green cloak with delicate embroidery along the bottom, a brass broach in the shape of a dragonfly, a roll of beautifully tanned leather, a ring with a polished purple stone, and a small wooden box inlaid with different colored wood to create a beautiful pattern on the lid like a string twirling in never ending loops and knots. They were all beautifully made gifts and Nenani stared dumbly at the pile, taken aback and oddly humbled.

“And Riley has one for you as well,” Nonna said, looking to Riley with a nod. The young man reached behind himself and unclipped something from his belt, pulling it out and handing to Nonna. It was a sheathed dagger. The leather had been dyed a faint green color and near the top, pressed into material was a familiar symbol; the Thorn guard crest. Nenani stared at it, feeling a strange nostalgic pull.

“But first,” said the old woman, her voice soft and oddly serious. Her eyes were searching and hopeful. “I have an important question for you; Where is Hayron?”

Nenani stared at Nonna for a moment, a sinking feeling in her belly, and then after a moment said, “He died. Or rather...he was killed.”

There was a collective noise of despair and the group of humans all looked heartbroken at the news. They all bent their heads and muttered something Nenani could not make out. It did not sound like the common tongue at all.

Nonna nodded her understanding. “I had feared as much,” she said, eyes incredibly sad. “When news reached us that you and your mother were alive, but no news of Hayron...”

She heaved a great sigh, suddenly looking her age. “It is a great loss. I would have very much liked to have been able to see your father one more time. So many things I would have told him. So many apologies I would have made. Your grandfather was never the same after he was forced to give his son up. It tore at him, terribly.” She looked up at Nenani and smiled sadly, regret and longing on he face. “How he wished he could have had a chance to meet his grandchild. This broach here, the dragonfly...”

She reached for the broach from atop the pile of offerings and pinned it to the front of Nenani’s thick wool dress. “...is the symbol of familial love. He had this made for me after my daughter was born and I’ve kept it all these years. The notion to one day give it to one of my granddaughters crossed my mind, but they fight over every little thing. So, when I heard you were alive...it seems only fitting you should have it.”

She rested a bony hand over the broach, over Nenani’s heart. Riley stepped up to her.

“Who killed him?” he asked. The young man’s eyes were intense everything about him was pulled taut with withheld rage. The hand gripping the hilt of his sword tightened and his knuckles were white. “Who killed Hayron?”

“His name is Aidus,” she said to the man.

“Aidus...I know that name,” Nonna said, looking pensive.

Something in the back of her mind gave her pause and she looked back to Farris. Almost as though she sought his permission to say anything more. He seemed to sense her apprehension.

“It’s up t’ye how much ye wanna share, lil’un,” he told her. “But I’ll say this: better fer everyone t’be knowin’ about that fucker. He ain’t gone after the tribes yet, but best not assume that won’t change.”

She did not want to tell them about Aidus being the one to have killed Thadeus and starting the war. It did not feel like something she could tell them. Who knew what sort of the trouble that knowledge would stir. But the rest...the rest she could. After seeing the pain on their collective faces at the news of her father’s death, she almost felt like she owed them the story and the chance to share her loss with someone who shared it was alluring.

“He was after Mama,” she explained. “But Papa tried to fight him off. Aidus killed him and stole my mother away. But she escaped him a year ago. She said he threatened to kill my little brother.”

There was a shift among the group.

“Brother?” Nonna asked.

“Mama was with child when she was taken,” she replied.

There were hushed murmurs among the humans and someone from the back asked, “We have a prince?”

Nonna waved them off with a hand, frowning at them. “Quiet you hens!” She turned back to Nenani with an expression of longing. “We had not heard of your mother bearing a son.”

“She named him Haiyer.” The old woman was silent for a long moment, her eyes frozen as they peered at Nenani. Then she rose a trembling hand to her face, covering her mouth as the emotion took her. “...Haiyer?”

“Nonna?” Riley asked, his nervousness forgotten as he went to her side, putting his hands on her shoulders. “Are you alright?”

She nodded, wiping at her eyes. “Yes, of course. I am all right, my boy. Don’t fret.”

Riley looked back at Nenani. “Why would this man do all of this? Kill Hayron and take the princess?”

“Aidus is the man who Mama was supposed to marry,” Nenani replied. “But she fell in love with Papa instead.”

Nonna gripped Riley’s shoulder as sudden recognition struck her and she gasped. “Tarliene’s eldest boy!” she cried, eyes wide. “The King’s advisor! His son was named Aidus! I thought I knew that name!” She turned to the man in blue, the one Avery had been trying to scare into wetting himself. “Pip, do you remember if Aidus was one of the Ruby order? They were the mages sent to Riftside, correct?”

“If I remember correctly, they were sent in as back up,” he replied. “I’m fairly confident that if the Aidus that her grace...er, my apologies. If the Aidus she speaks of is Tarliene’s son, then he would have been there.”

“Aidus was a fire mage. Vennor’s apprentice,” confirmed another of the humans. He was older and gray haired. A thin pale scar rang the length of face on his right side. He looked to Nonna. “He was a member of the Ruby Order. A highly skilled fire mage.”

Above them all, Farris snorted. “I’ve met ‘im briefly. And he don’t look a thing like any fire mage I’ve ever seen.”

“My apologies, sir, but you mistake my meaning,” the man explained. “It couldn’t have been him. I saw Aidus fall at Riftside. He and two others were thrown from the cliff by Prince Mourin.”

“Ye were at Riftside?” Farris asked, the gruffness easing a little and he regarded the scarred man with a kinder eye.

“Yes, sir. Infantry captain,” said the man and gestured to his face. “S’where I got this beauty. Courtesy of one a’ yer late King’s balista’s shattering our shield wall. The prince and a few others got through after the river was set on fire and they scaled the cliff. They killed all them mages there. Not sure who, but someone ‘em got in a quick hit before they fell and it cut through the Prince’s neck and he bled out. Every soul on that cliff died that day.”

“Ye say ya saw ‘im fall,” Farris said. “He could’a survived.”

“Unlikely. That cliff is nearly 150 feet and the river may be deep there, but there’s plenty of rocks to hit on the way down.”

“Well if he’s did die at Riftside, someone forgot to tell him he’s suppose to be dead,” Yale added. “He’s attacked the castle directly twice now. Tryin’ t’get to the lil’un. Somethin’ about usin’ her to get her Mum to come back to ‘im.”

Nonna chewed on her bottom lip, mulling over all that had been said. She shook her head. “What could he possibly be after? Silvaara is no more, why fixate on Princess Aine?”

“Obsession?” Yale offered. “Revenge?”

“No,” Nenani said, something in her mind abruptly making sense. Keral had told her once that the smoke mage problem was like a puzzle to him and suddenly she was aware of just how many pieces she had. “Not revenge. Something about the gold prophecy. He...I think he thinks...it’s about him. When killed my uncle, he said that he wanted to see the dead walls rise. And then when the wyvern attacked, the only thing he said was the gold prophecy.”

“What do you mean when he killed your uncle?” Nonna asked. “Halden died in Silvaara. Alongside Haiyer and the royal family.”

“...no he didn’t. Uncle Halden didn’t die in Silvaara,” Nenani said, shaking her head. “He survived. He and some others made it to the Southlands. Where Mama and Papa and I were living. After Aidus took Mama and killed Papa, he took care of me for years. But Aidus came back. He burned everything down. And killed him.”

There was a long silence.

“Nonna,” Riley said in a quiet voice. His eyes were red. “We must hold the last rite for them. Hayron and Halden. We owe them that much at least.”

“It will take a few days to prepare for the ceremony,” Nonna told him. She turned to one of people within their group. “Jerand, how long would it take you and your brother to carve a pair of effigies?”

“Two days at least,” said an older man with a round face and bushy brown beard. “Three would be better.”

Nonna nodded. “I will speak with Warrick when we return. Could be a week or so before we could manage something half way decent. We won’t find much in the way of flowers this time of year.”

“What do you mean?” Nenani asked.

“The last rite,” Nonna explained. “For when an oath bound Thorn guard falls in the keeping of his or her oath, they are given what we call the last rite. Or full colors. We would like to give you father and uncle their last rite.”

“Didn’t grandfather have to...I forget what it’s called. Make him not a Thorn guard anymore?”

“He was relieved of his duty,” Nonna replied. “Only death can dismiss you from your oath.”

“There will be lots to be done,” said one of the group. “And so soon after Gregis.”

“More funerals,” Farris muttered unhappily.

“And what of it, giant?” Riley snarled, whirling on the kitchen master. “Do you see us criticizing how you mourn your lost?”

Farris glared at the whole group distastefully. “Y’know how many funeral’s I’ve been to since the war ended, boy? Too many. Both Vhasshalan and human. More than half didn’t even have a body to bury or t’burn. Folks speakin’ of a dead fella they didn’t know, paradin’ and weepin’ with all the pageantry and bullshit they can muster. It was never fer the sake of those closest to ‘em. Most ‘a the time it was only fer show.” He pointed glared at Riley. “Just t’see who could make a bigger arse of themselves.”

Riley’s face turned a deep shade of red and he glared up at Farris, furious and incensed. “KEEP YOU TONGUE IN YOUR GODDAMN MOUTH!”

“Riley,” Nonna began, raising a placating hand towards him, but he shouted over her.

“NO! They were Thorn guard, Nonna. My brothers! And I will not stand here and be told my grief is nothing but for show! Least of all by a giant!” He turned back to Farris. “You speak of things you know nothing about.”

“Do as ye well please, but it’ll just be people weepin’ over a bonfire. Ain’t no bodies fer ye to burn,” Farris said and gestured to Nenani. “The lil’un’s been my ward fer months and she’s been mournin’ fer the both of ‘em fer longer than that. I’ve seen her tears and heard her cry out fer ‘em in her sleep. So excuse me if I don’t think ye have any right to sweep in and take ownership of a grief that’s rightly hers. Ye haven’t a right to it. Or her father. ‘Specially since ye all were the ones t’ave tossed Hayron out in the first place.”

Riley drew his sword, the metal catching the firelighte. “HOW DARE YOU –!”

Yale stepped up behind Farris, eyes narrowed and voice low and threatening. “Put it away, boy.”

There was the rushing of many feet and the rest of the kitchen staff stepped up behind Farris and Yale. There all glares and scowls and tightened muscle. But either the squire did not see them or did not care, too entrapped by his own anger. Nenani went to stand between them, suddenly afraid of the sudden escalation, but Nonna gripped her arm and pulled her back, pushing her towards one of the group of humans. “No, dear. Stay out of it.”

“But...” she began to protest, but Nonna shushed her.

“Stay out of it.”

“Aye,” Farris said to Riley, scowling. “Where were the lot of ye when yer King had him and his pregnant wife thrown out into the wilds like unwanted dogs? Ye sat at his heels and followed yer orders like good hounds even as one ‘a yer own was thrown aside. So don’t get all high and mighty on me with yer talk of oaths and shit.”

Riley opened his mouth to reply, but Nonna spoke over him, gripping his sleeve and rubbing his shoulder. “No, son. He is not wrong to say so. He is not wrong. And we know it. Haiyer certainly did and you know it too.”

“Nonna that isn’t what...”

“Not everyone shares the same view as to just what it means to uphold one’s duty. It is a hard line to walk. And one you must be prepared for if you ever want to take the oath yourself.”

“How can you bare such an insult?” Riley demanded, voice thick with emotion. “How he speaks of us? As though we do not grieve them at all. That it did not hurt to see Hayron leave and know we would never see him again. To see Father weep and pray to the Gods that they would be safe and beg for forgiveness. To watch war break out and destroy everything and never knowing if they were dead or alive. Now we have a chance to help Father’s spirit to finally rest. And this...fucker tells us that we are not entitled to our grief?”

“Haiyer is dead, son,” Nonna told him and not unkindly. “Confirmation of Hayron’s death does not change anything.”

“It does to me!” he said. “I may not share their name or wear his sigil, but they are my blood too! Don’t tell me how I should mourn them. I would have been there if I had been given the chance!”

“Then you would have died with him!” Nonna said, anger rising in her throat. “You were a child, Riley! You would not have made a bit of difference to that fight. The moment the keep fell, you would have just been another dead child laying on that marble floor in pieces!”

The young man’s face contorted with pain and he took a lumbering breath and howled, “BUT I WOULD DIED WITH MY FATHER!”

Nonna was livid. “And I would have one less piece of my brother and another dead nephew to grieve over.”

“I can’t just –!”

“Riley, that is enough!”

Riley sneered at Nonna and then turned his angry focus to the group of giants. “Do you know how he died?” he demanded of them. “Captain Haiyer? My father? He was the last one, y’know. The last of the guard left alive when your King tore through the keep. Just before he killed our King and his family. His sons and daughter. Their children. Babes still in their swaddling clothes. Popped their little bodies like goddamn grapes!”

Nenani felt ill as she listened to Riley speak. One of the men standing beside her put a hand on her shoulder, his eyes downcast and sad.

“Riley,” Nonna said. “Stop this now...”

But he did not listen to her. He was delirious with anger and he gave a manic laugh. “You might’ve noticed your King came back missing his left pinkie finger. That was my father’s doing. Lobbed the damn thing from his wretched hand...just before the Blood King bit hit head off!”

Nonna stepped in front of Riley and backhanded him across the face, the sound of it echoing across the camp. There was a moment where no one said anything and even Farris looked caught off guard. Riley stared at the ground, his head still tilted to the side from the force of the hit.

“Enough!” Nonna said and turned to the group of humans. “Pip, Jerand; take him home and put him to bed like the insolent child he is determined to be. Rendlen, you go too. You’re paler than milk and I don’t need you fainting on me.”

Three of the men from the group stepped up, one of them putting a hand onto Riley’s shoulder and guiding him towards the back gate. Riley did not protest or say anything, just kept one hand to his face where Nonna had struck him. Watching them go, Nonna sighed a great heaving breath as though it came from deep within. When she turned to Farris, her eyes were filled emotion.

“I am deeply sorry for his behavior, Farris,” she said, forcing herself to stand a little taller, though it was obvious she was still agitated. “It was not my intention for us to disturb you all. I hope you can forgive our transgressions here today.”

“That boy’s gonna end up pissin’ off the wrong folks one ‘a these days,” Farris warned her.

“He has many demons,” she relied, seeming smaller. “And I am sad to say...he is not currently winning that particular battle.”

“Tell ye what, Nonna,” Farris said. His face was placid and without a scent of irritation or anger. But there was something else there. Pity. “When ye see Warrick, give him this bit of advice from an ol’ man whose wrangled his fair share of belligerent lads who just wanna be angry at the world and fer everyone to feel as miserable as they do; work the boy till he can’t stand up straight no more. Don’t give ‘im a moment’s peace to dwell on all that shit in his head. Put all that angry energy into something productive. He’ll figure the rest out himself. Might take a few months. Might take a few years. But ye have to break him to have any hope of savin’ him from himself.” Farris turned his eye towards Yale and grinned. He reached out and looped his arm around his assistant's neck and pulled him into a choke hold. “S’how I set this smarmy bastard straight.”

“Ah, Farris!” Yale growled, pushing at the kitchen master’s arms. “Come off it!”

With a chuckle, Farris released his hold and Yale stumbled back with a muted curse.

Nonna watched the pair and laughed weakly at that, nodding. “Thank you. I will.”

“He said that the Captain was his father,” Quinn asked and looked to Nenani. “So does that make that whiny lil’ wanker the Dumplin’s uncle?”

“Half uncle,” Nonna said with a nod and then paused, looking at Quinn askance. “Dumpling?”

“Aye,” Farris said, the whole lot of them sharing a grin. “S’what we call yer niece there.”

Nonna laughed and patted Nenani on the back. “Well, I suppose there are worse things to be called.”

“What do you mean, though?” Nenani asked her. “When you say that he’s my half uncle?”

She sighed. “Well, no sense in beating around the bush as every in the village knows. Riley is your grandfather’s natural born son,” the old woman replied. “A bastard.”

The word echoed in Nenani’s mind, bringing with it the voice of Lord Eldherst. Bastard. Only a bastard.

“Hayron never told you? Nor Halden?” she asked, seeing the look on Nenani’s face. “That they had a half brother?”

“Papa never told me anything,” she replied, brow furrowed and feeling hollow inside. “I didn’t even know my last name until a few weeks ago...”

The old woman’s head drew back and she stared at Nenani, scandalized. “Truly?”

Nenani nodded. “I...never knew about anyone. Or anything...”

“He may have been waiting for your tenth birthday,” Nonna said. “When you would receive your first rite.”

“My first...rite?”

“That’s right,” she said with a grin, holing up the green sheathed dagger. “When you would have been given your dagger.”

“Given her dagger?” Bart asked with a bemused grin. “What’s the bloody hell does that mean?”

“You may have noticed us lot in the Hill Tribes are a bit...well, let’s be generous and say superstitious,” Nonna explained. “We of the Thorn clans hold traditions very close as it is really all we have left of our culture. We are all Silvaaran, but we are also Thorn. Our place in the hierarchy of Silvaara kept us apart from either end of society. Neither peasant nor nobility. So the old ways were kept well and alive through the years. Our music, our stories, our language...”

“...language?” Nenani asked.

“Tier,” Nonna replied with a grin. “Gothe‘er than ule ore sei schlie.”

Not a word she spoke was familiar and she had never heard anyone speak in that way. Nenani stared. “What does that mean?”

“I said that many of us still speak the old tongue. As for the dagger, it is the first of the rites.” She looked to Nenani and smiled, holding out the green leather sheathed dagger to her. “When one of our clan turns ten years old, a dagger is made from a piece of their father’s yearling sword and given to the child as their first rite. Your father would have presented this to you on your tenth birthday,” She smiled at Nenani, but it was sad. “...but as we do not have his yearling sword nor him...I am afraid all I have is a substitute and my old bony self. Riley was going to present this to you, but...well.”

Nonna held out the dagger to Nenani and as she reached out to wrap her hands around the dagger’s hilt, Nonna closed her fingers over her hand. Holding them, she looked into Nenani’s face.

“When you turn fifteen,” she continued. “This dagger will be melted down again and turned into a yearling sword as your second rite. And finally when you are deemed to be ready, your are given your final sword and take the oath. The oath use to be to protect and guard the royal family.” Nonna tilted her head in a strange sort of shrug. “But since the war, we have broadened that oath to the Hill Tribe and to Vhasshal should the King ever call upon us.”

Behind them, she heard Farris huff a laugh. “Yer saying yer wantin’ t’show the lil’un how to fuckin’ use a sword now?”

Nonna turned her eyes to Farris and laughed loudly. “Goodness no! We’d never set her upon such a path nor is it expected of any of our children to do so. Only four of the young ones have taken the oath in recent years and seven more have their yearling swords, but most never progress beyond their dagger. These rites are more to persevere our heritage than anything. Do not worry Farris, we don’t mean to turn your ward into a soldier.”

Farris chuckled. “Was only gonna warn ye she’d make a right sorry solider. Sleeps late, doesn’t mind ye worth shit, and she’s easily distracted by small shiny things.”

“I do not!” Nenani shot back with a frown. Nonna pulled the dagger from the sheath and it glinted in Nenani’s eyes, drawing her gaze downward. Behind her, each and every one of the kitchen staff was laughing. Nenani whirled around, red faced and opened her mouth to defend herself.

Farris eyed her with a smirk. “Oh, aye. Ye do, lass.”

She stuck her tongue out at the lot of them and the just laughed harder. Nonna smiled and patted her cheek affectionately.

“Don’t feel too bad, my dear,” she said and leaned forward to whisper into her ear, “I’m quite partial shiny things too.”

BONUS ART: Riley.

Author’s notes: The Thorn clan language is similar in sound to the Irish or Gaelic languages.

NEW DUMPLING PLAYLIST TRACK: Thorn Guard Song.

#Dumpling #G/t story #giant tiny #g/t fantasy story #fantasy giant #Giant/tiny #Nenani #Nonna #Riley #Farris #Yale #Bart #Quinn #Aidus #Captain Haiyer #sad #lots of yelling #battle of riftside

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