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lizard-shifter-noms · 1 year

Text

Still Subject To Change Chapter 8

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Chapter 8! so only two more to go till this is over!

this chapter does have vore in it

also Donovan finally lets a professional (?) take a look at the stitches

have fun reading!

and as always reblogs are appreciated!

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Arthur managed to pull me back in time and the dagger hit only air.

“HEY! FUCK OFF, HE’S NOT AN INVADER!”

It did not look like they believed him, and now the other three soldiers that had spied on this one's cards shot up and also grabbed sharp looking things before standing behind what I now assumed to be their leader.

That was not good.

Apparently not all of the castle's staff had been informed about what happened and that I was not a foe.

The first soldier now aimed for Arthur who was in a defensive stance.

Suddenly Robin grabbed my arm and tugged me away from the door and I realized what Arthur was doing.

The soldiers couldn't get out of the room if he was standing in front of the door, he was intentionally putting himself in the way so we could get a head start.

I let Robin lead while Arthur punched the guy that had threatened me right in the face.

I could swear I even heard a crack as his fist collided with the soldier's nose.

We went around a bend and ran face first into another person,

in my adrenaline fueled brain I thought we had run into even more soldiers but as I looked closer I realized that it was the gardener.

He was carrying an empty flower pot with him that he set on the floor after we ran into him and then he looked both of us right in the eyes.

“What are you doing here young lads? Ah i see you've found your ginger friend”

Right the last time I saw him I told him I was looking for Robin, but last time I was in Ardua form so how did he know that I was the same person?

My train of thought was interrupted by a shout from behind us, Arthur came running down the hall with a bruise on his cheek.

The soldiers he had pissed off were right behind him though so I tried my best to hide.

There wasn't anything to hide though so I tried to squeeze myself into one of the wall decorations.

Since it was rather small, that was not effective at all.

Arthur came to a stop next to Robin and held his sore jaw looking confused at the Gardener whose name I didn't know.

A few seconds later the four soldiers that were pretty intent on cutting my lifespan short also came around the bend and stopped when they saw that we were basically hiding in the wall behind the gardener.

The Gardener did not budge, he had no weapons or anything and while he was buff he stood there relaxed as if nothing was wrong.

This guy had a lot of guts to just calmly stand there while he was being charged at by four angry and armed men.

They stopped right in front of him though.

“Barsen! Get out of the way! You are standing in front of invaders! And a Faeling! Move so we can do our job!”

The Gardener, who was apparently named Barsen, did not budge.

“Your job? I thought these days you just drank and played cards? And i have to inform you, as you clearly missed it, that these boys are friends of the new king, so i think you should leave before this escalated even more”

He spoke like he was talking about the weather but the soldiers looked horrified at this piece of information, their gaze going over each of us and lingering on Arthur's bruised jaw and my pointy ears.

“But he's a fa-”

“He is a friend of the king, and i'm pretty sure that some of the old laws are going to be changed now that there is a new ruler”

He interrupted the stammering soldier firmly but gently.

The Soldiers looked at each other and then turned tail back to the room they had played cards in, and in the distance I could see one of them holding a bleeding nose.

Barsen then turned back to look at us.

“Are you boys alright? Should I bring you to the infirmary?

I'm sure they have something for that bruise on your cheek young man”

That was probably a good idea, the infirmary was at least somewhere we knew and maybe someone we knew would show up.

that and maybe we'd get to talk to Nea if we went with him.

Arthur still held his bruised jaw but nodded and I nervously looked back the way those soldiers had gone, holding on to Robin's tunic so as to not lose him.

“Yeah, i think that's a good idea, i don't want any other people that didn't get the message to try and stab me”

He nodded and picked the flower pot up again and I noticed that while it was as big as my torso it was not empty, it was filled with a lot of dry dirt.

No wonder he was buff if he carried stuff like that regularly.

Effortlessly Hoisting the ceramic vessel onto his shoulder he turned a bit to go into another hallway.

“It's right this way, I assume you got lost for a bit?”

Walking after him Robin immediately started chattering his ear off.

“Yeah! And then we thought we could ask someone for help but they-”

Tuning his retellings of what happened out for a moment I looked to Arthur instead who was still holding his sore jaw.

“You okay? I'm so sorry that happened”

He Hmm’d and made a dismissive hand motion.

“Im fine, s’just a bruise, also i broke the guys nose so i won”

So the cracking noise i heard was indeed caused by a breaking bone, well cartilage actually if i remembered correctly.

Still, getting punched in the jaw wasn't fun as I knew from experience.

“If you're sure, but just as a tip don't use the hurting side to chew, that just puts pressure on the sore parts”

He looked bewildered for a moment.

“Did you get punched in the face before? Or how do you know that?”

I nodded at his inquiry.

“Multiple times, beating the face of a Bastard is apparently fun for a lot of people, i'm lucky i never had it broken”

He looked a bit shocked at the admission, and had likely drawn the correct conclusion that all the Fae hating people in the town had used me as a punching bag in the past.

Thinking about it, I was incredibly lucky to survive that long.

“Fucking hell, well im pretty sure that kinda stuff is stopping now with Rikaad as king”

“Yeah, i mean he's already going over the paperwork, so i'm sure it will get better from now on”

He nodded and smiled as best as he could with his slowly swelling jaw, Then winced a little and went back to holding the bottom half of his face with his hands.

I looked forward again to Robin who was still chattering on to Barsen, now about plants.

Well he was the Gardener so talking about plants was the best topic to make small talk.

Listening for a few seconds I realized Robin was talking about the plants I had told him about after he asked what was edible and what wasn't.

I felt strangely touched that he actually remembered all of it, and that he went to talk about it with an actual Gardener who was much more a plant expert than I was.

Walking around a bend i could see a door with a familiar sign on it, the infirmary.

We would really need to find a way to navigate this idiotic layout of the castle, why would anyone built it like this in the first place anyway?

At least we were back at a point we knew and Arthur could get his jaw looked at by a medic.

“Here we are, if you boys ever need help again feel free to ask, i'm sure we'll see each other around, I have to bring this to its new place now”

He gently patted the ceramic pot on his shoulder and turned to leave.

“Thank you for bringing us here, Barsen!”

I waved after him and Robin excitedly jumped up and down next to me.

“Bye Barsen! Thanks for helping!”

Arthur just waved as his jaw had swelled some more and talking would probably hurt now.

Since one of us was injured I felt like it wasn't an unjust disturbance to knock on the infirmary door.

It took barely ten seconds for the nurse who had opened last time to open once again.

She took one look at us and especially Arthur before winking us inside.

“How did that happen? You were here not too long ago and i'm very sure you didn't have that bruise back then, it looks pretty new”

Since Arthut had trouble talking with a swollen jaw I substituted the answer.

“He got punched by some card playing Guards for telling them off”

The Nurse let out an annoyed huff.

“Oh i know who you mean, they regularly come in here with a hangover and at this point i don't let them in anymore, i hope the new king does something about it”

Oh, he for sure would, he had a strong sense of justice after all, he'd probably just fire them seeing as it appeared that they did not contribute anything at all.

Aside from that we could just tell Nea and she'd kick their asses.

Speaking of, I looked around the room to see if I could spot her.

While Arthur was led to a cabinet that smelled strongly of some kind of disinfectant and alcohol I saw a corner that was separated by white curtains.

Robin awkwardly stood next to me and it was clear he didn't know what to do.

Neither did i if i was honest, Arthur was getting the medical attention he needed and i didn't see Nea anywhere at all.

“Donovan? Did you see Nea anywhere? Do you think she's okay?”

I looked around once more just to confirm I hadn't missed her.

“No idea where she is but i'm sure-”

“Focking Hell! That stings! What are ya even doin?”

I was interrupted by a very familiar voice hurling mild obscenities at whoever was near her.

Nea had been behind the white curtain the entire time!

No wonder we didn't see her.

Robin looked at me with big eyes.

“Nevermind i found her”

“Shall we go and say hello? I have no idea how long Arthur takes with that bruise after all”

After a nod from him we went over to the curtain where I could still hear Nea cussing out whoever was with her.

“Hold still already! Or I'm going to sedate you again!”

Wait, I knew that voice.

“Oakley? Since when are you back? And what do you mean by sedating her again?”

A two pronged tail shoved the curtain aside and revealed the winged man standing over Nea and bandaging her foot with a weird smelling cloth.

“Hello Donovan! I had to drug her cuz she wouldn't stop trying to punch me”

“And I'll do it again! That stung! Ya coulda have warned me at least!”

Glad to know that Nea was already getting better, at least judging by her angry disposition.

“I did warn you! But you were busy cursing at the dead ice mage!

You could at least show some consideration to the people that help you!”

Nea just huffed angrily.

“Ya didn’t have ta focking drug me ovar that!”

Her weird accent was shining through a bit more than before I noted.

Was it because she was angry right now?

Whatever the case she glared at Oakley while he finished wrapping up her foot.

“Well anyway, remember what i told you about taking care of it, and for fucks sake don't make it worse or im going to set it on fire to combat the ice magic! Be glad it didn't freeze your foot off!”

“Yeah yeah, im not dumb im not going to do anything that could make me loose it after i got so close to having it amputated by that quack!”

Wait what!? Close to amputated?

Did the doc she was brought to attempt that?

Robin who stood next to me also had a shocked expression.

“Oh no! Are you okay? Why would they try to do that?”

Oakley looked at him.

“Well they have no experience in dealing with magic, so I guess they thought it best to remove it before it could spread the coldness even more? She's lucky i got here in time”

Nea just crossed her arms and huffed unhappily.

“Imma kick their shins as soon as i’m fit again”

Yeah, she seemed to be well on her way to recovery if she was already threatening violence again.

“Well I guess my work here is done, anything I can help you two with?”

Before I could come up with a way to ask for help about my aching Pouch without admitting anything I didn't want anyone to know about it Robin had already started to tell Oakley that Arthur got socked in the jaw.

“Arthur got punched in the jaw, can you help him too?

It looks like it hurts a lot, he's with a Nurse right now”

Well, since Nea was right here it probably was for the better that i didn't ask him right now, besides Arthur would probably appreciate the help.

“What did he do ta get his face punched? Also yeah better help him lest one of tha doc’s decides ta amputate that too!”

She was definitely still sour that one of the medics here tried that.

Also maybe putting it out there that she could kick some delinquents as soon as she was better might lift her mood a bit.

So while Robin brought Oakley to Arthur I told her in simple terms what had happened.

“Some card playing Guards got angry when we asked for directions”

Since apparently a lot of people immediately knew who we were talking about when we said card playing guards she would probably know too.

“Those guys again? I ought to break their fingers! Every single one-”

She stopped to stare at me and I suddenly recalled that she had only known me in the Ardua form and I got nervous.

Well Barsen had known somehow that the Ardua and I were the same thing so maybe I would get lucky again.

“That's what yer human form looks like? At least ye still have the same eyes, and Yer smaller than i thought, and tha hell is with yer ears?”

To exaggerate her point she bent forward and pinched the ear closest to her and lighty tugged down a bit.

That sent off a weird feedback to my brain and my fight or flight thing activated making me freeze on the spot.

Since Robin had dragged Oakley to Arthur already there was no one that could help me.

“Oww, Nea! Let go!”

She immediately let go and I carefully rubbed my ear where she had pinched it.

A sword lady for sure with strong fingers like that, I would have to remind myself to never arm wrestle against her.

“Sorry! Didn't know yer ears where so sensitive”

“Im fine, you didn't know, Just don't do that ever again”

I grumbled out at her apology, still holding my sore ear.

“I do gotta ask though, which one are you?

Beast turned human or human turned Beast?”

What, well as unexpected as this question was, it was still easy to answer.

“I'm shifting into the Beast, which is called an Ardua by the way, and the form you see now is the one i was born with”

“Ha! you're just a little gremlin!

If i coulda done that who knew what insane stuff i had come up with!”

Suddenly i was very glad nobody else could use the bracelet seeing as just the prospect of shifting made her admit that she would have done some rather idiotic stuff.

“I uh, I guess? To be honest i kinda expected to be stabbed as soon as the people here saw my ears but till now only those card players tried to”

Her gaze shifted into something I couldn't pinpoint,

but it sure wasn't happy.

“They What? Oh imma break something for sure! Let me guess, Arthur got punched cuz he was in the way?”

I nodded at her correct assumption.

“Well he kinda put himself in the way, and he pulled me aside as one of them aimed for my face with a dagger and then blocked the doorway”

“So he saved ya, imma have to congratulate him for quick thinking i guess, eh later”

Right, Arthur saved me, and Robin too as I was pretty sure he'd have gotten caught in the crossfire.

“Oi don't look so down! Yer all safe and that winged fucker is doing whatever to help the blondie, it’ll be fine!”

Ah, my apprehensiveness showed on my face, that or she was just good at reading emotions.

Considering she was surrounded by helmeted people a lot of the time it might be the latter, might.

“How'd ya get away after that anyway?”

I looked back up to her.

“The gardener, Barsen is his name if I remember correctly, calmly told them off then brought us here.”

“Ah yes Barsen, the guy is a godsend sometimes, and he's always so nice, No idea how he manages that i would have been ticked off long ago!”

So the gardener was rather well known in the castle halls, and for being a good guy no less.

I'd have to really talk to him at some point just to see for myself.

“Well what about you? How are you?

Your foots been fixed and now you just have to rest for a while”

She sat up straight, with her legs still stretched out in front of her and I had to note that she was rather flexible.

“I'm out of commission for at least six weeks, That sucks so much! I can't even kick tha slackers anymore!”

A fair sentiment, seeing as she was a rather energetic person that had to be especially annoying.

“Nea i have no doubt that as soon as you get crutches you are going to hit people with those”

“Damn roight ya are, I am gunna do that! Just cuz I'm out for a bit dun't mean thay can just sleep on tha job!”

She had devolved into an accent i couldn't place for the life of me, but it did sound angry.

“Oh calm down, I'm sure it's not so bad! You could pick up a hobby or something!”

She just stared daggers at me.

“I'm going ta make it my hobby ta bite anyone that says shit about me being off duty just out of spite!”

I had to snort out a laugh at that.

“What? Did the vampire bite you that you want to bite people all of a sudden?”

The sentiment was funny because I knew she did not get Bitten.

“Nah, but what do ya think the fucker woulda done with our corpses had we died?”

Well seeing as it was a vampire that only left one option really.

“Probably eaten them, or at least sucked all the blood out, i guess you could call him a sucker cuz he sucked at his objektive”

She actually laughed at my really bad joke before slapping me across the back making me lurch forward and my pouch started to hurt worse again from the impact.

Still i didn't let anything of that show on my face, and what little did show could easily be mistaken as her hitting me in a sore spot.

“Ya know yer green form is big enough to do that i think”

I froze in place at her words, not sure what to do now.

She didn't know that much was clear but she had correctly guessed what i was capable of and i could absolutely not let anymore people know about this.

“What? That thought never occurred ta ya?

Well i guess since ya are part plant ya can live off sunlight like plants do, So ya probably don't think about such stuff”

Luckily she mistook my freezing up in panic as me just being uncomfortable with such a topic.

“Uh-”

“Eh sorry if that made ya uncomfy, i sometimes have a rather wild imagination, just ignore what i said”

Well at least she had correctly guessed the plant thing, but she was not dumb, at all, so i would have to be extra careful around her to not let anything slip.

And now I was nervous, great, just great, but it had probably been long enough that I could excuse myself and got back to Arthur and Robin.

“Well i should probably go back to the other two and let you rest, I wish you a fast recovery”

She gave me a thumbs up and I stood up, turning to face the rest of the room only to have a pillow fly by my ear and hit Oakley from behind.

He let out an extremely birdlike screech in startelement and whipped his head around with an irritated expression.

I looked back to Nea who was just flipping him, ironically, the bird.

“Next time warn a gal before ya use drugs ya cunt”

“Well, next time i'll just leave the drugs out and you can feel all of the pain then”

Oh, it looked like Nea was still very sour about the sedative, at least it was just a pillow as everything else that could be thrown was well out of reach.

Good thinking on part of the medics, well they were probably used to such antics by now.

I decided it best to get out of the line of fire and moved slowly away from Neas corner.

Though slinking away turned out to be unnecessary when Oakley grabbed a bag and just left out the door.

Fuck, now i had to search for him again, at this point id never get help.

Well at least Arthur seemed okay now, He was still holding his jaw but the swelling was gone and all that was left was some discoloration from the bruise itself.

Avoiding being hit by something in case Nea decided to throw something else I went over to both Arthur and Robin.

Arthur greeted me with a little wave and gestured weirdly to his jaw.

He was silent the entire time but luckily Robin filled me in on why.

“Hey Donovan! Oakley fixed Arthur's jaw as best as he could but he said it would be numb for a bit!”

That made sense, if the thing that got the swelling down was also numbing it he wouldn't be able to coherently talk.

“How long is a bit? A few minutes or like an hour?”

Robin looked to Arthur once before answering.

“Uuhh, we don't know, we forgot to ask”

So Arthur was stuck with a numb jaw for ‘a bit’

which could be actual hours and not just a few minutes.

“Well we could ask him, I think he's outside? I'm not sure but the tower he wanted seems the most likely place so we should check there”

“Oh right! And you wanted to ask more about Ardua! I bet he's got some really old books!”

While I hadn't seen Oakleys shed on the inside, with all the knowledge he had it was very likely that he owned some rather rare tomes.

Like the one about Ardua for example, Maybe I'd ask him if i could read it, i was not a fast reader by any means but at least i could read unlike some other street dwellers.

“Yeah he seems the type to have that, and he did say he had one about Ardua so i'm just going to ask if i can read it myself”

Arthur looked at me strangely as I said this, what?

Did he think just because I grew up on the street for a majority of my life meant I couldn't read?

Arthur's confused staring was interrupted by Robin.

“Are you good at reading? I'm not, the letters start to shift when i look at them too long and it hurts my head”

Both me and Arthur looked at him concerned.

“I don't think letters are supposed to do that, Maybe you need glasses for reading?”

The ginger shook his head.

“Already tried that, didn't work and the glass warped everything weirdly, I don't want that again, it looked like nausea feels”

That was one of the weirdest descriptions I had heard in my life but strangely enough I could actually picture what he meant.

“That's weird, well i'm no expert to such stuff so i can't say why its like that for you”

He didn't seem overly bothered by it and just shrugged, Then his usual curiosity returned.

“Who taught you to read? I thought you couldn't go to school with your pointy ears?”

Oh, right, that was true but I did hide on the roof of one occasionally and learn by just listening.

“My Mother showed me how to read, well before she died at least so i'm not very good at it”

Arthur tried to say something to that but only managed to mumble something completely incomprehensible due to his numb jaw.

“What? Oh wait yeah we should go to Oakley and ask him how long that stuff is going to numb your jaw”

Judging by his face that was not what he had meant to say but since he couldn't talk right now we could only guess.

Despite having tried to say something else than what we assumed he walked towards the door of the infirmary.

“Oh, we can ask him what types of magic he knows!

Ooh maybe he can teach me a spell!”

We weren't even out of the room and Robin was already excitedly jumping up and down.

“Haha maybe, i don't know if all humans can use magic though, Well if someone knows that it’s Oakley”

His enthusiasm was adorable, and it gave me something better to focus on that my hurting organ.

Arthur also gave a thumbs up to Robin since he couldn't exactly say anything about this.

“Ooohh wait, Elemental magic is a thing! What element do you think fits me best? What Element do you think fits you? I think Fire would be cool!

But that's probably dangerous, uhh maybe air! Then I could use wind to grab stuff from the top shelves! What do you think?”

Right, elemental magic, well considering the Nature of the Ardua form the magic in the bracelet was probably Earthen.

As for what Element fit Robin best-

“Well with red hair like that Fire would be a fitting match i guess, but air could fit too, not that i know anything about that sort of stuff but i think you could find and twist stuff so every element fits you somehow”

Arthur made an agreeing Hmm and nodded while Robin just stared at the air before facing us again.

“Well what do you think you are? With the shifting i mean and-”

He gestured to the bracelet.

“-that? I mean it's definitely NOT fire i don't think at least”

I looked down again at the bracelet with the embedded green gems,

Yep definitely Earthen considering everything.

“I'm pretty sure it's Earthen,

i mean come on i'm a big plant lion thing what else would it be?”

A goofy smile appeared on his face and even Arthur tried to to grin which failed as half his lips were still numb.

“You're right! Big plant cat is for sure an Earth element!

And the gems on your bracelet are green too!

Hey, what do you think Oakley is element wise?”

Oakleys Element? Hmm that was trickier, he said he did not have an affinity for ice magic so it probably wasn't water.

I Doubted that it was fire as I just couldn't see the tailed man using flames for anything, and he had wings so it was very likely that it was air.

“Well he's got wings, so I guess it's Air?

He said he's not good at ice magic so it definitely isn't water”

While we went around the corner that led to the hallway with the exit door my mind went back to when Oakley had used the ice staff to melt all of the snow.

For someone who said they weren't good at ice magic he had been very adept at removing the snow.

If that was what he considered bad then I was curious as to what he defined as good at magic.

“Not water huh, well I guess Air is the opposite? Or would that be earth?

I think Fire and Water are opposite but i don't know about the other two”

Robin seemed very intrigued by the concept of magic, and to me fair being able to use magic did sound like it would be great.

“I don't know about opposites, if that even counts in element magic, but im sure if you could use magic you'd do something cool with it”

Robin smiled brightly and now that we were at the same scale I could make out his chipped tooth perfectly, it looked like a tiny little fang.

Arthur then made a gesture for us to stop.

“Arthur? Something wrong?”

He pointed at the window we just passed and both me and Robin looked out of the small thing.

We were on ground level right behind the shed, technically we didn't have to walk to the door now since the window should just be large enough to climb out.

Which Robin promptly did, almost hadbutting my chin in the process.

“Im first outside!”

Oh well, the window wasn't big but i had to be extra stupid to get stuck in it so i heaved myself onto it and jumped down the meter or so to the ground.

Arthur followed swiftly and managed to snag his foot in the windowsill and barely avoided falling onto his Numb face by bracing himself with his arms.

Hieving him up again i looked around to try and spot Oakley, the fucker was fast i gave him that.

Arthur gave me once again a thumbs up what probably was meant to substitute a ‘thank you’.

Robin had already run ahead and I noticed that Oakley was indeed walking right into the shrubbery of the less maintained part of the castle grounds.

So dragging Arthur behind I followed the ginger into the trees that stood between the castle and the protective wall.

Arthur mumbled something incomprehensible again but I guessed it was something along the lines of ‘I can walk myself’ so I let go of his tunic.

Considering the direction Oakley was going he was heading right for the tower, well it was his now and I assumed he'd have to do a lot of cleaning to make it livable.

Who knew how long that half broken tower had been abandoned, not to mention there was an Oak tree growing out of it which probably broke the wall in some places.

We caught up to Robin rather quickly but then stopped as we heard someone call for us.

Turning around I saw Rikaad, now free of mud, walking at a brisk pace towards us.

Robin immediately waved excitedly at him as he came up to us.

“Where are you going? And what's with Arthur's face?”

He sounded rather concerned at the last part, but since Arthur couldn't talk I'd explain it instead.

“He got punched in the jaw and Oakley put something to numb his face and now we wanted to ask how long that works for”

He nodded in acknowledgment before looking at the bruise a bit closer.

“Why were you punched? What happened?”

Well this was about to turn really awkward in a few seconds.

I was in Luck as Robin started explaining what happened before I could open my mouth.

Spared me awkwardly trying to coherently tell him that people in the castle tried to kill me.

Hell, that could have gone so wrong if Arthur had been just a second slower.

Better not dwell on that grimm outlook.

Besides, judging by Rikaads face they were going to be fired very soon anyway so it was unlikely that I would ever have to see them again.

“I will deal with that as soon as i can, for now we can go to Oakley, i wanted to ask him what he plans to do with the tower anyway”

True, he said he'd wanted the tower but not what exactly he was going to do with it, and aside from that i also wanted to finally ask him if he had anything to make that absolutely irritating itching go away

Resuming to walk where Oakley had gone, I noticed that this part only looked less well maintained.

There were no bigger branches on the ground and none of the other signs that it was abandoned.

It looked to be expertly well kept even if these plants weren't cut into fancy shapes.

Also most of the trees were apple or Pear and I guessed that they were planted for when the castle was under lockdown.

Between two trees the tower came into view and it was just as rundown as I thought it would be.

There were holes in the walls and the top half was missing completely so that it had only three stories at most.

It was also slightly askew as the Oaktree next to it had pushed it aside a bit, getting shelves installed would be a nightmare for sure.

There was rustling from above and it seemed Oakley was sorting trash on whatever remained intact on the upper floor.

I didn't dare stand anywhere near the tower itself as there could be a risk of falling bricks, especially with Oakley messing about up there.

So shouting up it was and hoping he'd come down without triggering a downpour of stone bricks.

“OAKLEY! HEY! DOWN HERE! WE WANT TO TALK TO YOU!”

A head popped up over the ledge of the tower, it seemed I had been loud enough, and out of the corner of my eye I saw Robin hold his hands over his ears, maybe too loud then.

Whatever the case it worked as Oakley just jumped down and used his wings to glide to the ground.

Yeah, the Air element was a very good guess.

He landed gracefully in front of us and then tucked his wingarms closer to his body.

“Something the matter? Anyone else gotten punched?”

Of course that would be the first thing he had to point out.

I shook my head.

“No, we wanted to ask how long Arthur's Jaw is going to be numb for”

“And also how you like the tower!”

Robin butted in, pointing at said tower.

Oakley smiled and I could clearly see his fangs again, they were almost off puttingly white.

“Well it should be numb for about one hour total, but! It's going to remove the bruise entirely and no it does not work on anything worse than that.

As for the tower, well it's dusty for one thing but I'm working on fixing that.”

Ah, so as soon as the stuff wears off Arthur's bruise should be gone, That was nice.

And I could plainly see that it was dusty as hell in the run down building.

Maybe i’d offer to help later, first i had to ask if he had anything to make the fucking itching stop.

I debated waiting until the others left but they knew about it already anyway so it didn't really matter.

Well Rikaad might feel guilty again about stabbing me but right now I just wanted this uncomfortable feeling to stop already.

Maybe he'd give me whatever he gave Arthur to simply numb it.

“Hey Oakley?

Do you have anything that helps in dealing with a painful itch?”

Okay I definitely could have worded that better.

“Did you touch poison ivy? Or what did you do?”

Maybe I should have waited after all, because this was about to be extremely awkward.

Like how the hell was I supposed to explain the fuckery that had happened? And it was my fault too.

But before I could say anything else Robin had already started talking.

“Oh no, its for the stitches in his pouch that Rikaad made after he stabbed Donovan in a snowstorm”

Oh, that was probably too much information at once blurted out in a short sentence, I could almost see Oakley’s brain working to process this strange heap of information.

Then he turned to Rikaad strangely enough.

“Aside from the fact that you STABBED him, what kind of thread did you use?”

Oakley suddenly seemed a bit bigger than before if only due to being puffed up like an angry bird.

I was a bit confused however, why would he need to know what type of thread it was?

Did that influence what type of treatment he was going to use?

Rikaad himself looked rather uncomfortable.

“Just a normal sewing thread with a normal needle, why?”

He suddenly got a face full of wing as Oakley just opened the appendage in his direction.

“A NORMAL thread?!? Are you insane?

That's way too frayed to be used for wounds!

That just amps up the risk of an infection!

And then a normal sewing needle! That is not sanitary!

Why would you even use that?”

Rikaad had shrank back a bit at Oakleys rant but I could clearly see that where the wing had struck him it was slightly red.

It didn't look damaged in any way however, apparently it had just been a light smack and not intended to cause damage at all.

Rikaad himself looked stunned for a second before composing himself red face and all.

“I am sorry, i was not aware of this, i only wanted to help”

Well that was nice and all but apparently I had been running the risk of infection for a few days now, which was not good.

Oh no, what if the itching was a sign that I had already gotten one?

Somewhere to my left I could make out that Robin was hiding behind Arthur who also tried to stay out of the way as much as he could without outright leaving.

Oakley was still not very happy but he turned to face me anyway.

“Aside from how the hell you ended up stabbed There of all places,

How bad is it? Does it hurt a lot?

And do you have any estimation on how big the wounds are?”

“Well it's an annoying uncomfortable itch, i'm not sure how big it is but there's like two places i got stabbed soo uhh”

Oakley just put his three fingered hand on his forehead in exasperation.

“Alright, you are aware that someone has to go get the stitches out right?

An infection risk like that needs to be removed”

Oh fuck, that meant Oakley would-

aww dammit my luck really had run out for today hadn't it?

He grabbed at my shirt with the end of his two pronged tail and dragged me to the other side of the tower where there was more space as the trees grew further apart from each other here.

“You stay next to the tower and shift bigger, i need to get some supplies, you shouldn't have shifted with stitches literally lining an organ but there's nothing to do about it now, just wait here i'll be right back”

Without saying anything else he spread his wings and then flew up into the sky to get whatever he needed.

Well, best to heed his advice and shift bigger for now.

I chose the Ardua form as people had seen that before and the sudden appearance of a Giant might scare someone into attacking.

And soon enough I was back to being a fuzzy green Beast.

Just as I had shifted the other three rounded the tower and I could see clear concern on all of their faces.

And there was the obvious guilt in Rikaad’s still slightly red face.

I hoped he'd not be too upset by it as it was an accident, I was also pretty sure the only one that knew anything about first aid in this group was Arthur.

Well at least Robin didn't seem too down by it as instead he came over to my sitting form and hugged my leg.

Now I had to wait for Oakley to come back from wherever he went, which was probably his old shed, and who knew how long that would take.

Sure, he could fly but I had no idea how fast so I was stuck just sitting here worrying if I had an infection or not.

Rikaad came up to me and looked me earnestly in the face.

“I want to apologize again, not only for stabbing you but about the whole issue it turned out to be now due to me using the wrong equipment”

“It's okay i guess, you didn't know after all, also since when is there a special thread just to sew up wounds?

But really i should have explained better back then, maybe we wouldn't have this problem then”

He still didn't look happy, if anyone could even tell when he was, but he seemed to let it go, at least for now.

Well, now it was waiting for that winged fucker to return.

At least there was grass to sit on instead of just dirt.

I lighty shoved Robin, who was still clinging to my leg,

out of the way so I could sort of lay down on the ground,

even if I ended up looking like a tired dog.

That gave me an idea,

Robin had compared me to a cat so just maybe i could-

Tucking my legs under me like I had seen some of the stray cats do, I ended up doing exactly what I hoped I could.

While Robin had been confused by being shoved away his usual spark returned when he saw why.

“Ohhh Loaf”

He immediately flopped onto the part of my arm that was not hidden underneath me and tried burying himself in fluff.

At least one person was sort of happy right now.

“Dude, you look like a big cat!”

Apparently Robin was not the only one that got joy out of seeing me Loaf, at least judging by Arthur's amused, if slightly muffled, voice.

“So? I can kinda understand now why they do that, this is actually comfy somehow”

That much was true, my limbs actually cushioned the softer underside of my body from the ground and also kept it warmer than the cool grass itself.

Yeah, no wonder cats did this, and with the way my arms were positioned it didn't put any pressure on my pouch either.

Now i just had to wait for Oakley to come back and do- Well, whatever would help me.

“You really are like a big cat, not that i mind as long as you don't start pushing things of tables”

I glanced over to Rikaad and saw that he had spoken without looking at me and was staring past the tower towards the castle again.

That reminded me-

“Hey Rikaad, i had expected that now there would be guards around you at all times, did you tell them to fuck off for a bit?”

That gained the attention of Arthur who joined in on the conversation.

“Yeah, what did you tell them you were gonna do?”

Robin didn't seem to hear anything as he still had his head buried in the floof on my upper arm.

Rikaad looked back at us then.

“I know that, and i didn't tell anyone that i was going out, i just went out the door when no one was looking”

I just stared at him as he said this, Thus far he had not seemed the type to just do something like that.

And I wasn't the only one that shared this sentiment as Arthur was also a bit confused by this.

“Don't you think that's gonna give someone a heart attack if you just vanish like that? Also you said that there had been assassins in the past, Should you be walking around with barely any protection?”

That was a good point actually, while the assassin MIGHT have been that Vampire guy we didn't know for certain, and I was pretty sure the one Arthur meant would get a heart attack was Norrin.

But yeah, if there was an assassin around somewhere being out in the open like this was a bad idea.

But by now i had learned that Rikaad valued his independency a LOT, And not being in control of his own actions was probably really uncomfortable for him.

Still it didn't seem like us just telling him to go back would make him do it.

Then Robin piped up.

“Hey how far did you get with the paper stuff? Did you find the one that bans Fae folk? Oh and did you find anything cool? How much paper is it anyway?”

Oh right, I had forgotten about that, well at least i would get an answer now.

“Sadly i did not find the paper i wanted, there is so much of it and none of it is organized in any way, it looks like someone toppled the cabinet over and then just stuffed the documents back in, they aren't even in stacks they are just shoved in and partially crumpled”

Wow, the old git really did not care about anything other than himself huh.

Well, at least Rikaad was trying to fix things now, even if it would be slow going.

“Well, since I doubt Oakley is going to need my help I will go back to try and sort that nightmare of a paper avalanche waiting to happen, and prevent Norrin from a panic attack as he surely has noticed me missing by now”

“Alright, don't get buried under paper, and I mean that both physically and metaphorically!”

Arthur called to him, earning a rare smile.

“Don't worry, i'm careful, and taller than the cabinet, see you later then”

And with those words he left to get back to the probably very boring task of sorting paper.

Arthur then turned to me, or more specifically Robin who had buried himself in the floof of my neck again.

“Good call! Bringing attention to the fact he's got to do stuff in the castle was a fine idea!

If there is an assassin he won't be in harm's way out here anymore!”

Robin just blinked at him.

“I did want to know if he found the paper tho, i don't want people to get stabbed in the city just cuz they have pointy ears”

That was, strangely sweet of him, and that Rikaad was back in the safety of the castle was a nice bonus too on top of that.

I turned my head so that he got a makeshift hug by squishing him into the crook of my neck.

“That's nice of you, and i agree, nobody should get stabbed for their heritage”

He shoved at the side of my head and stuck his tongue out.

“You're squishing me!”

He was laughing as he said it so i wasn't hurting him by doing this, good to know.

Then I decided to be a little gremlin and moved my head away in one swift motion so Robin ended up sliding to the ground.

Before he could get up, I put my head over him and effectively trapped him under my jaw.

I made sure not to use any pressure though, I wanted to annoy him a bit and not hurt him.

A muffled

“ey!”

Sounded from under me but then he started laughing again.

“I'm not a pillow!”

While shoving at the underside of my jaw lightly.

Arthur had heard that too and was now grinning from ear to ear.

He went next to me and got close enough that Robin would be able to hear him.

“Well now you are!-”

Then he looked at me.

“- just make sure he doesn't suffocate, yeah?”

I gave an affirmative hum as I didn't want to move my jaw at all.

Deciding that Arthur just grinning at Robin's predicament wasn't exactly fair, I unfurled one of my arms, front legs?, and sneaked it up next to him.

Just as he turned to look at what I was doing I lifted the appendage and softly ‘dropped’ it on him, trapping him beneath my lower arm.

“HEY! Get off you big cat!”

He was trying to crawl out using his arms that he had managed to stick free from under my arm.

Honestly seeing him flail like this was kinda funny, but I still made sure to be very careful so as not to squish him.

“You really are just a big cat! Now get off! This is stupid!”

He was grinning with clear amusement in his voice so I knew I didn't overstep any boundaries.

I hummed again before slowly easing up on Arthur and lifting my head again.

“Fffffff man you could just fucking obliterate someone like that!

How heavy are you as Ardua anyway?”

Arthur got up and brushed off the dust he got on his tunic.

“No idea, and i don't think that can be accurately measured”

Without looking I knew Robin hadn't moved from where he was so I glanced down to what he was doing.

He was still just sitting there, and I knew he was conscious by the fact that he had his eyes open and was sitting upright.

“And what are you doing?”

He stuck his tongue out and then sprung into action.

Standing up abruptly he headbutted the underside of my jaw saying loudly with lots of amusement in his voice.

“BONK”

The action surprised me and he managed to hit the soft part between my jaw bones.

“Ack!”

I jerked my head up and shook it like a dog which earned even more laughter from the redhead.

Well, i did just trap him under my head so-

“Yeah, i guess that's fair for trapping you under me”

He was still laughing and had now draped himself over one of my arms like a sack of wheat.

I immediately put my head over him again, which made him laugh even more.

“While you have fun i'm going to poke around the tower before Oakley comes back, don't worry ill be careful”

Arthur waved before he went around the tower after I gave a confirmative hum, likely to locate the entrance.

Well, there probably wouldn't be much since Oakley had barely anything moved yet.

Maybe stuff from his backpack that he already put away.

The feeling of tiny hands brushing through my fur made my gaze swivel to the little redhead.

He had that distant stare again and was repeating the one motion over and over.

Spaced about again huh.

I let him, he was just brushing the fur so I saw no reason to stop him.

Besides, it actually felt nice, as weird as it was to admit.

I decided to blame the Ardua form for that,

the new nervous system and all that.

So for a while I just kept still and let Robin pull his fingers through my fur.

I hummed again when the sun came out from behind some clouds which were probably a leftover from the snow madness and shone on my fur.

There was a small laugh again and it seemed Robin was done spacing out.

“Can you do that again? That humm i mean”

I wasn't sure why he wanted me to do that again but I could see no harm in it so I did.

The moment I did Robin hugged my jawbone much to my confusion.

“That sound rattles all of my bones! It's funny!”

Ah, so that's why he wanted me to do it again.

Well, he could have that.

I trapped him again under my jaw and hummed louder than before which got me a laughing fit from Robin.

Somewhere near the tower I heard cursing and lifted my head again to see what was going on much to the ginger's disappointment.

I could just about make out Arthur near the tower, He was holding his foot and insulting something I couldn't see.

Peering closer I could see a stone brick sticking out of the ground and surmised that Arthur hit his toe.

I wasn't the only one that had run out of luck today it seemed.

Looking up as a shadow passed over me I saw Oakley again, he was a really silent flier if he wanted to be.

I'd better remember that to avoid getting jumpscared in the future.

He landed and I could see a new backpack filled to the brim with stuff I had no way of recognizing all of it as some of it seemed like more magic fuckery.

“Oakley hey! You're back already?”

He shook the backpack off before answering.

“Of course! Flying is way faster than walking, and I don't have to maneuver over changing terrain or follow roads!”

He opened the bag and started pulling things out that should not have fit in it.

For example a really long and sturdy but smooth looking rope as well as a box that made a clattering sound.

And weirdest of all a glowing roundish crystal.

The last one actually made sense seeing as he would need light and at least that thing did not emit smoke.

I wondered if it emitted any heat though, I hoped not much.

“Hey where did the other two go? I wasn't away that long, was i?”

Robin clumsily climbed over my arm again which wasn't exactly necessary since he could have walked like four steps around it.

“Rikaad went back to sort paper stuff and Arthur is somewhere around the tower just looking how run down the thing is.

The winged man nodded.

“I see, and the little ginger decided to use you as a mattress I guess?”

Robin just stuck his tongue out at him.

“Eh maybe, don't really care about that, also how the hell did you fit that much stuff in such a small bag?”

While I spoke Robin went over the said bag and peered in before managing to stick his entire arm in up to the shoulder.

“Why is it like this? There so much room? But the bag is small? Oakley?”

Him sticking his entire arm in had startled me but now he said that the inside was bigger than the bag was? How was that possible?

“Well you see, a little bit of magic woven into the fabric allows for quite a lot of storage!

Sadly it's the only one i have as it's quite expensive to make”

A magic bag, of course that's what it was, did he own anything normal?

He took the bag from Robin and stuck his tail in to rummage for something else.

Using his two pronged tail for that did make sense seeing as how wings would have trouble fitting.

It was interesting to see how he had adapted to the fact that he couldn't do everything with his hands like most people and had instead found a way around it.

He pulled out something that looked like an oversized glass jar that was halfway filled with something teal colored and seemed to have the same viscosity as honey.

What the fuck did he need that for? Was that just medicine?

I never heard of bright teal medicine.

Robin also pointed at the jar confusedly.

“What's that? I do like the color, what is it for?”

Oakley raised the container in the air so we could see it better.

“Basically a disinfectant, among other things, and i agree teal is a nice color”

He put the jar next to his bag and then took the rope to tie it around himself.

That confused me a bit, he probably knew i could get people out without help so why was he tying himself to a safety rope?

He must have noticed my confused stare as he told me what it was for.

“The teal stuff is basically a stronger version of what i gave Arthur, mixed with some other things as well, it WILL make you numb enough to not have control over the affected muscles for about four hours so i do need the rope”

Oh, yeah that made sense, but that meant someone had to stand at the other end of the rope to get him out, well both Arthur and Robin were here, the first of which was just coming back from exploring the tower and full of dust.

“Oh hey Oakley!”

He waved to the winged man who stared back.

“Perfect timing! I will need your help! You just need to hold the other end of the rope here!”

He tossed said end to Arthur who scrambled to catch it out of reflex.

He looked thoroughly confused.

“Wh- wait what do you need the rope for? The hell are you going to do?”

Oakley wasn't really paying attention to him though and instead picked up the stuff he needed which included the glowing crystal, the weird box and the jar with the teal stuff.

While Oakley did that Robin was messing with the bag by sticking his arm in again, likely to test how deep it was.

After that he even stuck his head in, probably to see if he could make out anything visible.

He pulled it out quickly though and I wondered what else was in there that he had that reaction.

Maybe he saw something spider shaped and noped out.

Then Oakley had everything ready.

He was holding the glowing crystal with his tail and the rest was secured in either his pockets or his hands, The cloak he usually wore was abandoned off to the side.

So that meant the only thing to do now was-

Eugh, my least favorite part of this, Oakley had wings, and a tail, What if I damaged them?

What if one of those appendages got snagged on my teeth?

Oakley didn't seem to have any concerns though, he was just standing in front of me expectantly.

My brain blanked on what to do for a second before i remembered, right,

Oakley was gonna fix the stitches and to do that he had to get to them.

But I wasn't exactly sure how to proceed, he was only mostly human shaped and I didn't know what to do with the wings.

Should I tell him to tuck them close?

Or to have them spread out at his side so he'd be slimmer?

At this point he seemed to know what to do better than I did as he tucked his wings very close to his body and wrapped his tail around one of his legs.

“Well, open up big guy, no use wasting time now!”

My brain was still blanking on a lot of things but I simply did as told.

Lowering my head to the ground I opened my mouth wide enough for him to fit, and to my surprise he climbed right in, no fear or hesitation whatsoever.

Also having someone willingly climb into my mouth like this was extremely weird and i was not sure if i liked it.

And strangely enough he tasted of sawdust which did not make it better, At all.

Overall it wasn't awful but i couldn't say that i liked it either, frankly i just wanted this all to be over with.

Oh, wait, technically I had to swallow now but my mind was still a bit slow.

That changed when Oakley punched the dangly bit over my throat, the Uvula was it called?

causing me to swallow against my will.

Apparently he'd gotten impatient with me and decided to just go ahead.

At least he didn't have feathers.

Yeah, now I was sure I didn't like this, at least not when it was Oakley.

I just about stopped myself from coughing and instead swallowed again, feeling the safety rope that Arthur was holding slither over the groove of my tongue.

That was an uncomfortable feeling as it was like there was something stuck in my throat when it wasn't.

At this point I just wanted it to be over with as fast as possible so I swallowed again and again till the odd shaped lump was all the way down to my pouch.

Oakley 'dropped’ in with a weird squelching sensation and then I could feel him right himself, wings relaxing a bit and tail unfurling.

I kept as still as possible and was only breathing shallowly so I wouldn't disturb him.

I still didn't know what exactly he was going to do or what he needed the box for when he had the teal stuff but i was not about to fuck things even more up by moving.

So I sat still except for one of my paws which opened and closed repeatedly and dug grooves in the ground while Oakley seemed to get ready to do whatever it was he planned to do.

Arthur was just silent, holding his end of the rope and staring at the ground while Robin had started making flower crowns again with the daisies that grew around the tower.

Then there was an awful sensation, like Oakley had just ripped one of the stitches out by force.

“YOWCH! Oakley! What the hell was that?!”

And my pained shout Arthur almost dropped the rope and Robin did drop the flowers he was working on.

Then Oakley answered with a mildly muffled voice.

“Just as I thought! The stitches started to grow INTO your flesh, the sooner i remove them the better”

Grown into my flesh?! Grown into my Flesh?! What the fuck!

I didn't think that could happen, or at least not so fast.

Ughh why me? I only tried to help and now I was stuck with a possible infection risk and the stitches literally growing into the lining of my pouch.

There was another painful twinge that signaled Oakley had just ripped another stitch out and I dug the claws of my free hand into the ground.

A smaller hand suddenly grabbed my paw and I looked over to see Robin holding onto my fur.

I relaxed the tiniest bit until Oakley ripped another one out and I growled in a low tone.

The sound surprised even me as i didn't know i could emit such a noise, And it had been completely involuntary too.

Worried that the sound had scared the smaller men, I looked at them.

Arthur seemed to just be surprised and Robin moved to hug my hand.

Well, it was possible that they had mistaken it for a sound of pain.

It kinda was if I was honest,

and as long as they weren't scared I could deal with it.

Oakley yanked another stitch out and since Robin was hugging my hand I couldn't even dig grooves into the ground anymore to distract myself.

And I didn't dare move the other arm out from underneath me.

There was the sound of a quiet and dull impact behind me as well as signals sent to my brain that indicated that my tail had hit a tree.

Since I couldn't use any other limbs to fidget it seemed my tail had just started to swivel from left to right like that of an agitated cat.

Sure, whatever, I could deal with that, and there was at least one limb I dared to move now.

Robbin was still hugging my paw in an attempt to be comforting.

It kind of was even, his hands were warmer than the ground so that was something better to focus on than Oakley doctoring around.

I managed to just about contain a flinch when Oakley ripped yet another thread out.

How many were even in there? He had to be done soon right?

Another was ripped out and the hair on my back stood up.

Robin had at this point started to absentmindedly pet the upper side of my paw, it was strangely soothing, and wayyyy better than whatever the fuck Oakley was doing.

He had to be done soon right? I wanted him out of there, also-

“Oakley didn't you say that the teal stuff numbs?

What the fuck are you doing?”

He answered almost immediately while ripping out yet another stitch.

“Well yeah, the ‘teal stuff’ numbs but it also accelerates the healing process by a lot, so if i put it on first the stitches would grow in even more and you don't want that”

Oh so that was why, fuck me then, just sitting here with a weird Fae fucker abusing my insides even more.

I let my head sink onto the ground with another pained sound as he ripped yet another string out.

“How many of those are even there? Please tell me you're done”

There was a brief weird numbing sensation that spread from where ever the fuck he applied the teal stuff.

“Almost, this one is done now to the other stabwound!”

The other one? Ohh nooo come on, How many stitches had Rikaad put there in the first place?

At least one was done now, and numb as fuck which i waas actually glad for.

“Oakley? How many stitches are there anyway?

Please tell me it's under ten”

“Well the first one had six, this one has four,

So brace yourself, I'm going to remove them now!”

As soon as he said it he ripped out a stitch in the other place that got stabbed.

This time, now that I had a warning, and being used to it from the other stitches he pulled it was a bit less awful.

Still horrible and painful though.

While I tried my best not to move Robin had slunk away from my hand and was now next to me.

He ended up hugging my shoulder a good bit away from my throat or anything connected to it.

“Are you okay? What's Oakley doing?”

”I'll be fine, as soon as Oakley is done ripping the stitches oOOUT,

Dammit Oakley, give a warning!”

While i Answered Robin Oakley had ripped another stitch out,

catching me by surprise.

I really wanted this to be over with but at least there were only two more to go through.

I huffed in displeasure and glanced at Arthur who had sat down on the ground and was fiddling with his end of the rope.

I wasn't the only one that wanted this to be over with apparently,

He looked bored and unsure of what to do.

Well he couldn't exactly help Oakley or me with this stupid situation.

The best he could do was keep holding the rope and then do whatever Oakley said.

Which was hopefully soon, I wanted him out of there and the rope hanging down my throat did not make it any better.

On top of that the stupid rope tasted like dust and i really wanted to spit it out.

Not to mention that it dug into the groove of my tongue uncomfortably.

Oakley ripped out yet another stitch, making me lash my tail against the trees behind me.

One more to go and then I was done, at least I hoped so.

By now the numbing effect applied to the first wound had helped a lot even if it did feel weird.

Or not feel? Whatever the case I couldn't feel anything there right now, no pain but no touches from Oakley either which was kinda eerie.

He said it numbed for about four hours right?

Well I could deal with that as long as it was healed afterwards at least.

Finally Oakley ripped out the last stitch and then applied more of the teal stuff, now making the entirety of my pouch numb.

It was clear why he tied the rope to himself for this.

I couldn't feel anything in my pouch anymore and I wasn't even sure if my muscles would obey me now.

Yeah, the rope was a good call on his part.

As uncomfortable as it was for me it did serve a purpose.

Said purpose being that Arthur could pull him out with it.

“Heya! I'm done,

so tell your blonde friend to tug at the rope and get me out!”

Finally! The entire ordeal had been awful and I was glad it was bound to be over in a minute or so.

“Hey Arthur?-

He looked up at me.

“- Oakley wants you to pull the rope and get him out,

just please be careful that thing is literally IN my throat and having rope burn there is not something i want”

He gave a thumbs up and gripped the rope.

“Sure, brace yourself i'm trying to go slow, if you want me to go faster tap the ground or whatever”

I nodded and then lay down again to make my throat as straight as possible and minimize the choking risk.

Robin ran up to be behind Arthur and grabbed the piece of rope that was splayed on the ground behind the blonde man.

Then Arthur counted to three and started pulling.

It wasn't fast but it wasn't agonizingly slow either, it was a steady rhythm of pulling the rope and then gripping the bit in front of it to tug more out.

At first it was just more numbness but the more they tugged Oakley out the more I could feel that there was indeed something in my esophagus.

At this point instead of gripping more rope as he went he was just walking backwards, likely to avoid the parts of rope that had been drooled on.

I wasn't really to blame for that one though, having something dry in your mouth just gave that response, not my fault at all.

Oakley was at this point halfway up and blocking my windpipe.

Good thing I had remembered to take a breath beforehand, and that I could hold said breath for about five minutes.

Feeling the wet form of Oakley slide into my mouth I wasted no time in leaning forward and letting him drop to the ground.

I immediately began coughing as the rope had irritated my throat the entire time and I was really glad that it was finally over.

Even if it felt weird to - well not feel i guess?

True to Oakleys word the entirety of my pouch was numb and would stay as such for about four hours.

Well, still better than before, and Oakley had brought all of his stuff back out so i didn't have to worry about that either, I flopped to the ground where I was and ended up kind of on my side but not really on my side.

Robin immediately took advantage of that to bury himself in the exposed fluff with an adorable squeak.

Glancing over to what Oakley was doing I saw Arthur handing back the slightly damp rope and Oakley tossing said rope into one of the broken windows of the tower.

Well that was one way to get it dry, probably.

whatever, not my problem.

Now I barely had any problems anymore, sure there was still the Fae hating thing, but Rikaad was working on fixing that.

For the first time in forever there was nothing wrong and I could just relax.

That was weird as fuck.

I decided to enjoy that blessing for now.

Just then Oakley came over, ughh, was there something else i had to do now?

“Say how are you? It is numbing as intended right? I just want to make sure i used enough and that there's nothing else wrong now”

So he was checking up on his ‘patient’, well That was nice of him.

“It's numb as hell, I don't feel anything there so I'm pretty sure you used enough of that stuff, though it's eerie to not be able to feel a part of my body.”

He just nodded in acknowledgment.

“Well if you need anything else i will sweep all the dust out of my new house! You might want to move though unless you fancy a dustshower”

A dustshower was not something I wanted, and I could somehow imagine that Oakley would use his wings to blow the dust out of his house like some oversized bird.

He was an oversized bird, at least in my opinion.

I ought to get a nice and shiny rock to test just how birdlike at some point.

I stood up which felt a bit weird due to the numbness in my core but since i didn't fall over i didn't care.

Oakley was now dusting his new place, So where else on the castle grounds could we go?

Aside from the shed and the tower I didn't know any places, if there even was more aside from plants.

Eh, I could just chill between some of the plants then, as long as I didn't destroy them I doubted that anyone would care.

Maybe Barsen, but he was who knew where right now.

A tiny hand grabbed at the arm that had the bracelet and I looked down to see a mess of red hair.

Robin was tugging me in a random direction,

Well exploring was also something to do.

So I started to slowly walk in the direction he wanted so as to not trample over him.

Maybe we'll find something cool?

Arthur joined us even if he didt hold onto my arm like Robin did.

“Well, where to? Just randomly walking or?”

He shook his head.

And while passing the tower I looked into one of the windows and saw a familiar compass laying on top of a broken branch.

Rikaad must have returned the one Oakley gave us while he was here.

“I wanna go along the cliffside!

Like why don't they have a wall there? Maybe we'll find out why!”

“The cliffside? You sure? That seems dangerous,

and i'm not keen on falling off of THAT”

Arthur interjected, and to be fair he was right.

It might very well be that there used to be a wall but it just fell down into the ocean.

I wouldn't get too close to the edge in case the ground there was brittle.

Falling to my death after all this would be really fucking dumb.

“I mean we can look but i'm not sure how stable the ground there is, What if it breaks off? As Arthur said i'm also not keen on dying”

“We don't have to get close! I just wanna look!

Like the window in the castle!”

For a second I could have sworn that Arthur's face went a bit green.

Well, not my problem if he had vertigo, poor Arthur though.

“Well I think that's fine? But i'm not going to get as close as you are, Im bigger so the floor might just break off”

“Yeah, Donovan's right, don't get too close!”

Robin stuck his tongue out at Arthur and then kept dragging me as best as he could forward.

“It'll be fine! I'm not gonna fall, I promise!

I'm not gonna stand directly on the edge! Im not that dumb!”

I hoped he was right, but it was just for the sake of curiosity so what's the worst that could happen if we were being careful.

As long as we kept a safe distance to avoid falling it should be fine.

Somehow I had the feeling that Arthur wouldn't get anywhere close at all.

Oh well, then i had to make sure nobody got too close to the drop then.

Ducking under a low hanging branch we breached into free space.

Yep, there was the aforementioned drop down to the ocean.

How tall was it anyway? Then I saw something that made my heart, the working one anyway, stop for a second.

Barsen was plucking out weeds and the like while only holding onto a branch from a walnut tree.

He was basically hovering over certain death and did not even blink.

Did that guy know what Fear was??? By the looks of it not.

Still, screaming at him to get away from there might startle him into letting go.

So talking normally would have to do.

“Barsen? What are you doing?”

The other two seemed to only now notice there was someone else and gave surprised and worried noises.

“Oh what the hell man, get away from there! You're gonna fall!”

Robin hid behind my arm again as if that would help the situation.

Barsen just looked up and waved with a handful of weeds while hanging on to that one branch.

“Hello! Don't worry, I've done this a thousand times before, I'm not going to fall! Im almost done anyway”

He stuffed the plants into a pocket of his work pants and climbed up the walnut tree's roots back to safe ground.

Brushing Dust off he walked over to us.

“Nice to see you are all well! What do you think of the garden?”

I just stared at him for a few seconds as he acted like he hadn't just hung over a multiple hundred feet high drop to death.

Then his question registered in my brain.

“Oh, I think it's really pretty!

It doesn't seem to cluttered with random flowers either i like that”

That was true, the noble gardens i had seen before all seemed to be stupid tryhard in comparison to this one, This was more subtle and not filled with eye bleeding bright flowers next to even more oversaturated stuff.

Robin and Arthur also gave confirmation to that and Barsen smiled wide.

“Thank you! I work hard to get it like this so hearing that I did a good job makes me very happy! Though, say what are you doing here?”

Oh right, we had wanted to look at the cliff.

“We wanted to look at the cliffside, the only places we know are the empty shed and the old tower that Oakley claimed”

I wondered what the tower would look like when Oakley was done, he’d keep the tree for sure but beyond that it was a mystery.

“Looking at the cliff? Well I know a spot where you can do that without having to worry about falling, want me to show you?”

There was an excited

“YES!”

From Robin and Arthur agreed as well while I nodded.

So he waved to follow him and he went a bit towards the castle.

After just a few meters I could see a big boulder embedded into the ground that stuck about seven feet over the cliffside.

The boulder itself was very long but most of it was on solid ground and half embedded in the floor.

It even went into the floor so who knew how big it really was.

The top of it was smooth, probably from years and years of people walking over it to get from point A to point B.

I had to admit that was actually very cool, and since the longer part of it was anchored to solid ground there was no chance of it tipping over.

“Oh that is awesome! How come it hasn't fallen yet?”

Barsen stood on top of the flattest part.

“I think the embedded part of it goes on for quite some time, see that tree back there? From what i know it goes all the way over there if not farther”

I looked in the direction he had pointed and saw a small birch tree about thirty feet away, oh yeah that stone slab was secure and I doubted it would fall any soon.

The thing also wasn't that far from the castle, hell I could see the building perfectly from here and wouldn't have to walk more than a minute or two, at least in this form.

“Well you have fun, and don't forget to be careful, I have to get back to work now, see you around!”

With those words he turned to walk into the trees that we just left and we waved after him for a second before turning to the cliff once more.

“I'm gonna look down!”

Robin jumped on the rock and walked towards the edge before I could react.

I went after him and closer to the drop where he had started to lay down on the floor and inch his way closer to the edge like a caterpillar.

that was smart, like this it was harder for a sudden breeze to knock him off or to lose balance.

A glance back showed that Arthur stayed behind like I had predicted so I focused forward.

I did want to know what it looked like without having the restrictions of a tiny window.

Inching closer and standing next to Robin I looked down.

And down and down, how tall was this drop-off? And there were tons of stony spikes jutting out of the water.

I had seen some of them before, a few of them were taller by enough that they were almost reaching the level of the main part.

There were even two that did reach the same height, but they were a bit too far for any human to jump to.

One of them even had a little tree growing on its flat topside while the other was right behind it and only had some grass growing on it.

I idly wondered if I could jump the distance as Ardua, I managed to go over the stream and the spikes weren't That far away from the ledge.

I kinda wished that they were in front of the stone slab so I could actually try but no luck there.

Whatever, I didn't even know if the spikes themselves were stable, maybe the one with the tree but that was it.

Aside from that there was just saltwater far below us gently sloshing against the cliff wall.

I decided to get back now and inch slowly backwards until I was sure I could turn without any problems.

Robin followed suit as he saw me leaving my spot and heading to the more secured part of the big stone slab a good fifteen feet away from the edge.

This part was almost completely flat save for a few bumps and grooves and I suspected that this was where most people had walked over it.

The stone itself was pleasantly warm from the sunlight, hmmm.

I was still a bit tired and I didn't know if it was the Ardua speaking or just my body asking for rest while the teal stuff Oakley gave me took effect but I was very tempted to just loaf here and sleep for an hour or so.

I'm sure nobody would mind.

After all, this wasn't in the middle of a road or anything and I was pretty sure the plants on my back would appreciate the sunlight.

I still didn't know why the fuck i had those but my best guess was that they helped with gaining energy from sunlight.

Yawning, I sat down on the sun warmed rock and settled down.

“What do you two wanna do now?

I think i'm gonna take a nap that teal stuff is making me tired”

Arthur looked between me and the castle.

“I think i'm going to take a look at the castle again, maybe ask someone to explain the stupid floorplan to me”

While Arthur talked Robin had immediately jumped to burrow into the crook of my arm.

I wouldn't be surprised if he was a bit tired too, he'd spent all day being like an energetic little cat.

And I wouldn't mind sharing, even if I was sure that the only reason he wasn't seeking out a bed was the fact that I was fluffy.

Not that I minded, company was actually nice when they weren't trying to kill you or hunt you for sport.

Thinking about it my life had been really fucked up, at least not anymore now since Rikaad was doing the paper stuff for that.

“Yeah whatever, if you find out how to navigate that nightmare of a floorplan let us know”

He gave a thumbs up and left the immediate vicinity of the cliffside as fast as he could without running.

Poor guy, first motion sickness and then vertigo too, that must suck.

Eh, he could just do other things then, and i doubted we'd be climbing anytime soon.

Since there was nothing else to do now I decided to settle down and sleep till the teal stuff wore off and I wasn't numb anymore.

Robin was still wedged in the crook of my arm so I decided to use that arm as a pillow and create a little hollow.

He fit in seamlessly.

Like that nobody would disturb him, or even see him, perfect.

Closing my eyes and listening to the waves crashing against rock far below, I fell into a peaceful sleep.

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

NEXT / PREVIOUS / OVERSIGHT

#SSTC #vore story #v0re #soft vore #g/t story #giant/tiny #sstc #extreme cuddling #g/t vore #lizards writing

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the-wandering-mage · 2 years

Text

Writing prompt

"I told you if you put me a room with _____ I was going to punch them in the face."

I had an idea for a scene for a fanfic where Neal Caffrey from White Collar, a character known for being non-violent if you haven't watched the show, punches Bruce Wayne in the face and says the above to Peter as he walks away with blood on his fist. I realized this would in general be a good writing prompt.

If your curious my idea for this crossover AU was for Neal and Jason Todd to have been best friends growing up who later were in a secret open relationship. Both being polyamorious bi or pan. They of course told the girls they had flings with that they were in an open relationship just left out it being with a boy.

Bruce held a private funeral and didn't invite any of his friends from school (or wait for Dick to return from space) and also let everyone find out via newspaper of Jason's death. Neal emotionally couldn't handle being in Gotham anymore after he visited Jason's grave to mourn.

Neal spitefully did what he could without crossing into the city to hurt/ inconvenience Bruce and W. E. He basically vowed though to give a good right hook to the man though if he ever saw him just like Jason taught him. Knowing there was a chance working in white collar he might actually see the CEO and that assault would probably get him put back in jail he put in his contract that he was to never be put in the same room as him. To hide his personal connection other weird eccentric things were debated and later negotiated out of his contract with the FBI. Peter thought this was just Neal being theatric since he was adamantly non-violent. He just couldn't see him doing something crazy like punching Bruce Wayne in the office. Peter interviewed the man in his personal office without Neal but, didn't take it serious enough to have Neal entirely out of the office while Bruce was there.

Bruce by this point knows he handled Jason's Death horrendously doesn't press charges cause he knows he deserves probably more than a punch to the face and the hassle/stuff he knows Neal stole. His emotional clue-by-four courtesy of one Dick Grayson who actually reached out to Jason's BFF after he got back. Dick also was there when Neal said his goodbyes at Jason's head stone and Neal revealed that they had been in love and in a committed relationship for years.

Eventually this incident will prompt Bruce to try despite the fact that their relationship is just finally reaching stability, to get Jason to tell Neal he is alive. (Dick told him about the secret relationship when Neal first caused criminal trouble.) Bruce wants to try to at least try to right this one wrong. Dick is more than happy to join in on the cause. (The other bats are just surprised to find out about the secret relationship and are staying out of it though they are shameless eaves dropping and rooting for them to get together. Some because they ship it and some because they hope it will chill Jason out.)

Jason who knows how strongly Neal hates violence and why is scared to face him. ( Jason used to do all the violence and protecting so Neal didn't have to on the streets.) He thinks Neal will be horrified and disgusted with him. He is also afraid that he will accidentally hurt him because or the pit madness. He is very grateful he didn't know where Neal was and was too focused on his vendetta to have gone after him when he was still not fully in control and delivering duffle bags of heads. (The pit madness getting less potent the longer a way from exposure & the person becoming more experienced in handling the rage.)

Of course Jason eventually decides he owes Neal to honor his promise to Neal that they would always be together/ find each other even in the next great adventure. He leaves a note written in there special code in there favorite book on his table explaining everything and giving him the option to meet him or send him back a message if he doesn't want to see his face.

Neal has a breakdown which Mozzie walks into. Neal tells him what happened to the first love he'd mentioned so often (usually when drunk). Mozzie freaks out and does not want Neal to go and then he freaks out that Red Hood might have overheard via bug and was going to kill him for coming in between them. Neal talks him down defending Jason. Mozzie gets scared all over again because he can see in Neals eyes what Neal knew he'd do as soon as he realized Jason was really alive, he was going to find him. (And kiss him)

Neal was too grateful to have his love back again and was upset for Jason. He could see how the pit and the league's manipulations had twisted the good in him. Neal meets up with Jason and points out all the good parts of Jason that poked through in his actions under the corruption. He will take Jason with all the trama and the near meta human abilities and rage and help him heal. He still loves him no matter how damaged he may be just as he knows Jason would do the same for him. Just as long as they have each other they can survive anything.

If anyone wants to write this fic with the level of story telling I currently don't have the patience or ware with all to write please go ahead and tag me or my AO3 is The_Wandering_Mage. I got too many WIP right now and I'm currently trying out new medication and are possibly suffering from malnutrition these are unrelated but, my cognitive capabilities at the moment definitely are not up to snuff. Also I'm sleep deprived and probably shouldn't be posting at all but, I got nothing better to do and at least this way it's out of my head. Breaking my own don't post while not completely cognizant rule.

#writing prompt #white collar #fanfic #dc fanfic #White Collar/ Batman crossover #white collar fanfic #batman fanfiction #Jason Todd/Neal Caffrey #dialogue writing prompt

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hotchley · 3 years

Text

balls fair in love and war

So... this is the fic inspired by the AU in this post. Umm... it's a shambles, I low-key hate parts of it, the ending is rushed, but we're going with it before my laptop dies </3

Ignore any and all medical inaccuracies. I did a bit of research, but a lot of it confused me, so... this is not an accurate representation of a concussion. Like seriously. Also ignore any ethical issues, they're just... it's fine. As usual no proofreading. Umm.... don't ask where Rossi is. I don't know.

Taglist (I guess? I don't actually have one, it's just for this lol): @eldrai @willlemonheadsupremacy @shmaptainhotchnersmain @sarcvstiel @unionjackpillow @katytheinspiredworkaholic (you said you would read it so... is that okay?)

A very big and grateful thank you to @aaron-hotchner187 for giving me a title!! And to everyone else that gave suggestions, you are also much loved <3

Also, the way Hotch acts as a teacher is inspired by the way I think @ellyhotchner will be when they become a teacher <3 and everyone go and tell @whump-town thank you because she: told me about penlights, gave me the easy tiger line and is just overall a good person.

Trigger Warnings: concussions, fear of brain hemorrhages, hospitals, self-blame

read on ao3!

Like most things that went wrong in Aaron Hotchner’s life, his current predicament could be blamed on Emily Prentiss. He would not hear otherwise. And he didn’t think he should be forced to hear otherwise, given he was the one sitting on a hospital bed in a thin gown that did nothing to keep him warm, whilst she got to sit outside with a cup of coffee.

She had, admittedly, looked absolutely horrified when the accident occured, and had spent the whole journey to the hospital apologising again and again. He’s pretty sure she offered up her first-born child to him at some point as a form of penance. As well as her apartment. And he definitely remembers hearing something about grading his papers for him.

So whilst he may not want to be anywhere near her offspring- especially if they’re like her- and whilst he may definitely not want her apartment- he doesn’t care what she says, it is haunted- he will be taking her up on that last offer. Did he feel suitably appeased by her squirming the whole time, and by the fact that she was the one that had to explain to the principal why there were two classes screaming, crying and a teacher on the floor?

Yes, but there was no harm in milking it.

If he’s being completely honest, he felt like he was taking advantage of a hospital bed. He was sure he was fine. Yes, it hurts to move his head and he feels dizzy, and he probably has all the symptoms of a minor concussion, but he just really doesn’t want to be in the hospital.

Besides, he needs to make sure the kids aren't traumatised. It can’t have been easy for them, watching him just fall to the ground and hit his head hard enough for there to be blood. Emily could be traumatised, he didn’t care. But their students? Absolutely not.

He sighs. He wants to hand in his resignation now. Going back is going to be so embarrassing.

“I don’t think you understand. He is my best friend, and if he doesn’t get this blanket, he will- Spencer, what will he do if he doesn’t get this blanket?” A voice says from outside.

Aaron closes his eyes. He wants the ground to swallow him up. Forget returning to school, the next few minutes of his life are going to be even more embarrassing than the time Emily tricked him into being part of the Christmas pantomime. Haley hadn’t been offended, thank goodness, but still. It took him three months to be able to meet her eyes.

“He’ll- he’ll- I can’t even say it, it’s just so upsetting,” Spencer lies.

“Ma’am, sir, if you would let me speak for two seconds. Miss Prentiss said that some of her colleagues would be coming with Mr Hotchner’s things. All I am asking for is proof of identity,” the floor receptionist says.

The apologies immediately start to pour from the mouth of Penelope Garcia, whilst Spencer Reid just takes out both their driver's licences. The receptionist clearly approves, because before Aaron knows what’s happening, he’s being embraced by someone who smells like roses, and his favourite blanket is being draped over him.

“Oh my goodness, you don’t know how grateful I am that you’re alive,” Penelope says.

Aaron gives her a slight smile. Penelope is one of his favourite people, despite all their differences. And he likes to think he’s one of her favourites. He wouldn’t be thinking wrong.

“Penelope, I’m fine. Seriously. This is just a precaution. I promise it isn’t that bad,” he says, even though the light is starting to hurt his eyes.

“Isn’t that bad? I saw you and Emily taking your classes outside, which was weird to begin with because you both have classes that don’t require being outside, what were you doing? And then, I’m watching because the class can be trusted to sketch without my guidance and I’m curious. But then I turn my back for three seconds to help someone, and everyone is screaming, and you’re on the floor, and there’s blood everywhere and- it was scary!” she says.

“I’m so sorry,” Aaron says, for lack of anything else to say.

“I don’t want you to be sorry! I want you to stop getting hurt!” Penelope exclaims, whacking him in the shoulder.

“I don’t want you to be sorry either. It was hilarious to watch, my students were in hysterics,” Spencer adds. Penelope glares.

Aaron isn’t surprised. Him and Spencer get on- they even have shared interests- but they also have some of the same classes. And as a result of the different subjects and ways they teach, it seems to them that it is impossible for their students to like them both.

“So, not that I don’t appreciate it, but why are you here?” He asks.

Spencer and Penelope glance at each other, and Hotch feels like he’s dealing with two students that have tried to set up two of his friends.

“Garcia. Reid,” he says. In the same tone he uses when dealing with two students that have tried to set up two of his friends.

“We thought that if we came, JJ wouldn’t, but uhh-” Spencer starts.

JJ bursts into the room before he can finish. “”Hotch! What happened? I mean, I’ve heard what happened because Strauss came and told me the basics, but still. Why were the two of you in the playground? Are you okay? Let me see that bump on your head. I also brought your lunch in case you were peckish.”

“Well basically-”

“Why does Emily look like she’s about to start crying?” Haley asks, entering.

Everyone but JJ turns and stares at her with a slight look of horror. Aaron slides down the bed slightly, hoping the blanket can cover the furious blush that he just knows stains his cheeks. Him and Haley went on a date once, after he asked her in a moment of impulsivity. It was the worst thing he’d ever done, for both of them.

“Oh come on guys, we’re professionals. JJ asked me to come because apparently, Aaron listens to me? I said he’s just too afraid of me to disobey. Which, I meant as a joke, but you do know that I don’t hate you right? Sure, the date was a disaster, but you do know we can still be friends?”

“I thought you didn’t want anything to do with me,” he confesses.

“That’s why I brought her with me. To prove you wrong,” JJ says. “But yes, why is Emily so upset?”

“Because I almost killed my best friend and traumatised our students and I’ve ruined his life and our careers and he can get me fired and press charges, but all I wanted to do was make him laugh, and this is the first place where I’ve felt appreciated, and I’m going to lose it all,” Emily sobs from outside.

“Can you bring her in?” He asks Penelope.

She obliges, and Hotch pats the area next to him. Emily sits beside him, wiping her eyes on the corner of the extra blanket they brought.

“You didn’t almost kill me, it’s a mild concussion at most. Our students have seen worse, and they will be fine. My life is not ruined because you will be doing my grading. I’m not going to get you fired or press charges, and you’re not about to lose any of this. Okay?”

“You always know what to say,” she says.

He ruffles her hair.

“Love you. Platonically,” he tells her.

She gives him a bright smile, and he can feel himself smiling back, less embarrassed about everything.

And then she starts laughing hysterically, and deliberately shoves him, causing him to almost fall out of the bed, only stopped by Haley and Dave each grabbing one of his arms and pushing him back up. Of course, Emily just looks at him like she hasn’t done anything wrong.

“I cannot believe you fell for that. As if I would ever be that upset. Honestly. Haley, maybe I should replace you as drama teacher!”

Haley raises an eyebrow. “Ah yes, because the last time you got others involved in theatre, it ended so well.”

Emily has nothing to say.

Aaron does. He turns and swears in French.

“Naughty boy. Don’t let anyone else hear you. Especially not my class, I told them what that meant after you said it when I stole your stapler and then told you I’d given it to Miss Brooks.”

He pales.

“Speaking of your classes, how did this happen?” Haley asks, clearly sensing the need for a change in topic.

Emily looks at Aaron.

“It was your fault!” he says.

“Well it was your idea!” she counters.

He sighs. “So what happened was…”

Hotch and Emily’s classrooms are next to each other. To Hotch, this is both a blessing and a curse. It means he could keep an eye on her. It also means he had to keep an eye on her. See, Emily isn't irresponsible, and she would never actually endanger her students, but sometimes, she leans towards danger.

How, when she teaches modern languages, is beyond Hotch, but regardless. Strauss had actually hired Emily, not just for her abilities, but because she believed someone needed to keep an eye on Hotch. How the times have changed.

Hotch is on break duty, and he can't see anyone from his class. Which is weird. He tries to keep their lives as stress-free as possible, and he was always willing to help anyone that needs it, but certain assessments could not be avoided. But still, he expects to see at least one of them outside, if only to get a few minutes of fresh air.

Emily smiles at him sympathetically before she walks into her classroom. It is like someone had thrown a bucket of cold water over him. Sympathy from Emily isn't comforting. Not when it was aimed at him. If anything, it just makes him more scared. The last time she had looked at him like that, he had explained how his date with Haley had gone from one disaster to another.

And then she laughed.

So he pushes the door open, stepping back in case something fell on him. It wouldn't have been the first time. But nothing does. So he steps into his classroom, expecting to see his eleventh grade literature class doing something suspicious.

They aren't, and suddenly he understands exactly why Emily had looked at him like that.

Because his class has never looked so upset or defeated. And his heart breaks for all of them. It has been a while since he was fifteen, but he wouldn't ever forget the feeling of helplessness that seemed to define his existence. Nor would he forget how everything felt like too much and not enough.

"What happened?" He asks them gently.

Violet, a quiet girl that always tells him what Miss Prentiss had said about him, burst into tears. One of her friends patted her back, but it's clear they didn't quite know what they were doing. Neither does Hotch, but goddammit, these are his kids. Nobody is going to hurt them.

"Hey, it's okay. Do you want to go somewhere else?" He asks her.

She shakes her head. "I just- I want all of this to be over, but then I don't because it means going to college and leaving here and having to grow up, but I just- I have no fucking idea what I'm doing and it's all too much."

He winces at the use of swear words, because he is still a teacher, but that also means he feels a sense of pride that she's able to voice what it is. Because now, he may not be able to fix the situation, but he can help.

"I know. That's okay. That's normal. And you'll work it out. You know, I almost became a lawyer."

She looks up, her eyes red, but starting to sparkle again. "A lawyer."

"Yep, I almost also applied to the FBI Academy. It was actually Miss Prentiss that talked me out of that one. Well, it wasn't really talking but the true story is a little too… inappropriate for school."

"I can't imagine you doing either of those. You'd get bored as a lawyer, and you would never smile as an FBI agent," Clarissa says.

Hotch blinks.

She shrugs like it's the most obvious thing in the world. And then she offers him a piece of candyfloss, which he rejects.

He checks his lesson plan. And then his planner. And then the calendar he keeps on his table. Emily always makes fun of him for being so organised, but Spencer admires it, and that makes him feel cool, so he focuses on that instead.

"I have a compromise. We don't need to do a lesson today, we have more than enough time to cover everything because we're already ahead. I let you do whatever you want for the remainder of the lesson- whether that's colouring or crying or dancing. But you have to do it outside. I didn't see any of you at break."

"Really?" Violet asks.

He nods. "Of course."

Everyone cheers, and grabs their bags, clearly ready to not use their brains for a bit. Aaron gives them the most warm smile he can manage, but he can't help the small surge of guilt that accompanies his lack of realisation.

As his class exits, happily chattering away to each other, Emily pokes her head out the door.

"Mr Hotch, what are you doing, and can I join?"

Immediately, all eyes are on him.

"Please?" Violet asks.

Clarissa pulls out the puppy eyes.

Thomas falls to his knees.

"Oh my god, yes fine, okay, just- everyone be quiet before Strauss finds out and shouts at me," he says.

Emily runs back inside, and soon, they're all just milling about and having fun on the playground. It's nice, both for the students, and the teachers, to have a bit of a break from the world, and to spend a few moments away from it all. Some of them are running around, playing a game of tag, some of them are simply sitting around, and a few are colouring.

"Do you still like playing catch?" Emily asks him.

"What?"

"Catch. Remember, you used to play it with Sean all the time when we were in college."

"I mean yeah, I would probably get involved, but I'm not quite sure-"

"Think fast!" She shouts, and she lobs a netball at him.

The last thing he thinks, moments before his head meets the ground with a large amount of force- enough for there to be a small amount of blood- is: how is it always her? Every single time he gets into a situation, it's her that causes it. That has to be statistically impossible. Maybe he should ask Spencer…

"So yeah! And now I'm here!" He shoves Emily, who has the audacity to look offended.

Penelope kisses his forehead. Haley laughs a little, but Reid just blinks like he can't quite believe how stupid his co-workers are.

"Well. From what I've heard, it was a pretty good shot," JJ comments.

Haley turns to her. "From everything we've just been told, that's what you choose to pick out?"

"I'm a gym teacher, can you really blame me?"

Emily mutters something.

"You were what?" Garcia asks.

"I was aiming for his leg," she repeats.

"Emily. I know you teach languages, not biology, but look at me. Head," Hotch says, pointing at the bump he's not going to cover up, "Leg." He points at his ankle.

"It's always lovely when people know their anatomy. Saves me a lot of time," a new voice says.

Hotch turns in the direction of it, ready to make a snarky comment, but whatever words he had thought of die on his lips as he suddenly feels like he's been transported into a medical drama full of unrealistically attractive protagonists.

Because the doctor who has just walked in is the most handsome man he has ever seen. His smile is easy and genuine, and his eyes seem to twinkle with mischief. And his arms, oh god his arms seem like the safest place to exist. Aaron can't help but wonder what it would be like to have those arms wrapped around him-

His cheeks warm. No.

"Hi, I'm Dr Morgan. But you can all call me Derek. I'm here for Aaron Hotchner. Who I am going to assume, is you," he says, looking straight at Hotch.

"I- yes. How did you know?"

Dr Morgan- Derek- somehow smiles even more. "Well, even though there are far too many people in here- did all of you somehow miss the two people at one time sign- you are the only one in a hospital bed wearing a hospital gown, so. I'm no profiler, but it was pretty easy."

If it's even possible, his cheeks flush more. But one word sticks out to him. "Wait, profiler?"

"You got me. Crime procedurals are my guilty pleasure. I always said that if I joined the FBI, I would become a profiler. Obviously, I went down a very different route."

"Obviously. Wait, too many people? Oh god, I'm so, so sorry, if you need them to leave, they can. In fact, I also feel a lot better, so if you would like me to also go, I really, it's no trouble."

Because he is an idiot- there really is no other justification for this- he tries to stand up. And he does. He also gets a few steps in before the world starts spinning and he almost loses his balance. Derek somehow moves fast enough to guide him back to the bed. Aaron tries and fails to ignore how warm he is.

"Thanks," he whispers, slightly breathless. And not just from almost hurting himself again.

"It's not a problem Aaron. Both things. Your friends can stay, we're just doing some simple checks," Derek says.

"Oh everyone calls him Hotch," Penelope says.

"Aaron is fine. Really." Because he likes Derek calling him Aaron. He wants Derek to call him Aaron.

And then he meets Emily's eyes and he realises his mistake. There's a common denominator that exists with everyone that he tells to call him Aaron, and he knows that she knows what it is. He's fucked.

"Okay then. Well, can you explain to me what happened?"

Aaron is mesmerised by Derek's eyes. So mesmerised that he forgets to answer. "Sorry, what?"

There's a flash of concern, replaced by a smile. "Can you tell me how you ended up here?"

"Oh yes. So, I'm a teacher- so is everyone here. And I- I was outside, with my- my students when Emily- that one there- she, look, it's a really mild concussion, can I just be discharged? I'm sure my students are very, uhh, very scared," he stutters. Why can he never function when he likes someone? It's mortifying.

"I'm sure it is, but you can't blame me for doing my job. I'm going to take your heart rate now, okay? The stethoscope will be cold, but it'll warm up eventually," Derek says.

Aaron nods, and barely flinches when it touches him. If anything, he's more concerned by how close Derek seems to be. Not in a malicious way, but he's always had this deeply irrational fear that if someone got too close to him, they'd be able to read his thoughts. Which would mean Derek can hear both the fact that he has a crush and that he has this fear.

Derek pulls away, and Aaron exhales.

"Your heart rate is unusually fast. Normally that wouldn't be too concerning, because we expect that when patients seem anxious, but you've seemed pretty calm, up till this moment," Derek says, noting how Aaron tenses.

"Is he going to be okay?" Penelope asks.

Derek turns to her. "Of course he is. He's in good hands."

Aaron needs to get his mind out the gutter before his cheeks explode. Or before Emily opens her mouth.

"Aaron, I know you think the concussion is mild, but this is still a requirement. I'm going to turn on this penlight, and I'm going to ask you to follow it with your eyes okay? Follow the light," Derek explains.

He nods, and Derek turns the penlight on. Aaron flinches at the brightness of it, then tenses in slight fear that his lovely doctor is going to be annoyed at him or call him difficult, or sigh and say he needs to stop acting like a child. It wouldn't be the first time,

But Derek doesn't do any of those things. He does something very different.

He places his hand on Aaron's thigh. "Easy tiger. I won't hurt you," he says.

Aaron melts. His eyes drop down to where Derek's hand is warming his skin. He thinks Derek says his name, but he's too busy having a crush to hear him. And then suddenly, his thigh is cold, but Derek is touching his shoulder and he should be shying away from the light being shone in his eyes. But he isn't because he's too busy looking at Derek and his beautiful eyes to even pay attention.

Rather late, he remembers that there is a reason for Derek to be looking at him the way he is, and he tries to follow the light. But the headache he's had since he came around is only getting worse, and the light isn't helping.

Derek isn't smiling anymore.

"Aaron. Be very honest with me. You've displayed difficulty with coordination, memory and speech. If I asked you whether or not you felt sick or nauseous, what would your answer be?"

Normally, he would just under exaggerate, but Derek seems to genuinely care. So he chooses to be honest.

"Yes?"

Derek's eyes widen. "Aaron, I don't want to alarm you, but I like to keep my patients informed. You're going to have a CT scan done immediately, and there's a chance you may be rushed into emergency surgery."

Everyone, including Emily, starts to panic, but Derek leaves the room to grab a nurse to help, and to tell someone else to make sure there's a clear room. Aaron isn't completely sure what's happening, but his head is killing him, so he lays down again. It only helps a small amount.

For Aaron, the CT scan isn't too bad. If he knew the reason it was being done, and that it wasn't a routine procedure, he would probably have spent the whole time panicking. But he doesn't, and so he sits there- well lies there- with a slight smile on his face. The migraine he's had has been getting worse, so keeping his eyes closed for such an extended period of time is actually quite enjoyable.

It is far less enjoyable for everyone that is upstairs, waiting to find out whether or not their friend has a brain hemorrhage. That's what Derek told them after Aaron was carted away, still seeming very out of it. They needed to test him for a brain bleed. And if he had one, then it would just be a case of waiting to see whether they could treat him. And even if they could treat him, it wasn't guaranteed that he would get back to normal.

Emily, in spite of all of her teasing comments, isn't coping. Because it's still early, the floor is relatively quiet, and Derek is technically on his lunch break, so he's sitting with them in an attempt to provide them with some sort of comfort. He's not sure where this emotional attachment to these random people has come from, but it's formed itself and now he's determined to provide some comfort.

"I really was aiming for his leg," Emily whispers.

"Hmm?" Derek asks, not quite following.

"When I threw the ball, I really was aiming for his leg. He had lost consciousness by this point, but I started crying when he hit the ground. He forgave me. He told me he loved me, platonically that is, and I laughed at him. He's going to die, and he isn't going to know how much he meant to me."

"He's not going to die. He may not even have a brain bleed. But if he does, we're going to save him, and you're going to be able to spend the rest of your life telling him how much he means to you. I promise," Derek says.

Even though there are tears in her eyes, Emily turns to him and smiles. "You're a good man, Dr Morgan."

"That's all I've ever wanted, Miss Prentiss. So thank you. It means a lot to me." And it does. He replays the moment as he goes over to Spencer and Penelope, who he feels a strange sense of protection over. Like he needs to protect them from everything, which is weird, because once Aaron is discharged, he'll probably never see them again.

That shouldn't make him sad, but it does.

"Mr Hotchner's CT scan came back normal. There's no sign of a brain bleed," the nurse tells them, what feels like a lifetime later.

There's a collective sigh of relief, and when he's wheeled back in, looking tired but alive, Emily throws her arms around her best friend, who lets out a soft sound of surprise. Like he's not quite used to the fact that people love him. Derek smiles. His patient will be in good hands when he gets discharged.

"Wait, so what caused all of those problems?" Spencer asks.

The nurse shrugs. "It's probably as simple as: his concussion was more severe than we initially thought, but not as bad as we feared."

"Oh."

"And on that note, Aaron, we're keeping you overnight for observation. It's just to be safe. We can't be too careful. You gave everyone a very big scare when you got sent out," Derek says.

Aaron cannot, and will not, confess. Does he feel guilty? Yes. But he can live with the guilt. He cannot live with the all-encompassing shame that will come with explaining that actually, the reason he was stuttering and failing the penlight test was because of a silly little crush.

"Okay," he says, determined to be as compliant as possible.

"One- and only one- of you is welcome to stay with him, if you'd like," Derek adds.

Haley's eyes light up. "I'll do it! Jessica can bring me my things, and maybe you'll be able to look at me after we've spent another night together. Only this time, nobody's getting pneumonia. I hope so, at least. You're not cold are you?"

Aaron shakes his head. "But you really don't need to stay. I'll be fine on my own. Seriously."

"I know, but I want to. Believe it or not, I do actually enjoy your company."

He smiles.

"We should all be getting a move on. Jason and Erin will want updates, and I have lots of marking," JJ says. She kisses Hotch on the forehead before walking to the door, smiling at Derek for looking after her friend so well.

Spencer waves from where he's standing and Penelope showers him with affection. Emily is the only one that seems hesitant to leave.

"Can I stay till visiting hours end?" She asks.

"Do you feel like you can keep up with these two lovely ladies Aaron?" Derek asks.

Aaron has never enjoyed the sound of his name as much as he does when it comes from the doctor. "I- sure," he stutters, and he just knows his cheeks are a stupid colour. Emily frowns, as though she finds something suspicious.

Derek smiles. "Good man. I'll be back in a few hours to run the same tests as before. For now, take it easy."

Derek doesn't come back a few hours later, because he has other patients. It's a different doctor, and Aaron is both relieved and disappointed. Because on the one hand, he's not going to create another medical crisis, on the other, he wants to see Derek again.

Maybe he can get Emily to knock him out again…

"Your heart rate seems completely normal. And you followed the penlight exceptionally well, so I believe we have nothing to fear. Of course, you'll stay overnight, and we'll run these tests once more before you're discharged tomorrow, but I think we're out of the woods now," they say.

Emily gasps, and Aaron knows he's screwed. Luckily, both the doctor and Haley seem to not have heard, and she leaves with the doctor, so Aaron doesn't have to know right at that moment whether his suspicions are correct.

"Night Hotchner," Haley says a few minutes later.

Hotch is already asleep.

The entire team comes and collects him from the hospital.

Aaron is just grateful they're sending him home with a pack of all the things he now needs to do, because he spent the whole lecture admiring how handsome Derek looks with sun shining down on him that he didn't take any of it in. It's also Derek's signature on the discharge papers. He's reminded of high school, when he and his friends would make fake marriage certificates. Not that he's going to do that.

"Bye Aaron. I don't want to see you here any time soon, okay?" Derek teases.

"I won't make any promises," he replies, just relieved he does it without stuttering or blushing.

Derek smiles, and the twinkle in his eyes seems even more mischievous. "Miss Prentiss," he says, spotting Emily.

"Dr Morgan," she responds. She's smirking.

When Aaron asks her what was going on, she doesn't answer. Haley says it's probably linked to the emotions of the previous day, and she's usually good at reading these situations, so he doesn't push any further. Besides, he's too busy catching up with the meetings he missed, and the antics of his students, because a lot happened in the three days he was off, to give it much thought.

Two weeks pass, and the incident is almost completely forgotten.

But then he walks back into his classroom, having just finished a meeting, and he finds flowers on his desk. Tulips. His favourite. He immediately pulls the note out, and when he opens it, he almost wonders if he's concussed it.

Because he knows that signature. He's been staring at it for fourteen days. It's Derek's.

"Surprise. Aaron," a voice says for the doorway.

"How- what- I- what?"

Derek Morgan, still in scrubs and a white coat, smiles at him. "Want to pick a question I can actually answer?"

"How did you- what are you doing here? And why?"

"Well, you should thank Emily. After the other doctor took your heart rate, she came and told me her suspicion. Apparently, you always say you're Hotch. Even the students call you Mr Hotch. Which is strange, because I call you Aaron. And, you shouldn't have done the penlight flawlessly if you had a more severe concussion. So she thinks you have a crush. I didn't want to be unethical, so those flowers can simply mean: I hope you're coping. If you don't have a crush that is."

"What if I do?" Aaron asks, surprised at his own boldness.

"Then I would ask if I could kiss you before I take you out to dinner," Derek says, not missing a beat.

"And if I said yes?"

Derek takes three long strides, and he kisses Aaron like it's something he was made to do. Aaron melts against him, trying to memorise him as quickly as he can, before he realises he has all the time in the world to do that. Because Derek is going to take him out to dinner. Derek, who brought him flowers.

"That was- wow. Wait. You have a crush on me too!" Aaron exclaims with a grin.

"Of course I do," Derek says.

That stuns Aaron back into silence. "Wow," he whispers to himself.

Derek hugs him, and being in his arms is everything- no more- than Aaron imagined it to be. "I'm glad you're okay," he says.

"I'm glad you don't hate me," Aaron says, because he really doesn't know what else to say.

Derek laughs, and Aaron can't wait to find all the ways he can make that happen.

"We should say thank you to Emily at some point. If she didn't know you as well as she does, she wouldn't have realised you had a crush. And if she wasn't so terrifying when she wants something good for her friends, I wouldn't have sent the flowers."

"Can we say thank you later? I want to stay like this for a few moments," Aaron whispers, snuggling closer to his new boyfriend.

"Of course we can," Derek says, kissing his forehead.

When they eventually make it to Derek's car- Aaron can come back tomorrow and get his, it'll be fine, Aaron realises he has one more thing to say.

"Derek?"

"Yes, sweetness?"

Well. That makes him feel things he won't confess too, because he needs something to make him seem the slightest bit cool.

"I'm really sorry I made you think I had a brain hemorrhage."

Derek's laughter is so real that Aaron can't help but join in, and they end up not starting the car for five minutes because it would be irresponsible to drive in that state. And it's only when they're pulling out that they both realise something: Derek gets to see Aaron's family again, and Emily didn't need to hit him in the head again for him to get to see Derek again.

#criminal minds #criminal minds fanfic #hotchgan #mortch #aaron hotchner #derek morgan #tw concussion #tw brain hemorrhages #tw hospitals #tw self blame

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crystalkleure · 3 years

Photo

Haha hey remember that post I made awhile back, speculating on what a bad idea it might be to fuse dead things in the godless Frankenstein fossil machine

Meet White. He is a reanimated corpse. Two of them, actually. Or more like 1.5. [And I whipped up this half-assed partial reference sheet in one night instead of sleeping, so don’t look too hard at the chickenscratch lineart and visible guidelines, and kindly ignore the total lack of shading as well as any other messy jankiness.]

White is a product of me wondering not only about what happens if you NecroFuse a human with a Pokemon, but also what happens if you make it even worse and specifically fuse that human with a Pokemon capable of mega evolution. Because canon seems to imply that mega evolving is at best deeply uncomfortable -- and at worst outright agonizing -- for whatever creature is going through it.

Character Lore under the cut. Lots of text:

White is one of actually multiple undead guys who got mashed together with bits of dead Pokemon. They’re science experiments, so they've got the dex numbers of the Pokemon they're spliced with tattooed on the backs of their necks, and those numbers were treated as their names In The Evil Science Lab.

In his Original Life, White [and some of his buddies] got gored to death by some escaped Horrible Fucking Monsters that were accidentally [...and then not-so-accidentally] created via Two Pokemon At Once In A Fossil Resurrection Machine, because hey, it is SUPER easy to think you got Just One Thing's Bones from an excavation dig but then later you realize that Some Of Those Bones were from something TOTALLY different that just died in the same place. It happens. So, some Fossil Scientist People accidentally resurrected an Abomination, realized they fucked up pretty fast...and then started wondering if they REALLY fucked up or if this is Cool, Actually. And then the team of Science People split into two Morality Factions, with one half being like “This is unethical as shit, we need to make sure this doesn't happen again because it's not natural so who knows how this poor fucked up creature is suffering” and the other, cooler half being like “WE NEED TO DO THIS AGAIN RIGHT NOW BECAUSE SCIENCE. IMAGINE THE POSSIBILITIES HOLY SHIT.”

Cooler group splits off from the Horrified Group With Morals, and they promptly use their Science Knowledge to Construct More Machines and Make More Monsters. Doesn't take too long for them to realize, however, that Abomination Pokemon are stupidly hard to control, because not only are they suffering, their masters obviously don't care for their wellbeing, so Revolt Inevitably Occurs and they escape to wreak havoc upon the nearest congregation of townspeople. They promptly maul some people to death at a nearby local rock concert, scientists chase after them to clean up the mess, realize “Oh Shit, Manslaughter Charges Impending”, and then realize...

Science Guy 1: “...Hey, what happens if you put a dead person in the fossil machine?”

Science Guy 2: “Hey, people probably listen better than Pokemon. We can, like, TALK to people.”

Science Guy 3: “Lads, I got a stellar idea just now. And we got plenty of Dead Guys to start with right here! Great way to hide the bodies too, probably.”

This goes approximately as well as you would expect, and precisely as ethically. A smashing success!

However, because they Fucking Died, the reanimated Newly-Monsterized dudes do not remember shit about who they were pre-resurrection. They're not technically even the same people, they’re more like clones. They've been remade. So, all they know now is Science Lab Life, and they have no initial attachment to eachother aside from "that other guy is also a Science Experiment Person just like me, so Same Hat @ Labrat Neighbour ig", in spite of several having been friends or even family prior to death. They also just...don’t know/remember things in general. They are fresh blank slates. And to a morally-bankrupt team of scientists, that’s perfect! They can train these guys to behave however they please!

...However, people might be People Instead Of Animals, meaning they can be Reasoned With And Manipulated And Coerced far better than animals due to their far better communication abilities with the Science People, but...there is Still A Problem in the sense that Holy Shit, A Person Can Only Take So Much. You can only treat someone as "Experiment [number]" for so long, blatantly putting no value on their life outside of The Value Of Scientific Research, in spite of literally basically needing to raise them like a normal child due to the Lack Of Memories issue. Eventually they're not gonna be able to take that anymore and they are gonna Fucking Leave, too. And they’re gonna be much harder to track down than the rampaging Pokemon were. Impossible, actually, once they’ve ripped out their tracking chips.

So then there's just these monster dudes, who don't actually know what they are because they weren't ever told anything more than necessary to get them to cooperate with Tests And Experiments, just Escaped Into Civilization and having NO idea how Anything works. Fun! Especially considering how, at first glance, these just look like Normal Dudes. Their monster bits either aren't apparent or just look like funky body modifications.

They've also got Science Things in them and they Don't Know What The Fuck Those Things Even Are. They've just got these little Devices in/on their chests, and they were never informed of the exact functions of them because there's no reason to explain to the experiment What Is Happening, just that the experiment needs to Hold Still and Cooperate and Now Do This, Now Do This, Now Do That, Good Job That's Enough For Today, etc.

Those devices contain both key stones and mega stones.

If you were a Mad Pokemon Scientist, you would most certainly be interested in the mega evolution phenomenon. What would YOU do if some of your Undead Fusion Experiments happened to be spliced with bits of Pokemon known to be capable of mega evolving? You’d kill two birds with one enigmatic set of stones, that’s what you’d do. Your Frankenstein Experiments can even TALK to you and tell you exactly what they are experiencing when you run tests on them! It’s perfect!

So, if a rock-bearing monster’s heart rate goes too high, part of the little device, which is a barrier between one type of rock and the other, opens up and Exposes One Rock To The Other Rock. Which exposes the monster to the Rock Energy Reaction. The greater the stress, the higher the dose. And I’m sure you can see the snowball effect that’s gonna create, at least the first time or two.

They were INTENDED to eventually be made to Physically Fight With Eachother to gauge the effects of The Rocks™️ when the Guys With The Rocks are under Stress and need to Do Some Self-Defense. The Science Squad was basically trying to suss out the Actual Purpose of mega evolution. Because mega evolution is weird -- it puts ENORMOUS stress on the body of whatever is undergoing it, so the hypothesis was that its true power is probably drawn out best via a perceived life-threatening situation, like it’s a type of hysterical strength, because what else would cause a need for that kind of ability. And aren’t ethics a bit overrated?

So, there’s our premise. White is just wandering around without any particular purpose outside of never ever going back to Science Hell, and he has no clue what the funny little doohickey buried in his chest does until it activates one day and absolutely fucks him up [...as well as everyone around him. Mega Absol radiate an Aura Of Sheer Terror that can literally scare people with weak hearts to death if they’re not careful.]

And now, some Miscellaneous Character Info:

The bit about Lots Of Death happening at a rock concert specifically was important. White was actually the vocalist of the band that was playing. He doesn’t remember that now, but he still loves music and has the same strong vocal cords. And THAT is important because White is partially an Absol now and Absol naturally learns Perish Song. These Fusion Monsters are absolutely capable of using Pokemon moves, though whether they’re aware of this is a different matter entirely. Imagine what happens when they end up tapping into those abilities accidentally.

That band was a relatively-unknown little local band. White was by no means anywhere near famous. Very few people even realized he was gone, and most of the ones who would have noticed also ended up Equally Unalive.

That black stuff between the belts on White’s arms is mesh. Like, stocking mesh. It gets Ripped The Fuck Apart when he goes Mega Mode and his arm fur gets Extra Spiky. Hence one stocking being a bit tattered in that reference pic. He frequently has to replace those things, they are fragile.

“How did White get his name if he doesn’t remember his original name and didn’t have a real name in the lab” I am glad you asked! Post-escape, he eventually encountered a situation where someone asked him what his name was, he bluntly told them “I don’t have one. I am #359.”, they said “Well That Is Not A Name, I need something proper to call you”, and he was just...Super Apathetic. So, the other person picked out the name “White” just based on the fact that White’s hair is white, and he just shrugged and rolled with it.

As you can see in my Incredibly Quick And Rough Sketches, the backs of White’s shirts are open to accommodate that huge amount of fur that bristles out into false wings when he goes Mega Mode. Because his Actual Normal Hair is relatively long and overlaps with that fur, it blends in with his Actual Normal Hair and doesn’t look too odd [when it’s down]. Probably mostly because nobody’s expecting it to be anything OTHER than Perfectly Normal Hair That Just Happens To Be Very Long.

White does not particularly like violence. White does not want to beat you up. He will, though, without a bit of hesitation, if there’s some logical reason he feels like it’s the most practical course of action. Being essentially raised by Cold, Emotionally-Sterile Scientists With No Care For The Wellbeing Other Living Beings uh, tends to affect a guy a little bit. White has a bit of an internal dilemma regarding “It would be efficient for me to just Harm This Other Person to defuse the current situation, because attempting nonviolence will be overall more risky somehow” vs. “Holy shit it feels bad when I hurt people. Why does it feel bad when I hurt people. Is it...SUPPOSED to feel bad when I hurt people?? No one ever felt bad for hurting me.” He Figures Out How Empathy Works Eventually. He is a good guy at heart. He is a Monotone Snarker, but not actually Cold or Malicious at all.

If an Absol can do it, White can probably do it. He has incredibly keen senses and a STRONG ability to Detect Impending Doom. He has exactly the amount of Supernatural Absol Powers you would expect. He is also stupidly physically strong, way more so than he appears to be.

White can’t punch people. Look at the fist he’s making in the pic, he’s doing it wrong. If you punch someone like that, you WILL break your own thumb. That’s not a Revving Up To Sock Someone pose, he’s just tense. He’s using his thumb as a buffer between his long-ass Sharp As Fuck claws and the flesh of his palm. If White tries to punch anybody, or just makes a proper fist at all, he will impale his own hand on his nails. Like, all the way through. He CAN slash straight through things like metal and bone with those claws, though.

White...is unsettling. Completely accidentally, and unknowingly. He just radiates an Aura Of Intimidation [...or Pressure], even when not in Mega Mode, that scales depending on his mood. Just being near him tends to put people and Pokemon on edge. Thus, he’s generally avoided.

The latter point is especially unfortunate, because White’s preferred method of Socializing and Bonding is to just kind of quietly hang out in the same room as whoever he is trying to Socialize and Bond with. He just wants to, like...chill out Near A Buddy and watch a movie and share a bag of chips or something. His social skills are predictably not good.

#DO YOU LIKE MY TOTALLY NORMAL GUY #HE SUFFERS #He's pretty though and that's what actually matters here right #I need to draw the other Totally Normal Guys sometime too. White is Part Of A Set.#Pokemon #CK's art #OCs #I have Long Pointy Fingernails myself can you tell

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clean-bands-dirty-stories · 4 years

Text

Weak ~ S.R. (part 2)

A/n: A good song for this part is “Grow As We Go” by Ben Platt. Even though I wrote this inspired by “Weak” by AJR, I feel this song works a lot better :) Side note: for some reason I changed POV halfway through but for only one part? And I didn’t want to miss something so I just left it. Just... ignore that lol.

Word Count: 7000+

MASTERLIST

They call me after dark, I don't want no part. My habits, they hold me like a grudge- I promise I won't budge.

"Hey JJ," Y/n greeted as she braced herself in front of the office she now stood in front of.

"Hey." JJ's voice had become quite familiar in their time talking. Prentiss had also given her number, but they didn't talk as much. JJ, Y/n and Penelope had a group chat though and the three of them talked loads. "I heard you start your new job today. You excited?"

Y/n tried not to think about it. The first time she'd walked into the police station she usually worked at she'd had a panic attack, and even when it had gotten better she still couldn't find comfort there anymore. Everyone understood and they'd given her basically worker's comp as she searched for a new job. They'd even helped her out. But it hadn't worked and she couldn't find any other real work there, so she was back in DC. The place wasn't tainted anymore, but Y/n did miss the small town feel. The real problem was that Y/n hadn't told anyone that she had moved back. She'd just told them she'd gotten a job at the diner.

"Very," Y/n lied. "I have to start in a few minutes actually. Mind if I call you tonight?"

"Oh of course," JJ assured. "I thought you started later."

Y/n chuckled. The woman had become a sort of comfort for her. "I appreciate the check up call," she said. "I'll tell you how it went later." JJ agreed and they ended the call and Y/n walked inside. It was as far from Y/n's dream as she could get. Well, maybe now as far from, but it was just a printing store. You came here to get your pictures printed from a camera, or you faxed them and they printed here. Posters. Invitations. Anything. Y/n wore a polo shirt and khakis. She was going nothing great for this world, but at least she could pay rent.

The day was long and boring. Y/n was glad to be home, but not excited to call JJ about it. She hated lying and this one might require her to do it. She could just tell JJ she was back in town and working literally BLOCKS from everyone else but... then they might ask to hang out and that would bring her around to see Spencer again and that was what she REALLY wanted but also what she even more needed not to happen.

"Hey Y/n!" JJ greeted. "I'm so glad to hear from you."

"Just get off of work?" Y/n asked.

"Just gave Hotch a new case," JJ corrected, sighing. "It's going to be a rough one." She paused. "I kind of wish you were here. We could get coffee while they get ready." She chuckled.

It kind of came out when she said that. "I actually am." A long pause. "I- I couldn't find a job. I lived here before I moved away, so I moved back. Uh. I could meet you somewhere?"

"Sure," JJ said slowly, processing what Y/n had just said.

Y/n planted her face in her hand. "I'll explain over coffee, okay?" JJ agreed and they hung up. Y/n headed out, meeting her at the nearest coffee shop they'd both agreed on. When the two women saw each other, their smiles grew. They hugged and then they parted, went inside, ordered, and got a close by place that would let them talk without possibly missing their order. JJ didn't have a lot of time before they all left. "Did you tell anyone I'm back?"

JJ pursed her lips. "I got the feeling you didn't want anyone to know."

Y/n sighed, covering her face. "I adore you guys, it's nothing like that. I just-" she laughed nervously, feeling her emotions rising. "Did you know that when I was a kid, I wanted to be a cop?" She laughed, looking anywhere but JJ. "I can't even handle one run in with a bad guy, let alone hundreds. Thousands. I'm not-" Y/n cut off. She was about to say 'worthy'. Something she screamed at herself all the time. But she couldn't say that to JJ- that would lead to her finding out about five and a half years ago. "Strong enough." That would work. "And because of that, I quit a job I really loved. Not even that- I just couldn't work there anymore. Quit and fired leave the idea that anyone wanted me to leave." She scoffed at herself. "And now I'm at Shutterfly printing pictures and talking to practically no one ever, standing around and waiting for someone to ask for a picture or a poster or something. I'm-" she huffed.

JJ reached across the table, hand resting against Y/n's arm. "You are not weak." Her words were so firm and sure that Y/n had a hard time finding something to argue. What had she been so sure of a moment ago? "You were kidnapped by a psychopath, Y/n. You were almost killed. That's horrible. Even we struggle with it for a very long time when it happens to us. The only difference is that we're conditioned to it every day of our lives. The fact that it bothers you is a good sign. We're... numb to it. It's really bad actually." She flinches, sighing. "You SHOULD be upset by it."

Taking a breath to stabilize herself, Y/n nodded. "I just... feel pathetic. And I don't want them to see me like this." She stared at the table, tracing her finger along the design. If she was being honest, it was really that she didn't want Reid to see her like this. After all, she'd told JJ just fine. But she wasn't being honest. When she looked up and met JJ's gaze, though, it was clear she didn't have to be. I guess that's what you get when you talk to a professional profiler.

"Okay." Their orders were called and they got them, heading out. "If I can do anything for you, Y/n, you have my number." Y/n nodded, but didn't say anything more. JJ had an odd look in her eyes that made Y/n nervous. "I promise I won't tell him." Neither had to clarify who she was talking. "Promise, okay?" Y/n nodded again and they hugged before JJ headed off to kick some bad guy ass.

Y/n felt terrible watching her go.

- First Person POV -

"You did what?"

"I got you a job here!" She repeated, sounded ecstatic. I felt horrified, and after my tone she continued at a very quick pace, as if to explain herself. "I figure you can get some second hand experience and see if you really are into this sort of thing. I know a lot of people like the idea, but sometimes when they get into this line of work they learn pretty quickly it's not for them. And that's okay. I just- I mean, it's just like your last job. You'll be an assistant; helping with paperwork, keeping this moving and organized and helping everyone go home sooner. We could use another set of eyes watching our backs- Hotch and I try our best, but there's just too many of them, you know?" It was an attempt at a joke, but when I didn't laugh she continued talking. "Plus, working here gives you great insurance. You could put yourself through schooling, for whatever kind of job you find you like most here. You might like to be a technical analysis instead of a field agent, or you might prefer something like my job that allows you limited field or... whatever." JJ had never sounded nervous before, but Y/n hadn't had too much experience in seeing her nervous in a personal situation, rather than seeing her face press or having to keep everything together under pressure. It was kind of endearing. "I thought it would be nice to know what you're getting into before you do it. And..." She hesitated. "We miss you. I haven't told anyone like you asked, but Garcia is dying to meet you and everyone always talk about how much we wish you were around to lighten up the mood like last time we worked with you.” JJ sighed. "Honestly, Garcia tries her best but keeping things light around here is hard, and it's taking a huge toll on her. It would be so helpful if she had someone to bounce off of."

Y/n found herself smiling. If she could really make a difference... I mean, if the job wiped out all of those who did it, who would do the job, right? Someone had to watch the backs of those too busy watching the backs of others.

She would be working Spencer constantly, but she tried not to think about that. She'd barely survived two weeks- how would she manage sharing a career with him? But, how could she turn him down? Wasn't the whole point of pulling herself together and becoming a better person and getting her old habits bated so that Spencer Reid didn't control her life anymore? This was the opportunity she'd been waiting for her whole life. She had no real excuses- she just couldn't let him hold her back from living her life, especially when he wanted to do anything but. She'd almost allowed her awkwardness with him deprive her of really good friends, which would have left her far from where she was now with this job offer. She needed to take charge and get the fuck over herself.

"You know what JJ, I would absolutely love that."

An audible sigh of relief sounded on the other side of the receiver and Y/n chuckled. "I'm so glad to hear that. I... did talk to Hotch because he's the one who hired you, so I may have fibbed a little about not telling ANYONE else- but he's good at keeping secrets, and everyone else will be shocked when you start. Should I brace them or do you want to break that news in person?"

Y/n couldn't help it- she smirked. "How could I turn down such a dramatic entrance?"

"I thought you would say that." Just from the sound of JJ's voice, Y/n could tell both of them had matching curves to their lips. It was that which made Y/n feel so sure that this would be a great thing for her. It wouldn't even be a big deal, beside maybe the initial shock of it all. She just had to not over think it.

Walking into a precinct full of people who were trained to pick apart every person they run across until they get into their head and saw their bare soul hadn't been a thought that crossed Y/n's mind until she walked into the room after JJ's rather dramatic and mysterious introduction. All eyes turned to Y/n and she almost died right then and there because the confusion burning in their gazes demanded to be satiated, and it seemed they were trying to answer the questions themselves rather than just asking. Their gaze bore into her, making her uncomfortable and awkward.

"Guys," JJ reminded.

Morgan blinked first. He grinned, standing up and approaching Y/n. "Oh my gosh! I-" he cut off, his arms twitching. "Are you good with hugs?" Y/n nodded wordlessly. When was the last time she'd been hugged? By... Maya. Oh god let's not think about that. Morgan wrapped his arms around her and she let his warmth distract her from dark thoughts. He gave great hugs- it was easy. She'd missed that feeling, goodness.

Prentiss was next. "Okay so I need an explanation here." She was smiling though, and her tone was as light as her hand as she rested it on Y/n's shoulders. She liked how touchy the team was. It was only in that moment that Y/n realized she was hungering for physical touch.

Pushing those thoughts down, Y/n tried to aim a little better for normal. "I kind of lost my last job because every time I went into the... Well, being back there made me kind of..." she motioned with her hands, trying to explain. Her face went red. "It's hard to return to the place you were kidnapped from." She cleared her throat, but there was no judgement from the people around her, just understanding. That made her feel worse. "Well, it turns out that small towns aren't as much my thing when the only other jobs are really menial, so I moved back to Virginia. I lived here my whole life before moving out there." She shrugged. "I was looking for real work and mentioned it to JJ one day since we talk a lot. And she'd amazing, so here I am." Again everyone nodded, but this time they had smiles on their faces and JJ beamed with pride.

"Well," Rossi began, but he was cut off by someone.

"Everyone out of my way!" The crowd beginning to form around me parted for a pretty blonde girl who was... very loud. Not just like voice wise, but with what she wore as well. It made my heart more full. It was almost a relief compared to all the neutral grey and black and the occasional blue or something. "I am Penelope Garcia, and we're going to be spending a lot of time together so I thought I thought I should ask now, how are with sexual humor and platonic flirting because this is like super essential to my personality."

Y/n giggled and everyone seemed to perk up, especially Garcia. "I'm kind of awkward," Y/n admitted. "But you can do whatever you want. As long as you keep that pretty smile on your face."

Everyone's jaw dropped, and Y/n and Garcia both turned red. Y/n blushed because despite what she'd just said she really was awkward. Garcia blushed because after what Y/n had said, she hadn't expected to be flirted with, neither had she been flirted with by such a cute, innocent person. She was used to Derek who was unapologetically sexy. "Oh," the blonde noticed. "We're going to be GREAT friends."

"I really hope so," Y/n gushed sincerely. Everyone seemed to be cheery already, smiles all around.

Then Y/n saw Spencer. He approached slowly, seeming shy as he gently maneuvered through people to get to Y/n. "Hi," he greeted softly upon finally reaching a comfortable distance.

It was suddenly pin drop silent, and the lack of chatter seemed so heavy that Y/n winced, feeling her chest rage against it. "Hello." Y/n cleared her throat, hoping her burning face could be excused by her interaction with Garcia, where it had started. "So. Anything major happening today?"

JJ saw the cry of help and answered the call instantly. "We have a new case."

"Thank god," Spencer whispered, ducking his head and moving away from Y/n. She didn't think he'd meant for her to hear it, and the words hadn't seemed to hurt anyone else, so she let them roll off of her shoulders. He had seemed pretty happy to see her, if a little awkward. It was probably weird to see her so social when she was so stiff with him was all. And after how heavy the air had been, she was relieved to get away from it herself.

Was this going to be how it always was between them?

Goodness she hoped not.

One sip, bad for me; one hit, bad for me; one kiss, bad for me, but I give in so easily. And no thank you is how it should've gone. I should stay strong, but I'm weak, and what's wrong with that?

- third person POV -

"Hey, G," Y/n greeted brightly, two cups of coffee in her hands. It had been a few days on her first case, and already she understood what JJ had meant by Garcia struggling to keep the mood light. The woman hated to frown, let alone be serious, and unfortunately for her the rest of the team was pretty stoic. Thankfully she could bounce off of Morgan, but now that she had Y/n who was as equally positive - if not as high energy - the two women had come up with lots of things to keep each other in good shape. Like dorky nicknames only they used, and being around each other a lot, and sharing food and drink suggestions. Y/n was usually the one to get them since her job made her feel rather useless since she didn't do much to make a difference, but she could reason to herself that keeping Garcia caffeinated was the best thing she could do for the team other than be out there with them directly.

"Hey, Lovergirl," Garcia piped cheerily. Y/n chuckled at the nickname. Ever since her flirting, they'd been nonstop back and forth in a much more innocent way than Garcia was with Morgan. The man and Y/n had jokingly fought over Garcia, but then she had made a joke about how she had two hands and it had ended there. The sort of pure back and forth had let Garcia giving her more innocent nicknames, like Sweetheart and Lovergirl, rather than Chocolate Thunder over there. Someone had asked if they were dating and they'd both fist bumped after having a laughing fit over it. Somewhere along the way Garcia had mumbled, 'Lovergirl wishes' and it had been making Y/n smile ever since. She'd never had a friend like this before and she was basking in it.

Unfortunately, the rest of the team wasn't having as good of a time.

"It's so good to hear your voice." It was Morgan, making Y/n smile even wider.

"Not as good as it is to hear yours," Y/n replied calmly. "How you doing, Batman?"

The smile was obvious in his voice. "Much better now that you're here." Y/n giggled then settled in next to Garcia. They got to business after that. "What did I miss?"

"Nothing you want to know," Garcia sighed. She tried to keep her tone casual but Y/n could tell she also didn't want to talk about it.

"Fair enough. Anything I can do to help the most beautiful woman in the world?" She asked instead. "Give me literally anything, otherwise I have to leave your amazing presence and then where would I be?"

Garcia was grinning again. Y/n felt proud. "There's actually a lot of that footage still left. I got distracted by what you gave me last time. Want to see if you can get anything else?" Y/n nodded, getting to work.

It took a few hours until she found something, but when she did, her heart stopped. She snagged her phone, dialing Reid immediately. He answered on the second ring. "Y/n?" He seemed surprised, but his tone pitched up like he was happy about it too.

Y/n was too preoccupied to think about it. "What the likelihood of winning gambles at chance games?"

"Well what kind of chance gamble? The odds of winning the Lottery are approximately one in fourteen-million, where a person has a one in three million chance of sighting a UFO. Funnily enough, that's almost five times more likely than winning the jackpot. You are more likely to die of a flesh eating disease at one in a million than winning the lottery."

"Spencer?" Y/n smiled to herself, not being able to stop him. He was adorable. She pushed that to the back of her mind, shaking her head to refocus as well as wipe the smile off of her face. "How often do people have a so called winning streak in gambling? Like in casinos." He paused and Y/n's eyebrows together. "Spencer?" And then she realized her mistakes and her eyes widened. "I- uh- Dr. Reid."

He sucked in air before responding in a rasping voice, "Some scientists actually believe that luck streaks are real, continued by the fact that people just choose safer odds and then keep on that streak every time they... anyway, the point it, based on how smart you are, you could keep winning constantly."

A thought caught in Y/n's mind. "Have you ever lost a gamble?"

His answer was immediate and clueless. "I haven't, no. Why do you ask?"

Y/n tried not to laugh and managed a soft chuckle. "No reason. Uh-" She shook her head again. God, why couldn't she focus?! "I was looking through more of that footage we got where we saw the masked unsub walking in the shadows and looking for someone to kill. Well I was looking through the extra footage the casino gave us- remember the bonus hours they said nothing happened on, but they gave it to us just to give us more hours? To be annoying, because they were mad or whatever?" Spencer hummed. "Well, a man matching the masked attacker's height, weight, and wearing the same suit shows up the next day gambling. For nearly the entire day, and then he goes home with far more money than he came with and he hasn't lost a single game." Y/n paused, biting her lip. "Not even once the whole day."

Garcia's interest has peaked at this point. She's rolls her chair over, eyes scanning the moment Y/n's paused on on the screen. The footage is from an old camera, so Y/n doesn't even know if they can make out his face. But there he is. Facing the camera and everything. "He wore the same suit," she whispers, horrified.

"Do you think he's killing to increase his luck?" Spencer asked hurriedly.

"No," Y/n answered immediately. Only then did she realized he'd asked Garcia, but the blonde was looking at her to explain her answer so she shot off. "The day before, he was agitated. Today, he's calm. Not confident, but completely at peace. It's not like that one case you talked about where a guy went around killing people because he thought it brought him luck. I looked back on feed for that and he was reckless- almost drunk, high on confidence. This man... it's like he got a good night's rest."

Spencer paused. "How do you know about that case?"

"Oh well JJ made a comment about how this one was similar to that one so I got the file and looked into it. We have the footage and everything on file." She shrugged, then saw Garcia's look of shock. "Should... I have not done that?"

"No you're fine," Garcia voiced. "That's just really impressive catch up playing."

Y/n blushed. "I'm just doing my job." She cleared her throat. "I could be wrong, I just wanted your opinion-" she cut off, catching herself for a second. "Reid."

She could feel him nod, rather than see it since they were over the phone. "Thanks Y/n. I'll tell the others."

"Anything for you, Wonderboy," Y/n teased. The line went dead. She felt her stomach twist. She was trying to treat him like she did everyone else, but every flirt hit different when it was directed at him. Even such easily dismissed ones such as the one she'd just delivered. She could feel Garcia's eyes locked on her so Y/n busied herself with her drink until the blonde had to get back to work, boarding on already wasting time they didn't have.

For now, she had escaped questions but every day it got harder as people seem to take everything she said and looked into it so see the truth where she tried to hide it.

God help her.

Y/n slipped into the elevator. This case hadn't gone very well, ending with gun shots ringing through Garcia's phone and a long silence of unknowing whether it was for the unsub or for their friends. Turns out, it was a little of both. One for the unsub, one for none other than Dr. Spencer Reid himself. He'd lost a lot of blood before anything could be done and now he was in the hospital and the entire team had had to pry Y/n out of that room and to her house so she could get cleaned up a little after having gone straight from hours in the office, stressing about work, straight to hovering over his bed waiting for him to wake up for just as long.

Now she entered the room again, nodding to a waiting Prentiss. "They told me to come send you outside next." Hotch had been getting them home one by one, as each of the team had been as worried as Y/n. "JJ and Hotch have kids and Morgan's on Garcia duty to make sure she gets some food and rest. Have you eaten yet?" Prentiss stood, shaking her head. "I've got this, and Rossi said he might drop by to keep me company if he can't get to sleep. Please."

"Thank you," Prentiss whispered as she passed Y/n on her way out. There were frown lines on the edges of her eyes and a strain to her smile. "Don't stay too long. Sleeping here can't be good for your back." It was a weak joke- everyone knew the other girl wouldn't leave this room again until he was awake. And he would wake up. Prentiss caught Y/n's hand. "Hey, you know it wasn't your fault right?"

Y/n flinched. She had been the one to give Reid the information about the unsub. Morgan had been a little skeptical of her idea since she wasn't a profiler, and it had put an edge on everyone else too, even Hotch who was obviously trying not to be partial. The truth was though, Derek was more experienced than Y/n was. He was more familiar with the team and had their trust a lot more. They had said something about Reid being partial, but Garcia and JJ had been pretty convinced too. That didn't help Reid when he went the extra mile to prove to everyone Y/n was right though. That he trusted her for a real reason. That there was merit to her words and observations. It didn't help him when he went a different direction than the others because he had a gut feeling and Hotch encouraged him too. It didn't even help when he'd taken JJ with him, since she was the only other person who believed Y/n as much as Spencer did.

It didn't help him when he got shot on Y/n's hunch. Got shot with her on the phone, waiting on baited breath just to hear JJ freaking out on the other end.

It didn't help him now either, as he lay in a hospital bed.

Y/n looked away. "Yeah."

"I'm serious," Prentiss insisted. "At the time, it was fair for us to doubt you. We-" she cut off, choosing better words. "We shouldn't have, because you did your work like the rest of us. But you are new and untrained, so it was fair to have pause at first. But Reid, JJ, and Garcia all backed you up and we should have been there for that. We could all play the blame game. If we’d just listened to Reid and JJ. If we’d believed Garcia. If we had been more open minded about you... But that’s isn’t fair. It's no one's fault but the unsub's."

That was another thing. The man who had put Reid in the hospital was still out there, already all better and heading out to jail. His eyes were open and there had been a smile on his face when he was getting toted off. JJ had told Y/n while she was in shock. He was fine and Reid was in the hospital and Y/n sat there hating the whole thing. "Yeah," she repeated, because she didn't have the energy to fight herself on how she felt versus what she knew to be real.

Prentiss seemed to see that struggle and recognized that she couldn't get through to Y/n anymore than she already had. So she left and Y/n was there alone. She took back her old spot, where she'd been until a few hours ago. Where Prentiss had been sitting before she came back. Now she sat back down again and rested her elbow on the bed. It was itching into late mid morning and Y/n still hadn't slept. Her eyelids were dragging against her, demanding she rest. She tried to fight it, but eventually her head drooped more and more until it fell next to Spencer's limp arm and the world was lost to her as she fell asleep.

There was a sense of being watched that ripped her awake again. Her eyes shot open and her fingers curled around the sheets, her body going rigid. A pair of hands shot out to wrap around her tense fingers, pulling them away from the bed in an attempt to soothe her. She thought it was Rossi for a second until she sat up and looked over to see a weakly smiling but very awake Spencer. Y/n felt her chest shake as she sucked in a relieved breath.

"Hi," he croaked.

"You idiot." Tears were blurring her vision as she held herself back from punching him in the arm. He was hurt enough. "I oughtta sock you."

He laughed. He actually laughed, the ass. "You were right." He got a little more serious, the look in his eyes becoming soft and his smile being filled with pride rather than amusement. "He was about to kill someone when we came in. You saved a life, Y/n. Maybe even more, depending on how long it would have taken us to get him with where we were taking the case. The profile was just wrong enough he might have gotten a few more people before we stopped him."

That made Y/n relax. "I don't forgive you for getting shot."

Spencer's smile widened. "I'll do better next time."

"You better," Y/n warned. "Or I'LL put you in the hospital next time I swear to god Spencer." His eyes twinkled and Y/n swallowed. "Er, Reid."

He chuckled again. "I like when you call me Spencer. JJ does it too. It's nice."

Y/n tried not to internalize that. "Well if this is us becoming friends then I require you to have a personal nickname given to you by yours truly which only I use," Y/n warned him. After what he had done for her, standing up for her, she couldn't think of them as anything else. It was weird, as the words made her anxiety spike. Was she slipping again? Would these things lead to her obsession again? She wouldn't have to stalk him anymore- now she was right by his side, all alone. What if she was taking advantage of that situation? What would happen if he rejected her friendship? What if they got into an argument? What if his sudden interest in her was just that she was the new kid in town and it faded and they became casual acquaintances after a little while? What if... what if he met someone and that smile he wore now was for them instead?

Y/n felt jealousy twist her gut and she tried not to book it out of the room right then and there.

"I would love that."

Her eyes focused back on him and his smile seemed to waver, picking up on her mood change immediately. "Perfect," she whispered, struggling to speak around the sensation that could only be described as feeling like her ribs crushing into her lungs and heart. She had to blend in though. She couldn't be awkward with Spencer. They were already looking too closely at her. She had to stay calm and keep her distance, but not so much that people noticed and started asking questions. This job meant too much to her she had to get it under control. "How do you feel about Pence?" Her fingers fiddled with each other and his eyes caught the moment immediately. She forced the energy to move to her feet instead, softly tapping where he could not see. "Hm?"

Only then did he answer the question, when she tried to pull his attention away from her body language and to what she had said instead. His eyes stayed trained on her, but he offered a casual, "Whatever you want to call me. I've heard you calling Garcia 'G' and I think that's neat. I've never really had a nickname other than Spence."

"You're right," Y/n mumbled, focusing her mind on the task at hand rather than her pathetic need to be as close to Spencer as possible, in every way she was allowed. GOD she was insane. But that wasn't the concern right now. Right now she needed to think about a nickname for Spencer. "That's too similar. What about just Pen?"

His smile returned and Y/n felt herself relax. "Isn't that Penelope's nickname?"

"We don't use it often, and now people have started to gravitate towards G because I'm a genius and it's way cooler." Spencer grinned and Y/n felt her chest squeeze even tighter. He was beautiful... BUT THAT'S NOT WHAT SHE WAS GOING TO FOCUS ON! "I can think of something else-"

"No I love it," Spencer rushed.

It was Y/n's turn to chuckle. "I may slip into calling you Penny and you can't judge me for that."

Spencer's fingers brushed hers and she yanked her hand away, seizing up. He seemed to have something suddenly foul tasting in his mouth, but he managed, "I wouldn't ever judge you."

Those words. Oh god. She stood. "I'll get the nurses. Tell them you're awake. You need to eat something." She was gone before he could respond, leaving him confused and alone in her awake.

Boy, oh boy I love ya when I fall for that. I'm weak, and what's wrong with that? Boy, oh boy I love ya when I fall for that. I'm weak, but I'm weak, and what's wrong with that? Boy, oh boy I love ya when I fall for that.

"Pick up," Y/n spat through a locked jaw to the ringing tone she was hearing. It had wrung too many times. She had called him so much and he hadn't answered once. She knew she wasn't paying him to be her therapist anymore, but he had said they were friends. To call him if she needed someone who understood to give her encouragement, or just to catch up. Why wasn't he answering?!

"Y/n?"

Relief flooded her body. "Michael." Her tense body relaxed all at once and it was so nice she almost toppled over. Someone stared at her and she waved at them awkwardly before turning away and hoping they minded their own business. "Michael I'm losing my mind."

He was quiet for a second. "Talk to me."

Y/n ran through everything that had happened since that first day in her old office when Spencer and his team had first entered her life for real, all up until the hospital visit a few nights ago and how she had been avoiding him ever since. "It's coming back, Kel. BAD. I can't get him out of my head, and every time he gets anywhere near my body gets all tingly. I DREAMT about him last night. He keeps touching me and it's like I'm getting struck by lighting. And then he said my name and my chest gets all crushed up again and I want to know everything about him and be around him all the time and GOD I'm so scared that I'm going to end up like one of these psychotic unsubs. I don't want to quit. I LOVE my job. But if I'm doing it again-"

"Y/n, take a breath. You're forgetting to breathe when you talk again." She paused, forcing herself to intake and exhale air so her body wouldn't seize up. One time she'd talked so much about Spencer that she'd stopped breathing and had fully passed out. It was pathetic and she hated herself for it, but it had happened. "Now, I need you to really think about these questions before you answer them okay?"

"Okay," Y/n encouraged.

"Have you taken pictures of him without his permission or without him being aware?"

Y/n flinched at the memory of burning the shoe boxes, but was relieved to be able to say, "No."

"Have you followed him anywhere without his permission or without him being aware?"

"No," Y/n confirmed again, a little confused. "I don't have to, we work together."

Michael ignored the comment. "Have you learned personal information about him without his permission or without him being aware?"

"No," Y/n said slowly after thinking about it. She'd learned plenty of things, but she'd avoided it as much as possible for this very reason.

"Have you watched him in anyway without his permission or without him being aware?"

Y/n considered that. "No," she finalized, nodding to herself. "I- well I stare at him sometimes from across the room. Is that bad?"

Michael actually laughed. "Not necessarily." he paused, letting Y/n calm down with that reassurance. "How would you feel if Spencer told you he was dating someone tomorrow?"

That familiar icky gut twist returned as she thought about it. "Terrible." The word was heavy with mourning. It had slipped out immediately without her meaning to say it, so she hadn't been able to even sugar coat the response.

There was a fat pause where Michael was quiet, but he spoke again before Y/n's anxiety could get her to say something or voice her panic. "What about if he showed up with a pet, or a family member that he was close to?"

Well what an odd question. "I wouldn't care."

A smile wrung in Michael's voice when he spoke again. "Does he have someone he's as close to or closer to than you?"

"Well he's really good friends with JJ and Morgan."

"How do you feel about them?"

Y/n frowned. "I really like JJ. She actually got me this job and has been the most helpful in helping me get settled, other than Garcia. But... Morgan seems to have some trepidation about me. He liked me at first but then one day he started to get really short with me and started to try and convince everyone that I'm like not fit for this job or something."

"And that's why only JJ and Spencer went after the unsub, right?"

"Yeah," Y/n agreed. "Why is this important, Kel?"

A short pause this time. "Y/n I don't think you're old tendencies are back." That stunned her.

"But I'm doing all the same things."

"You're actually not," Michael argued. "And even when things overlap, like the watching and getting to know him, it's not for the same reasons. You're naturally forming a relationship rather than living out a fantasy that he's not apart of in reality. Do you remember the last time I asked you about Spencer having a pet or a partner?"

Y/n flinched again, but much worse. "Yeah," she mumbled, covering her face.

"What did you tell me?" Michael asked softly.

Y/n's eyes watered. "I told you they made me angry. That I..." She closed her eyes. "That I wanted to get them out of the way from me being with him."

"And what did you tell me just now when I asked again?" There was regret in his voice, but that was obviously from bringing up the terrible memories of the past. There was something else too. Urgency. He wanted Y/n to understand something, but it seemed to be going over her head.

"Uh... I told you it made me sad."

"Why does it make you sad, Y/n?"

She thought about that. "Because he wouldn't look at me anymore. He gets this really soft look in his eyes when he looks at me. Like I have something important to him but he trusts me with it completely. Or like he admires me or looks up to me. It makes me feel really good about myself." She chuckled sheepishly, wincing. "That's probably silly." She didn't pause before continuing, and Michael didn't try to interrupt her or respond, knowing how she got when she spoke about Spencer. "When he touches me, it's really gently, like I might break or like he's shy. I-" she snorted. "I think that's because he's a germaphobe."

That caught Michael's attention. "He's a germaphobe?"

"Yeah," Y/n sighed. "He won't even shake people's hands, and he washed them a lot when he's stressed. He rarely even accepts hugs from the others so I haven't offered, even when he was in the hospital. But that's also probably because I'm pretty sure I'm literally crazy."

"You're not crazy," Michael said first. Y/n smiled a little. It was very reminiscent of the times he had helped her out of the darkest place she'd ever been. Made her feel safe when she thought she was a walking crime scene waiting to happen. He had been her best friend for so long... why had she stopped calling him? "Y/n?" She hummed, letting him know she was listening. "He refuses handshakes and is afraid of germs and is even hesitant to take hugs from people who are practically his family from what you say, but even though you've guys only really known each other well for a little over a week, he's already willing to touch you?"

Now that he mentioned it, that was rather odd. She hadn't considered it before. "I... yeah, I guess."

The smile was back when he spoke again. "Y/n last time we talked about him, you couldn't even say his name without gripping something so hard your knuckles turned white. Now you talk about him like it's a relief to say it. Before he brought you stress and angst and wanting, but now he brings you peace and happiness and a feeling of belonging. You feel sad at the prospect of losing him in any way, rather than angry. Usually when obsessive people who stalk their targets see them with someone else, they get angry. Normal people get sad."

Y/n tried to swallow, but her mouth was too dry. Her eyes were wide with fear. A fear that was so different from but still just as bad as the thought of her fears of seeing herself being obsessed with Spencer Reid. Because if she wasn't obsessed... "What are you trying to say?" Her words begged him not to say it.

He did anyway. "Y/n, I don't think you're possessive or obsessed with him." He spoke slowly, every word filling her body with more and more dread. "I think you have feelings for him, but not bad ones. Normal ones. I think you like him, like people like each other. Like, want to date him like him."

"Oh god," Y/n whispered. "I- I'll call you later okay Michael?" He sighed and hummed, so she rushed to explain. "I swear I will. For real this time. I can't thank you for everything you've done for me but-"

"You're panicking," he realized. "I completely understand. Please don't do anything stupid, okay? These feelings are normal and perfectly okay."

"Yeah," Y/n whispered, nodding even though he couldn't see her. They exchanged a tentative farewell and then she lowered her phone, running a hand through her hair. "Well," she whispered, staring at the ground like it was about to open up and swallow her whole. "Guess it's time to quit my job."

Tag List: @ajwantsapancake @urie-bowie-mercury

#spencer reid #matthew gray gubler #criminal minds #female reader #imagine #spencer reid imagine #spencer reid x reader #matthew gray gubler x reader #matthew gray gubler imagine #criminal minds x reader #criminal minds imagine

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theoriginalcarnivorousmuffin · 4 years

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This is a bit random but if characters from your fics lived in the Atla universe what element would they bend? Personally I think Lily would still have all her powers which would result in people thinking she's the avatar even though she's not, Obito would be a firebender, Minato an airbender and Lenin dearest would be a waterbender/bloodbender/maybe the avatar?. This is just the vibe I get tho-

Who needs bullet points when we can do a far too thought out AU that spans multiple fandoms/recursive works that will never happen?

More to the point, elements in AtLA is a mix of personality (we see earth benders as often brash and stubborn, water benders as adaptive, etc.) but also simply genetics. So, while I get that’s kind of the point of this post, it’s a bit weird to me to assign an element solely on personality.

So with that, let’s get started.

The Setting

Just to make things fun let’s make our AU take place sometime between Sozin’s first comet and Roku’s death and Aang awakening from that iceberg. The air benders have been wiped out, seemingly with no survivors, the South Pole has been invaded and the water benders from there captured and brought back to the Fire Nation, many of the colonies in the Earth Kingdom have been established, but the North Pole and great cities in the Earth Kingdom still stand.

The Avatar hasn’t been missing for one-hundred years yet, but he’s been missing for decades and people are coming around to the idea that maybe he’s really not going to show up.

Wizard Lenin/Tom Riddle

In this AU we’ll give Tom Riddle a slightly more traditional shitty background. Since we can’t really have a Tom in the AtLA universe he’s going to have the AtLA generic equivalent name that canon even jokes about: Lee. Lee is the mixed heritage son of a Fire Nation lord and a water bender from the south pole who grows up in a Fire Nation orphanage. And yes, this does happen in the absolute worst way you can possibly imagine, one of the imprisoned water benders from the south pole is raped.

As for Tom (Lee, you get the idea) arriving at an orphanage instead of being imprisoned/taken in as a son, well I’ll leave that to imagination but we can imagine a relatively compassionate guard, a dash of luck, or perhaps someone being an idiot and thinking “oh just dump it in an orphanage, there’s no way it will turn into a water bender too”

So, Tom grows up in an orphanage and looks just a bit... different from everyone else and is clearly not purely from the fire nation. I’m imagining much darker skin (and POC Tom Riddle is the weirdest thing in the world to contemplate, but here we are) and the pale blue eyes.

Tom grows up, dreaming probably of entering the military and winning himself glory, prestige, honor, and clawing out of this impoverished life he was born into. He undoubtedly desperately hopes he’s a fire bender, as not only is it cool but they have the best chance of making it in the world, and probably stays up late for many nights fruitlessly attempting to shoot fire out of his hands.

Unfortunately for Tom, sometime when he’s probably around eight or so, turns out he’s actually a water bender. Naturally, Tom has a huge meltdown and existential crisis as this means something’s terribly terribly wrong. More, all his hopes are ruined, as while a non-bender can make it a bender who is not a fire bender is a foreigner and traitor to the state.

Tom runs away and being a precocious child is able to make it on his own and about the country probably pulling off Toph-like scams. Eventually he runs into a much younger Hama who has just escaped prison and not yet started on her scary old lady adventures of imprisoning random villagers in caves. Hama goes, “of course, yes my child, I knew your mother” and gives Tom the whole horrible rape tale along with “I will teach you everything I know including my scary blood bending”. So Tom learns scary blood bending, probably stays with Hama a few years, and then realizes Hama isn’t going anywhere.

Hama’s content kidnapping random people into caves. At this point, angry and suddenly very pro-water bender Tom wants to murder the Fire Lord and his entire goddamn family and put himself in charge. Go big or go home, am I right?

So Tom leaves, Hama probably saying, “Come back any time, my beautiful murder child” and probably goes exploring the world in search of how the hell he’s going to bring down the Fire Lord. He also probably murders his entire father’s family and steals all his money, but that’s a different story. I imagine he goes to the North Pole where he learns that, as much of a water bender as he is, that he’s the son of someone from the Fire Nation closes pretty much every door to him. He’ll always be an outsider and the North Pole is very frosty towards him.

According to Hama, the South Pole is in shambles, so Tom probably doesn’t even bother going.

So Tom probably goes and bums around the Earth Kingdom, loitering in Ba Sing Se and Omashu, looking for that damned Spirit Library in the desert, etc. for a good number of years as he works to perfect his water bending and make himself an instrument of death.

And then he meets an alien and everything changes.

Lily

Tom probably manages to wander around the spirit world at one point in his late teens and probably almost gets eaten by something terrifying. While he learns much it’s not really anything useful and is more in the “too cosmic horror for Tom” variety. More than that though, something follows him back out.

When he comes to back in the real world there’s this thing sitting next to him that looks enough like a person but also like someone told a gifted artist what humans look like and they got it mostly right but also went a little nuts. It’s a girl, a few years younger than him, who has flaming red hair, absurdly green eyes, pale skin, and facial features he can’t recognize for the life of him (Lily still looking western in this to up the ante of ‘she’s an alien folks’).

Tom sacrifices his dinner to it and hopes it doesn’t eat him.

It explains that it’s a tourist from another dimension, beyond even the Spirit World, and that it’s come to see what the mortal world is all about. Tom is naturally very weirded out but at this point decides to roll with it.

Except it doesn’t leave and clearly expects Tom to play tour guide.

He does, reluctantly, because he doesn’t want to be eaten but he also sort of gets used to the thing. Then, one day, it starts bending multiple elements with utter ease and Tom is at first flabbergasted and horrified (only to remember that spirits can do what they want and aren’t like lowly mortals who can only bend one element) and then he gets the idea.

The Avatar, lazy bastard that he is (and Tom might be a little more than slightly bitter that he himself is not the Avatar), appears to be MIA and not coming back any time soon. The entire world it seems is waiting for the Avatar to come and save them. But, Tom says to himself, who needs the Avatar when you can just have an Avatar. An Avatar and, of course, her water bending master.

Thus, the scheme is set, Tom will teach this weird alien thing how to a) act like a goddamn human in public and b) water bending and together they will pretend she’s the Avatar and got lost in the spirit world a few decades ago (which accounts for the youthful age and the weird appearance) and use this to gain allies, topple the Fire Nation, and eventually give the throne to Tom.

Lily, who doesn’t know the difference between being a tourist and taking over a nation, goes along but is basically this story’s answer to Uncle Iroh always getting distracted by Pai Sho.

Haru/Dead Last

Given that they’re in the Earth Kingdom, and that Lee picks up water bending insultingly quickly which makes Tom fume in rage, they go to pick up an earth bending master/spread the word that the Avatar has returned from her multiple decades long vacation.

Along the way they probably run into Haru, who is the world’s most useless excuse for an Earth Bender. As always, he’s so average looking you can barely remember what he looks like beyond “generic earth bender”.

They probably watch him for two seconds, Lily asks if this is it, and Tom Riddle says, “what a joke”.

Minato Namikaze

Given that all the air benders are dead we’re going to make Minato a very talented earth bender (it is also very weird to imagine a dark haired/dark eyed Minato, but I suppose we’re going to roll with it). This also, to me, does fit his personality a little better as while he is a leaf on the wind kind of guy he also does dig his heels in and get very stubborn now and then.

Minato’s young, younger than Tom (Lee), but he’s incredibly talented and clever. To keep his shinobi background mostly in tact I imagine that Minato is a swiftly rising member of the Dai Li, stationed in Ba Sing Se, but who occasionally goes on intelligence missions to the other feudal powers in the Earth Kingdom.

So I imagine Lily and Tom run into him unnervingly frequently, probably first meeting him off duty in Omashu where he does his “extremely polite and friendly local guide” routine to show the pair the city (never mind that Tom insists he’s been to Omashu plenty of times goddammit). Despite this, Lily and Minato become friends, Lily easily confessing she’s the Avatar (which Minato at first thinks is a joke, even if she looks strange, then goes ‘oh my god, it’s not a joke).

Eventually Minato is stationed to spy on them under the guise of teaching Lily earth bending. So he joins the gang. Tom, who knows exactly what’s going on, is not amused while Lily is just happy to collect another friend who will actually play Pai Sho with her.

Kushina Uzumaki

Kushina is a earth bender, hands down. I debated making her a water bender (because whirlpool) but that personality is just pure earth bender material. Besides, I can just picture her so easily coming from Kyoshi.

So Kushina’s an earth bending Kyoshi warrior, who while ten times as powerful as Minato, also lacks any of his control or cleverness. Kushina has undoubtedly left Kyoshi, abandoning their neutrality, to join the war and kick some fire bender ass.

She does this but along the way frequently runs into the gang where she annoys the ever loving shit out of Minato (her new rival) and claims that Avatar Lily is her new idol.

Rabbit

Rabbit is a mysterious spirit from Lily’s past that she refuses to talk about except in the darkest of terms promising doom and destruction the likes of which the world has never seen.

No one knows how to react to this. Or what a plain old ‘rabbit’ even is.

Tobirama Senju

Because no story’s not complete without Tobirama, I imagine he’s a stuffy waterbender and scholar from the North Pole who Tom is miffed at as the man refused to teach him even more water bending. Tobirama naturally feels that the day he teaches a blatant spy is the day he goes and drowns himself.

Later, when Tom has picked up the Avatar and Tom rubs it in his face, Tobirama probably reluctantly spends a day or so teaching them something/fighting off the hordes of Fire Nation soldiers on their tale (it’s not Avatar if the gang isn’t constantly chased by fire benders).

Obito Uchiha

Obito is the answer to a fire bending instructor. Obito’s a firebender and the youngest son of a wealthy Fire Nation lord. However, Obito’s the black sheep of the family that everyone hates, a late bloomer when it comes to his bending, and is seen as bringing dishonor on the family.

Itching to prove himself, Obito becomes a soldier and goes to the Earth Kingdom, and eventually decides the best way to earn recognition and restore his honor is to capture the newly resurrected Avatar. Congratulations, Obito, you’re this story’s Zuko.

Obito, while not the most talented fire bender at first (though as he gets older he gets dangerously good at it) is extremely clever and becomes the largest threat to the gang.

That said, Obito actually does grow to like Lily quite a bit and begins to realize honor doesn’t actually mean that much to him and he doesn’t even really like his family. He doesn’t even dislike the concept of the Avatar and thinks the world probably does need one right about now.

So after a whole bunch of chasing them around the globe, thinking about his family, and being forced to almost kill the Avatar now and then he eventually defects and volunteers himself as fire bending instructor.

This is met with suspicion on all sides but he and Lily are bros so he wins.

Avatar Roku

Needing to pick up air bending, Lily probably fakes it until she makes it for a while, but eventually runs into Avatar Roku’s wandering spirit taking vacation from an ice cube.

He’s alarmed, but Aang’s trapped in ice, so if someone’s going to substitute then great.

To everyone else it just looks like Lily’s constantly talking to herself, playing Pai Sho with herself, and miraculously picks up air bending out of absolutely nowhere.

Also anyone close to Lee probably figures out she’s not really human/the avatar at this point, but they’ll take what they can get.

And This All Results In

Lily learns all the elements, there’s probably some big battle, then Lily gives some ridiculous speech about world peace that has nothing to do with anything and while the Fire Nation is defeated, Tom is not in fact made Fire Lord and remains merely the Avatar’s humble water bending instructor.

Instead, if he’s alive at this point, the crown goes to Iroh and he’s given a council of angry Earth Kingdom people who tell him to behave or else. We can give Iroh niceish things sometimes. That, or, hilariously, Obito becomes hokage/Fire Lord being distantly in line for the throne and doesn’t even know how that happened or what his life even is right now.

The colonies are the same mess in canon so something like Republic City probably eventually comes about.

Still, there’s peace, and probably statues to the gang all over the Earth Kingdom and Water Tribes (while the Fire Nation grumbles and remembers the good old days when they controlled the world).

And then Aang eventually wakes up extremely confused and confronts Avatar Lily noting, “Hey, I’m the actual Avatar” and Lily after a suspiciously blank pause explains, “I said an Avatar, never said I was the Avatar”

So, that’s that. If anyone wants other specific characters added into this mess feel free to comment.

#ask #anon #avatar the last airbender #lily and the art of being sisyphus #minato namikaze and the destroyer of worlds #crossover #fusion

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miraculouscontent · 4 years

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Are you gonna do an analysis or review of Chat Blanc? (Just curious please dont feel pressured to)

This could’ve just been a fun what-if episode that didn’t have anything to do with the main universe, but nooooooooooo.

[Counter Clockwise]

Let’s get the obvious out of way right here and now.

This is the second time we’ve seen Bunnyx this season, making this the second time that time travel has been involved, also in this season (not counting episodes where Second Chance is used).

This is also the second time we’ve had an episode with its events being scrubbed away by the main characters not knowing exactly what happened, similar to “Oblivio” (also in Season 3). It’s not the same plot-wise, but it carries the familiar tone of, “something was left behind in memory of the episode but it’s not anything good” (yes, we’ll get there).

For “Oblivio,” it was that freaking kiss that was spread around on the Ladyblog despite Ladybug being horrified by it and not remembering how it happened.

For “Chat Blanc” here, it was Ladybug’s estimate of how Chat knew her identity in the parallel universe.

And it’s not like this season hasn’t repeated things before. Although “Party Crasher” did introduce Roi Singe, the introduction was rushed and it was just an excuse to get mileage out of Viperion, Pegase, and Carapace one last time a big mess that didn’t need to exist. “The Puppeteer 2″ also had nothing to do with anything and retread the plot point from “Frozer” where Marinette re-learned that Adrien was already in love with someone while also repeating an akuma just like “Stormy Weather 2,” “Gamer 2.0,” “Reflekdoll,” and eventually “Felix” did.

It’s… not a good look, and that’s not even taking into account that this is also the second time that Adrien has presumed that Marinette is Ladybug, with the first example being “Kwamibuster” (technically “Weredad” too considering that’s another episode involving Marinette trying to protect her identity, but Chat didn’t actually have any presumptions there and Marinette just thought he did).

Speaking of “Kwamibuster,” actually, I do believe that “Chat Blanc” goes before “Kwamibuster” (despite production order, which I still view as invalid) because, like… why wouldn’t Plagg bring up that episode when Adrien is rambling since I simply do not believe that Adrien wouldn’t have told Plagg about Marinette being Multimouse and Ladybug being there next to her. I mean, I don’t think much of Adrien, but even I don’t think that Adrien would be dense/dumb enough to just forget that “Kwamibuster” happened.

“Chat Blanc” takes place late in the season because of the “intensity” of it and that’s about it. It doesn’t have any plot-relevant reasons to be put so close to the finale. Nothing important happens that stays important by the end of the episode, and Bunnyx just leaves in the end with no information known.

Even with the information that was in the parallel universe… well…

[All in Bad Time]

First off, not gonna lie; I feel legitimately bad for anyone who held out hope that Gabriel was redeemable.

I mean, it’s not like there’s nothing good in the parallel universe. For once, we got Tom actually taking charge and really defending Marinette. That was nice.

Outside of that though, it’s a bit of a wreck.

Since I already mentioned Gabriel, I might as well start with him. Now, I openly admit to being a very unforgiving person; there tends to be a certain threshold where I point at a character and note that there’s no going back for them and nothing they do will get me to like them or consider them worthy of redemption.

Now, already, I had passed that point in terms of Gabriel, but dang, this episode really goes all the way with making you hate this guy.

Like, after “Simon Says” with Gabriel hugging Adrien, “Queen Wasp” with him quitting and hugging Adrien (sensing a pattern of sorts), and then “Gorizilla” with Gabriel (as Hawk Moth) panicking over Adrien (that one was… weird, admittedly), and also “Mayura” with Hawk Moth telling Gorizilla to protect Adrien, one would think that Hawk Moth has - y'know - standards. We already knew that he didn’t have consistency, but we thought that he at least had standards.

Yeaaaah, not really.

For starters, we have Marinette here and, I gotta say, this is similar to the thing I said about Reflekdoll where it’s just… no fun to have a character with no real limits/preferences? Adrien is obviously going to be the big one here concerning Gabriel, but Marinette is a problem too.

Back in Seasons 1 and 2, Gabriel seemed to have a decent enough opinion of Marinette. He was impressed by her hat (and later goes to compliment her again in “Queen Wasp”), he preferred her to Chloe in “Frightningale,” and even in “The Collector,” he lets her off with no punishment whatsoever when she claims to have stolen Adrien’s book.

But then Season 3 drops, and Gabriel tries to akumatize Marinette multiple times, all with varying degrees of failure. He has no issue teaming up with Lila to go against Marinette, and there’s really no motive for it aside from his schtick of claiming that so-and-so will be his “masterpiece.”

Now, if “Queen Wasp” was before “The Collector,” then maybe I’d understand (because Gabriel would be set up to have a negative opinion of Marinette since she stole the grimoire), but it can’t be because “The Collector” was Gabriel’s reveal as Hawk Moth. It’d also make sense if Gabriel just wanted to akumatize Marinette because she’s alluded his akuma all this time (which has been a common fan joke anyway), but that’s not what’s happening.

And then there’s the fact that Gabriel’s plan to akumatize Marinette here is to have her break up with his son. I’d understand if there was an actual reason for them to break up - then Gabriel is really just capitalizing on an opportunity and would’ve demanded that she break up with him anyway - but there’s no in-plot reason given outside of Gabriel wanting to akumatize her.

Heck, it wouldn’t even be that hard. Adrien might just be shirking some of his responsibilities to date Marinette, or sneaking out to spend time with her/generally not being at home as often. Chat already has a reputation for forgetting about basically everything when he’s around the girl that he loves and the Adrienette ship seems constantly stuck in “honeymoon phase” while they’re dating, so I wouldn’t be surprised if Adrien is wholly out of it.

The problem in this episode is that we just don’t have enough information. Adrien tells us that he’s not going to tell Ladybug anything and then he goes to confess to Marinette, but that’s about all we’re given to chew on. Does Ladybug tell Chat that she’s dating? Does Chat say that he’s dating someone too and just compliments “his girlfriend” a bunch for whenever Ladybug eventually figures out his identity? Does Chat stay vague in case Ladybug falls for Chat too?

(By the way, just sayin’, I see no reason why Marinette shouldn’t have told Adrien about what Gabriel said and no reason why Adrien wouldn’t demand to know anyway; also, Adrien would’ve 100% impulsively ran away from home had Marinette told him what his father said to her. “I’m living my life as Chat Noir now, m’lady.” and then proceed to not care about his father at all. “Gamer 2.0″ already showed that Ladybug is just the most important thing to him and “Frozer” showed that he wanted to live on an island with just her, so yeah, episode resolved there, end of story, too big of a plothole to leave unanswered, please fill.)

Adrien learning Ladybug’s identity is a big deal yet it’s brushed off as nothing (because the big turning point instead is Gabriel learning that his son is Chat Noir). Honestly, had it just been a Ladrien episode instead (i.e: Adrien dating Ladybug instead of Marinette), very little would’ve changed about the actual plot and it would’ve actually made sense for Gabriel to want Ladybug to dump Adrien because Ladybug is his number one enemy (all of his attempts to get close enough to snatch her miraculous would be in vain) and an akumatized Ladybug would’ve been an actual masterpiece.

Point being, for Gabriel to do this when we have no information is bizarre, and doubly so considering the fact that Adrien is clearly happy dating Ladybug Marinette. Even if his plan is to akumatize Marinette and then just tell her to date Adrien again afterward, that’s not stated outright and also isn’t supported by the narrative considering that Gabriel is perfectly fine beating up his own son.

(I also see some potential bad press when reporters hear about the break-up and either demand questions or spread rumors.)

And I’m sorry (I’m not really sorry), but I do not understand Hawk Moth’s strategy here. Yes, Adrien being Chat Noir makes it easier to get his miraculous, but also, two things–

1 - Gabriel could’ve just taken Adrien’s ring in his sleep; yes, akumatizing him would help him get under Ladybug’s skin, but first, how does unlimited destruction get him the miraculous if Chat Blanc’s Cataclysm destroys the miraculous too (he’s been stupid before about this with stuff like Reflekta (Desperada and Party Crasher at least had insurance policies) but from an episode with so much hype riding on it, I expect Hawk Moth to use his brain a little), and second, Chat is Ladybug’s main partner. Ladybug is not defenseless without him, but he’s not completely useless to her either.

If Gabriel can just keep Adrien (who wouldn’t know who took his ring) locked away from Ladybug long enough to make another akuma, Ladybug will have no idea that her partner won’t show up and also won’t be able to go find the guardian to get more miraculouses once she realizes it, because Mayura and the akuma will certainly chase after her. She’ll be all on her own.

In addition, Gabriel can lure Adrien to the room with Emilie after taking his ring, then throw the exposition at him before offering his ring back if he agrees to help (still scummy, but not as irredeemable). That means that Ladybug won’t be around to tell Chat not to fall under Hawk Moth’s control whICH BY THE WAY–

Hawk Moth, in the actual episode, doesn’t even hold Ladybug back. What’s stopping Ladybug from getting the bell away from Chat or telling Chat to tear the bell off (if it worked for Chloe, it’ll work for Chat)? Even if touching an akumatized object gets Hawk Moth in Ladybug’s head too, she can either use her yoyo to break it (considering that her fist broke the bell in the episode itself) or just grab the bell anyway and smash it (because I don’t think Ladybug would fall under Hawk Moth’s control alongside Chat). I know we’ve never seen what happens if you break an object while the person is still pre-akumatized, and it made sense in “Zombizou” because she wasn’t Ladybug and couldn’t purify the akuma, but Ladybug shouldn’t be part of this equation and it adds too many questions.

2 - Now, of course, I’m not experienced in villainy, but I’m pretty sure that the first rule of getting someone on one’s side is to not being a complete moron who beats them senseless first and then expects them to join.

I vaguely understand that Hawk Moth’s strategy was (probably) to just destroy Chat enough mentally so he’d be akumatizable whether or not Emilie was convincing on her own, but when he’s so sadistic about it, positively gleeful when he realizes that his son is Chat Noir, it seems less like a strategy and more like him not only favoring the wish over his own son, but also getting joy out of hitting Chat around as if he feels like Adrien wronged him by being Chat Noir and now Adrien needs to be punished (which would’ve been nice for him to say since Adrien already knows that he’s Hawk Moth by that point anyway).

I just have no idea what the intention was there. It felt like the episode wanted to have it both ways where Chat was conflicted enough to not reject the akuma, but also throw in the angst and “drama” of Hawk Moth hitting him around (after that opening where he acted as if he wanted Emilie to come back for both of them and not just him) because hey, Adrien’s life is sad, his mom is comatose and the fact that he’s about to kill everyone isn’t enough.

And then, as if that wasn’t already ridiculous enough, they have Chat Blanc be torn on who to shoot with his destructive powers. I understand that Hawk Moth is the one who akumatized him, but we’ve seen from Robostus that akumas CAN go against Hawk Moth. Yes, Hawk Moth is his father, but he’s now a physically abusive father (who is constantly “too busy” for him and tried to keep him from being happy which, again, we don’t know if Adrien knows but I don’t see why Marinette wouldn’t tell him; it would hurt Adrien, sure, but he should still know that his father is trying to sabotage them anyway. The episode cuts straight to Hawk Moth going against Ladybug and Chat Noir, but did Hawk Moth literally come up with this plan on the spot, because Marinette had more than enough time to tell Adrien otherwise!) and the love of his life.

Tough choices, I guess.

And then Chat Blanc just ends up killing everyone anyway, so it doesn’t even matter. He could’ve ultimately chosen Hawk Moth to fire at, but his destructive powers were so strong that he couldn’t control it (which would’ve been better once non-parallel Ladybug fights him, showing that he at least trained because he doesn’t want to destroy anything outside of his target).

It reads like a plot that’s being angst-y just to be angst-y (this episode will get no “edgy points” from me when it doesn’t know how to use that angst properly), and it’s not at all necessary.

Hawk Moth knocks Adrien out of the mansion because non-parallel Ladybug needed to find the Cataclysm’d version of her parallel self (which, by the way, how has Chat not found that already/tried to touch it himself, meaning it’d be already gone?) to make the audience wonder about what exactly happened, since non-parallel Ladybug stumbling upon this room with Hawk Moth, herself, and Emilie freaking Agreste would’ve actually been interesting and given the episode some semblance of value where Marinette either re-considers Gabriel to be Hawk Moth or just generally wonders if Hawk Moth himself took Emilie away for some reason (and later finding out that the peacock is damaged and realize that oh, if that happened to Emilie, then the person who has the butterfly is–).

Chat Blanc is crazy because angst, he’s losing his mind after being alone for an undisclosed amount of time. Bunnyx just leaves Ladybug there with no information (oh, and a comment about needing to jump back in time in case she fails because no one has faith in Marinette - we’ll get there - or Ladybug apparently) and an insane Chat Noir who wants her miraculous despite knowing that Miraculous Ladybug already fixes everything once the akuma is dealt with, meaning he can then worry about his comatose mother and the wish (y’know, the wish that Ladybug told him wouldn’t work as he wants right before she died, not that I expect him to listen to her anymore), but no, he’s insane because that’s boring and ensures that he doesn’t think about the obvious solution or the fact that another Ladybug probably isn’t going to come back if he kills this one too.

Like, just saying; if it’s the akuma making his personality that way where he wants the miraculouses that badly (which is dumb since he’s already seen that his destructive powers destroy the miraculous too, yet he’s still mindlessly trying to kill Ladybug because drama), then my question is how his love for Ladybug doesn’t override that when he already killed her and thought there was no coming back until this other Ladybug showed up (and also the fact that her kiss was the thing that distracted him long enough for her to snatch the bell, so her love worked eventually anyway but come on). Either he’s crazy because of the akuma or he’s crazy because of being alone, and neither are all that interesting because, again, the akuma being purified can still get the result he wants. Threatening to kill Ladybug if she doesn’t hand over the miraculouses won’t solve anything and his chances are better when he’s not akumatized.

And here’s the thing: I’m honestly in favor of episodes that explore the what-ifs, but not in this way; not with Bunnyx and time travel and needing to “save the future” or whatever. If it has to involve this “Bad End” scenario where there’s no other way out except for another Ladybug to swoop in and save the day, then that’s fine, but it has to roll with the needed care and limitations that come with that and also forward the plot and make it matter if everything else is just going to be scrubbed away in the end. I mean, the lesson “hey, Marinette, don’t let Adrien know your identity” (yes, we’ll talk about the “real” lesson later) is bafflingly pointless being taught to someone who already took secret identities very seriously and literally had an episode in the same season that showed the leaps and bounds she took to protect that identity.

Oh, and speaking of Adrien knowing her identity–

[Identity Politics]

Uggggggggggggggggggh, Adrien, why does it always seem to come to you.

So now we’re at the big start of all this chaos: Adrien determining that Marinette is Ladybug and then proceeding to go after her romantically.

I should preface this by saying that, no, I don’t wholly blame Adrien for wanting to pursue Marinette romantically. He’s a teenager and I legitimately believe that he thinks that he loves Marinette now and has always loved her and blah blah blah whatever. Adrien sometimes has this habit of rationalizing out his own thoughts with himself to make them seem more reasonable, and I imagine that’s what’s happening here.

…What I do blame him for, however, is not telling Marinette that he knows her identity and casually shrugging the notion off as if everything’s going to be okay. I mean, we all knew that Chat had always wanted to do an identity reveal (basically from all the way back in “Lady Wifi”), but we didn’t know that Chat would just not tell Ladybug if he found out without her knowledge. It’d be one thing if Adrien felt guilty about it (i.e: not wanting her to potentially get in trouble and wanting to stay as Chat because that’s his freedom), but instead, he just mentions it to Plagg once and it’s never heard from again until he’s forced to transform in front of Marinette.

Because we don’t see how Ladybug and Chat’s relationship is changed, we as an audience have no idea if Adrien even regrets that decision at all. Even after Chat uses Cataclysm on the butterfly, he doesn’t apologize at all even though this mess could’ve been prevented had Marinette been able to tell him about what Gabriel was doing by transforming into Ladybug and explaining it to him while he’s Chat.

There’s also the fact that Adrien comes to this “Marinette = Ladybug” conclusion basically out of nowhere. Ladybug may’ve delivered the gift to him and it has Marinette’s name signed onto it (which Plagg even suggests himself as a perfectly reasonable argument), but Adrien has no proof that Ladybug signed it herself (could’ve been fixed if Adrien had something with Ladybug’s signature on it and noted that the style was the same), and the on-screen examples we’re given (”Evillustrator,” “Frightningale,” and “Glaciator”) don’t show that Ladybug had any feelings for Adrien specifically; the latter just showed that she had feelings for a boy.

Adrien isn’t even coming to this conclusion because he saw Marinette running away with the gift earlier (i.e: to transform) since he doesn’t remember seeing her later in the episode when Ladybug lies and says that she’s delivering it for someone else. He didn’t even point out that it was odd that Marinette had the gift in the first place, meaning that scene was entirely pointless.

It’s not that Adrien blindly hoping for things isn’t part of his character (he’s been hoping for Ladybug’s love from the beginning), but to suddenly go off on this without a thought while Plagg is reminding him what the risk is here…. s’dumb. Plagg is clearly concerned about it but decides not to go to Fu and just let Adrien do whatever he wants despite the gamble Adrien’s taking.

I also don’t know whose idea it was to think it’s okay to have production codes dictate episode order when “Kwamibuster” is before “Chat Blanc.” “Kwamibuster” is such an easy thing for Plagg to bring up here and it’s not even mentioned.

And while we’re on the subject anyway, I might as well point out that Adrien isn’t just going after Marinette because she’s Ladybug. No, that’s not enough for him, because we saw in “Kwamibuster” that Adrien had basically no reaction to the scenario of Marinette being Ladybug.

The difference here is that Marinette’s gift is covered in hearts - a declaration of love - and that’s when Adrien makes the big jump.

It’s not, “Wow, my lady is Marinette and that’s awesome because they’re both amazing girls and I love them both,” it’s, “WOW, my lady is in love with me (and she’s Marinette too, I guess), I better jump on that.”

(Because Adrien coming up with similar traits they have that makes them the same would’ve been actually sweet instead of him conjuring up a fantasy just because it’s convenient for him.)

Ladybug being Marinette was irrelevant; it was Ladybug (who happened to be Marinette) being in love with Adrien that gave Adrien the encouragement he needed to pursue Marinette.

It’s even technically supported by the fact that Adrien doesn’t go to Fu. If Adrien realizes that Marinette is Ladybug, then that’s it; he doesn’t need her to be Ladybug anymore, and it’s not like he can date her as Chat anyway. Adrien might still want to be Chat Noir, but since the episode focuses so heavily on the Adrienette stuff, I literally don’t know why he’s bothering risking this stuff. Ladybug has even expressed distaste before concerning balancing her hero life, so maybe he’d think she’d want to be away from it (not that I would expect Adrien to remember that but stick with me here).

This is also supported by episodes like “The Puppeteer 2″ and “Ladybug,” where Chat is quick to flip as soon as Ladybug goes in for a kiss or confesses her love to him.

He doesn’t want Ladybug; he wants Ladybug’s love.

And as for how that affects Marinette herself…

[Marifret]

You know…

YOU KNOW–

Every time I think that this season is out of ideas for tormenting Marinette, it just comes up with another. It starts to feel like the writers just have assorted “how to torment Marinette” ideas that they have stored in a little box at the office that they’re constantly plucking out and then dumping into random episodes whenever they feel like it.

Marinette is the only one who gets anything out of this episode because she’s the only one who remembers the important stuff from it, and it’s not even anything good.

Not only did Marinette not need to concern herself with learning more about how important it is to keep her identity a secret, but the Lucky Charm gave her an eraser, explicitly to erase her name on the gift.

Because Ladybug didn’t need to erase her name. She could’ve either gone back further in time and not let her other self get wrapped up in exploring Adrien’s room (the Lucky Charm could’ve been lipstick to hint to Ladybug that she should distract Chat with an almost-kiss to get his akuma, and then Ladybug could’ve still gone through similar motions to realize that Adrien saw her past self leaving his room), or simply told Adrien that Marinette couldn’t get past Nathalie, so she was asked to deliver it instead.

But no. Instead, Lucky Charm explicitly gives her an eraser as if to say, “this is all your fault and erasing your name off your gift will fix everything.”

Even Bunnyx, in the midst of watching the flashbacks, asks, “What did you do, Marinette?!” which just immediately sets up the entire narrative as being Marinette’s fault.

Not Adrien’s fault because he kept everything a secret and presumed that Ladybug was Marinette despite having no visual proof of that.

Not Plagg’s fault for not going to Fu about it.

Not Hawk Moth’s fault for beating up his son and trying to akumatize him.

It’s all on Marinette. All of it.

All because she wanted to confess to a boy that she liked and lingered a little too long in his room.

So all the hard work Marinette put into the hat she made for Adrien doesn’t even matter, just like the scarf she made all the way back in “Bubbler.” It’s just another wasted effort on Marinette’s part.

Even in the parallel universe, she doesn’t get any time to process her thoughts. After Adrien confesses, the next scene with the parallel-Adrienette is the montage, with Marinette being completely unaware that Adrien confessed to her because she was Ladybug.

On an unrelated note since I’m talking about the montage anyway, this episode gives Kagami the dignity of a simple name drop only to then put Luka right in the background as Adrien and Marinette slow dance together. Like, writers, COME ON, show him some actual RESPECT.

There’s also the fact that Chat “I’d recognize my lady in an instant except for all those times I didn’t” Noir has already rejected Marinette in “Weredad,” and I mean firmly rejected, with no doubt as to how little he feels towards Marinette and how much he feels towards Ladybug. We’ve had the “just a friend” gag for three whole seasons now and then “Chat Blanc” comes along to have Marinette believe that Adrien is in love with her.

And when Chat reveals that he already knew she was Ladybug, again, no contemplation on Marinette’s part. She gets seconds to think about it before just collapsing into Chat’s arms because the episode gives her no time because that’s not important to the episode itself. Marinette (presumably) doesn’t even get to know that Adrien only wanted to confess to her upon realizing that she’s Ladybug.

Then we have this repeated problem where we don’t know the time frame. Did Marinette want to go to Fu? Did Chat convince her not to, and if so, why? What’s Tikki’s view in all of this and how was she convinced to let the subject go? Did Hawk Moth show up almost immediately, so Marinette’s only had time to leave and transform for what she thought could be the final battle, meaning that it wouldn’t be necessary to go to Fu?

We have no idea. The only things the episode makes time for concerning Marinette/Ladybug (in addition to a dumb joke about birthday presents that were definitely not crucial to the plot) are her being excited to be in Adrien’s room, her looking like a fool in front of Adrien as she lies, Chat Blanc yelling at her about how tHEiR loVe caused everyone in Paris to die, and her getting berated after feeling self-conscious for not delivering Adren’s gift.

Oh, and just BY THE WAY, going back to the beginning of the episode since I brought it up, can we just not with Marinette’s friends PLACING BETS on whether or not Marinette is going to confess to Adrien? Can we just not with them making a game out of Marinette’s anxiety and self-esteem issues concerning whether or not Adrien will love her?

It’s already bad enough that we get jokes and gags about the universe itself being against her, but now with have this.

This… horrible, horrible thing.

Oh, and of course, the moment where we see Rose finally go off on someone, looking absolutely enraged while doing so, it’s Marinette she’s going off at and almost physically hurting when she nearly slammed the lid of the basket down on Marinette’s wrist.

Not because Marinette self-deprecated and Rose is actually just “angrily” shouting about how amazing she is and how Adrien would be a fool to reject her feelings.

Not because Rose has been given some “tough love” advice beforehand and thinks that it’ll be best for Marinette, only to feel really bad about it afterward even if it worked.

No, it’s because… Rose lost her favorite stuffed animal in the bet and she’s mad about it. That’s it. She’s taking it out on Marinette for something she did.

And no, I don’t believe for one second that the stuffed animal had nothing to do with it; it had everything to do with it. I mean, come on, the fact that the day Rose went off just happened to be the day she lost her stuffed animal in a bet?

I totally acknowledge that it’s probably yet another joke berating Marinette for the hesitance that she apparently has to have, but one, it’s a waste of time that could’ve been spent elsewhere, and two, maybe the episode shouldn’t be fitting in its jokes and gags in something that’s supposed to be taken seriously. It’s not “Party Crasher” levels of tone whiplash but it’s still annoying to see Paris destroyed and then have Chat Blanc follow up with a Kamehameha Cataclysm.

And this is even ignoring the fact that Alix is extremely smug about it and happily takes Rose’s favorite stuffed animal, not at all ashamed that she was so confidently doubtful of someone who’s supposed to be her friend as long as she was right in the end.

Also doubly ignoring the fact that Marinette’s friends have had a history of behaving terribly concerning Marinette’s crush on Adrien (of which I have repeatedly documented) and they never once think for a second that it might be their fault that Marinette is not progressing at all, instead putting all the blame on her.

Oh, oh, and by the end of the episode (you know, since the writers sat down at their desks and thought to themselves, “this isn’t enough”), because Marinette was forced to erase her name from the gift, she doesn’t get the satisfaction of going up to her friends to at least say that she actually gave it to Adrien. She had to make up an excuse, inevitably damaging their view of her further.

It’s just… sad. Marinette goes through a ton in this episode from being nevous about confessing to the boy she likes, being yelled at by one of her friends, being thrown into a future with an insane Chat Noir who wants to kill her and take her miraculous, and then being told by her own Lucky Charm that the way to fix everything is to erase her name off her own work because Chat is going to get akumatized and everyone (including her) are going to die if she doesn’t.

And, on top of all of that, Tikki still has to sneak in a line that scolds Marinette for using her miraculous for personal gain, despite the fact that Marinette is literally just delivering a gift to someone. We’re back to this “Catalyst” nonsense once more because Marinette is never allowed to be selfish.

Implying that, again, all of this is Marinette’s fault because she wanted to use her miraculous for a couple minutes for something non-hero related.

You know, the power that she uses to protect all of Paris, that was thrust upon her and she certainly never asked for.

The power that she has repeatedly used with a perfect record, even when her partner was taken down.

The power that forces the weight of Paris on her shoulders and the knowledge that, if she fails, Hawk Moth wins and it’s over.

Yet, she’s never allowed to use it for herself or everyone dies apparently.

This is despite the fact that, when it was Adrien’s turn to use his power selfishly to set up a date for Ladybug, he not only got an apology from Ladybug for it, but he got double sympathy from Ladybug and Marinette, even getting Ladybug to blush by the end of it.

Oh, and he gets rewarded at the end of “Chat Blanc” too as Ladybug lays her head on his shoulder, despite his impulsiveness being partly/mostly the cause of everything.

Because that’s totally fair.

…This episode is a wreck. The entire thing is just a complete and total wreck.

Just another thing to add onto the list of reasons for Marinette to have a realistic and inevitable nervous breakdown, I guess.

*sigh*

#((I'm tired.))#category: long post #word count: over 5000 #category: critique #category: salt #episode: Chat Blanc #other: ask and answer

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socially-awkward-chocobo · 3 years

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20 for the triforce crew?

I don't know if you mean the present Triforce Crew or the past Triforce Crew (which, on me. I should have told people to specify) so I'll do both.

20. What do they like that nobody else does?

Idk how to do stuff that literally nobody else would like (outside of food crimes that even Link/Lyn won't touch) so I'll probably have to do stuff that nobody else in either versions of the group remotely like (or at least nobody else likes to do). This was a hard one so I hope that's okay.

Ghirahim (who never died in between story plots) - Collecting gaudy jewelry. He will find the most tasteless, clashy, bright jewelry and buy it. It's a hobby he has fun with and even commissions some when he has ideas for it. Half the Gerudo think it's some sort of gag thing, others joke that he wants to be prepared to win every horrible fashion contest that could randomly pop up. In reality, he was bored over the 5,000 years and needed something to do.

5,000 Years Ago

Link - This one does some botw level shenanigans when he can and decides to do crazy stunts. You say somebody can't beat an entire camp of monsters with just that Sheikah time-slow technique and a bunch of arrows? He's doing it. You think you can't trick a Lynel into charging off of a cliff into the water below? Think again. If you can think of a crazy stunt, he's most likely done it and earned Vaati's nickname of "Dumb-ss reckless moron."

Shadow - Raw acorns. You heard me right, raw acorns. Those things that I think could poison you or something. He will eat them raw and whole like some snake who eats raw acorns.

Zelda - Joking around in Hylia's presence. This may seem weird, but it's because Hylia's a goddess and very intimidating person so cracking jokes around her seems like suicide - especially to people who are in the know. But Zelda likes to do it because she finds throwing Hylia for a loop whenever she can really fun. This is also pre-war.

Vaati - Tea that is 50% honey, 20% sugar, 20% sweetened milk, and 10% actual tea. Everyone who saw Link try it and almost puke won't even go near it because if the bottomless pit won't touch it, why is Vaati drinking it every day??? It's an abomination.

Ganon - Somehow, despite not being either of the researchers, he's that person that will stop whenever he sees an unidentifiable plant, draw it in a notebook, and then write down everything he can infer about it. He'll later go to a library and look it up. It's because he's always been fascinated with the vast array of plants outside the desert.

Midna - A mixture of some dishes poisonous to Hylians and basic Hylian dishes. Not only do the food tastes clash badly to anybody else - it's poisonous to most of the people in the group and Link doesn't have Lyn's poison "immunity."

Zant - Finding ways to subtly prank the Sheikah whenever he visits Hyrule Castle with Midna. Midna is always occupied during meetings and is also 90% of his impulse control, so you can imagine that he gets creative in his boredom. The others don't really understand why he would do that - it's an "Are you trying to raise suspicion?" type thing - but they gave up on trying to understand Zant a while ago.

Present Crew

Lyn - Putting unidentifiable plants in her mouth to see if they taste good. She has a d-mn near perfect poison immunity - which means she can only be poisoned by malice - so she can eat anything without fear of poison. She will mostly do this with plants though, and, when she was younger, frogs.

Ebony - Tricking other people (mainly Lyn) into doing their physically straining chores or tasks. They just like seeing if they can do it and managed to trick their sister into doing it for 4 years once. Don't worry, Lyn got her petty, petty revenge for that one.

Zael - Turning tiny things someone wouldn't consider overly dangerous into weapons. She will take her sword, and change it's shape into pens, pencils, bobby pins, ribbons, and then use creativity and a bit more magic to make them utterly dangerous. Her mother encouraged it and considered it an exercise in creativity. It's also one of the many reasons her father (Rhoam) is scared of her.

Vaz - Some things got lost in translation between reincarnations, but the base of that abomination is now coffee and some percentages which got jumbled: 50% honey, 40% sugar, 5% sweetened milk, and 5% coffee. And then after that he dumps, like, 5 fluid ounces (which is five pumps) of espresso in there. Lyn learned from last time and politely refused Vaz's offer of letting her try it. Which is for the best because that drink is even more horrifying than the tea.

Ahdvant - He likes to flip people's expectations and do the opposite. Ahdvant likes to act very silly and crazy, and he does it so often people think he has no sanity. But that's really just him acting however he wants, and if it comes of as crazy then it comes off as crazy. When he's absolutely furious, instead of losing the "few" marbles he has he instead acts "sane" and destroys you in a very efficient and brutal manner.

Midiya - Wearing socks. This queen can float and therefore goes barefoot everywhere. In fact, aside from her anklet, she hates having anything on her feet.

Gandin - He will willingly turn off his light charm in the Twilight Realm (light charms allow you to keep your physical form in the Twilight Realm) so he can run around as a boar and have fun. Of course, he'll do it on an empty island as to not freak anybody out because he's 10ft tall.

#ch ghirahim #ch zelda #ch shadow #ch link #ch midna #ch ganon #ch vaati #ch zant #evelyn kokur #ebony kokur #azalea nayadru hyrule #vaz hanito #ahdvant yugame #midiya towaraili #gandin dragmire #corrupt hylia au #by nayru this one was a stumper #I'm posting at 1:30 so there's probably grammar issues and typoes

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mustangshelby04 · 4 years

Text

Ad Infinitum

This is the original short story I wrote for my Fiction Writing Workshop. It’s my first class as a college Junior. I’ve had the idea behind this story for ages and I’ve always planned to (hopefully) turn it into a book. I still haven’t gotten the grade back on it (my professor is quite slow on grading), so I can’t tell you how it was received by her. I can tell you that I’m kind of proud of this story and I hope you all enjoy it.

The office doors burst open and Minerva walked in holding a print out. “Another one has popped up.” She made her way across the ornate office to stand in front of the old mahogany desk where Constance Devoy was working. Minerva waited for Constance’s eyes to leave her computer screen before dropping the print out down on its surface.

“Who is it this time?” Constance asked.

“Radcliffe.”

“Again?”

“That guy has a real love of the camera.”

“He always has.” Constance sighed. “They’re making it harder and harder to hide.”

“I think that’s his point.”

Constance shot Minerva an affectionate smile. “I’ll deal with it. Thank you, Minnie.” The French doors shut behind Minerva and Constance picked up the print out, glaring at the image of John Radcliffe. “Arrogant prick.”

The rules of being an Immortal were simple: keep your head down, don’t leave a trail behind you, and start a new life far away from your current as soon as people start to notice that you don’t age. Unfortunately, the Immortals were now in the middle of a conflict over those rules. For the last century, some of them had gotten a taste of fame and wanted to come out of the shadows.

Constance Devoy was not one of those Immortals.

Born in 1598, she had stopped aging at the age of eighteen. No one knew how they became an Immortal. It just happened at random. Like all the others, she had woken up one morning and felt completely different from the person she had been the day before. Luckily for Constance, the Immortal Freya had been in Sussex at the time. Freya had felt the pull they all felt when another Immortal was near and she had followed it to Constance. At just twenty-two years old, Constance had been forced to fake her own death and move on to another life.

Freya had taken Constance under her wing and taught her how to survive.

Freya, as far as she could tell, was the oldest of them. She had stopped aging at the age of thirty-nine when the Vikings had walked the Earth. Her rules had kept Constance safe and away from the notice of mortals. Her rules were passed on to each new Immortal they found and it was inevitable that Freya became the official leader of the Immortals. She had appointed Constance as her second in charge.

Now, in 2018, there were 372 Immortals in the world. There hadn’t been a new one born since 1902. Constance didn’t see this as a bad thing. The less of them there were, the easier it was to hide. Mortals en masse couldn’t be trusted. The conflict among the Immortals had begun with the invention of the camera. A painting or a sculpture of an Immortal could easily be explained away since features weren’t always accurate. Artists loved to take liberties to please their clients. But when photographs were invented…. Some Immortals became enamored with the life-like pictures. They began refusing to burn their portraits and instead began hiding them away. It only got worse as the technology advanced to video cameras.

And then came the lure of fame when Hollywood began making moving pictures.

Fame is an addiction all its own and Immortals aren’t immune to vices. The mortals began to worship the famous. They put up giant movie posters outside buildings and bought magazines with their favorite celebrities in them. Some Immortals couldn’t stay away. Egos usually get inflated if you’re always young, beautiful, and can’t die.

John Radcliffe was the worst of them.

Constance dropped the picture of him on her desk and stood up, walking across the room to look out the window at the city below them.

He had been born sometime in the late 1800s and had stopped aging around age seventeen. He had been vain before he had stopped aging and it had gotten worse after he noticed he had stopped aging. He was beautiful, sexy even, and that made him stand out. Tall with dark hair and piercing blue eyes, his body had seemingly been chiseled from the finest marble by the most caring hand. Women and men swooned when he was in their presence. Artists were commissioned by him constantly to have his portrait done. Once he had gotten a camera in his hand, he couldn’t stop taking his own picture. He was always leaving a trail behind him for others to follow and clean up.

His carelessness could be labeled legendary. Most times, he left it until it was almost too late before he would move on to a new life far from his old one.

Mortals would begin to notice his eternal youth and the whispering would begin. He, of course, relished the gossip. He seemed to thrive on it. He believed others should thrive on it, too. This was why he was the one leading the Immortals who wanted to “come out of the closet.”

He was also the one that had betrayed Constance’s trust and broken her heart.

The two of them had become quite close when Freya had brought him to her. As conceited as he was, he had a surprising depth to him. He was gentle and kind with a wit that could have her laughing for days. It was a depth he never showed anyone, but somehow Constance wasn’t just anyone to him. They had both let each other into their hearts like they had let no one else before. Every waking hour of those first ten years was spent together. When it came time to part for their new lives, they made a vow to come together once a year for two days. It didn’t matter what they did in those two days, as long as they were together.

After two lifetimes apart, John came to Constance and suggested they make a new life together. He had gone into his plan to live in the light. He was working in Hollywood and had just had his “big break.” He was famous and he wanted her to be his wife in his “last life.” He had laid out a plan to tell everyone about the Immortals. He had saved the pictures and portraits of the two of them instead of destroying them like he’d promised. He had wanted to use them as proof and he wanted her to join him in stepping out into the light.

Constance had been horrified. This was no refusal to destroy a photograph or to leave before the rumors started. This was throwing open the curtains and exposing the Immortals, laying them bare to the scrutinization of the mortal world. Mortals could be incredibly cruel to things they didn’t understand. The Nazis of Germany and their ghastly experiments on the Jewish people was evidence of this cruelty. The thought of what the mortals who excelled in science would do to the Immortals was terrifying.

Constance and John had fought. Angry words were exchanged that couldn’t be taken back. He had declared war on Constance, Freya, and the “old ways.” And since then, he had made good on that promise. The Immortals had divided into factions. The battles weren’t waged on battlefields, though, but behind the scenes. News stories were buried, internet sites were taken offline, mortals who knew the truth and took a side suddenly disappeared.

When Immortals wanted to take a break from life before the split in alliances, Constance had used her training as a doctor to put Immortals in medically induced comas. After John had begun the fight for “freedom”, the comas had turned into prison sentences for out-of-line Immortals. Constance had been forced to turn the basement of her estate into a cozy prison for the comatose Immortals.

Her cell phone began to chirp and she grabbed it, answering it without looking at the caller ID. “What?”

“I hate the way you answer phones.” John said on the other line. “It wouldn’t kill you to show some kindness.”

“I’ve shown you plenty of kindness and you keep spitting in my face.”

“You keep making me.”

“How? By putting a stop to you destroying us?”

“What are you so afraid of, Connie?”

“Don’t call me that.”

“Why not? It’s what I’ve always called you.”

“Only my friends call me that.”

“Am I not your friend?”

“Not since you betrayed myself and your kind.”

He let out an exasperated sigh. “It doesn’t have to be like this.”

“No, it doesn’t. Stop trying to tell the world about us, call the others off of it, and everything will go back to normal.”

“It can’t go back to normal, Connie.”

“I told you not to….”

“The entire world is connected now. Criminals can’t hide from the system thanks to technology and neither can we. It’s only a matter of time before they discover us themselves. They’re already questioning it.”

“They make memes about time travelers because you and your merry band of egotistical fools can’t follow basic rules.”

“Freya’s rules are outdated. You know this, Connie! This is the 21st century. We need to change with the times.”

Constance stayed silent, debating with herself on hanging up on John.

Before she could make the decision, John continued. “Mortals aren’t as horrendous as you make them out to be.”

Constance looked at the picture on her desk of herself with a twelve year old Minerva beaming at the camera as she held up a little spelling bee trophy. “No, not all of them are, but there are those who would capture us and experiment on us. Find out why we are the way we are.”

“And is that such a bad thing? Don’t you want to know why we don’t age or die?”

“What could that knowledge possibly accomplish?”

“If we knew how it began for us, we could find out how it could end for us.”

Constance blinked, staring blankly for a long moment. “You want to die?”

“It’s the ultimate adventure, isn’t it? It’s the one thing we can’t do.”

Surprisingly, she felt her heart squeeze with the emotional pain at the thought of losing him. The pain gripped her entire chest like a vice. “John….”

“I’m not saying I want to die now, but I want the option. Don’t you want the option?”

“I like seeing the world change.”

“No you don’t.”

“Of course I do! The changes are fascinating! I’ve embraced technology and….”

“That’s not what I’m talking about.”

“I’m done with this conversation.” Constance hung up and dropped her phone on her desk. She began to pace, once again allowing herself to get lost in her own mind.

She couldn’t lie to herself. There were times when she thought John might have a point. Technology was advancing so rapidly and it was becoming increasingly difficult to stay unnoticed. The internet was an insanely wide world and evidence of immortality could easily be missed. The fact that she was finally seeing John’s logic was not something she was willing to admit out loud yet, but she just knew that he could sense it.

And he knew he had Minerva to thank for it.

When Constance had met Minerva Fraser, she had been an eight year old foster child, bouncing from home to home, all but abandoned by society. She had found her way into Constance’s large estate in Yorkshire, hoping to steal something of value to sell for food. Somehow, she had won Constance’s affections and the Immortal woman opened her heart and home up to a mortal for the first time in her very long life. Now, Minnie was a celebrated doctor, running a successful practice in London with her husband, Ashton.

The office doors opened again and, much to Constance’s amazement, Freya marched in. “Constance.” The woman offered a chilly greeting.

“Freya! I had no idea you were coming in today.” Constance walked over to hug her mentor, but Freya didn’t make a move to reciprocate. “Is everything all right?”

“No, it is not.” Freya gracefully sat down in a chair and Constance followed suit. “It seems that Radcliffe has been wearing you down.”

“I’m sorry, I don’t know what you mean.”

Freya reached into her bag and handed her an article she’d found online and printed off. It was a picture of Minerva and Ashton at the grand opening of their second office. Constance could be seen clearly in the background, smiling proudly at the couple. Next to it was a picture of Constance at her university graduation almost 40 years ago. It was clear that she hadn’t aged a day in all that time. The article was titled London Doctor With Fountain of Youth Secret?

“You’ve been here much too long. You know the rules. I never dreamed I would have to speak to you about them. Why haven’t you moved on?” Constance glanced at the picture of herself with Minerva sitting on the side table near Freya. Freya sighed, “You’re attached to the mortal.”

Constance couldn’t meet Freya’s eyes. “She’s…. My daughter.”

“We can’t have children.”

Constance held Freya’s steely gaze. “I’m aware of that.”

“We must stay together and uphold our rules. This is the way it must be. We can’t allow the others to destroy us all with their carelessness.” “I…. understand that.”

“I once assumed you did.” Before Constance could retort, Freya stood up. “Get your affairs in order and move on. I don’t want to do anything drastic to uphold our standard.”

Constance watched Freya walk out of the room, leaving the doors standing open and the fork in the road clearly laid out behind her.

Forever Taglist

@joannaliceevans-fanficblog

@jamielea81

@southerngracela

@shellbilee

@jtargaryen18

@lovinevans

#Orignial Short Story #Ad Infinitum #Original Characters #Fiction #Fiction Writing Workshop #Short Story

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marshmallow-phd · 5 years

Text

Secret in His Eyes

Spinoff of Sins of the Father

Genre: Mafia Au

Pairing: Luhan x Reader

Summary: A vacation exploring China’s famous city was supposed to be relaxing. When you witness a horrifying murder, you instead find yourself in police custody, unable to run. Trying to stay alive, you meet Luhan, and you believe you can trust him. You never imagined that he might be the one you should be running from.

Part: Prologue I 1 I 2 I 3 I 4 I 5 I 6 I 7 I 8 I 9 I 10 I 11 I 12 I Final

You let out of a groan as you came to again. The steady beeping somewhere above you told you where you were before you even opened your eyes. The slight stinging pressure in the crook of your left arm also told you that the doctor was successful in getting his way. To your surprise, you actually felt… better. Your head no longer felt like it was going to explode and you could move your muscles without too much difficulty.

“If you’re going to be awake, you might as well open your eyes.”

Ugh. It was him.

But you did it anyway, glaring at him with narrowed eyes. “What do you want?” you growled.

He smirked. “Well, I-”

A hand appeared on his shoulder, stopping him before he could voice whatever thought he was trying to convey. You followed up the arm to see that it was the doctor who had joined you.

“He came to apologize for giving you too much of the drug and almost causing permanent damage,” Yixing stated for him, looking down at the man who’d basically poisoned you with narrowed eyes. “Isn’t that right?”

The man rolled eyes, sighing. Looking at you with a gaze that you weren’t sure was genuinely apologetic, he said, “I am sorry. I… shouldn’t have given you that much and that could have killed you.”

“Wouldn’t that just make things easier for your boss?” you snapped.

Yixing frowned as if he were confused, but the man sitting down held up a hand to silence him. With their back and forth dynamic, you couldn’t really tell who was over who in this relationship. Did all mafias have a sort of hierarchy?

“No one wants you dead,” the man said steadily. The sudden calmness in his voice surprised you. Where did this come from? Not quite a softness was present, but it was certainly something different from his earlier haughty attitude. “We need you alive. I was just… stupid. I acted impulsively. For that, I’m sorry.”

You didn’t quite forgive him. It felt silly to forgive the man that’d kidnapped you and was now holding you hostage. But you did nod, showing that you least acknowledged the policy.

Seemingly satisfied himself, Yixing came around to the other side of the hospital bed you were lying in and sat down in the empty chair.

“Your vitals are all back to normal and you’re properly hydrated again,” he explained. “I won’t pin you down here anymore than you have to be, but you should eat something.” With careful hands, he took out your IV before placing a small swatch of cotton over the tiny hole and taping it down.

Immediately, you threw the thin blanket off of you and tried to get out of the bed, but apparently, your actions were a bit too swift for the doctor.

“Whoa,” he stopped you with a hand on each shoulder. “Please, take it slow. For my sake, if not your own.”

You suddenly felt sheepish under his concerned gaze. “Sorry.”

Yixing gave you a soft smile. “It’s alright. Just take it easy. Let me know if you start to feel dizzy or unwell in the slightest, please.” At your silent agreement, he stood up and walked out of the room, the only goodbye to his colleague being a pat on the shoulder as he passed.

The doctor didn’t fit in here. Even though he was only one of two you’d met here, you could already tell he was different. Someone you could trust.

Now that it was just you and the man who’d put you here, things became awkward. You sat there on the edge of the bed in silence, unsure of what to do next. Satisfying your hunger seemed to be the best option, but you didn’t know how to do that. Should you ask? Should you wait for food to be brought to you? You didn’t really expect to be waited on hand and foot here so that second one was probably out. A soft gurgle bubbled in your stomach that chased away the silence.

Exhaling, the man stood up to his feet. “Come on.”

“Where are we going?” Probably back to your room, idiot.

“You need food,” was all he said over his shoulder before disappearing into the hallway. You shivered when your bare feet hit the cold tile, but you quickly ran after him.

He walked slowly down the hall, neither speaking nor looking back at you. It didn’t bother you, though, and you took this opportunity to take in your location. Paintings of China’s landscapes with lengths wider than your arm span hung on the dark wooden walls. A few plants or vases sat on decorative columns that were spaced evenly between the paintings.

To be honest, the decorations were of the cliché sort, making this place feel more like a movie set than an actual person’s home. Nothing here described what the owner was like or even gave any hints as to what he looked like. You wanted some form of illustration so you knew who to avoid if you accidentally came across him. Him… and the other two. If you could keep your interactions limited to Yixing and this man, you figured you could fair a lot better in the end.

“Okay, here we are.” The man spread out his arms as if he was introducing you to an ancient artifact or old building that he thought you would appreciate. “Have at it.”

You stared at him, confused.

He dropped his arms before folding them across his chest. “Are you not aware of how a kitchen works?”

“I know how it works!” you barked. Your stomach growled ferociously as if to underline your statement. “It’s just… Is there anything off limits?”

“Off limits?” he echoed.

“Yes. Anything that I shouldn’t touch in order to avoid pissing anyone off?”

The man – whose name you still did not know – rolled his eyes. “Everything is open for you. Except for the alcohol. Kris will cut your hand off if you touch his expensive whiskey.”

“Kris?”

“One of the ‘big three’,” he clarified with a grin.

Suppressing a groan, you marched over to the refrigerator and threw the doors. Alcohol was absolutely the last thing you wanted right now. You’d already been doped up to the point of grogginess and blacking out. Why would you want to put something else in your system that would lead to the same end?

As you analyzed the shelves, you wanted to throw something. It was painfully obvious that men were the main occupants of the house, given the contents. While the shelves weren’t completely empty, everything that was provided was meant to be quick and easy. Some food items you couldn’t quite tell what they were, but you did luck out with some lunch meat and cheese. The bread was easy enough to find in the cabinets to the left and you made yourself a nice sized sandwich to give you some strength back.

You stayed standing at counter as you munched happily on your food, too lazy to go see if there was a table to properly sit at. In the meantime, you’d almost forgotten the company you were keeping.

“Is that all you’re going to eat?” your intruder asked as he slid up next to you.

“For now, yes,” you replied, keeping your focus on the sandwich.

“For now.” He seemed amused as he bobbed his head and smiled. “Well, if you do get hungry later, you can come back here. Hopefully you remember the way. But that’s it.” He suddenly had a seriousness about him that wasn’t even present during your first meeting. “Here and your room are the only two places you’re allowed to be. There’s cameras everywhere, so we’ll know if you sneak off somewhere else. Got it?”

Like you’d actually want to risk venturing off anywhere else. You gave him a mock salute. “Yes, sir.”

You weren’t entirely sure where this sass was coming from. There was just something about this guy that made you want to be petty. Maybe it was just your general irritation at the circumstances that was egging you on and since this poor schmuck was a big reason as to why you were here… well, that meant he got the brunt of it.

He let out a short, shocked laugh at your tease. “You know. Not many people treat me that way.”

That actually surprised you. “Really? I thought everyone but the head honchos in charge got treated that way.”

Turning around so his back was against the counter with his elbows to lean on, he smirked at you. “Not me.”

“Well,” you snorted, “aren’t you special for a punk?”

“Hey! Who are you calling a punk?”

By the fire in his eyes, you were trudging on dangerous territory. It took extra effort to swallow the bite you were currently chewing on, your throat thick with growing fear. Perhaps poking the harmless looking bear was a bad idea. You suddenly remembered the fact that he’d shot the cop who was looking after you in the motel. Did help come in time for him? Or had he bled out on the stained carpet?

Looking down at the counter to avoid eye contact, you murmured, “Sorry.”

“Why did you do that?” he asked equally as soft.

You risked glancing up at him, thinking he was still on that wave of anger. But the expression on his face was one of confusion. “Did what?”

The crease between his eyebrows deepened as he clarified, “Suddenly become scared of me.”

You scoffed. “There is no ‘suddenly’ about it. You kidnapped me, shot the guy who was guarding me, and brought me here to this random place for an indefinite amount of time. Fear has been the dominant emotion since I was in that alley. The only change is whether I’m fighting back to hide it or keeping my mouth shut to stay alive.”

“We’re not going to kill you.”

You had a very hard time believing that.

The man rolled his eyes. “Fine. Don’t believe me. Only time will do that.”

“Why?” you asked bravely.

“There’s no reason to,” he replied. A silent “yet” hung in the air. Or maybe you were inserting that yourself. And there were a few reasons as to why.

“Well, you haven’t told me your name,” you pointed out. “That could be considered a hint that you’re planning to kill me. Why bother introducing yourself if you’re just going to take me out.”

Conflict was etched all over his face. Had you hit the nail on the head? Or was there another reason that he hadn’t bothered to tell you his name? The doctor was quick to introduce himself, to make him seem more relatable and trustworthy. You didn’t necessarily want the man to tear down the wall that was very obviously sky high between the two of you. It was obvious that it needed to be there and you wanted it to stay there. Humans or not, these men were dangerous and would shoot you if you put one toe out of line. But… you kind of wanted to stop referring to him as “The man”.

With a sigh, he took a step towards you, still leaning on the counter with one elbow while he held out his other hand. “I’m Lin Chong. You can call me ‘Lin’.”

You stared at the hovering hand with knitted eyebrows. It stayed there, waiting for you as you flickered your eyes between it and the face and the owner. But then you took it. You shook his hand and gave a small smile that you couldn’t hold back.

As soon as he let go of your hand, he walked out of the kitchen. Now that you were alone, you were more confused than ever. Why did you smile? Even a tiny turn up of the corner of your mouth was inappropriate. This was not a place to be warm and open. You needed to keep your shield high and your guard up. Even if Lin did have a pretty face.

A pretty face that could put you six feet under.

#exo #exo mafia au #exo mafia!au #luhan x reader #luhan #lu han #exo gang au #exo gang!au #exo series #kris wu #wu yifan #huang zitao #z.tao #tao #zhang yixing #lay #Secret in His Eyes

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mobius-prime · 4 years

Text

209. Sonic the Hedgehog #141

Return to Angel Island (Part 4): Ultimate Hero

Writer: Karl Bollers Pencils: Jon Gray Colors: Jason Jensen

So things are… bad. Hunter is back and has a shiny new weapon to boot, which appears to vaporize anyone in his path. Sonic gives Knuckles a ride back to the echidna refugee camp at high speed, with Knuckles still doubting his ability to even be able to help without his Chaos powers, while the refugees flee Hunter's attacks. Remington tries to insist that he wants to remain behind to protect the Master Emerald at all costs, but Archimedes tries to dissuade him, instead trying to convince everyone to fall back to the emerald's chamber to defend it more directly. Finitevus isn't interested in Archimedes' pleas, but they're interrupted by the approach of Hunter.

No, Remington! I was honestly so upset by this, as Remington is one of my favorite recurring characters of the comic. Finitevus doesn't look too concerned, though… Archimedes meets Lara-Le, Wynmacher, and Saffron in the Master Emerald's chamber, informing them of the fate of the two outside, and they get ready to defend the emerald with their lives - but just as Hunter breaches the door, Sonic and Knuckles show up to help with the defense. Hunter throws some kind of fast-moving mechanical ball towards Sonic to keep him occupied and out of the way, and Knuckles charges in only to be once more overcome with agony from his proximity to the Master Emerald. Outside in the main cavern, the other heroes return from Dingo City only to be horrified at the devastation they see in the camp. Lien-Da becomes enraged, blaming Locke for "foisting the emerald" upon the Dark Legion, but Julie-Su has finally had enough and gets in her half-sister's face, yelling that she willingly chose to accept the emerald because she wanted the power it would bring her. You go, Julie-Su!

And right there we have the true reason behind all her hatred and vitriol. Of course these things always come down to daddy issues. Still, it's the first time we've ever really seen any true emotion from Lien-Da, apart from her usual scheming and power grabs, and it adds a depth to her character that she's been lacking thus far. Back in the Hidden Palace, Lara-Le rushes to Knuckles' side as he slumps to the ground, and Hunter approaches gleefully, raising his weapon for a death blow. However, a sudden pink light engulfs Knuckles, who rises into the air and begins to crackle with energy. He's overjoyed, announcing himself to the room not as Knuckles, but as… Super Knuckles! That's right, his Chaos powers have returned, and he's ready to stop Hunter's rampage, grabbing him and bursting through the roof of the palace.

Oh yeah - Knuckles straight up kills Hunter. It's one of the very few times we actually see one of the heroes of this comic intentionally end someone's life - but I think in this case, considering what kind of person he is and what he's done, killing Hunter is entirely justified for the greater good. As he descends back down to earth, the surviving echidnas all begin chanting "Avatar!" while the remaining dingoes retreat in a blind panic. Lien-Da is furious to see her hold over the refugees slipping, but Knuckles and his friends are clearly excited to see his Chaos powers return, with Archimedes revealing that he was certain that all Knuckles needed to reawaken them was to remain in close proximity to the Master Emerald long enough for it to power him back up. However, I'm actually not so on board with him regaining his powers. I really liked the dynamic of Knuckles losing the very thing that made him so special, and having to start from basics once again, learning how to fight without a superpowered edge. We've seen several different stories where Sonic lost his own super speed, but always got it back in the end - how interesting would it be to see a story where the hero never recovered their powers? And Knuckles, given his backstory, is the perfect candidate for such a plot - he never asked for his abilities, and they clearly brought him great pain and trauma as they developed. This would be an amazing direction to take his character arc, with Knuckles torn between the life he's always known, and the chance to start anew. After all, while he developed his latent Chaos powers without having a say in the matter, and despite the pain they often brought him, he did become accustomed to the effect they had on his life in a way, learning to control them to some degree and finding out more and more about why he had them. But the circumstances of his birth also ensured that he wouldn't have any real say in his own destiny, and this was always clearly troubling to him. Removing his powers for good would have put him in a fascinating position where on the one hand he would obviously be upset at losing such a great source of power, one which he's been told is his birthright, but on the other the loss of this power would leave him much freer to decide his own path from here, rejecting the path others have set out for him and discovering who "Knuckles" could be without others trying to define who he was for him. I don't know, I just think there's a huge missed opportunity here to explore more in depth who Knuckles could ultimately end up being without his Chaos powers being his most defining feature.

But alas, Knuckles has his powers back once more, and he's fulfilled the prophecy of the Ancient Walkers to boot. Eggman contacts the heroes via hologram once more, claiming that now that he knows where the Master Emerald is hidden he'll be there straightaway to steal it, but Sonic merely crushes the communicator and Locke enlists the help of the Legion once more to move the Master Emerald someplace else. Knuckles asks after Remington, but Archimedes sadly informs him that he and Finitevus were both casualties of Hunter's rampage. Lien-Da curtly tells Knuckles there's no time to mourn friends right now… and then quietly, when no one can hear her, adds "…or family." Wait, what? So, this is something that has actually been hinted at here and there for a while now, but so vaguely that one might not pick up on the hints unless they were already in the know. Remington's father is actually Kragok, which would make Lien-Da his aunt! This was never outright confirmed in any canon material until the Sonic Comic Encyclopedia many years from now, but I figured I'd go ahead and explain it right here, since, well, Remington ain't around these parts anymore. But yeah, that's why Lien-Da has always acted slightly weird around Remington. Anyway, Knuckles begins to say goodbye to his father, but Locke sharply asks him what he's intending now, seeming very upset at the idea of Knuckles leaving.

I love this. It's about freaking time we finally saw some serious conflict between Knuckles and Locke. For too long Knuckles has always dutifully followed whatever his father told him to do, but now, with a year away from the island under his belt to give him some real perspective, for the first time he's standing up for what he believes in instead of just doing whatever the Brotherhood wants, and Locke is clearly feeling threatened by this display of independence. To be fair, I can see Locke's point, as the island is clearly still quite devastated by Eggman's occupation and they could use someone like Knuckles to help them clean up, but still, I do think Knuckles has the right idea, as taking down Eggman for good seems like a better idea than just cleaning up after him - pulling up the weed by the roots, you know? Knuckles does seem quite sad as his father stalks away and vanishes through a warp ring, but he merely says his goodbyes to his mother and Wynmacher before joining Sonic and the others to head back to Knothole. For now, the day is saved, and everything seems fine and dandy - but what's this? It seems something quite disturbing is happening in Eggman's main base…

This. Is. Horrific. Say hello to the Egg Grapes, everybody, because this isn't the last time we'll be seeing them! We can see that apparently, these things have three functions: "Energy Drain," "Mind Eraser," and "Toxic Infusion," none of which are explained but all of which sound terrifying. We also get to look at some of the poor unfortunate souls trapped inside the pods. A few are just background characters from previous issues, but others are far more heartwrenching. We can see the three other surviving fire ants, minus Archimedes, meaning Archimedes is likely the last of the council now. We can also see, of course, Remington in front there, which again just makes me sad as I love Remington. However, perhaps the worst one is hidden in the back: Simon. As in, Simon, Julie-Su's adoptive father. Floren-Ca is also in there somewhere, just not shown on panel, which means that without even being aware of it, Julie-Su has now become a true orphan. It's incredibly tragic, as she'd just begun to get to know her own family after being separated from them for so long, but the island was invaded shortly afterward, and a year later, they're just… gone, being tortured to death inside one of Eggman's awful experimental devices without Julie-Su ever getting a chance to say goodbye. This is, I think, the moment where I realized just how truly terrifying comic Eggman is. Anime Eggman is hardly a threat at all, very much the type of villain who's more invested in their fights with their heroic nemesis than in actually taking over the world. And Eggman from the games, while he is genuine about his plans for world domination, has never actually committed mass murder, at least that we've seen. Sure, he's used small innocent animals as living batteries, but never actually mass tortured half the populace of an entire island just for the hell of it. This is where the comic begins to get truly dark, as we realize just what a terrifying megalomaniac we're facing here. No more silly jokes, no more half-assed villainy - Eggman is a monster, and the Freedom Fighters have to take him down for good lest he destroy the entire world.

Mobius 25 Years Later: Scenario

Writer: Ken Penders Pencils: Steven Butler Colors: Jason Jensen

Oh, but, y'know, we could also just jump forward into a boring future where everything is fine apart from reality beginning to tear itself apart. Granted, this issue's story actually has more real plot than the rest of the entries put together, though also granted, that isn't much. We're finally going to address that whole "collapse of spacetime" thing, as Knuckles leads Sonic to Rotor and Cobar's hidden laboratory to discuss the issue. Cobar is shocked that Knuckles knew the location of his lab, and Knuckles casually mentions that he likes keeping tabs on Lien-Da's favorite scientist wait excuse me what?! So all this time, Cobar has been in Lien-Da's employ, and we just never heard about it until now? Why are you so mistrustful of Lien-Da and yet totally trust the word of her favorite scientist when it comes to all this world-ending stuff? Ugh, I feel like I've spent far too much time and energy pointing out the many, many plot holes of this arc, so we're just going to move on like everything is fine. Rotor and Cobar explain the whole shebang to Sonic, while we get a short and useless scene of Julie-Su and Sally being unable to sleep and reiterating once again their worries for their husbands, and when we flip back to Sonic he's shocked to hear that he's the cause behind the acceleration of entropy on Mobius!

He tries to argue that it might have been the Dark Legion or someone else who had done a lot of zone-hopping in the past, but the two scientists insist that their experiments show that it was his fault. I really don't see how arguing over fault is going to help, especially when Sonic had literally no idea that actions he took when he was fifteen were going to someday contribute to the end of the world twenty-five years after the fact, but eh, again, we never claimed this story made any sense. Knuckles and Sonic leave, with Knuckles telling Rotor and Cobar to find a solution and fast, and as soon as they're gone a panel slides open in the wall to reveal who else but Lien-Da, who has listened in on the whole thing and is very curious about why exactly Cobar has been hiding all of this from her. Hmm, suspicious! Do you think we're finally about to get an answer about what treacherous deeds Lien-Da has been planning this whole time? Ah, c'mon, this is a Penders story, of course not!

#nala reads archie sonic preboot #archie sonic #archie sonic preboot #sonic the hedgehog #sth 141 #writer: karl bollers #writer: ken penders #pencils: jon gray #pencils: steven butler #colors: jason jensen

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amrita-gsk · 5 years

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So I have dozens of unfinished fanfics sitting on my PC because I have so many ideas but once I start to write I always hit that ugly writer's block and then my real life issues catch up to me and I get anxious and then never get to finish anything BUT my brain just can't stop giving birth to these ideas for a minute so I start a new story and the cycle just repeats itself over and over again, so I'm just gonna put them here and hopefully one day I'll get to write them and if not maybe someone else will adopt them, who knows, but I need to get them off my chest so here goes nothing:

A canon divergent story where after the end of the war Ichigo is told he must stay in SS because of how much his power had grown but he's conflicted because even though being a shinigami is his life and soul's calling he just can't bring himself to leave his family behind. He tries to talk it out with Kyouraku and even asks to be given a limiter like the captains and lieutenants but the latter just explains to him that even then it's too risky to allow him to remain in the human world and advises him to make peace with it and just prepare to say goodbye to his family and friends.

Rukia hears it from Ichigo after his meeting with Kyouraku is done and gets worried because she knows how important his sisters and dad are to him and is unable to accept the fact that after all Ichigo has done for THE WORLD he's still going to be forced to give up on the people he loves so she pleads to Kyouraku to allow Ichigo to stay in the human world but is given the same explanation.

So she decides to go to Urahara and ask him to create something to suppress Ichigo's powers enough so he wouldn't affect the world around him but he tells her that as long as he retains the tiniest piece of power they'll just continue to grow and then end up at the same problem sooner or later, so the only solution he can offer is to completely remove them. Rukia is taken aback by it, knowing that being powerless could only do more harm than good to Ichigo but having exhausted all the options, she resolves to give him the opportunity to choose. However, she decides to consult Isshin first as he could probably offer some kind of guidance as what could be best for his son but nevertheless he concludes the same as her: Ichigo would be miserable without his powers. So they go visit Urahara again and he offers them another solution: along with taking away his powers he could remove his memories of everything and anything spiritual related, so he would never know he had powers or even the ability to see ghosts, therefore becoming unable to be saddened by it.

Both Rukia and Isshin are shocked and Isshin is just starting to refuse when Rukia interrupts him and says that it's not ideal but that if that would allow Ichigo to stay with them then it's okay.

So she goes to Ichigo and talks to him about these solutions they came up with and at first he's outraged at the idea than she even considered he'd be willing to forget about SS and all his friends and internally and most importantly about her, but she argues that if they just take his powers away he'd be right where he started when Ginjou found him: restless and frustrated at himself and the world, unable to let go of the past or go forward and that everyone would hate to see him that way again. He tries to argue back but she just tells him to think it through and sends him home to his sisters. She arranged for a special permission so he could go back for a few days since he'd been staying in SS following the days after Ywach's defeat, so she sends him away hoping that being at home with his family will help him see which is the best option for him.

So he goes back home and after spending time with his sisters whom are basically glued to him 24/7 because where was he? Was he okay? Was he going away? (Isshin might have lightly touched on the subject of him having to live "far away" to prepare them), he comes to the conclusion that he loves them so much and cannot bring himself to leave them big brothers are born first to protect those that come after them, even if that meant he had to sacrifice his powers again. So he goes back to SS on the date he was required to and asks to have his powers removed but refuses to have his memories erased. Rukia is worried about it, but she respects his decision and tells him she'll try to visit him in a gigai now and then, unlike last time.

They spend time together in SS until the day to give up his powers come, but as they reach the place they prepared to do it, they are informed by Kyouraku that the 46 have deemed it necessary to erase his and his friends memories and those around them that came into contact with Aizen or were witness to anything Quincy or Arrancar related as it exposed the existence of the Soul King and now that it was dead, even though having being replaced by Aizen himself (fused with the hogyouku), them knowing that "god" could be killed was a risk they weren't willing to take as they could spread those ideas amongst the living and that could politically affect SS in the long run. They're both shocked and when Rukia tells them they have no right to take their memories away, Kyouraku tells her that as a high ranking officer on the Gotei as well as a member of a noble family she is exempt from the procedure, as well as the other lieutenants and captains but that Ichigo and his friends have no such privilege as outsiders and tells them they only have two options: to forget or be killed, such is the law in SS. She tells him it isn't fair and that they'll fight it, no matter how hard or how far they have to go, but Ichigo worries that this will just put another sword over her head just for his sake so he makes up his mind: if forgetting meant she could hopefully live peacefully now that Ywach was gone and her worst problem would be some hollows here and there that she'd be able to easily handle, then he'd go with it. It was painful, because he'd be losing his best friend and he'd forget everything they went through and maybe for better or for worse, end up being a different person, but he already felt guilty enough by giving up his powers after she worked so hard to give them back to him, so potentially turning her into a criminal and putting her at risk was completely out of the question especially if there was the chance for a peaceful solution.

So he tells her it's okay, that it's not exactly what he wanted but that it's what's best. She's completely shocked at his compliance, also sad and almost feels betrayed, but once again she decides that he's earned the right to choose land tries to convince herself that maybe if he forgets about everything he could have a normal and happy life, despite her own feelings about being forgotten.

So he gets his powers taken away and his memories erased and gets returned to the human world and lives a normal and somewhat happy life... Until three years later, by the time he's twenty-one when he gets caught in an accident and dies.

Isshin, whom got to keep his memories seeing as he was a captain once and was still a Shiba, disgraced or not they were still a family to be reckoned with, calls her to give her the news and tell her that by the time he arrived since Ichigo had moved out to Tokyo to go to university there he was nowhere to be found (his soul) so he asks her to help him, since he doesn't know if he had already been konso'ed or if he was just wandering around as a lost soul and he couldn't really go look for him himself as he has to handle his broken hearted daughters they got their memories erased too so to them he's dead-dead and can't leave them alone. Rukia listens to him completely frozen but once she gathers her mind she immediately goes searching for him. She does ask the shinigami in charge of the area and so she learns that a young man with orange bright hair was indeed sent to SS following the time of the accident and she informs Isshin of this, but they're both worried since that leaves them almost as clueless to his whereabouts since the souls sent to SS randomly appear in any of the Rukongai districts and as unique looking he is, the Rukongai was waaaaay too big to find him in just a day. However, Rukia promises to find him and let Isshin know as soon as she does.

Rukia calls in a few favors here and there to some people to help her find him (Rangiku, Ikakku, Yumichika and Renji offer to help out in her search when they're out on inspection) and even signs up to give some field classes to the Shinigami Academy students as to be able to go around and maybe be lucky enough to find him, and also spends all of her free time scouting the different districts of the Rukongai starting from the furthest out because she knows how rough it is the farthest the Sereitei is and without his memories she worries that he might not be completely fit to survive, but months pass by before she even hears a rumor of someone that could be him in one of the towns.

Once she gets word of it she doesn't wait and goes searching for him and gets there just in time as the town is being attacked by a hollow and it's horrified to find him trying to protect a group of children with nothing more than rocks as his weapons, throwing them at the hollow trying to divert its attention from the children. She quickly intervenes and gets between him and the hollow before it can claw at him, skillfully parrying it with her sword and making a clean cut in the middle of its mask, successfully purifying it.

She turns to him fully intending to yell at him for being so reckless, but he's already making his way back to the children to see if they're okay while she feels a sting of grief because he didn't recognize her. He doesn't even stop to look at her. She approaches him silently and after he makes sure everyone is okay, he finally turns to her and awkwardly thanks her. She asks if she can talk to him for a while and he acquiesces albeit in a guarded way. His lack of trust in her stings her heart again, but she swallows it and tells him she's been looking for him. He asks why and because she's under oath to not talk about anything related to the memories he lost, she just tells him that she was the officer in charge during the accident in which he died and that she had somewhat came in contact with his father, who pleaded her to find him and make sure he was safe.

When he hears about Isshin he visibly perks up and asks her if it's possible to see him, but she tells him it's not but that she had traced his ancestry and that he had family living in SS and that she'd be taking him there so he could be safe. At first he's reluctant to accept both because she was a stranger and because he wasn't very willing to leave the children he had come to care for. He tells her that after dying he had ended up there, confused and alone, and that he had found those children all alone, basically being abused by the adults, so he decided to protect them because he couldn't bear to watch them suffer and that they've taken a liking to him and treated him as a kind of adopted big brother and that now he just couldn't bring himself to simply abandon them.

Rukia is incredibly touched by this, remembering her days as a child in the Rukongai and how no one ever cared about her or her makeshift family but she had promised Isshin to deliver Ichigo to the Shiba as soon as she found him, so she promises to come up with something so Ichigo can be assured the kids will be safe and then she'll be able to fulfill her promise to Isshin since Ichigo says he won't leave until the kids are taken care of.

She talks to Kuukaku and Ukitake YES, HE'S ALIVE HERE and they come up with a plan to make an orphanage of sorts but they tell her that for it to be approved it needed to be backed up by someone of influence and even though the Shiba were still regarded as nobility, due to their fallen status the project would just be a failure if their name were used as its foundation. So she goes to the most influential person she knows: her brother. She brings the idea to Byakuya whom just listens in silence making her nervous because she knows he has a lot of responsibilities as the clan head and that he already did so much for her so she actually feels ashamed by asking him to do this, but as soon as she is finished he tells her to put together all the paperwork including location, costs and other administrative stuff and that he'll review it so it could be done as soon as possible.

She's so excited that she profusely thanks him and even throws in a hug and then goes to tell Ichigo the good news. It's another two months until the orphanage is up and running and Rukia has visited him every single day because "I need to give your dad a detailed report of your status" and when they finally admit the children in she takes him to the Shiba where they welcome him with a party. She records some of it and sends the videos to Isshin, who later gives her a call and thanks her in a teary voice. She obviously says there's nothing to thank her for and asks if he wants to talk to Ichigo but Isshin says that it's not the right time, since they'd have to explain too many things and they needed Ichigo to adjust first.

And so, the story goes on with an Ichigo which doesn't know why he's being given so much care an attention and why some things feel so familiar and a Rukia that has made her life mission to make sure Ichigo is safe and sound, wondering if they'll ever get back what they lost.

Some extras:

It has to start with a decent final fight against Ywach with the whole #IchigoTeam present.

Isshin and Ryuuken wouldn't just be standing around like pretty furniture and they'd finally have the chance to avenge their wives and have some god damn closure.

We get to know what happened to #TeamUrahara and maybe throw in a few stories about how Grimmjow and Neliel kicked some asses.

EVERYONE GOES TO COLLEGE, YES, ORIHIME TOO.

Since they erased all their SS and spiritual related memories, their friendships are also somewhat affected but Ichigo does end up befriending? Uryuu becase Isshin and Ryuuken bring them together as cousins.

Ryuuken kept his memories because LAST QUINCY STANDING BITCH. Also, plot reasons, I ain't gonna explain.

Uryuu becomes a fashion designer, Chad goes into child care HE'S A KIND GIANT and Orihime becomes a doctor being a healer is her calling, OH YEAH.

Ichigo? I'm still undecided about it but I'd say he went into psychology or something because by losing his memories of what really happened to Masaki he needed to find some answers within himself and decided he wanted to help other people with unresolved trauma like him. He could also have gone into modeling I don't know, I was going to kill him anyway, didn't really think his career too much, lmao.

UKITAKE. IS. ALIVE. He does delegate a lot of work to Rukia, Sentarou and Kiyone because he has to take it easy but HE'S. ALIVE.

Renji actually apologizes about the time he beat Rukia and then emotionally tortured her when she was jailed. He admits he was jealous of her relationship with Ichigo and it shames him now that he doesn't remember her.

He also supports her when Ichigo has his memories erased because even though she pretends to be okay both him and Byakuya know how much it affects her and he has a deep talk with her and even touches on the subject of when she was adopted and he let her go. STRENGTHEN THAT FRIENDSHIP ONCE AND FOR ALL, YO.

Byakuya is silent about it but he worries about seeing Rukia sad so he tries to be there for her as much as possible. At first Rukia is weirded out about it, but soon they're comfortable enough to talk about a lot of topics and no matter how busy they are he makes it a point to have at least one meal together a day or at least a cup of tea.

Isshin has a very close relationship with Rukia and after some time she comes to rely on him like a sort of fatherly figure, Isshin is obviously delighted.

At first Ichigo works at the orphanage as a care taker but because he does have spiritual power, once he learns about the Academy he decides that he wants to be a shinigami.

His powers come back because he's now a full spirit in a spiritual environment so... PLOT REASONS ANYWAY.

He learns about the war with the Quincy in the Academy and about a certain hero whose name isn't disclosed he's only referred as a "ryoka" and amongst other topics like the destruction of the Soukyoku, and he bashes said hero saying he was so stupid for not having a real plan during his invasion and also asks Rukia if the guy married the girl he was trying to save Rukia asked for her name to be changed as to keep her privacy because if he went that far for her he was probably whipped. She just chokes on air and tells him she doesn't know.

Ichigo does get bullied at the Academy due to being adopted by the Shiba if only they knew, his hair and his Rukongai origin but unsurprisingly he turns out to be some kind of genius, even considered to possibly be able to beat Hitsugaya’s record for graduating. Still, when he has a difficult day he talks about it with Rukia whom encourages him in her own way and also shares with him some of her experiences from when she was just adopted into the clan, since they were similar circumstances, which makes him feel assured.

Byakuya is actually happy when he sees the change in Rukia once she finds Ichigo and is extremely proud and touched when she presents him with the orphanage project which she named after Hisana because even though he couldn't protect Rukia as an infant, doing this now by Rukia's side feels like a good way to honor his wife's memory. DEM FRATERNAL FEELS.

Somewhere along the story Rukia realizes she has romantic feelings for Ichigo and starts to visit him less because she is conflicted about the fact that even though this is Ichigo and there are a lot of core characteristics that didn't change due to his memory loss, in a way HE IS different from the Ichigo she knew before so she just wonders if she's forcing her feelings on this version of Ichigo trying to fit him into the Ichigo in her heart and DRAMA ENSUES. YES, I DID GO THERE WITH THE MAN IN HER HEART, BYE.

Ichigo gets bothered by Rukia's avoidance but then realizes there's no real reason as to why she paid him so much attention after she fulfilled his father's request, so he starts wondering if there's something else at play while trying to understand why he feels so uncharacteristically lonely without her.

Ichigo also gets confused by things like other people's familiarity with him or how is it that he and Rukia can so easily communicate without words sometimes.

Plus: The troll trio a.k.a. Renji, Rangiku and Yumichika teasing Rukia about her feelings for Ichigo, telling her that he takes care of him almost like a mom but on the other side seem to want to get in his pants. “Just go get a bite from that strawberry!”, “I see you prefer them young, well you do have good taste...”,

I might write a few chapters here and there with some scenes I already thought up just to take them out of my head before I go mad, but I swear to god I need to just stick to one idea and see it through OTZ

#IchiRuki #fanfic ideas #more like a mess of incoherent rambles #I'm so sorry for dumping this on the tag #the real challenge here is keeping it IC #I know it looks dark and shiet but in my head there's a lot of comedy going on #with 400% fanservice #yes I would've made an extra chapter about Ichigo and Uryuu MAH BOIS

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