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niqhtlord01 · 2 years

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Humans are weird: Miscommunication

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The conference room was a bustle of chaotic activity as Senators Dof’ka and Uli made their final preparations. Their aides sifted through a dozen or so different piles of documentations containing treaties, local ordinances, historical litigations, previous trade disagreements, and a handful of other matters all to be discussed with the new human delegation set to arrive later today.

Now that the first contact war had come to an end, both the United Earth Sphere and the Coalition of Binary Stars would for the first time sit down and establish the new balance of power between their two power blocks.

Uli was particularly still surprised at how the war had ended. When it had first broken out he had expected the Coalition to stamp out the fledgling human domain. They were technologically inferior, held territories in only three systems, and were on first observations highly factional and unlikely to unite for a prolonged war. Yet after three brutal years of fighting the borders had largely remained the same.

The humans had shown an uncanny ability to adapt to their disadvantages and half way through the war began to turn the tide. Planets were lost, retaken, then lost again as offensive and counter offensive played out as the two powers fenced back and forth. Eventually both sides reached a point where continuing the war would provide no significant gains even if the other was entirely wiped out. So a series of cease fires began, followed by a general armistice along the entire front, and then finally a peace treaty was signed bringing the conflict to a formal end.

Now it was Uli’s and Dof’ka’s job to ensure that these conferences in the coming days build upon that peace and establish the new state of interplanetary affairs. Dof’ka’s role was to play the hammer, arguing strongly for deals favorable to the Coalition even at the expense of the treaty; while Uli’s role was to play the softer touch, tempering Dof’ka and appearing sympathetic to the human cause. Between the two of them they believed that through their combined efforts they could maneuver humanity into giving them the better end of the deal.

From the corner of his eye Uli noticed that Dof’ka was no longer listening to his aides as they rattled off the latest gathered information. His head was tilted down, his hands clasped together as his pitch black eyes remained focused on the table.

“Leave us.” Uli said, and the aides stopped their insistent chattering and shuffled out of the room.

Uli stood up from his side of the table and slithered over to Dof’ka. “What troubles you, Dof’ka?” he asked as he took the seat next to his friend.

Dof’ka looked up from the table at Uli’s words.

“This feels wrong.” Dof’ka finally said.

Uli tilted his head. “Can you elaborate?”

Dof’ka’s mouth twitched a few times as if he wished to say something but stopped himself until finally he sighed and spoke his mind.

“We have spent weeks preparing for this meeting, going over every detail and fact we could gather about human culture to give us the edge; and yet I cannot shake this feeling that we are missing something critical.”

Uli was surprised at his friend’s directness. He had known Dof’ka for many years and while many of them thought of him as nothing more than a blunt instrument Uli knew that is was all a façade. Dof’ka was just as skilled a politician and diplomat as Uli was, perhaps more so, and he knew how best to hide his intentions behind a mask of brashness. For him to speak his mind so freely was proof enough for Uli to know that these worries bore down hard on him.

“I cannot deny that I too share those concerns, my friend.” Uli replied, leaning back in his chair. “Though the Coalition has met humans in battle many times this will be the first we have encountered them.”

He casually waved a hand over the gathered documents still scattered on the table. “All the information we have is from other sources, hear-says, and even a few rumors tossed in on top.” He picked up a random file and opened it.

“This one says they are a carbon based life form that breaths toxic gases for life.” He grabbed another file and opened it. “This one says that their soldiers ritually scar their bodies with a type of ink in various patterns to invoke protection from their gods.” He tossed away the file and picked another one. “And this, this one claims that they willing jump out of perfectly good aircraft for fun.”

Uli hear Dof’ka let out a quiet chuckle before he composed himself again.

“We are in unknown territory, yes, but if we treat this like any other negotiation we have done before we will no doubt come out on top yet again.”

Dof’ka straightened up more at these words and nodded.

“As always yours is the voice of reason, my friend.” Dof’ka said.

“I would hope so,” Uli replied back with a grin, “otherwise I have been terrible at my job.” ------------------------

Six hours later the doors to the conference room opened and the alien ambassadors got their first look at a human in the flesh.

The human delegation consisted of five humans; three males and two females. The men matching black suits while the females wore grey suits. The one in the front of the group wore a brown sash across their suit that Uli wagered was some sort of symbol of authority.

They were a mixture of skin tones and heights. Some had short cropped hair, some had braids; but all carried themselves with a posture of authority Uli knew was universal among those of the diplomatic core.

These individuals were representing their people and carried the power to determine their fate; a heavy burden for anyone to bear.

Uli set his translator to active and held out his hand in common human greetings.

“We welcome you on behalf of the Coalition of the Binary Stars.”

The lead human smiled, but to Uli’s surprise the ones behind him looked at each other with what Uli had learned was a human expression of “unease”.

Before he could further ponder this, the lead human reached out with his own hand and grasped Uli’s.

“Les agradezco su amable hospitalidad y espero con interés las conversaciones entre nuestras dos naciones.” The human said as they shook Uli’s hand.

Both Uli and Dof’ka looked at each other in confusion. Uli checked his translator unit and everything seemed to be in working order.

“I’m sorry, but could you repeat that.” Uli said. “My translator unit appears to have been malfunctioning.”

The lead human now looked as confused as those behind him.

“Puedo entenderte muy bien, ¿puedes no entenderme?” the lead human replied.

Uli looked over at Dof’ka. He was likewise confused and checking his own translator unit, before looking back at the human delegation.

This negotiation was not starting as either of them had imagined. --------------------------

“I can’t believe how well that went.”

Sophia laughed as she reached over for a glass of wine.

The negotiations had ended two hours ago and the human delegation had returned to their quarters aboard the ship they had arrived on.

Mateo handed the glass to her and matched her smile with one of his own. “The look on their faces when they couldn’t understand a word we were saying was beyond priceless.”

“Serves them right,” Luna remarked as she sat back and stretched, “they honestly thought we only had one language and set their translators to English.”

“Putting them on the back foot from the very start of our negotiations,” Mateo remarked, “a diplomat’s perfect dream come true.”

Paul stood and raised his glass to Mateo. “To our lead negotiator,” he spoke, “may his deviousness know no end.”

#HUMANS ARE WEIRD #humans are insane #humans are space orcs #humans are space oddities #scifi #story #writing #original writing

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prettytoxicrevolver · 27 days

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Love Story | Trent Frederic

wc. 5.2k

It's a love story, baby just say yes

Your eyes flit around the stuffy ballroom, the heat causing your body temperature to flare and you can feel the prickle of sweat lining your features. Your hand is forced to be a makeshift fan, lifting to try and gather some air against your face. Finding no reprieve, you lean close to your brother, tugging at his suit jacket until he’s leaning down close to hear you.

“I’m going to step outside for a moment,” you tell him and when his eyes find yours he nods quietly.

“Be safe,” he responds and now it’s your turn to nod.

Your shuffle through the crowded room, smiling at some of the faces you recognize and nodding at the others you don’t. You finally make it to the balcony and step out into the cool summer air. The wind is a treat, blowing your hair lightly around your head and giving a much needed temperature change to your heated state.

You lean against the balcony, hands splayed on the cool metal as you look across the vast city. You can’t help but wonder how in the world you would ever get to know this unfamiliar place. How would you memorize the subway routes or the layout?

You turn away from your current dilemma, casting your eyes back towards the party in the ballroom to try and find your brother. When you do, he’s grinning wildly as he talks to another unknown person. The person turns and you’re met with a soft brown gaze that has your body temperature flaring up all over again.

You avert your gaze, unable to hold its intensity and look around at all the beautiful ball gowns floating by, the lights reflecting on the glitz and glam of the whole event. You find the courage to look back towards the set of brown eyes and watch nervously as he makes his way through the crowd.

You turn quickly, hoping he doesn’t notice your staring and try your best to act casual when he approaches.

“Hello,” you hear his soft soothing voice greet and you turn with a small smile.

“Hi.”

“I’m Trent,” he says, offering his hand in such a formal way that it makes your heart jump at the action. “Trent Frederic.”

“(y/n) Mcavoy,” you respond, slipping your hand into his and reveling in the feeling of how his skin feels against yours.

Recognition flashes across his face at your last name but he doesn’t show it otherwise. You’re quietly grateful he doesn’t say anything about Charlie.

“Beautiful huh?” he says instead, stepping further out towards the edge of the balcony.

“Sure is,” you murmur, turning back towards the view that captivated you moments ago.

“Have you lived here long?”

You two trade the basic information back and forth between you like a tennis match. Where you were from, how old you were, what you do for a living, what position he played in hockey, and so on.

“Uh, favorite Shakespeare play?” you ask, running out of basic questions.

“Shakespeare?” Trent asks, his shoulders shaking with laughter.

“I’m an English major! Gimme a break,” you joke back, bumping his shoulder with yours.

“Okay uhm,” he pauses and you admire him as he genuinely thinks about his answer to the question. “Romeo and Juliet?”

“Oh boo,” you yell back at him, cupping your hands around your mouth for emphasis and Trent nearly doubles over in laughter.

“Okay Miss English major, what’s yours?”

“Easy. Hamlet or Much Ado About Nothing,” you state with a shrug like it’s the most obvious answer in the world.

“Isn’t Hamlet the one where they all go crazy and die?”

“Yes, and?” you ask and Trent stares at you with a blank look before you’re both cracking up all over again. You’re both straightening up and calming down from your laughing fit when Charlie appears at your side once more with a soft smile and a curious glance towards his teammate.

“Ready to head out?” he asks and you nod.

“Nice to meet you Romeo,” you say to Trent and he grins at the nickname.

“See you around.”

“And what was that about?” Charlie asks when you’re out of earshot and you can’t help the eyeroll that is produced from your brother's question.

“Don’t worry about it.”

The second time you run into Trent is ironically at your own apartment. You were standing in front of your door, keys in hand as you shuffled to find the right one. Just as you do, your door swings open before you and a loud shriek leaves your mouth in surprise.

“Romeo?” you question when Trent’s guilty brown eyes finally land on yours.

“Come on man let’s go before,” you hear your brother's voice from behind Trent and lean around the hockey player to stare at Charlie.

“What are you doing in my apartment?”

“I thought I left my airpods here,” he states, shrugging his shoulders and pushing past Trent who is still stuck in the doorway.

“So, instead of texting or calling me, you break into my apartment with your partner in crime?”

“It’s technically not breaking in if he has a key,” Trent chimes in and you turn towards him with a look that says who asked you?

“Correct,” Charlie says, pointing at Trent in agreement before throwing him a thumbs up. “I gotta go pick up Kiley.”

Before you can hurl anymore questions or remarks back at your brother, he’s flying down the stairs and out of your apartment building. For one final time, you turn back to Trent who has a nervous look on his features, unsure of what to do.

“Gonna let me in Romeo? Or is there a secret password?” you joke and he flushes at your words, stepping aside and letting you into your own apartment.

“Come on in,” you call back towards him when you realize he’s still standing awkwardly in the doorway. His body half in and half out not sure which way to go. “You’ve already seen the place.”

“I’m really sorry about that,” he says, finally shutting the door and walking back into your place.

“Don’t worry,” you say, leaning back against the kitchen bar. “I know what it’s like getting caught up in one of Chucky’s schemes.”

“Was he worse as a kid?”

“You got six hours?” you ask jokingly and Trent grins.

Finally, you take a moment to pull off your jacket and shoes, put your bag away and pour a glass of water. You instantly pour one for Trent as well, holding it out to him and he thanks you quietly.

“Have you tried that new pizza place down the road?” he asks, breaking the silence.

“Not yet. I’ve been researching a bunch of places that I want to try out and it’s been on my list forever.”

Trent nods at your answer and you search his brown eyes for an explanation. He smiles sheepishly over his glass at you and the sight sends a slight shockwave through your heart.

“I haven't either,” he begins and you nod. “Have you eaten? Would you maybe wanna…I don’t know I don’t want to seem too forward we could order in or go there or not go at all I just,”

“Slow down there Romeo,” you joke and Trent is grateful for your interruption of his nonsense ramblings. “Show me the menu.”

Trent pulls up the menu on his phone and you start to scroll through it. Trent leans across the kitchen bar to look as well and you realize how close you are. You focus on glancing through the menu quickly when a loud sound erupts from your front door and quick footsteps echo through your apartment.

“Trent!” you hear your brother's voice and you both jerk your heads up so fast you end up knocking into each other.

“Fuck,” you curse out, dropping Trent’s phone onto the table and clutching at your head.

“What are you still doing here?” Charlie asks, accusatory eyes flicking between you and his teammate.

“Well we were thinking about getting dinner,” you mutter bitterly, still holding your head.

“Yeah, no,” Charlie says. He marches over to Trent, places both hands on his shoulders and starts to lead him out of your apartment.

“I’ll see you later?” you call out to Trent and get Charlie’s furious glance in return.

“No you won’t!”

You can’t help the small chuckle that releases from you at Charlie’s stubborn words and you roll your eyes. You loved Charlie but he was always going to be way too protective over you. Lord knows he’ll keep you away from Trent at all costs if he finds out you might be starting to develop a crush on the young player.

It’s been about three months since Charlie and Trent had been to your apartment and you were starting to miss Romeo’s big brown eyes. Trent had successfully been scared off from you by Charlie but that didn’t keep you from crossing his mind almost every day.

“Freddy you good?”

Trent is broken from his thoughts by Jeremy skating over to him, nudging the young player to gain his attention. Trent had been off all practice and while he was still fairly new to the NHL, it didn’t excuse how distracted he was today.

“Yeah man just thinking,” he says shrugging Jeremy off.

“About?”

“A girl,” he admits shyly and Jeremy grins.

“Well whoever she is, you better go get her soon. We don’t need you to be this distracted for the upcoming games.”

Trent thinks about Jeremy’s words for the rest of practice and ultimately till the moment he gets in his car he realizes he has to see you again. Seeing it’s only about 6 pm, he heads back to your apartment, having no other way to contact you.

You’re sitting relaxing in your living room, a hockey game playing on your TV in the background as you attempt to finish up some homework. Through the sounds of skates starting and stopping and the passing of the puck, you hear a sharp knock on your door.

You place your homework down on the coffee table in front of you and wonder if you placed an order for food and somehow forgot. However, when you open the door, your Romeo stands there before you.

“Hi,” Trent greets, awkwardly waving at you and you smile at his nervous actions.

“Hi?” you say, giggling a little at the weirdness of the situation. “What are you doing here?”

“I was wondering if you wanted to finally try that pizza place with me?”

Your heart flutters at the invitation and you smile widely at Trent.

“Give me a few minutes to change?”

You end up at an old school pizza place about 20 minutes later, Trent being kind enough to drive the two of you and you’re admiring the atmosphere as you wait for your food.

“Why do you wear number 11?” you ask Trent and he smiles at the continuation of your conversation from a few months ago.

“Well, I wanted the number 7,” he begins to explain, leaning forward as he answers your question and the closeness has you losing your breath. “But it was retired so I kinda liked the idea of 7 and 11 rhyming.”

You smile and nod, enjoying the explanation for his number. Growing up and watching Charlie play, you knew there was a certain special reason for the numbers players chose even though so many of them want to play it off as a random choice that meant nothing.

“What number would you pick if you played?”

Conversation flows like a lazy river between you and Trent and you’re shocked at how easy it all is. It felt like you had known him all your life and not like this was the third time the two of you have interacted. By the end of the night, your stomach hurts from laughter and you find yourself not wanting the dinner to end.

“How much do I owe you?” you ask when Trent grabs the check and scans his eyes over the total.

“Suddenly I’m blind,” he responds and you roll your eyes.

“How much do I owe you!” you insist, not wanting to come off as rude and not pay the boy back.

“We pay up front, right?” he asks, standing and gesturing for you to follow him.

“Trent,” you whine out, following him up to the register. He hands the check over and when the cashier announces the total you grin mischievously.

You dig around in your purse before pulling out your wallet and fishing out a 20. As Trent leans on the counter to sign the check, you sneakily pop the 20 dollars into the pocket of his sweatshirt. His eyes flick down to see what you’re doing and he tries to nudge you away with his arm.

“What are you doing?” he asks, giggling as he stands back up straight. “Get out of my sweatshirt.”

He nudges you away too late, the 20 dollars successfully slipping into his pocket and staying there. He turns to you and you offer your most innocent and heart stopping smile that has Trent shaking his head with a smile just as wide.

The two of you head back to your apartment, the conversation never ceasing until you get to the front door of your place. You turn around, instinctively leaning against the door and fighting the urge to invite him in.

“I had a lot of fun tonight,” you say, smiling up at Trent and he grins down at you.

“So did I. Would you wanna do this again sometime?” he asks, his nerves spiking as the words slip from his mouth.

“Same time, new place?” you respond and Trent grins.

“Sounds good to me.”

“See ya later, Romeo.”

Trent watches as you slip into your apartment, his heart beating wildly in his chest no doubt trying to fight its way into your place and attempt to stay next you forever. He sighs, a ridiculous and happy sigh, before turning away and thinking over every detail of tonight.

For the rest of the season you and Trent become completely attached at the hip. You went to dinner together every week at a new place, tried coffee shops in the mornings, new movies at either your place or his. Charlie could tell there was something going on between you two, but he never really could figure out exactly what.

The Bruins make it to the playoffs and you’re at every game you possibly can make up until their final one. You watched the boys fight hard and you knew both Charlie and Trent would be kicking themselves and feeling like they didn’t do enough for their teams.

You head down to the locker room, waiting in an eerie silence with the other wives and girlfriends. Kiley and you talk quietly but stop instantly when the boys start to trickle out. Charlie is one of the first and you offer a squeeze to Kiley’s hand before she makes her way over to him. You watch your big brother basically melt into his fiancee's embrace and you’re even more grateful for Kiley than ever before.

Your attention shifts when Trent comes out. His hair is a mess, his cheeks are flushed and his stare conveys every emotion he is feeling in that moment. His eyes slowly find yours and you see a sigh physically release from him. Without a second thought or a word exchanged, you’re making your way to Trent and pulling him into your arms.

“You played great, Romeo,” you tell him quietly and his smile is hard against your skin. When you pull back, you spot Charlie’s curious gaze and you break off from Trent and make your way over to your older brother.

“It’s okay if this loss takes longer than 5 minutes,” you tell Charlie, pulling him into a hug and he chuckles against you at the inside joke.

“I’ll let you know how it goes,” he responds and you smile. “I’m gonna head back to Kiley’s. Go cheer up Trent.”

You give your brother an accusatory glare and he chuckles before shoving you in the direction of Trent.

“Ready to go?” you ask Trent and he offers a sad smile and a nod. He takes a chance, wrapping an arm around your shoulders and you’re quick to reciprocate, the two of you heading out of the arena.

Trent spends the days following the loss at your apartment, claiming he needed to be around company or else he would think about the loss far more than he wanted to. You were happy to oblige, your heart picking up in pace whenever Trent was near sent you into a bliss that seemed endless until your beautiful bubble burst.

“Do you have everything you need?” you ask Trent, your arms folded securely across your body trying to keep yourself steady.

“Think so,” he says nodding to his heavy suitcase and your eyes pull to the straps of his backpack that is no doubt weighing him down.

You were mad at yourself and therefore mad at Trent for being so upset at his leaving to go back home for the summer. You knew he had these plans since way before he met you, but it still hurt nonetheless. You wanted him to stay, wanted to explore the city with him more, wanted to hope those simmering feelings for the boy might finally come to fruition.

“Three months and I’ll be back in no time,” he reminds you, nudging your saddened state.

Your eyes gloss over at his words, the reminder that you wouldn’t be able to physically be in his presence hurting so much more than you thought it would. You nod quietly in response to him, not able to trust your voice in the moment.

“Come here,” he murmurs quietly and you find yourself falling into his strong embrace, the warmth of his body circling yours to form a bubble around the two of you.

“Don’t go?” you ask pitifully, a tear or two finally making its way down your cheek.

“Three months. The second I get back, I’m yours.”

You hold onto those words from Trent all three months. The three months of summer where you slowly lose contact but only manage to think about the young hockey player even more. Three months where you bury yourself into work and family and so on to ignore the reminders and thoughts of Trent that never seemed to cease. Three months and you had started to question what happened to your Romeo.

The summer without Trent was like a year without rain. Dry, deserted, and uneventful. Waiting for the drought to end felt like it lasted for years.

When Charlie’s wedding had started to approach and you were in the midst of chaos leading up to it, your brain couldn’t help but think about how the hockey season would start shortly after as well. The idea of hockey and Trent made you feel like you were coming back to life. The drought has ended, the rain has come and you can see a rainbow forming on the horizon.

You impatiently waited for your Romeo to come back to you and in a weird twist of fate, he did.

Charlie’s wedding was a beautiful success. Kiley looked stunning, the library was decorated beautifully, Charlie was clearly over the moon happy, and you could finally relax knowing your brother was happily married to the girl of his dreams.

The speeches had come and gone, you were able to get lots of laughter and even a few tears out of your big brother and after dinner it was officially time to dance. You drank and partied and enjoyed the beautiful atmosphere. Your favorite song had just ended and you took a minute to walk away, get some air and relax for a moment.

“There’s my Juliet.”

Your whole body comes to life at the words from the boy behind you. You try to tamper down the ever growing smile on your lips but it escapes anyway. Trent’s eyes trail over your figure before you’re graced with those big brown eyes that have you weak in the knees.

“I was starting to wonder if you were ever gonna come back around Romeo,” you tell him and he smiles, looking down and shaking his head shyly before stepping towards you.

“Of course I came back,” he says and your heart picks up at the words. “Besides, I needed to properly ask you out at some point.”

You’re slightly shocked, especially at the fact that you and Trent had somewhat fallen out of contact over the summer. However, your heart was pounding wondering if Trent had been as head over heels as you were. If he thought about you all summer like you had.

“Can’t wait to catch up, Romeo.”

“It’s a date.”

The speed in which you and Trent became inseparable again was alarming to some, but comforting to you. Your weekly dinners, morning breakfasts and coffee shop stops all became dates that had your heart thrashing like a hurricane in your chest.

The one downfall in your honeymoon phase? Charlie, along with the rest of the world, still didn’t know about your relationship. You both were nervous to let anyone in on your relationship. The fear of the media is strong on Trent’s end and the fear of your brother's reaction on yours.

You were laying down on your couch, Trent was coming over soon and you were scrolling on your phone to pass the time. You spot a picture of Jeremy and his girlfriend, the instagram caption something adorable and you smile lightly at the happy couple. You like the photo, leaving a quick comment, and pause when you swipe back over to the photo.

You can’t help but wish you or Trent could post something like that. You wanted your friends to openly hype up your relationship, wanted the fans to call you guys cute, you even wanted the guys to chirp the two of you for being so deep in puppy love. Your thoughts keep you so distracted you don’t even realize Trent has made it to your apartment until he’s standing over you with a worried expression on his face.

“Princess?” he whispers, and your eyes move from your phone to his face, smiling sadly at your Romeo.

“What’s wrong?”

You sit up, Trent instantly coming around to sit next to you and pulls you into his arms. You rest your head against his chest, his hands come up to twist in your hair and you sigh quietly. Trent gives you a minute, wanting to give you the space to talk about it if you want to or move past it.

“I want to run away,” you murmur, turning to press your cheek against his chest.

“Where do you want to go?”

“Anywhere but here,” you admit and Trent worries about your words but plays along.

“Bahamas are beautiful this time of year,” he says and you laugh lightly.

“Running away from everyone, no job, relaxing on the beach, no media and no older brother? I think it’s an excellent plan.”

You finally sit all the way up, turning to fully face Trent and he gazes at you with so much intensity that you have to look away again. Trent leans in, presses a kiss to your cheek and when you turn to look at him he pecks your lips before cupping your face in his hands.

It's been a few days since that conversation with Trent when your relationship is exposed.

You had skipped the Bruins game today, deciding to stay home and get some work done with the stream playing in the background. You barely even register when the game ends, the stream switching to another game playing and you’re far too engrossed by your book to notice. The only thing that pulls you out of your strength is the sharp knock on your front door.

Your head tilts at the sound, the book in your hands dropping slightly. You wait for a moment and the knock becomes more prominent. You finally drop the book from your hands and make your way over to the front door. You expect your boyfriend on the other side, a guilty smile on his lips followed by an apology about forgetting his key, but you’re shocked when you meet your brother’s angry glare and a guilty look from Trent for a whole different reason.

“When the fuck did you two start dating?” Charlie demands.

Before you can respond, Charlie pushes past you and further into your apartment. Trent follows behind him but stops at your side, leaning down to brush his lips just over the top of your head before leaning down to whisper in your ear.

“Media found out.”

“Wha-”

“(y/n)!” your brother shouts and you flinch slightly. “Get in here and explain please.”

You and Trent slink guiltily into the living room, a million questions running through your mind as you face a half angry and half disappointed Charlie. You sit back down on your couch, running through the timeline of yours and Trents relationship and by the end of it, Charlie has settled on a look of disappointment.

“Why didn’t you tell me?”

“To be fair, I didn’t tell anyone,” you murmur in response and when Charlie glares at you, Trent nudges your side.

“I was worried about your reaction and I didn’t want the rest of the media to find out and have this whole fit about it and I didn’t want you to think I came here just to start dating some guy-”

“Hey!” Trent responds and you smile, leaning over and kissing his cheek.

“You know what I mean.”

“Firstly, gross,” Charlie says, pointing between the two of you. “Secondly, I’m pissed you didn’t tell me but I understand. Just be careful around the media now okay?”

You jump up, running over and hugging your brother tightly and he can’t help smiling at his little sister’s happiness.

The navigation around the media is hard at first, but you’re happy that you get to flaunt your man around now. It was killing you seeing all the fan pages and the girls who looked like models fawn all over your Romeo. The comments were of course pretty brutal at first and weren't looking too much better even after months had passed.

It had been a particularly long week, Trent was gone on a roadie, and you had back to back bad shifts and too much homework to do. You found yourself laying on the couch, ignoring all of your responsibilities and counting down the minutes until your Romeo came back home. You start to drift in and out of sleep, the weeks work finally weighing down on your body.

When you wake up for the last time, you find Trent next to you, running his fingers softly through your hair, You lean into his embrace, a sleepy smile resting on your lips and Trent can’t help but think about how infatuated he was with his Juliet.

“How are you doing baby?” he asks, his words barely above a murmur next to your ear.

“Still down to run away?” you ask in response, still desperate to escape from the world with your Romeo.

“I have a long weekend coming up,” Trent says and you watch as he twists a piece of your hair around his finger. “Clear your schedule next weekend and I’m all yours.”

Your eyes gaze over Trent, wondering if he’s genuinely serious about this. With him being away and the season winding down, your insecurities were running wild wondering if he actually wanted to be with you. If he actually wanted this to last, to work. If he didn’t, you didn’t think you would make it through a heartbreak that difficult.

Trent was your Romeo. You didn’t want to suffer the same fate Juliet did but you were okay with at least trying.

Trent was hoping his love story didn’t suffer the same fate as the age old drama. He wanted this to last for the rest of his life. That’s why he had already asked Charlie’s permission to marry you.

Over the recent roadie, he had pulled Charlie aside and explained everything. He knew how hard everything with the media had been with you and how your insecurities were running rampant and he didn’t know a better way to reassure you. He could be engaged for a few years, but he wanted to give you that fiancee title if you let him. He wanted to give you that constant reassurance through a ring on your finger and a commitment he would never break.

Charlie was hesitant at first. The two of you are young and having just gotten married himself, he knew how big of a step this was. But when he saw the determination in the young players' eyes and remembered the smile on your lips whenever someone even mentioned Trent, well how could he say no?

“This place is beautiful,” you say, eyes wandering around the small cottage that Trent had rented for your weekend away. It was quaint, with all the feelings of an older home and the lived in feeling you loved. It had character, as your mom would say.

You and Trent get settled, touring around the small property, taking a quick nap together before getting up and cooking dinner. Your conversation ranges from topic to topic and Trent is practically shaking with nerves the whole time. He’s been waiting and waiting for the perfect moment and didn’t want a single thing to go wrong.

Your mind was still fluttering with the idea that maybe Trent took you here as a last hooray before you weren’t together anymore. You had been trying to ignore those feelings for the whole drive up from Boston but they still plagued you.

“Wanna go look at the stars?” Trent asks and you nod, heading into the rapidly chilling night air with him.

The back porch is raised up, vines and plants covering the area with fairy lights strung around to create a romantic atmosphere. You can’t help but lean into Trent’s embrace as you stand outside and look at the stars. The ones you had both shared for so long, ones that were around before you and would be there after you and would comfort you till your final days.

“Princess?” Trent whispers, turning to fully face you and you smile up at him.

“I love you. I care about you so incredibly much,” his words are soft in the night air and your eyes are already brimming with tears from the words spoken.

“And I was wondering,” he continues.

You watch with wide eyes as he kneels down on the ground and pulls out the most beautiful ring you had ever seen. You blink a couple of times, wondering if this was all in your head but you’re quickly brought back to the moment when Trent takes your hands.

“Marry me, Juliet,” he begs more than asks and you chuckle quietly at the nickname. “You’ll never have to be alone. I love you and our date nights, our early mornings, the way you’ve always called me your Romeo and that’s the only thing I really know so please, just say yes.”

And just like that, the worries disappear. You get your Romeo, forever.

“Yes.”

#prettytoxicrevolver fic #trent frederic x y/n #trent frederic drabble #trent frederic fic #trent frederic x reader #trent frederic imagine #boston bruins x y/n #boston bruins x fic #boston bruins x reader #boston bruins imagine

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kyufessions · 10 months

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acknowledgement

genre: fluff, domestic

pairings: boyfriend! jiseok (gaon) x g.n. reader

word count: 0.7k

a/n: been crushing on jiseok pretty heavily recently so here this is ! informal + formal speech is intended

general taglist: @jwnghyuns @eaudenana @soobin-chois

xdh taglist: @seokka0o • @tentenharuno • @jisungie-han

patience is key. well, not in jiseok’s book. you told him you’d be done with your essay within two hours, but it’s only fifty minutes in and he’s already whining your name as he mindlessly strums on his guitar strings. he does this every time he wants your attention: calls your name, then once you stop responding after a while he breaks out his trusty acoustic guitar and begins strumming a made up melody and and sings your name over and over to the tune. maybe he’ll add some silly remarks here and there but that’s about it until you give in and give him what he pleases (which is normally cuddles or kisses).

“자기야~” you hear from only a few feet away as your boyfriend sits up on your bed, feet dangling as he swings them back and forth mindlessly with a permanent pout across his lips. “보고싶다~”

you bite the inside of your cheek in an attempt to withhold your growing smile, re-reading your essay for any misinformation or spelling as your fingers draw circles on the wooden desktop. “jiseok, baby-“

“aha! acknowledgement!” he yelps happily with a wide grin you can hear from just his voice alone.

you shake your head, still withholding your smile. “i need to focus. please. i’m almost done, anyway.”

for the next half an hour the only sound you can hear is the keyboard and background noise of jiseok playing a game on his PS5 with jooyeon. as you submit your essay quicker than you originally thought you would, you smile happily to yourself as you close the laptop and move out of your desk chair and walk into the living room. jiseok doesn’t notice you right away as he plays, the noise from his headphones being heard as you approach the room and sit on the couch. for a while, you watch him play his game. not knowing anything at all, but still secretly rooting for him.

time passes as you just go between scrolling through tiktok and watching him play whatever game he was immersed in, no attention given to you whatsoever. “damn, is this how he feels?” you mumbled, now being the one with a pout upon your lips. you call his name a few times, but no answer. just him talking loudly about the game to jooyeon.

you decide to get up and sit next to him, your front side facing him as you stare at him. you thought that’d work, but unfortunately it doesn’t. he’s so into the game that he doesn’t realize your presence until you wrap your arms and legs around him. once he feels your legs wrap around your waist is when his eyes widen and he pauses the game, looking over at you with a small grin.

“aha! acknowledgement!” you tease, placing a quick peck on his lips before smiling innocently. “you’re really good at video games.”

“hey jooyeon, we’ll finish this game up later.” he says into the mic of his headphones, quickly closing out of the game and tossing his controller to the side.

you watch as he jumps back into your arms, wrapping himself around you like a koala bear and smothering your face with minuscule, sloppy kisses. “how long were you waiting for me?” he asked between kisses, smiling to himself as he heard your giggles.

“not too long, only twenty minutes.”

he stops mid-kiss to pull away and look at you, frowning dramatically. “why didn’t you stop me sooner?”

you shrug, leaning up to peck the tip of his nose. “you looked like you were having fun, i didn’t want to disturb you.”

jiseok makes a tsk sound with his teeth, shaking his head. he cups your face in his hands as you lay back on the floor, eyes staring at him with stars as you admire his effortless beauty. even like this with his hair a mess from the lazy day you’ve been spending together and his face unshaven, you still feel more in love with him than you would any other day.

“just let me know next time, you can never disturb me.” with a swift nod of your head, he smiles down at you and places a quick kiss to your lips before picking you up bridal style and shuffling down the hall to the bedroom. “now we can cuddle and watch that new show i was telling you about if you want!”

you do nothing but stare at him with your head on his chest, laughing at his excited-like antics. “i’d love to.” you could get used to days like these.

#kyufessions xdh #xdh #xh #xdinary heroes #xdinary heroes fluff #gaon fluff #jiseok fluff

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lycantripuwu · 1 month

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Session updates!!

Dinner and Ball at Ravenloft, Reek is Dhampir, Mirre has his court case against Anastrasya and wins! Reek is now Reek Uldras. exploration. start of tome heist.

-After hopping into the black carriage and having some trippy statue experiences, we arrive at Ravenloft.

-Rahadin leads us to our rooms and we change into our formals and leave our weapons in the room then travel down to the dining room. Rhil chatting up Rahadin who is actually responding to her now vs the first time they met.

-Strahd is playing her organ alone when we get there. Strahd explains that she dosen't want things to be hostile between us and wanted to personally thank us for the return of St.Andral's bones.

-She states she wants to get to know us better and questions go back and forth. Mirre asking the more serious questions(why does Ireena interest you?) and Rhil being her silly self.(Whats your fav animal?"

-They get on the topic of Dirrak and learns that while Strahd DID drop the body off at his order's doorsteps, she wasn't actually the one who killed Dirrak. Dirrak was found dead on Argynvostholt's steps and Strahd believes Vladimir killed him. Strahd brings up possibly hiring Mirre to "deal with some ghosts" in the future.

-While Strahds interest has been on Mirre most the time during this, she has subtly shown desire towards Rhil. She dosent seem to care too much about Jace.

-the rest of the guests show up, Ludmilla, Escher, Volenta, Anastrasya and Reek.

-We eat and chitchat, Mirre getting Reek to talk to him a little bit, but its clear Reek is terrified of Anastrasya. Though Mirre did get a couple snickers and smirks, showing he wasn't just a mindless spawn.

-We do a toast as we finish up dinner. Anastrasya trying to get Mirre angry tries to make Reek drink blood out of a cup for the toast. Reek ends up dropping the glass, Mirre quickly checking to see if hes alright while Anastrasya yells at him and tries to get another cup. Strahd promptly shuts her down after she caused a scene.

-After checking on Reek, Mirre discovers that Reek felt warm. Before he could investigate further, Anastrasya grabs Reek by the arm and drags him out to where we are having the ball.

-Strahd asks Mirre to stay back while the others left, They talk a bit and Strahd offers Mirre a necklace with a red gem. She tells him he has to keep it on him at all times and cant tell anyone about it. Mirre gets bad vibes from this and turns down her offer, explaining it would rub him the wrong way hiding something from the group, especially as the designated leader of the group. Strahd understands and they both head out to the dance.

High lights from dance:

-Rhil and Jace have their adorable dance first, Mirre and Anastrasya dance too. mostly Anastrasya berating him while he ignores her.

Rhil goes to dance with Rahadin, him actually offering to help show her how to dance. They have a pretty heavy conversation, Rhil gets a lot of backstory regarding the betrayal, the drowning of dusk elf female and children(which he had no part of), They talked about Mother Night and her history.

Rahadin brings up Rhil's black arms and black ear tips and inform her that those mark sinners among their kind and he wont pry, but others may be afraid of her or hate her for them.

tho he praised her heavily for killing the hags.

-Mirre dances with Reek: they have an emotional conversation and Mirre figures that Reek isnt a spawn, but a Dhampir! Anastrasya put some control spell over him when he was reborn and can make him do things.

-Which she does when Mirre goes to hug Reek by having him jab Mirre with a claw. not enough to do some true damage.

Anastrasya and Rhil: after a nat20 deception and manipulation, Anastrasya thinks her and Rhil are buddy buddy and shares some of what she did to Reek and her plans with him. Rhil determines shes batshit crazy. Anastrasya is convinced Strahd's going to let her win the case over Reek and has no evidence and is underprepared.(lucky for Mirre)

Mirre and Escher: Mirre very quickly ends up pissing off Escher, but gets a lot of information on his past party.

Rhil and Cyrus: She dances with him and learns about the abott and abbey, The teachings of lathander sound pretty accurate but determines something is off, her dance ends and she suggests Jace dance with Cyrus. Jace and Rhil agree that something is off and it sounds like the faith is being manipulated.

Mirre and Strahd: Mirre nat20's his performance check and impresses Strahd further, They have a conversation about leadership and how impressed shes been with his talents.

Rhil and Strahd: Some casual chitchat, Strahd gives Rhil a long list of places to check out in Barovia. after they finish their dance Strahd pulls Rhil aside and offers her knowlege of her people, back when cerrunos was a thing. She also brings up that Rhil might be able to get Rahadin to smile. Strahd offers Rhil the same necklace Mirre was offered, Rhil is tempted but turns strahd down for the same reasons of not wanting to hide things from her friends.

Dancing resumes, Mirre having danced with everyone decides to dance with Rahadin.

Rahadin isnt really talkative until Mirre brings up Rhil. When Mirre asks why.

Rahadin says Rhil is kin and that she represents something their people lost long ago "hope", He dosn't want to see that spark snuffed out. Mirre determines its more then that, but dosent press further.

He tells Mirre that Rhil is on a dangerous path and to not let her go into the dark alone, because "That happy smile might not come back out"

Mirre states he will be there with her every step, just like Rhil would be for him. Rahadin approves.

Rahadin warns him to keep Rhil away from Ludmilla and Kasimir, because they will lead her to ruin. Even says that being a bride to Strahd might be a fate Rhil wont want.

for the rest of the dance, Rhil tells Rahadin some fun stories about Rhil and the silly things shes done. Rahadin listening intently to every word.

Volenta harrassed and unnerved everyone she danced with haha

Ludmilla and Mirre, They talked a bit and Ludmilla seems very interested in Mirre and his abilities. hinting at a possible alliance. Ludmilla didnt show any interest in Jace and said Rhil reminded her of Patrina but that's about it.

The dance ended and we moved to the audience hall to begin the case for guardian ship of Reek.

Mirre and Anastrasya stood in front of Strahd and gave their statements. Mirre provided his evidence and eye witnesses.

Anastrasya brought up that we originally stole the children from the hags(which we did) and Rahadin was brought up as a witness.

Rahadin actually stood up for us, saying he didn't even see us there nor was there evidence.

Anastrasya pressed further and Strahd was upset, feeling like Anastrasya was claiming that Rahadin was lying.

Anastrasya quickly dropped the point.

Mirre had written eye witness reports from 4 different people, Verified by Baroness Fiona Wachter herself. Also letters from Anastrasya that he held onto.

Mirre and Anastrasya debated back and forth, Mirre making good points and Anastrasya seemed to ramble.

Anastrasya pulled out the dagger Mirre gave Reek, claiming it was unsafe for a child. Mirre admitted that was reckless of him and owned up to his mistake. Strahd held onto the dagger at the throne.

we close our statements

Strahd did a whole "Bachelor handing off the rose" type thing but with Reeks dagger.

MIRRE WON!! Strahd also enchanted the dagger for Reek as an adoption gift, stating that Reek will be known as Reek Uldras.

The dm did this arguement with points. If you had a good point and good arguement, you got a point. if you lost an arguement, you lost a a point.

Mirre ended up with 10pts and Anastrasya ended up with 6

Lots of cheering from the party and after the consorts/brides left.

Strahd congratulated Mirre and gave us permission to wander the castle minus a few places.

after some emotional moments with Reek and Mirre. We set off to hunt down Strahd's tome.

#dnd #ttrpg #dungeons and dungeons #curse of strahd #mirre uldras #rhil darkstar #jace brightcrest #strahd von zarovich #rahadin #anastrasya karelova #dinner at ravenloft #Reek Uldras

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wouldntyou-liketoknow · 1 month

Text

Miles C. Peyote and Howie Thetaxi

(I’ve already made an information post like this, but said post is pretty long; in fact, it’ll just get longer and more expansive as I develop new characters and stories for [The Future Mob Project]. And I’m worried that the sheer length will make readers lose interest when they click on a link to look for a specific character. So, I’ll be making separate information pages for each character while still maintaining the all-inclusive post. Got it? Good.)

Who They’re Based Off Of: Lewis Dawkins (Dawko) and Ryan (8-BitRyan), respectively.

Their Methods of Work: When your reputation precedes you from all the way across the pond, you’ve definitely done something right! (Unless that was never your intent, in which case you’ve done something horribly, horribly wrong.) Remember the board game Mouse Trap? Well, Miles probably played it a few too many times in his youth, if the booby traps he sets up nowadays are anything to go by. Whether the goal is to kill or simply capture someone, his designs never fail to be. . .elaborate. Howie, meanwhile, doubles as a mechanic and driver. From ditching cops to running enemies off the road, he has more than enough skill to make professional racers envious. Never, NEVER forget the importance of seatbelts if you’re getting into a car with him. (Also, never put your feet on the dash. It’s rude.)

Red Attire: For Miles, a pair of leather boots (Oxblood). For Howie, a pair of gauge earrings (Carnelian)

Notes:

These two got their start in The Marble Hummingbirds, a different mob based in the UK that has had a strong alliance with The Pentas Family for years now. As part of standard underground affairs, Miles and Howie volunteered to relocate to the United States and work more closely with Murdock and the others. The adjustment was a bit difficult (especially for Howie), but they both understand that it makes several aspects of business more efficient. They both retain a good balance of loyalty between their original crew and their new one.

Miles is selective when it comes to speaking. He’ll talk freely when he’s among people he trusts or is in a place that he’s deemed safe/comfortable, but when he’s out in public, he’s just. . .very quiet. He’ll still talk a little for the sake of politeness or formality, but only a little. If an area is open or unfamiliar, he’ll usually prefer to use body language and the like. (This does absolutely NOT stop him from cackling like a maniac over his traps, but again, that usually takes place in more secluded, secretive areas.)

Howie has no qualms about reckless driving. Swerving, speeding, staging accidents; he can do it all without batting an eye. Whatever it takes to get himself and his buddies (plus their cargo) from Point A to Point B without getting stopped or caught. Keep in mind, this mindset only applies to his personal driving. When he’s casually out and about, he can’t stand other drivers who tailgate, block lanes, cut others off, etc. If you act rude toward him in traffic, he can and will make a side-quest out of finding a way to get back at you. And yes, this extends to when he’s on the job. It’s not at all uncommon for him to go back and forth between chatting with his passengers and yelling at idiots on the road in the middle of a high-stakes-chase.

Miles has a habit of collecting plushies; especially odd-looking ones. (For example: the creepy-yet-cute stuff you might find on Etsy.) But his plushies aren’t just for aesthetic or decoration—they serve the purpose of secretism. He’s modified each and every one of them to be soft little storage units. Some have well-hidden zippers in their backs, while others have their heads function as the lids to jars stuffed inside their stomachs. Miles uses this strategy to hide valuables, such as varying sums of money or the odd piece of jewelry taken from a target.

Howie is miraculously conscious of animals on the road. That’s one of few exceptions to his typical stance on get-away-driving. He'll always make sure to avoid hitting cats, dogs, raccoons, deer. . .or squirrels. As a matter of fact, one squirrel that he managed to spare back in the day seems to have pledged a life-debt to him. Seriously, he met this squirrel while he was still working in the UK, and by now it’s followed him to the US. Wherever Howie is, the squirrel always seems to be somewhere in the background, just watching and waiting. Howie doesn’t see this squirrel as a pet, but he doesn’t have a problem with its presence (even though he’s somewhat unnerved by it).

Along with all the get-away driving stuff, Howie has helped The Pentas Family to form its very own chop-shop. Whenever cars are stolen from targets or enemies, Howie will be there to dismantle or sabotage said cars. Legitimate parts are sold, and certain jobs involve filling a vehicle with counterfeit parts in order to frame its owner.

Ever since relocating, both Miles and Howie live out of The Five Seasons, a hotel near the Cove Port Inlet’s city entrance. The building is connected to the abandoned subway tunnels, and the duo rotates between sharing the hidden den; Miles will use it to build/test his traps, and Howie will use it simply to store/tamper with various car parts. The hotel just so happens to be right across the street from the car repair garage (Oh, For God’s Brake!) that Howie uses for his day-job.

Current Stories: [TBA]

@sammys-magical-au

#my writing #miles c. peyote #lewis dawkins #dawko #dawko egos #howie thetaxi #8-bitryan #8-bit egos #my fan egos #fanmade egos #the pentas family #[the future mob project]

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fuh-saw-t · 1 year

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I saw your post about neopronouns, so please explain: thou

(Btw, no need for this to be concise or anything. You just seem to really enjoy this subject so I wanted to give you an easy way to ramble. I love seeing people talk about the things they love!)

Where art thou, 'thou'?

All (bad) jokes aside, the linguistic timeline of 'thou'��or, more accurately, thou/thee/thy in the modern form of identifying pronouns—is one of my favorites I've ever looked into. I find it so fascinating. Thanks for the ask!

To best understand this, I think it'll be fun to make a timeline. So, here we go:

Old English

We're just getting started.

When modern speakers hear 'thou', we mainly associate it with religious texts or Shakespeare, which is understandable—the usage of 'thou' dates far back.

'Thou' was a singular pronoun, derived from Proto-Germanic, appearing as 'þu' (thu) in Old English (which, for the record, was over a thousand years ago—long before Shakespeare—and used between the years 450-1150). The fact that it was a singular pronoun is the important bit. Today, we see 'you' as being numerically ambiguous; we could be referring to a singular person, or many people, but in older forms of English the pronoun to refer to a singular person was for 'thou', leaving 'you' as a plural.

Middle English

Here come the French.

Then, as French continued to influence English, turning it to the much more readable Middle English (the language of Chaucer, for context), 'thou' was gradually pushed to the sidelines as the plural 'ye' and 'you' expanded to be used as a singular, too.

French's influence made the English 'you' the equivalent of the French 'vous': it is now formal—what you would use to address someone of high or equal social standing. In turn, 'thou' declined (in a process attributed to semantic derogation) to an informal pronoun used to address someone you were intimate with or, most notably, someone beneath you in the social rankings.

Early Modern English

Here's where things start to get bumpy.

In the mid-1600s, in comes George Fox who, in my words, would be described as a filthy prescriptivist. He was the founder of the Quakers, and a large part of early Quaker rhetoric was to avoid class distinction—something I could certainly get behind. Quaker speech, therefore, consciously avoided 'you', opting to use the more neutral thee/thou for everyone regardless of social standing. This extended to them sometimes getting into trouble for refusing to call judges 'your honour', and so forth. Thee/thou became associated with Quaker speech, and not many people liked the Quakers. However, this isn't the biggest impact on the usage—far from it, in fact.

The biggest reason, I believe, that 'thou' lost its popularity is because of developments in society—most notably travel and the industrial revolution, as well as the growing merchant class in the 17th century, which was when this pronoun really hit a decline. People stopped using 'thou' as often because it became harder to judge the class of whom you were speaking with. Social mobility disrupted the otherwise clear and stagnant order of British society. It would be a terrible insult to call someone above you 'thou' on accident, and so you would default to 'you'.

In fact, in Early and Late Modern English, 'thou' became an insult. Perhaps in one of the more surprising turns from something that was once a simple pronoun, to 'thou' someone (morphed into a verb) would insult them. As more people used the pronoun as a method of insulting others, it was favoured even less.

Rolling back to George Fox, a famous line of his goes as follows: "We were often beset and abused, and sometimes in danger of our lives for using these words to some proud men, who would say, 'What! You ill-bred clown, do you thou me?'"

From a simple, singular second-person pronoun, to a token of informality, to an insult, 'thou' has definitely had a ride. And, with its current association with religion, poetry, and the old classics, I earnestly hope it doesn't stop rolling.

#language #pronouns #ask blog #fsasks #lingpost #linguistics #english language #english #uk #writing #thou #history #language history #british history

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waywardstraysau · 1 year

Photo

Their first class of the day was a basic, introductory lesson about the school itself, how it operated and the vocabulary they were likely to hear. Ford was excitedly waiting for them, with a massive smartboard behind him and some notes already written on it. He greeted them brightly, and gestured for them to sit at any of the half dozen desks in the small classroom. He explained that while this had been intended to be a formalized class for the entire student body, it eventually had to be cut down due to how little they actually knew. Now it was only held maybe once a month to inform the students of any new discoveries or breakthroughs regarding other worlds and traveling to them. The field was in its infancy, they had many more theories than actual facts.

Hunter was staring at the smartboard before them, his eyes wide at the strange device, Luz meanwhile was impressed the school had one at all. She had heard of more well off schools using them and even seen a few being sold online, but this was her first time seeing one in real life. King had taken a break from trying to lift every small nearby object with his new psychic spikes and leaned in to pay attention. “Now, this is a crash course lesson,” Ford explained, “There’s a few basic facts that you need to know that’ll make things easier while you’re here.” “Like… rules?” Hunter asked, the tiniest bit of enthusiasm in his voice. “Well, those too, but the main thing you’re going to learn is some of the terminology we use here in regards to the various worlds we’ve discovered. It’s mostly category titles to simplify things when we talk about them, as well as a few others you’ll need to know.” The teenage boy scowled but Luz leaned in, curious as to where this was going. “The first one is the easiest and most straightforward: “Door”.” “...I’m sorry, ''Door”? Is that what you said?” Luz questioned, her face slightly scrunched up. “Yes, it’s an umbrella term for all the ways in and out of the other worlds. The students have more specific names for them like “Ghost Portal” or “Little Door” and so on, but they just lead to one specific world and that’s it. Using “Doors” to cover it all helps keep things a bit easier in the long run.” “Huh… that… actually makes sense. Are they all door-shaped, the one Eda used to travel back and forth between the Boiling Isles and the Human Realm literally was one.” “Oh no, those actually are quite rare. Most look like swirling vortexes, some look like glowing magic water, so forth and so on, you get the jist.” Ford was happy to see the three of them were now leaning in, Hunter’s eyes were wide and shining, Luz was taking notes in her phone and King’s tail was wagging, almost like he was listening to a good story. “Now, the next term is “the Great Compass” though the Compass itself doesn’t come up too often. It’s the four, quote unquote, “directions” that are important.” He pointed to a drawing of a basic graph. “When I first started my research into other worlds, I found they landed somewhere within four “directions” as it were. However, as my understanding grew, I came to the realization that it had nothing to do with actual coordinates and that it was more a set of rules or patterns that the worlds would follow. As such, I chose to keep the terms to keep the understanding simple, even if they aren’t exactly accurate. Follow so far?” They nodded. “Good. Now, the four directions are Nonsense, Logic, Virtue, and Wicked and they’re exactly what they sound like. Nonsense worlds tend to work within their own sets of rules, for example, Luz, have you ever seen the Wizard of Oz?” “Of course I have,” she nodded, “I mean, it’s been a while but I have seen it.” “That is a perfect example of a Nonsense world. Logic worlds meanwhile are more based in scientific reasoning, like… think of black and white horror movies, Dracula, Franknstien, the Wolfman, their science may not work here but those worlds rely on it all the same.” “...okay, I see what you mean,” she rubbed her chin, and the gears in her mind were spinning. “...I have no idea what you’re talking about,” Hunter droned, looking utterly deadpan. “Yeah, I think we’re missing something here!” King snapped. “Don’t worry guys, I’ll show you those movies later,” she offered with a warm smile. “Thank you Luz, that will be a big help,” Ford smiled, “Now, the last two, Virtue and Wicked, can be a bit misleading. It doesn’t mean that the worlds are inherently bad or good, but more like a utopia vs an apocalypse. From the ones we’ve been able to properly explore and document, there tends to be a pattern of Nonsense and Virtue overlapping regularly, while Logic and Wicked do the same. However there are always exceptions to the rules. You all met Coraline yesterday, the world she went to was Average Nonsense and Very High Wicked, to the point she’s lucky to have escaped with her life.” “...it was that bad?” there was a twinge of worry in Luz’s voice. “Yes. If you want, you can ask her yourself.” “Follow up question!” Hunter said quickly, “Is the threat from that world able to come here?” “Oh no, the actions she took following her little adventure ensured no one would ever be able to enter that world again. Oh, and while we’re at it, it’s common courtesy here not to tell new students about someone else’s world unless they've given their express permission. Personal business and so on.” “That makes sense,” Luz said softly, and began to consider if she’d do the same, “Is there anything else?”

“There are a few more things, yes. There are some lesser directions on the compass, ones that can appear, but don’t always. The four I listed are constants and every world falls somewhere between them. These lesser directions include Whimsy, Rhyme, Linearity, Reason and a few we have yet to name. Now, the last big bit of information is Vitus vs Mortis.” “What and what now?!” “Oh this is a fascinating one! Whether or not the residents are among the living or the dead! It also relates to if the world and/or land itself has something significant to do with the dead!” The teenagers paused and looked at each other, now both of their brains were buzzing with ideas from this information.

“That leads me to this next question,” Ford said with a smile, “If you had to decide, where on the Compass would you kids place the Boiling Isles?”

“Wait, you’ve been there,” Hunter explained, “Shouldn’t you already know that?”

“I was only there for a short time, my boy,” he sighed, “And it was long before I came up with this system. As such, I can’t trust my own experience to be accurate, plus it helps to get our students’ opinions on it. They may have experienced something or seen things in a perspective we might not have considered. Let’s start with uh… King! King, what are your thoughts?”

“I ‘unno,” the young demon shrugged, “It’s all I ever knew, I never thought about this kinda stuff before. It just was what it was, ya know?”

“I see. Luz, Hunter, your thoughts?”

“Well it’s obvious isn’t it?” the young witch answered with a confident smirk, “Logic and Virtue, oh and Vitus. I mean, it might have been different during the Savage Ages, wait, could a world even change its alignment like that? If there was a significant enough change maybe? Anyway, as I was say-”

“Whoa there! Thank you Hunter, I appreciate your enthusiasm and you can go into more detail in a moment,” Ford smiled, “But I'd like to hear Luz’s opinion as well.”

He grunted but conceded as he shot a sharp look at Luz, who looked uncomfortable, almost cringing as she answered.

“I uh… kinda have to go the other way around. Nonsense, Wicked and Mortis.”

“What?! Are you crazy?!” Hunter snapped and standing up from his desk.

“Well I-“

“Now now, we can discuss this like adults,” the scientist interrupted, “Hunter, explain your reasoning please.”

“Hmph! Well for one, Logic because Belos created the Coven System and brought order to magic. Virtue because the Coven System was given to us by the Titan and made everything better! And Vitus because everyone is alive back home.”

Ford paused for a second before taking out a notepad and made a note, “Mhm… Luz, your thoughts?”

“Well… Nonsense because a lot of the stuff there is like something from a twisted kid’s book, ya know, the fairies, boiling rain, you get the idea. Wicked because the boiling sea isn’t exactly safe, there are giant monsters and people can do terrible things with their magic if they wanted to. As for the Mortis thing… well, it also ties into the Nonsense thing but uh… the entire Isle is a giant dead body that everybody lives on and demons spawned from.”

“How is that Nonsense?! It makes perfect sense!”

“Now now you two,” they were interrupted by Ford as he furiously scribbled down some more notes, “Both of you have brought up some excellent points. We undoubtedly need more data on this, but so far it seems that the Boiling Isles is a unique outlier that could be very close to the center of the Great Compass’s alignment. I’d theorized that such worlds existed but would be understandably rare. We can discuss it more later in some one-on-one sessions if you like, but for now, you should probably get going, otherwise you might be late to your next class.”

They didn’t look particularly happy but they didn’t argue either. As they left, Luz stopped and looked back.

“Hey Ford… where do you think this world is on the Compass thingy?”

“Hm? Oh, I’d have to say it has a firm foothold in both Wicked and Logic.”

“…you’re sure about that? I mean the Logic part makes sense but the Wicked thing?”

Ford just gave her a look, it wasn’t stern or angry, but more like acceptance tinged with something else. It wasn’t sadness, but it was anything good or happy.

“Luz… If our history as a species has taught me anything, it’s that good and bad can exist side by side… but if you let wolves and sheep into the same pasture, you’ll soon end up with nothing but wolves. Does that make sense?”

“…yeah, unfortunately… and I know it’s just a metaphor but I like wolves.”

“I know, they’re good creatures but it was the best example I had. I’m sorry I couldn’t tell you what you wanted to hear.” She just quietly nodded and the trio headed to their next class. Like she had expected, the students were broken up into two groups, split between the older and younger age groups. Strickler had barely suggested King join the younger kids before the little demon loudly protested the idea and clung to Luz like his life depended on it. The man just gave a small smile and said he could join the older students for a few days until he was comfortable enough to join his age group. Remembering what Teodora said about siblings coming to the school, she had a gut feeling that he had had this conversation many times before. Compared to a crash course on inter-world travel and categorization, a regular math class was weirdly disappointing. Well, except for the fact that Krel was the one teaching it. She noticed that Hunter’s eyes lit up as he wrote down the questions from the board, a noticeable smile on his face. Who knew he liked mathematics so much? Luz herself didn’t care about the subject either way, she had applied it to the real world a few times, both with her art and magic. What she didn’t like was the overly rigid way it was taught, with no chance to explore other ways to solve a problem, just use the one specific method the school wanted you to and hope you got it right. To her great relief, Krel didn’t seem to care about “Core Curriculum Nonsense” as he put it and allowed them to find answers on their own. He didn’t hesitate to help, and was very quick to catch errors. The only time that seemed to change was when he glanced at Jack’s paper, and they began to bicker about his process, and the rest of the class was dedicated to watching them argue. If that was what the school had in store, she began to wonder what their next class would entail. A Driver’s Ed class where the first lesson was learning how to hotwire a car was not what she had expected. Plus she was fourteen, she knew for a fact she and a good few others were way too young to be here. Most states didn’t let you start learning how to drive until you were fifteen and a half, and yet there she was. Jack Spicer and Grunkle Stan excitedly explained how to recognize the various wires under a dashboard, the best/safest way to cut them and what connecting them would do. This was followed with a short speech about escaping a car sinking in water, waiting until it was submerged when the water pressure was more equalized on the door and easier to get open. This was how they learned that while the school taught regular lessons, there was also a major focus on “what you might need on your adventures” as Stan put it. He emphasized this with a story about having to chew his way out of the trunk of a car when he was in his twenties. It was interrupted when Jack began to argue with Krel when the royal said something about adding alien technology to increase a car’s speed. The evil boy genius countered with a statement about using the bare minimum they would have on hand before it broke out into a full on fight. Nobody tried to stop them, watching two nerds roll around on the ground and mostly just yell weird expletives at each other was too much fun for the others to stop. Stan even pulled out a camera from seemingly nowhere and began recording, they only stopped when it was time for them to head to their next class. It was Social Studies with Mr Strickler and to everyone’s relief, the arguing teenagers were seated as far apart from each other as possible. He was clearly not putting up with their apparent feud. Luz was excited for this class, she liked history, finding out how the world got to where it was now, the whos, the wheres whats and whys. The man was good at it too, the way he spoke was almost like a storyteller, captivating and enwrapping. The lesson was focused on the early days of the American Revolution, particularly the Boston Massacre and how tensions between the British soldiers and the civilians had reached a boiling point. The lesson was halfway over when she stole a glance towards King and Hunter, the former slumped over in her lap as he napped, the latter looking utterly lost and confused but trying his best to follow along. It struck her that neither of them knew anything about human history, she was going to have to help tutor them and get them caught up. Strickler apparently had the same idea, because as class ended, he approached. “Hunter, may I speak with you a moment?” “Yes, what is it?” the witch asked, the tiniest twinge of frustration apparent on his features. “It occurred to me that due to you being from another world, you have little to no knowledge about our world’s history, is that correct?” “Yeah, what of it?” “Well, you are at a serious disadvantage in my class, so I would like to assign you a tutor to help you gain a more equal footing with your peers.” “And you aren’t giving this same generous offer to the rat?” he jabbed a thumb towards King, who was perched on Luz’s shoulder. “I’m not a rat!” “Young King is a child and will be joining the other elementary school aged students, the topics they cover are much more simple and don’t require the level of context or nuance you’ll be learning about. Frankly, if you don’t accept this help, you will be lost and quickly fall behind everyone else.” Hunter scrunched up his face, he probably wanted to say he didn’t need a tutor, that he could handle this on his own, but… something stopped him. There was a pause before he released a drawn out, “Fffffffffine.” “Excellent. Now then, Otto, could you come here please?” To their surprise, a small boy came out from behind a massive stack of books. He couldn’t have been more than eight and had a huge smile on his face. He was a pale child, with a small mop of red hair on his head, dressed in a dark blue t-shirt, darker shorts and red and white sneakers. He also had a huge pair of thick rimmed glass that took up half of his face and a dusting of freckles on his cheeks. “You needed me Mr Strickler?” he asked with a scratchy voice. “Otto, this is Hunter, he’s new to our world and needs to catch up on histor-” “Consider it done sir!” the little boy said excitedly before running up to Hunter, “Hi, I’m Otto Osworth, I’m gonna be your tutor!” “...you can’t be serious,” Hunter scowled at Strickler, “You want a kid to help me catch up with your class?!” “Rest assured, Otto may be young, but he is a prodigy,” Strickler said sternly and the young witch’s ears perked, “He is much more advanced than any other child his own age when it comes to history, it is why I teach him with the teenagers. He also has a true passion for the topic, to the point we had to limit how many books on the subject he can check out of the library. He’d never finish the rest of his homework otherwise.” “Hey! That was only one time!” the boy protested, “And it was the first time I got to read history books from this year!” “Wait, pause that for a second! What do you mean by that?” Luz interrupted, very confused, “Books from this year?” “Oh, that! I’m from the year 2001,” Otto smiled up at her. “Que?! You are?! But… wuh… Huh?!” “I seem to recall you were told some of our students are time travelers,” Strickler looked very amused at the simple explanation, and her eyes got huge. “I… I assumed that meant they would be from the future I-” “Well… I kinda am and kinda not,” Otto fiddled with his fingers awkwardly as he spoke, “I mean… I’m originally from 2001, but I was adopted by my dads and they’re from the year 3000.” “Wait, 3000?! That’s-“

“Yeah, I know,” the boy shrugged sheepishly.

“Wait… this kid is a time traveler?! For real?” King asked, “Now this is the kind of hot gossip we didn’t get back home!” “Oh! I’ve never seen something like you before!” the little boy squeaked as he stood on his toes to get a better look at the young demon, “What’s your name?” “I’m King Clawthorne, nice ta meet’cha Otto!”

“Back up a minute,” Luz requested, “If you’re from… uh… the future, then why are you attending school here? When… here? I… how do I even phrase this?!”

“Hehe, you got the right idea. As for why… well, this is the only school of its kind that’s even semi-close to the era I originally come from. My dads wanted me to be in a school in a time period I would be mostly familiar with, and this was the first one of its kind founded, ever!”

“...really?”

“Mhm, and honestly, I don’t have a whole lot of experience with Earth in the year 3000, we live on a satellite. I know for sure stuff like time travel is more well known by then, but I don’t know about the magic stuff or going to other worlds.”

“...they keep you on the satellite?”

“They have to, it’s for their jobs, they’re time cops. They make sure anomalies in the past don’t occur and set history off onto a different timeline, or they try to anyway, and they rarely get a day off. Usually by the time we get the mission, things have already started to change,” Otto then shuddered, “Have you ever heard Blackbeard, the pirate, make bad call whale noises because he got into that whole “save the whales” thing almost three hundred years before it was an actual movement?”

Luz placed a hand to her head, it felt like it was about to spin right off her neck!

“Okay… I… I just need a moment to… to process this.”

The boy smiled at her before turning to Hunter, “Anyway, just let me know the where and when, and I’ll be more than happy to help you with history lessons!”

The teenager just grunted and didn’t give an actual answer.

“Wait, what about magical history?” Luz piped up, “We don’t know anything about that, er, or Earth’s magical history anyway.”

“Rest assured, Blinky had prepared some reading materials for you to go over. Major historical events are less… condensed when it comes to magical creatures due to having longer lifespans. More time to plan things out, put things into motion, that sort of thing. There’s also the whole, “being sealed away for however long” thing that tends to happen a lot.”

“Really? That happens?”

“Yes, it does. Now, if I remember correctly, Blinky will be starting on a new section for today’s class. If it is about what I suspect it is, you won’t need much in the way of context to begin with.”

“Why’s that?”

“Well… it was a thousand years ago, there was a conflict between the trolls, those who wished to remain in hiding and those who wanted to take over the surface world.”

“...take over? What about the humans? And other magical creatures?”

“They planned to devour all of the humans they could find, and due to their strength and brutality, it would have been easy. I’m afraid I don’t know what the plan for the other magical creatures would have been… but whatever it was, it would have probably led to a full out war.”

The two teenagers found this deeply unsettling.

Their next class was Science, taught by Ford, who was far too happy to guide them through an experiment that had them making their own batteries. Next were Language Arts and Reading, both were taught by Maria, and Luz was stunned to learn the woman was begrudgingly teaching a play she disliked. The Tragedy of Titus Andronicus was considered the worst of Shakespeare’s plays, about a Roman general who loses everything, his few remaining children, his position, arguably his sanity, and all because he was the deciding voice in which of the emperor’s sons would take the throne. Luz counted herself lucky, for most of her classmates this was their first real introduction to the bard, she on the other hand had read the entirety of Romeo and Juliet. She had become enamored with the story when she was preparing for her audition for the school play, and could understand why it was his best work.

However she did laugh at the revelation that, of all things, his worst one had what might have been the very first Yo Mama jokes ever written.

After that was lunch, and Luz had to admit, she was relieved for the break, she was starving!

She glanced around the dining room before spotting her new friends, Titan that still got her giddy to think about, at a nearby table. She took a calming breath before walking over to join them.

“Hey guys,” she said, feeling a bit awkward as her stomach tied itself into knots.

“Hey man,” Jake smiled, looking up from a notebook he and Danny were going over.

“Uh, what’s that?” she sat down, putting hers and King’s meals on the table.

“Oh, we’re just going over some flying notes.”

“Flying?”

“Yeah, we’re both members of the Senior Flyers Club, we’re just goin’ over some ideas for the next meetin’.”

“Dang, that’s awesome! You know, I used to fly using my mentor’s magic staff.”

“Really?!”

“Uh-huh! It’s similar to what Hunter does with his.”

“Don’t lump me in with you,” the blonde groused as he stabbed at his salad.

“What do you even do in that club anyway?” King piped up, taking a big bite from a peanut butter and jelly sandwich.

“Eh, nothing major, helping each other learn to fly better, agility and basic tricks. Plus, challenging each other to improve. Some of the races can get kinda nuts, especially when we set up obstacle courses.”

Luz grinned, this sounds like it would have been a lot of fun! She wished Owlbert was here so she could join in, and Eda might have some advice on it too!

That’s when she noticed Randy, slumped over a large textbook, looking like he was asleep.

“Uh… is he…?”

She poked his head with the handle of her fork, only to yelp and jumped back when she saw his eyes were rolled back in his head, his jaw was slack and he was drooling all over the book!

“Is he dead?!” she exclaimed, now holding King and Hunter summoned his staff.

“Huh? Oh yeah, no, he’s just Shlooped,” Danny shrugged.

“...that isn’t a word!”

“It’s what he calls it when he goes into the book.”

“...wait, what?”

Jake lifted the taller boy’s head and pulled the book out from under him. He shook off some of the drool and closed it. It was twice the thickness of any textbook she had ever seen and bound in black leather. It had red rings on the cover, with dark gray symbols between, and in the center was a green gem cut into the shape of the ninja mask he had been wearing yesterday afternoon.

“It’s called the Ninja Nomicon, it’s a magic book that the line of ninjas he’s from recorded all their knowledge and techniques in. It lets him and others enter it, train in and who knows what else… but damn it gets trippy in there sometimes. Floating doodles stuff.”

“Wait… YOU CAN GO INTO THE BOOK?!” she reached across the table to try and grab it in her excitement.

“Whoa, easy there Luz-y! This thing is kinda-” the gem began to flash a hazardous green color, “Temperamental.”

“...it’s sentient?!”

Hunter had stopped eating and now had a similar expression to Luz’s, though considerably less wild. Danny was snickering as he watched this, a smile forming under his hand.

“Well… uh… kinda? Maybe? It isn’t clear? Look, all I know is this thing gets a say on things too! I joined Randy in there a few times, and the Nomicon only let me stay so long as we spar-”

“You’ve been in there?!”

“Maybe three or four times, and I had to ask the Nomicon for permission first! It wouldn’t open until I did!”

“...Nomicon, can we be friends please?” she squeaked, holding her hands together, almost like she was begging.

The gem stopped flashing, there was no clear answer there.

“I’m gonna take that as a maybe!”

Jake just winced before opening the book to a random page and slid it back under Randy’s head. As soon he made contact with the parchment, he shot back up, gasping as if he had stopped breathing while in the book.

“WHAT THE SHOOB DID YOU GUYS DO OUT HERE?! NOMICON WAS TOTALLY FREAKING OUT!”

“Luz wants to try and be buddies with it,” Danny answered.

“Frie-say WHAT?!”

“Personally, I think it would be more interesting to talk to it about how its magic works,” Hunter interrupted, leaning forward, “It could be a new way to learn faster and more efficiently!”

The book’s gem began to flash again.

“Yeah uh, Nomicon kinda only wants me to Shloob in there.”

“...that isn’t a word,” the witch stated flatly, all excitement gone from his voice. Luz giggled at the fact he repeated her word for word.

Randy just groaned, rolled his eyes and tucked the book into his messenger bag.

“Actually, there was something I kinda wanted to ask you guys about,” she added gingerly, “I keep hearing about the therapist the school has but we haven’t met them yet, or even know where their office is. Do you think you could show us when you have a chance?”

“Oh yeah sure,” Danny nodded, “We’ll be heading that way for our next class anyway.”

“Great! By the way, Ford mentioned group therapy meetings, do you know when those’ll be?”

“Eh, they’re held every few days, since you’re new it’s not a big deal if you don’t join them right away. I think the next one’s tonight if you want in.”

“Oh, and they’re never held on Fridays and Saturdays,” Jake added, “The doc wants us to have those two nights guaranteed to be free. You can request a private session with her though.”

“I still don’t see why we need to attend them in the first place,” Hunter sighed, “I can’t speak for the rest of you but, no offense, I’m perfectly fine.”

The three boys just looked between themselves and then at Hunter… or rather, the large scar on his cheek and the nick in his ear.

“Huh, and here I thought denial was only a river in Egypt,” Danny was smirking, “Didn’t know we had one here too.”

“Weak!” Jake declared, “That was weak! He’s losing his touch folks! The Spider-Man banter is suffering a slow, painful death!”

Frowning, the taller boy shoved his apple into the dragon’s mouth, earning a muffled yelp.

As lunch began to wind down, the group got up and the trio of boys took the lead. Luz watched the way they pushed each other and made jokes. It made her miss Willow and Gus, they had been her first real friends, and she couldn’t help but wonder if they had looked the same way to strangers they passed on the street. Just… happy and filled with a lust for life.

She was snapped from her thoughts when Randy very loudly announced that they had arrived at the therapist’s office. The door had been left open, showing the inside of the office. It was a big room, possibly even bigger than the actual classrooms, it had two couches, a loveseat, massive pillows and bean bag chairs everywhere. It seemed a lot less formalized than what she imagined regular therapist offices to look like. To the far right was a bookcase, there seemed to be an organizational system to it. The lower shelves were full of books for little kids including coloring books, and the higher up you went, the more advanced the reading material became. The top two shelves seemed to hold reference material for mental health issues, she recognized the DSM-5 so those were probably for the therapist.

To the left of the bookshelf were plastic containers full of toys, a few of them led to a small table that looked like it had recently been used in a session. To the far left of the room was a few more bookshelves, however these ones had a massive collection of board games. Mounted on the wall was a series of computer monitors, each one had a camera perched over them, though at the moment, none of them were on. They were probably for the students who attended the therapy sessions virtually.

Near the back of the room was a large, important-looking desk, flanked on both sides by tall, thin windows. It appeared to be hand carved, with a string of roses ornamenting the ledge, as well as a few… were those frogs? Toads maybe? A desk lamp sat on top, as well as a few files…

And then she saw what was mounted on the wall behind the desk.

“ARE THOSE SWORDS?!”

Held up with careful precision was a pair of identical swords, crossed over each other in an X shape. One was a soft poppy red color while the one was a gray-silver blue, and both had the same strange hilt design, she had to squint for a moment before realizing they were birds. They almost looked like herons!

“Yup, the doc’s a bit of a badass,” Jake smirked, “Totally learned how to use those things in just two months!”

“Aw Jake, nice to hear you have such a high opinion of me.”

The voice made the dragon squeak and Luz turned around fast. Her eyes widened as she looked at what had to be the coolest-looking adult. She was in her twenties, with blonde hair cut into a bob that stopped just short of her shoulders, and a pair of stylish sunglasses rested on her head. Below her left eye was a noticeable beauty mark, and on her right cheek was a small scar. She wore small gold hoop earrings, a periwinkle blouse, a long purple skirt, black boots and a black leather biker jacket. On the left sleeve with a patch of the two crossed swords and in her hand was a steaming cup of coffee.

She let out a warm chuckle as she looked over the group of teenagers.

“So, you’re our new students huh?”

“U-Uh, y-yeah,” Luz managed to stammer out.

“Cool, I’m Dr. Waybright, I’m the school’s therapist. Now lemme guess…” she had a wry smile as she pointed at each of the newcomers, “You’re Luz, the lil’ guy is King, and he’s Hunter.”

“Yeah… guess you saw our files like Douxie did huh?”

“I did,” she nodded, “I like to be as prepared as I can when it comes to my new patients,” the girl watched as the woman walked to her desk, her boots clicking softly on the floor. As she passed, Luz saw that on the back of the doctor’s jacket as the anagram B.A.C.A. She was a legitimate biker! “Now then, is there anything I can help you with?”

“Oh, uh, not exactly. We kinda just didn’t know where your office was, ya know, for the future and uh…”

“Hehehe, don’t worry kid, I can tell where you’re going with this.”

She physically deflated in relief.

“Gracias…”

“De nada.”

“Eh? ¿Tú hablas español?”

“Only the basics.”

She smiled a bit, she was beginning to really like this lady!

“Anyway, if you guys don’t need me for an actual session, you might wanna head to the sparring ring. Stan’s in charge of your gym class today and unless you wanna work at the Shack this sweekend, you should get going.”

“...what’s the Shack?” Hunter spoke up, his brows furrowed in suspicion.

Dr. Waybright chuckled, “Don’t worry kid, it’s nothing bad, you’ll find out soon enough. By the way, Danny, we still on for your session at 3:30 later?”

“Oh, yeah, I’ll be here Doc.”

“Good. Now, get going. I hear Stan has an obstacle course planned for you guys today.”

A spark came to the trio of boys' eyes, as well as excited grins.

“...why do they look like that?” King whispered to Luz.

“...I think they’re excited for this.”

Hunter stayed quiet, but he was intrigued. Perhaps this obstacle course could prove interesting.

#wayward strays #Wayward Strays AU #massive crossover #fanfic #TOH #the owl house #toh hunter #luz noceda #king clawthorne #tales of arcadia #american dragon jake long #Danny Phantom #randy cunningham 9th grade ninja #amphibia

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takashixreader · 2 years

Text

And Yet-

A/N: I have no idea what to name this, but here’s that thing I was talking about earlier! Like I said, I wrote this so long ago, I have no idea where I was going with it, so I guess just take it and do with it what you will😭

Pairing: Takashi Shirogane x GN!Reader

Tags: Fluff. Disregard for personal space. Also, Shiro is taller than you. No ifs, ands, or buts about it.

Word Count: 0.9k

༄༅༅

Captain Shirogane was pacing the floor of the conference room.

Though it had been nearly a half-varga since the others had called an end to the briefing, he had stayed behind to collect his thoughts about the situation at hand and, apparently, check “run a hole into the floorboards” off his bucket list.

This is how you found him as you approached the room: Alone, with his arms crossed, brows furrowed, and a deep frown on his lips– something you noticed to be more frequent with him recently.

At that, an idea you’d been nurturing for a while now cemented itself and pushed you to enter fully into the meeting room.

“Sir!” You made your presence known, and saluted your captain. He, taken by surprise at your sudden outburst, paused in his pacing and turned to greet you.

“Y/n, there’s no need to be so formal,” The man says amusedly and steps closer to make the distance a little less awkward for the conversation’s sake, “Please, just Shiro is fine. How many times do I need to ask you?” Though strained from his initial thoughts, his voice was soft and teasing.

“At least once more, Sir,” You tried to keep yourself steady and not to look as winded as his smile made you feel, then continued quietly, “As always.”

He felt something jerk in his chest. You had always been polite and you were very adamant about making sure you were as respectful as you could be. Lately, however, and for some silly reason, he’s felt as if your words belied something deeper than what he first thought them to be. A few times had he accidentally caught your eye, and each of those times he noticed an emotion he couldn’t quite place swimming behind your gaze.

Those occasions, brief as they were, never failed to mystify him. But just as quickly had he seen these emotions, they were snuffed out and replaced with the same composed readiness he would see with any other recruit.

After a couple of moments of you continuing to stand at attention, he dejectedly sighs an ‘At Ease’ and waits for you to continue with whatever you came to inform him of.

At the words, your stiff posture relaxes and you return your arms to rest behind your back.

A few seconds pass in awkward silence.

You.. you had to do this before you lost your nerve.

How long have you been standing there staring at him?

You open your mouth to speak, but the words tangle together on your tongue before you could say them. So you clear your throat once, then twice, and try again, surer this time. “Permission, Captain, to do something stupid?”

He was struck with confused amusement for a moment and took a second to study you, deciding whether or not to humor you and your unusual request. And after what felt like an eternity (see: one minute), he gave in and replied with a cautious, “You may.”

You nodded gingerly and began to make your way closer to him, nearly shaking with each step. What you were about to do could get you into a whole world of trouble if things didn't go right. And that, coupled with the fact that you were now standing so close to him you could see the subtle shift of his eyes as they flickered back and forth between your own– you were surprised you hadn't melted into a puddle where you stood.

It was now or never.

Before you could break your resolve, you lurched forward and enveloped him in a hug. As sturdy and as comforting as you could, you wind your arms around his midsection and held him, hiding your face in his chest.

You felt him release a long, tired breath, and the deep vibrations ripple through his chest where you rested your head and ricochet through you. His soft baritone warmed you down to your toes.

“Y/n, what are you doing?”

You wound your arms around his midsection a little bit tighter, a little more snug, and took a deep breath in, trying to steady yourself, “Something stupid.”

The soft, earthy scent of his cologne did wonders to distract you from the situation you had made. You unconsciously press your face deeper into his chest, chasing the scent when you realized just what you were doing and stopped yourself from going any further.

A few seconds passed with nothing but silence–you standing in awkward anticipation for his reaction to your oh-so grand idea. And you began your mental spiral because oh gosh, oh Gosh, THIS WAS A TERRIBLE IDEA-

“Please do not forget,” his words snapped you back to reality, and you’re eyes met as you chanced a peek up to his face, “We are in a fairly popular conference room of the Galaxy Garrison– the highest distinguished aerospace sector in the country, maybe even the world-”

You felt something in you shatter at that and began to lower your arms from him in embarrassment and dejection.

“Needless to say,” he released a sigh again, then began to wrap his arms around your shoulders cradling you to himself as he relaxed into the embrace, “This behavior is very, very inappropriate.”

What he was saying would have –should have– on any other occasion, made you come to your senses and immediately apologize for your actions. Yet the feeling of his voice, smooth like velvet, and the warm embrace of his smile wrapping around each word he spoke lulled you to fall deeper into him.

Isn’t this backwards? Wasn’t this whole idea to get him to relax?

And yet here you were, being held and swayed, nearly falling asleep on your feet in the middle of this empty conference room.

And yet, you realized as he gently rubbed your back, you couldn’t care any less.

#shiro x reader #takashi shirogane #takashi x reader #hug #fluff #shiro #oof #and there you have it #I #I think this was supposed to be longer #and a little bit more angsty #but I have no idea #anyways! enjoy!#voltron #voltron legendary defenders #vld #x reader

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ronearoundblindly · 1 year

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The Stark Legacy (16)

Seventeen, part of Book II: Mind (see previous or series)

Summary: Samantha adjusts to life as a half-Extremis patient. Tony confesses something he forgot to the Guardians.

Warnings for medical discomfort after self-experimentation, terrible jokes from the Guardians. Rated Teen/Mature so 15+ only, please.

CHAPTER SIXTEEN—November 2038

It was a good thing Sam was used to being alone since Bucky did not return to see her the next day or the day after that. Sam had adjusted the wig as best she could to go find some food and coffee, but it quickly became obvious that the food she did find did not agree with her. Nothing stopped the vibrating itch radiating all over; her body simply couldn’t regulate her temperature or eliminate enough waste without sweating. She began siphoning off some resources from the med lab to create an IV and a simple liquified meal to have once a day. Sam refused to give up the coffee though and even grew to like the strong tea offered as well. Eventually, due to decay in her muscles plus a serious loss of her subcutaneous fatty layer, she had to submerge herself in a nutrient bath, the basis of which she derived from Missy’s research on a failed cure attempt for Uncle Bruce and the Hulk.

Sam knew this was only a temporary solution to a slow-moving problem, but she had no plans to waste time on a small fix for the cosmetic breakthrough. She became very good at placing an IV and amused herself by drinking her bizarre and unappetizing smoothies while thinking of the similar sludges her father used to consume.

She continued to roll the lump of vibranium in her palm over and over until a project occurred to her. Sam set Mistress on the task of finding her information, and to her surprise, she hit the jackpot. It no longer mattered that no one talked to her or visited; she was back to tinkering.

“Missy, I need you to filter the nutrient bath. Do you have that file on Vision’s cradle body? How much vibranium did it require? What percentage was metal and what was organic material?”

“I’ve compiled a summary for you, Sam. Beginning filtering: estimated time twelve minutes.”

“How refined can we make this?” Sam tossed the metal ball back and forth between hands. “Small enough to infuse tissue? What about the cradle? Can it graft this into tissue?”

“Calculating,” Missy replied.

“Pull up Sam Wilson’s file from headquarters. I wanna read their updates.”

The documents popped up beside dozens of other processes running on her monitor. Missy continued her summary. “Cognitive function has leveled out after the initial rise in activity. Several anomalous instances of memory loss have been recorded.”

“Alright, keep me posted.”

“Ms. Stark,” her AI returned to formality, “the results of your scans following each submergence show no change—”

“That’s enough,” Sam stopped Missy. She looked around her plain lower-level room. Sam had replaced the bed with a makeshift regeneration cradle capable of holding the nutrient gel. Every drawer in the room contained bits of hardware, scraps of vibranium, and research. Empty coffee cups filled the trash. She washed her three outfits in the bathroom sink. She kept the wig combed but rarely needed it; Sam almost never spoke to anyone, and no one really spoke to her.

“Alright, Missy, let’s test a square inch of skin and record the time the machine takes and the regeneration rate of my skin. Then we’ll test the area for deterioration in either tissue or structural integrity of the metal.”

“Sampling suggests minimal damage to either once the graft takes effect,” Missy chirped, almost sounding proud. “However, for live sampling, I suggest the nutrient bath immediately after the procedure.”

“Sounds good, Missy. Go ahead and get the cradle ready for the patch test.” Sam could hardly contain her excitement, but she shook more from nerves than happiness. The joy would have to come when she was successful, and not a moment before because until then Sam was just another pale nerd tucked in a basement thinking herself the smartest person on Earth. If this does work, she thought, happy birthday to me indeed…

December 6th in the depths of space with an enormous putz like Drax the Annoyer was brutal. It was difficult to tell what time it was on Earth, and genuinely Tony did not know for sure that it was the 6th yet or if the day had already passed. He just wanted to have a thought to himself; he wasn’t allowed to on this ship.

“Robot Man,” Drax yelled, making Tony jump. They were a maximum of two feet apart.

“I’m iron, okay? Iron Man.”

Drax snorted. “Your suit would be crumpled into a ball by now. It cannot be made of iron. You have made a poor choice in weaponry,” the tattooed behemoth cackled at his own skills of observation. Meanwhile, Tony lamented that his skills of sarcasm and pop culture nicknamery were completely wasted in the void above a planet with these…idiots. Gamora was the only sensible one among them, the only one Tony could talk to, but she wanted nothing to do with him. “We eat and strategize now,” Drax exclaimed after composing himself.

Rocket started off the meal with a riveting breakdown of his knowledge so far on the Annihilus threat. Negative-energy signatures in key parts of the galaxy, each representing a breach between their enemy’s dimension and theirs, populations ravaged by an associate of their target named Blastaar, a name which Tony thought was a little too on-the-nose even compared to ‘Annihilus,’ and finally, a holographic map of their movements, suggesting a culmination in the central point of Earth. Wonderful, Tony thought, more work.

“This doesn’t look good,” Peter Quill, ever stating the bare minimum, mumbled.

“Thanos had a weak alliance with this—this creature from someplace called the Negative Zone,” Gamora explained, “he used to talk about how, with the universe’s population cut in half, the sparsely habited Negative Zone could expand freely. It’s only taken them this long because their dimension doesn’t have the resources Thanos had.”

“I am Groot.” Tony gave the tree the same confused look he gave it every time it said this.

“No, we can’t just blow them to smithereens,” Rocket responded, then he mumbled, “others tried that. Plus they defeated some guys named the Fashion Four—”

“Fantastic Four,” Gamora corrected.

Rocket paused a moment. “Can we really call them fantastic if they’re dead?”

“The point is,” Gamora took over, “that we need allies and far more firepower. Blastaar is a living bomb. I believe Thanos did not openly partner with them for fear they would betray his plan for all-out genocide and enslavement.”

“Isn’t that a cozy thought,” Quill said. “I’ll need a few more tunes for my iPod nano, but then I’m ready to kick some ass.”

“Dude, stop trying. The console is right there. Figure out the cords yourself.” Tony could feel his blood boiling in frustration. “Side note: how has your relationship lasted this long when he obviously doesn’t listen to you?”

Gamora only pursed her lips.

“Earn your music,” Tony pointed at Quill. “We need an army, and I’d like less talking.”

“Hey, Ineffective Metal Man,” Rocket said, shaking a bottle of booze across the table, “calm down or I won’t pour you one.”

“Iron…never mind. Not today.” Tony rested his head in his hand, looking out yet another small port window.

Rocket sat confused. Stark had never refused to drink with him. “Why? What’s today?”

“Actually, it’s my daughter’s birthday.”

“Oh my god, you spawned?” Rocket blurted. His eyes shifted between the dirty looks of the others. “I mean, good for you.”

“She is left on your world defenseless? That is terrible,” Drax added.

“You’re probably gonna need to get her an expensive gift. Chicks like that,” Quill chimed.

“What do you normally do for her birthday?” Gamora spoke to Tony directly for first time.

“A card,” Tony said, unable to turn back around, waving a hand around in apology.

“Yes, one card representing someone of her choice for you to kill, an excellent gift,” Drax agreed. Tony didn’t have the heart to clarify what he’d really meant but could feel Quill’s eyes at his back.

“That’s pathetic,” Rocket breathed. “Here, she can have one of my smaller guns. No charge.”

“I’m not giving her a gun,” Tony fought. “I’m out here with you idiots to keep things like that away from her.”

“Uh, aren’t there guns on Earth?” Quill slumped his head a little, pretty sure of the answer. “And you guys still have people who attack the Avengers who don’t even have abilities.”

“They can handle…them,” Tony waved his hand in the air, “without me, but I need to be here making sure that buggy-looking space breather from another dimension doesn’t get back to Earth.”

“Then Earth’s resources should come here,” Gamora said bluntly, “because we will need them before this is over.”

“You should return home to give your young one her death card,” Drax suggested, almost excitedly. “Then muster the full force of Earth’s heroes to murder the bug.”

“Annihilus is not a bug,” Rocket mumbled.

“It looks like one,” Drax added, “and moves like one. I do not know what he tastes like, but I imagine him to be crunchy like one. So I will call him a bug.”

Quill made a gagging face.

Rocket muttered, “unnecessarily disgusting.”

“I am Groot.”

“You will not eat the bad guy,” Rocket exploded. “You don’t even eat!”

“I am Groot,” came the solemn reply.

“You’re a cannibal?” Quill looked even greener as he stared at the tree. “What have you been eating on this ship? Your own clippings?”

Groot shrugged. Everyone let out several moans of overwhelming distaste.

Tony remained seated, sure the universe was doomed, but at the very least, he could leave these imbeciles now to return home before the end. Maybe he would even have the absolute solace of flying back solo.

[Ch. 17: Whisky]

[Light Masterlist; Main Masterlist; Ko-Fi]

#the stark legacy #tony stark's daughter #slow burn #epic tale #alternate ending #avengers endgame #marvel fanfiction #marvel au #mcu fanfiction #mcu fic #tony stark fanfiction #tony stark fic #tony stark angst #tony stark feels #alternate universe #guardians of the galaxy #gotg fanfiction #series

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thewanderingshadow1-1 · 5 months

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Rewritten Characters #1 Gacha World Edition

I've rewritten many gacha (lunime) characters, but I'll start simple: Gacha Summoner and Fairy Ellie! Overtime, as I rewrite the lore, I may post other characters as well.

Gacha Summoner

In the original story, they're a... bland protagonist. I know they're supposed to be an insert of the player, but... Goddamn they're boring as a character. Aside from being heroic and having good values (and shy, based on Gacha Memories (correct me if I'm wrong)), they're just a blank page forgot to be filled. It's also said they're quite addicted to Gacha games, but that's not really explored (from what I can tell).

In the new story, they are actually a straight maniac for Gacha games. Back and forth, they finish a game and start another (by finishing, I mean getting all characters/units, even secret ones). They usually don't play side quests, or don't even finish the main ones. In fact, the Gacha Summoner (nickname*) only play these games for the Gacha mechanics.

However, like the Gacha World lore, they run out of money. For a mere second, they think of putting their life together... Before a message of a new gacha game appears on [app similar to play store] between the recommendations. And not just a gacha game: one that promises to be totally free, without the need of real money to do gacha!Just one more game won't hurt... Right? (Even if it's bad, it's worth a shot)

So yeah, they get sucked into the game and now are forced to be a hero. While Ellie tries to push him into being one, however, he only helps others to get as many gems possible to Gacha. It takes a long time for them to become a better person...

Additional information:

- Since they're VERY addicted to gacha (get new units), they get into a "maniac mode", in which they do anything, anything, to get gacha gems (the thing that they need to do gacha);

- They're kinda of an asshole, not gonna lie;

- They don't know how to interact with people (which makes gacha world one kind of a hell for them), and it's one of the reasons for them to be quiet most of the time;

- A weeb;

- Sometimes they'll just stare at you for no reason.

- Are they a girl? Or a boy? Who knows! But they sure have a lot of determination... To get gacha gems.

*Honestly, I still haven't thought of a name for them, so I just go with the name given.

Elemental Fairy Ellie

She's still Gacha Summoner's guide, except she's now more formal and quite serious, while acting as if they're smart (spoiler: they aren't). They know a lot about the Gachaverse (or so they think) and about the Gacha sword (which by the way, they're connected with. In fact, the elemental energy from the sword comes from her. Will talk about this later). Other than that, she pretty much learns as they explore the worlds.

Additional information:

- She finds it weird how the Gacha Summoner always talks about everything as if it's all a game, although she always brushes it off it could be because he's a psychopath (for her, at least);

- She's very patient, and rarely gets angry. Unfortunately, the Gacha Summoner is able to break her limits more than often;

- Genuinely wants to help people (that doesn't stop her from being selfish sometimes, though);

- Wings big, because fly lots. Tiny body, because no walking.

- She's an elemental Fairy, which is actually relevant to the story (going to explain new mechanics later).

Sketches

Sadly bad.

#project #gacha world #gacha #gacha summoner #fairy ellie #gacha club #gacha community #gachaverse

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iamfruitie · 1 year

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In Too Deep Chapter 41

Family Meeting

“We have all gathered to discuss how we wish to handle the current situation we have with Mare and Phatntom’s humans,” Dark stated, voice and tone reminding Mad of when Murdock would start work meetings. He didn’t like that. He didn’t want to be reminded of Murdock at this moment. Who knew what he’s been up to since Mare and Phantom’s…visit. Mad knew Murdock was taking over prepping the funeral. He had no idea when it would be. Hopefully, they’d forget him, and he wouldn’t be asked to go. With how much time had passed it likely already happened, and he missed it, but he didn’t want to think of that. He didn’t want to think of Murdock. He just wanted to go home and drink some coffee.

“Huh?” Mad looked to Mare when he felt him nudge him.

“First and last name, we’re doing introductions,” Mare whispered.

“But they already-”

“Formality.”

“Oh…” Mad finally noticed that everyone was looking at him. “Uh…Madrick Richards.”

“Jackie Boimen,” Jackie said, arms crossed and looking very uncomfortable. Mad and Jackie sat and listened as everyone else in the room introduced themselves, and Mad noticed how none of them used a last name, just their first. Either they didn’t want to share their last names, didn’t know what their actual last names are, or didn’t think it was important. Maybe vampires did it differently, maybe it wasn’t a name, maybe it was something else.

“Now that we all know names, the floor is open to how we wish to handle this.” Dark placed his hands in his lap. “We all know my thoughts on this matter.”

“If you’re worried about them going out and telling everyone, just keep them here. We have spare rooms, or they can stay with their mates.” Marvin was the first to speak.

“Does it matter if they’re not ‘mate’ mates?” Chase asked, gesturing to his neck toward his claim mark.

“Were you two really trying to loophole this?” Marvin scoffed. “You’re definitely Dark’s sons.”

“We’re not-”

“Why can’t we just go home?” Mad ended up cutting Mare and Phantom off. “We’ve shown that we’re not going to tell anyone. If we did, that would have happened already.”

“It’s not just you that I am worried about. There is…someone else I fear will get involved.” Dark went from being formal and serious to sounding worried, almost scared. Mad wasn’t the best at reading rooms, but even he could feel the tension as everyone went quiet and still.

“Someone else will get involved? Who else is mixed up in this?” Jackie asked, breaking the silence.

“I am not willing to share that information yet, but I will say that if I allow you two to walk around, covered in Mare and Phantom’s scent and without a claim mark. He’ll find you. He’ll use you to find us and either kill you or try to turn you.” Dark said.

“Try?” Jackie saw how the other vampires were all looking away.

“He has only managed to successfully turn one vampire. Everyone else has died. And their deaths were more painful had it just been a turned vampire.”

“‘Had been just a turned vampire’?” Mad echoed the last part. “That means there’s more than that. Are there other ways to be a vampire?”

“Not now, Mad,” Mare said.

“Are vampires able to be-”

“Not. Now.” Mare’s tone was stern and got Mad to close his mouth, saving his questions for later. He wasn’t sure how to feel about that tone Mare used, how it got him to instantly do as he was told…that was another set of questions to ask when this meeting was over.

“I can not simply let the two of you go without some form of plan and protection for the family,” Dark said, brushing past the moment between Mad and Mare.

“If they only want to go back. We could always take away their memories. Clean them of our scents and have them return to how they were before meeting Mare or Phantom.” Edward suggested, not seeming the happiest with that idea and just putting it forth as an option.

“If Mare and Phantom aren’t willing, we can have JJ do it.” Wilford offered, arm across the shoulders of JJ. JJ nodded but had a frown, showing he would be willing but also wasn’t the happiest about it.

“No, no, no!” Jackie quickly said, about to stand and only staying seated because of Phantom’s hand on his shoulder. “Firstly, you’re not fucking with our heads, and secondly, we don’t want to forget them. I don’t want to forget Phan. I know Mad doesn’t want to forget Mare. Me and Mare may have started off on the shittiest foot possible, but I’d be stupid to not admit that he clearly cares for Mad. You’re not pulling us apart like that.”

“I like him,” Anti said to Dark.

“Memory adjustment is now off the table,” Dark stated. “That narrows our choices to turning them or making them stay at the house without ever leaving.”

“Do they have to be turned right away?” Henrik asked. “There is always that high chance they will not survive that, but I have a theory of giving them more of a chance.”

“What’s your theory?” Dark asked.

“Well, I was going through my notes and found that we all had previous contact with vampiric DNA before we were turned. We were fed off several times, and half of us had claim marks as well. I think the build-up of tolerance helped us survive the turning more than those who are simply turned on the spot with no previous contact.” Henrik gestured to those who he was speaking of.

“What are you suggesting?”

“If their choices are either remain human but with their freedom restricted or to be turned and join us and our business, then I would say to allow Madrick and Jackie time to be claimed, use the time to get more vampiric DNA inside of them, and, unlike most of us, have an even greater chance of survival since they can be well and fit when they are turned instead of it being an emergency.”

“I see.” Dark hummed with thought before looking at the only humans in the room. “There are your choices then.”

“We’re either human and trapped or vampires and free?” Mad asked, only getting a head nod in response. “Can we have time to think about it?”

“You have time to think about being claimed and being turned, but you are to remain here regardless,” Dark said.

“Can I get my cat?” Mad’s question got Marvin to perk up. “I also have a whole house filled with research and information that would be dangerous in the wrong hands. You know this since you’ve stolen from me before. Jackie has information in his home as well. Can we at least get our belongings if we’re going to be forced to stay here?” He needed to get Hawk’s code as well. Maybe he could install him in this place or use a tablet. There was still work to be done, and Hawk needed to be active to test on him.

“I’d say let them get their stuff,” Wilford said.

“It will be easier for them to adjust if they have their belongings,” Henrik added.

“We can’t abandon the cat,” Marvin pouted.

“You should let them go.” Anti’s voice was soft, just barely heard by Mad and Jackie. Dark reacted the most to Anti’s words, nodding before speaking.

“Alright. You four may head to the homes in the morning, You will have the whole day to gather your belongings, and that is it. Anything you forget will be retrieved by one of us, and then you are in the house until told otherwise.” Dark stood from his seat. “Meeting dismissed.”

“Wait, that’s it?” Jackie asked as the others got up and started heading off to do their own things. “We don’t get any other say in this?”

“That was probably the best outcome to get right now,” Phantom said, seeming exhausted. He didn’t even during the meeting, but it took a lot of energy to hold back. Mare and Phantom both wanted to be able to just let Mad and Jackie go back home in peace but knew that was impossible. No matter what they said, it wouldn’t work.

“We can just do what Dark says for now, and maybe after a bit of nothing bad happening, we can convince him to let you two go out,” Mare said. “I’m sorry there’s nothing else we can do, but like Phantom said, this was probably the best outcome.”

“It’s a waiting game?” Mad asked.

“At the moment. But, for now, let’s go try to sleep.” Mare said, taking Mad’s hand.

“I can show you where my room is~” Phantom tried to bring back his usual energy and hugged Jackie’s arm. “I have a really nice bed.” He added as he walked off with him.

“My bed is very comfortable as well~” Mare matched Phantom’s energy while he and Mad headed for his room.

“I hope so. I don’t want to walk around anymore.”

“Oh, I can help you not walk.”

“If you pick me up-Mare!” Mad squealed when Mare did pick him up and carried him the rest of the way.

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Tag List: (Feel free to ask to be added!)

@dungeon-dragons-dragons @justyoursicanon @angst-anonn @damnthedea

#madmare #phantomhero #in too deep #fruitie writes #im thinking the next chapter will be spicy~#mad gonna be too worked up to sleep~

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