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thewidowsghost · 3 years

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Daughter of the Sea - Chapter 3

Percy's POV

Confession time: I ditch Grover as soon as we get to the bus terminal.

I know, I know. It was rude. But Grover is kinda freaking me out, looking at me like I am a dead man, muttering, "Why does this always happen?" and "Why does it always have to be the sixth grade?"

Whenever he gets upset, Grover's bladder acts up, so I'm not surprised when, as soon as we get off the bus, he makes me promise to wait for him, then makes a beeline for the restroom. Instead of waiting, I get my suitcase, slip outside, and catch the first taxi uptown.

"East One-hundred-and-forth and First," I tell the driver.

A word about my mother, before you meet her.

Her name is Sally Jackson and she's the best person in the world, which just proves my theory that the best people have the rottenest luck. Her own parents died in a plane crash when she was five, and she was raised by an uncle who didn't care much about her. She wanted to be a novelist, so she spent high school working to save enough money for a college with a good creative-writing program. Then her uncle got cancer, and she had to quit school her senior year to take care of him. After he died, she was left with no money, no family, and no diploma.

The only good break she ever got was meeting mine and (Y/n)'s dad.

We didn't have any memories of him, just this warm sort of glow, maybe the barest trace of his smile. Our mom doesn't like to talk about him because it makes her sad; she has no pictures.

See, they weren't married. She told us he was rich and important, and their relationship was a secret. Then one day, he set sail across the Atlantic on some important journey, and he never came back.

Lost at sea, my mom had told us. Not dead. Lost at sea.

She worked odd jobs, took night classes to get her high school diploma, and raised me and my twin on her own. She never complained or got mad. Not even once. But I knew I wasn't an easy kid.

Finally, she married Gabe Ugliano, who was nice the first thirty seconds we knew him, then showed his true colors as a world-class jerk. When I was young, I nicknamed him Smelly Gabe. I'm sorry, but it's the truth. The guy reeked like moldy garlic pizza wrapped in gym shorts.

Between the two of us, we made my mom's life pretty hard. The way Smelly Gabe treated her, the way he and I got along...well, when I came home is a good example.

I walk into our little apartment, hoping my mom would be home from work. Instead, Smelly Gabe is in the living room, playing poker with his buddies. The television blares ESPN. Chips and beer cans are strewn all over the carpet.

Hardly looking, he says around his cigar, "So, you're home."

"Where's Mom and (Y/n)?" I wonder aloud.

"Your mom's working," he says. "You got any cash?"

That was it. No Welcome back. Good to see you. How has your life been the last six months?

"I don't have any cash," I toll him.

"Here," comes a voice, holding out a ten to the man.

Instantly, a smile sneaks its way onto my face.

"Hey, Perc," my twin sister says with a smile.

(Y/n)'s POV

I grab my brother's suitcase and carry it into his room; I set it down on the bed.

"You wanna come sit in my room?" I ask and Percy nods, a smile still on his face.

I lead the way to my room and when I open the door, Percy sinks into my desk chair.

"Percy?" comes our mom's voice.

She opens my bedroom door.

Our mother can make me feel good just by walking into the room. Her eyes sparkle and change color in the light. Her smile is as warm as a quilt. She's got a few gray streaks mixed in with her long brown hair, but I never think of her as old. When she looks at me, it's like she's seeing all the good things about me, none of the bad. I've never heard her raise her voice or say an unkind word to anyone, not even me or Percy or Gabe.

"Oh, Percy," she hugs her son tightly. "I can't believe it. You've grown since Christmas.

Percy's POV

Her red-white-and-blue Sweet on America uniform smelled like the best things in the world: chocolate, licorice, and all the other stuff she sold at the candy shop in Grand Central. She'd brought me a huge bag of "free samples," the way she always did when I came home.

We sit together on the edge of (Y/n)'s bed. While I attack the blueberry sour strings, (Y/n) stealing a few pieces of candy from the bag, Mom runs her hand through my hair and demands to know everything I hadn't put in my letters. She doesn't mention anything about my getting expelled. She doesn't seem to care about that. But was I okay? Was her little boy doing all right? The whole time, (Y/n)'s eyes were sparkling with amusement.

I tell Mom she is smothering me, and to lay off and all that, but secretly, I was really, really glad to see her and (Y/n).

From the other room, Gabe yells, "Hey, Sally—how about some bean dip, huh?"

I grit my teeth.

My mom is the nicest lady in the world. She should've been married to a millionaire, not to some jerk like Gabe.

For her sake, I try to sound upbeat about my last days at Yancy Academy. I tell her I'm not too down about the expulsion. I'd lasted almost the whole year this time. I'd made some new friends. I'd done pretty well in Latin. And honestly, the fights hadn't been as bad as the headmaster said. I liked Yancy Academy. I really did. I put such a good spin on the year, I almost convince myself. I start choking up, thinking about Grover and Mr. Brunner. Even Nancy Bobofit suddenly doesn't seem so bad.

Until that trip to the museum...

"What?" my mom asks. Her and my sister's eyes tug at my conscience, trying to pull out the secrets. "Did something scare you?"

"No, Mom."

I feel back for lying. I want to tell her about Mrs. Dodds and the three old ladies with the yarn, but I think it'd sound stupid.

Mom purses her lips. Both she and (Y/n) could tell I was holding back, but neither push me.

(Y/n)'s POV

"I have a surprise for both of you," Mom says. "We're going to the beach."

Percy's eyes widen. "Montauk?"

"Three nights - same cabin."

"When?" I ask excitedly.

Mom smiles. "As soon as I get changed."

I can't believe it. Mom, Percy, and I hadn't been to Montauk the last two summers, because Gabe said there wasn't enough money.

Gabe appears in my doorway and growls, "Bean dip, Sally? Didn't you hear me?"

"I've got it," I offer, rising from the bed and walking out into the kitchen to make the dip for Mom.

An hour later, we are ready to leave.

Gabe takes a break from his poker game long enough to watch me and Percy lug Mom's bags to the car. He keeps griping and groaning about losing her cooking - and most importantly, his '78 Camaro - for the whole weekend.

"Not a scratch on this car, you two," he warns us as I load the last bag. "Not one little scratch."

Like we'd be the ones driving. We're twelve. But that didn't matter to Gabe. If a seagull so much as pooped on his paint job, he'd find a way to blame us.

We get into the Camero, me in the passenger's seat, and Percy in the back.

Our rental cabin is on the south shore, way out at the tip of the Long Island. It is a little pastel box with faded curtains, half-sunken into the dunes. There is always sand in the sheets and spiders in the cabinets, and most of the time the sea is too cold to swim in.

Percy and I love the place.

We'd been going there since Percy and I were babies. Our mom had been going even longer. She never exactly said, but I knew why the beach was special to her. It was the place she'd met mine and Percy's dad.

As we get closer to Montauk, Mom seems to grow younger, years of worry and work disappearing from her face. Her eyes turning the color of the sea.

We arrive at the cabin, open all the cabin windows, and go through our usual cleaning routine. We walk on the beach, feed blue corn chips to the seagulls, and much on jelly beans, blue saltwater taffy, and all the other free samples my mom had brought from work.

I guess I should explain the blue food.

See, Gabe had once told Mom there was no such thing. They had this fight, which seemed like a small thing at the time. But ever since, Mom had gone out of her way to eat blue. She baked blue birthday cakes. She mixed blueberry smoothies. She bought blue-corn tortilla chips and brought home blue candy from the shop. This - alone with keeping her maiden name, Jackson, rather than calling herself Mrs. Ugliano - was proof that she wasn't totally suckered by Gabe. She did have a rebellious streak, like Percy.

When it gets dark, we make a fire. We roast hot dogs and marshmallows. Mom tells us stories about when she was a kid, back before her parents died in the plane crash. She tells us about the books she wanted to write when she gets enough money to quit the candy shop.

Finally, it seems that Percy gets the nerve to ask about what was always on our minds when we come to Montauk - our father. Mom's eyes go all misty. I figure that she was going to tell us the same things she always said, but neither Percy and I ever got tired of hearing them.

"He was kind, Percy," Mom says. "Tall, handsome, and powerful. But gentle, two. You have his black hair, you know, Percy, and you both have his green eyes."

Mom fishes a blue jelly bean out of her candy bag. "I wish he could see you, Percy, (Y/n). He would be so proud."

Percy's POV

I wondered how she could say that. What's so great about me? A dyslexic, hyperactive boy with a D+ report card, kicked out of the school for the sixth time in six years.

"How old were we?" I ask. "I mean . . . when he left?"

Mom watches the flames. "He was only with me for one summer, Percy. Right here at this beach. This cabin."

"But...he knew us as a baby."

"No, honey. He knew I was expecting twins, but he never saw you two. He had to leave before you were born."

I try to square that with the fact I seem to remember . . . something about my father. A warm glow. A smile.

(Y/n) and I had always assumed that he had known us as babies. Mom had never said it outright, but still, we'd always felt it must be true. Now, to be told that he'd never even seen us . . .

I realize I feel angry at my father. Maybe it was stupid, but I resent him for going on that ocean voyage, for not having the guts to marry Mom. He'd left us, and now we are stuck with Smelly Gable.

"Are you sending me away again?" I ask her. "To another boarding school."

She pulls a marshmallow from the fire.

"I don't know, honey." Mom's voice is heavy. "I think . . . I think we'll have to do something."

"Because you don't want me around?" I regret the words as soon as they come out of my mouth. (Y/n) bows her head, looking at the ground and Mom's eyes well with tears.

Mom takes my hand and squeezes it tight. "Oh, Percy, no. I - I have to, honey. For your own good. I have to send you away."

Her words remind me of what Mr. Brunner had said - that it was best for me to leave Yancy.

"Because I'm not normal," I say.

"You say that as if it's a bad thing, Percy. But you don't realize how important you are. I thought Yancy Academy would be far enough away. I thought you'd finally be safe.

"Safe from what?"

She meets my eyes, and a flood of memories comes back to me - all the weird, scary things that had ever happened to me and (Y/n), some of which we'd tried to forget.

During third grade, a man in a black trench coat had stalked us on the playground. When the teachers threatened to call the police, he went away growling, but no one believed (Y/n) when she'd told them that under his broad-brimmed hat, the man only had one eye, right in the middle of his head.

Before that—a really early memory. I was in preschool, and a teacher accidentally put me down for a nap in a cot that a snake had slithered into. My mom screamed when she came to pick me up and found me playing with a limp, scaly rope I'd somehow managed to strangle to death with my meaty toddler hands.

In every single school, something creepy had happened, something unsafe, and I was forced to move.

I know I should tell my mom about the old ladies at the fruit stand, and Mrs. Dodds at the art museum, about my weird hallucination that I had sliced my math teacher into dust with a sword. But I can't make myself tell her. I have a strange feeling the news would end our trip to Montauk, and I don't want that.

"I've tried to keep you as close to me as I could," my mom says. "They told me that was a mistake. But there's only one other option, Percy—the place your father wanted to send you two. And I just...I just can't stand to do it."

(Y/n)'s POV

"Our father wanted us to go to a special school?" I ask, a little confused.

"Not a school," she says softly. "A summer camp."

My head starts spinning. Why would my dad - who hadn't even stayed around long enough to see me and Percy be born - talk about a summer camp?

"I'm sorry, (Y/n)," she said, seeing the look in my eyes. "But I can't talk about it. I—I couldn't send you two to that place. It might mean saying good-bye to you for good."

"For good?" Percy asks. "But if it's only a summer camp.

Mom turns towards the fire, and I know from her expression that if either of us ask her any more questions, she would start to cry.

I have a weird, vivid dream. It is storming on the beach, and two beautiful animals, a white horse, and a golden eagle are trying to kill each other at the edge of the surf. The eagle swoops down and slashes the horse's muzzle with its huge talons. The horse rears up and kicks at the eagle's wings. As they fight, the ground rumbles and a monstrous voice chuckles somewhere and beneath the earth, goading the animals to fight harder.

I run towards them, knowing I have to stop them from killing each other, but I am running in slow motion. I know I am too late. I see the eagle dive down, its beak aimed at the horse's wide eyes, and I scream, No!

I wake with a start.

Outside, it really is storming, the kind of storm that cracks trees and blows down houses. There is no horse or eagle on the beach, just lightning making false daylight, and twenty-foot waves pounding the dunes like artillery.

With the next thunderclap, my mom and Percy wake. Mom sits up, eyes wide, and says, "Hurricane."

I know that's crazy. Long Island never sees hurricanes this early in the summer. But the ocean seems to have forgotten. Over the roar of the wind, I hear a distant bellow, an angry, tortured sound that makes my hair stand on end.

Percy's POV

Then a much closer noise, like mallets in the sand. A desperate voice - someone yelling, pounding on our cabin door.

My mother springs out of bed in her nightgown and throws open the lock.

Grover stands framed in the doorway against a backdrop of pouring rain. But he isn't . . . he isn't exactly Grover.

"Searching all night," he gasps. "What were you thinking?"

My mother looks at me in terror - not scared of Grover, but of why he'd come.

"Percy," she says, having to shout to be heard over the rain. "What happened at school? What didn't you tell me?"

I am frozen, looking at Grover. I can't understand what I'm seeing, and I see (Y/n) looking at my friend.

"O Zeu kai alloi theoi!" he yells. "It's right behind me! Didn't you tell her?"

I am too shocked to register that he'd just cursed in Ancient Greek, and I'd understood him perfectly. I am too shocked to wonder how Grover had gotten here by himself in the middle of the night. Because Grover doesn't have pants on - and where his legs should be . . . where his legs should be . . .

Mom looks at me sternly and talks in a tone she'd never used before, and (Y/n) flinches: "Percy. Tell me now!"

I stammer something about the old ladies at the fruit stand and Mrs. Dodds, and my mom stares at me, her face deathly pale in the flashes of lightning.

She grabs her purse, tosses me and (Y/n) our rain jackets, and says, "Get the car. All three of you. Go!"

Grover runs for the Camero - but he isn't running, exactly. He is trotting, shaking his shaggy hindquarters, and suddenly his story about a muscular disorder in his legs makes sense to me. I understand how he can run so fast and still limp when he walks.

Because where his feet should be, there are no feet. There are cloven hooves.

Word Count: 3041 words

#percy jackson x sister reader #percy jackson and the olympians reader insert #female reader #fem reader #reader insert

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centeris2 · 3 years

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8. Dusk (SSO winter prompt)

Justin, Scott, Raptor, and Connie enjoy an evening fire. Also on AO3 and Wattpad

Winter dusks in Jorvik were often the time of celebration, remembrance, or rituals. It might be lighting a menorah, attending a church service, bathing in the rising moonlight, or visiting the Silversong River to pay respects.

This night, however, was a more casual gathering of friends outside of Dundull, beyond the house on the outskirts of town. Justin Moorland and Scott Buttergood built a fire, and Connie brought out food and drinks, setting up a cozy place to sit around the fire.

“Any word from Tor or Rebecca?” Justin asked, looking at Connie. The GED intern dug through his pocket for his phone to check.

“Uhh... Tor says he’ll be here soon, he has to take some sneaky way so reporters don’t follow him as Raptor. Nothing from Rebecca yet,” he said before sitting down.

“They’re just letting us do the hard work,” Scott joked, clapping his hands together to brush off bits of bark as he stood back and admired the growing fire.

“It just means we get first dibs on the food. Be a shame if all the marshmallows were mysteriously eaten before they got here…” Justin mused, going straight for the white sugary goodness rather than the actual food.

“Hey yo!” The call made Justin put his hands up with a guilty expression, Tor rounding the house to join them, waving as he approached.

“Did I miss anything?” the rapper asked as he sat down next to Connie, eyeing the food and drinks brought out.

“Nah, we were just getting settled,” Connie reassured him before offering a mug of hot chocolate.

“Rebecca should be arriving soon,” Scott added, getting a drink for himself and taking a seat.

“Glad you could get away from the fans and crowds of admirers?” Justin teased while he tried to roast a marshmallow without lighting it on fire.

“Something like that, I wish I could more often. I’ve never been to a holiday bonfire before,” Tor admitted. Growing up in the city didn’t lend itself for bonfires in the woods.

“They’re fun! What do you normally do for the holidays?” Justin asked before hastily blowing on a burning marshmallow.

“Growing up just Hanukkah stuff, and whatever school activities I had to do. Now there are concerts and events and song releases…” Tor complained a bit. Being a famous and successful musician was a dream come true, but it was also exhausting, especially around the end of the year. “What about you?”

“Pretty typical stuff, the tree, the porridge, the goats. Dad and I usually had some sort of holiday event at the stables too, people like going on sleigh rides. People would tell stories, exchange gifts, and then Dad and I would celebrate our own little Christmas. Like I said, pretty typical,” Justin explained with a smile, the fond memories warming him. He skewered a second marshmallow, the first one lost to the fire.

“Scott? Bad holiday memories?” Connie asked, eyebrow raised, noticing the grimace on Scott’s face.

“We didn’t celebrate anything after Mom died. My brothers and I tried, but Father forbid it,” Scott grumbled, still bitter about it. Perhaps it was for the best that the Buttergoods didn’t attempt to celebrate holidays as a family.

“Sorry,” Connie winced, sympathetic, “my family celebrated the holidays, but it was usually busy. Lots of formal events and my parents working. December was basically the month of wearing suits and behaving so my parents looked good in front of clients.”

“Guess my childhood isn’t so typical,” Justin joked, giving Scott a worried glance. Their eyes met for a moment and Scott forced a smile, raising his mug.

“To making better memories?” Scott suggested, the others agreeing and raising their mugs. Or in Justin’s case, another flaming marshmallow.

“Justin! You roast marshmallows over coals, not an open fire!” a familiar voice cried at the burning treat, making the guys laugh and greet Rebecca as she joined them. The mood improved greatly after that, good food and better company making the night one full of happy memories.

#sso #star stable #star stable online #fanfiction #StarStableWinterPrompt #my boys!!!! it's my boys!!!#and yeah Rebecca just appears she doesn't bother texting to let them know she's almost there #you think I got time to have like 4 draft edits of this? nah it gets a proof read and that's it

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lemonlushff-iy · 4 years

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Summary: Kagome comes home to Montana from her new life in California…only to be greeted with hostility and the demons of her past. Some mistakes can never be forgiven. She just hopes that maybe this one can.

Story inspired by Clearwillow’s “New Moon Ride”, written with permission and for the March 14, 2020 White Day celebration…and slowly uploaded much sooner…

Read parts 1-9 here

It’s my hope that by sharing this completely unedited WIP chapter, it will encourage other’s to let their freak flag fly and also share some of their WIPs if they were afraid to!

One Last Ride - Part Ten Teaser

She'd been back for two weeks now, and had slowly settled into a routine of sorts. Inuyasha would show up around five in the morning, and stay until about ten. When she heard his family's sedan start up, she would put a pin in answering emails and placing phone calls and working on the next blog post to go downstairs and help out at the ranch.

No two days were really the same. Her tasks would vary between gardening in their "small" vegetable garden and taking care of the animals. Inuyasha seemed to be doing the majority of the "heavy lifting", keeping the fence around their property in good shape being his current project.

Still...despite intentionally trying to avoid him, she would be up at 4:30, stumbling down into the kitchen by 4:45 to have a pot of coffee ready for when he arrived fifteen minutes later. He had said he liked her coffee, and he was doing so much for them...it was the least she could do.

Then, earlier that week, she needed to do a piece on muffins. Four different recipes for blueberry muffins, comparing the process to each other, tips and tricks, and end results...It was a pain, and she ended up baking more than they could ever hope to eat. Rather than freeze them, she just put a bunch into a container and labeled it for him.

There was a symphony chocolate bar waiting for her the next day when she came downstairs.

She had thought it had been from her mother...But it wasn't. She almost cried when she saw it. He still remembered after all these years that her favorite chocolate wasn't the traditional Hershey's...but their milk chocolate symphony bar.

As kids, they used to use them for s'mores in the summer, huddled together around the fire pit roasting marshmallows with her family as they told stories. Not even scary stories, though there were a fair number of those too. They just told stories they made up on the spot, sometimes making games out of it. Her favorite was the one where each person added on a few more words, each person helping to create a weird, hysterical story, unique in it's absurdness and never again repeated.

When fall first began tinting the tips of the leaves with reds and yellows and oranges, they would gather around the fire pit with blankets and cups of warm cider. She used to love snuggling up with her father as a child, sharing her blanket with him...and then when she got older, she kicked Souta out from Inuyasha's as she began to feel herself developing a crush for him.

Not that Inuyasha complained, mind you. He was just as happy to boot Souta off to her grandfather and upgrade to her. She vividly remembered him taking her hand under the blanket for the first time, his small claws scraping against her skin as he nervously locked their fingers together. She had moved a little closer to him after that, as if to reassure him that she liked it.

Sure they had held hands before, but that was a different kind of hand holding, and they both knew it.

"Kagome?" her mother greeted uncertainly as she entered the kitchen, her feet shuffling along the wooden floors. "I thought you'd be back in bed."

"I'm adjusting to the new schedule," she shrugged, pushing the brew button on the coffee maker.

"I see…" her mother smiled softly, heading to the refrigerator and opening the door. "Can I make you some breakfast since you're up? I'm thinking of cooking eggs again...we have a surplus right now."

"No...that's alright Mama," she declined. She wasn't going to risk running into Inuyasha, and breakfast meant that she absolutely would be. "Maybe I'll get assigned an egg salad article next," she joked lightly, trying to change the subject as her mother began pulling ingredients from the fridge. Living Simply, a branch of Gorgeous Gardens, was a home and gardening magazine with a branch in California. She had managed to get an internship while there in college, and somehow snag a full time position upon graduation. She did enjoy working for them, but she would be lying if she said she didn't question if it was worth it.

"Oh my...I don't think I could survive four different kinds of egg salad."

"We'd be lucky if it were only four," she joked lightly, and her mother groaned.

"Well...I suppose we could send some home with Inuyasha. He seemed to enjoy those muffins you made him."

"Gave him."

"Gave him," her mother amended, a small smile tugging at her lips. "He already returned the container. I don't think they lasted three days."

"Well, I'm glad he liked them so much," she replied dismissively.

"Me too...we'd be drowning in them if it weren't for him."

They'd be drowning in more ways than one if it weren't for him.

She watched her mother pause in front of the window, looking out at the lightening sky.

"It looks like it should be a new moon tonight," she commented casually.

"I hadn't noticed," she lied.

Partially lied.

She had absently noticed a few days ago that the moon was waning...but she had been so busy she had forgotten about it.

Her mother shot her a knowing look, but didn't comment otherwise about it. They both knew why tonight was significant. It was the night Inuyasha became human. She had spent just about every new moon with him since the day he shared his big secret with her.

They were nine at the time, and he had asked their parents if she could sleep over. They were still children, so they had no issues at the time agreeing to it. When dinner was over and they were in their pajamas, Inuyasha grabbed her arm and led her outside, telling her he had a secret to share.

She was practically vibrating with excitement, bouncing up and down on the balls of her feet as the sun slowly set. She guessed any number of things, becoming increasingly more frustrated as he told her to just wait.

Finally, as the last rays of sunlight disappeared behind the mountains and the sky was dark blue, she watched him change. His shoulder length, silver hair became midnight as his claws and ears disappeared. His beautiful golden eyes darkened to a brilliant tope.

___________________

I SAID it WAS A WIP / TEASER!

Wall of tags! Let me know if you want in or out!

(If you get tagged in this post after requesting tags, it’s because that’s how I’m keeping track of them. If you requested a tag and aren’t there, I might not have seen it so please ask again!)

@clearwillow, @keichanz, @dangerouspompadour, @nartista, @kaze-ranna, @superpixie42, @sticky-llama-perfection, @pinkpigeonstudio, @mcornilliac, @itzatakahashi, @zelink-inukag, @juliatheanimelover7, @csim28, @smmahamazing, @the-lucky-ones311, @cyncyn981, @animemomma96, @ayari17, @underwater0phelia, @sailorbabydoll92, @l-taisho29, @clearwillow, @animelove1313, @littlemissinukag, @gofoulpuppycollector, @umacaking, @chanin29, @rikareena

#Inuyasha White Day #inuyasha fanfiction #inuyasha fanfic #inuyashafanfic #inuyasha #inukag #DAMNIT CARRA #Ode to Carra #Clearwillow #rancher #cattle rancher #western #romance #angst #one last ride #lemonlushff

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frisbee-camp · 5 years

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What’s Hidden Can Be Found|Tyrus Summer Camp AU

AO3 link/Wattpad link

Camp Lowland sleepaway camp is an hour drive from Shadyside, where tensions and disagreements have been left for time to mend. But what will Tj and Cyrus do when the past comes chasing after them? Follow the Good Hair Crew and The Good Boys through their annual two-month stay in the wilderness where nature does not care for petty arguments and time has only worsened their situation.

Chapter 1: Deja Vu

///*takes place about one to two years after the finale**summer after freshman year of high school bcs idk if they're in 7th or 8th lol thx disney//

Disclaimer: ive never been to summer camp lmao but I did go to camp in sixth grade so forgive me if my knowledge of summer camp culture is off. FOR TYRUS WEEK!! ////

TJ squinted when the hot forest sun hit his eyes. It was hot. Actually properly hot. Another degree up and the pine trees would have kindled and Camp Lowland would have burned down. TJ’s duffle bag pinched his shoulder as he walked towards the main camp lawn where the rest of Sunnyside teens congregated around the flagpole. He always enjoyed this weird annual tradition where parents sent their kids to the middle of nowhere to annoy other slightly older teenagers. Anyone who was anyone went to Camp Lowland, this meant all of his school friends would be there. His smiled widened as he was met with hugs from William, Lucas, Grant and his other basketball friends. There were about a hundred or so campers this year, a little less than last year thought TJ.

“YO, TJ!!” Someone to his right called out to him. It was Marty, trailed by Jonah. Marty’s hair had gotten fluffier, he had grown taller since middle school. Jonah had also gotten taller and now had a soccer players body since he switched from Frisbee to the more recognized sport. TJ jogged to his friends and gave them hugs.

“Hey guys, what’s up? Where are we this year?” He dropped his bag around the compact grassy field and looked around. Camp Lowland was set in a valley surrounded by tall prickly pine trees. There was a river on the east side and a lake in the north, and a soccer field and basketball in the west. There were four cabins at Camp Lowland: Redwood, Aspen, Oak, and Willow. All situated on the edges of the grassy field in a rhombus layout with Redwood in the north, Aspen in the east, Oak in the west, and Willow in the south. They were big and luxurious as someone had recently donated an excessive amount of money to them. TJ loved it. No school. No teachers. No stress. Just him, his friends, the wilderness, and fun. He felt like a dog let loose in a flower field.

“We’re Redwood, all three of us. Cool right?” Jonah smiled his classic smile. Tj, Marty, and Jonah had formed their own little posse Andi had named The Good Boys. Tj didn’t even remember how they became such good friends, one day he just found himself in a group chat with the three of them and no one else. In a year they were inseparable. He had a feeling they had been set up by Andi and Buffy, but no one complained. They were some of the only people TJ could completely trust.

“Yeah, cool,” TJ said cooly and looked around in the crowd. He couldn’t see Andi or Buffy or even…

“You looking for Cyrus?” Marty had noticed him looking around, “he’s already in WIllow with Andi and Buffy.” Marty gave him a sympathetic smile. He always kept an eye on Cyrus since he was still with Buffy. Tj returned with a shy smile.

“You ready to go?” Jonah said as he dragged his bag towards Redwood.

“Yeah let’s go,” TJ said without looking back.

Tj loved the new renovations, now it meant that there were four people per room in each cabin with ten rooms in each cabin. Five for boys and five for girls on opposite sides of the hall. By some glorious luck, the Good Boys were all in one room. There were two bunk beds but no one came to claim the last bed. Marty and Jonah took the top bunks, leaving TJ alone on the bottom. Once they settled in, TJ opened the window that overlooked the lake. It was glistening and alive and it took all of TJ’s will to not jump in right now. It wasn’t as hot as it was when he got to Camp, but it was still enough to cause his t-shirt to cling to him. At least the breeze cooled as the sun started going down.

Later that evening, when the camp counselors had introduced themselves and their ridiculous camp names, Tj found himself searching the mass of teenagers for a boy with dark hair. Each cabin had their own fire pit and was roasting marshmallows and introducing themselves to each other, but that didn’t mean Tj couldn’t see the other campers in adjacent fire pits. During high school, TJ had tried to move away from the mean jock stereotype but it was impossible to control how people saw him. He still played basketball, was the best on the team and the captain of JV, but that didn’t make him any less self-conscious. He didn’t have much more to hide really, except maybe his dyscalculia, but everyone knew he was gay or questioning or whatever you want to call it. But they still didn’t know him like, like him. Tj found the back of Cyrus’ head on Andi’s shoulder around the Willow fire. He knew he probably hated being outdoors, probably hated the dirt and the sun. He gave himself a sad smile and burnt his marshmallow on purpose.

After introductions and camp songs Tj had sung a million times, the cabins were allowed to mill about and socialize. The Good Boys and the Good Hair Crew immediately found each other in the crowd.

“Hey!” Andi said, “Aren’t the renovations awesome! We all get our own bathrooms now!”

TJ zoned out after that. They laughed and talked while Tj hid his hands in his pockets. He tried to catch eyes with Cyrus, but he kept looking away from him at the last second. Tj decided that he couldn’t be there anymore and said, “I’m gonna get some chocolate.”

Tj found himself mindlessly chewing on a gummy bear at the snack table. There were all sorts of goodies laid out in front of him, sour candies and chocolate bars, a big bowl of fluffy marshmallows, strawberries, crispy mountain apples, and lots of chips and popcorn. Any other day and Tj would have devoured the entire table, but not today. He reached for a marshmallow to roast and brushed hands with someone familiar.

Tj’s eyes fluttered up.

“Hey,” Cyrus said shyly.

“Hi,” Tj said just as quietly. Tj had his glasses on, the flame from the fire reflected over them and half of his face making him look a little warmer than usual.

“Um,” Cyrus looked down at their still touching hands and inched his way. Tj missed the sensation. “I think there are enough marshmallows to go around,” Cyrus joked. It was nice to hear him laugh, even it if was just a small one.

“Yeah, but who knows. You know I could eat an entire bowl of this stuff,” Tj said.

“Yeah I know,” Cyrus was staring at him. It made him shuffle his feet and look towards his friends.

“How’s your room?” TJ asked trying to ease the tension but if Andi came over right now she’d be able to cut it with scissors.

“Probably not as nice as yours,” Cyrus blinked once. Tj thought he saw his cheeks pinked, but it could have been the heat from the fire.

“Well, you are in Willow…” Tj teased. It was camp tradition that the opposite cabins were rivals. This meant Redwood rivaled Willow and Aspen rivaled Oak. At the end of the summer, whichever camp amassed the most points would have a tree named after the cabin leader. Tj was sure it was just an excuse to plant two trees every year, but it wasn’t about who won at the end, he just loved the competition. Sometimes the cabins would form alliances, last year Aspen won because Redwood helped them during a scavenger hunt, and in return, they let rabbits loose in Willow. Not the fluffy cute rabbits, these ones had rabies. The camp almost shut down because of the scandal but no one found out that it was all Amber and Tj’s idea.

Cyrus laughed a little, “Whatever cabin leader, don’t let the power get to your head.” Being cabin leader meant TJ and the other cabin leaders, Amber for Aspen (again), Iris in Oak, and Buffy in Willow, could choose what days the cabin wide competitions would be held. It may seem small, but every cabin had a strategy. Even the ones with alliances.

“Oh don’t worry Cyrus, it already has,” Tj knew he was looking for too long. He probably had that dumb grin he got around Cyrus.

Cyrus hummed softly and poked a marshmallow through his marshmallow skewer and walked back towards the group. TJ’s heart rate finally calmed down when he left.

The next day began cabin competition or ‘Cabin Comp’ preparations. One competition worth 200 points held at the end of each week and culminating in the final competition which was yet to be determined by the cabin leaders. But during the week each cabin could win up to 50 points, two max for each cabin member that exhibited good behavior, excellent camping skills, or any other skill that the counselors felt deserved an award. That meant there was a maximum of 2,000 points. Tj’s cabin last year had won 1,582 but Amber’s had won a perfect 2,000. He didn’t care though, because he still beat Willow. It was sort of like Hogwarts, except the only magic came from the adrenalin rush he got from playing basketball with his friends.

Tj spent most of the week playing basketball and soccer with the Good Boys. He tried concentrating on figuring out a strategy for the first game: capture the flag. It seemed like Buffy was working on a strategy too since she kept giving him cold glances during morning announcements and in the mess hall. Last year she had gotten only 50 points less than Tj, a little too close for Tj’s taste. He had a feeling she was keeping her cabin members away from the Redwoods, which was understandable since he was doing the same with the Willows. During the first week, campers usually stuck to their own cabins and through the summer tensions calmed until a couple of weeks to the last Cabin Comp.

“Yo T!” He heard Jonah call to him, “you good dude?” Jonah held the basketball on his hip, his blue eyes the same color as the river he was staring into.

“Yeah, I’m good just thinking,” He said absentmindedly.

“Yeah? About CC1?” Marty said a little out of breath. CC1 stood for Cabin Competition One.

Tj just sighed and nodded. “Bro if you need help thinking you know you can ask us right?” Jonah added. Tj’s lip quirked up. For some reason, he thought he could do it alone. He tried not to get caught up in the cabin leader mentality where he only thought the competition was between him and the other leaders.

“How ‘bout now?” Tj said, surprising even himself.

The rest of the night Tj, Jonah, and Marty spent sitting on the floor of their room. Tj had to step out to do room inspections with the cabin counselor Luke, a 20 something with way too much energy and who always smelled like some illegal substance. TJ liked him nonetheless, he was cool and never talked down to his campers.

“Hey, TJ. Don’t worry about all that CC stuff I know we’ll win like last year” Luke whispered as they tiptoed around the cabin with flashlights making sure all the campers were accounted for.

“I don’t know Luke, this year feels different, like a bad version of deja vu or something,” Tj breathed out.

“Just think positive and you’ll attract those good vibes,” Luke said. He had a habit of trying to give everyone he met a psychic reading. Let’s just say that he was 0% psychic.

“I don’t even know why I’m cabin leader again,” Tj was surprised when he was voted as cabin leader around the campfire last night. This would be the third year in a row he’d been elected. Same with the other cabin leaders.

“Just think of it as the universe rewarding you, you know you can always give it to someone else,” Luke trailed, “like I don’t know, Jonah or even Marty or something. I know you guys are basically the same person.” Luke gave an airy laugh and clicked his flashlight off.

“I don’t know dude,” TJ said, “I guess they trust me or whatever.” Tj actually thought his cabin members were just playing a trick on him. It wasn’t that he was mean anymore, he just thought that they thought he was still a jerk. Maybe he had been wrong. Maybe he was leveled and a good leader.

When he got back to his room Jonah and Marty had perfected the strategy. Tj smiled as it was laid out in front of him in his friends’ messy boyish handwriting. “Perfect” he finally said after examining it.

When CC1 day came, the mess hall buzzed with excitement. Everyone was nervously chittering away as TJ slurped down two bowls of cereal. He found himself staring at Buffy’s table, more specifically to Cyrus who looked tired but content as he bit into a slice of bacon.

“Tj,” Jonah said to him, “Focus, we need you.”

“You’re right, sorry” Tj felt his nose pink just as Cyrus met his eyes and quickly looked away.

Tj stood on the steps of the Redwood cabin as he explained the rules and strategy of CC1: capture the flag. The plan was simple. They would not ally themselves with either Oak or Aspen, they were to directly look for Willows flag. Half of them would defend and the other half would go searching spread out evenly and with whistles to use as signals and to blow if any of them were in trouble. A third of the searchers would run at full speed and while Willow was distracted another third would follow and when they least expected it the last third would storm. Tj had only a faint idea of where the flag was. He knew that Redwoods' flag was on the dock in the middle of the lake, Aspen’s would probably be on the other side of the river, Willows would be somewhere around the willow tree they were named after, and Oak’s would be on the top of the hill their cabin was in front of. This meant that all the flags would be behind the cabins, they’d have to run through the open field. Once they ran, Willow would know their plan.

He looked out at his cabin members, kids he had known since he was a toddler. They knew him and trusted him and Tj felt his heart soar like when it does when he captains the basketball team. He took a deep breath and looked out at the other cabins. The sun was just as hot as the first day they were there. Hot. Not warm or steamy but a humid sticky hot. Here we go he thought.

“Change of plans,” Tj said suddenly. “Searchers, go in your ambush groups but sneak behind Aspen and Oak before going into Willow’s territory."

It was a good thing he changed the plan because Buffy had chosen to use the strategy he abandoned at last minute. He didn’t know how she had learned it, but once the whistle blew from Head Counselor Moose she and 10 other cabin members stormed. TJ laughed knowing that his cabin would know exactly how to get them out. Marty had volunteered to guard the flag himself. Tj lead one of the ambush groups behind Oak and Jonah behind Aspen. They were sneaky but even then some of them were tagged out leaving only Jonah and Tj to quietly look for the Willow tree. And then it was there. After what felt like thirty years of walking and a gallon of sweat, Tj saw the enormous and beautiful Willow tree. Andi’s sculptures could never compare to the real thing. This one was tall, with branches that hung low and swayed in the wind. It was incredibly green and lush and just slightly tinged pink along the borders. The suns' heat didn’t even phase this part of the forest. It’s rays gently seeped through the leaves, leaving a fuzzy warm light. The grass was taller than normal here, rising above Tj’s ankles. Wildflowers dotted the base of the tree, light purple, and yellow and pink. TJ crept closer to the tree, it must have been a trick, this was too easy. He saw the flag peaking around the corner of the trunk, it was neon orange and foreign in such a natural environment. Tj went to grab it but someone also poked their head around the trunk.

“You didn’t think you’d be able to just take it did you?” Squinted up an already sunburnt Cyrus. Tj jumped back. He wasn’t expecting to talk to Cyrus today, especially not have him holding the flag that could get him 200 points.

“I uh-“ Tj blinked in surprise as Cyrus stood up to his full height. He wasn’t holding the flag, he was the flag. Buffy had tied it around his waist. Not against the rules but fowl play. Of course she would do this. She knew Tj would come himself and she knew he couldn’t just snatch it from Cyrus’ body. Tj vowed to take revenge.

But Cyrus looked so cute in the Weeping Willow tree’s soft light. He had a blue wildflower behind his ear and had tried weaving himself a flower crown. It was crooked on his head. He must have been here for a long time. Probably before the cabin leaders even explained the rules.

“Yes?” Cyrus swayed slightly, he seemed proud of the predicament he had put Tj in.

“I uh,” Tj swallowed and saw Jonah out of the corner of his eye, “I came for the flag.”

Cyrus considered this for a moment and then saw Jonah in Tj’s line of sight, “Tell Jonah that if he comes any closer I’ll tag you out and run. You know you can’t afford that because Buffy is probably just as close to your flag.” He was right. Geez. Cyrus was enjoying this, his eyes glinted and he had a small smile.

“Marty’s guarding ours.”

“Yeah, she knows,” Cyrus sighed slightly, “do you think she cares?” Tj knew Marty and Buffy were so in love it disgusted him, but he also knew Buffy would take the flag without hesitation.

“So what do you want me to say that will make you give me the flag?” Tj blurted. He hated this weird tension they had.

Cyrus looked angry now, “I don’t want you to say anything. Why are you being a jerk?”

Tj grunted in frustration, his win was a foot away from him but he couldn’t get it because of his feelings.

“I don’t know Cyrus?! Why are you so weird around me?!” Tj could tell that his voice had raised. It made Cyrus cower a bit, but he quickly regained his angry face.

“You broke me TJ! You know that.” Cyrus was about the cry, TJ could tell by the way he spit out every word.

“What? Wh-“

And then Camp Counselor Moose’s whistle blew. Buffy had won.

#tyrus #andi mack #tyrus fanfic #tyrus week #im doing it yal #its a little late but im doing it #ambi #muffy #jonah and sports #whats hidden can be found #lets get this bread yall #three more chapters after this #angst to the max #also lots of water imagery lol

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splattershotsundae · 7 years

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Better Eight That Never --- Chapter 29: Autobutts

"I don't even know where to start." Simon growled as they entered the Inkea parking lot. “Just why. WHY?” They began to pace back and forth, Jill and Toda sitting down on a short wall and looking on awkwardly.

Bato scratched the back of his neck, surprisingly calm given the current circumstance. "I screwed up." He said quietly. "I... I got too comfortable."

"How do you get that comfortable around someone who's tried to kill us several times!?" They demanded. "Someone who wants to destroy our lives as we know it!?"

"... I don't know." He shook his head, looking away for a moment. "I know that's not an acceptable answer...”

They shook their head. "... It's really not. She could have killed us all!"

"I know." He said, clenching his fists and looking at the ground. “It’s not fair to any of you, I put all of you in danger… I… I’m sorry.”

Toda finally spoke up, looking at Bato. "Bato, you try to see the good in people. That's not a bad thing, there are plenty of grown adults that can't do that. But sometimes you take it too far. it's like you get tunnel vision or something; you focus too much on the good, and you forgive some people way, way too quickly." He smiled a little, shifting his weight off his leg. "And, naturally, it happens at some of the worst possible times. It's something you need to work on."

Jill nodded in agreement. "Toda's right... You need to learn where to draw the line... but otherwise it's one of the best things about you Bato." She paused, and then started giggling. "Other then the fact that you've obviously got a mind-control voice that cheers people up.” She continued. “Maybe you’re some sort of alien!”

Bato slowly nodded, then snorted.

Simon sighed. “Yeah, it’s not that you’re a bad person, it’s just you’re too good of a person a lot of the time.”

“… Thanks?” Bato said awkwardly.

Toda snorted, then hesitated a second before continuing. "Hey, sometimes you are the one who notices when someone is bad news before anyone else. Remember Benny?"

Bato's expression darkened a bit. "That was just a bad feeling; completely baseless. And it didn't..."

"That was my fault, though, I didn't listen." Toda sighed a little, expression also darkening. "Such a luna-wielding ass..."

Jill frowned. "Luna-wielding... Oh! That's why you said no to the luna blaster..." She said, covering her mouth. "Because of somebody you knew... I’m so sorry!"

"You don’t have to go into it if it’s bad. I don't even think we have the time..." Simon said. "We still have to figure out what we're going to do." They cast a slight glare at Bato, but then forced themselves to soften their expression. He knew he'd done wrong, they were all in trouble right now. "They say we can't go home, but what about our parents? Not only do we have to go home eventually but they're in danger too."

Bato nodded again, straightening up a little and folding his arms. "Right... and we can't really tell them about it either, can we? They said not to tell anyone."

"And they probably wouldn't believe us, anyway." Toda added, then paused, as if remembering something. "Hey Bato... weren't we going to meet at your place for breakfast tomorrow?"

He blinked, then groaned and facepalmed. "I completely forgot about that."

"Too bad Hachi's already stayed at your place three times this week... Otherwise we would could try to sleep over, Bato." Simon murmured. "Because while we would all be in the same place, that means that if they strike and try to get us that means that there's a 66% chance they'll pick the wrong house, and if they do attack the right one, we'd all be there to fight them. No matter what we do, at this point it's going to be dangerous..."

"We could call up cousin Scarlett and aunt Constance.” Jill suggested. “They’re really easygoing, and might let us spend a few nights out of town until things settle down.”

"Staying with other family is a good idea." Toda agreed. "You two would be alright. And Bato and I live in the same building, so that's something at least. "

"I... don't think we could reach one another in time if one of us were attacked." Bato said with a frown, "Even just the one floor is a long way to go... The extended family idea doesn't work for us either, though; none of mine live in the city, and you don't really have any to begin with."

Toda shrugged. "Neither of my parents had siblings, what can I say?"

Simon rubbed their nose. "There's got to be something we can do to get you guys safer. Not sure how well I'll sleep not knowing if you're ok."

Jill shook her head. "Not sure there is Simon... Short of finding these domes and somehow stopping this tonight, we're all vulnerable anyway…”

Bato frowned. "... Just Toda staying at my place probably wouldn't raise too many eyebrows, we've stayed over with each other so much over the years that it's not a big deal. It's not much, but it would cut out one chance of being jumped."

“Vulnerable. Vul-ner-a-ble. Vuuullllner-able." Jill was still saying.

Simon raised an eyebrow

She started some sleep-deprived giggling. "It doesn't even sound like a word!"

Toda chuckled. "Jill, you really need to get some sleep."

"Coffeeeeeeeeee" She murmured.

"You don't even drink coffee." Simon pointed out.

"I'm thinking I should start." She yawned.

They facepalmed. "What has happened to my life..."

"I'll sleep here until you get me a coffee." Jill said, laying down on the top of the wall.

“Jill, the whole reason we came to INKEA was so you could sleep.” Simon huffed. “Get up.”

“But I just laid doooooown.” She complained.

Bato chuckled, then stepped up to her. "I could probably carry you on my back across the parking lot, maybe you’ll feel more awake after that.”

"Mmmm, ok." Jill mumbled, stretching out both her hands.

Bato took her hands and helped her to stand up, then shrugged off his Decepticon backpack and held it out toward Toda. "Hey, could you carry this for me?"

“A Decepticons backpack?" Toda asked in a tone of feigned disgust, but he grinned and took it from Bato, slinging it onto his own shoulder.

"Transformerrrrrs!!!" Jill giggled. "Robots in the skies! Toda were you an Autobot?"

"Yup." He nodded with a grin. "Bato really wanted to be Team Decepticons, though, whiiiiiich was a bit of a problem since we obviously had to be on the same team."

"We ended up just flipping a coin the day before the Splatfest." Bato said, "And we ended up going Autobots... and guess which team ended up winning?" He gave Toda a joking sort of glare.

"Hey, that wasn't my fault!" Toda said, still grinning.

“We lost TOGETHER!!!!" Jill shouted, springing onto Bato’s back.

He grunted and staggered. “Easy! Or do you not want me to carry you?”

"Please carry me!” Jill said. “Oh, oh oh, Cats Vs dogs! Which one were you guys?"

"Team Cat." Toda replied. "That one was another coin flip. You?"

"Kitties!" Jill said, grinning.

"Which one of you two wanted team dog?" Simon asked, looking between them.

"I think Toda was leaning a little more that direction than I was, but we were both sort of stuck between the two." Bato said as he started toward INKEA. "Our apartment building doesn't allow pets, and neither of us have had much experience with either of them."

"Ah." Simon said. "I'm sort of an either way sort on the subject myself... The rest of the squad wasn't though."

"Oh man, that was back when we had Kristy on the team." Jill whistled. "I've never seen someone use suction bombs like that since!"

"Oh, yeah, you guys used to have a different squad, didn't you?" Toda asked curiously.

"Not just a squad..." Jill frowned. "We've had several… though this squad is by far my favorite! We sort of count it as a new squad whenever it ends up being me and Simon on our own again~."

Simon slowly nodded, holding up four fingers. "You guys are number four."

"Oh, that makes sense." Toda nodded a little. "So, um... what about Marshmallow vs. Hot Dogs? Which team were you guys on that time?"

"Jill is the embodiment of a sweet tooth and you have to ask which team we were on?" Simon asked.

Jill laughed. "Now I want marshmallows..."

Simon shook their head. "Absolutely not, we can have sugar happy Jill or sleep deprived Jill, we under no circumstances can have both at the same time."

Toda laughed. "Fair enough."

"We were team Marshmallow, too.” Bato said over his shoulder. "Though, to be honest, we had to narrow it down to which one we enjoyed roasting on the campfire more in order to decide for sure."

"Hah, I guessed." Simon said. "Only people on team marshmallow know the true pain of the marshmallow-poclypce."

"Yeeeeah, that was insane." Toda agreed. "I think we were only put up against, like, three Hot Dog teams, and we played right up to Champion rank."

"Yeah, and that was with a fair amount of losses under our belt." Bato added. "I thought my arms were going to fall off from swinging my Inkbrush so much."

"Yeah, but when you call yourselves the 'Chubby Bunny Champions', you have to live up to the 'champion' part at least!" Toda pointed out, then paused. "Aw man, we didn't get to do our funny squad name thing this time around, did we?"

"Oh yeah, I hadn't even thought about that." Bato said, shaking his head. "Darn."

"Funny squad name?" Jill asked, tilting her head.

Bato chuckled a little. "So, when we signed up for Splatfests, we would always register as a two-person squad, because it was the only way we could guarantee that we would always be on the same team. Our first few Splatfests we would just leave anything that wasn't important, like the Squad name, blank, but one time Toda wrote something in that area when he had the clipboard, and I didn't realize it until we gave it back to the volunteer there and he read it back to us."

"'The Calico Duo'." Toda said. "It was during the Cat vs. Dog Splatfest."

"Right." Bato nodded. "And so after that, it sort of became a tradition for the two of us to come up with some different name for our temporary 'Squad' every time a new Splatfest rolled around."

"Oh! That's really cool!" Jill said. "What were you for Autobots and Decepticons?"

There was a brief pause, and then both Toda and Bato started laughing.

“What the heck is so funny?” Simon asked.

Bato took a deep breath to calm the laughter down enough to reply. "Our temporary Squad name for the Transformers Splatfest… We were 'The Autobutts'."

"Wh-What!?" Jill said, bursting out laughing as well. "You called yourselves the Autobutts!?"

Toda wiped a tear from his eye before he could manage to speak. "I'd just like it on record that I was not consulted before that name was put on the sign-up sheet."

Bato chuckled a little more. “What can I say, I wanted to be Decepticons.”

"Simon, you’d have done that, wouldn’t you? You are a passive aggressive little jerk aren't you? In the best possible way." Jill said. "I'm sorry, I'm tired…”

Simon huffed and folded their arms.

"So what name do you think we would've gone with this time?" Bato asked Toda over his shoulders. "What would work with Team Waffle?"

"Um... 'The Balanced Breakfast Buddies'?" Toda suggested as he shrugged.

Bato chuckled, "Hm..."

"You guys, it's easy!" Jill said, as she held back a yawn. "Syruprise!"

Toda grinned."I like that one!"

Simon shook their head, though they were smirking a little. "Not really a team name, is it?"

"That's the syurprise!" Jill said, sticking out her tongue.

Bato chuckled and nodded.

"I guess in reality we're just waffle cones though." Jill said with a shrug.

"You were saying they weren't real waffles a few days ago." Simon pointed out.

"Shhhhhhhh!” Jill said. “Now I want ice cream, does INKEA have ice cream?”

Bato frowned a little. "I'm... not sure, actually. I think if they did it'd probably just be plain vanilla or something like that, though."

She paused. "... I'll settle for cake. I knooooooOOOoooow they have cake."

"The sooner we get you some sleep the better." Simon said.

"I have to agree with Simon." Bato agreed. "Sleep first, then cake."

“Okay, put me down.” Jill said, scrambling out of his grasp. “I’ll race you there! For CAKKKKKKKKKEEEE!” She yelled as she sprinted toward the tall blue building.

“Whoa! Jill! Watch out for cars!” Bato yelped as he ran after her.

Toda watched her go, shaking his head a little. "How does she do it?" He wondered aloud.

"I don't know." Simon admitted. "She's a sprinter..."

Toda nodded a little, adjusting his cap a bit as he continued across the parking lot.

They watched him for a moment, a blush creeping across their cheeks. No. No, stop it, they'd been having fun, they didn't need to think about that right now. The more they tried to stop thinking about how much they liked Toda, the worse the blushing became. They pulled their hood up in a vain attempt to hide their blush. “So… um… Why do you pull your cap down that far?” They asked as they tried to fill the silence.

“Oh, I do that because bright lights can be a bit much for me, like the sun off the car windshields.” He explained. “It’s part of my… well, my colorblindness.”

“I hadn’t thought about that.” They admitted. “So that’s why you never take off that hat either?”

“Nah, I just really like it.” He chuckled.

Oh jeez, that laugh. They blushed even harder and began to slow so they were behind him. He was too cute… They needed to stop before he noticed. He knew they liked him, sure, but they’d just told him to wait… They didn’t want to hurt him. Immediately after this thought they bumped into something and sharply looked up into Toda’s… eyes. Those beautiful light brown eyes which caught the light like a jewel. Oh he could so see their blush now… They looked away sharply, only to catch sight of a car that was about to back into them. “LOOK OUT!” They shrieked, tackling Toda to force him out of the way. The impact with the ground knocked the air out of their lungs and left them desperately gasping for breath.

“Simon? Simon are you okay?” Toda asked hurriedly.

Unable to speak, they forced themselves to nod.

They heard a car door open and the sound of rushing footsteps. "Oh Judd oh Judd are you ok? Did I hit you?"

"No no, we're okay." Toda reassured the person who’d ran up, which Simon managed to deduce was the driver of the car, despite having a bit of a lack of oxygen.

“Can I help you up?” The driver asked.

“That would be great.” Toda grunted, taking their hand and hauling himself to his feet. When the driver held their hand out toward Simon, they managed to grip it, but couldn’t quite manage the willpower to get up.

The driver frowned. "Are you sure you're alri-"

"SIMON!" Jill shouted, running up and glomping them and pressing them both against the hot asphalt of the road. "Ow- Ow, Are you ok!?"

“O-O-Ow...” Simon groaned, then took a deep breath. “Chest… hurts...”

"Sorry!” Jill said, sitting up and taking their hand.

Bato came up a second later. "Are you all alright?"

"Yeah, I'm fine.” Toda said. “I think Simon got the wind knocked out of them though.”

“I’ll be okay… in a moment.” They grunted, then let Jill pull them to their feet.

Jill waved at the driver. "Thanks for not killing my sibling!" She said with a smile.

The driver gave a little wave, then got back into the car, though it looked like they’d left it in park so the squad could get out of the way.

“C’mon, let’s get inside.” Bato said, taking the lead and keeping a careful eye out for cars.

"Toda, do you need help?" Jill asked, frowning. “Your limping is getting worse…”

There was a pause, then Toda spoke up. "...Yeah."

Simon looked up, grunting a bit at the pain in their lungs. Sure enough, Toda was limping even worse than he had been earlier.

"Did you hit your knee when you fell?" Bato asked, coming back to put his arm under Toda’s shoulders.

"I don't think so, just used it more than I have been." He replied.

“That’s a relief...” Bato said, helping him through the front doors of the store.

Simon took a deep, but painful, breath. There was something about this store that was reassuring. It was almost like the cave of a dragon who hoarded nothing but furniture and household items.

"I feel so much safer in here~" Jill said as she stepped on the escalator to the second floor.

“Shhh.” Simon hissed. “We’re in public.”

She grinned and pretended to zip her mouth shut. "Mmm hph hmhmhm mphmm hph phm hhmon?"

They closed their eyes and sighed. Why were they even surprised?

Bato chuckled a bit and shook his head. “Oh Jill, what would we do without you?”

“MMMmmphh mm mphh!” She replied, then as she reached the top of the escalator she ran off toward the bed section.

Bato chuckled as she disappeared from sight. "You know Toda, she almost reminds me of you when you were about eight."

Toda snorted. "That makes sense, I didn't get near enough sleep when I was that age."

“I don’t think I can blame you.” Simon grunted. “I hated taking naps when I was little...”

It took them a minute to catch up, but there they found Jill asleep, face-down in one of the beds.

“I see she’s not wasting time...” Toda commented, sitting down on one bed, while Bato sat down beside him.

“No she’s not...” Simon agreed, laying down on a bed nearby, so they didn’t have to look at either Bato or Toda. Everything was so complicated, and they were still pretty miffed at Bato. Why couldn’t things just be easy for a while?

After a few minutes of silence, Bato spoke up. "Will... Will you and your sister still want to try and come for breakfast tomorrow? I understand if you don't want to now, after... everything, and neither of you are obligated to. I just need to let my Stepmom know if plans have changed."

They didn’t reply right away, turning this question over. Jill was so excited to go over to Bato’s house, and honestly they’d been looking forward to it a little as well. It would be a bit rude to just back out now… and it wasn’t like Bato had meant to put them in danger, right? They took another breath before rolling over to look at him. "I'm... very mad at you Bato, I'm sure you realize this.”

He nodded a little, ears drooped. "I do. And you have every right to be."

They nodded, then continued. “But, damn it, you're still my friend, and I'm sure Jill would still love to come."

He blinked, then smiled a little. "Okay. I'll tell her you're still coming."

They nodded a little bit, then paused. "I'm starting to formulate a plan of action. We're not going to be safe until this is all dealt with, no matter what any of us do." They paused before gripping the sheet of the bed tightly. "So if 1&2 don't give us anything to do I'm going to find these domes myself. If I do nothing it's only going to be a matter of time before they find us anyway."

He frowned a little, then nodded slowly, "... The way you phrased that, it sounds like you intend to do so alone?"

They slowly nodded. "Toda, you're not fit to go, one out of the two of us-" They gestured between Jill and themselves. "-has to stay behind and keep suspicions down, and... Bato, if there's any chance we run into Hachi...."

He nodded again, grimacing a little. "... I wouldn't let it happen again."

"... If you're going, he has to go with you," Toda said suddenly, glancing between the two of them with a worried look on his face. "You can't go on your own, it's too dangerous."

Simon paused, gaze lingering on Toda for a second, then it switched back to Bato. Toda was right... if they found something down there, two people had a better chance at getting that information out than just one of them. "Fine. But if we find her, I'm the one who's going to deal with her. I'm not taking any chances."

Bato nodded. "Understood."

Toda nodded as well, though he still looked awfully frightened.

"We have to think of something for you and Jill to do up here." Simon said, looking at Toda again. “Though short of hounding 1&2 and keeping all our parents busy, I can't think of anything. We don't have enough information."

Toda nodded a little. "And frankly, keeping the parents distracted is going to be hard enough as it is."

"Especially because you'll have to do it with my parents as well as your own." Bato added.

"Well, if there's something we need you to do we'll try to get in contact." Simon said, looking back up the ceiling, then pulling down their hood to keep them from looking directly into the bright display lights. How did you even get down to the domes? If they couldn't get that information from Callie and Marie this planning would be pointless, unless they somehow found and broke into the octoling hideout again.

Bato stood up and began to pace, talking out loud to himself. "... Both times we met Hachi, it was at the plaza, and that's where she disappeared... She couldn't have gotten too far on her own, not in her condition... They did say to avoid the plaza, though... And then there was the one from the underpass… I didn't see where he went, but those attacks went on almost right up to when the police arrived, so chances were he had a quick escape too..."

"It won't be easy to get to that street, though, it'll most likely be blocked off." Toda pointed out. “And if there's any chance that Oz recognized you when you came to their hideout, they might be keeping a close eye on that area."

Simon listened to the two talk, not realizing how tired they’d been themselves. Maybe they’d be able to think of a better plan after a nap...

“Have you come up with anything, Simon? ... Simon?" Bato stopped pacing. "Oh. I think they fell asleep."

After a moment of silence, Toda spoke. "... Do you two have to do this? If something goes wrong... And so much can..."

"... We're in danger one way or another." Bato replied. "We can't just sit here and wait for them to come for us."

Simon drifted off before they could hear the end of the conversation.

Bato and Toda are Knitter’s characters

Hachi, Jill, and Simon are Shuckle’s characters.

Splatoon belongs to Nintendo. We also do not own transformers.

Please consider liking or reblogging if you enjoyed, it’s nice to know we’re doing things right.

Shuckle has a patreon if you would like to provide additional support!

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#Better Eight Than Never #Splatoon #SS Simon #SS Jill #SS Toda #SS Bato #Octo Hachi

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toomanysurveys9 · 7 years

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What’s the stupidest thing you’ve ever cried about?

family eating all my m&m cookies that i was so excited about and craving. because there were also peanut butter cookies, which they all like and i do not. pregnancy has been interesting. that’s not the only stupid thing i’ve cried over.

Do you like peanut butter?

depends on my mood, to be honest.

What about marshmallows?

not plain marshmallows, and not if they’re not roasted.

How do you roast your marshmallows?

fire.

Do you eat s’mores?

sometimes, but it’s rare.

What’s the best brand of chocolate?

i don’t really know or care. i don’t eat chocolate that often.

Do you own a disco ball, or know anyone who does?

no and no.

Own a lava lamp?

no. my 14 year old sister does though.

Own any sort of glow-in-the-dark room accessory?

nope.

Ever faked an orgasm?

not that i remember. but it’s possible.

Done something illegal to your car?

not to it.

Own some type of work out machine?

not machine, no. no space.

Are you quickly getting grossed out?

no? why would i be getting grossed out right now?

What scars on your body do you have?

mostly various spots on my arms.

Ever did something sexual in public?

jake and i have had sex outside if that counts. we’ve also made out in public back in our high school days. ha.

Do you like the taste of squid or eel?

never had either, but neither sound good.

Ever date anybody in middle school?

briefly, yes.

Did you like to get dirty when you were little?

not really. i mostly stayed inside and read books. unless i was somewhere i could catch frogs, like my great aunt’s house.

Do you find the show Family Guy absolutely hilarious?

there are some funny moments sometimes.

Own anything that has to do with dragons or unicorns?

don’t think so, besides books with a dragon in it maybe. i also have a book where a boy turns himself into a unicorn briefly in an attempt to make a point to a girl at the camp...

Believe in mermaids/mermen?

no.

How many times have you snuck out of the house?

i never had to.

How many shooting stars have you seen/wished upon?

none really.

What’s in your closet?

random stuff that doesn’t have a place in our room.

Do you usually have your bedroom door open or closed?

if i’m in here, closed.

What about your window?

almost always closed.

Do you go outside to your backyard to relax a lot?

we don’t really have a backyard so no.

Do you like the sound of birds chirping, or does it piss you off?

i don’t care either way.

Have a friend that complains all the time?

a few.

Ever wanted to be a vet?

not really.

Ever centered your life around a person?

i wouldn’t go that far..

Are you hungry right now?

kind of.

How about thirsty?

kind of.

Are you doing anything else on the computer while you do this?

nope. just this.

Ever had a long conversation with a bot over AIM before?:

i don’t think so.

Ever been complimented by a stranger?

that used to happen a lot at the gas station.

Ever did something you found dumb, just because everyone else was doing it?

probably has happened.

Do you prefer the word burp over belch?

i don’t really care either way to be honest.

Who was the last person you talked to over the phone?

my mom.

Do people often judge you before they get to know you?

definitely.

Do you give hugs like it’s no big deal?

i don’t really hug people often outside of family.

Do you like playing with other people’s hair?

not especially.

Ever flashed someone you liked?

i’ve flashed my breasts at jacob before, so i guess so.

Ever mooned someone you hated?

nope.

Ever written your number in a public bathroom or a school text book? If so, did anyone actually call you?

no. why would you do that?

Ever had an infection of any kind?

a few. nothing serious. just the normal stuff.

How many of your friends are from California?

none.

Do you actually like chicken?

i do.

Ever considered becoming a vegetarian?

it didn’t even last a day.

Ever seriously thought of killing someone?

definitely not.

Do you use paper plates a lot?

at my parents’ house. not at home.

Ever had a job? If so, what and for how long?

i’ve had several.

Ever had an interview?

yup. that’s how i got my jobs.

Have a built-in pool in your backyard?

nooo.

A trampoline?

we used to. not since moving to the trailer park.

Do you go tanning?

i do not.

Ever won yourself a stuffed animal?

yeah.

Ever had someone else win you a stuffed animal?

also yeah.

Ever been to a circus?

once years ago.

What type of computer do you have?:

i know it’s an hp and has touch screen.

Do you have a favorite sexual position, even if you’re a virgin?

i currently prefer doggy because my belly is huge and gets in the way when it comes to other positions.

Ever been horseback riding?

not really, no.

Been skiing or snowboarding?

no. i’d break something for sure.

Do you wax/shave/pluck your eyebrows?:

nope.

Ever had cyber sex? If so, ever sent nude photos?

i’ve sent jake photos through text in high school..

Ever had phone sex? If so, did you just masturbate over the phone and make noises? Or did you talk dirty while doing it?

never done that.

Ever done oral? With how many people?

yeah. one.

Did you know you can get STDs from doing that?

... yes.

If you’re a girl, do you wear sports bras or padded bras?

both..

What condom brand do you use?

don’t really use them because jake doesn’t like them.

Do you use flavored/scented/glow-in-the-dark/neon/ribbed condoms?

^^^

Are you on the pill (if you’re a girl)?

i’m pregnant, so no.

Ever been to a concert?:

yeah. ed sheeran was my favorite.

Ever used crest white strip?:

nope.

How often do you shower/bathe?:

every other day. sometimes every couple days if i’m not doing anything and have no energy. heh.

When was the last time you did so?:

this morning.

#survey #surveys #personal #question #questions #random

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