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leaves-of-three · 6 years

Text

Day Eleven: Part 3 || The Alps

Connor Murphy x Reader

Word Count: 6439

Summary: The last part of Day 11 which involves awkward family dinners. [This is part of an in progress series. You can follow along here.]

[[Warnings: Mentions of suicide and a dead parent. Mentions of depression.]]

Tag List: [If you would like to be added to the tag list so you’ll be notified when a new chapter is posted, please just shoot me a message.] @hamiltrash-love @neverland-treasures @xdsockmonkey

Author Notes: This was written in parts over a depression fueled week. I hope that they at least vaguely fit together. At least knowing that I’ll have posted something, even if I’m not thrilled with it or wanted so much more from it, will hopefully be enough to ease my guilty conscious for not posting more regularly. xKatie

Out the kitchen window you saw Connor’s car pull up onto the side of your lawn. You felt a wave of relief wash over you. You’d spent the last five minutes listening to Holly chatter on and on while you stared outside. If you had to wait any longer, you might have seriously considered stabbing her. She only seemed to get worse the longer she was around.

“He’s here. I’ll be right back,” you said as you jumped out of the chair.

You didn’t bother to wait for her reply before running out the door. You were starting to have second thoughts on the entire thing. This was a horrible idea. Connor probably wouldn’t even come inside. He didn’t ask for this. He wasn’t going to be happy with you. You swallow and forced a timid smile onto your face, walking over to his window.

He rolled it down and looked up at you, “Did you forget how cars worked? You use the door to get inside.” He pointed to the passenger side door with mild confusion. “You could climb through the window, I guess, if you really wanted but it might be a little awkward.”

You refrained from rolling your eyes at him, “Shut up.” His face looked even worse in person. Without a screen in the way, you could make out every little detail of the bruising and swelling. His skin had transformed into hues of purple, blue, and grey. Sickly yellow patches were beginning to poke through under the darker tones. The sight made your stomach churn. You scrunched up your nose, “Shit...you look awful.”

“Hmm, surprisingly not the first time I’ve had a conversation start like that.” He gave you a little grin. “I hope my face doesn’t make you lose your appetite.”

“I’m afraid I already lost it before you showed up...” You chewed on your bottom lip. You weren’t sure how you were supposed to bring this up to him. You should have canceled when you had the chance. “I, uhm, have a favor to ask you. You can say no! You don’t have to do anything if you don’t want. We could always leave if you really didn’t feel like it. I mean, I don’t even really want to do it. The more I think about it, the more awful it sounds. I’m just being dumb. You know what, never mind. Forget it.”

Connor raised his brows, “Are you going to tell me what it is or am I supposed to guess?”

“Yeah, sorry, uh... hold on.” You jogged around to the other side of the car and got inside, perching on the seat to look at him. The memories of the last time you were in here kept leaking into your thoughts. It was hard to look directly at him. The reason his face looked like that was because of you. He had gotten himself hurt because of something you had said. Every bad thing seemed to somehow connect back to you. It was starting to sit heavy on your heart. “Where do I start?” It was a valid question. You had no idea what you were doing anymore. You were sad and empty.

“How about you start by asking me what favor you need?” He took off his seat belt and angled himself to face you. “I promise I’ll be nice.”

You sighed, “I was wondering if you would eat dinner inside with me instead of going out somewhere.”

He went to reply but, as he opened his mouth to speak, you interrupted him, “It’s not that simple! It’s...arg, okay...okay, long story, but apparently my dad has a girlfriend now. Either that or I let a stranger into my house and that stranger is now cooking dinner and going to poison us all and steal what little we have. But basically, there is a wannabe porn star in my kitchen who wants to surprise my dad and eat dinner with us. ...And I may have gotten pissed off and volunteered to invite you inside for a double date with my father.”

The words tumbled out of your mouth faster with each passing second. You were starting to doubt everything you were saying and panic. “Wow that sounds weird when I say it out loud. This was not how I imagined our first date to be. Is it even a date? Oh god, what if it’s not a date. That’s so embarrassing. Why did I do this? What is wrong with me? I’m so sorry. I’m not right in the head. I’m all messed up and nothing feels real anymore and sometimes I feel like I blink and five hours has gone by without me noticing. I cry so much that I get dehydrated because I’m loosing so much fluids from the constant flow of tears that never seem to end. I don’t know how to be happy. Nothing brings me joy except seeing your face but that doesn’t even work anymore. Now when I look at your face all I see is the pain I caused you and it reminds me of Jus-”

You couldn’t say his name out loud so you glossed over it while you continued to word vomit. “I just think of him because he did that to you and that was my fault. Everything is my fault. I’m an idiot. I say I want my dad to be happy but that’s a lie because I don’t want him to date. I don’t like that there’s a strange woman in my house. I don’t like that he didn’t tell me about her. I hate her. I miss my mom. I don’t know how I’m going to get caught up on all my school work. I’m so far behind. I was seriously considering dropping out and running away. Then I’d have to live on the streets or in homeless shelters but at least then I wouldn’t be a failure to everyone because no one would know where I went and they could forget about me. They could be happy and move on without me getting in their way. I’ve hardly ate anything in the past few days and when I do, I feel like I want to puke it back up. My body is rejecting everything because it wants to be empty. I wanted to enjoy time with you but that got ruined. I thought maybe for once something could be normal when we hang out. Then some fucking blonde lady showed up unexpectedly and I’m supposed to be welcoming and hospitable. I hate my dad for putting me in that situation. I wanted to make him feel what I felt when she showed up at our door. I wanted him to walk in and find you sitting there, ready to eat dinner, like he should totally know exactly who you are already. I wanted him to have to deal with a stranger invading his house. I wanted him to feel uncomfortable and confused because I didn’t tell him anything or warn him at all. I wanted to hurt him...what kind of person does that to someone they love? Who the hell makes the people they love miserable so that maybe, just maybe, they’ll start to understand how you’re feeling? I’m a horrible person and a shitty daughter and I was going to use you for my ill doing and I’m so sorry...”

You finally stopped to catch your breath and slumped against the seat rest. You kept your eyes on your hands. You didn’t want to look at him. “Now I’m embarrassed because I just said all that and I want to cry but I’m trying not to do that anymore. I don’t even tell that kind of shit to my journal. I don’t know why I said it to you. I’m not a good person. I’m insane and losing my mind and don’t know how to function properly. I’m sorry. You didn’t ask for any of this.” Your hands fidgeted anxiously together, “I should go.”

Connor had stayed quiet while you spoke. He reached a hand out and placed it on top of your restless ones. They stopped moving at his touch. You still refused to look up at him. You heard him clear his throat, “...You thought this was a date?”

Your head shot up to look at him, mortified. Your eyes were wide with panic. “No! I didn’t think that! I...I...mean...I...” Your breath caught in your throat. Had you misread everything? Of course Connor wasn’t taking you on a date. Why would he? Why would he ever like you? You were nothing. You swallowed the lump forming in your throat and pulled your hand from his, quickly turning to the door to leave. You had to get out of here.

“Wait! I didn’t mean it like that!” He called out to you and grabbed your arm to stop you. “Sorry, that came out wrong. I meant to say...hey...would you look at me? Please?”

Bashfully, you turned your turned your head to face him. You could feel the heat on your cheeks as you silently wilted from embarrassment. You kept your mouth tightly shut. You should probably stop talking for now. It wasn’t getting you anywhere good.

Connor gave you a tiny smile. His thumb brushed lightly across your skin where he still held your wrist. Your eyes drifted down to study the small touch. It made your stomach seize with adoration for him. “What I meant to say was, I hope you didn’t think that low of me, that I would take you out to a fast food restaurant for a first date. I know you’ve been going through a lot the past few days. I just wanted to take you out and make sure you were okay. ...Also I currently resemble a troll. I would hope that when I do take you out on a date, I would look more human.”

“When you do?” Your voice came out small.

He shrugged, “Yeah. When I do. When you’re ready. I don’t think you are right now.”

He was right. You weren’t ready to start dating. Not after everything you had been through. You hadn’t given yourself any time to heal. Just a few hours ago, you were sobbing in the shower. That wasn’t the sort of person who should rush into any kind of relationship. You took a deep breath, “What if I’m never ready?”

Connor sat on the question for a minute. His brows were knitted together in thought. Then he spoke, “You will be. In time. But even if you’re not, then I’ll still be your friend. I don’t willingly go and get my ass kicked for just anyone. You’re...special. To me.” His words were sheepish towards the end of his sentence, like he was having an internal struggle with himself on whether or no he should say them. He turned to look out his window and away from your staring gaze. You noticed his foot was tapping anxiously against the floor of the car.

“You’re special to me too, Connor.” Without him, you wouldn’t be anywhere. Without him, you’d still be alone.

He looked back at you. His eyes were perplexed and his tone was shrouded in disbelief, “You do?”

It was your turn to give him a warm smile of comfort. You nodded, “Without a shadow of a doubt.”

From what little you knew about Connor, it occurred you that there was a high possibility no one had ever made him feel special before. If you were the first one than you didn’t want to leave anything to chance. You didn’t want him to feel unwanted a second longer. You clasped his hand in yours and gave it a gentle squeeze.

The edges of his lips twitched into a smile, “Is there really a porn star in your kitchen?”

His words cut through the somber air that had settled between you two and you laughed. It felt good to laugh. “Her name is Holly Silk. Tell me that doesn’t sound like the name of an armature porn star.”

His features softened and lit up at the sound of your laugh. You watched his body relax into the back of his seat. “I’m picturing an older chick in a skimpy school girl outfit with pigtails putting a meatloaf in your oven. On a scale of one to ten, how accurate is that assumption. Your answer will be the deciding factor if I stay or not.”

“Okay, first of all, gross.” You giggled, “Second of all, you’re probably at a three on an accuracy scale. She’s dressed in reasonable middle aged woman clothes but the jury is still out on how real her boobs are.”

Connor laughed. It was a delightful sound. You hadn’t seen him laugh like that before. It was carefree. It was relaxed. It was peaceful. It was a nice look on him. “I guess I’ll have to come in and join you for dinner to see for myself. But I’m warning your right now, don’t expect me to be a master conversationalist.”

You beamed at him and leaned across the seats to hug him, “Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! It’ll be so fun...and by fun I mean awkward and horrible and miserable for everyone.”

He snorted and shrugged you off him, “Okay but what do I say when I they ask me what happened to my face?”

“Just be vague and I’ll try to change the topic whenever I can.” You glanced back to your house. Your dad would be getting home soon. “Should we go in?”

Connor sighed a long, drawn out, dramatic sigh, “Alright but you owe me future Burger King after this. I don’t come cheap.”

It was odd to enter your own house feeling like a stranger. Holly had fully made herself at home in your kitchen. You took note of the fact that she seemed to know exactly what was behind each cabinet. This wasn’t her first time cooking here. It felt like even more of a betrayal from your father. She was important enough to him that he brought her into your home. Yet he never thought to mention her to you.

You cleared your throat with a harsh cough to grab her attention. Connor had stuck close behind you. You could feel his chest practically pressing into your back. It reminded you of a shy child hiding behind their parents leg. “Hey, Heather, this is my friend Connor,” you stepped aside to usher him forwards.

Holly turned around and forced another smile, “Holly. It’s nice to meet you, Connor- oh.” Her eyes widened when she caught sight of his face. She swallowed whatever comment she was going to make as she wiped her hands off on a towel and held it held to shake.

Connor grabbed her hand with a little too much intensity. You watched him tightly squeeze her hand in his with the shake, “Nice to meet you too, Hannah.” He put on a big, cheesy smile for her. One that was caked in sarcasm.

“Holly,” she corrected again.

You had to bite your lip to stop from smiling. You pushed past her into the kitchen to see what she was working on, “How’s the taco’s coming along?” You wouldn’t admit this but it smelled amazing in there.

“I’ve already got everything prepared. If you wouldn’t mind helping set the table, that would be a big time saver,” She followed you into the kitchen. “Steven should be home soon.”

“Yes I am aware of what time my dad comes home.” You opened the cabinet and grabbed four plates. “Connor, would you mind getting the glasses? They’re to the left of the stove.”

You carried the plates to the table and set them in front of each seat. The last time anyone had sat down at this table was last Christmas when your aunts stopped by for dinner. Mostly you just took your meals in the living room to watch tv while you ate. Connor carried a stack of glasses to you and put them next to each plate. He glanced at you to see what he was supposed to do next. You just smiled at him, “Pick a chair and claim it as your own.”

He took the one closest to the corner with his back to the wall. You slid into the one beside him while Holly brought out each fixing and lined them up in middle of the table to create a little taco bar. Under different circumstances, you’d of been excited to enjoy the meal. Instead, guilt and nerves were settling into your empty stomach. Before you had time to think on it too much, the front door opened.

Three sets of eyes all turned to face your father walking in. Each one just as curious as the next for his reaction. He stopped in his tracks, barely having left the doorway, and stared back. He blinked slowly a few times as he took in the scene. There was his daughter, his girlfriend he forgot to mention, and some punk kid with a beat up face sitting around his dinner table.

Holly stood up and walked over to him, kissing his cheek, “Surprise! My business trip got called off early and I thought I would come to surprise you.”

You leaned on your hand and stared down your father, “Yeah dad. Surprise, alright. Surprise, surprise.”

He took a quick second to regain himself after the shock and put a smile onto his bearded face. “Wow. This is...unexpected,” he glanced between you and Holly with worried eyes. “I can see you’ve met Y/N. Has she been, uh, respectful?”

You snorted a sarcastic laugh, “Aren’t I always? Holly’s been so wonderful. She’s been telling me all about the two of you. Funny how it’s the first time I’m hearing of it.”

Your father put his hand on Holly’s back as he stepped more further into his house. “I’ve been meaning to catch you up but, you’ve been so out of it lately, I didn’t want to bother you.” He turned his attention to Connor. “Who’s your friend?”

“This is Connor. He’s my date for the evening. We had plans to go out but we decided to change them when other circumstances arose,” you kept your tone curt and your features detached. “I hope that’s okay with you. I wouldn’t want to suddenly throw something at you when you’re not prepared.”

He cleared his throat and gave you a warning look, silently telling you to cut the crap. He stepped forward and reached his hand across the table to Connor, “I’m Steven. It’s nice to meet you, Connor.”

You side glanced at Connor to watch him shake hands with your father. His entire demeanor had changed. It was different from when he met Holly. He didn’t make eye contact and pulled his hand back to his side the second his grip was released. Everything about his body language was more closed off and shut down. You wondered if he was intimidated by your father. Your dad was a big guy, after all. At first look he could seem rather threatening. It was great for being a security guard, awful for meeting any of your potential dates.

“Let’s eat? It looks wonderful as always, Hol.” He pulled out a chair for her to sit in before sitting beside her.

“Yes, Con. Doesn’t it look just wonderful?” Your voice dripped with mockery. Connor shot you a displeased look with his new nickname but otherwise kept quiet.

The table was silent while you each prepared your tacos. You only took one. Every time you put food into your stomach, you’d immediately feel sick and start to reject the contents. Instead of food, you had been surviving off the constant anxiety twisting and filling your empty stomach. You nibbled at the hard shell.

Holly was the first one to break the fallen silence. She placed a napkin across her lap as she spoke, “Steven tells me you’re a great painter, Y/N.”

You hadn’t painted anything in over two year, “I’m mediocre at best. Besides I don’t paint anymore. I ran out of water colors, like, two years ago and never bothered to get anymore. It was just a stupid hobby.”

“She’s being modest. She used to paint these beautiful sunsets. I didn’t know you ran out. You should have told me. I would bought you more,” Steven spoke between hardy bites.

“With what money?” It came out harsher than you intended. You knew it was a touchy subject. He tried to hide it but you knew better. Your family didn’t have any extra money to help fuel a hobby. You hadn’t mentioned it because you knew he would have bought you some. You had stopped asking for things years ago. It was better that way. He wouldn’t feel obligated to get you anything. He could use every cent to save up for important matters.

His eyes narrowed at your question. Touchy subject. He cleared his throat. “We have money, Y/N. I’ll pick you up some after work tomorrow.”

“I don’t want them. I told you. I don’t paint anymore,” You made sure to drive that last point home to him.

He shrugged you off and turned his attention to Connor. You could tell he was getting angry at the attitude you were giving him. It only fueled your desire to piss him off even more. You felt a bit of evil rise up in you and you smiled to yourself. He studied Connor’s face, “What happened there?”

“Hmm?” It was the first sound Connor had made since your father got home. All attention turned to him.

“What happened to your face? You get into a fight?” Your dad gave him a hard, unforgiving look. He was still dressed in his security uniform.

“Oh-” Connor gave you a quick glance. “Yeah, uh, it was a fight.”

“He tried to scam off one of his drug dealers and they had to teach him a lesson,” you stated simply.

Connor tensed. The hard shell of his taco cracked down the middle as his grip tightened around it. “Yeah, heh, what she said. Won’t be doing that again,” he gave a nervous, breathless laugh.

Both Holly and your father stared in shock at the two of you. You chuckled to yourself and took a small bite of your food before speaking, “I’m kidding! God, you guys are so uptight. Chill.” You tuned your attention to Holly, ready to dive in. “Have you ever been married before, Holly?”

She licked her lips and gave you a tight smile, “No. I have not.”

“Why not?”

Your father gave you another warning look, “Y/N. Enough.”

“No, no it’s fine, Steven. Honestly. I don’t mind. It’s good for us to get to know each other more.” Holly was taking things like a champ. You had give her some credit. “I was engaged once. Things didn’t end well. But that’s all in the past. Is there anything else you’d like to know? I’m an open book.”

You scowled a bit and looked down at your half eaten taco. It wasn’t fun messing with someone if they were fine with it.

Your dad decided to step in, “Personally I’d like to know more about your friend. Have you always lived in town, Connor?”

He shrugged, “Yeah.”

“Do you have any siblings?” Holly chimed in.

Connor gave another shrug, “Yeah.”

“Not much of a talker?” She laughed. “I have two older brothers. What about you?”

“Just a sister,” he mumbled.

“Why didn’t you go through with the marriage?” It was your best attempt to steer the conversation away from Connor. He was clearly not enjoying the spot light.

Holly took sip of water and shifted uncomfortably in her seat. Despite claiming to be an open book, she was obviously uncomfortable with there the topic had turned. “He, uhm...he passed away. Car accident.”

You wanted to feel bad for her. Really, you did. It was just that your emotions still weren’t working properly. Empathy didn’t seem to be something you were capable of in the moment.

“Oh. My mom killed herself in our bathtub,” you stated it in a matter of fact manor. The second the words fell from your mouth you regretted speaking them.

The table went quiet. You saw Connor tense up out the corner of your eye. Your father glared at you in horror from across the table. You had never once discussed the topic of your mother’s death with him before. When you were younger, he said it was an accident. He never went into detail with you. It was only when you were older that you found out the truth from an aunt. Your mother was a taboo subject for your dad. Anytime you’d mention her, he’d close up and brush you off. The fact that you had stated the matter of her death in such a way, in middle of a dinner table full of guests, would be considered the ultimate form of betrayal to your father. A chill flowed through your veins.

Steven slammed his glass onto the table. His jaw was set tight and his eyes were narrow. He harshly shoved the chair back and stood up, “I think it’s time I drove Holly home. Y/N, I expect the dished to have been cleaned, him-” He pointed a calloused finger at Connor, “-to be gone, and you to be in bed by the time I return. Is that understood?”

You kept your eyes cast down at your lap and nodded meekly.

“I said,” his voice rising. “Is that understood?”

“Yes,” you shot back. You turned to glare at him. Anger began to claw up and out of you. This was his fault. If he had told you about Holly beforehand than none of this would be happening right now.

Holly gently pushed her chair back and stood up. She gave you a sympathetic look. You only scowled back at her. Your father put his arm around her and ushered them towards the door. A moment later, they were gone.

Your anger faded into sadness once they were out of sight. You bit down on the inside of your cheek to keep from crying. No more crying. You were so sick of crying. A sense of shame blanketed over you and your shoulders sagged under the weight. This was what you had wanted. You had wanted to hurt your father. Congratulations. You had done it. Then how come it felt like shit?

“...Fun dinner. Thanks for inviting me,” Connor’s voice chirped from beside you.

You turned to look at him. He was trying to hide a grin. You frowned, “Something funny to you?”

He shook his head but the grin only spread, “I’m sorry. It was just...such...a shit show.”

The more he tried to hold back laughter, the more you started to feel it too. He was right. It was a shit show. Only about half of the tacos had been eaten. All of Holly’s hard work was thrown away over a single comment. You snorted out a laugh. “What the fuck? Who brings up their mother’s suicide at dinner? What is wrong with me?” The giggles began to burst out of you. There was some dark humor hidden under all the macabre.

Connor shook his head in disbelief, “I thought my family was fucked up. I couldn’t have topped that if I tried.” A few amused laughs came out of him to join in with your own.

“I am so dead,” you said as you wiped tears of laughter from your eyes. “My father is going to murder me.” You shrugged, “Fuck it.”

“Speaking of which, I would like to be out of the way as soon as possible. I’ve already got a dad who wants to murder me. I don’t need another one.” Connor stood up from the table. “Do you need help with the dishes?”

“Nah. Leave ‘em. A little more chaos can’t hurt.” You followed him as he walked towards the front door.

Anger, sadness, shame, laughter...all in the span of five minutes. Talk about some serious mood swings. You didn’t know what was going on inside your head but it was a mess. The quick burst of joy you had gotten was already fading back into depression. The idea of Connor leaving was only helping the heavy sadness along. You didn’t want to see him go.

Connor stood in the doorway. He was shuffling the toe of his boot against the ground. He seemed reluctant to leave as well. You leaned up and wrapped your arms around his neck, giving him a tight hug.

“Thank you, Connor. For surviving through this,” you said. You weren’t ready for him to go yet. You were afraid of the emptiness that tended to follow whenever he left your sight. You unwillingly pulled out of his embrace.

There was an awkward pause as you both just stood in the door facing each other. Neither of you wanted to walk away first. Connor scratched the back of his head and took a small step back, “Yeah, uh, no problem. I’ll see Monday, I guess.” He gave you a halfhearted wave as he turned to leave.

You wrapped your arms around your chest while you watched him walk away. Your heart was already starting to ache. He got about half way to his car before he spun around. You immediately perked up with curiosity when he faced you.

“Hey...uh...do you want to go get some ice cream or something?”

You were already in trouble. Hearing your dad’s wrath would be a worthy to price to pay if it meant you wouldn’t have to leave Connor just yet.

A smile broke across your face and you nodded. “Yeah. Yeah, I really do.”

“I know it’s up here somewhere! Just...fucking chill,” Connor grumbled as he drove down an old dirt road. The car’s high beams lit up the dark road before you. He kept claiming he knew where he was going every five minutes. As far as you could tell, he was lost.

“The ice cream is melting!” You held two bowls in each hand. Both of them were filled with chocolate icecream and topped with chocolate sprinkles. The icecream was starting to sweat and you could see it pooling up around the bottom of the cups. Connor had insisted you take it go. He claimed he knew of a better place to sit and eat. Your palms were starting to freeze from holding the bowls.

He shushed you and squinted ahead, “There it is! See it?” He pulled the car into a field.

You looked up. You didn’t see much of anything. “I see creepy trees? Are we going to summon demons in a field? This looks like a place you’d burn pentagrams into the ground,” you handed him his cup as he put the car in park.

You didn’t have to look to know he was rolling his eyes. “They’re not creepy. They’re apple trees. It’s an old apple orchard.”

You looked again. Apple trees were nice when they were full of leaves and red fruit. Without the flair, they were just stumpy, dead trees with long, spindly branches. The headlights illuminated the closest trees and cast the rest into dark, ominous shadows. “...Yeah totally not creepy at all.”

Connor turned to give you an unamused look. You batted your lashes at him and feigned innocence. “I’m serious. Totally not creepy.”

“Just trust me.” He pulled the keys out of his car. Suddenly the entire world around you was cast into darkness without the car to shed its light. The eerie feeling of the orchard only intensified. “Get out,” he ordered you.

Your eyes widened in horror, “You can’t be serious.”

He chuckled to himself and opened his door, “I’m super serious. I told you. Trust me.”

“If I get murdered tonight, I have no one to blame but my own stupidity,” you moaned as you exited the car with your bowl of chocolate heaven.

You shivered as you stood outside in the dark. Connor walked around to the front of his car and hoped up onto the hood. He scooted back and leaned against windshield, patting the spot beside him for you.

“In theory that’s really cute but, in reality, you’re basically cleaning a bunch squished, dead bugs off the glass with your back...” You scooped up a bit of ice cream and licked it off your spoon as you stared at him.

He gave you an incredulous look, “You never stop complaining. Do you?”

You smiled as you finished the ice cream off the plastic spoon, licking it clean, “Afraid not.”

You watched him roll his eyes. It was becoming a common occurrence whenever he spoke to you. He shrugged his military style jacket off his shoulders and draped it over the glass beside him, “There. Now get on the fucking car.” Carefully, so not spill any ice cream, you crawled onto the spot beside him and laid back against his jacket.

“Thank you,” you mumbled through another mouthful.

“Shut up and look at the damn sky. This is what we came here for,” he plopped a spoonful of his own ice cream into his mouth. Instead of looking up, you watched his lips close around the spoon. Even if they were bruised and swollen, he still had beautiful lips.

Eventually you let your eyes travel up to the night sky. You inhaled a sharp breath. Without the pollution of light, the sky was a dark black and plastered with bright stars. You couldn’t remember the last time you had seen so many stars at once. It was breathtaking.

You scooted closer to Connor’s side. The next few minutes were spent in silence, staring up at the beauty above, and finishing off the partially melted ice cream. When you were done, you placed the cup off to the side on top his car. As you kept your head eyes upwards towards the sky, you felt his arm snake around your shoulders. He pulled you into him. Your head fell against his shoulder. You smiled softly to yourself. This was worth the drive.

“Make a constellation,” you glanced up at him.

He looked down at you with an inquisitive look. You had never seen him this relaxed before. Everything about him was so peaceful. He was at home here. You were happy you got to share this moment with him.

“A constellation?” He asked.

"Mhm! Make me a constellation and I’ll make you one. Then we can live forever in the sky.” It was getting late. You had your daily intake of chocolate, you were cuddled up next someone special, and you were under a beautiful blanket of stars. It seemed like a good idea.

Connor rested his head back against the windshield and stared up at the sky, “Okay. There.” He pointed his finger into the air. “See that star? The one just to the right of the tree branch?”

You nodded.

“Start with that star. Then go up to that extra bright one there.” His finger moved in an upward fashion. “Then go back down to that little one.” He painted invisible lines in the air as he connected the stars. “Then back up to that bright one and down to that flickering one.”

You imaged a giant letter M painted in the sky, “So what is it?”

“It’s a mountain range. Specifically the Alps,” he replied. “Now you make me one.”

You wanted to ask him why he thought of the Alps as a constellation but you waited. Your eyes scanned over the sky looking for any stars that could potentially make the shape of what you were thinking. “Aha, found it." You pointed upward and drew a triangle with two lines coming out one end. You did your best to describe the stars you were connecting. “It’s a fish. You have to use your imagination. That’s what’s so great about constellations. You could connects a squiggle of dots and call it a bear or some shit. I made yours a fish.”

Connor scrunched up his nose, “Why a fish?”

“Why the Alps?” You shot back.

He shifted his body so he could better look at you, “In Frankenstein, Mary Shelley uses a lot of symbolism to describe situations. Victor flees to the Alps. He’s overcome with the horrors he’s inflicted and his pain of creating a monster. The Alps numb his pain. They bring him comfort. They symbolize the sublime of nature. The beauty that inspires both awe and fear. The mountains are majestic in their beauty but they’re an unforgiving force. ...They day I met you I was reading that book. You reminded me the Alps.” He went quiet and settled back down against the car.

An unfamiliar feeling washed over you. You couldn’t quite place what it was. It was a strange cocktail of nervous energy, pure adoration, and a heavy sadness. You weren’t sure how one could feel such love and heartbreak at the same time. “I chose a fish because it reminds me of the lake. The lake is my happy place. It’s where I go when I need to escape everything but still feel the safety and familiarity of home. It used to be because it reminded me of my mom. But now,” you took a deep breath. “Now it reminds me of you.” You rested your head against his shoulder and closed your eyes. Everything shared between you two had been vulnerable and transparent. You wanted to soak in the moment. You didn’t want to forget.

Connor brushed a hand through your hair. His fingers lazily moved against your scalp to dull you into a spell of relaxation. “You know what you said earlier?” His voice was soothing and barely above a whisper.

Through closed eyes you mumbled out a, “Hmm?”

“In the car this evening? When I showed up at your house? You said you didn’t know how to be happy anymore. That you felt empty. That you wanted to punish the people around because then maybe they’d understand how you were feeling?”

You stiffened a little against him for fear of where this might go, “Oh...that...yeah...”

He sighed, “Me too. I understand. I feel that too. I just, I mean, I just don’t want you to think you’re alone in feeling that way. I get it. You don’t have to pretend around me.”

You felt yourself relax against him and nodded silently, “Okay.”

#connor murphy x reader #connor murphy fic #connor murphy imagine #connor murphy #dear evan hansen fic #deh fic #deh

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tomeandflickcorner · 7 years

Text

OUAT Episode Analysis- Beauty

I’m gonna shake things up a bit this time around and focus on the present day stuff in Hyperion Heights first. The reason for that is because once I start talking about the flashback portion of the episode, I probably won’t be able to switch gears again very easily. In a related story, consider this my disclaimer for this episode analysis: If you were among those who liked this episode and would rather not read something that could dampen your enjoyment of what befell the characters, then it’s okay if you skip over this one. You won’t hurt my feelings if you decide not to read any further than this. The last thing I want to do is to ruin things for the fans of the show who found this episode to be moving.

It’s Halloween in Hyperion Heights. But because Victoria/Parallel Evil Stepmother is a petty b-word and a sore loser after Jacinda/Parallel Cinder managed to save the Community Gardens, she has forbidden her from taking Lucy trick-or-treating. Instead, the stepsister Ivy/Drizella is charged with taking Lucy around on her candy-gathering outing. Of course, Ivy is not the least bit happy about this and is only consenting because she isn’t willing to stand up to her mother and just does whatever she’s told. So when they’re out trick-or-treating, Ivy doesn’t pay much attention to Lucy, or her desire to visit this haunted house in the area. Instead, she spends the time complaining that she’s stuck watching Lucy when she could have been at some Halloween party. Lucy eventually gets sick of this and gives Ivy the slip, bribing a girl dressed like Elsa to masquerade as her for a bit. And because Ivy is focused on her phone, she doesn’t notice the switch until the Elsa girl speaks.

Ivy, desperate to find Lucy to avoid getting in trouble with her mother, is forced to head to the fried chicken restaurant where Jacinda works. Unfortunately, she arrives just as Henry was working up the courage to ask Jacinda out on a date. There was a scene earlier when he was at Roni/Regina’s bar, in which Henry was telling Roni/Regina about finding what he believes to be the graves of his wife and daughter and Roni/Regina gave him a pep-talk about putting old ghosts to rest and taking a chance at finding love again. When Jacinda hears that Lucy ran off on Ivy, she’s fully prepared to just up and leave work. But Henry, knowing that Jacinda would lose her job if she did so, offers to go and look for Lucy for her. He even gives her his phone number so she could text him ideas of where Lucy might go. And again, while this was probably the best option as Jacinda really couldn’t afford to be fired from her job, I still feel she should quit that job and go work at Roni/Regina’s bar. I just really want that jerk of a boss to get knocked down a few pegs.

Eventually, night falls, but Lucy still hasn’t been found. That’s when Henry and Ivy have a heart-to-heart about not being afraid to take a chance and just live your life to the best of your ability or something like that. Anyway, it does the trick and Ivy relents, accepting Henry’s help by checking Jacinda’s list of places where Lucy might have gone. This leads them to determining that Lucy is at the Haunted House. Though why Ivy didn’t think of trying the Haunted House earlier is beyond me, as it was clear she’d heard the girl talking about it. So Lucy is returned to Jacinda safely, and Ivy, possibly taking the first step towards redemption, allows Jacinda to be with Lucy for the remaining hour of trick-or-treating, announcing that she’ll deal with Victoria’s wrath. Henry is even invited to accompany the pair, though he chickens out when it comes to actually asking Jacinda out. Which is a bit of a shame, but at least there are steps being made.

Meanwhile, in Suplot B, New Alice/Tilly is seemingly going off the rails and ends up harassing Victoria in her car. This results in her getting maced, which was not undeserved. Unfortunately, New Alice/Tilly leaves behind her backpack, which Victoria proceeds to check. Inside, she finds an untouched bottle of prescription medication, along with Detective Weaver’s business card. Concluding that New Alice/Tilly has some connection to Weaver, she calls him in and pretty much instructs him to control the girl or she will make sure some tapes will be leaked to the public. From what I can gather, Victoria has dirt on Weaver that will expose him as a dirty, corrupt cop. As horrible as it may sound, I get a fiendish delight at seeing Rumpelstiltskin get a taste of his own medicine and being on the receiving end of blackmail and manipulation.

Either way, Weaver tracks New Alice/Tilly down and tries to convince her to take her pills, as the story is that she’s mentally unstable and the pills keep her focused. But it’s heavily implied that what the pills actually do is keep New Alice/Tilly from remembering who she is. And when she stops taking them, her true memories start to resurface. New Alice/Tilly becomes adamant about proving to Weaver that what she’s saying is true and insists that he go with her to some warehouse. Though she really could have been more convincing if she refrained from talking nonsensically and using what I guess were supposed to be Wonderland metaphors. Weaver seems to humor her at first, but he ends up tricking her into eating a sandwich laced with her pills. Upon discovering the deception, New Alice/Tilly goes ballistic, knowing that she’s now going to fall back asleep again. In desperation, she jumps out of the moving vehicle and runs toward the warehouse, forcing Weaver to follow her. Inside the warehouse is the iconic chipped teacup, which was also brought over by the new curse. New Alice/Tilly shows him the teacup in an effort to make him remember who he really is. Because apparently, my earlier prediction is once again wrong and Weaver really wasn’t awake. Which seems really lame now, as we all SAW the expression he got on his face when he first saw Detective Rogers. Why have him display that expression if he didn’t recognize Rogers?

Anyway, Weaver doesn’t recognize the chipped teacup, which leads to New Alice/Tilly shooting him in desperation. Because apparently, this is what Rumpelstiltskin instructed her to do before this new curse took them to Hyperion Heights. Of course, Weaver/Rumpelstiltskin is still the Dark One and therefore immortal. So even though the bullet goes right through him, he survives. And when he wakes up later in the hospital, it’s strongly implied that he’s finally woken up. Especially when he characteristically calls Victoria ‘dearie.’ As such, he informs Detective Rogers that he has no intention of pressing charges on Tilly, since he now remembers that she was following his orders. So now, Rumpelstiltskin is fully awake. Which makes me very nervous about what he’s going to get up to.

We also get this small moment when Detective Rogers talks with Tilly (who has once again forgotten that she’s New Alice due to the pills fully taking hold) in the waiting room. He assures her that she’s not in trouble for shooting Weaver/Rumpelstiltskin, as she clearly wasn’t in her right mind at the time. They then proceed to play a game of chess together. Obviously, this could be a hint that New Alice is Wish Killian’s long-lost daughter, but I’m not 100% sure on that. I think this might be a red herring. If New Alice WAS Wish Killian’s daughter, wouldn’t she be more concerned with finding her father than trying to get Rumpelstiltskin to wake up? And why would she knowingly align herself with her father’s arch enemy? But who knows? Maybe the writers aren’t trying to trick us. I guess we’ll see what happens.

However, I am confused about one thing. So these pills keep New Alice from remembering who she is. But why is she the only one who seems to be issued these pills? No one else seems to be on this medication. The curse itself is what keeps them from remembering. But with New Alice, they need the addition of these pills to keep her from remembering. What makes Alice so different from the others?

All right. I’ve put it off long enough. Time to talk about the main focus of the episode- the Rumbelle flashback. It begins back in Storybrooke, where they’re setting up for Gideon’s first birthday. And it appears they’ve invited all the Nevengers. Though I am a bit surprised Rumpelstiltskin allowed Belle to invite Killian. Or that Killian didn’t sneak a crocodile onto the cake that he and Emma brought to the party. I refuse to believe they ever completely let go of their blood feud. Also, it’s kinda weird they still call Snow and Charming’s kid ‘Baby Neal.’ If Gideon is turning one, Neal should be around two by now. I don’t know many people who call a toddler ‘baby.’

Regardless, before the party begins, Rumpelstiltskin announces his intention to grant Belle’s wish to travel the world. So they end up leaving Storybrooke with Gideon and, I guess, travel to other realms. After some time has passed, as evidenced by a brief glimpse of Gideon as a young boy, Rumpelstiltskin announces his intention of giving up the dagger for good. Because he wants to live a natural life with Belle. Which would be a nice gesture if not for one little detail. Rumpelstiltskin already HAD the chance to live a natural lifespan. Back in the Dark Swan arc when he was given a magical reset complete with a bleached out heart. But he took back the Dark One mantle the moment the opportunity presented itself. He even planned to take advantage of someone’s life sacrifice in order to do so. So hearing him talk about giving up the dagger like this is really bizarre. Of course, getting rid of the dagger is obviously easier said than done. And this is made clear when it magically returns to his pocket after he tries dropping into a magical river. So he and Belle start researching ways for him to be free from the dagger. (Again, it’s a shame they didn’t think of this when Excalibur was still around.)

Their research apparently continues for a few years, as Gideon reaches the point when he’s accepted at what I gather is the Enchanted Forest equivalent of an Ivy League school. And I admit, it’s cute to think that Gideon ended up to be as much as a bookworm as his mother. (Let’s hope he didn’t inherent any choice traits from his father.) Eventually, they find this weird prophecy. “When the dark one finds eternal love at the sun’s brightest set where time stops, the path will appear to where the darkness will rest.“ Thinking this might be the key to how to give up the dagger for good, Rumpelstiltskin takes Belle to this pocket dimension that I guess runs on Narnia time. You know, one of those realms that you could spend half a century in while only a second passes in your native world. His reasoning is that the prophecy was referring to the setting of the sun in this dimension.

We then get this whole montage of Rumpelstiltskin and Belle building a life together in this new realm, even building a house from the ground up. Which is a bit surprising. I mean, this is Rumpelstiltskin we’re talking about. He really helped build a house without using magic? And this is the same guy who they implied never helped out around the house when he and Milah were still married. Yeah, this is weird. And a bit depressing when you remember he never made this kind of effort with poor Milah. Anyway, throughout this montage, which many people have compared to the famous UP montage, we see Belle slowly but surely growing older. Until she reaches the point when she’s actually dying from old age. It’s then that it’s revealed that she purposely misinterpret the prophecy, and had known all along that the ‘setting sun’ was referring to her death. She goes on to explain how she knew that Rumpelstiltskin would have tried to find a way to defy the prophecy if he’d known, or would focus on the destination instead of the journey. Something like that. Of course, Rumpelstiltskin is upset, as he’s not ready to have Belle die and leave him. But Belle responds by reminding him of how he once let her go, back in the ‘Skin Deep’ flashback, and how she found a way back to him. So she’s sure they’ll find each other again on the other side. They even have the Beauty and the Beast theme playing during this part. Now I appreciate the effort they made at trying to make this seem like a happy little love story. I really do. The problem is that, in doing so, they completely gloss over everything Rumpelstiltskin did in Seasons 4 through 6. The writers may have thought they were writing a rendition of Beauty and the Beast when they created this pairing. But what they ultimately gave us was a corrupted version of the fairy tale, in which the Beast really was a horrible person whose redemption arc was virtually non-existent but still got the hero treatment in the end. Not to mention how he treated Belle Post S3.

Regardless, Belle ends up dying, with Rumpelstiltskin and Gideon burying her on the top of a hill in this Pocket Dimension. It’s then that Rumpelstiltskin announces his knowledge about the existence of this random bloke called the Guardian. And apparently, if Rumpelstiltskin gives the dagger to the Guardian, he’ll be automatically stripped of the Dark One mantle for good, which would allow him to die a natural death and reunite with Belle in the afterlife.

Okay, are you KIDDING ME? Where was this information about the Guardian during the Dark Swan arc? Don’t you think we could have benefited from this back then? Especially considering how desperate Emma was to be free of the Darkness, which she only took in in order to save everyone’s lives and souls. So let me get this straight. Emma, who only gave into the Darkness out of love, never actually did anything all that terrible, and didn’t kill a single person during her time as the Dark One had to kill her True Love and best friend to be free of the Darkness. But for Rumpelstiltskin, a man who embraced the Darkness and tortured, killed and terrorized hundreds of people, sometimes just for fun? All he has to do is hand the dagger over to some Joe Schmo and he’s automatically free? Ugh, thank you show, for once again making the heroes bend over backwards while presenting happy endings to the villains on a silver platter.

Another thing that annoys me about the direction this episode went in? What about Belle’s father? And the people she developed friendships with? People like Killian, Ruby, Anna, Ariel, Merida, Mulan, Leroy and Shady Blue? Do they know Belle is dead? Does ANYONE other than Rumpelstiltskin and Gideon know? I seriously doubt it, because Belle apparently just decided to settle down with Rumpelstiltskin in some Pocket Dimension where she’d never see her father or friends ever again. And she was apparently okay with that. So in other words, the narrative is portraying Belle as someone whose happy ending involves having a life that revolves solely around a man, and never giving another thought to her family and friends again. The thing that makes this even more aggravating is that this is exactly what the anti-CSers accuse OUR OTP of being. They constantly try to insist that CS ruined the show and how Emma had turned into a weak character who only cared about Killian and neglected her parents and son. Even though the narrative showed Killian actively encouraging Emma to maintain a connection with Snowing and supported her relationship with Henry. While I make an effort to avoid the anti-CS blogs for obvious reasons, I’m willing to wager that they’re not waving their ‘anti-feminist’ flags after this episode.

I know I should talk about the scene when Rumpelstiltskin began his quest to locate the Guardian, which led to him running into New Alice and them joining forces, but considering I’m a bit enraged right now, I’m afraid you’re just going to have to settle for me mentioning it. Although there was also a brief glimpse of Adult Henry riding by on his motorcycle, which I’m guessing is the show’s attempt at placing the time of Rumpelstiltskin and New Alice’s first meeting around the time when Henry first met Parallel Cinder. Which I admit was a nice touch. Though I do wonder why Henry didn’t stop and say hello. Granted he was passing by rather quickly. But you would think he would have done a double-take upon seeing Rumpelstiltskin standing there at the side of the road. Especially since Henry always seemed to continue to acknowledge the man as his grandfather, despite having more than enough reasons to simply disown him.

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writingblankspaces · 7 years

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No Tricks, Only Treats

Baekyeol

NC-17

It’s Halloween and campus slut Byun Baekhyun has had his eyes on Park Chanyeol.

The whole night Baekhyun’s eyes kept drifting to Chanyeol’s crotch, trying to imagine what he was working with beneath the tight jeans of his greaser costume. Made complete with slicked-back hair, carefully applied eyeliner, a white shirt and leather jacket, Chanyeol looked delicious.

His face must’ve shown it because when Luhan walked past him, he gave him a pointed look and whispered in his ear “you’re such a slut. Be less obvious you want to eat him.”

In response, he put a mock scandalized expression on his face—all wide eyes and an open mouth—and Luhan rolled his eyes because they both knew Baekhyun had been eyeing Park Chanyeol for nearly three weeks and had decided that Halloween night was when he was going to strike.

The atmosphere was perfect with the copious amount of booze, sexually frustrated people in their early-twenties and costumes, so everyone had a reason to act out of the norm.

It was also perfect because Baekhyun knew he looked good. His best friend’s brother had somehow managed to morph his freshly red-streaked hair into a mullet. At first, he’d been horrified, but after he’d slipped on his costume and looked at himself from different angles, it began to grown on him. With the skin-tight pleather pants, low heeled boots, a silk shirt he stole from Tao’s closet—worth more than three month’s rent—and smokey eyes and simple eyeliner he’d done himself, he was—if he could use an all encasing word—fuckable.

“What is your costume supposed to be anyway?” Luhan asked, handing Baekhyun a drink as he stood next to him. Before he took a sip, he sniffed it, letting out a dry laugh when he realized that it was Luhan's favorite, mystery punch. If he drank more than one cup of it, nothing would be happening tonight.

“A rock star,” Baekhyun replied after his first sip, waving his free hand over his body as if Luhan was blind for not recognizing his outfit.

“Whatever you say, Byun,” Luhan muttered before wandering away and heading towards his target of the night, Oh Sehun, who was conveniently dressed as the blue monster from Space Jam.

“You're going to have to figure out how to get the blue paint off your sheets,” Baekhyun shouted in Luhan’s direction, which earned him a dirty look.

Luhan would pay him back for it later, but right now they were both on a mission, and since Luhan was already pursuing his, Baekhyun decided to approach Chanyeol, who was now alone.

“Nice party your friends threw,” Baekhyun commented after he’d walked over and stood next to the taller man. He wanted to sound as nonchalant as possible because it’d been awhile since he’d pined after someone. He didn’t want to seem overly eager or desperate.

Neither of which he was, of course.

“Ah, yeah,” Chanyeol answered, sounding bored before he turned around and got a good look at Baekhyun’s costume. Then, suddenly, there was life in his voice with an upbeat “ah, yeah! Baekhyun, you came?”

There was something so attractive about how excited Chanyeol was to see him, but he had to maintain his focus. He wanted Chanyeol underneath and or on top of him by the end of the night, and he wasn’t going to let some flattery slow him down.

“So um, are you a greaser?” Apparently, he was, Baekhyun knew that much from the moment he’d walked in and spotted Chanyeol.

“Yeah, we-” Chanyeol gestured to his identically dressed friends “were going through movies on Netflix and came across Grease. We were trashed too, so I’m surprised we still remembered the next day.” Baekhyun laughed and worked to reel Chanyeol in closer, aiming to pull him deeper into a conversation so they would have an excuse to break from the party.

When Chanyeol showed he was perfectly content to more or less yell over the music that seemed to be getting louder, Baekhyun put his second plan into action.

“Hey, you wanna go dance? This is my favorite song,” again Chanyeol’s eyes drifted to Baekhyun’s thighs encased in the shiny material and nodded, chugging the last of what looked like a cup of beer. Baekhyun did the same with the mystery punch and they headed deeper into the party.

Out the corner of his eye, Baekhyun saw Sehun pinning Luhan to a wall.

Luhan worked fast.

They started off simple, just casually dancing in front of each other, but in the middle of a hip-hop song Baekhyun didn’t know, Chanyeol moved closer to him, and their rhythmic swaying turned into a slow grind. If the music hadn’t been so loud, Baekhyun was sure he might’ve heard his pants scraping against the denim of Chanyeol’s jeans. Instead, he could only hear the thrumming bass of the song as he fought to get as close to Chanyeol as possible.

By the third song, they were so close, they might as well have been dry humping on the floor. If either of them would’ve looked around, they would’ve realized that no one cared and that many couples were doing the same—if not more—than them.

When the song winded down, Chanyeol leaned down and whispered in Baekhyun’s ear “so um, you want to go upstairs and talk?” The huskiness of his voice told a different story and the feeling of anticipation sent chills down Baekhyun's spine.

He’d gotten what he wanted.

Within a minute or two, they were upstairs, and Chanyeol’s bedroom was closed and locked, leaving them alone in the dimly lit bedroom.

The thumping of the music below them kept things from being completely silent, not that they were talking anyway.

Chanyeol kissed him like his life depended on it, drawing Baekhyun into long kisses that stole his breath and each time he pulled away to catch his breath, Chanyeol would hurry to take a breath so he could move back in.

Their teeth clashed together when they kissed the last time, Chanyeol hovering over Baekhyun and looking at him with a hungry look in his eyes.

If Baekhyun was honest, as Chanyeol’s hands roamed his body and the gentle scent of his cologne surrounded him, he felt overwhelmed. Everything had been building up to that moment, and when Chanyeol squeezed the bulge in his pants, Baekhyun saw stars, angels and everything else.

“You know how good you look? God, I’ve been waiting so long, and when you walked in, I nearly came in my pants,” Chanyeol admitted, sounding breathless as he looked down at Baekhyun with that embarrassed and goofy grin of his.

The same goofy grin that made Baekhyun’s heart slam in his rib cage and made it hard to breathe.

With his kiss-bruised lips and hair that stuck up from Baekhyun's wandering hands, Chanyeol looked more than ready for what Baekhyun had in store for him and he bit his lip in anticipation.

“I heard that he’s an excellent lay,” Luhan whispered, subtly nodding his head toward Park Chanyeol. Baekhyun looked up from his book and followed the gesture, giving Chanyeol a once-over.

Long legs, big ears, a goofy smile and big eyes, he was a looker and Baekhyun’s type.

Or at least, one of his types.

“In what aspects?” Luhan grinned because he knew he’d gotten Baekhyun’s interest and rambled on about what he’d heard around the dorms and classes. As a TA and RA, Luhan was more than familiar with campus gossip and hearsay.

“Well, I heard he’s very gifted, as well as talented with his fingers and mouth. A total package,” the first detail peaked Baekhyun’s interest, and he made it known when he lifted his eyebrows, a smirk on his face.

“Size queen,” Tao commented as soon as he sat down, slinging his backpack in the empty seat next to him. Baekhyun didn’t even try to deny the accusation and shrugged, the grin still on his face.

“I like what I like. Also, last time I checked, we have similar taste in men,” at that Tao balked and fished his phone out his pocket, pretending to read over his texts.

If there was one thing they all had in common, it was that they all preferred to date men with large dicks. Simple as that. While Tao was shier and more low-key with his preference, Luhan and Baekhyun made no effort to hide it.

In fact, their preferences were well known throughout campus, and those who thought they had what it took to impress either of them would attempt to get a date.

While Luhan was choosier with his selections, Baekhyun usually gave anyone a fair chance. As a result, he’d gained a reputation for being a slut, but it didn’t faze him or the guys that pursued him.

They knew what they were coming for and since things were so clear-cut, it made flings and rendezvous with him ideal. Very rarely did he ever run into a problem any of the men he'd hooked up with.

Now as Chanyeol struggled to pull Baekhyun's tight jeans down his thighs with a frustrated smile on his face, he was debating if he could see himself with Chanyeol. Like in a dating sense.

And that was dangerous.

“How the hell did you get into these?” Chanyeol grumbled, still struggling.

With a laugh, Baekhyun reached down to help him “very, very carefully.”

Now pantless—and underwear-less because he’d been going commando—he felt exposed as Chanyeol’s eyes raked over his body, pausing at his dick, which twitched in anticipation.

Immediately, he felt a little embarrassed. He'd never been this anxious for someone, so the fact that he was already aching, twitching and already leaking clear liquid onto his thigh mortified him.

“No need to be embarrassed, it’s hot,” Chanyeol said, reaching forward to grip and stroke Baekhyun. The touch was so firm that Baekhyun gasped and leaned up, ready to beg Chanyeol to fuck him.

Chanyeol, however, had other things in mind and leaned over his lap. The puffs of hot breath made Baekhyun moan and his dick twitched again, pulsing more clear liquid. “You’re so wet for me. So sexy,” Chanyeol murmured before he engulfed the head of Baekhyun’s cock. Not moving his hips and making Chanyeol take all of him was a task, but Baekhyun resisted the urge with willpower he wasn't even aware he had.

Between the needy moans he was making and twitching like he was a virgin, he didn't have to look at himself to know he looked a mess.

Just a few touches from Chanyeol and he was already a wreck and Baekhyun loved every moment of it. Especially when Chanyeol finally took his entire length down his throat.

The warm, hot and tight feeling made him want to come, but Baekhyun wanted to hold out and wait till Chanyeol was inside of him.

His stomach twisted in knots—of a different kind—as Chanyeol bobbed his head, using his free hand to press gently against Baekhyun’s entrance, eventually sinking half of his index finger inside. The combination of stimulation set Baekhyun on fire, but he was adamant about coming on Chanyeol’s dick, so he pushed his head, nearly crying when Chanyeol let him fall from his mouth.

“What’s wrong?” His voice was even raspier than it was usually and it went straight to the pit of Baekhyun’s stomach, so he had to reach down and squeeze the base of his dick, staving off his orgasm.

“I want to come with you inside.” The look on Chanyeol’s face made Baekhyun crack a smile and he sat up, carefully pulling off Tao’s blouse and sitting it aside. While he did that, Chanyeol wasted no time getting undressed, somehow managing to peel off his tight jeans and cast aside his leather jacket, white t-shirt, and underwear within seconds.

When Baekhyun spread his legs and beckoned Chanyeol to crawl between them, he saw the taller man in all his glory and needless to say, Baekhyun was more than impressed.

“Is this enough for you or will it be too much?” Chanyeol asked, a cocky expression on his face as he felt around his bedsheets for what Baekhyun assumed to be the lube.

“We’ll have to see, now won’t we?” Chanyeol’s grin grew wider, and Baekhyun heard a cap pop open before Chanyeol gripped his thigh and eased one finger inside of him.

After what was one of the most thorough preparations he’d ever received, Chanyeol finally removed his three—maybe four—fingers and crinkled paper before he slid a condom on gripped both of Baekhyun’s thighs, placing them around his waist.

The first press inside was slow, and Baekhyun could tell Chanyeol was gauging his reaction as he pushed forward, little by little. When he pressed flush against Baekhyun's ass, Baekhyun gripped the sheets again and arched his back, moving his hips to signal that he was ready for Chanyeol to move.

The stretch skated the line between pleasure and pain, but Baekhyun felt so wonderfully full that all he could do was moan and keep his legs open. His eyes nearly rolled back when Chanyeol established a steady rhythm, pushing into him deep and pressing his prostate each time before he pulled back out, only to do it again.

And again.

At a certain point, Baekhyun couldn’t even hear the music that playing downstairs anymore. He could only hear his heart beating in his ears, the sound of skin meeting and his moans that got louder and more shameless with each thrust.

The tight coil of pressure in his stomach snuck back up on him, and Baekhyun didn’t even try to restrain himself as he came, untouched, as Chanyeol continued to push into him.

Chanyeol watched him with wide eyes as his orgasm hit him, but that expression was quickly replaced with one of concentration when he felt Baekhyun clench around him, getting impossibly tighter.

He made no moves to wipe the white streaks off his chest because the aftershocks of his orgasm coupled with the fact that Chanyeol continued to abuse his prostate made it impossible.

“Good?” At a loss for words, Baekhyun just nodded frantically, holding onto to Chanyeol’s forearms as he sped up, his own orgasm approaching.

When Chanyeol finally did come, spilling into the condom, Baekhyun silently huffed at the fact that he’d used a condom in the first place. He wanted Chanyeol to wreck him, and with what he had in mind, a condom was not necessary, but he respected Chanyeol’s precaution.

His reputation preceded him after all.

“A-again?” Chanyeol asked, breathing heavily as sweat collected at his hairline and a drop dripped down his nose.

“If you want to take a break, I can wait,” Baekhyun explained, his chest also rising rapidly as his entire body thrummed with the want for more. Chanyeol nodded and got up, taking off the used condom and discarding it before walking to the bathroom.

He was back in a few minutes, but in that time, Baekhyun had sat up and found a box of tissue paper to wipe the drying, sticky mess off his chest. He also debated taking the blue contacts out his eyes but decided against it when Chanyeol settled back on the bed, with a damp face towel in hand.

“I thought you’d like to clean up or wha-whatever,” Chanyeol stammered, his cheeks pink as his eyes panned over Baekhyun’s naked—and considerably spread out— body despite it being the probably the fifth or six time he'd done so that night.

“Thanks,” Baekhyun accepted the towel and did a better job of cleaning up. When he finished, he was unsure as to whether to hand it back to Chanyeol or sit it on the nightstand next to the bed. He ended up choosing the latter then turned to see Chanyeol staring at him.

“Again?” Chanyeol scratched his head as he asked, a small smile on his face.

As an answer, Baekhyun grabbed the bottle of lube that was resting next to his thigh and crawled across the bed, shaking his hair out his face. The look Chanyeol gave him as he kissed him would’ve made him laugh, but he was too busy, trying to get on top of Chanyeol and pick up where they’d left off.

His hands were sticky with hair gel as he ran them through Chanyeol’s hair, moaning when Chanyeol started to mark him with bites that would probably be purple in the morning.

Just the thought of them made Baekhyun hard as he rutted against Chanyeol’s thigh. He couldn’t help but moan as Chanyeol’s hands went everywhere again, squeezing whatever flesh he could grab onto, whether it be Baekhyun’s ass or thighs or waist. It was like he was trying to memorize each dip and curve of his body and that added to the already tight feeling in the pit of his stomach.

Only halfway down and Baekhyun, once again, could only focus on how big Chanyeol was and how full he felt.

Chanyeol didn’t rush him and waited patiently, rubbing soothing circles on Baekhyun’s back as he continued to sink down until his thighs were flush against Chanyeol’s waist.

“R-re-ready?” Chanyeol asked, leaning his back against the headboard. Baekhyun gave a firm nod and started moving, slow and deliberate as he rocked his hips.

With a tight grip on Chanyeol’s shoulders, Baekhyun established a rhythm. He knew if he got too overzealous, he would come much earlier than he would’ve liked, especially when each slide down made Chanyeol’s cock brush past his prostate.

“It’s so good,” Baekhyun whined, quickening his rocks when Chanyeol gripped his waist and helped him move quickly. He sounded needy, even to his own ears, but that didn’t make him slow down.

No.

He fully intended to help Chanyeol wreck him.

“Fa-faster,” Baekhyun begged, his voice strained. He knew he was asking for something he wasn’t sure he could handle, but he wanted it anyway.

Chanyeol wrapped his arms around Baekhyun’s waist and met each down thrust with a thrust of his own. It didn’t take long before they were rutting against each other, rushing toward their own orgasms.

When Chanyeol reached between their bodies and gave Baekhyun a few experimental strokes, Baekhyun knew he was going to come first, and he keened into the touch, digging his nails deeper into Chanyeol’s shoulders.

They were going to leave a mark, and in the back of his mind, Baekhyun took pride in it, since Chanyeol had made marked him as well.

The slick sound of Chanyeol’s hand stroking Baekhyun in time to their bodies meeting sounded filthy, and it made Baekhyun so turned on, he could cry.

And he did.

Moan, cry and whine as Chanyeol worked over his cock and prostate at the same time. Light filled his vision soon after and the tight coil in the pit of stomach unraveled, making him babble incomprehensible words as he shot white onto both their chests. Chanyeol must’ve seen the opportunity and sheathed himself entirely inside before he shuddered, coming deep inside him.

They stayed like that for a moment, Baekhyun still folded in Chanyeol’s lap while they both caught their breath.

After a few moments, Chanyeol loosed his grip on Baekhyun and leaned back, his eyes wide.

“Oh fuck, shit shit shit. I’m so sorry,” Baekhyun looked at Chanyeol in confusion, trying to figure out what he was apologizing for while Chanyeol sported a frantic expression.

He only realized when he moved to climb off Chanyeol’s lap and come, still warm, dripped down his legs, making the inside of his thighs sticky.

“It’s fine. Really, I prefer it this way,” Baekhyun sighed, climbing off the bed and walking over to the mirror attached to Chanyeol’s door. Immediately, he saw how his almost-a-mullet was flattened in the back and stuck to his forehead in the front, his eyeliner had smudged and blended into his eyeshadow, and the marks on his neck were already bright red.

He still looked like a rockstar, especially with his fucked up makeup and hair.

“So um, was it good for you?” Baekhyun smirked and turned to look at Chanyeol.

“The best,” and it had been.

And now it was time to leave.

Or at least that what he’d planned to do earlier. The more he studied the dazed puppy-like glance Chanyeol looked at him with, the less inclined he was to leave him.

That feeling dropped to the absolute negatives when Chanyeol stood up from the bed and stood in front of Baekhyun, gently palming his jaw as he drew him into a kiss.

When they separated, Baekhyun stepped back, dazed.

“Uh so, can I have your number or,” Chanyeol trailed off, his voice deep and tinged with exhaustion. Shaking off another wave of arousal that washed over Baekhyun at that moment, he picked up Chanyeol’s pants and pulled out his phone, saving his number in it.

After, he put the phone in Chanyeol’s hands, then collected all his clothes, slipping them back on.

“You better call Park.” Chanyeol’s head shot up from staring at Baekhyun’s number with wide eyes and a small grin at demand.

With that, Baekhyun slipped out the bedroom and carefully walked down the stairs, surveying what was left of the party.

The music was still going, but the party had thinned out considerably. The only people left were the inhabitants of the house and a few stranglers, sipping the last of their drinks and swaying to a mid-tempo song that was playing.

He debated leaving then, but thought about Luhan and gave the bottom floor of the house a search before he happen to glance up the stairwell, seeing Luhan pulling a tipsy, yet satisfied looking Sehun behind him. Both of their costumes were wrinkled, the blue paint on Sehun's face was smeared and his jersey was on backward.

“Looks like we both had a great Halloween,” Baekhyun commented as they passed him. Luhan turned and gave Baekhyun a once-over before he nodded with a cheeky grin.

“Indeed. Mine isn’t over yet though.” Sehun, who looked like he was in his own world, agreed with a nod and put one of his thumbs up.

“Yah.” All Baekhyun could do was laugh as he watched Luhan lead Sehun out the door and probably in the direction of his apartment.

Baekhyun followed not long after, walking out the door before he ordered an Uber. At almost 3 AM, he was more than ready to go home and scrub off his makeup and wash the stickiness off his skin.

When the driver pulled up he didn’t even give him a second look and they drove in silence as Baekhyun tried to fight off sleep.

He might not have played any tricks, but he’d definitely gotten his Halloween treats.

#fandom: exo #rating: nc-17 #pairing: baekyeol #baekyeol #Smut #college au #jsyk baek looks like he did for kokobop wit the red mullet deal

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minijenn · 7 years

Text

Universe Falls Chapter 30, Part 2

Wooo boy well fucking nearly 25,000 words later and here we are at the end of arc 3, finally. And I have been taking this chapter up a lot, mostly because I am SO damn proud of it. There’s just.... so many good things in here and I hope you all enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it! And so, I suppose there’s nothing left to do but... get started!

Previous: http://minijenn.tumblr.com/post/157444749704/universe-falls-chapter-30-part-1

Chapter 30, Part 2: Gideon Rises

20-8-5 20-9-13-5 6-15-18 6-21-14 1-14-4 7-1-13-5-19 9-19 4-15-14-5 20-8-5 20-18-21-5 13-25-19-20-5-18-9-5-19 8-1-22-5 1-20 12-1-19-20 2-5-7-21-14 19-5-3-18-5-20-19, 6-21-19-9-15-14-19, 9-14-22-1-19-9-15-14-19, 1-14-4 13-15-18-5 1-12-12 15-6 20-8-9-19 1-23-1-9-20-19 9-14 6-15-21-18

The dark, rainy curtain that had hovered over Gravity Falls all day had finally subsided, the clouds breaking apart to allow a warm, crisp, golden sunset to leak through and shine upon the sleepy town. How ironic, it seemed, that the literal storm would end right at the outset of the overwhelming metaphorical storm that the Pines family now found themselves facing.

As soon as it had become apparent that Gideon had the Mystery Shack for himself, Steven had kindly offered an immediate place of shelter for the displaced Pines by way of the temple. Though the twins were on board with this plan amidst their relative shock, Stan was much more begrudging to accept it, but given that they had really nowhere else to go, he quickly agreed. After sending Soos home for the night, the group managed to salvage whatever possessions they could from the shack without Gideon noticing before sulking up to the Gem temple in defeat. No sooner had they gotten there, however, than the Gems returned from their all-day mission, and needless to say there were all aptly confused at seeing the distraught group gathered in the living room.

Despite the Gems’ abundance of questions, Steven, Dipper, and Mabel were quick to catch them up to speed, with Stan adding a bitter remark or two every now and then. While they provided as much of the story as they could, the kids intentionally left most of the details about their encounter with Bill, mostly out of uncertainty about how the Gems and the conman would react. But even so, by the time they were done explaining the tumultuous situation, Garnet, Amethyst, and Pearl were all easily left with more questions than answers.

“Ok, so let me see if I understand this,” Pearl began, trying to make sense of everything they had just heard. “Gideon stole the deed to the Mystery Shack and managed to kick the three of you out?”

“Yeah, that’s… pretty much what happened,” Dipper said with a dejected sigh.

“The stupid little punk would have never blown that hole through the wall if I had been paying more attention,” Stan remarked crossly. “What I wouldn’t give to knock his lights out and take my deed right back from his grubby little hands!”

“Yeah… sounds great,” Amethyst agreed, cracking her knuckles. “Let’s do it!”

“No,” Garnet cut in firmly, standing near the door and watching as Gideon rode his bulldozer around his newly claimed property. “The chances of any plan where you just go and try to take the shack back by force actually working is very low. Believe me.”

“Oh, what, so we’re just supposed to sit around and let Gideon turn it into the Tent of Telepathy Part 2?” Stan asked caustically.

“For now, it’s all you can do,” Garnet replied, crossing her arms.

“What are we gonna do in the meantime, then?” Mabel asked with a fretful frown. “Without the Mystery Shack, we have no place to stay! Where are we supposed to sleep? Or eat? Where am I gonna make Mabel juice?! Or knit sweaters?! Or-”

“Wait a minute, Mabel,” Steven interrupted with a small, growing smile. “I think I have an idea. While we get this whole thing with the shack sorted out, you guys could always… stay here at the temple with us?” he grinned to the Gems as he finished his suggestion, making sure to be as charming as possible for the sake of convincing them.

“Oh my gosh, Steven, that is literally the best idea I’ve ever heard!” Mabel gushed, her worry instantly replaced with excitement. “If we stayed up here at the temple with you, then it would be like a never-ending slumber party filled with magic and… more magic! Doesn’t that just sound awesome, you guys?” she asked her brother and uncle.

“No,” Stan deadpanned plainly.

“Yeah, I don’t know about that…” Dipper frowned, glancing around the rather cramped house. “I mean, it’s not like this place really has enough space for three more. Then again, I guess it’s either here or… nothing.”

“That’s the spirit!” Steven quipped brightly. “Oh, this is gonna be so much fun! We can-”

“Now, hold it just a minute, Steven,” Pearl cut in. “I’m not so sure this ‘never-ending slumber party’ is the best idea either. Not because of the lack of space, but because… well…”

“Let me guess,” the conman filled in, his tone as dry as ever, which really wasn’t that surprising, given the situation. “It’s ‘cause you don’t want me mooching around here, huh?”

“…Well…”

“Pfft, don’t listen to Pearl,” Amethyst rolled her eyes, trotting over to Stan and smirking up at him. “Of course you guys can stay! Heck, it might even be kinda fun having some new roomies. Means I’ll have more people to pull late-night pranks on, right Steven?”

“Uh, yeah, speaking of which,” Steven said with a frown. “Amethyst, can we talk about that frog you put in my bed last night later on? Cause I think we kinda need to talk about that.”

“Oh, please let us stay, you guys!” Mabel pleaded with Pearl and Garnet, seeing as how Amethyst was already on board with the idea. “Please, please, please, please! Just look at us!” she exclaimed, pulling Dipper up beside her before issuing him a whispered command. “Be as cute as you can!” Knowing they had no other options, Dipper complied, forcing the most endearing smile he could muster as Mabel continued her appeal. “We’re cold, lonely, and lost in the world with nowhere else to go! Can’t you find it in your hearts to take in two poor, adorable kids and their cheap but lovable uncle for a while? Pretty please? After all, we are your favorite twins!”

“Um… yeah. What she said,” Dipper nodded, knowing there was little he could really add to Mabel’s thorough entreaty. “Please?” he asked to further emphasize it though, tilting his head down a bit as he looked up to the Gems dolefully. It was a trick the twins had practiced and perfected over the years, not just with their parents, but with Stan as well, and to their credit, it usually always worked. Which meant that if it didn’t win Garnet and Pearl over, then nothing would.

The two elder Gems remained silent of a moment or two, both of them taking in the twins’ forlorn, pleading pouts. As they glanced over at Steven, they found he was wearing one too, mouthing the word ‘please’ to them repeatedly as he clasped his hands together hopefully. And while Pearl’s bottom lip was already starting to quiver and her eyes were filling up with sympathetic tears, Garnet was ultimately the one to break first.

“That’s not fair,” she noted, a hint of amusement in her tone. “You kids know we can’t resist any of you. Especially when you give us that look.”

“You mean this one?” Steven asked, giving the Gem leader complete puppy dog eyes.

“That’s the one.”

“Oh, how could I even think of turning you two away?!” Pearl cried, wiping her tears away. “You both can stay here for as long as you need to! No questions asked!”

“Yay!” Steven and Mabel cheered in delighted unison, both of them more than ready to start celebrating their triumph. Dipper, on the other hand, did have at least one more question.

“So Grunkle Stan can stay too?” he asked somewhat anxiously, wanting to ensure this deal was a fair one.

“Well…”

“Stan can stay too,” Garnet cut Pearl off. Her solid tone alone made it clear that there would be no arguing with her on the matter, much to the white Gem’s annoyance.

“Oh gee, thanks,” Stan rolled his eyes, his tone still as sarcastic as ever. “Not only do I get my house stolen from me by a blue-suited gremlin, but I also get to sleep on a couch and put up with you two nagging at me about it, all in the same day! How lucky can a guy get?”

“Aw, c’mon, Stan, it won’t be so bad,” Amethyst chuckled mischievously. “With us being roomies, that means we’ll have all sorts of time for new Revenge Trip scheming. You know, whenever you stop crying about losing the shack or whatever.”

“What? I’m not crying about anything!” the conman exclaimed defensively.

“Heh, could’ve fooled me with how crabby you’re being about it,” the purple Gem shrugged.

“Oh, don’t worry, you guys!” Steven reassured warmly. “We’ll think of some way to get the shack back, I’m sure! But in the meantime, all of us are gonna have so much fun living together! We’ll be like one big happy family!”

“Yeah we will be!” Mabel heartily agreed, just as zealous. “One big awesome family! The best one around! We could even redecorate the mailbox so that it has both of our last names on it!”

“You mean like… Unipines?” Steven asked with an eager grin.

“Or Pinesuverse!”

Already gripped by this odd idea, the pair continued brainstorming ideas for a combined last name, Stan was making himself right at home already by combing the fridge for a snack, much to Pearl’s immediate aggravation.

“What do you think you’re doing?” she asked with a disapproving scowl.

“What? I’m famished here,” the conman shrugged, pulling a sandwich out of the fridge.

“You can’t eat that! It’s not your food!” the white Gem huffed as she marched over to him.

“Hey, it’s not like you’re gonna eat it.”

“Oooo! He got you there, P!” Amethyst laughed, quite amused. Of course, it didn’t take long for the usual strain of argument to break out between Stan and Pearl, even if it was a rather pointless one. And as usual, the purple Gem merely sat on the sidelines, adding her quips and sly remarks just to fan the flames for fun. Their bickering only added to the noisy chaos of the room that Steven and Mabel were creating, even if it was in stark contrast to the loud fun they were having, especially as they laughingly let Lion chase them around the house. Garnet and Dipper stood on the fringe of all this madness, the former shaking her head as she put her hands on her hips and the latter watching it all unfold with growing worry.

“There’s no way this is going to work out, is it?” Dipper asked the Gem leader, hoping her foresight could possibly set his dread to rest.

“It could…” Garnet noted, her tone anything but definitive.

“But will it?”

The Gem leader paused, taking another look at the ongoing chaos before them before reaching her conclusion. “…No.”

Though it took some time and some staunch words on Garnet’s part, everything soon died down enough to allow the Pines to settle in to their new living situation. Indeed the house didn’t offer much in the way of suitable sleeping space; the couch was fortunately a pull-out, but it was still a cramped fit for Stan and the twins. Steven would have offered to make room in his own bed for one of them, but seeing as how the Pines had taken over Lion’s usual sleeping spot, he had taken to cuddling up next to the young Gem instead, leaving him with very little room either. So instead of having to try and pack into the bed and couch, Steven, Stan, and the twins had taken to trying to calm their nerves from the hectic day they had with a little evening television. The Gems had also begrudgingly joined them, cramming onto Steven’s bed up on the loft as an episode of Ducktective droned on in the background. In order to pass the idle time, Mabel had prompted a rather short, but still effective “braid train”, with Garnet in the back, twisting Mabel’s hair skillfully while she worked on Amethyst’s.

“Whoa, Amethyst, your hair is so soft and smooth!” Mabel complimented as she ran a hand through the lavender locks. “I always thought it would be super tanglely and sticky since you drink so much chocolate syrup and hot glue. What’s your secret?”

“Heh, I’ll never tell,” the purple Gem smirked, flipping her bangs.

“It’s because she shakes it all out of her hair,” Garnet informed dryly.

“Like a dog?” Mabel asked.

“Exactly like a dog.”

“And its’ never failed me yet,” Amethyst crossed her arms confidently. “Hey, Stan, you sure you don’t wanna join this braid train? I mean, you don’t really got a lot of hair anymore, but I’m sure I could make something out of it.”

“Amethyst, cut it out!” Stan scolded in annoyance as the purple Gem playfully knocked his fez off his head. “You too, Mabel.” The conman was quick to swat his niece’s hand away as she also tried to reach out and braid his hair. “The news is finally on.”

The collective group turned their attention to the TV as the evening news began, and of course, the first story was the one that was most presently affecting them all. “In a movement that has all of Gravity Falls buzzing, child psychic Gideon Gleeful has taken surprise ownership of the Mystery Shack,” Shandra Jimenez reported as an innocent file photo of Gideon surrounded by puppies appeared on screen. “Previously belonging to area shyster, Stanford Pines.” The next image shown was an incriminating one of Stan, cheerfully clad in a devil costume and surrounded by flames.

“That picture’s taken out of context,” Stan noted crossly.

“Heh, yeah it is,” Amethyst chuckled. “I should know. I was the one who took it!”

“Oh for crying out loud, you two! Really?” Pearl scolded at their irresponsibility, though the kids were quick to shush her as the newscast continued.

“Now that you have the shack, what exactly are you planning on doing with it?” Shandra interviewed Gideon in front of the shack, which now had a tall wire fence erected around it.

“I have a big announcement to make tomorrow,” Gideon began with his infamous charming grin. “And I’d cordially like to invite all the good people of Gravity Falls to join me. Free admission to anyone who wears their Lil’ Gideon pin! It’s my face!” He winked to the camera as he held up a small pin that did indeed have his face on it.

“How tacky,” Garnet remarked with a dry frown.

“I just can’t believe Gideon beat us,” Dipper said with a discouraged sigh. “Normally I’m able to save the day, but this time? I have like, no idea about what to do! This is all my fault.”

“What? No it’s not, Dipper,” Steven said with a sympathetic frown. “I mean, there really wasn’t a lot that any of us could have done to stop Gideon from breaking into the shack. Literally.”

“Steven’s right,” Mabel agreed, jumping to her feet. “Don’t worry, Dipper! I guess this just means that Mabel’s gonna have to be the new hero of the family now! I’ll defeat Gideon with my grappling hook!” With a determined grin, she pulled her treasured grappling hook out and held it aloft.

“Mabel, no offense, but that grappling hook has only ever helped us out once,” Dipper pointed out, referring to the ordeal at Rose’s Fountain a few weeks ago.

“Twice, bro-bro,” Mabel corrected. “It helped us out twice, remember? And it’ll help us out again this time! Just watch this” To prove her point, she took aim with her grappling hook at the temple gate, hoping to snag one of the smaller rocks gathered near it, only for it to catch a much larger one and send it flinging back towards the group. Garnet acted quickly and deflected it before it could hit any of them with a single punch, though the broken pieces did scatter all over the temple, making quite a mess.

“See what I mean?” Dipper asked pointedly. “That thing usually causes more harm than actual help.”

“Aw, that’s just because I wasn’t aiming right,” Mabel scoffed. “Let me just try again and-”

“O-ok!” Pearl cut in with a forced grin. “Why don’t we put that away and everyone heads onto bed now, hm?”

“Aw, already?” Steven asked, dismayed. “But we’re having so much fun!”

“I don’t know if ‘fun’ is the word I would use to describe any of this,” Stan remarked sarcastically.

“Can’t you guys just hang out with us a little longer?” the young Gem inquired his guardians as they started heading downstairs. “I’m sure we would all feel better with some jokes or a story or something. Please?”

“Alright,” Garnet instantly complied, returning to the bed as she took a seat on it. Though they were somewhat confused, Amethyst and Pearl followed her lead. “I have a story for you kids.”

“Really?” Dipper asked, confused. “But Garnet, I thought you said you didn’t tell stories.”

“Well, I happen to have one this time,” the Gem leader replied. “And it’s about Alexandrite.”

Amethyst let out an excited squeal upon hearing this, while Pearl was somewhat less bold about it as she smiled with a soft blush. “A-Alexandrite?” the white Gem asked anxiously. “Garnet, are we really going to tell them about… her?”

“Sure,” Garnet shrugged. “It’ll help them feel better.”

“Who’s Alexandrite?” Mabel asked, already overwhelmed with curiosity.

“She’s only a complete and total boss!” Amethyst exclaimed with a daring grin.

“You all remember Opal and Sugilite, right?” Pearl asked tentatively. “Well… Alexandrite is… sort of like them. Only… bigger.”

“A lot bigger,” Amethyst added.

“Alexandrite is the fusion of myself, Pearl, and Amethyst,” Garnet properly explained. “She is very massive and very powerful.”

“Plus, she has six arms and can summon like, all of our weapons!” Amethyst quipped, her grin still huge as she looked to the kids, who were all aptly awestruck upon hearing about this new fusion.

“However,” Pearl cut in pointedly. “As fearsome and formidable as Alexandrite is, she’s a bit… unstable. Her true potential can only be realized when the three of us fuse with a singular goal in mind. Anything else and… well…”

“We fall apart,” Garnet concluded.

“Wait, so all three of you can fuse at the same time?” Dipper asked, amazed, especially since the journal didn’t detail much about fusions in the first place. “But how? I thought only two Gems could fuse at a time.”

“Nah, man,” Amethyst remarked. “There’s no limit to how many of us can mash it up at once!”

“Please,” Stan scoffed, skeptical of this fantastical idea. “This ‘Alexandrite’ broad sounds like she’s just one big fairy tale to me. Then again, considering how you three are like something out of a nutso fairy tale, it probably isn’t too far out there.”

“Well, I think Alexandrite sounds amazing!” Steven exclaimed, stars in his eyes. “Can we meet her? Like, right now?”

“Yeah!” Mabel nodded just as zealously. “And if Alexandrite is really as big and strong as you guys are saying, then I bet she’d be able to go down to the shack, beat the snot out of Gideon, and get the deed back, no problem!”

“Whoa, that’s… actually a pretty good idea,” Dipper said, somewhat surprised. Then again, it was a rather sensible plan; with the Gems and their strength on their side, then perhaps getting the shack back would be as easy as getting them to take it right back from the child psychic. Sure, it wasn’t the most creative idea, but at least it was the first tangible, actually feasible idea any of them had come up with so far.

“O-oh, well, we would love to help, kids, but… we really only fuse during deadly situations,” Pearl said with a gentle frown. “And losing the Mystery Shack to Gideon… really isn’t one.”

“Hey, it is to me!” Stan protested. “Without that dusty old shack, I’m making zero profits! That’s the deadliest situation imaginable!”

“Eh, you’ll live,” Garnet remarked apathetically.

“Don’t be so down, you guys!” Amethyst encouraged as she hopped off the loft, Garnet and Pearl following not long after her. “At least you get to chill here for a while. Besides, what’s Gideon really gonna do with the shack anyway? Paint it pink like he did the temple? Come on.”

“We’ll have more time to discuss a more realistic plan tomorrow,” Pearl said, heading for the temple gate. “In the meantime, good night, kids. And uh… you too, Stan, I suppose.”

The conman merely rolled his eyes as the kids bade the Gems goodnight in return before they went inside the temple. “Whelp, I should’ve guessed those three wouldn’t be any help,” Stan deadpanned stoically.

“Aw, well… I bet the Gems will help you guys out however they can,” Steven reassured warmly. “And I’ll help too! Don’t get me wrong, I love that you guys are staying here, but I already miss going down to the Mystery Shack and seeing all the great stuff there!”

“Yeah… Same here…” Mabel said with a homesick sigh. “I mean, the temple is great and everything, but it’s a lot different than the musty, weird, creakiness of the shack.”

“Not to mention it’s a lot cleaner here,” Dipper noted, though his worried frown betrayed his sarcasm. “But still, I agree with you guys. For as old and rundown as it is, I’d be lying if I said I didn’t miss it too.”

“And that’s why we gotta get it back,” Stan said with firm resolve. Of course, his verve was soon broken however as Lion caught him off guard by wrestling his fez away with him so he could play with it, much to the conman’s great annoyance. “Ugh, and the sooner we get it back and get out of this nuthouse, the better.”

The next day saw a large crowd congregating outside of the Mystery Shack, a great deal of the townsfolk having heard Gideon’s announcement and eagerly showing up for whatever event he had to offer. The child psychic stood on the stage constructed before the shack, watching them all file in with a triumphant, satisfied smirk. “Hell, Gravity Falls!” he greeted in his usual bright, faux friendly way, especially as the crowd buzzed with excitement before him.

“Gideon is the psychic-est!” Lazy Susan exclaimed with delight. “He guessed the secret ingredient to my coffee omelet!”

“The kid was able to predict how many games there are at Funland Arcade without even counting ‘em!” Mr. Smiley added, also quite impressed. “Even I don’t know how many games I got in there!”

“Somehow he knew about my secret birthmark!” Toby Determined quipped as awkward as ever.

“His hair is very poofy and soft,” Nanefua Pizza noted with a smile. “I wonder what conditioner he uses.”

“Is that why we are here instead of at work, where we should be?” Kofi asked his mother pointedly. “Because if so, this is a waste of valuable pizza making time!”

Kofi’s disgruntled manner was soon traded with a burst of fear however, as Manly Dan let out a loud, powerful shout right beside him. “I love that child psychic so much!” the lumberjack cried, pulling Blubbs and Durland into a tight, choke-hold hug.

“Y-you’re chokin’ me!” Blubbs gasped for air amidst Dan’s firm hold.

“G-grandma, is that you?” Durland asked, his face turning purple from strangulation.

The various townsfolk continued to praise Gideon amongst themselves as they waited for the program to begin. Fortunately, none of them noticed the last group to arrive, one that consisted of the Pines, Steven, and Soos, all of whom had donned disguises just so they could gain entry into the event they would have otherwise been barred from.

“We’re in,” Dipper whispered to the others as soon as he was certain no one was paying them any mind.

“Just gonna say it.” Mabel smirked, fiddling with the faux mustache she had on. “I don’t know what we’re doing here, but I’m loving these fake mustaches!”

“It’s like a tiny little caterpillar on top of my lip!” Steven grinned, petting his own false mustache.

“Dudes, if anyone asks, I’m not Soos,” Soos said, pointing to the sign he had put on his hat labeled ‘not Soos’ for the sake of solidifying his design.

Before either Dipper or Stan could convince the others to be serious about their mission, Gideon spoke up from the platform, addressing the crowd with a broad grin. “Ladies and gentlemen! Today I am delighted to announce my plans for the former Mystery Shack! I give you…. Gideonland!” With a flourish, the child psychic unveiled a scale model of what seemed to be a small amusement park, complete with rides, signs, and even a towering statue of Gideon to top it all off. The disguised group in the back all let out shocked gasps upon seeing the child psychic’s ambitious plans, but even so, the townsfolk all showed their full support of it with a rousing round of applause and cheers.

“That’s right, folks!” Gideon proclaimed proudly. “We’re gonna turn this dirty ol’ shack into three square miles of Gideon-tertainment! And, if all goes well, then we’re even lookin’ to expand up the hill a bit…” The child psychic’s smile turned ominous as he glanced up to the Gem temple, hidden greed and spitefulness in his eyes. “Now, allow me to introduce our new mascot: Lil’ Gideon Jr!” Gideon sent a nod to his father, prompting Bud to pull off a sheet revealing Waddles, who was clad in a complete Lil’ Gideon costume, suit, wig, and all and looking quite miserable in it. “Boom! He’s a pig!”

“Waddles!” Mabel cried in heartbroken horror upon seeing her beloved pig reduced to such embarrassment. “You monster!”

“Alright, that’s it!” Stan shouted hotly, throwing off his disguise. The others did the same and followed the conman as he charged through the crowd, forcing their way to the front. Stan, Dipper, and Mabel boldly leapt onto the stage, while Steven and Soos remained at the head of the crowd to provide additional support if needed.

“Listen up, people!” the conman exclaimed fiercely. “Gideon’s a fraud! This kid broke into the shack and stole my property!”

“Arrest him, officers!” Mabel commanded, still deeply upset over what Gideon had done to Waddles.

“Yeah!” Dipper added, impetuously knocking the nearby podium over for emphasis.

“Such accusations!” Gideon gasped with false innocence. “Mr. Pines, I recall that you gave the property to me. Look, I have the deed right here!” To prove his point, the child psychic pulled said deed out of his suit and presented it to the large crowd as evidence.

“Well, that’s all the proof I need to see,” Blubbs concluded with a shrug.

“We love you, Lil’ Gideon! Sing them funny songs!” Durland exclaimed with a cheerful grin.

“But wait!” Steven interrupted, hopping onto the stage himself. “Gideon’s lying! He really did steal the deed to the Mystery Shack! I was there when it happened; we all were!”

“Y-yeah!” Stan exclaimed with an agreeing nod. “What the kid said!”

Upon hearing such information from the young Gem, a mummer of doubt began to ripple through the crowd concerning the authenticity of Gideon’s story. After all, if there was one thing most of the people of Gravity Falls knew, it was that Steven rarely, if ever, lied. Unfortunately, that perception was a fact that Gideon was also well aware of, and he wasn’t about to let it throw a wrench into his rapidly succeeding plans.

“Oh ho, well certainly you must be mistaken, Steven, my dear friend,” Gideon forced a grin onto his face as he threw an arm around the young Gem’s shoulder. “Then again, it must be hard for you to keep track of what’s what when you’re always runnin’ off on adventures with those Gem compatriots of yours. Spending time with rocks probably knocks the ol’ noggin around a bit, you know what I’m sayin’, folks?” The crowd easily let out a charmed laugh at the child psychic’s joke, even if the young Gem was anything but amused by it.

“B-but I-” Steven attempted to protest, though Gideon was quick to put an end to it. With a mere snap of his fingers, the child psychic prompted the two burly thugs in his employ to round up the Pines and the young Gem and haul them away from the event. Despite their attempts to struggle and escape, the guards grabbed all four of them and began leading them away, but not before Gideon flaunted his victory over Stan once more.

“Now, get off my property, old man!” the child psychic exclaimed, slapping one of his pins onto the conman’s lapel with a smug grin.

“I’ll show you who’s the old man!” Stan challenged, though his boldness was interrupted as his hearing aid let out a high-pitched screech. “Ow! My hearing aid!”

“Thanks for visiting Gideonland!” Gideon cheerfully called out after the group as his thugs dragged them all away. “Don’t come back, I don’t care for ya’ll.”

It didn’t take long for the guards to toss the group outside the chain-link fence surrounding the property, and for good measure, they made sure to stand by it to ensure that they wouldn’t try to sneak in again. The Pines, Soos, and Steven all let out defeated sighs as they leaned against the fence, knowing that their initial attempt had been a complete and utter failure.

“Well, I had imagined that going a lot smoother than it actually did,” Stan said with a bitter scowl.

“Don’t worry, guys,” Dipper tried to encourage the best he could. “We’ll get the shack back somehow.”

“We better,” Wendy said as she rode up to the group on her bike. “If I can’t work at the shack, my dad’s gonna force me to move upstate and work at my cousin’s logging camp.”

“What? You’re leaving town?” Dipper asked, surprised and dismayed at the prospect of his crush being gone. “But we need you here!”

“Yeah,” Soos nodded in agreement. “Especially Dipper because of his huge crush on-” The handyman abruptly cut himself off upon catching Dipper’s harsh glare, though even so, the way he corrected his statement was quite awkward. “…you… calyptus trees! Ha! The kid loves eucalyptus trees!” Soos exclaimed with a nervous laugh. “Saved it!”

“Eucalyptus trees?” Steven asked with a curious grin, completely falling for it. “Is that true, Dipper?”

Dipper rolled his eyes at this, but before he could answer, a suddenly rustling in the nearby bushes caught the group’s attention. “Oh man, guys,” Wendy cringed, already knowing full well who it was. “Don’t look now.”

“Take me back, Wendy!” Robbie cried as he stood up from the bushes, holding a boom box over his head as it played a sappy love song. “My arms are too skinny to keep holding up with boom box forever!”

“Ugh, I was never here,” Wendy said coldly, mounting her bike and riding off.

“Have you been getting my texts!” Robbie called as he chased after her desperately. “Do I need to send you more texts!? Wendy!”

Dipper could only watch with growing distress as the cashier left, knowing that this situation had gone from bad to worse. Indeed, it had seemed that Gideon’s hostile takeover of the shack had created a ripple effect, one that didn’t just effect the Pines family alone, but Steven, the Gems, Soos, Wendy, and likely others none of them had even thought about yet. However far this ripple would reach, it was hard to say for certain just yet. But one thing was clear: it was easily and forcefully uprooting just about everything in its path, and it likely wouldn’t stop until there was nothing remotely familiar left at all.

“And then he had these really beefy guys drag us away, all before anyone could hear what really happened,” Steven finished explaining what had happened earlier to the Gems, who were all listening to the tale quite intently as they gathered in the living room.

“Isn’t it just tragic?” Mabel asked with a morose groan as she lay upside down on the couch. “Plus, he put Waddles in this hideous costume! Oh, you guys should have been there to see it! It was terrible!”

“Sounds like it,” Garnet nodded.

“Sounds like Gideon’s really stuck it to you guys,” Amethyst remarked with a scowl. “So what are you gonna do now? Try again tomorrow?”

“Actually… we were hoping you guys could give us some advice about what we should do next,” Dipper said, his tone tentative and hopeful. “We know you can’t all fuse and just defeat Gideon like that, but you could at least help us brainstorm some ideas, right?”

“Hm…” Pearl started to muse thoughtfully. “Well, in our experience, chain link fences never really prove to be much of an obstacle… But wrenching the deed away from Gideon would likely be the hard part…”

“We could always just beat the little loser up without fusing,” Amethyst suggested with a shrug. “And believe me, that’s something I’ve been wanting to do for a long time now. The kid’s just asking for a good punch in the face, if you ask me.”

“As fast and as easy as that could be,” the white Gem said with a frown. “We’re not really at liberty to do it. Our job is to protect humans, no matter who they might be or how devious and dishonest they might be. Harming any of them, regardless of their actions strays quite a bit away from the Crystal Gem manifesto.”

“We have a manifesto?” Steven asked. “That’s so cool! By the way, what’s a manifesto?”

“Can’t you guys make an exception, just this once?” Mabel asked pleadingly. “Please?”

“We’re sorry, kids, but no,” Garnet said firmly. “The only time we step in and use force to restrain humans is when they harm each other or one of our own. It was a rule Rose Quartz firmly believed in and it’s our duty to follow that rule even today.”

“Aw…” Dipper and Mabel sighed in disappointed unison, both of them flopping onto the couch dejectedly.

“Blah… What are we gonna do?” Mabel asked with a loud groan. “Staying up here with you guys is great, really, but I’m running out of room to store all my sweaters!” She nodded to Steven’s rather cramped closet, filled to the brim with her large collection of sweaters in addition to the young Gem’s own clothing.

“What’s Stan gonna tell Mom and Dad?” Dipper asked with a much more rational concern. “Chances are they’re probably not gonna like hearing that we got booted out of the shack and we’re all technically kind of homeless now.”

“You guys aren’t homeless! Your home is here with us!” Steven exclaimed with an understanding smile. “Well, for now at least. Right, guys?” he asked the Gems, who merely replied with a round of various uncertain murmurs. While none of them wanted to admit it, they didn’t really have any real long-term solution they could offer the kids. As it was, their hands were tied. And unless something were to change, there wasn’t really anything even they could do to help the twins out of their current plight.

“And besides,” the young Gem added, trying to remain positive as usual. “I’m sure Mr. Pines will think of something to tell your parents in the meantime. He’s good at-”

“Lying?” Pearl interrupted with a disapproving frown.

“Well, I was gonna say coming up with stuff…”

“Yeah,” Amethyst chuckled. “That’s pretty much what lying is in a nutshell.”

The group shared a small, albeit half-hearted laugh at this, one that didn’t really do much to lighten the mood. Of course, Steven hadn’t exactly been wrong in implying that Stan was fabricating something to tell the twins’ parents, seeing as that was exactly what the conman was currently doing at the moment. “Don’t worry, your son and daughter are fine,” Stan reassured as he stood on the porch, speaking to his concerned relatives over the phone. “Where are we staying? Uh….” The conman hesitated, stealing a glance up at the temple before coming up with a clever lie. “I put ‘em up in this amazing four-star hotel! Real ritzy place. Plenty of space for them to run around, and uh… there’s even a fancy statue right outside for them to play on!”

Stan forced a smile as he said all this, knowing that even despite the Gems’ agreeing for them to stay there, this new living arrangement could only be a temporary one at best. The Gems had never actually said anything to the conman about them eventually having to leave, but he knew. There was just too many complications that would come along with their stay lasting longer than a few mere days.

“What?” the conman asked, having missed the question the twins’ mother posed. “Uh, sure, we got… plenty to eat,” he lied again, knowing that between him, the twins, and Steven, the fridge inside had already been nearly cleaned out. Of course, Greg always provided his son with money for groceries and whatnot, but Stan knew he couldn’t very well ask his former employee to do the same for him and the twins. His pride simply wouldn’t allow it. “Relax,” Stan assured his relatives once more. “If I thought I couldn’t take care of these kids, I’d send them back right away. Uh huh. You too.”

The conman saved his defeated sigh for the moment after he hung the phone up. Uncertainty seemed to overwhelm him as he leaned against the porch’s railing, rubbing his temples. Only about a mile down the hill, the Mystery Shack rested in its usual spot, so close, yet so far, especially with the fence and sign Gideon had erected all around it. As much as Stan wanted to blame the deceitful child psychic for all this, the conman knew he could only really blame himself. He should have paid more attention, should have taken Gideon’s threats and schemes more seriously instead of shrugging them off like he did everything else. Maybe then, him and the twins would still be safe and secure at the shack instead of upset and uncertain here at the temple.

His conversation with the twins’ parents only made Stan more worried over how this situation might possibly turn out. So far there had been very few signs of the possibility that things would get better in the near future. True, they all did have a roof over their heads at the very least, but the conman knew he couldn’t really provide much else for his nibblings. All of his savings were hidden in various nooks and crannies back at the shack, and with no access to them, he was starting to run dangerously low on funds. If he was perfectly honest with himself, Stan knew that he wouldn’t be able to care for Dipper and Mabel like this for much longer. Honestly, he was getting to the point where he didn’t know how he’d care for himself in the long run. Still, in the end, Stan realized, that above all else, he had to do what was best for was best for the twins.

Even if what was best for them wasn’t what was best for him.

The fireplace in the shack’s parlor burned brightly, especially as it began to consume the photo of the Pines family that Gideon had just tossed into it. The child psychic chuckled wickedly as he watched the picture of his enemies burn for a moment, before turning his attention back to the second journal resting on the nearby desk. He was quickly distracted from it, however, by the sound of Waddles desperately scuffling to escape by climbing out the window. The poor pig’s attempt was immediately put to an end with a harsh, sharp blow from Gideon’s whistle.

“You! Back to your corner!” the child psychic ordered fiercely, frightening Waddles enough to send him cowering to the corner of the room fearfully. Satisfied that he would stay put, Gideon began leafing through the journal once more, paying no mind to his father as he entered the room with the reclaimed sad clown painting Stan had stolen from him weeks ago.

“I’ve been meaning to ask you, boy,” Bud began, setting the painting down as he looked to his son. “Shouldn’t you be celebratin’ instead of sticking your head in that there book all day?”

Gideon didn’t answer this question right away, but instead shut the journal before turning to Bud with a dark, serious expression. “Father, have I ever told you the true nature of this book?” he asked, glancing down at it. “It was written many years ago by a brilliant unknown author who learned secrets too powerful for one man. He hid his journals where he thought no one would ever find ‘em, because he knew that if the journals were ever brought together, they would unleash a gateway to unimaginable power!” A greedy, ambitious grin crossed the child psychic’s face as he mentioned this, knowing that this gateway, whatever and wherever it was, was his ultimate goal. “Codes and maps have lead me to believe that the other book is buried somewhere on this very property, and I intend to find it!”

“So that’s why you wanted the Mystery Shack,” Bud noted, somewhat overwhelmed by everything his son had just explained but still getting the gist of it.

“Exactly,” Gideon said firmly, grabbing a nearby shovel. “It’s time to begin the search for the other journal! And once I find it, not only will this town finally belong to me, but I’ll also be able to get rid of the only ones who could possibly get in my way: the Crystal Gems!”

The child psychic let out a sinister laugh, one filled with confidence over his upcoming victory as he held the second journal aloft. After all, his success would only be a matter of finding the first one; in fact, a large part of the other half of his plan lay in the form of the large effigy of himself being erected right outside. One that, when completed, would certainly be enough to crush the Gems, or anyone else who got in his way, once and for all.

Seeing as how they had nowhere else to go and no other plans left to try, the kids had resorted to distracting themselves from the ongoing stressful situation with a board game. Upon Steven’s insistence, the Gems had agreed to join them, largely for the sake of trying to cheer the still quite troubled twins up.

“Ok, Amethyst, it’s your turn,” Steven smiled at the purple Gem, prompting her to pick up a card from the game board.

“Aw, sweet!” the purple Gem smirked, looking over her card. “I got another dare one. Quick! Someone throw out a dare! Whatever it is, I’ll totally do it!”

“I dare you to body slam the table as Purple Puma!” Mabel exclaimed with a zealous grin.

“You’re on!” Amethyst shouted, already shapeshifting into her wresting persona.

“Now hold on just a minute! You’re not-” Pearl tried to stop the purple Gem, but of course she was too late. With a roughish laugh, Amethyst leapt high into the air before coming down on the coffee table, breaking it instantly and sending all of the game pieces flying across the house.

“Yeah! I win again!” Amethyst cheered, happily laying amidst the mess she had made.

“I’ll say you did,” Garnet said dryly as Pearl seethed with sheer frustration beside her.

“Uh maybe we should play something a little less… destructive?” Dipper suggested with a frown.

However, before the group could move onto a different game, the front door to the house swung open as Connie hurried inside. “Steven! I got your texts. Did all of that stuff really-” she cut herself off upon seeing around the table. “…happen?”

“Uh… yeah, it did,” Steven nodded with a shrug.

“So… you guys really did get kicked out of the Mystery Shack?” Connie asked the twins with a fretful frown.

“Yeah,” Dipper said with a sigh. “That’s the short version of what happened anyway.”

“But it’s not all bad!” Mabel said with a small, hopeful grin. “At least we get to stay here with Steven and the Gems and cuddle with Lion each night and play board games and stuff.”

“Well, it’s not so bad as long as we keep those board games under control,” Pearl remarked, sending Amethyst a pointed glare.

“But what are going to do now?” Connie inquired curiously. “Try to get the shack back?”

“We already tried that,” Steven said, frowning. “It… didn’t really go so great.”

“Aw, come on, you sad sacks,” Amethyst attempted to encourage the forlorn kids. “This mess isn’t over yet. I’m sure if we all knock our heads together or however it goes, we’ll come up with something!”

“Uh, actually… about that…” Stan cleared his throat as he came into the kitchen, a look of clear regret and dread already clear on his face. “Kids, we gotta talk,” he said to the twins, trying hard to avoid eye contact with them out of guilt. “Look, I’ve been thinking and… I can’t take care of you anymore. I don’t have a house or a job or too much of anything else really. The plan is… you’re goin’ home. Your bus leaves tomorrow. Here are your tickets.” With a sad sigh, the conman lay a pair of bus tickets on what was left of the table, much to the shock and dismay of everyone gathered around it. But of course, none of them were more upset over this news than Dipper and Mabel themselves, which was why they immediately tried to convince Stan against this decision.

“But Grunkle Stan, you can’t give up!” Dipper protested adamantly.

“Seriously, Stan!” Amethyst agreed hotly, angered by the very thought. “I’ve known you for a long time and I’ve never seen you just… throw in the towel like this!”

“That’s true,” Pearl nodded, also quite against this idea. “I hate to admit this, Stan, but if there’s one thing you’re not, it’s a quitter.”

“Please don’t send us home, Grunkle Stan!” Mabel pleaded as morosely as she could, hoping that her charm could somehow change her uncle’s mind. “There’s still so much summer fun left for us to have here in Gravity Falls! It can’t end just like that!”

“Look, I lost, ok?” Stan asked, trying to be gruff and firm on the matter, even if his facade was quickly crumbling into woe and remorse. After all, for as much as the twins tended to get on his nerves, the last thing he wanted was to see them go so soon either. But he knew this was what he had to do; he had no other options left. “The best thing for you both is for you to be with your parents. Sorry, kids. Gideon won. Summer’s over.”

The conman let out a dejected sigh as he glanced away from the twins, though he still caught their heartbreaking looks of disbelief and desperation nonetheless. Unable to bear that along with the thought of sending them off after having grown so attached to them, Stan simply hurried out of the house without another word, leaving a very confused, very somber group behind.

“Oh…. We’re so sorry, kids,” Pearl said with genuine sympathy as she placed a hand on both of the twins’ shoulders. “I don’t understand why Stan thinks he needs to do this. We already made it very clear that you both are allowed to stay here for as long as you need to.”

“It’s because Stan’s being a stupid quitter, that’s why,” Amethyst growled bitterly, kicking the crumbled table as she crossed her arms.

“Y-you guys can’t just go!” Steven cried in distress as Connie nodded her equally worried agreement. “It feels like we just met a few weeks ago!”

“It was just a few weeks ago, Steven,” Dipper pointed out glumly.

“Yeah, but still, you can’t leave so soon!” the young Gem exclaimed earnestly before turning to the Gems. “Isn’t there something, anything we can do to keep this from happening?!”

The Gems didn’t answer immediately as they all exchanged a tentative, saddened glance, their expressions alone revealing that they were at just as much of a loss as the kids were. But as usual, Garnet was the one to be strong for her teammates and voice it aloud, as difficult as it was. “Dipper, Mabel,” the Gem leader began, a hand on each of their shoulders. “The last thing any of us want to see is for either of you to go… But in the end, this isn’t our choice, or even yours. It’s Stan’s. And if his choice is to send you home then… you’ll have to accept that. All of us will have to accept that,” she finished firmly, looking to her fellow Gems as well as Steven and Connie.

Amethyst and Pearl let out defeated sighs upon hearing this, knowing that there would be no more arguing with their leader on this matter. Unsure of how else to comfort the twins on this tremulous matter, they simply and silently followed Garnet to the temple gate, their heads hung as they sent brief, apologetic glances to the kids. “Again, we’re sorry,” Garnet said as the door slipped open, turning to them one more time. Her frown briefly turned into a small, encouraging smile after her teammates retreated into the temple though, as she imparted the kids with one last message of hope. “But remember: even if Stan has given up, that doesn’t mean you all have to.”

Without another word, the Gem leader stepped into the temple, leaving the kids to soak in what she had just said as the light from the gate faded. Indeed, the conman had given up, he had found no hope in their current situation, and no way to change any of it at all. But where he had quit, the kids keep on going. They could persist, persevere, perhaps even prosper. All they had to do was try. After all, this wasn’t over yet.

“Ok, Mabel, that’s enough!” Dipper exclaimed with bold, newfound resolve. “Garnet’s right. If Stan won’t get our home back from Gideon, then we’ll have to do it ourselves!”

“Yeah!” Mabel cheered, already ready to do whatever they had to to reclaim the shack.

“Count us in too!” Connie smiled with clear determination. “Between the four of us, there’s bound to be a way to get the shack back!”

“Yeah, we’ll do whatever we can to help!” Steven proclaimed brightly. “Nobody can break the four of us up! Know why? Cause we’re…” the young Gem trailed off with a grin, hoping that the others would follow his lead, even though they didn’t. “Uh, this is the part where we’re all supposed to cheer ‘Mystery Kids’.”

“Oh…” the others mused in realization before they launched into a resolved, unified cheer. “Mystery Kids!”

“With all four of us working together, this’ll be a piece of cake!” Mabel exclaimed confidently. “And besides, Gideon may have the upper hand, but we have something that he doesn’t.”

“The journal!” Dipper proclaimed, holding the book up.

“A grappling hook!” Mabel declared at the same time, lifting the hook up before catching the odd looks the others were giving her. “Oh, right. The… the journal. Journal!”

With their mission in mind, the kids set out the next morning, their intrepid resolve and their need to act fast proving to be more than enough to drive them along. After all, quite a good deal was at stake this time; and if they didn’t succeed, then it could mean the end of their still-developing friendships, an outcome that was unthinkable for all of them. And so, they decided to begin their task with a stakeout right outside the property line of the Mystery Shack, knowing that they wouldn’t be able to easily get in so long as it was fenced off and guarded as it was. Gideon and his hired cronies had clearly already made some progress on “Gideonland”, as could be seen by the abundant construction equipment and the nearly-finished massive metal statue of the child that stood beside the shack. It was an intimidating setup, to be sure, but one that the kids would have to overcome if they ever hoped to get the shack back and save their summer.

“Alright,” Dipper began as they lay low in the bushes surrounding the fence, observing the ongoing construction. “The bus that’ll take us out of Gravity Falls comes at sundown. If we wanna stay in town, we’ve got to get past those guards, make it through the fence, and get Gideon to hand over that deed.”

“Sounds easier said than done…” Connie noted with an anxious frown as she glanced up at the towering fence.

“Don’t worry, guys!” Mabel exclaimed with a broad grin, whipping her grappling hook out. “Just leave that to Mabel! Wa-chaw!” Not paying much attention to her aim, she fired the hook, which happened to strike a tree before ricocheting right back and hitting Dipper squarely in the face, knocking him to the ground.

“Ow!” Dipper exclaimed in both pain and frustration as he picked himself up, rubbing the sore spot in his forehand as he handed the hook back to Mabel. “Now will you admit that grappling hook is useless?!”

“Nope!”

“So how are we gonna get over that fence?” Steven asked curiously. “Are we gonna build a catapult and fling ourselves over it? Because I’ve always wanted to use a catapult!”

“What? No,” Dipper shook his head. “We’re gonna use this, remember?” He pulled the journal and began leafing through it as the others gathered around to look as well. “Now, what can we use to defeat Gideon? Let’s see… abominable bro-man?”

“Yeah!” Mabel and Steven quipped in agreement.

“Nope,” Dipper quickly turned the idea down, turning the page. “Butternut squash with a human face and emotions?”

“What?” Connie asked, aptly bewildered.

“Yeah!”

“No,” Dipper rolled his eyes, flipping to yet another page, one that caught everyone’s attention.

“Whoa, what’s all that?” Connie asked, looking over the complex, intricate design on the page.

“I honestly have no idea,” Dipper admitted, glancing at the page himself. “I’ve stared at this page for hours. It seems like a blueprint to build some kind of strange futuristic super-weapon-”

“Boring!” Mabel interrupted. “To get rid of those guards, we need some kind of army.”

“Wait a minute!” Dipper gasped as a sudden idea came to him upon hearing this. “An army! Mabel, that’s it! The gnomes!” he exclaimed, holding the gnome page in the journal open for the others to see.

“Uh…” Mabel frowned, tugging at the collar of her sweater nervously. After all, she certainly wasn’t keen on the idea of contracting the gnomes for help, especially after they kidnapped her, tried to force her into marrying them, and then brutally attacked her and Dipper when she refused.

“Hey, that could actually work!” Steven exclaimed with a grin. “There are so many gnomes out in the woods that Gideon wouldn’t know what to do with them all! Plus, they’re really, really stubborn too and surprisingly tough for being so cute and tiny.”

“Oh, we know all about that,” Mabel remarked, still hardly in favor of this idea.

“But didn’t you guys say you had to fight the gnomes off with a leaf blower before?” Connie asked. “What makes you think they’ll wanna help us?”

Dipper smirked as he closed the journal, hoping that all of the lessons Stan had taught him and Mabel in conning and persuasion would pay off now. “I’m sure we’ll think of something…”

Fortunately, the lush, mystical forest that the gnomes called home wasn’t too far of a hike from the shack. Still, the kids made sure to keep their guards up as they ventured into the reclusive cove, unsure of how their encounter with the potentially violent gnomes might turn out.

“I think this is their hiding spot…” Dipper said, recalling the familiar surroundings from when he rescued Mabel from the tiny men weeks ago.

“Yeah, it definitely is,” Steven agreed. “I’ve chased the gnomes back here enough time to know. You wouldn’t believe how many times they’ve broken in the temple to steal food!”

“Sounds like they get around,” Connie remarked with a small chuckle.

“I wonder what gnomes do out here all alone in the forest?” Mabel mused, though she soon got her answer as they made it to the heart of the cove. There, sitting in a bathtub filled to the brim with scurrying squirrels, was Jeff, the de facto leader of the gnomes. He happily relaxed in his odd squirrel bath, until he noticed the group of kids watching on in shocked disgust.

“Ah!” Jeff exclaimed, also quite surprised to see them though he quickly collected himself. “This… this is normal. This is normal for gnomes.” To prove his point, he proceeded to scrub his armpit with one of the many squirrels running around in the tub. The kids could only exchange a repulsed, dumbfounded glance at this, unsure of even what to say about it, which only prompted Jeff to continue. “Well, well, well,” he began with a broad smirk, reclining back in the tub. “Look who came crawling back. Take five, Chris,” he said to one of the countless squirrels, which hopped out of the tub. “The rest of you guys keep doin’ what you’re doin’. So, changed your mind about marrying us, did ya, Mabel?”

“Ew, hardly!” Mabel cringed in revulsion. “We just need your help. And seriously, ew!”

“You want our help?!” Jeff asked hotly. “After you left us at the alter? No dice! Unless…”

“Unless what?” Dipper inquired, almost afraid to ask.

“Unless you hook us up with that other cutie you got there,” Jeff smirked, sending a flirtatious wink Connie’s way.

“What?” Connie asked with a confused frown. However, she didn’t have a chance to really react further as a small crowd of gnomes emerged from the nearby greenery and surrounded her, all of them poking and prodding at her in curious inspection.

“Ooo, her hair is so long and full!” one of the gnomes exclaimed, standing on the shoulders of his companion to run his fingers through it. “And luxurious!”

“’Course, the glasses are gonna have to go!” another gnome quipped, snatching her glasses away from her. “Can’t have them flying off and stabbing one of us in the face!”

“Hey!” Connie protested, grabbing them right back as yet another gnome forcibly grabbed her hand.

“Say, what’s your ring size, sweetie?” he asked with a charming grin.

“O-ok, this is getting too weird and uncomfortable for me,” Connie quickly said, making sure to put distance between herself and the very forward gnomes.

“You guys can’t marry Connie!” Steven exclaimed, rushing to stand before her.

“Oh look, it’s that Gem kid again,” Jeff remarked dryly. “Are those three knockouts you live with still playing hard to get?”

“Uh, yeah…” the young Gem frowned. “Pearl’s still kinda mad about the last time you guys tried to sneak into her room and sing that love song to her.”

“Hey, not all our plans can be winners,” Jeff shrugged apathetically before turning to Connie and Mabel. “We’re still short one queen here, no matter how you cut it. So, are one of you two dolls gonna marry us, or what?”

“Uh, no, that’s not happening,” Connie shook her head, her tone firm. “Ever.”

“Aw, but why not?!”

“Because… Because we can get you a new queen!” Mabel quickly interjected, rolling with her newfound idea. “One that’s even more beautiful than me or Connie!”

“Oh yeah!” Dipper exclaimed, catching onto Mabel’s drift. “Her name is Gideon, and she has lovely white hair.”

“Huh?” Steven asked confused. “But Gideon’s not a-”

“Shh!” Connie abruptly cut him off before he could innocently ruin their plan.

“Whoa, mature woman, huh?” Jeff asked, intrigued. “Hey, Shmebulock! Get my cologne!”

“Shmebulock!” another gnome exclaimed gruffly, carrying in a bottle of cologne that was almost as big as he was.

“Is Shmebulock all you can say?” Jeff asked, somewhat concerned.

“…Shmebulock…” Shmebulock nodded sadly.

Jeff simply shrugged at this before turning back to the kids with a broad grin, one that they returned as they realized their plan was coming together perfectly. “It’s a deal!”

Stan let out a long sigh as he slumped against the counter at Greasy’s Diner. He had decided this was as good a place as any to take refuge away from the temple, so he wouldn’t have to see the twins’ pleading glances or hear the Gems’ judgmental whispers. The conman knew he should have been spending these last few precious, fleeting hours with Dipper and Mabel before he had to see them off on the bus that evening, but he couldn’t really bring himself to do it. The thought of having to bid them such a sudden farewell alone was difficult to deal with enough; the last thing he wanted was to be reminded of it.

“Waiter, give me a glass of the strongest, most expired apple cider you got,” Stan addressed the nearby waiter, hoping that the cider could at least help him feel a little better about all this.

“Sure thing, Mr. Pines.”

Confused, the conman glanced up to see none other than Soos working the counter, clad in an apron and all. “Soos? What are you doing here?”

“Well, since the Mystery Shack shut down, I’ve had to take on a bunch of part time jobs,” Soos explained as he rubbed a glass clean. “Grave digger, bus driver, really awesome cook… Hey, is the kitchen supposed to have that much fire in it?” Alarmed, the handyman rushed into the kitchen, using a fire extinguisher to put out the flames covering the stove.

“You’re a good man-child, Soos,” Stan said with a sigh. “But its not lookin’ good. This whole town loves Gideon and hates me. If only they knew how evil he really was!”

“Hey, I’m here for you, dude,” Soos smiled, walking up to the conman and putting a reassuring hand on his shoulder.

“The entire lower half of your body is one fire,” Stan pointed out.

“Shh…” Soos quieted calmly, not noticing the smoke rising from his pants. “We’re having a moment.”

Even though construction on Gideonland was in full swing, the child psychic himself wasn’t fully devoting much of his attention to it at the moment. Instead, he had devoted himself to his first and foremost goal: finding the other journal.

“Where are you, journal?” Gideon muttered petulantly to himself as he started digging another hole next to the countless empty ones he had made on the fringes of the property. “Where are you!?”

“Boy, I hate to interrupt you,” Bud cut in as he approached his son. “But you have some guests.”

“What?” Gideon scowled, glancing over to the fence to see Dipper, Mabel, Steven, and Connie gathered outside it.

“Give us the deed to the shack, Gideon!” Dipper demanded firmly. “Or else!”

The child psychic simply rolled his eyes at this, clearly not taking them seriously. “Oh, I’m just shakin’. Am I supposed to say ‘or else what’?”

“Yes, you are supposed to say that!” Mabel exclaimed before calling to the hidden army in the nearby woods. “Now!”

At this command, the kids cleared out of the way as the crowd suddenly began to rumble before a vast force of gnomes broke out from the forest, riding atop various woodland creatures as they easily broke through the fence. Gideon let out an alarmed gasp at this, especially as still more gnomes appeared on the roof of the shack, all of them organized into a deadly force when combined. Their surprisingly pointy hats were all aimed right at the child psychic, who was cornered and unable to escape as the kids approached him.

“Nice work, you guys!” Steven congratulated the gnomes brightly, rewarding the ones near him with some chips he had brought. “You all did great! It just goes to show yet again that teamwork always works!”

“Where’d you hear that one from?” Connie asked with a small laugh.

“I made it up!”

“It’s over, Gideon,” Dipper said with hardened resolve. “You’re surrounded by an unstoppable gnome army. Now give us back out deed and get off our property!”

“And let the marriage ceremony begin!” Jeff added enthusiastically as he sat atop his deer mount.

“Very well,” Gideon sighed in defeat, reaching into his suit, presumably for the deed. “I suppose this deed belongs to-” He cut himself off as he pulled a whistle out instead of the deed, blowing it loudly and quickly. At once, the gnomes all collapsed from their organized formations, the high-pitched noise irritating all of them all to the point of submission, much to the kids’ shared shock. “Ha! What do you know? It works on gnomes too!” Gideon chuckled as he blew the whistle once more.

“Stop!” Jeff pleaded desperately, bowing before the child psychic. “We’ll do anything! How can we serve you your majesty, the most beautiful girl we’ve ever seen?!”

“I am not a girl!” Gideon shouted harshly.

“Really? But your skin is so soft,” Jeff noted, rubbing the back of the child psychic’s hand. “Do you moisturize or…”

“Subdue them!” Gideon ordered, ripping his hand away before pointing to Dipper, Mabel, Steven, and Connie. The gnomes of course complied as they charged for the kids, easily outnumbering them and capturing them all. The child psychic laughed triumphantly as he watched his foes flutily struggle, but ultimately fail, to break free from the already firm hold the gnomes had on them. “I have to admit, kids, I am impressed by your creativity! How did you ever manage this little scheme?”

“Uh, we just bribed them,” Connie shrugged amidst trying to escape from the gnomes holding onto her and Steven together.

“Oh?” Gideon asked, turning his attention to her somewhat curiously. “And who might you be? I don’t recall ever seeing you runnin’ around with this lot before.”

Before Connie could really answer, Steven let out a startled gasp as he looked over at her and noticed a small, but still lightly bleeding cut on her cheek, most likely gotten from their scuffle against gnomes. “Oh no! Connie, you’re hurt!” he exclaimed worriedly. “Here, I can fix it! Just let me-” The young Gem cut himself off as he licked his hand and then pulled against the gnomes to try and reach Connie, only to be interrupted by Gideon’s appalled scoff.

“Oh, I understand what’s goin’ on here…” the child psychic mused with a dark, jealous scowl.

“Huh?” Steven frowned, confused.

“Don’t act like you don’t know, Universe!” Gideon shouted, suddenly furious. “It’s clear to see that you’re nothing but a two-timing, womanizing scoundrel!”

“…What?”

“Just look at yourself!” the child psychic went on. “Cheatin’ on poor Mabel right in front of her with this other girl! You oughta be ashamed of yourself. Just goes to show that she should’ve chosen me instead of you.”

“What?!” both Mabel and Connie asked in dumbfounded unison, having no idea what Gideon was on about at all.

“Cheating?” Steven shook his head, bewildered. “What are you talking about? I’m not with-”

“Oh, and don’t think I haven’t forgotten about that little stunt you tried to pull at my openin’ ceremony the other day!” Gideon continued, clearly incensed against the young Gem at this point. “You almost had me worried there for a moment, tryin’ to convince the townsfolk of the ‘truth’, but in the end, you should have known it was destined to fail. Face it, Universe; this town may like you, but they love widdle ol’ me.”

“Ugh, ok that’s enough!” Dipper exclaimed, more than annoyed and frustrated with the accusations Gideon was throwing at Steven. With newfound verve, he began struggling against the gnomes once more, even though their tiny hands had an iron-like grip. “Come on, let go!” he shouted, pulling against the gnomes and not even noticing the journal slip out of his vest until it fell to the ground. “Oh no!”

“No, could it be?!” Gideon gasped, surprised as he spotted the journal and hurried to claim it before Dipper could. “It is!” the child physic grinned widely in excitement as he frantically flipped through the book. “Of course! It all makes sense!” Gideon smirked triumphantly at Dipper, who was trying harder than ever to break away from the gnomes now that the child physic had his hands on the journal and was making sure to keep it just out of his reach. “The one place I’d never think to look! You had it the whole time! And to think I actually considered you a threat!”

“No!” Dipper protested fiercely, desperate to get the journal back in any way possible, even if it was a futile effort. “Give it back!”

“Every victory you had was because of your precious book!” Gideon mocked smugly, more than happy to have the coveted volume all to himself.

“Give it back, or I’ll-”

“Or you’ll what, boy?” Gideon interrupted challengingly, getting up close in Dipper’s face since there was little he could do to stop him. “You’ll what? Huh? Huh?! No muscles, no brains. Face it! You’re nothin’ without this!” he exclaimed, pointing to the journal before waving the group off, ordering the gnomes to carry them all away with another blow of his whistle. “Bye, bye forever, ya’ll!”

“No!” Dipper shouted in destress, reaching out for the journal one last time as the gnomes dragged them all away.

Gideon simply saw the group off with a triumphant, wicked smile, one that only grew as he glanced down at the new journal in his hands. “With them gone, there are only three more obstacles left in my way…” he mused deviously, smirking at the nearly finished statue behind him first, then to the Gem temple up on the hill. “But I’ll make easy work of them soon enough. First thing’s first…” With another cold chuckle, the child psychic headed for the shack, knowing that now, no one, absolutely no one would be able to stop him.

The gnomes finally let the kids go at the entrance to the woods, none of them bothering to stick around much longer now that the plan had completely fallen through. “Next time, do your own dirty work,” Jeff remarked to the kids rather crossly before leaving. “Come on, boys!” At this call, three squirrels ran to him and jumped into his pants right before he scampered off as well, leaving the kids alone and quite forlorn.

“Well, that’s it,” Dipper said with a defeated sigh as he took a seat on a nearby tree stump. “Guess the bus should be here soon.”

“What?” Mabel asked as Steven and Connie mirrored her surprise. “Dipper, don’t give up! You always have a plan!”

“Yeah!” Steven readily agreed. “Like the time you figured out how to stop that Gem monster when we were exploring the temple!”

“Or when you chased that Gremloblin we caught off before it could do anymore damage to the shack,” Connie added just as insistently.

“Don’t you guys get it?” Dipper asked somewhat harshly, far too upset to be consoled now. “The journal was what bailed us out both of those times, not me! That’s always what has a plan! Gideon was right. The only courageous or cool things I’ve ever done have been because of that journal. Without it… I can’t help us, or Stan, or anyone…”

Mabel, Steven, and Connie all exchanged a saddened glance upon hearing this, none of them really sure of what to say. In a way, Dipper was indeed right; the journal had saved them from countless situations in the past. Without its guidance and wisdom, they had nothing else to go off but themselves. And seeing as how badly that had just backfired, they weren’t really in the position to go and try it again.

“B-but… there’s gotta be something we can do…” Mabel murmured despondently, looking to her brother for answers he simply didn’t have.

Dipper could only meet his sister’s worried gaze with palpable despair. He didn’t even need to admit that he had all but given up, seeing as it was clear to them all. “What can we do?” he asked morosely, voicing the one question that none of them had an answer to. As much as none of them wanted to admit, there was little else they could do now. They were out of time, out of options, and out of hope. And most importantly and most tragically: out of summer.

All too quickly, sunset had come, and with it, the bus that was to take Dipper and Mabel back home to California. A large, yet sad group had joined Stan at the bus stop to see them off, including Steven, Connie, the Gems, Wendy, Candy, and Grenda. The round of farewells had been all too short and all too sad, with tears shed and apologies made for how short the twins’ time in town had been. Candy and Grenda had to hold onto each other for emotional support as Wendy gave the most reassuring, playful goodbye she could offer, though it was clear to tell it was just a safeguard to keep her from getting too upset. While Amethyst tried her best to seem aloof and bitter, she couldn’t very well look either of the twins in the eye without tearing up as Pearl was simply trying to hold her pressing sobs back as best as she could, with little luck. A stray tear even slipped out from under Garnet’s shades as she promised the twins that they would all meet again someday. It was a promise that Dipper and Mabel certainly wanted to believe, but one that they found a hard time holding onto at a moment like this.

But of course, their parting with Steven and Connie had been among the hardest of them all. The young Gem was an inconsolable weeping mess, unable to bear the thought of his still rather new friends departing so soon and on such a sad note. Connie was also quite upset, quiet tears in her eyes as she lamented the fact that she hadn’t had the chance to hang out with either of them more but voicing the desire to remain in touch with them even after they were gone. Still, they all knew it wouldn’t be the same. Whatever fun times or adventures they might have had were now nothing more than distant dreams that would never be. For as hard as they had tried to stay together, the Mystery Kids had been inevitably torn apart. And no one knew if they’d ever be able to come together again.

Stan’s farewell had been the shortest and definitely the most painful. The conman had embraced both of his nibblings tightly, holding back sobs as he avoided eye contact with either of them. After all, how could he bear to meet their heartbroken, dejected glances now without being filled without even more regret over having to send them home like this in the first place. Stan knew this was all his fault, and the crushing weight of that guilt alone was enough to prompt him to shove the twins towards the bus with only a final word of goodbye.

It almost felt like the twins were entering another world entirely as they boarded the bus. Its empty leather seats and grimy exterior would be what was to usher them out of this strange new world that they had gotten so used to and had come to love over the past several weeks alone. A world of magic and mystery, of dangerous monsters, mythical creatures, and living gemstones, of friends and family that they desperately didn’t want to leave. Which was why Dipper and Mabel took to the back seat of the bus as it began to pull away, with the hope that, somehow, being so far back would let them stay in Gravity Falls for even just a second longer.

Stan could only turn away morosely as the twins looked to him through the back window. One final apology escaped him as the bus began to drive off, one that he knew they probably wouldn’t hear, but that was fine. It was meant more for himself than them anyway. “Sorry, kids,” he muttered brokenly, a single tear finally slipping down his cheek, even if none of the others saw it. “It’s for the best….”

The farewell party remained together and watching as the bus rattled down the road that led out of town, all of them wanting to get their last glimpses of it for as long as they were able. Steven choked out another sob as he leaned his head against Garnet’s leg, holding tightly onto Connie’s hand for support as she also broke down crying. The Gem leader placed a consoling hand on her young charge’s back while Pearl steadied Connie with a hand on her shoulder. In the end though, none of the Gems were really able to keep it together either; after all, for as strange and out of their usual habits as it was, they had truly grown attached to the twins almost as much as Steven had. And having to watch them go, especially under such circumstances, filled them with a sort of helplessness and despair that none of them really knew how to reconcile. But even so, they had to; for Steven’s sake.

Much like the group still at the bus stop, Dipper and Mabel continued to watch from the back window of the bus as the familiar sights of Gravity Falls passed by them far too quickly for their liking. Mabel shed silent tears as she leaned her head against her brother’s shoulder, needing whatever steadying support he could offer her right now. Dipper was nearly to the point of tears himself, but he forced them back, trying his hardest to be strong in all this for Mabel. Still, he couldn’t really hold back a miserable sigh, especially as the outskirts of town came into view. “I can’t believe this is happening…” he said dejectedly, wishing that this was all just a horrible nightmare but knowing that it was anything but.

If anything, it all became more real and more heartbreaking as the bus continued into the shadowy uncertainty of the hills ahead, rolling past a sign that only read “Now leaving Gravity Falls”.

Gideon snickered in treacherous triumph as he burst into the shack, his new journal in tow. The child psychic was beside himself with excitement over this find, one that would certainly entail him with everything he could ever desire. “I’ve got it! I finally got it!” he proclaimed as he rushed into the living room. “Get out!” he brusquely ordered his parents, who didn’t hesitate to follow his command and run out of the room.

“It’s finally mine!” Gideon exclaimed, running up to the table where journal 2 sat. “At last, I have journal number-” He abruptly cut himself as he set the new journal down, expecting to find a 1 on its over but instead seeing a 3. “Three?! There are three of them?!” Frazzled, the child psychic quickly reorganized the two journals, distraught that there was still one missing from the collection. “But where is journal number one!? I must have all three for the power to be unlocked! But where could it-” Gideon interrupted himself once more as he gasped in furious realization. “Dipper! He must know where it is! He gave me the third one and kept the first for himself!” Absolutely infuriated by this thought, the child psychic let out an unhinged scream of frustration, ripping out some of his hair in the process. “I can’t let him leave Gravity Falls!”

Wasting no time, Gideon grabbed the second and third journals and rushed outside, standing before the now-completed statue of himself. “You there!” he called up to McGucket, who had done nearly all of the work on it. “Is it ready?!”

“Heh, only one way to find out!” McGucket laughed, pulling the lever on top of the statue, or rather, robot. The robot’s vacant eyes began to glow brightly as the advanced machinery inside of it roared to life, sure fire signs that it was indeed working.

While Gideon had intended for his robot to be used against the Gems with the intent of destroying them all first, he knew that this would be a more than a suitable test run for it. Knowing he had not a moment to lose, the child psychic rushed into the robot, putting his specially-designed motion sensor suit on as he rode the lift up to the chassis in its head. As it was designed to, the robot mimicked Gideon’s forceful punch exactly as he did it, shoving the Gideonland statue it was holding into the ground. The child psychic grinned darkly as he guided his robot into action, its maiden voyage already underway as it started out towards the path that led out of town.

“I’ve got a good feeling ‘bout that kid!” McGucket quipped obliviously as Gideon left to put the robot he had built to use for untold destruction.

The ride back to the temple had been a silent and sad one. Steven, Connie, the Gems, and Stan really had nothing to say in wake of seeing Dipper and Mabel off, but one thing was immediately clear: they all easily missed the twins already. As soon as they had all gotten back, the Gems had retreated into the temple for a while, all of them needing at least a little time to themselves. Likewise, Steven and Connie had taken to sitting out on the porch together, hoping that the gentle calm of the summer evening could offer them some form of solace in such hopeless times. Stan, on the other hand, had gone inside and planted himself before the TV, unsure of what else to really do with himself now that the twins were gone.

“Well, Stan, this is it,” the conman lamented to himself, his head in his hands. “Rock bottom. No friends, no family, stuck watching infomercials for whatever that is…”

“Are you sick of piles of owls constantly blocking your driveway?” the ad on TV blared obnoxiously. “Well then you gotta get Owl Trowel!”

Stan let out a tired sigh as he turned his attention to the Gideon pin sitting on the bed next to him before he picked it up. “How’d you do it, kid?” he asked the pin, confounded. “Why are you always one step ahead? Maybe he really is a psychic after-” The conman was suddenly cut off as his hearing aid let out another high-pitched, painful whine. “Ah! My hearing aid! What keeps causing that?!” Stan groaned in frustration as he glared at the pin in his hands, his eyes going wide with the sudden realization he had upon drawing it closer to his ear and listening as his hearing aid screeched yet again. “Wait a minute! That’s it!” he proclaimed with newfound excitement. “I know Gideon’s weakness!”

“Stan,” Pearl said as she climbed onto the loft, her tone authoritative and firm. “If you’re going to be staying here for a while, there’s a few ground rules we need to-”

The white Gem was very suddenly cut off as Stan ran up to her and embraced her without warning, unable to hold back his elation. Alarmed, Pearl froze up as the conman easily lifted her off of her feet in his tight, very chummy hug, one that lasted far too long for her liking. After what felt like unbearable ages, Stan finally released her with a laugh before running downstairs and out the door, leaving Pearl behind to cringe in what was nothing less than absolute revulsion.

Stan paid neither Steven nor Connie any mind as he rushed past them and down to his car, not even bothering to spare a word about where he might be going, even as the kids watched him go in apt confusion. “I wonder where he’s going in such a hurry,” Connie mused with a frown.

“Maybe he’s going to chase after that bus and bring Dipper and Mabel back…” Steven muttered with a dejected sigh as he slumped against the porch table.

“Aw, Steven,” Connie frowned empathetically, placing a comforting hand on his shoulder. “I miss them too… But look on the bright side; at least we got to say goodbye to them before they left.”

“We shouldn’t have had to,” the young Gem remarked, somewhat frustrated. “They should have been able to stay here for the rest of the summer, Connie. It’s not fair!”

“No… I guess you’re right,” Connie glanced down sadly. “It’s really not.”

“We were all gonna have so much fun together!” Steven exclaimed, reclining back in his chair lazily. “There were still so many Gem missions and mystery hunts for us to go on! And now they’ll never happen… It’s over… They’re gone…”

“If only we could have done more to help them,” Connie sighed remorsefully. “Hanging out with you and Dipper and Mabel this summer has made me believe that pretty much anything is possible. That no challenge was too big or too dangerous to get through. But… I guess there are things that even we can’t overcome, no matter how hard we try…”

Steven simply nodded in glum agreement with this, putting his head against the table once more. However, the table itself didn’t remain still for too long as the entire temple seemed to rattle with an apparent earthquake.

“W-what was that?!” Connie exclaimed, suddenly alarmed as she struggled to remain in her chair as the young Gem fell out of his.

“I don’t-” Steven began, though he was soon cut off as the ground rattled violently once more. As the sensation happened a third time, all three of the Gems abruptly rushed out of the house, just as alarmed as the pair on the porch was.

“Kids, what’s going on?!” Pearl asked frantically.

“Yeah, what’s with all the sha-aking?!” Amethyst tried to ask as another small earthquake knocked her off her feet.

Both Steven and Connie were ready to voice their own confusion, but Garnet’s sudden warning cry was more than enough to provide an answer to it. “Look!” she shouted, pointing down the hill. The group on the porch let out a unified gasp of shock as they watched a massive robot, at least 50 feet tall and built in Gideon’s image, begin to storm away from the shack, its pace getting quicker and more confident with each step it took. It did stop for a moment, however, and cast a glance up towards the temple, before it easily ripped a tree from the ground and threw it their way. Garnet quickly leapt into action and punched the tree cleanly in half before it could harm any of them, but even so, the Gideon-bot continued on its way, surprisingly not even bothering to launch another attack at them.

“The statue Gideon build down at the shack… i-it’s a… giant robot?!” Steven asked, aghast.

“We can’t let Gideon take that thing into town!” Pearl exclaimed. “Who knows what kind of damage he might cause with something like that!”

“That’s not where he’s heading,” Garnet noted, watching the robot as it disappeared into the woods, though still towered over most of the trees. “It seems like he’s going for the cliffs.”

“But why?” Connie asked, bewildered.

“Hey, maybe he’s gonna do us a favor and toss that huge eyesore right off the cliff,” Amethyst remarked, scowling after the bot.

“No,” Garnet said with a sudden gasp of rare fear as her future vision provided her with the truth. “He’s going after Dipper and Mabel.”

“What?!” Pearl and Amethyst exclaimed in horrified unison, both of them quite concerned for the twins’ safety in light of this.

“Oh no!” Steven cried worriedly as Connie let out a shocked gasp. “Garnet, are you sure?”

“Positive,” the Gem leader said, her hands curling into tight, angry fists.

“W-well we have to stop him!” Connie exclaimed with both worry and resolve. “He could really hurt them with that thing!”

“You two go on ahead,” Garnet said to Steven and Connie. “We’ll catch up with you soon.”

The pair nodded firmly with this plan as Steven called for Lion, hoping the pink beast would be able to keep up with such a massive machine. “Ok, Lion!” the young Gem exclaimed barely as him and Connie mounted the pink beast. “Let’s go save Dipper and Mabel!”

Lion simply roared in response as he ran off with the pair in tow, leaving the Gems behind. “So, what are we gonna do?” Amethyst asked Garnet with a worried frown, knowing they had to act quickly and decisively if they wanted to save the twins in time.

The Gem leader didn’t answer right away as she instead held her hands out, both of the gemstones on her palms starting to glow brightly. Her expression was hardened as she reached out and took both of her teammates hands, that glow transferring to their gems as well as they both realized exactly what Garnet’s intentions were. It was a dire move, true, but seeing as how these were dire circumstances, then they were at liberty to act as direly as they pleased. After all, they figured that if Gideon intended on harming either of the twins, then all gloves were finally off. “We’re going to break our rule.”

The further out of town the bus got, the lower the sun seemed to sink over the distant hills, almost serving as a grim reminder to the twins that their vastly fleeting time left in Gravity Falls was disappearing as quickly as daylight itself was. With each familiar landmark they passed, from the iconic water tower to the very falls the town was named for, the reality that they were really leaving, really heading back to their average, unextraordinary lives in California, seemed to set in more and more, as painful as it was. Still, Mabel could easily tell that Dipper was more upset about it all than even she was, seeing as how his crestfallen gaze had been fixated on the scenery rolling by out the window for most of the ride thus far. Mabel could certainly understand why he was so down though; after all, Dipper still largely believed that his failure to come up with a functional plan to defeat Gideon had been what had sealed their fate. It wasn’t true of course; it had been a combination of many unfortunate things that had led them to this point, but all the same, Mabel could hardly stand to see her brother so miserable, even if she wasn’t really feeling much better herself.

“Hey, Dipper?” she spoke up, finally breaking their longstanding silence. “Wanna play bus seat treasure hunt?”

“I’m not in the mood,” Dipper muttered glumly, not even bothering to glance over at her.

“Aw, come on!” Mabel encouraged with a soft smile as she pulled the nearest bus seat up and looked over what was stuck to it. “We got Canadian coins… gum that’s shaped like Ronald Reagan’s head… and ooh! Miscellaneous fluid stain?”

“Giant robot!” Dipper shouted, suddenly alarmed.

“Yeah, a giant robot,” Mabel agreed before realizing there was nothing under the seat that looked remotely like a robot. “Wait, what?”

“Look!” Dipper pointed out the back window, namely to the massive Gideon robot chasing after their bus in a heated pursuit.

“Halt!” Gideon shouted fiercely from inside his robot, more than determined to get what he was after. “I command you to halt!”

Aptly horrified by this unexpected and frankly terrifying turn of events, the twins let out a shared frightened scream, especially as the bus started to shake violently with every thunderous step the huge robot took towards them. Frantically, they both scrambled for the front of the bus, knowing that they could really handle something this dangerous by themselves.

“Mr. Bus driver!” Mabel cried, panicked. “There’s a giant Gideon-bot coming for us!”

“Oh hey, dudes!” Soos greeted as he turned to face the kids from the driver’s seat of the bus.

“Soos?!” Dipper and Mabel exclaimed in surprised unison, confused yet relieved to see the handyman.

“Don’t worry, guys,” Soos reassured, gripping the steering wheel. “I’ve been a part-time bus driver for at least 40 minutes now. One of these is probably a clutch…” Looking over the bus’ controls for a moment, the handyman pulled one of them, which fortunately enough happened to be the clutch. “Hang on, dudes!” he exclaimed as the bus lurched forward, picking up speed. The twins were thrown back a bit by this, but they managed to remain standing by clinging onto the bus seats, only to spot the Gideon-bot trying to grab the bus from behind. Fortunately, it missed as Soos swerved the bus to the side, but Gideon wasn’t about to give up that easily. Dipper and Mabel gasped in alarmed shock as the Gideon-bot easily leapt over the bus, landing several feet in front of it and blocking the road ahead.

“Soos, look out!” Mabel warned as the bus sped right for the robot’s open hands. Acting quickly, the handyman spun the wheel, veering off of the road entirely and onto the dirt path that led towards the floating cliffs. The group in the bus let out a collective cry of fear as they smashed through a ‘road closed’ sign, but they could hardly think of stopping as the child psychic continued to chase after them relentlessly, even as they began speeding up the hill to the cliff.

“I don’t understand. He already won!” Dipper exclaimed to Mabel as they watched the Gideon-bot begin to scale the mountain after them. “What does he want from us?!”

“I got you in my sights!” Gideon yelled from inside his robot, his monitor honing in on the bus as he drew ever closer to it.

The twins’ rapidly growing fear only increased as the robot reached down to try and grab the bus once more. However, upon taking a furtive glance towards the front window, they were able to see that there was something much more immediate they needed to worry about. “Soos, cliff!” Dipper shouted warningly as they came up on the cliff’s edge at an alarming speed. The handyman horridly floored the breaks, but even that wasn’t enough to keep the bus from spinning wildly out of control. In a palpable panic, Dipper and Mabel clung onto each other as they braced themselves for whatever impact might happen, but fortunately, the bus grinded to a halt right before it could plummet off the edge. It’s back wheels, however, did slip off, leaving the bus teetering half on the cliff and unable to move and therefore, unable to escape the Gideon-bot as it ominously finished its approach.

With a mere tug on the roof of the bus, the robot was able to rip it off as if it were nothing. Soos gasped in surprise as he met the automaton’s angry, glowing gaze, but even so, he quickly began leafing through his bus emergency manual to find a solution. “Okay, what’s closest to our present situation?” the handyman asked, flipping through the book. “Raccoon in the engine or angry grandparent won’t leave bus? P-probably the second one.”

Upon seeing that neither Dipper nor Mabel were in the bus, the Gideon-bot whipped around to see that the twins had escaped without him noticing and had fled for the train bridge connecting the two cliffs. They still had no idea what Gideon was after or why he was so intent on chasing them down, but they figured they could worry about all of that later. For now, their only thought was escape, an attempt that was quickly ruined as they reached the other end of the bridge, which was barred off by a dead end. The twins’ shared instinct was to run back for the other end, but Gideon beat them to the punch as his robot landed squarely on the bridge before them, blocking any hope of escape.

“Tell me!” Gideon demanded through his robot as it towered over both twins. “Where is journal #1?!”

Dipper and Mabel exchanged a bewildered glance at this, neither of them having the faintest clue about what the child psychic was on about. “Journal #1?”

“Don’t play games with me, boy!” Gideon yelled furiously, controlling his robot to punch the cliff right above the twins. As bits of stone and shrapnel rained down upon them from the impact, Dipper made sure to block Mabel from the brunt of it, even though they both got their fair share of cuts and bruises from the flurry of rocks.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about!” Dipper exclaimed, still standing between the robot and Mabel in an attempt to protect her. “You took the only journal I ever had! What do you even want with these journals anyway?!”

“That is none of your concern!” Gideon shouted brusquely. “And if you won’t tell me where that first journal is, then I’ll find it myself!” Still as incensed as ever, the child psychic commanded his robot to snatch both twins up in its massive hands before either of them could even think to escape.

While both Dipper and Mabel tried their hardest to remain together, Gideon ultimately separated them easily as he held them both in separate hands, even despite their struggling against the robot’s tight grip. But even still, Dipper was by far more concerned for Mabel’s wellbeing than his own, especially considering Gideon’s dangerous affections for her. “Let go of her!” he shouted fiercely, beating against the robot’s hand in an attempt to break free and aid Mabel, who was trying to pry herself out of the automaton’s other hand.

“Ha!” Gideon laughed smugly as the robot’s hand tightened its grip around Dipper. “You still think you’re some kind of hero?! You ain’t nothing!” With another triumphant laugh, the robot tossed Dipper aside roughly, though Gideon made sure to still cling onto Mabel tightly. Fortunately, Dipper landed on the fringes of the other cliff, though it was anything but a gentle or smooth one. He hit the ground hard, sliding back until his head struck a rock, abruptly stopping him. A strong burst of pain and shock rattled his entire body as he blacked out completely for a moment or two. When he was able to sit up, he did so slowly and sluggishly as he realized he was sporting a bloody nose, aching back, possibly a concussion, and still countless other minor injuries from the landing that he likely wasn’t even fully aware of yet. Still, he was hardly distracted by any of that for too long, especially as he noticing the Gideon-bot start to carry Mabel away.

“Once I find that final journal, I’ll rule this town with you as my queen!” Gideon proclaimed to Mabel victoriously. “And I think I’ll begin my reign with shatterin’ three certain pesky Gems and their annoyin’ little prodigy!”

Mabel let out a fearful gasp upon hearing this, concern filling her for not only herself, but for Steven, the Gems, and her brother as well. “Dipper!” she cried desperately, flutily trying to pull herself out of the robot’s grip. “Help me!”

Upon hearing his sister’s panicked cries, Dipper got to his feet, nearly tripping from unsteadiness as he ran to the edge of the cliff but making it there nonetheless. Of course, it was only as he stood at the edge that he realized he had absolutely no idea what to do. As hurt and as weak as he was, he couldn’t possibly hope to rescue Mabel and defeat Gideon with just his bare hands. And really, he had no other options left in his arsenal. In fact, the only thing Dipper could really think of as he stood at the edge of the cliff, watching Gideon carry Mabel away as she still cried out of help he couldn’t give her were the child psychic’s own spiteful words, words that cut him deeper now more than ever before: “Face it, kid. You’re nothin’ without that journal. How are you gonna fight then? No muscles, no brains. What are you gonna do, huh? What are you gonna do?”

Dipper froze, his breathing hitching as he took a stumbling step back towards the surrounding woods as he realized there was only one crushing answer to this question: nothing. There was nothing he could do to put an end to this, to rescue his sister or his friends, to save the day and come out on top. It would be pointless and dangerous, likely even deadly to so much as try. After all, he was just one kid, a kid who had gotten lucky by discovering a special journal in the woods, and now even that was gone. And without it, what was really special about him after all? He didn’t have Mabel’s drive and creativity, or Steven’s empathy or powers. Gideon was right: all he had was nothing. He couldn’t get the shack or the journal back. He couldn’t stop Gideon from carrying out his sinister plans. He couldn’t even save his own sister. He couldn’t—he just couldn’t.

But just because couldn’t do it, didn’t mean he couldn’t try.

Acting on a burst of sudden courage, impulse, and desperation alone, Dipper quickly turned and started bolting towards the edge of the cliff once more, running for it as fast as his legs could carry him. He barely had a plan, and what little plan he did have could very well end up getting him killed, but he didn’t care. He couldn’t care now. Because Gideon had his sister and had threatened his friends and if there was one thing Dipper wasn’t going to let him get away with, it was that. And so, not bothering to stop for even an instant lest his rush of adrenaline and reckless bravery fade away, Dipper jumped off the edge of the cliff as high and as hard as he could, propelling himself towards the Gideon-bot with a determined shout. The robot turned, surprised as Gideon heard this, but the child psychic could do little as Dipper crashed into one of the automaton’s eyes headfirst. Though he likely sustained several more injuries in the process, he cared for none of them at the moment, especially as he rammed into Gideon, brutally tackling him to the ground. As a result, the robot stumbled backwards on the bridge, much to Mabel’s alarm, especially as the two boys began fighting inside its control chassis.

“Let go of my sister!” Dipper demanded harshly, holding Gideon down and landing a surprisingly strong punch, one that send the robot’s head reeling.

“Never!” Gideon shouted back, pushing Dipper down and throwing a hard blow of his own. “I finally won this time!”

The brawl continued on as they both exchanged a back and forth of punches, slaps, and kicks. Of course, all the while, the robot kept its tight hold on Mabel, even despite her continued attempts to escape it so she could possibly climb up and aid her brother in this fight. Still, as the duel went on and the robot teetered back and forth on the bridge from it, Steven and Connie finally arrived on the scene riding Lion, who came to a stop at the edge of the other cliff beside the bus and Soos.

“Whoa!” both kids exclaimed in bewildered unison as they watched the Gideon-bot stumble about.

“What’s going on?” Connie asked Soos, aptly concerned.

“Dude, I’m gonna level with you and say I have like, no idea,” the handyman admitted with a shrug.

“Steven! Connie!” Mabel exclaimed with surprise as she spotted them from her spot in the robot’s fist.

“Mabel!” Steven cried fearfully. “Don’t worry! We’ll save you!”

“Wait, where’s Dipper?!” Connie asked, glancing around for him and not seeing him anywhere.

“He’s-” Mabel was cut off as the robot reeled backwards once more in tandem with Dipper throwing another punch Gideon’s way. The child psychic was quick to retaliate with a hard and fast swipe that struck Dipper cleanly in the jaw, leaving quite a heavy bruise. Still, despite the pain, he hardly gave up as Gideon went in for another blow, one that he managed to catch with his open palm just in time. He was more than prepared to send it flying right back in the child psychic’s face, but before he could, a sudden heavy rumbling from outside abruptly interrupted the fight.

“Huh? What’s-” Steven’s confusion was cut off as him and Connie both turned to see a massive figure running their way, one that was easily as tall as the Gideon-bot, if not even larger. She couldn’t be described as anything else but a giant woman, with vibrant magenta skin, dark blue shades, thick mane of mint-green hair, and six long, powerful arms. All six of her hands were curled into tight fists as she arrived on the cliff-side, towering over everyone as all of the kids gaped up at her in absolute dumbfounded shock.

“GIDEON!” the giant woman roared fiercely, her voice deep and powerful as it came out of both her regular mouth, as well as the second, much more monstrous mouth underneath it. The ongoing brawl inside the robot had all but come to a grinding halt at the arrival of this intimidating being, especially as both Dipper and Gideon stared at her, confounded.

“W-who is that?!” Dipper asked, alarmed and slightly frightened by the woman’s imposing presence.

“No…” Gideon muttered, his jaw dropping in shock as he completely forgot about the ongoing fight. After all, he recognized this ferocious being right out of the pages detailing Gem fusions he had poured over countless times in journal 2. “It can’t be…. It’s-”

“Alexandrite!” Steven gasped in realization, still sitting atop Lion as he realized that this was indeed the legendary fusion of all four of his guardians. It only made sense, seeing as how she bore all four of their gemstones, as well as their shared resolve to protect those they commonly cared about.

With another bold shout, Alexandrite jumped down onto the bridge to square off against the Gideon-bot face-to-face. “Let them go!” she shouted firmly, her infuriated glare clear even despite her shades. “NOW!”

The child psychic’s stunned expression soon turned into a dark smirk, especially as he roughly shoved Dipper aside so he could focus on the fusion before him. “Well, well…” Gideon began, an air of knowing arrogance in his tone. “If it isn’t all three of the Crystal Gems, fused into one. Looks like I’ll get to kill two—or rather, several—birds with one stone! Are you ladies itchin’ for a fight? Well I’ll be more than happy to oblige!”

Without another word, the Gideon-bot threw the first punch, one that caught Alexandrite off guard as the blow sent her stumbling backwards. Still, the massive fusion was resilient as she quickly regathered her bearings and charged at the robot, barreling into it and using her second set of arms to push it back into the other cliff in an impressive show of strength. The robot attempted to fight back by swinging its fists out at Alexandrite, but she was quick to catch them both with her uppermost arms, while one of her lower fists landed a brutal uppercut. She made sure that her strike stayed far away from Mabel, but even so, both Gideon and Dipper were sent flying upwards in the chassis by the blow, only to plummet right back down immediately.

“Yeah! Go, Alexandrite!” Steven cheered, still watching this intense fight from the sidelines.

“This is seriously the coolest thing I’ve ever seen,” Connie noted, her eyes wide as the struggle continued.

“Tell me about it, dude,” Soos agreed, just as awestruck.

As soon as Gideon had regathered his bearings from Alexandrite’s last attack, he regained control of his robot enough to wrench its fists out of her grip. Though the fusion tried to rescue Mabel from the automaton’s grip first, she wasn’t quick enough to do so before the robot pulled her away. Frustrated by how he had underestimated Alexandrite’s great strength, the child psychic pushed her away and prepared to go in from another angle. However, in doing so, he had made one fatal mistake: forgetting about his other opponent.

Right as Gideon tried throwing another broad punch, Dipper rushed for him and tackled him to the floor, something that nearly sent the robot tumbling off the bridge entirely, though it somehow managed to remain standing. Alexandrite paused in confusion for a moment as she watched the robot’s head spin, not knowing that inside, Dipper was throwing punch after punch Gideon’s way, simply in an attempt to knock him out at this point. Yet even so, the child psychic had a surprising amount of endurance, especially as he harshly shoved him off with a brutal kick to the chest. Dipper was sent rolling sideways from the blow, and even though he wanted to get back up and keep fighting, his earlier head injury was finally starting to catch up with him, his vision tunneling and his limbs shaking to the point that he could barely keep himself up on all fours without passing out.

“Ha! That’s right! Just stay already down, boy!” Gideon remarked with a mocking grin, adding insult to injury as he stood over Dipper triumphantly. Of course, the child psychic had to make matters even worse by giving his opponent an unfair kick to the stomach, finally sending Dipper collapsing to the floor, semi-conscious and in even more pain than before. “Maybe that’ll finally teach ya. Now to back to the main event…”

Gideon smirked as he looked to out of the robot’s eyes to Alexandrite once more, the fusion rushing to come in with another blow. The robot cleanly blocked it though, seeing as Gideon no longer had any distractions to deter him, and instead went for a low blow to the fusion’s gut, one that sent her reeling backwards with a pained grunt. However, as the robot charged at her, Alexandrite took a different approach this time. Making use of her many arms, the fusion summoned Pearl’s spear from the stone on her forehead and Amethyst’s whip from the gem on her chest, before bringing them both together to create Opal’s longbow in a flash of light. The Gideon-bot stopped in its tracks at this, especially as Alexandrite summoned an arrow out of nothing and pulled it back on the bowstring, taking aim right for the robot’s head.

“It’s time to end this…” the fusion growled, her hair blowing in the wind that the energy of the arrow was creating. She was more than ready to send it flying in what would be an attack the robot certainly wouldn’t be able to fend off, but she was stopped mere seconds before she let the arrow loose.

“Wait! Stop!” Mabel shouted to Alexandrite, still held within the robot’s firm grin, her expression aptly panicked. “You can’t do that! Dipper’s in there!”

A sharp gasp escaped Alexandrite as she quickly shifted her aim right as the arrow flew out of her grasp. Fortunately, it soared right past the robot’s head, narrowly missing it as it instead crashed into the woods on the other cliff, burning out instantly. Still, Gideon quickly thought of a way to take advantage of the fusion’s newfound weakness as the projectile rushed by, especially as he looked to Dipper, still lying listlessly on the floor nearby.

“Looks like you might actually be useful after all, boy,” Gideon smirked deviously, grabbing Dipper by the wrist and hoisting him up off the ground. As much as he wanted to fight back against the child psychic, he really wasn’t in any position to do so, seeing as how his head was pounding, he could hardly breathe, and his limbs refused to cooperate with him.

“Listen here, Crystal Gems!” Gideon shouted boldly. “Because here’s how things are gonna go: either you three stand down, unfuse and surrender, admit defeat, and leave town forever, or… I’ll throw Dipper Pines out of this robot and off this bridge into the chasm below! Now, which’ll it be?”

“What?!” Mabel gasped, immediately horrified upon hearing this threat. “No! Dipper!” Fearful tears were already welling up in her eyes as she tried harder than ever to pull herself out of the robot’s hand, desperate to rush to her brother’s rescue before it was too late. After all, the thought of losing him, especially after he had so fearlessly and selflessly tried to rescue her, was far more than she could bear.

Likewise, Steven and Connie shared a shocked gasp at the fact that Gideon would go so far as to much such a violent threat. But as afraid as they were, the young Gem steeled his resolve as a sudden plan came to him, one that could hopefully save Dipper if Gideon really did go through his treacherous ultimatum. Acting quickly, Steven leaned down and whispered into Lion’s ear, wanting to keep their exit as discreet as possible so the child psychic wouldn’t notice. The pink beast nodded in gruff response before spinning around and running off, away from the edge of the cliff with both Steven and Connie still in tow.

Alexandrite herself froze as Gideon issued this demand, her longbow dissipating into thin air as the three Gems that she was composed of tried to assess the risky situation they now found themselves in and find a solution to it. However, all three of them completely disagreed internally about what to do; Amethyst wanted to just outright attack the robot head on in the hopes that they could retrieve Dipper before Gideon threw him out of it, Pearl wanted to devise a more tactical, safer, less dangerous plan, while Garnet was torn between both methods. And in the end, their indecisiveness gave way to instability.

The fusion let out a startled gasp as her form began to glow and waver, a sign that she was startling to fall apart as the Gems fell out of sync with each other. “No!” she shouted to herself, her voice breaking apart into that of all three Gems instead of one. “Cooperate!”

Gideon’s sly smirk deepened as he watched his plan work perfectly, especially as Alexandrite seemed to grow more and more unstable by the second. Dipper, on the other hand, could only watch with growing dismay as the previously undaunted fusion began to crumble apart all for his sake. He figured that if the Gems did end up surrendering and giving into the child psychic, he wouldn’t just let them leave alive and unharmed. Gideon had far too much disdain and ill intent towards them to let things end that easily. Certainly, he would take advantage of the moment and shatter them, or at least try to, and likely go after Steven and Connie in the process too. And as soon as he realized all this, Dipper knew that he couldn’t let all of that potential harm come to any of them because of him.

Which was why if the Gems couldn’t save him, he would just have to save himself.

Forcing himself to move despite the pain still pounding throughout his body, Dipper abruptly forced himself to stand correctly, wrenching his arm out of Gideon’s grip before grabbing both of the child psychic’s wrists and pulling them behind his back. “Hey!” Gideon cried in angry protest, struggling to break free, though this time, Dipper refused to let up whatsoever. “How dare you-”

“You guys!” Dipper interrupted, shouting to Alexandrite through the child psychic’s attached mic. “Hit him! Now!”

Startled yet somewhat relieved upon hearing this command, the Gems were quick to regain their composure and harmony, even if they knew they would only be able to hold it together for a moment more at best. But still, a moment was all they really needed. With newfound righteous fury, Alexandrite swung her fist out hard and heavy, decking the Gideon-bot squarely in the gut. As the robot stumbled backwards from the blow, Dipper remained on the offensive, pulling both himself and Gideon to the right hard, sending them both plowing to the floor. Offset by this sudden shift of weight, the robot also tilted right, until one of its feet slipped off the bridge entirely. Unable to catch itself, the entire automaton soon followed as it began to tip off the side of the bridge and start the long plummet down below. Alexandrite gasped in alarm as she saw this, and while she quickly reached her hand out in an attempt to catch the robot, or at least either of the twins, they were all too far out of her reach before she could.

As the bot descended into the valley below at a frightening speed, its grip on Mabel finally loosened, though she still clung onto its hand for a moment with a terrified scream. Likewise, Dipper let out his own frightened cry as he fell out of the robot’s chassis through the very eye he had busted in through. The twins’ wide-eyed, petrified gazes met for a moment before they crashed into each other mid-air, instantly embracing each other for dear life. Fortunately though, Mabel had a plan.

Acting quickly, she reached into her sweater and grabbed her grappling hook. Dipper didn’t even have time to ask before Mabel fired it straight upward, hoping that it would latch onto the bridge up above. Unfortunately, its reach was just a few feet shy of it, much to the twins’ shared dismay and dread as the hook began dropping back towards them. And yet, before their hopes at survival were crushed completely, a flash of light burst out of thin air above them, a portal forming and a familiar pink beast flying out of it.

“Lion, catch it!” Steven commanded, pointing to the falling hook. Lion did just that, grasping the rope right below the hook tightly in his maw. With a heavy tug of his head, the pink beast pulled the rest of the rope, and the twins clinging onto it, upwards, the force of which tossing them both up as Lion fell. With perfect timing and a good bit of luck, Dipper and Mabel somehow ended up landing squarely on Lion’s back behind Steven and Connie, right before the pink beast roared another portal into existence and leapt through it.

As the Gideon-bot crashed into the valley, an explosion erupted from it that was loud and powerful enough to catch the attention of nearly everyone in Gravity Falls. Townsfolk stopped dead in their tracks as the bright blue burst rattled the area, raising curiosity and worry as it broke through the otherwise calm of the evening. At the crash site itself, scattered pieces of the robot lay smoldering amidst burnt and knocked down trees, hardly a piece of the automaton left functional as sparks and small flames burst from it. Amidst these ruins, Lion’s portal emerged, and out of it sped the pink beast, still carrying the kids, all of whom, were at last safe and sound.

“Grappling hook!” Mabel cheered triumphantly, holding the hook that had saved her and Dipper up with a broad smile, one that the others all shared. “Told you it would come in handy!”

“You did great too, Lion,” Steven complimented the pink beast, who collapsed to the ground in exhaustion as soon as they all got off of him. “Take all the time you need to rest.”

“Mabel, that was amazing!” Dipper exclaimed, aptly impressed that Mabel’s grappling hook had actually come to their rescue after all.

“Not as amazing as you defeating that robot!” Mabel laughed warmly, though her smile soon faded a bit as she took in just how beaten up her brother really was. Not only were his clothes quite tattered from the brawl, but he sported far too many various cuts and bruises to count, some much bigger than others. His left arm hung somewhat limply at his side, his jaw was somewhat swollen, and his nose was still lightly bleeding a little. And given that was only what she could see on the outside, Mabel figured she had every reason to worry for her brother’s less than stellar condition. “But uh… are you ok, bro-bro? You look… not great.”

“Well… I’m not gonna lie. Pretty much everything hurts,” Dipper admitted, placing a gentle hand against his still very-much aching head. “In fact, I’m pretty sure I probably have a concussion and might need stitches in a few places. But I’m sure it’s nothing Steven and his, uh, healing spit can’t fix, right?”

An excited gasp escaped Steven upon hearing this suggestion, stars in his eyes as he gave Dipper an elated hug. “Of course, Dipper! I’d be more than happy to heal you up!”

“Ok, ow!” Dipper cried, cringing at the tightness of the young Gem’s embrace and how it aggravated his injuries. “Like I said, everything still hurts, Steven! You haven’t healed me yet!”

“Oh, sorry!” Steven quickly released him, blushing in embarrassment as Mabel and Connie laughed in shared amusement.

“Oh, there they are!” Pearl exclaimed as her, Garnet, and Amethyst rushed onto the scene, their expression awash in worry. Apparently, they had unfused between the twins’ fall from the bridge and now, though it did make sense, seeing as how Alexandrite had been steadily falling apart even before then. “Oh, kids!” she cried, throwing her arms around all of them in a relieved embrace. “We’re so glad you’re all alright!”

“Well, mostly alright,” Connie remarked, sending a small, sympathetic smirk Dipper’s way.

“Man, that thing went down hard, huh?” Amethyst asked, looking over the remains of the Gideon-bot. “We totally owned that slimy punk and his dumb robot!”

“We weren’t completely responsible for that…” Garnet said, picking up journal 3 as it lay on the ground nearby hand handing it to Dipper with a small, proud grin. “Excellent work, Dipper. I believe this belongs to you.”

“Thanks.” Dipper accepted the book back with a grateful smile. Simply having its familiar, brittle leather surface in his hands again filled him with unspeakable relief, especially since he had thought he had lost it forever this time.

“You guys were so cool!” Mabel exclaimed to the Gems brightly. “Or I guess I should say, Alexandrite was so cool! She was like ‘bam’! And ‘woosh’! And ‘punch’! And all sorts of other awesome actiony words!”

The Gems shared a laugh over this, one that was unfortunately short lived as others began to congregate towards the crash site. Curious over what had happened, a large crowd of townsfolk approached the wreckage of the robot, all of them murmuring in confusion over the shocking sight amongst themselves.

“Is this the thing that exploded?”

“What’s going on?”

“Look! It’s over here!”

“Hey, those magical women are here! Did they have something to do with this?”

As this large group began to gather, Gideon himself slowly climbed out of what was left of his robot, letting out a sullen groan as he ripped the remains of his motion-sensor suit off. Of course, as soon as the townspeople spotted them, they completely forgot about the Gems and the kids standing nearby and devoted their attention instead to the beloved child psychic.

“Gideon!” Deputy Durland cried with concern as him and Blubbs rushed to retrieve Gideon from the robot’s ruins. “Oh, good heavens! What on earth happened here?!”

“I-it was the Pines twins!” Gideon exclaimed, immediately seeking to place the blame on his enemies. “They tried to attack me and blow up my statue with dynamite! And then those Crystal Gems pushed it off the bridge and nearly killed me! Arrest ‘em! Arrest ‘em all!”

“What?!” the twins gasped in alarm over this bold claim.

“Officers, he’s lying!” Dipper argued, especially as the cops pulled out a pair of handcuffs.

“He certainly is!” Pearl agreed firmly. “You can’t possibly believe such a preposterous claim. We were trying to save the kids, the entire town, for crying out loud!”

“Pearl’s right!” Steven entreated earnestly, addressing the crowd as a whole. “I mean, just think about how many times the Gems have saved Gravity Falls before! L-like the time we brought the waterfall back when it was stolen! Remember that?”

A mumble of agreement rippled through the crowd upon hearing this, seeing as how none of them could really argue with the young Gem in that the Crystal Gems did serve to protect them and the town. But even so, Gideon wasn’t about to let victory slip through his fingers so easily.

“W-well, even if that is true, that doesn’t change the fact that they all destroyed my property!” the child psychic protested hotly. “I demand you arrest them! Every last one of them, at once!”

While the Gems may have had previous service on their side, the towns’ loyalty and devotion to Gideon won out in the end as the cops both shrugged turned back to the group, handcuffs still in hand.

“Aw, what? Come on, you can’t be serious!” Amethyst exclaimed, dismayed. “We didn’t do anything wrong!”

“Sorry, folks, but we trust Gideon,” Blubbs remarked, preparing to make the multiple arrests. “And nothing short of a miracle would ever change our-”

The sound of loudly screeching tires cut the sheriff of as a familiar car veered off the nearby road and onto the scene, ramming into the side of the cop car and sending it rolling sideways. Stan jumped out of it, still clad in his boxers, undershirt, and slippers as he instantly and excitedly caught everyone’s attention. “Wait! Wait! Stop everything! I’ve got somethin’ to say!”

“Ugh, not this guy again,” Blubbs groaned in annoyance along with the rest of the crowd.

“Just wait!” Stan exclaimed, running to stand in front of the ruined robot. “So, you all think Gideon is so perfect and honest, right? ‘Oh, I could never tell a lie! I’m Gideon!’” The conman mocked the child psychic, cute poses and all.

“Heh, nice one, Stan,” Amethyst chuckled at the spot on impression.

“He’s more honest than you!” Blubbs countered, sending Stan a suspicious glance.

“Yeah! And he’s psychic too!” Durland added.

“Oh really? How’s this for psychic?!” Stan brutally kicked a panel off of the robot away. “Take a good look!”

A collective gasp escaped from the crowd as they noticed the wide array of screens arranged inside the bot, all of them showing what seemed to be surveillance feeds of the people of Gravity Falls.

“Wait a minute, is that me?!” Lazy Susan exclaimed, spotting a screen showing her pouring coffee into an omelet to make her famous coffee omelet.

“Hey, look! That’s me!” Mr. Smiley shouted, aghast as he saw a video depicting him signing a notice to add several new games to Funland Arcade.

“And me!” Toby cried, pointing to the screen where he was showing his disgusting birthmark to a doctor.

The other townsfolk were all quick to spot themselves in the countless other screens, alarmed and horrified that they were being watched and recorded without their consent like this. “That’s right! These pins were hidden cameras!” Stan said firmly, holding a Lil’ Gideon pin up for them all to see. “And my hearing aid was picking up the feedback! Who’s the fraud now?” With a satisfied grin, the conman crushed the pin in his hand, revealing the tiny camera hidden inside. Aptly infuriated with the child psychic for this intrusion on their personal lives, the townsfolk all did the same, tossing their Gideon pins to the ground in shared disgust as they turned to the stunned child psychic for answers.

“Gideon… we gave you our trust…” Durland said, deeply hurt.

“You LIED to us!” Manly Dan shouted, completely enraged.

“P-please!” Gideon pleaded, desperate to win back the favor he was very quickly losing. “I… I—It’s not what it looks like! I-”

“Oh, its not?” Pearl cut in coyly, crossing her arms. “Because what it does look like is that not only were you blatantly spying on the people of Gravity Falls, but it also looks like you used a giant robot to chase down two defenseless, innocent children, nearly killing them both in the process, and then you proceeded to try and pin the blame on us for it. So, hm… I believe this certainly is exactly what it looks like. Wouldn’t you officers agree?”

Both Blubbs and Durland nodded in saddened agreement, but still, they looked to Tyler Cutebiker for the final word on the matter. “Tyler?”

Tyler sucked in a sob as he provided his famous catch phrase hesitantly and remorsefully. “Get ‘im…” he sighed, wiping away tears. “Get ‘im…”

“Lil’ Gideon, you’re under arrest for conspiracy, fraud, use of a giant, deadly robot, and breaking our hearts,” Blubbs said, his tone firm, yet morose. “Durland, the tiny handcuffs.”

The deputy held up the petite handcuffs before locking them around locking them around Gideon’s wrists and leading him away to the squad car. “Wha—no!” the child psychic cried in struggling protest. “Let go of me!”

Stan smirked broadly as he held the door to the cop car open for Gideon, though he did stop the child psychic short to shake him dry first. Various objects fell out of Gideon’s pockets, including a hatchet, a picture of Mabel, journal 2, and most importantly, the deed to the Mystery Shack, which was what the conman was more than happy to reclaim. “I believe this belongs to me,” Stan said with a proud grin, posing with the deed for the attending journalists’ cameras.

“No! No!” Gideon protested hotly, especially as he was shoved into the back of the cop car. “Watch the hair! You can’t do this to me! Y’all are sheep! You need me!” The child psychic continued to throw out his enraged threats, even as the cops began to drive him away to prison. “You’ll hear from my lawyers! I’ll be back! I swear it!”

“So what are the chances we’ll actually hear from again him anytime soon?” Amethyst asked Garnet with a sly smirk.

“Not likely,” Garnet replied, adjusting her shades with a confident grin.

“There you have it,” Shandra Jimenez reported as she stood before the Pines and the Gems, who had all gathered together to celebrate their shared triumph. Stan hoisted Mabel up onto his shoulders while leaning an arm on Dipper playfully, while Garnet perched Steven on her shoulders and Amethyst did the same for Connie. Even Lion fitted himself into the frame somehow, making things a bit crowded, though at such a joyous moment as this, no one really minded. “Local hero Stanford Pines has just exposed Lil’ Gideon as a fraud after the Crystal Gems took down his giant robot of doom. Is there anything any of you would like to say?”

“Well, firstly I think it’s important to note that we-” Pearl began, though Stan was quick to interrupt her, but she decided let it slide. This time.

“The Mystery Shack is back, baby!” Stan proclaimed proudly, more than ready to pick things up right where they had left off.

And, that’s exactly what they all did.

The Pines family wasted no time in settling back into the shack, getting rid of everything Gideon had left behind first and foremost. All remnants of what would have been “Gideonland” were tossed out or destroyed courtesy of the Gems, who were quite thankful the temple house’s only occupant was Steven once more. And while the young Gem did already miss having the Pines as his roommates, him and Connie were more than happy to help them restore the Mystery Shack back to its former “glory”. The Gems even freely lent their aid in restoring the shack’s iconic sign, though even they could do nothing to keep the s in shack from falling off as it always did. Seeing as how Stan was now hailed as a town hero, business at the shack was booming, with people coming from far and wide to get autographs from the conman and eagerly take the museum tour. Soos and Wendy were both glad to return to their usual posts, especially the cashier, seeing as how it meant she could stay in town instead of being shipped off to her cousin’s logging camp. Likewise, the twins were overwhelmingly relieved to know that the remainder of their summer in Gravity Falls was safe and secure. There had been moments of doubt, moments where it had seemed like the future was uncertain and things wouldn’t turn out alright, but in the end, they had come out on top once again.

And now, things were even better than before.

In the rush of eventfulness following their victory, the twins had barely had any time to move themselves back into the attic. Steven and Connie had readily volunteered to help them unpack, eager to spend more time with the friends they had nearly lost, in more ways than one. Almost as soon as they had left the robot’s wreckage, Steven had made good on his promise to heal Dipper’s various injuries, much to the Gems’ pride and Stan’s confusion over how his nephew had sustained so many wounds in the first place. Of course, while the Gems provided the conman with a condensed version of what happened, he didn’t really believe it, finding the part concerning Alexandrite to be pretty far-fetched. Regardless, what had been a tumultuous day had ended happy and successful, and had led to the past few, still-ongoing happy days they had all gotten to experience. And hopefully, they would be just the first of many more.

The kids were in the midst of redecorating the attic, with Steven and Mabel gleefully putting up posters according at random while Dipper and Connie worked on organizing books exactly right. Their various conversations were interrupted however, as Stan knocked on the door, all three of the Gems gathered not too far behind him.

“Uh, you kiddos settling back in okay?” Stan asked the twins with a small, amicable grin.

“Yep!” Mabel quipped brightly. “All of my favorite moldy spots on the ceiling are still there! Even you, Daryl,” she smirked at a particular spot of mold on an upper support beam.

“W-we just came by to tell you kids how proud we are of all of you…” Pearl said with a warm smile. “You all were very brave in a situation that, to be perfectly honest, even had the three of us a little frightened at times…”

“Yeah, you dudes totally kicked butt!” Amethyst remarked, smirking. “Guess they call you four the Mystery Kids for a reason, huh?”

“Yeah, they do!” Steven exclaimed proudly. “Still, it seems… a little crazy how different everything seems now. Not bad different, but really good different, you know?”

“Oh, we know,” Garnet nodded with a solid smile that both Pearl and Amethyst shared and exchanged with Stan, who begrudgingly returned it. Indeed, seeing as how the conman had essentially saved them from certain arrest, the Gems had been sure to give credit where credit was due and thank the conman. And since then, even the kids noticed the marked improvement in how Stan and the Gems related to each other. While the conman and the purple Gem had always gotten along, Stan had started getting along better with Pearl and Garnet, through simple, mutual jokes, genuine compliments, and even signs of gratitude for what each party had done. Of course, things were completely peaceful between them; Stan and Pearl still had their fair share of disagreements that they were more than happy to bitingly argue about, but still. It was a change. And as far as the kids were concerned, a great one at that.

“Um, speaking of mysteries…” Dipper spoke up, his tone somewhat hesitant as Stan took a seat on the bed next to him. “Well… Me and Mabel have been talking and… I think there’s something we should finally tell you.” He paused, taking in a deep breath as he reached into his vest for the journal, hoping that Stan’s initial reaction to it would be much better than the Gems’ had. “This is a journal I found in the woods,” he began, handing the journal to the conman so he could pursue it for himself. “It talks about all of the crazy stuff that lives in Gravity Falls, including the Gems. Gideon nearly destroyed the whole town trying to find it. I don’t know what this means, or who wrote it. But after all we’ve been through, maybe it’s time you knew about it.”

Stan was silent for quite a while as he leafed through the journal, not really showing much of a reaction at all to its contents. When he finally did say something though, it was in the form of a question posed to the Gems. “So you three knew about this thing already, huh?”

“Well, we didn’t at first…” Pearl admitted with a frown. “In fact, when we did discover it, it came as… quite of a shock to us, seeing as there’s quite a bit in there about the three of us.”

“Yeah… we might have overreacted over it and tried to burn it,” Amethyst shrugged. “You know, like you do.”

The conman raised an eyebrow upon hearing this, but even still, his expression betrayed little emotion as he instead closed the book, taking in a deep breath before turning to his nephew. “I’m glad you showed me this, Dipper,” he said, his tone solemn. However, his manner only remained like that for a moment before he broke into a loud, obnoxious burst of laughter. “Now I know where you’ve been getting it all from! Spookums and monsters—this spooky book has been filling your head with crazy conspiracies!”

“Wha—but it’s all real!” Dipper protested, unable to believe that Stan would simply just laugh it all off like this.

“Dipper’s right, Mr. Pines,” Steven vouched. “We’ve seen a lot of the stuff in there this summer! Plus, everything in it about the Gems is true too! Right guys?”

The Gems all nodded in response to this, but even so, the conman continued chuckling over the journal. “Oh, yeah sure it is,” he remarked with a sarcastic smirk. “You kids gotta quit reading this fantasy nonsense for your own good. Although some of these would make great attractions!” He nodded to the page he was on, which featured the butternut squash with human face and emotions. “Can’t come up with this stuff! Mind if I borrow this for a while?”

“Wait, no!” Dipper exclaimed in sudden panic as Stan got up and started to leave, taking the journal with him. “Grunkle Stan!”

“’Magic’ book,” Stan scoffed with another laugh, leaving the attic. “Ridiculous!”

“Stan, I need it!” Dipper cried, more than ready to chase his uncle down after the book before Mabel stopped him.

“Dipper, you don’t need that book!” she exclaimed with a smile. “Don’t you see? On your own, you defeated a giant robot with nothing but your bare hands! You’re a hero whether you’ve got that journal or not!”

“Mabel’s right,” Garnet added, her hands on her hips as she gave Dipper an affirming grin. “The courage and determination you showed in facing off against Gideon the other day was something that you couldn’t have found in the pages of that journal. That was entirely your own, Dipper. And that is something to be proud of.”

“Yeah!” Steven and Connie exclaimed in supporting unison.

“Definitely,” Pearl nodded with a warm smile.

“Totally, dude!” Amethyst remarked, chuckling.

Dipper couldn’t help but smile himself upon hearing all this encouragement, knowing that he hadn’t really thought of any of it like that. Indeed, he certainly had squared off against Gideon and against more than impossible odds, all without the journal in his hand. And yet, through it all, he had somehow not only managed to survive, as narrowly as he had, but had won the day at the end of it all, relying only on himself and little else. When it came right down to it, Gideon had been completely wrong. Dipper realized that he had so much more than nothing. He had drive, determination, zeal, and bravery, all of things that, when put together, were exactly as Garnet had said: something to be proud of.

“Whoa…” he muttered, somewhat bashful of the warm words everyone was offering him. “Thanks, guys… But, I still want the journal back though.”

“I’m sure you’ll get it back,” Mabel reassured with a wave of her hand. “What would a boring old man like Stan want with that book anyway?”

“Knowing Stan, he’ll probably end up using it as a door stopper,” Pearl remarked with a sardonic smirk.

“Or paperweight,” Garnet said, crossing her arms.

“Or he’ll try using it as a weapon during our next Revenge Trip,” Amethyst laughed. “Yo, speaking of trips… We were gonna go check out this cool old Gem tower later. You guys wanna come with?”

“Do we!” Steven exclaimed with a huge grin.

“Yeah we do!” Mabel proclaimed excitedly.

“Well then, come along,” Pearl laughed, amused by their shared zeal as she led the way out. “That tower’s not going to explore itself!”

The kids were all quick to follow the Gems out, all of them pumped for whatever magical adventure they were about to embark on. Certainly, this would be another one of many magical, mysterious journeys they had been on and had yet to go on.

After all, they had plenty of summer left for more.

The kids’ mission with the Gems lasted well into the evening, which was something Stan was grateful for; after all, the last thing he needed now after everything that happened was for either of them to find out. He’d tell them about it, of course, one day, but it still wasn’t time yet. For now, he had to get to work.

The conman was inconspicuous as ever as he strode through the gift shop, pausing at the vending machine with a lantern in hand. After making sure no prying eyes were looking, he entered in the code he had committed to memory by now, standing back as they machine swung open to reveal a hidden doorway. Stan steeled his resolve, just as he always did when he descended the stairs into the vast, cavernous basement below, inputting yet another code on the elevator at the foot of the stairs. This had all become routine, perhaps even normal for the conman after nearly 30 years of taking the elevator down to the bottommost floor, where a complex, hidden laboratory awaited.

The lantern the conman was toting cast dim, crisp shadows across the various dials, buttons, and sensors lining either side of the lab as he passed by them. But Stan hardly paid any of the advanced machinery any mind. Instead, he went right for his usual spot at the desk towards the front of the room, where even more practically indecipherable buttons were positioned. Upon sitting down, the conman stoically opened the desk’s panel and pulled out the book that had served as his only guide for 30 years now: journal 1.

“After all these years…” Stan remarked, scarcely unable to believe it himself as he placed the first journal down before taking the other two out. In all honesty, he should have figured that Gideon had somehow gotten his hands on the second one, but to think that the third journal, the one that Rose Quartz herself had vowed to never let him find, had been discovered by his own nephew? It was something Stan was still reeling from. Nonetheless, he placed all three journals down on the table together, side by side, a complete set at long last. “Finally, I have them all…”

Knowing that there was still work to be done, the conman opened each journal to the proper page, each one revealing but a piece of a much larger, very complex blueprint. Upon propping them up together in the right order, they all revealed an algorithm lined with codes and equations, things that Stan had painstakingly worked to teach himself for years for this very purpose. Still using the journals as a guide, the conman punched in every button and switch exactly as they directed, a burst of sudden light flashing from the larger room right behind the glass once he was done.

“It’s working!” Stan exclaimed, amazed as he jumped to his feet. Without wasting a beat, he ran into the larger room, approaching the massive triangular structure in the middle of it with hurried footsteps. With as much force as he could muster, the conman pulled on the lever that stood before it, watching with anticipation and growing excitement as the triangular machine pulsed alive with electricity for the first time in over 30 years. The room was flooded with light as the machine turned on fully, a radiant white light emanating from its center, putting off an impressive amount of energy and force. Still, Stan stood before it proudly, his hands on his hips as he grinned broadly, basking in its bright, powerful, momentous glow. Because after all these years, everything he had ever worked for was finally about to pay off.

“Here we go.”

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unicornforcewinds · 7 years

Text

WAM Chapters 3 & 4

The Wolf and the Mermaid: Solas is a forensic financial investigator, and Lavellan is a mermaid performer with a mysterious past. Fluff, Smut, Angst, and lots of Drama. Solas POV.

Chapters 1 & 2. Entire fic on AO3.

Chapter 3: TPG’s Annual Garden Party

When the invitation arrived, his lips quirked up into a smile. This was the Wolf in his element. That’s what they called him, on account of his keen predatory instincts. This was not a party, oh no, this was a hunt, and he would absolutely leave with blood staining his jaws. But then, he was perhaps taking this metaphor a little too far.

He had not been himself lately, thoughts of her entering his mind much too often, and maneuvering through The Game was sure to set him right. Usually, his work involved copious amounts of reading files and computer forensics, but sometimes a job veered more into the realm of corporate espionage. He cut his teeth on more traditional cases, but this is how he earned his reputation. As soon as he scented his prey, the Wolf would be on them, revelling as they squirmed.

Choosing a black, well-tailored suit and a grey silk tie, he cut a decent figure but was still unassuming enough to avoid unwanted notice. He enjoyed the artifice of it all, crafting a character in the details of his appearance. A little obvious, perhaps, his cufflinks emblazoned with a wolf, but he had his pride. Besides, people believed what you wanted them to, if you gave them just enough of a story to build from. And, if someone noticed such a minute detail, it told him they needed to be kept an eye on.

The Pentaghast woman greeted him when he arrived, Cassandra, he recalled. She looked uncomfortable. Pulling at the neckline of her dress. He considered that she might be ill-suited to this line of work, but then, being stolen from and lied to did tend to disagree with most people. He supposed that was a good thing, since he’d be out of a job otherwise.

She briefed him quickly, wanting to get everything over with. It wasn’t really necessary – he had studied the case files, but he decided it best not to interrupt.

“Solas, you are certain they will be here?” she asked.

“Whoever is doing this, if they are not personally tied to you, has someone leaking them information that is. It’s also a good idea to note any people who are absent, just in case, but I believe the person I’m after is too smart to risk raising suspicion.”

She heaved a sigh, her shoulders slumping. “I hope you are right.”

“I am very good at what I do, Miss Pentaghast, try not to worry.”

“Easier said than done,” she paused, a hand on her forehead, “Go down the hall to your left, and you’ll see the doors to the garden. I will be here, trying to pretend I would not rather be anywhere else.” He offered her a rueful smile and took his leave. Now, he was on the prowl. He didn’t get very far outside before spotting Leliana, who waved him over.

“You seem to be in good spirits, Nightingale.”

“Oh, I am, Wolf. They hired a mermaid , can you imagine? She’s elven, and she’s absolutely lovely.”

“They… what?” He felt warm, hand reaching up to tug on the collar of his shirt, unable to guard against the look of surprise on his face. This could not possibly be happening, had he misheard her?

“Oh my, there is a story there, I think. I have never seen your mask fall before! She must be very special.” she teased him.

Leliana was not someone you wanted knowing your secrets, even if she was your friend and could be trusted. She hoarded scraps of information like they were baseball cards. Fenhedis . He did not want his to be part of her collection.

She wasn’t in the water today, instead, lounging on a chaise inside a giant clamshell, not entirely at odds with the wall of moss behind it. Framed as she was, on either side, by the curved staircases that lead to the balcony, it made for a stunning tableau that he badly wanted to paint. He knew that was a terrible idea, but resistance was futile. She was so well suited to the estate’s garden, looking ever the image of a queen. He imagined she would be well situated no matter where she was, such thoughts impossible to push aside.

He didn’t see Bull anywhere; the qunari’s presence might have been helpful, since he stuck out like a sore thumb and would have tipped him off immediately about Ellana. Then he’d have had the chance to steel himself and not let Leliana seem him lose composure. As it was, leaning against a sculpted column and nursing a glass of wine, he found himself staring at her and feeling wistful. This was not why he was here, and he had work to do… but that’s when she waved.

At least, he thinks she did. Maybe it wasn’t to him. He had intentionally stood outside of her direct line of sight so that his staring would be less awkward, but that plan had apparently failed. He looked around to see if there was someone else she might be looking at, but no. When he turned back, her eyes were zeroed in on him. If there was such a thing as fate, it obviously hated him. Chiding himself, he walked towards her. Why was he such an ass?

“Should I worry that you’re stalking me? You do seem to show up an awful lot.” An odd choice of greeting.

“I… no!, Most certainly, I would –“ she cut him off with her laughter.

“Oh, I’m just teasing you, Solas! Are you always so tightly wound?”

The man who appeared to be her handler in Bull’s staid – a human, strong, with weary eyes and a thick beard – was moving further away - to give them some privacy, he assumed.

“Yes, if I’m being honest, but I am much worse around you.” He was shaking his head now; rubbing the back of his neck. Why was he telling her this?

“Well, I could send you a copy of my schedule, that way you’d know what parties not to attend. Would that help?”

“It would, yes,” he returned, chuckling, and the smallest bit sincere.

“I like your shoes, by the way. A different pair every time I’ve seen you, always very nice.”

His face felt hot all the sudden, wash he blushing? This was more than he could bear.

“I’m sorry,” she laughed, “I didn’t mean to make you feel self-conscious! I… have… a thing with shoes. I mean, everybody has to wear them, right? That’s innocent enough, but it’s kind of become an obsession.” She shook her head, chiding herself. Was she rambling? Her gaze was turned away.

“I,” he cleared his throat, “it is something of a fixation of mine as well.”

She looked up at him, their eyes locking. Everything felt surreal, how did this keep happening? And now they were telling each other personal things. It was definitely getting warmer, he should’ve worn a lighter suit. Too many thoughts, and the silence was going on too long, he needed to break the ice.

“Though I must admit, it seems an odd choice for someone with fins.”

She smiled then, mouth dropping open a bit. “You are so lucky I can’t reach the water, because I’d definitely splash you.”

“My shoes and I are both grateful.”

She laughed, and so did he. The pleasure he derived from it was honest, untainted. It was something he hadn’t experienced in a long time – something he wanted to experience more of.

He caught something at the edge of his vision, turning his head just enough to get a better look. Leliana, she was watching him; watching them. Suddenly he wasn’t smiling anymore, and she looked concerned.

“Are you alright?”

“If you’ll excuse me, I’ve been distracting you from your duties for too long.”

“It’s no trouble,” she had started to say, but he kept walking. This was work, and he was behaving like a damned fool! The Wolf was a hunter, a predator, not some tongue-tied schoolboy with a crush. To risk his reputation so carelessly, it was not like him to be reckless. He needed a drink.

At the bar, he recognized the waitress – she was the same one from the Dorian’s party – golden skin, long black hair, bright but cheeky smile. The world was feeling smaller all the time.

“Vodka –“ he began, but she interrupted him.

“With cranberry, right?”

“No,” he breathed, “just the vodka. Go ahead and make it two.”

“You got it, love.”

Both drinks he downed in a single swallow, looking forward to the reliable warmth that would soon fill his stomach. He needed to be grounded, to shake himself out of this state. He was not here to socialize, he had a job to do; owed it to his clients to be at his best. As he crawled deeper into his pit of self-flagellation, he observed the man sitting next to him, a man whose eyes had clearly landed on his cufflinks; a man whose face had shifted, almost imperceptibly, at the sight.

Sometimes it wasn’t a reaction you were looking for at all, but instead, a lack of reaction. The slightest tightening of a jaw in an otherwise emotionless face was a strong indication that something hidden was going on beneath the surface. When someone tried to intentionally obfuscate their reactions by masking them with a placid façade, it meant that whatever they were hiding was usually worth discovering. Maybe the day was salvageable, after all.

The man, a human in his mid 50s?, had noticed that he was being noticed. Unlike his earlier observation of Ellana, Solas had actually been employing his expertly honed discretion. That meant that whoever he was, he was a skilled player in The Game and definitely a person of interest.

“It looks like neither of us is enjoying the party,” the man offered, cutting through the tension with his words.

“I am not certain this is the kind of party that’s meant to be enjoyed.” His voice was cool, the Wolf now alert and at the wheel.

“Not unless you like standing next to gaudy shrubs and making small talk, at least.” He was good, his attempting to find common ground to gauge him…

“Alas, I do not.”

“Something we have in common.” The human extended his hand and he shook it. “Alexius.”

The man’s handshake was firm, but not overly so, an exact match for his own. That too was by design – the way you shook someone’s hand could tell them a lot about you. If someone’s grip was overly firm, or not firm enough; if their hand was stiff, or limp, or sweating - all invaluable clues that revealed a surprising amount of information. This man’s handshake was meant to reveal nothing, and that on its own was significant.

“Solas.”

“I must unfortunately get back to my rounds. Perhaps we’ll meet again.” He gave a polite, closed-mouth smile as he got up to leave. I’m sure of it, he thought, I’ve caught your scent now.

Solas fished his phone out of his pants pocket, fingers tapping on the screen.

Solas 3:12pm Alexius.

Leliana 3:18pm Tevinter. Dead wife. Sick son. You think it’s him?

Solas 3:20 Perhaps.

Leliana 3:21 I suppose that Mermaid Lyna is another possibility. You did seem far more interested in her.

Leliana 3:29 Do you know that the tips of your ears have turned pink? I could talk to her for you, if you like. Put in a good word.

Solas 3:30 No.

Leliana 3:30 ( ◕ ︵ ◕ ,)

Solas 3:31 … What is that?

Leliana 3:32 It’s a little crying face! Isn’t it cute?

Solas 3:33 No.

Leliana 3:34 I bet Lyna would think it’s cute.

Solas 3:34 Marjorlaine.

Leliana 3:35 ( ╹ _ ╹ ) 凸

He was pinching the bridge of his nose now. This was a woman who could strike fear into a person’s heart with a look, whose bread and butter was blackmail and coercion, and she was typing ridiculous little faces into her phone. He felt his jaw clench and let out a harsh breath through his nose. Had he always been so old ?

His spirit should be soaring, having a lead, but instead there was a pit in his stomach. It felt like things were unraveling – like he was losing control. The one party this year he thought he’d actually enjoy, and it might’ve been worse than the others. He hadn’t forgotten the discourteous way he’d treated Ellana, either, and neither had she, he was sure. This was a mess.

When he got home he tried to work, but his mind refused to focus. Defeated, he prepped a canvas and took out his paints. The first brush strokes were reluctant, tenuous, but he quickly found his rhythm and was engrossed. By the time he went to bed, he’d finished her face. He still didn’t know what her eyes looked like. Falling asleep tonight would not be easy.

Chapter 4: A Luncheon with Dorian

Reluctantly he hit the play button on his answering machine, letting out a deep sigh.

Hey Chuckles, it’s me, Varric. I know you’re home and screening your calls and probably won’t pick up anyway, but you’re coming over Thursday night for dinner. If you noticed, which of course you did, I didn’t actually ask, so you don’t have the option to say no.

Anyway, it’s just dinner with friends, nothing formal - Cass will be there obviously, Blondie, Ruffles and… you haven’t met her boyfriend yet I don’t think, and then Fli – no, scratch that, she said she probably couldn’t make it. Bring a bottle of wine. Should be starting about 7:30.

Tonight was Tuesday, so that was more or less enough time in advance for an informal dinner, but he’d have to think about it. Things were getting serious with work, and progress was going at a snail’s pace. He was already meeting Dorian for lunch, and one social event was more than enough for any given week. No, it was better to stay home and continue his progress on the files. This case was much more difficult and complex than he’d imagined, and it appeared that money was being siphoned out of multiple accounts and then funneled into foreign banks in Seheron and Tevinter.

The connection with Tevinter kept Alexius fresh in his mind. He was much too smooth to be uninvolved, but he hadn’t been able to connect any dots. Besides the few tidbits she’d offered him, even Leliana’s well was dry. Considering that she knew just about everything about almost everyone, that put together a highly suspicious profile. Breadcrumbs, he just needed a trail to follow, one piece at a time and then the bigger picture would slowly unveil itself before his eyes.

He’d been trying to avoid the den where a half-finished fresco was waiting for him, a reminder that he shouldn’t be chasing after a fairytale. There were real things he needed to do, and that was a level of distraction he hadn’t realized was even possible. It didn’t help how he’d left things the last time he saw her, and it was likely that he’d never see her again, anyway. He couldn’t bear to finish the painting, but he also couldn’t throw it away. How could a woman he didn’t even know have turned his life so far upside down? Being stuck on this case made it easier for his mind to wander. He needed some kind of breakthrough.

His phone alarm chirped, letting him know it was 12pm, and he needed to leave to meet Dorian. He let out a deep breath and carefully closed his laptop – he might have inadvertently slammed it shut in his irritation once or twice and that was not a smart thing to do.

The restaurant was some new hipster place he was too old and not hip enough for. He hated it immediately. Rave reviews, Dorian had said, obviously from idiots with no taste. Their waitress, a blonde elf with questionable fashion sense, sat them by a window. Her manners left a lot to be desired.

“Right then, wot d’ya want?”

“Malena, da’lan –“

“Wot, no, I don’t speak that elfy shite.” Solas felt like he’d just been slapped.

“I,” Dorian began, trying not to laugh, “I think we’ll need a few more minutes.”

“Ugh, yeah, course, sir elvhen glory has’ta make everyone wait.” He tried to ignore the eye roll before she trotted off. He glared at Dorian, his eyebrows lifting.

“Rave reviews, I believe you said.”

“Me?” he balked, splaying a hand across his chest, “I don’t recall that conversation.”

Solas heaved a sigh as he opened the menu. It was… qunari-dwarven… fusion. His stomach churned. None of this could possibly be edible. Dorian was conspicuously looking everywhere but at Solas.

“You do have to admit that was a little funny… and I mean, being verbally assaulted by your waitress is a memorable and entertaining experience!”

“Very amusing when not being directed at you.”

Dorian cleared his throat.

“Ahem, well, what looks good?”

“The menu selections at restaurants that serve palatable food.”

“It can’t be that ba-, Sweet Andraste! Marinated nug with…” Dorian swallowed, the lump in his throat violently rising and then falling, “I, why don’t we just try one of the specials?” He tried to smile, but the edges of his mouth were turned downwards and it was very unconvincing.

“What makes them special, does the side of food poisoning come at no extra charge?”

“Mmmm. I’ll just,” her turned his head to look for the waitress, waving at her and calling “Hello, miss.”

“Right, so, wa’dya want?”

“Actually,” began Dorian, hesitating, “We wanted to know about the specials, or perhaps there’s a dish you might recommend…” His face had turned a shockingly pale shade. It was hard to tell which one of them was more horrified. They should probably just leave.

“So, two Red Jennies it is.” The waitress said, scribbling on her pad.

“And, would you mind terribly explaining to us –“

“Ugh, you rich tits, thinking everyone else’s time is free. Some of us have ta work, you know? I’ll go put in ya order.”

“You know, on second tho- “ She effectively cut Dorian off by walking away.

“Very well handled Dorian, you’ve a way with the young people.”

“Oh, do shut up.” He tossed one of the whatever they were at him from the basket on the table. “Elvhen glory.”

He shifted his head out of the way, the suspicious lump of what he thought was intended to be bread landing on the floor. “And what is it she called you? A tit, I believe it was?”

“It’s not my fault that a good pedigree is so easily recognizable.” He gave his moustache a little twirl with his index finger.

“Yes, you would take anything as a compliment.” He was rubbing his eyes now, a headache bound to appear at any moment.

A few minutes passed and then their server, used in the loosest possible sense of the word, dropped two steaming plates covered in an unrecognizable amorphous blob.

“So, like, can you get satellite with that thing?” she was inclining the pen in her hand towards his head. Dorian burst out laughing.

“Excuse me?”

“Right, you’re excused. I mean yer ‘ead. You know, on account of it’s so shiny, like. Do you get any signals from space when the sun bounces off just right?”

He could feel the color draining from his face.

“Shut. Up.”

“Jeez, sorry, no need ta go getting all offended. It was a fair question.”

The look he gave her must have been significant because she turned on her heels and walked away without saying another word. Dorian was looking incredibly smug, trying and failing not to cackle.

“Dorian,” he said, grabbing his spoon and digging it into the substance, “can you do me a favor?”

“Wh-“ Solas shoved the spoon into his mouth the moment he’d opened it. “Ahhh, ooh” and he began choking.

He raised his hand and called out, “Check please!” A small smile forming on his face. Dorian was turning green.

They decided to go back to his apartment, since it was in walking distance, and Dorian would be able to purge whatever bits of the ‘food’ he’d accidentally swallowed.

While Dorian made a beeline for the bathroom, Solas decided to brew some tea. He sat at the breakfast bar, turning on his laptop, while he waited for the kettle. The tea was ready by the time Dorian found his way back to the kitchen.

“I’ve made some tea, it should help your stomach, it’s elfroot.”

“Elvhen Glory root, you mean?” He was trying to smirk but his face wasn’t cooperating.

“I think I see a little bit you’ve missed in your moustache,” he looked up at him from the screen, raising one eyebrow.

“As if I’d fall for… my, my moustache you say?” and he was running back to the bathroom, his hand covering his mouth.

His own self-satisfied little smile remained until he took a sip of his tea. Eugh .

He had looked over all these files dozens of times and still nothing. He was beginning to get frustrated. There had to be something he was missing. He opened to a picture of Alexius, and just stared at it for a while, willing it to tell him something.

“Kaffas.” Dorian breathed over his shoulder, he hadn’t even seen him coming out of the bathroom.

“That tea should settle your stomach.”

“My stomach was fine until I saw that,” he lifted his arm, extending his index finger to point at the picture of Alexius. “Why is that on your computer, Solas?”

“He’s a board member of the Pentaghast Group. How do you know him?”

“ Fasta vass . If you’re thinking of investigating him, don’t. I’m not terribly fond of you, but I’d prefer if you didn’t wind up dead.” He looked genuinely grim, which was not something Dorian did.

“Forgive me my doubt, but you do sometimes have a propensity for melodrama. Why would I end up dead?”

“Because that man is Gereon Alexius and he has ties to powers in Tevinter so scary that people in Minrathous are afraid to whisper about them.”

“Can you give me a name?”

“What, no!” He threw his hands in the air. “Did you hear what I just said Solas? I’m not getting involved, and you shouldn’t either. I have a very pretty head, and I like it where it is.”

“I just need a name Dorian, something I can work with. I promise not to involve you and your pretty head .”

He was rubbing his neck now, the seriousness of his demeanor worrying. If he wasn’t at least being sarcastic, then Solas would trust what he’d said. That didn’t mean he was going to stop pursuing this; in fact it meant he’d be pursuing it harder. Dorian didn’t need to know that though, there was no reason to make him worry.

“I can’t close the case and deliver a report to my client without something to offer, Dorian. I’m just asking for a name, that’s all. You can even write it down if you don’t want to say it out loud.”

“We both know you’re going to pursue it to the end, you stubborn old idiot. I just hope your pride doesn’t get you killed.” He heaved a sigh, closing his eyes, and shook his head. “Venatori, they’re known as the Venatori. Alexius is one of them, and an old family friend. He tried to recruit me, but like I said, I like my head where it is. And now, here we are.”

“Thank you Dorian,” he put a hand on his shoulder and gave a small squeeze before being shrugged off.

“Yes, thank you Dorian for signing my writ of execution because I’m too worried about my Elvhen Glory to have an ounce of sense…” he was shaking his head again, “I think I’ll head home, I have a date with a bottle of wine, and I promised I wouldn’t be late.”

“I’ll be fine Dorian, there’s nothing to worry about.”

He didn’t turn around. “Sure, right. I’ll talk to you later.”

He walked out the door and left Solas’ mind running a mile a minute. There was so much he needed to do, but if it really was that dangerous, it was best not to use his computer, or even use a computer at his home. He wasn’t looking forward to more of her teasing, but he’d probably need to read Leliana in, and if things were truly so bad, maybe even Vivienne. That would be an absolute last resort however, their methodologies did not mesh well.

#solavellan #solas x inquisitor #solasmance #solas x lavellan #solas romance #solavellan fanfiction #solavellen hell #solas #mermaid au #uni writes

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hermanwatts · 4 years

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Sensor Sweep: Crusher Joe, Diana Rigg, Black Ops Cold War, Ambrose Bierce

Forthcoming (Cirsova): We’ve just received Schuyler Hernstrom’s foreword for Endless Summer, and we thought it was too good not to share: Discussing stories is a complicated business. Buried somewhere underneath layers of criticism, commerce, and identity you might find some deep understanding of Misha’s work. But I worry that careless digging will disturb the landscape. I challenge myself to think about his work with the care and sensitivity that he puts into it.

Memorial (The Silver Key): Word spread on Facebook last night that Charles Saunders, author of Imaro, has passed away. It is being reported he died in May. Odd that an obituary search turns up empty. Let’s hope it may be a rumor, but it does not appear that way. Author Milton Davis, who continued in Saunders’ “Sword-and-Soul” tradition, broke the news, and many authors, friends, and peers have chimed in since.

Cinema (Wert Zone): Born in Doncaster, South Yorkshire in 1938, Rigg was raised by her parents in Bikaner, India. Returning to the UK, she trained as an actress and made her stage debut in 1957 and her TV debut two years later. In 1965 she was cast in the first of her three major screen roles on the fourth season of British spy series The Avengers, playing Emma Peel. Peel was an action heroine with a line in witticisms, engaged in a constant battle of comebacks and ambiguous tension with her co-star Patrick Macnee (playing John Steed).

Cinema (Wasteland & Sky): The 1970s are still looked on by movie snobs as the peak of cinema, destroyed by the aforementioned filthy space movie that opened the theaters of the 1980s to juvenile pap. This is of course ignoring that the 1970s were dead, spiritually, and morally, which makes many of those 1970s “classics” more worthless than the juvenile goofy space movie. It actually has a moral point, regardless of what you think of it. 1970s cinema, as a whole, did not.

Games (Bleeding Fool): The new game Black Ops Cold War takes place during Reagan’s presidency during the height of the cold war with communist Russia. The initial trailer features KGB defector Yuri Bezmenov speaking about the communist’s plan to bring down America from within. If you pay attention, you may recognize some of the moves being used by the left today. The trailer urges you to “know your history or be doomed to repeat it” as it flashes images from the cold war across the screen.

History (DMR Books): This past Friday marked the four hundred and fifty-fifth anniversary of the definitive end to the Great Siege of Malta. On September 11, 1565, the tattered and battered fleet of Suleiman the Magnificent sailed away from the tiny island of Malta, utterly humiliated. The Ottoman Turks had disembarked amid imperial splendor nearly four months earlier. Their soldiers were reckoned in the tens of thousands, outnumbering by a factor of four to one–at minimum–the Knights Hospitaller and the Maltese who fought alongside them.

Fiction (Galactic Journey): The book is titled The Wizard of Lemuria but we don’t meet the wizard until Chapter 4. There are 12 chapters. The first quarter of the novella-length book is spent introducing our hero, Thongor of Valkarth. He is, although a lowly barbarian mercenary, both mighty and honorable. The book opens on the aftermath of a wager on a zamph race. Jeled Malkh—an officer and swordmaster—lost the wager, and attacked Thongor rather than pay up. Thongor quickly overcame him, shrugged off the bet, and offered to drink away their differences.

War Gaming (Jon Mollison): Miniature wargames in general, and historical wargaming in particular, are headed down the same road as every other hobby out there. You’d think those with an interest in history would be better prepared to learn from the history of other hobbies, but it doesn’t look that way. A lot of ink is being spilled and chit is being chattered about how to save the hobby from… well, from something that can’t really be shown or identified.

Comic Books (Screen Rant): Heads are gonna roll – as well as fly, disintegrate, and cave in upon themselves, along with pretty much any other violent act that can be inflicted upon a head – in the latest adaptation of Robert E. Howard’s Conan the Barbarian. Originally published in Weird Tales and later adapted by Dark Horse Comics, the story of the legendary Destroyer is now published by Ablaze, a publication that has given Conan a sword more caked with blood than ever before thanks in part to their decision to create a truly uncensored version of his exploits.

D&D (Grognardia): I’ve never been much of a fan of Deities & Demigods, though I owned it, of course. Why wouldn’t I? I have always had decidedly completionist tendencies and being an unabashed TSR fanboy, there was no chance I wouldn’t purchase this book as soon as I was able to do so. It’s true I didn’t get much use out of it, but I still proudly displayed it on my bookshelf, right next to the Monster Manual.

Guns (Frontier Partisans): As will most when forced to fight for their way of life, the Apaches of The War Chief utilized any weapon to which they might lay hand. Some of these they fabricated, with especially skilled artisans becoming highly revered by the tribe. The Apaches ranged a broad swathe of the American West and portions of Mexico, and so various materials fell into their hands — materials they converted into bows, arrows, and war clubs, including the famous jawbone club. These weapons and tools, for centuries, they fabricated themselves from indigenous materials.

Edgar Rice Burroughs (Pulpfest): The 2020 Edgar Rice Burroughs Chain of Friendship (ECOF) Gathering will be held Sunday, October 11 through Tuesday, October 13 in Fort Atkinson, Wisconsin. Guest of Honor is acclaimed comic book artist and Hollywood illustrator Daniel Parsons. COVID-19 restrictions dictate this will be a small gathering in two large meeting rooms at the Country Inn & Suites located at 1650 Doris Drive. Fort Atkinson is located just 35 miles from Madison or 65 miles from Milwaukee. It’s 100 miles from Chicago O’Hare International Airport.

Fiction (Old Style Tales): “Some Haunted Houses” is easily one of Bierce’s most entertaining series of tales. I recommend it as the ideal Hallowe’en reading choice – a collection of pithy short stories that exude the gloomy atmosphere and chilling mood that make stories like Jacobs’ “The Monkey’s Paw” or Poe’s “House of Usher” horror classics. Reading one after another, a strange feeling of uneasiness creeps into your imagination as Bierce’s reporterly prose calmly details what sound like the verifiable details of veridical hauntings.

Cinema (Swords & Stitchery): There is a space opera out there that came out back in the day that most of you had never heard of… A bit of background, on the weekends back in the 90s I would get into my car & go down to Wallingford,Ct for a weekend of Anime at a local comic shop. I would spend the weekend with friends & one of the things we saw was this. Crusher Joe was made into an animated film in 1983, and a pair of for-video animated episodes in 1989. The film version won the Animage Anime Grand Prix prize in 1983.

Gaming (Future War Stories): There are time when we must ask ourselves when we witness what could have been: how can this not exist? That is how I and many other gamers felt during the recent leak of a Xbox development kit for the Blizzard cancelled StarCraft: GHOST 3rd person action/stealth game for the 6th generation. For many of us, GHOST was going to be first day buy for our OG Xbox consoles…and then there were delay after delay until GHOST was placed on DNR status in 2006 by Blizzard after nearly six years of development that span two studios.

Tolkien (Notion Club Papers): John Garth. The Worlds of JRR Tolkien: the places that inspired Middle-Earth. Frances Lincoln, London: UK, 2020. pp 208. John Garth is one of the best and most important writers on JRR Tolkien. This is his first full-length book since the landmark volume Tolkien and the Great War of 2003; so I knew I would enjoy it. From the title, and the fact that it is a large format, really beautifully-produced, hardback volume; I supposed The Worlds of JRR Tolkien might be dominated by the pictures, maybe even be something like a superior ‘coffee table’ book?

Fiction (Library Blog): This week marks the bicentenary of Sir Walter Scott’s twelfth novel The Abbot, published in Edinburgh on 2 September 1820 and in London two days later. Alone among the Waverley Novels, it was presented not as a stand-alone narrative but as the sequel to an earlier volume, The Monastery, which had appeared just six months earlier. Set in the early years of the Scottish Reformation, The Monastery had sold well but had disappointed many readers and reviewers. Criticism was directed, in particular, at the pivotal role played by the ghostly White Lady,

Cinema (Hollywoodintoto): Reporters have spent days detailing why “Terminator: Dark Fate” became the year’s most embarrassing flop. The movie made just $29 million stateside, and its foreign box office totals are equally weak ($94 million and counting). That’s no way for a franchise reboot to perform. Most observers are writing the saga’s obituary. Those reporters nailed some of the core reasons for its box office woes, from franchise fatigue to recycled story beats. Most missed another crucial factor. The sad decline of Arnold Schwarzenegger, A-list movie star.

Fiction (Adventures Fantastic): So yesterday’s post on Edgar Rice Burroughs and Harold Lamb and the recent post on the canon, coupled with today is the anniversary of the passing of J. R. R. Tolkien and the seventh anniversary of the death of Frederik Pohl, got me to thinking. I referred to Burroughs and Lamb as giants. In the canon post I quoted Newton talking about his achievements being due to his standing on the shoulders of giants. So who exactly are the giants in the field?

Fiction (Tentaculii): There’s a new bibliographic website for prolific British writer Michael Moorcock. The Works Of Michael Moorcock is obviously still a work-in-progress, but the pages for books and shorter fiction appear fairly complete. Moorcock tried his hand with at least one Sherlock Holmes pastiche, but has no overtly Lovecraftian pastiches that I’m aware of. His leftist attacks on many other writers, often described in words such as ‘brusque’ or ‘pungent’, turned out no differently in Lovecraft’s case and with the usual knocks being offered (“astonishingly awful prose” etc).

Fiction (George Kelley): I’ve been a big fan of Hank Davis’s Science Fiction anthologies over the years. Just in time for the Holiday Season, BAEN Books released Space Pioneers, an anthology with just about something for every readers’ taste. In typical Hank Davis fashion, the mix of stories blends Oldies with some newer stories like David Drake’s “Superweapon” (2018). I especially enjoyed Ross Rocklynne’s “Quietus” and Manly Wade Wellman’s “Men Against the Stars.” If you’re in the mood for an entertaining theme anthology, I recommend Space Pioneers. GRADE: A

Fiction (Paperback Warrior): In 2019, Stark House Press generated a commercial and critical hit with the release of The Best of Manhunt, an anthology of stories from the legendary 1950s crime fiction digest. Knowing a good thing when they see it, the reprint publisher has compiled a second volume of blood-on-the-knuckles tales from the popular magazine’s heyday for an August 2020 release.

Writing (Rawle Nyanzi): Recently, I came across an article (archive here) about the evolution of the horror genre in film. While the article is from 2000, and I’m not a horror fan myself, one point stuck with me: how scientific materialism, rather than an understanding of good and evil, became dominant in horror filmmaking, starting with George Romero’s Night of the Living Dead. In the materialist worldview, the universe came into being by random chance, and so did the Earth and humanity.

Writing (Kairos): World building is the one element that sets speculative fiction apart from every other category of writing. When designing a secondary world, it’s crucial to establish a foundation of internally consistent principles to help readers suspend their disbelief. Religion in general has been a constant of human existence. Writing a secondary world where there are no and never have been any religions will automatically cause tension between the setting and known history, straining credibility (though it could make for an interesting story hook if handled properly).

Tolkien (Jon Mollison): Listening to the Silmarillion on audiobook, and something occurred to me. The three themes of the Ainur presage the three ages of Middle-Earth. From the Tolkien Gateway: The Ainur’s flawless Music satisfied even Ilúvatar during this early stage. The Second Theme was “like and yet unlike” the First; it gathered new power and beauty. Soon, however, Melkor’s discord rose up against it, and there was a “war of sound more violent than before”. This time, Melkor’s Theme triumphed over that of the others; many of the Ainur stopped singing entirely out of dismay.

Sensor Sweep: Crusher Joe, Diana Rigg, Black Ops Cold War, Ambrose Bierce published first on https://sixchexus.weebly.com/

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itsiotrecords-blog · 7 years

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Scandals happen to even the best of us. Rules were made to be broken, right? If you have the unfortunately public life of a famous person, just about each and every thing you do ends up being a scandal. If it wasn’t such a big deal, all those tabloid magazines would go out of business. Some of the details described in the following confessions are not things that most of us have come across during our sexual exploits, so these things may make you question your own experimentation. There are, however, certain things that you may hear about that we would not recommend trying at home, or really, trying at all. Even though some of the following scandals are atrocious, others are simply gross or hilarious, and some are even both. Being as these are celebrities’ lives we are inclined to think that the things that might turn you or me on are on a totally different level in terms of judgment when it comes to things that we prefer. Some of the following stories are spilled secrets from alleged groupies while others are not-so-sexy confessions from the star’s own lips. Regardless, these stories will make you think twice about some of your favorite celebrities. Some are weird, other habits we could see from a mile away, yet all are scandalous in their own way (except for the tidbit about DMX, that’s just pure weird entertainment). Sit back and enjoy learning about some of the scandalous not-so-secret secrets of your fave celebs either from groupies or the celebs themselves.

#1 Pitbull Lets Pregnant Women Drink Aye Papi! Say it ain’t so! You’ve probably heard by now that Reddit had a thread that encouraged groupies or those that had supposedly “hooked up” with celebrities to come forward with the dirty details. As one would expect, the Internet came alive with replies. While some are too wild to possibly be true, others have actually been verified with more than one other person. According to one of those Reddit users, Pitbull allowed a pregnant woman in his entourage both drink alcohol and light up a cigarette right in front of him! The person that leaked the story said that the woman had at least two drinks with a cigarette in between before she couldn’t watch any more of this travesty unfold and she had to leave the room. We certainly hope that this is one of those stories that isn’t what it seems. Maybe the chick was just incredibly fat? We hope.

#2 Drake Likes To Have His Salad Tossed Eating the booty hole, while we think it’s utterly disgusting, is actually practiced by enough people to make it a popular thing. One of the events that most likely made others more confident to come out of the closet when it came to things that get them off is when a groupie took to the web to explain, in detail, how her face was in Drake’s rear end. In a horrifyingly detailed entry, she goes on to say “He was laying there on the bed with his legs spread open and my face in his butt and his legs shaking.” While it wouldn’t be our thing to take to the Internet to tell the world where your lips were the night before, we suppose, if it was a famous booty, that story needed to be shared.

#3 Quentin Tarantino Likes To Suck Toes There are a lot of people out there who have a foot fetish, A LOT. And that’s great, feet aren’t MY thing, but that’s ok too. When it comes to feet in a sexual manner, there are a few practices that we feel take things a little overboard, at least when it comes to our preference. Sucking toes is one of them. Sucking toes while jerking off because that’s your thing is another one of those items that just takes the whole experience to a level of “no” for us. A good foot massage is really nice here and there but sucking toes isn’t our idea of pleasure, but, apparently for Quentin Tarantino, it is. To each their own, but that’s a fetish we’re going to have to pass on.

#4 Johnny Depp & His Huge Barbie Collection Johnny Depp has been a man that has had no shame in showing his various sides. There’s no way he could have gone from Edward Scissorhands to Pirates of the Caribbean to playing the part of the Mad Hatter without his eclectic and eccentric personality. Even though he has proven himself in his acting roles, he did once say that he would be embarrassed if his friends found out that he was “familiar” with women’s clothing. By familiar, we believe he means he fancies wearing them. On top of that, he plays with Barbie dolls and apparently has quite the collection. It appears he might be trying to go for a six-year-old little girl vibe. As long as he keeps his acting up, we guess we can dig it.

#5 Kristen Stewart Likes Her Armpits Licked Loving the scent of your significant lover isn’t all that strange, it’s one of the numerous ways our body communicates with itself and with others. If this wasn’t true, then we wouldn’t spend so much money on perfumes and colognes that try to attract the other sex. We wouldn’t have people who preferred to forgo the whole deodorant thing because they loved the smell their own stench. If you belong to the latter, chances are Kristen may just have a thing for you. Apparently, she not only loves the smell of different men (or, I guess, women), especially their armpits, but she also enjoys having her own armpits licked. We like having things licked as much as the next person, but we’re good on the whole armpit area.

#6 Xtina’s Dirrty Secret Ever since she hit the scene, Christina has been a bombshell. Well, not her kid phase, but everything after that. We are used to seeing her in tight skimpy outfits that leave little to the imagination. After seeing her in some of these “getups” it didn’t come as a surprise when she came out saying “I’m really into fetish gear and latex.” We could see that, and from here we aren’t complaining about the view. Even though the “Dirrty” singer has had some very public trouble battling the bulge, we think she’s absolutely stunning with or without a little extra meat on her bones as long as she keeps the latex outfits coming!

#7 Angelina Jolie – S&M And Blood Play It’s not really a surprise that Angelina Jolie made it onto this list. She is, in fact, a definite kinkster. She may have calmed down during her long-time relationship with Brad Pitt, but since the two split, she might be headed back to her scandalous ways. What ways are we talking about here? Her S&M and her famous “blood play.” Back when Jolie was dating Billy Bob Thornton, tales would always come out about their insane sexcapades. During these crazed sex-filled nights, they would partake in knife play where they would cut each other with knives and lick the blood away. If that wasn’t creepy enough, the pair also took to wearing vials of each other’s blood around their necks and adorned to their clothing. Nothing says love quite like vials of blood.

#8 Kim Kardashian’s Risque Clothing Kimmy K is known as one of America’s sexiest women. Whether or not you believe her butt is real doesn’t mean you think that it’s any less than amazing. Since she was graced with such a rockin’ body, we don’t really blame her for wearing pieces of clothing that look like they belong in an adult toy store. However, since she got her claim to fame because of a “leaked” sex tape, this shouldn’t be all that surprising. In fact, Kim Kardashian has worn so much porn star-worthy clothing that we think she might have developed a fetish for the stuff. The majority of her outfits leave nothing to the imagination which means every curvy inch is heavily exposed. She looks like a walking lingerie ad. But, just like Christina, until you give us something unforgivable, we just want the risque clothing to keep coming.

#9 LMFAO Tag Team Women The EDM duo dowhat a lot of guys in frat houses do, they tag team the groupies they sleep with. While this seemingly masculine rite of passage is a conquest more than a few men wish to encounter, you might not think that this is all that impressive or even scandalous. However, take into account the fact that they aren’t only related, they are uncle and nephew. That’s definitely closer “family bonding” than we’ve cared to experience, and it seems that it could potentially cause a lot of problems. Just imagine if one of their sexcapades got knocked up. Talk about one of the most scandalous paternity tests of the century and just think about the awkwardness at their next Thanksgiving. Everyone would be asking “who’s the daddy.”

#10 Russell Brand And His Air Moves We are more than aware that Russell Brand is fond of things that are weird. By now, he’s known for it. He does, however, have a fetish that goes beyond the description of weird into something stranger. Once he was found to be a fan of a pornography that involved a man in a wheelchair, but that isn’t as weird as this next part. Apparently, Katy, as in Perry, once said that she had stumbled across a box of unlabeled DVDs. Curious, she popped one in the DVD player to see what the unnamed fuss was about and she was disturbed at the sex acts she was seeing Russell perform. He was engaging in what is called “air sex” where the person, usually clothed, gets off by humping and grinding with the air. What a sight to see.

#11 Lil Bow Wow Takes Your Phone & Makes You Sign Your Life Away For someone who is rather lax on things like getting pictures of his own plane to boast, post, and brag about, it seems rather ironic that Bow Wow would go to such lengths to protect his privacy and his name when it comes to those he sleeps with. After Houston Rockets star James Harden was put on blast when a groupie slept with him and uploaded the proof to her Instagram account, Bow Wow felt it his responsibility to tell him the rules of the game and the things he did to get by. These “things” include: getting the shorty to sign “papers” as well as cough up her cell phone for the duration of the evening. The rule goes that she gets her phone back when she leaves. How romantic.

#12 Someone From The Dave Matthews Band Made A Mess In Their Underwear Whoever did this is nasty, so we are sort of thankful that we don’t know exactly who is responsible for this disaster. One Reddit user came forward with a confession, but it wasn’t exactly hers, it was her sister’s. Apparently, the two saw the band and hung out together afterward. Long story short, the sister slept with one or more of the band members, but that’s not the worst part. After the fact, the Reddit user says she found a pair of men’s underwear on their balcony and they were full of sh*t. Not only is that horribly embarrassing, but why in the hell didn’t you use the restroom like a normal person, and why would you leave the evidence?!

#13 Shaq Frequently Honors His Red Wing License For those of you who don’t know what the term getting your “red wings” means, it means that a person is getting a mouthful of a woman’s menstrual blood. If you just vomited in your mouth a little, we did too. Regardless of how putrid we may think this act is, people out there still do it, including famous people. Take Shaq for example, not only does he enjoy renewing his red wing subscription, but he upgrades his membership frequently. In fact, an ex-girlfriend of his once said that she tried to avoid the man during that time of the month because of his obsession. Vanessa Lopez shared the secret so you know if you’re getting busy with this bloodhound, he won’t stop just because you’re on your cycle. He seems to prefer it that way.

#14 Tom Cruise’s Wrestling Session Ended In Butt Play Sometimes when people wrestle, feelings of arousal begin to surface. When Tom Cruise had a wrestling sesh with gay porn star and escort, Paul Barresi, he experienced that effect. What started off as a few Roman-Greco power moves quickly turned into some intimate butt play and masturbation. Since this isn’t the first, and probably won’t be the last, time that Tom Cruise has had rumors of being gay circling around him, we are inclined to believe that this story is also one that is true. We know that many women around the world would have killed to have a one-on-one wrestling match with the actor, but it looks like he has a certain type when it comes to who he wrestles with. Tough luck, ladies.

#15 DMX’s Answering Machine Is Just Him Barking This bit of information isn’t at all scandalous, and it doesn’t even involve sex, sort of. Another Reddit user says that his roommate’s mom slept with the rapper and had heard his voicemail message. Now it wasn’t a perverted or a creepy message, it was the rapper himself barking for an extended period of time. You might think that this seems a little far-fetched, but since we’ve listened to the sounds he makes in his music, we are inclined to believe that this story, while bizarre, is still true. Although we are a little upset that he didn’t record it and release it to the world so that we could have him barking as our ringtone or message alert. He shouldn’t have been so selfish.

Source: TheRichest

#IoTRecords

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storiesforpatreon · 7 years

Photo

#001 — Stories I Will Not Ever Or Have Not Yet Published Publicly (A.K.A. “Secret Stories” #001)

Wednesday, June 7th, 2017

Metro-Detroit, Michigan

Accompanying video link:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EpIPIjh_BEQ&feature=youtu.be

——————————

This post illustrates how lengthy I can be if I do not check myself. This post is why I try to keep videos short. I go on for too long. I suppose this exists for posterity’s sake. It fills in the details better for the things discussed today. I will absolutely never be as organized as John Wesley, but I certainly am nearly as talkative as the man was. Hahaha.

——————————

0. BLUR

I messed up. I forgot to set the focus on my face after I set it on the camera straps. Yeesh. A lesson for next time. And, I will remind you—that was my fifth try at the video! Hahaha.

1. MARCY AND TYLER

A couple weeks back, my assistant and I met this wonderful couple in Detroit. One was from my neck of the woods (30 miles north of downtown Detroit at 15 Mile Road and Harper Avenue in Clinton Township); one was from Grand Rapids (2-3 hours away from the city). They are two young aspiring actors. We had so many laughs. I took them to Greektown and Hart Plaza and up Washington Blvd and Woodward Blvd. I took them to the Fox Theatre and the David Klein Gallery and past a few other noteworthy places. It was glorious. One day I will get along to culling the hundreds of photos that my assistant and I took of them.

2. DOMINIC

As my assistant kept getting lost in Detroit, I happened upon a truly unexpected photography opportunity. I had to holler at her to come over. Haha. She was walking about the median of the street. Dominic wanted to me to photograph his friend and himself coming out of the limo and going into the restaurant. He said he was going to pay me extra at the end of the little shoot. It was 10:20 pm, so I thought I would be done by 12:20 am. I made sure to keep a regular watch on the time. He asked what my rate was, and I told him that we could talk about that later (I have never had a “rate”). It was clear that he hardly knew the girl that came over. He was using my assistant and I to make him look “important.” He said we were his paparazzi. Hahaha. His buddy backed up his claim. What Dominic had claimed was a possible marriage proposal to a serious girlfriend was likely actually a first or maybe second date with a girl. A second girl arrived, and she was not comfortable with the cameras, so Dominic said he was happy with our work thusfar. We left. I had $200 in cash, and my assistant had $15 in cash. This was fair, since she had no clue what she was doing the whole time. She kept pulling me aside and telling me her photos were blurry or too bright or too dark, so I would trade her cameras. When I would then use the camera she had, I was able to get good photos. I still am dumbfounded as to how she was having such a hard time photographing. We traded cameras many times. When I got back home, I looked at the shots before I went to bed. She had a few good ones but a lot of bad ones. It is a learning experience for her, and she got $15 for an hour’s work. That is the same rate that makes up the independent living wage here in Michigan. That is good money. That is the rate that the photographer that I want to work with offered to start me at. That was not good enough for my assistant. She shook me down for more money. I have never taken a cab or uber before, so I gave her the $20 that the restaurant folks gave me. I was infuriated. For context, this girl has no need for money ever. In midtown, at Wayne State University, there is a law building named after her grandfather. Her family has a membership to the Detroit Athletic Club (the most expensive place to have a wedding in the state). She has 18th century furniture from England (that she is trying to get rid of) and ~2000 year old Chinese tapestries and Japanese samurai swords at her house. She has a $40K emerald ring from the 1920’s. She has no need for cash. She was just being very petty. She likes that I am doing something meaningful, so she comes along. I work light. I never eat in the city unless she wants to pay (I would rather work than spend cash on food). I don’t live frivolously. She has never paid me, and I have never paid her—until today. She got that cash from me, and I felt used. I suppose it hurts the most when you are betrayed by someone you count on and hope to trust in.

3. D600 SENSOR

The Nikon D600 has a physical issue involving its shutter mechanism. Nikon used to make all their gear in Japan, where they are based; now they make most of their gear in China, and that has resulted in poorer build quality. That is one reason why I love my cheap, old, manual focus Nikon lenses. They were all HAND MADE!! That is amazing! That also makes them simpler to repair. If something can be assembled by hand, it must also be easier to disassemble and reassemble it by hand too (compared to something produced by a specialized machine). The shutter on the D600 sloughs off plastic bits from the shutter and also spits oil droplets onto the camera’s image sensor. That is akin to a camera doing that to the film inside of the camera body. The thing that makes this worse than if it was a film body is that you are stuck with the same sensor, so that means you have to be careful to keep it clean. I took my two cameras in to be cleaned it was $25 per camera, and the guy, Joel, did both for $40. On top of that, he gave me two camera straps for free! I knew I wanted to buy a vintage strap for the D600. I just think they are classier. Plus, they are WAY cheaper than a $50 boring, modern strap! I remembered they had a good selection of old, used straps from before. Well, they only had three left this time. I bought the last one for $5. I knew when I did that he might have given that to me for free too, but it was not right after he had saved me $20 between the cleanings and the straps. I think he admired my passion for photography. We had a glorious conversation about photography. I had him check out my D200, and he cleaned it for free! Hahaha. This was in part because he sold the D200 to me, and the camera had a speck underneath the sensor (a $100+ fix at a different store), which was impossible to clean without a very expensive procedure. This speck was likely there before I bought the camera. I did not notice it until he pointed it out to me. Perhaps that was why he was so nice. Haha. I brought in some of my old lenses and asked him questions about them. I joked that he was around and a working photographer when these lenses were produced, so he should know more than me about them. Hahaha. I have this macro lens I got for $10 (usually around $100 used) that would not stop down (let the aperture get narrower). I thought it was missing the aperture. He said that the lens likely had oil that leaked on the aperture that made it recede into the lens. All I would have to do is take apart the lens and wipe off the oil spot, and it would work like it was brand new. That is amazing! I guess the new, plastic lenses are not as fixable as the old metal ones. I mentioned that cars used to be able to be repaired at any gas station (or at least I heard). He said that his present car’s headlights cost $200 to replace, since the engineers designed the bulbs to only be accessible by getting to them beneath the engine! Hahaha. It really was a wonderful talk.

4. STRAP FOR ASSISTANT

I sewed cotton batting, fleece, nylon trim and elastic together (along with a 9” zipper) to make the ultimate comfortable strap for my assistant to use with the “new” (used) 2012 Nikon D600 camera. That took nine hours. I got another strap from a camera store for $3 (again, the only vintage strap they had on hand), and I have poured 12-20 hours (so far!) into that $3 strap to hopefully try to improve upon the original modification to the other strap. Maybe if I can do this to a few straps, I will make a video for it. I just sit and sew as I listen to Al Mohler’s “The Briefing” or “The World and Everything In It” (my two favorite weekday news podcasts) or a B&H Photo lecture on some photographic topic.

5. RODE MICROPHONE

This microphone is invaluable for video making. It is the standard microphone used on the streets by YouTubers just as the microphone I used in this video is the standard one used at home by many YouTubers.

6. LACUNA IN VIDEOS MADE

Lacuna

[luh-kyoo-nuh]

noun, plural lacunae [luh-kyoo-nee], lacunas.

1. a gap or missing part, as in a manuscript, series, or logical argument; hiatus.

2. Anatomy. one of the numerous minute cavities in the substance of bone, supposed to contain nucleate cells.

3. Botany. an air space in the cellular tissue of plants.

Origin of lacuna — Latin — 1655-1665 — 1655-65; Latin lacūna ditch, pit, hole, gap, deficiency, akin to lacus vat, lake1. Cf. lagoon

7. CAMPING JAKE DAD AND STRAP

My best friend’s step mom and actual dad both died of cancer in 2016. This camping trip was a chance to spread his dad’s ashes. The last time he went on a vacation was the last time he and I camped there. It was a very good week to decompress. I sewed the whole time. I knew I would have trouble reading a book during the down time there. Jake rented an RV for the week. Haha. His brother was sick and stayed in the whole week watching The Three Stooges and Abbott and Costello movies (we are a classy bunch). His girlfriend (who I forgot to mention was there) stayed in and texted much of the time. His mother and sister only showed up for a day and then went home. That left him and I to sit by the fire and talk and talk as I sewed. We biked and hit up the beach that was immediately beyond our site. Haha. It was only maybe $150 for five days and four nights for the six of us (though not all of us stayed the whole time). That is a deal for being right on the beach! The RV was a different story. He paid for that himself. I thought I was going to sleep in a tent, but the RV had room for me, and he insisted I stay there. Haha. What a glamorous way to camp. Jake, his brother, and I remember the other side of camping. I guess one time, there was this horrible storm, and our tent was leaking from above and flooding from beneath. I slept through the nearly whole thing. Jake and Justin were frantically trying to patch up the top of the tent with a tarp. Haha. finally, I awoke and was very confused as to what was going on! Hahaha. Jake, Justin (his little brother), and I have a legion of stories like this. Haha. Needless to say, this was a huge upgrade. I would have been more than happy, though, to sleep in a tent. I got to know the people at the general store at the camp site (it was right next to our spot). The lady, Kris, there told me that we had the worst spot in the park, since is was the first one to flood whenever there was a good rain. I told her that I knew it flooded, but I did not know it was so particularly bad in that way! Haha. Jake and Justin got a good laugh from that. Hahaha.

8. WALK AND TALK ARE FUN BUT LONG

Well, I forgot to mention this in the video. I am having trouble getting the Walk and Talk videos to be edited, since there is just so much footage to comb through. My solution is to set a time limit when I am in the city to use for shooting the video. This will combine the sublime structure of a lesson with the equally exquisite openness of the walk-along video. I just have so much fun making the walk-along videos, and I think that happiness and energy help make those installments more compelling than the more formal lesson videos. I really need to find a way to marry the two. To do a candid walk around that contains a lesson on a topic. For some reason, I am too dumb (for now) to figure out how that would work.

9. EMAILED PHOTOGRAPHER - ONE AT A TIME

Parmenides (the founder of western philosophy, who said “whatever is is.”). I say “Parmenides” to say “it is what it is.” Haha. I emailed the guy. That is what it is. Haha. There is little more to explain here. I hope he hires me.

10. HOW DO I HAVE A BETTER WITNESS IN DETROIT

This is an ongoing desire. I need to find my angle. I am cut to the quick. It is said that George Whitfield could not go more than half of an hour without telling someone of the Grace and of Christ on sinners. He just was a bloodstained believer with a holy fire in his belly. I need to get my way of being as the greatest evangelist of the past 2000 years was. Even D. Martin Lloyd Jones said he would give up anything to have even just a week of George Whitfield’s life. The man was that effective and great.

#Secret Stories #Detroit #Camping #Jake Fleming #Fleming #Jake #Dominic #Assistant

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anavoliselenu · 7 years

Text

Hiched chapter 10

“I’m sorry I left. I was at a hotel.” I know that doesn’t come close to answering his real question, but I have to start somewhere.

Justin slams the door shut and strides toward me. “Jesus Christ, Selena. I thought you were gone for good. Why didn’t you say anything?”

Biting my lip, I swallow hard. The pain in his voice is palpable. I betrayed him . . . there’s no other way to put it.

His outrage keeps pouring out, burying me like an avalanche. “You left me standing at that altar for a fucking hour. I’ve never been so humiliated in my whole life. And I’ve been losing my mind ever since. We’ve had to lie our asses off to keep the media from suspecting anything, all while I had no idea where the fuck you were. I knew you didn’t want to marry me, but for God’s sake, I never thought you hated me this much.”

The word feels like a cold needle in my heart. Hate him? No, I don’t, I couldn’t . . . but that’s exactly how I acted, wasn’t it? Like I didn’t consider him worthy of basic respect. How can I fault him for thinking that’s how I felt?

Scowling, Justin cuts his hands through the air. “You abandoned me. Without a word. Without giving anyone a chance to do anything. I had no idea what the hell was going on. What was the point of running away? Why didn’t you just tell me you were upset? What happened to being partners and working together? I thought we were getting somewhere, but apparently—”

“I know, okay?” I yell.

Hearing my own voice crack is the final straw. I suck in a shuddering breath and it spills out again as a loud sob. Tears start leaking down my cheeks as I hug myself tight, unable to meet Justin’s eyes. I hate that I’m falling apart in front of him like this.

“I know I hurt you,” I said. “I treated you like shit. You worked so hard to earn my friendship, my trust—and what did I do with yours? I was stupid and awful, and there’s no excuse. But Brad just scared me so bad, I didn’t know what to do. I—”

“Whoa, hey, wait a minute.” Taken aback by my sudden breakdown, Justin sits down awkwardly beside me, his eyes wide. “Brad? What’s he have to do with this? You didn’t run away because of the inheritance contract?”

“What? No. Why would I?”

A look of disbelief and wonder crosses his handsome features. “Because I went to see you before the ceremony started and left it on your desk, right before you disappeared. What was I supposed to think?”

His confusion blurs things even more. I shake my head, trying to clear my thoughts enough to say what I need to. “That’s not it. I need to tell you something.”

I swallow hard to gather my courage. It’s time to let down my defenses. Not only because Justin deserves an explanation, but because I’ve realized something. I trust him to help me without judging me. Like I should have trusted him all along.

“Right before the wedding started . . .”

Dammit, my voice won’t stop trembling. I take a deep breath. Maybe it’ll help if I pretend I’m telling a story that happened to somebody else.

“Brad called me. He said he’d release . . . n-naked pictures of me if I didn’t sell Tate & Cane to Daniels Media by next week. So that’s why I left. I thought I could stop him, but then I realized I had no idea what to do. So I came back here to ask you for help.”

There, I got through it. Not much detail, but I told the truth and the world didn’t explode.

Although Justin just might. His nostrils flare and I watch in astonished horror as his face turns brick red. It would almost be funny if the situation weren’t so dire.

Finally, very softly, Justin growls, “I’m going to rip his rotten dick off and feed it to him.”

A hysterical little half giggle, half hiccup bursts from me. “Please don’t.”

I wipe my cheeks with the back of my hands, already feeling more in control. Justin’s not going to let Brad win. More importantly, he’s not going to let me go through this alone.

“Right. You probably already thought of that idea.” Suddenly Justin’s warm, strong arms enfold me tightly. He presses a gentle kiss to the crown of my head. “I wish you’d come to me sooner, Snowflake. You don’t always have to bear everything alone.”

And that fact seems so obvious now. I thought I understood that before, but now I’ve learned that Justin is here for me—for real, for always, no matter what.

Sniffling, I turn to wrap my arms around his waist and let myself relax into his comforting embrace. Our first hug that isn’t motivated by a contract or a bet or anything but honest affection. It’s pure and solid and exactly what I need. Already I’m starting to feel a little calmer.

“You’ve got me in your corner now,” Justin murmurs into my hair. “I won’t let anything happen to you.”

My breathing slowly deepens and evens out as my tension ebbs away. I was so anxious about Brad’s threat hanging over my head, but my fears seem much smaller with Justin here to help me fight them.

A few minutes later, he breaks the soothing silence to ask, “Do you want some tea?”

I give a weak chuckle through the last of my tears. “Wow, you really are English.”

“Mum swore by it.” Justin pulls back slightly, just enough to look at me. “And once you’re feeling better, we can start figuring this thing out.”

I nod. “Do you have any ideas?”

His lips curl up in a sly smile. “A few.”

I grin back at Justin. Somehow I get the feeling that Brad is in deep shit. With Justin by my side, I feel safe for the first time since this disaster began.

Chapter Three

Justin

Selena looks cute in the morning. She’s still asleep, lying on her side, facing me, with the sheets tangled around her hips. Her tangled hair fans out behind her like spilled honey. Thank God she’s not in that dreadful fleece onesie again. Her gauzy white tank top dips low to hint at the deep valley of her cleavage and rides up to expose the creamy soft expanse of her belly.

Forget cute, she looks positively edible. I want to run my tongue along the top of her breasts, tease her perky nipples through the thin fabric until she wakes up, moaning my name with her hands buried in my hair.

Not gonna happen, I know. This is Selena we’re talking about. Every victory is hard won, and every time I get close to her, she pulls back two steps further.

But a man can dream.

Eyes still closed, she stretches leisurely, letting out a little squeak as her long legs straighten under the bed linens. I appreciate the moment, admiring her as she wakes. My normal MO doesn’t allow for sleepovers or morning-after encounters. But if this is what they’re like, count me in.

After a moment, she blinks open her eyes.

“Hi,” I say.

She swallows, her gaze dropping from mine as if she’s self-conscious about me watching her wake up. “Hi.”

“Are you ready for today?” After I calmed her frayed nerves, we spent hours last night going through my plan and rehearsing.

“You really think it will work?” she asks for the hundredth time.

But I understand why she’s nervous. We’re about to go toe-to-toe with one of the greatest bogeymen of her life.

Feeling a rush of protectiveness, I reply patiently, “I know it will.” Men like Bradford Daniels are easy to outmaneuver. All they care about is their ego, and once you threaten that, they cave like little boys on the schoolyard.

I push the blankets off and sit up. There’s coffee to make for Selena, breakfast to prepare, and a hot shower calling my name.

“Holy m-morning wood,” Selena stutters, her eyes glued to the spot where my manhood is trying to escape my boxer briefs.

Down, boy.

I smirk at her. “What? He’s happy to see you.”

Her eyes lift to mine. “Really? You’re glad I’m back?”

“Of course I am. What kind of question is that?” It’s like she’s constantly testing me, just waiting for me to slip up and tell her I’m done with her, with this game we’re playing. To me, though, it’s not just a game.

I want to tell her I’ve been awake for ten minutes, admiring the view, and this wood is exclusively for her. But I hold my tongue, sure that admission would freak her out.

“I just thought . . . when I left . . .” She pauses. “I was sure I ruined everything.”

Having her back here in our bed makes me glad I didn’t give in to all those baser instincts that told me to fuck and pillage my way through Manhattan when she left. I tip her chin up to force her to meet my eyes.

“You’ve got some making up to do, but nothing’s ruined.”

She nods, relief and gratitude shining in her eyes. And something else too—something so warm, something I don’t dare to name, let alone hope for.

I hop out of bed and head toward the bathroom, wondering how all of this will unfold today, and in the days to follow.

• • •

Later, when we’re dressed, fed, and ready, we stop in front of the building where Bradford Daniels works for his daddy’s company. I can practically feel the apprehension flowing off Selena in waves.

“Are you ready?” I ask.

She gives me a tight nod, her deep blue eyes full of worry. “No. But I don’t think I’ll ever be. We just have to go for it.”

I squeeze her shoulder in reassurance. I’m almost . . . proud of her. She’s shaking in her high heels and yet she’s still standing here, ready to fight.

“We’ve got this,” I promise her. “Don’t look so worried.”

It’s time to grab the bull by the balls. I pull open the glass door, and we head inside and slip past the receptionist like we know where we’re going. I figured that the element of surprise is always better when you’re playing hardball.

But when we enter his corner office, Bradford looks like he was expecting us all along, with a smug grin stretched across his face.

“What, no pack of hungry lawyers? I figured that’s where this was headed.” Smirking like he’s already won, Brad rises from his desk.

His office is furnished in a traditional style—a large free-standing mahogany desk facing the door, rows of bookshelves holding volumes of textbooks. A framed photograph of a rabbit hanging on the wall. Okay, that last thing is weird . . .

I stand my ground, gazing steadily at Brad, letting him know that his bullshit posturing doesn’t intimidate me one bit. “We could come in here and threaten to sue your ass off, but we both know that would give you exactly the satisfaction you’re looking for—a court battle, a media circus, Selena’s name dragged through the mud.”

Brad’s eyes narrow. “The mud? I think that’s a bit optimistic. Selena’s name would mean nothing by the time I’m done with her.”

Selena shifts next to me. Her flinch is subtle, not enough for Brad to see, but I feel it. I reach over and take her hand.

“Anyway, we’re not here to sue you,” I continue. “We just thought we’d pay a visit to catch up. How’s your old college buddy? What was his name . . . ?” I tap my lips, pretending to think. “Franklin Ashby?”

“How do you know him?” Brad responds just a little too quickly. His eyes dart from mine to Selena’s, and his brow pinches unattractively.

Geez, what did she ever see in this pencil dick?

“Oh, come on,” Selena chimes in. “You two were roommates all through undergrad. Always bro-ing it up. Did you forget I was your girlfriend then?”

While we were strategizing last night, inspiration struck me when Selena mentioned the name of Brad’s college roommate. A name that I’d heard before, floating around New York’s elite social circles. It only took a few quick phone calls to confirm everything.

But even though Selena gave me this whole idea, the last thing we need right now is a verbal firefight between the two of them. I’m pretty sure that’s what happened when he called her, and it got her nowhere. (Although it didn’t exactly get Brad anywhere either.)

So I wave my hand in Selena’s direction to stop her. Just let me do the talking for a little longer, baby.

I start explaining to Brad exactly how screwed he is. “About six months ago, just before his company’s big announcement, your friend Ashby exercised his stock options and purchased almost a quarter million shares. He made a killing.” I rub my chin. “Funny, I seem to remember you doing pretty well too. Your stock trades even went through in the same week. Isn’t that an interesting coincidence?”

“How do you know that?” Too late, Brad tries to recover. “I mean, what are you implying?”

“To answer your first question, Frank likes to brag when he’s got a few drinks in him,” I reply with a cheerful shrug. “And to your second question, insider trading.”

The color drains from Brad’s face. “You have no proof!”

I suppress a triumphant grin. “Maybe not right now. But the private investigator I hired to sift through the stock trade records for Frank’s company and verify the personal connection between you two?” I suck my teeth with a loud tsking noise. “Within a few days, he’ll have enough evidence for probable cause. And then you can explain to the SEC why you and Frank both purchased so many shares with such convenient timing.”

That last part isn’t strictly accurate. We haven’t had time to hire a PI yet, although we can get one fast if we have to. But the truth doesn’t matter. What matters is whether my bluff is convincing enough to get under Brad’s skin. And judging by his reaction . . .

Brad’s mouth opens and closes a few times.

Yeah, I’d say I’ve hit the nail on the head. I take the moment to enjoy the sight—the haughty heir of Daniels Media doing his best impression of a fish out of water.

“Th-this is a total crock of shit and you know it,” he finally huffs out, placing a hand on his desk to lean in closer. “You both know I have you bent over, ready to take it, and this is how you’re fighting back? Pathetic.”

“You want to know what’s pathetic?” I step closer to the asshat. Not because I particularly relish being near him, but because my six-foot-two-inch frame towers over his, what, five foot nine? It’s bound to be intimidating. “The fact that Selena here trusted you with pictures of her two gorgeous lemon-meringue pies and peach cobbler, and you, like the soulless weasel you are, tried to betray that trust in the worst possible way. Nothing gets me more livid than men who lack respect for women.”

“Peach cobbler?” Brad asks.

When Selena shoots me a strange look, I press on. “Yes, you know—her love box, her pink clam, her honey pot.”

They’re both looking at me with puzzled expressions.

I turn up my palms in exasperation. “Oh, for fuck’s sake. Her pickle jar.”

A giggle tumbles from Selena’s lips.

God, I love putting a smile on that woman’s face.

Feigning a sudden realization, Selena raises her finger, lips parting in pleasant surprise. “Oh, Justin! That reminds me of something.”

“Yes, dear?” I ask, playing along.

“There’s more.”

“More? Do tell, Snowflake.”

“I just remembered that one time, when Brad was asleep, I snapped a picture of his little pickle.”

Brad lets out a strangled noise.

Pretending not to notice—even though I’m struggling to keep a straight face—I raise my eyebrows at Selena. “How little are we talking here?”

“Tiny. More like a miniature dill. A gherkin.” She grins, knowing we’re on a roll.

I let myself chuckle, the tense mood evaporating almost all at once. I have no idea if she’s telling the truth, but we have this jackass right where we want him.

“No way! She doesn’t have a picture of me,” Brad stammers.

“Oh, but I do.” She grins again. “It’s such a teensy little thing, it almost slipped my memory.”

I pat him on the back. “Tough luck, buddy, getting stuck with such a short straw. You’re an eligible bachelor, right? You wouldn’t want half of New York seeing that little dick of yours, would you?”

He purses his mouth. “No.”

“Didn’t think so.” I pat him on the back again because, somehow, this meeting has turned into us saving the pompous Bradford Daniels from a public embarrassment so great, he’d never outrun it.

Selena steps forward, her shoulders thrust back. “Then you will delete every copy, so help me God, on every device, anywhere that they exist.”

Brad nods in agreement, looking defeated.

“And,” I add, “you’re going to sign this.” I push a thin sheaf of papers across his desk. Selena and I have already signed the last page.

“What the hell is it?” Brad grumbles wearily.

“A confession. Where we all agree, in writing, that you committed insider trading and attempted to extort Selena into selling T&C . . . and in return for you not releasing her photos, we won’t report any of your crimes. So if a single pic ever shows up online, consider this document your one-way ticket to federal prison.” I give him a tight, humorless smile. “But as long as none of Selena’s nudes ever see the light of day, neither does your confession. What do you say?”

Brad swallows and his head bobs again. “Fine. Just get out.”

He flips to the final page, scribbles his signature in a series of quick, angry slashes, and shoves it back into my hand.

Only once we’re outside the ominous steel-and-glass building does Selena give a little victory shout.

“You were incredible back there.” Her eyes are alight with triumph, and her voice is almost giddy.

“You weren’t so bad yourself,” I reply with a grin. Counter-blackmail? I didn’t know she had it in her.

“Seriously, did you see the look on his face when he thought the women of New York were going to find out about his teeny weenie? It was classic!” She giggles again.

“Do you really have a photo of it?”

She shakes her head with a chuckle. “Nope. I was totally bluffing.” In a stage whisper she adds, “It wasn’t photo worthy.”

I laugh out loud. Brilliant—that’s just icing on the cake. I want to tease her by saying I’m so proud. But that feels weird for some reason, so I settle for, “Remind me never to play poker with you.”

Buoyant with victory, we stroll along the sidewalk back toward the car.

“Justin?” she asks after a few minutes.

“Yeah, Snowflake?”

“Thank you for helping me. And for not judging me for sending those photos in the first place.”

“Hey, the only thing I cared about was putting that asshole in his place. I’d never judge a woman for sexting her boyfriend.”

“Still, you dropped everything to help me. After I just . . . ran.”

The urge to reach out, to lace our fingers together or put my hand on her waist or just touch her in some small way, flares up inside me. But I don’t. Not yet. With all the commotion Brad’s blackmailing caused, I still don’t quite know where Selena and I stand. She did run out on our wedding instead of including me in her personal drama. And she still hasn’t said a peep about the contract. Even if this victory is pretty fucking incredible, I’m not ready to celebrate yet. I need answers.

“Should we head back to the office?” Selena checks her phone, and the time shows just after eleven.

“Not yet. Let’s go get lunch.”

“Good idea.”

Thirty minutes later, we’re seated at a Mediterranean restaurant that’s just around the corner from our office, sipping iced tea and munching on hummus and warm pita bread.

“God, the look on his face . . .” Selena chuckles again. “I won’t forget that anytime soon. Thank you for today. For everything.”

I nod. “It was nothing.” Just connecting a few dots.

“And for what it’s worth, I am so sorry about leaving you high and dry at the beach.”

I tense my jaw. Do I wish she would have trusted me with this information and let me help from the start? Sure. But I’ve never been in Selena’s shoes, and I can’t judge her decision. I have no idea how I’d feel if my ex was threatening to expose me—literally—if I didn’t cut her into my company. Shit, I’m almost as hard-headed as Selena; I probably would have wanted to handle it alone too. But there’s still something bugging me.

“About that . . . is the blackmail the only reason you ran away?”

Her eyes lift to mine. “Of course. I told you I was ready to tie the knot, and I meant that.”

I nod. I almost ask her how she feels about marrying me, specifically. But at the last second, I decide I’m not ready to hear the answer to that loaded question. I need to remember that we’re both doing this out of necessity.

I have responsibilities, mountains of obligations. The fear of failure is reason enough to stay the course.

Chapter Four

Selena

I expected to be nervous again. And I am, but just a little—not nearly so bad as before. Even though my palms are sweating like crazy, my heart beats steady and my stomach is calm. I almost feel like I’m floating as Justin and I stand once again before the justice of the peace.

She recites our wedding vows over the hushed lapping of the ocean waves, the mewing cries of seagulls, the occasional clang of buoys and ship’s bells. Our two rows of guests watch from their folding chairs on the beach. And the whole thing just feels right in a way it didn’t before. As if some invisible puzzle piece has clicked into place. My doubts have finally worn themselves away, leaving me light and free.

The judge presents our marriage license and the inheritance contract, all filled out except for the final signature line. Justin signs first, then me, my pen gliding over the paper as easily as the distant sailboats glide through the water. Finally, after all our false starts, our two signatures sit side by side.

“You may now kiss the bride,” says the judge with a smile.

The guests applaud and laugh as Justin pulls me close. I grin against his mouth, a warm light blooming in my chest. It suddenly strikes me that Justin has always been there for me. And not just lately, like with Brad—when we were growing up too. He’s been a constant in my life ever since we were toddlers. Playful, sometimes irritating, always magnetic, never far out of reach.

Justin has done so much for my sake, especially in the past month. He’s gone so far out of his way. The thought of how deeply he must care about me is both giddy and humbling. I’m still not sure about the romance and sex parts of being married, but our friendship is beyond doubt. We’re a team. Ready to face whatever the future holds.

But as right as it feels to be here with Justin, the fact of our marriage is still staggering. Holy shit, I’m a wife now. I need some quiet time alone to let this sink in.

When the informal reception is over and everyone starts throwing away their paper plates and gathering their purses and jackets for the trip back to the city, I breathe a sigh of relief. I say good-bye to Dad, Camryn, and the rest of the guests, then retreat to the quiet of my family’s summer cottage.

Grabbing my laptop bag, I head to my old bedroom. Its desk is more than a little cramped now that I’m an adult. But this house is too small for a separate study, and I’d rather be in my own space than the master bedroom right now. I don’t want to give Justin any funny ideas about sharing a bed on our wedding night.

I push up the window to let in the ocean breeze, fold myself into my undersized desk chair, and open my laptop, ready to immerse myself in work.

But my peaceful solitude doesn’t last long. Footsteps approach from down the hall and stop on my threshold.

“What are you doing here?” Justin’s voice asks behind me.

Glancing out of the corner of my eye, I reply flatly, “This is my room.”

Justin points at my laptop like it’s an angry rattlesnake. “No, I mean what are you doing with that thing?”

“Strategic analysis.” As should be obvious from my spreadsheet-covered screen.

He frowns. “Right now? After we just got married?”

“What else would I do?” My tone has cooled, daring him to contradict me. I know damn well what’s on his mind, but there’s no way I’m even putting that suggestion on the table. He’s a big boy—he can use his own words. Not that begging will get him anywhere.

Justin comes inside to sit on the bed, facing me. “I know you’re a workaholic, Snowflake, but this is ridiculous. We can afford to take our wedding night off.”

“Can we? After all the time and money I’ve wasted . . .”

I bite my lip, still ashamed of what happened on our first attempt at a wedding. And while seeing Brad cut down to size was insanely satisfying, the attorney who drafted that agreement wasn’t cheap. Tate & Cane’s pockets are a lot shallower than they used to be.

Justin reaches out to gently cup my chin. “Hey. You didn’t waste anything—you didn’t cause any of this. It was that asshole who decided to mess with you. And we had to stop him, because nobody hurts my girl and gets away with it.” He raises his eyebrows at me for emphasis. “So don’t you dare blame yourself.”

Taken aback, I can’t help a small smile. He always defends me . . . even against myself. Justin’s earnest words mean so much. Almost too much.

“Okay, fair enough. I’ll try to lay off the self-hate. Still, we have to get back on schedule.”

“We should at least spend tonight together,” he insists.

I roll my eyes, still smiling. “Jesus, you’re relentless. Fine. Then I hope you brought your laptop too, because this business plan isn’t going to write itself.”

“I’m afraid not,” he says, raising his eyebrows, “since I assumed we’d be on vacation. I’ll just have to read over your shoulder.”

He leaves and brings back a wooden chair from the kitchen, pushes it next to mine, and sits down. Close enough for me to feel his body’s distracting warmth.

He occasionally reaches out and touches me—little brushes against my wrist, his hand at the small of my back, making me hyper-aware of him and his distinct maleness. My heart riots with each movement.

This is what I’ve been trying to avoid all along—the seeds of hope blooming in my chest. I need to stamp those feelings out now because I know what Justin’s doing. He’s putting on a brace front and trying to make the best of our situation. It’s only a matter of time before this whole charade comes crashing down around us, leaving my heart in tatters.

My real happily-ever-after is out there, somewhere. And when we right the proverbial ship that is Tate & Cane Enterprises, I’ll be able to think about things like getting our marriage annulled and moving on, but until then, it’s heads down.

“So, what are your thoughts so far?” Justin asks in a low tone that sounds way too intimate for staring at a bunch of financial graphs.

Trying to ignore his intense gaze, I start explaining my arguments for how we should structure our plan of attack.

We collaborate late into the night. At some point, a bottle of champagne appears on the desk at my elbow. I don’t know how—I was too absorbed in work to notice Justin moving. All I know is that when I turn my head, I see a foil-topped green bottle and two glasses that weren’t there before.

Immediately I say, “I’m not going to get drunk with you.” I can’t afford to let my guard down, only to find my clothes strewn across the bedroom floor come morning and a delicious ache present between my thighs. Even if I might want to. No, Selena. I silently scold myself. Bad pussy.

“Who said anything about getting drunk?” Justin replies breezily. “I just thought it might be nice to have a drink while we work. Sure, we’re both very busy people, but we still just got married. Let’s celebrate the imminent revival of Tate & Cane.”

The idea is surprisingly tempting. I make a thoughtful noise . . . then give in. “Fair enough. But just one drink.” Maybe a little bubbly buzz will help me be more creative. Plus this man is just damn hard to say no to.

Justin pours the two flutes full, then raises his with a deliberately overdramatic flourish. “To Tate & Cane Enterprises, may you rise again. And to Snowflake, my brilliant, drop-dead gorgeous wife who’s going to pull our asses out of the red.”

My cheeks flush a little. I clink my glass against his, trying to hide my smile. “I thought this toast was going to be about business.”

He chuckles. “But you’re so cute when you’re flattered, Snowflake.”

“Don’t give yourself so much credit,” I mutter. But he’s totally right. He does get me flustered easily. I take my first sip of champagne, then add, “Thanks, Justin.”

He looks up with a devilish grin. “It’s our wedding night. Not even a kiss? What happened to first base?” The tip of his tongue traces slowly over his full lips, bringing mental images that are a lot more explicit than just kissing.

Dammit, I’m staring at his mouth. “S-stop screwing around and help me work,” I snap.

• • •

Early the next morning, I wake up in my desk chair with a nagging headache and keyboard prints on my cheek. I sit up with a pained groan—my spine did not like being hunched over my desk for six hours. I can practically hear it creak.

Something soft and heavy slides off my back. I look around, confused, and see a blanket pooled on the floor behind me. I definitely didn’t do that. If I was lucid enough to get a blanket last night, I would have been aware enough to stop working and get to bed before I fell asleep. Justin must have covered me up.

And where is he, anyway?

Rubbing the sleep out of my eyes, I stand and look around. I’m disappointed to see no sign of him. I guess he slept in the master bedroom after it became clear that I wouldn’t be touching his dick.

Well, that’s a good thing, isn’t it? I can speed through my morning routine without any interruptions and get to the airport with plenty of time.

When I arrive downstairs in the kitchen, Justin is at the stove, frying up half a dozen eggs over easy. I have a flash of déjà vu back to our first morning in our new penthouse apartment. Although he’s wearing a shirt this time . . . too bad. He wears the bed-head look well.

Who am I kidding? The sexy jerk wears everything well.

“Have a nice wedding night?” he asks without turning around, sounding amused. Teasing me yet again.

I guess this is what I have to look forward to for the rest of my life. I comment breezily, “Well, there was this one asshole who kept hanging around while I was trying to work . . .”

“Sounds like a problem. Maybe I should have a word with him after we eat.”

I walk over and stop behind him. I hesitate, then loop my arms around his firm waist, resting my cheek on the base of his neck. His movements pause for a second; he obviously wasn’t expecting that.

“Hey,” I murmur. “I wanted to thank you again. For helping me handle Brad.” As much as I hate to admit it, I don’t know what I would have done without Justin. “And for . . . I don’t know. Everything. Putting up with all my shit.” I tend to get a little bat-shit crazy when it comes to work.

His chuckle rumbles through his back and into my chest. “Don’t be silly, Snowflake. What else are husbands for?”

Gratitude washes through me. I breathe deeply, inhaling his clean, faintly spicy scent, and sigh it out into his hair. That was so easy. Everything about being with Justin is so much easier than I ever thought a relationship could be. Although I admit I don’t have the best examples to work from. Justin has seen me at my worst and yet he’s still here, cooking me breakfast, letting me hold him. Forgiving me like it’s nothing.

For a moment, I just indulge in this atmosphere of warm, calm security. Then I reluctantly peel myself off my new husband’s back and start preparing our coffee and tea.

We take our breakfast outside to eat on the front porch while watching the sailboats bobbing in the harbor. I meant to enjoy the view, but only about ten minutes pass before we’re deep in shop talk. Justin floats several new ideas for our proposal that I wish I’d thought of. I make a mental note to add them to our draft while we’re in the air.

In the air. Wait a minute. I squint through the window to check the kitchen’s wall clock—and then I jump up from the patio table.

“Shit, we’re going to miss our plane!”

Justin shrugs, taking another leisurely sip of his tea. “No big deal. We can always catch the next one.”

My withering look says it all.

“All right, all right.” He holds up his hands in surrender. “Back to the grindstone.”

• • •

We arrive back at the Tate & Cane building after lunchtime. My empty stomach feels tight as I walk down its halls. I’m almost certainly being paranoid, but it feels like I’m doing a walk of shame. Like everyone knows that last night was my wedding night. It doesn’t matter that I didn’t even fuck Justin—everyone must assume I did, right?

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