#juno steel and the life not lived au

[candlecoo-sideb-art]

Juno Steel and the Life Not Lived

Current | Part 2

#juno steel and the life not lived au #juno steel #tpp juno #junoverse #tpp peter #peter nureyev #vespa ilkay #tpp vespa #tpp rita #tpp au #tpp fanart #tpp spoilers #possibly??? #tpp fan comic #fan comic #digital art #my art #art #fan art #the penumbra fanart #the penumbra spoilers #the penumbra podcast

[beepmeowiskarkat]

Alrighty analogical lovers I have a question for you. I wanna make a shorter comic about one of my AUs!

#ts virgil #virgil sanders #anxiety sanders #art blog #logic sanders #sanders sides #analogical #i really want to talk about my darker AUs more #i just. they need to be sad okay

[ananxiousgenz]

TPP HADESTOWN AU PART 4

ANOTHA ONE. i am so sorry guys, but the muse has possessed me and i literally cannot stop writing. this is no longer a flash fic. i am now a slave to the au. this time will be a direct continuation of part 3 because honestly i wanted to keep writing that but i also just wanted to post it so consider this a kind of part 2 to part 3 if that makes sense

tpp mutuals come get your juice!!! @smidgen-of-hotboy @ceaseless-watchers-special-girl @urjover @one-joe-spoopy @waters-and-the-wilde

when he said his name, juno heard it.

ringing in the background like the hum of a crystal wine glass.

the song.

when peter nureyev said his name, the song echoed with it.

"your name has the same melody," juno breathed, eye wide and searching for some kind of answers on the face of this strange, beautiful man. how could his name have the song of spring laced through it?

nureyev shot him a sideways look and took a sip of his drink. "so. what do you do for a living, lady who's going to marry me?" he questioned, leaning back in his chair and looking juno over with a gaze he could only describe as skeptical.

"oh! well, I work here at the bar with rita. she's over there. but you've met her already so I don't know why I'm introducing her."

rita gave a friendly wave from her perch behind the bar.

"I also, um. I, uh. I sing. sometimes. not all the time. i'm not bad at it. typically when I do sing, someone will give me a couple bucks. it's nice. oh, and uh, I can play guitar too, but I haven't done it in years, and to be honest, I don't really want to-"

nureyev cut juno off, looking away disinterestedly and downing the rest of his drink. "that's nice. so you're like all the other bar workers in existence. that doesn't exactly sound like something I'd want to marry."

suddenly, the butterflies that had been gradually building in juno's stomach began to unexpectedly drop dead.

"heyyyyyyy, that's not very nice, mista nureyev. mista steel isn't like all the otha ladies you eva met! he's a very supa awesome lady who I love workin' with and-oh oh oh! mista steel! you GOTTA tell him about that song you're workin' on! it's so pretty! and important! I'm sure mista nureyev would LOVE to hear about that!" rita cried, bounding off the bar and hustling over to deliver another drink to the table.

"oh, uh, yeah! I'm working on this song to bring spring back again," juno said, feeling mildly embarrassed that rita brought it up with this man who was still basically a total stranger. "it's not done, honestly, it needs a lot of work. but, when i'm finished with it, it will hopefully fix.....everything."

"wait just a moment." nureyev's brow furrowed and juno's stomach twisted at the sight. even when he was skeptical and defensive and bone-tired, he was still so damn attractive. gods, what juno wouldn't give to just kiss him right now- focus, steel, he's trying to talk to you-

"so you say this song will bring spring back again?"

"yup! at least it should."

"that's...." nureyev placed a finger over his lips in thought. "I haven't seen a proper spring in at least a decade, maybe more. the world has been so wrong in recent years... I shudder to think where it would all end up without the return of warmer weather."

"well, that's the idea with the song. I want to fix it. all of it. when the song is done it should put the world back on track. more sunshine, springs, falls, rain and flowers. you know. all the stuff that's just sort of been missing. maybe you could help me out with it!" juno grinned a bit sheepishly.

"and why would I want to help?" his eyes were cold, almost as cold as the biting wind and frost outside, but juno thought he saw the beginning of a thaw at the edges of his facade.

"because, mista nureyev. he's real good at makin' people feel like life is worth livin' again with that music of his. also, he makes the BEST chocolate cake i've eva had! and frannie agrees with me!" rita chimed in, cleaning the bar top as best she could with her short stature.

juno snorted involuntarily, marveling at rita's ability to constantly be focused on food. "it's true, I won a local competition a few years back for that cake."

nureyev's face had half a smile on it now, and the butterflies in juno's stomach turned into a hurricane.

"so you can make people feel alive again? that's quite a gift, juno. but what else can you offer me?"

"huh?"

"say, for example, if we were to get married. who would pay for the wedding rings? times have been hard, and gold is scarce. how would you do it?"

juno thought for a moment. "the rivers. they've got plenty of gold in them, and if my song works, they'll give it all to us for wedding rings."

nureyev's eyes glinted with something juno suspected was either curiosity or suspicion.

"what about a wedding feast? or a bed? good food and better beds are hard to come by these days. what would you do about that, juno?"

"the trees would take care of the wedding feast, and the birds would take care of the bed."

"with your song." nureyev cocked an eyebrow as though it was a question.

"well, yeah, of course."

"you talk a lot about that song. why don't you sing it for me?"

a wave of panic stuttered through juno's mind. "I can't. I told you it's not finished."

"you said you wanted to take me home and marry me, is that true?

a sly smile crossed nureyev's face, and goddammit it only made juno want him even more. "yes," he breathed.

"then sing the song for me, juno."

juno hesitated, then nodded in spite of himself. he shouldn't be doing this, he knew he shouldn't be doing this, but he couldn't help it.

he was in love.

and lovers need the spring like a flower needs sunshine. so he'd sing the sunshine back for peter nureyev.

he stepped back, breathed in, and let the notes flow from him like water from a faucet. the song flooded the room, hitting the walls and rushing back to his ears in perfect harmonies, and for a moment, he was back in that wheat field with benten, strumming guitar as he danced like a pheonix rising from the ashes, spinning around and around and around like he was the center of the universe.

and then the song ended. and juno was back in a shitty roadside bar, holding a perfect dahlia in his left hand, with peter nureyev staring at him now, eyes wide and sparkling.

"that's...... you...... how did you do that?" nureyev asked quietly, standing from the table on unsteady legs and taking the dahlia to examine it with shaking hands.

"i didn't do that, the song did," juno muttered as nureyev gently touched the immaculate petals of the dahlia, still damp with dew. rita beamed at juno from the bar and gave an overenthusiastic thumbs-up. juno just rolled his eyes again.

peter nureyev looked at him then, all of the previous frostiness gone from his eyes and something like amazement and love and hope spilling through them.

juno decided that he liked it when he looked like that. it made him feel like he really could fix the whole damn world with that song of his.

nureyev seemed to come to some sort of conclusion and slipped the dahlia into the buttonhole of his traveling coat. "so, what time does your shift end, my dear juno?"

juno thought for a minute. "uhhhh, the bar closes around 10. why?"

his eyes gleamed like a pair of stars as a smile twinkled on his lips. "didn't you say you were going to marry me?"

#THERE WE GO #IT'S DONE #HURRAH #i look forward to seeing all of you screaming at me in the tags #if anyone has any notes for me feel free to drop them in the comments #as always #i love y'all <3 #the penumbra podcast #tpp #hadestown #tpp hadestown au

[smidgen-of-hotboy]

I promised to deliver my thoughts about my monster hunter juno au and well, here you are @one-joe-spoopy (@esquemeencanta i got a feeling you'll wanna see this too so here ya go)

To recap from my last post: Juno is a monster hunter. Rita is his right hand lady. Ben is alive. Vespa is human. Rita is human. Juno and Ben are human. Buddy is an elf. Jet is a werewolf. Peter is a changeling.

I also mentioned last post about how changelings work but to recap: changelings are the abandoned children of fae. They are exchanged for a human child and live out their lives until they return to the fae realm or rip of their human parents face.

!This is your obligatory gore and violence warning!

there are different realms, most notably: Waking (where all the living are), Fae (elves, changelings, nymph and dryad, and ofc fae), Slumbering (the place where dead and lost souls wander). There may be others but so far Monster Hunters haven't found a way to cross over to them. Not yet.

Nureyev was found as an abandoned child in the streets of Brahma. Mag (human) took interest and took him in. He trained him to be a thief. Eventually, Peter turned on him and ripped his face off. His instincts had kicked in and he was starving. He had always been hungry, nothing could satisfy him until he held Mag's face in his hands. New Kinshasa monster hunters chased him out of New Kinshasa and hunted him throughout Brahma. He met Slip while on the run

Slip is a monster sympathizer. He sides with Petya and believes in a free world where no more blood is spilled. He turns a blind eye to Petya's bloodlust and has helped him in the past secure meals. Together they've traversed across Brahma to Saraswati and there Peter was cornered by monster hunters. He was captued, drugged, and released for a hunt. He ran back to Slip and in his confusion hurt him, causing Slip to fall unconsious. He was found and recaptured but not executed. They took Slip from him despite his efforts to fight back. For a time Peter wasn't sure if Slip would survive... Slip has since recovered but is wanted by monster hunter associations in Saraswati, Brahma, and New Kinshasa for his betrayal to humanity.

Peter works for monster hunters to evade monster hunters to keep Slip safe. His "Keepers" are a monster hunting duo that are rumored to keep monsters in cages. No one knows about Peter because anyone who did is dead. Either bc Peter ripped their face off or bc the Keepers eliminated them personally. Peter is their most prized possession. The Keepers are the monster hunters that found and recaptured Peter in the first place. They are the ones that took Slip away to be taken care of.

So Peter takes out other monsters bc he's told to. He also takes out Monster Hunters, eliminating his Keeper's rivals. Blood covers the path he's walked. He is very tired of living like this chained to them, but they're withholding Slip. So long as Peter works for them, they ensure Slip is safe. And so long as Slip is safe, that's all that matters to him.

Juno, meanwhile, was a punk turned cop. He worked alongside Puck Falco for the hcpd. A case led to an arrest of a 76 year old monster hunter who babbled things about the apocalypse and how they're all doomed if they let monsters run rampant. While in their custody the monster hunter is killed by a monster and sharpshooter Juno shoots the monster down. He's awarded and recognized and approached by Hyperion Monster Hunter Association, the HMHA. He's told its more high risk high reward than cop work. He wasn't going to accept the offer until they name dropped Benzaiten. "His life will be hell if you don't take this offer Steel. Monsters got their own hunters out there. And if we can find him just by a quick check on you, they'll find him too. It's all about exchange. Eye for an eye. Blood for blood."

Juno becomes a monster hunter to protect Benten. He resigns from the hcpd leaving Puck without a partner, and Rita follows after him. He tells her it won't be safe and he tries to urge her to go back to Puck to the hcpd but she insists that "ain't no one seen the potential in her like he has. And ain't no one taken Rita as seriously as him. And ain't no way she letting him do this dangerous stuff alone, he needs someone for back up and she's just the right Rita for the job."

Juno begins monster hunting. Benzaiten is endlessly worried for Juno but Rita always covers and soothes those fears "he's okay. I'm his back up and so far we've done great together"

Juno as a cop used regular bullets. Juno as Monster Hunter uses special silver bullets bc silver is known to burn and kill most monsters. He's armed with a pistol always but also owns a shotgun and sniper he breaks out for special jobs. He doesn't love his job, but it does indeed pay better than being a cop. He's content with his life and rather reckless.

Rita does not know of the horrors Juno faces in the field. If she did she'd be clutching her pearls and asking him what happened next. She knows its dangerous work but she doesn't have the blood on her hands. The HMHA raised a brow at Juno for bringing her on board, but they didn't question it any further when that was Juno's only condition he wanted to be met

Monster Hunting culture works so that hunters can take up job offers that are posted through their affiliated association, alternatively they can be hired by a third party. Going on "Hunts" is a group effort and usually involves senior hunters from an association capturing a monster, caging it, riling it up (prodding it with weapons, taunting it, starving it, etc) and releasing it to be chased after for sport. Greenhorn hunters frequently get injured or die during their first Hunt. All hunters participating have the opportunity to capture the monster or kill it. Either way they're celebrated. If a greenhorn hunter is the one to successfully kill or capture the monster, they are honored with a feast and recognized by either graduating from the Academy (this is what happened to Sasha), completion of their apprenticeship, or offered a position as part of the association (this is what happened to Juno. He was first approached to join, participated in Hyperion's Hunt, and was the one to kill the Hunt's monster (a gnarled dryad that was more forest than nymph))

Miasma is an eldritch abomination. A non newtonian fluid that solidifies liquid tentacles into sharp points that pierce Juno's skin and poke out his eye. The only way to stop her was to blow her up and contain her in a jar. Juno lost his eye and couldn't walk for months but Ben took care of him and Rita helped out. As soon as he could though he was back on his feet taking on job posting

Ramses O'Flaherty approaches him with an offer of a new eye and job. Juno accepts both (the eye is an organic eye enchanted by monster's magic. Juno is indifferent to having it, but other Hunters look down on him for it. They call him a crooked hunter, a dirty one at that behind his back) the requires Juno to act as a bodyguard. O'Flaherty is running for mayor and worried about being assassinated by monsters for his policies (he believes in a free Hyperion, rid of all the monsters, rid of even its Monster Hunters. Juno questions why hire him then and O'Flaherty asks why work for him if he wants to take away Juno's job. They're at odds sure, but Juno wants to be paid and O'Flaherty wants the peace of mind). Each task Juno is assigned by O'Flaherty, someone dies. Their eyes are scratched out, the tongues clipped, faces torn clean off. Juno thinks it's the Piranha and shoots them dead. Juno uncovers the truth and finds out it was O'Flaherty. O'Flaherty is a monster. He hired Juno to protect him from monster attacks, to keep his hands clean. Jack Takano is the first changeling Juno comes face to face with and never knew it until it was too late. He died starving but Juno buries a silver bullet in him for good measure. There's no reward or pleasure in it. He gets rid of the enchanted eye (gouges it out himself and nearly dies a second time losing an eye) and looks for different work. OldTown falls. A new hunting association moves in, NewTown Monster Hunter Association (NTMHA) and they're backed by Dark Matters. HMHA is not.

Shortly after theres a job posting for an upcoming art gala security. Some of the art on display and for purchase is art by humans. Other pieces are ancient "artifacts" belonging to monsters (humans don't know what they're actually for) Ben insists that he not take the job offer considering how his last venture as bodyguard turned out but alas. Juno doesn't know what's actually good for him or when to quit. He takes the job.

Juno arrives at the gala hours early to monitor set up. There's going to be a lot of elite socialite in attendance. There's a lot of hunters also on security like Juno. The gala starts and Juno is watching the front door. Benzaiten Steel enters the gala in a beautifully tailored suit hanging off the arm of a hot date. Junos stomach drops out from underneath him but ofc tonight should be safe. There's so many hunters in attendance. They'll be safe...

And there is so so so much more but yea know this is already a lot so I'll tuck the rest away for later ^-^

#the penumbra podcast #private eye's keys go jingle jangle #monster hunter penumbra au #heheheeheheh #kicking my feet giggling and twirling my hair #this is so much fun #ive never had friends or mutuals who share my interest in podcasts so this is new and fun to share headcanons and aus with them #ive never had mutuals either! so like.. this is WILD to me. :“) #again if you dont wanna be tagged just lemme know and ill remove it o7 #tpp

[acesaru]

A Ruby Red Rose (Beauty and the Beast AU)

“Once upon a time, there was a King of Thieves.”

Title: A Ruby Red Rose (Read it on AO3!)

Author: fancryptid

Fandom: The Penumbra Podcast (Junoverse)

Relationships: Peter Nureyev/Juno Steel; Minor Buddy Aurinko/Vespa Ilkay

Summary: Former Knight of the Citadel Juno Steel has been taught one thing all his life: never, under any circumstances, trust a monster.

But when one cursed to take the form of an (infuriatingly handsome) human thief forces him into a bad deal, it seems like he has no choice but to play along—at least until he can figure out what is really going on inside the creature's ruby-studded manor, and what secrets are lurking behind that stunning foxlike smile. But playing along gradually becomes something more earnest for the both of them—and if they’re not careful, it could be more than their hearts on the line. Lives are at stake, and war between human and monster is only ever one small incident away.

(A Junoverse Beauty and the Beast + Second Citadel AU)

Length: 61k / twelve chapters

Tags: Alternate Universe - Second Citadel (Penumbra Podcast) Fusion; Alternate Universe - Fantasy; Beauty and the Beast AU; Enemies to Lovers; Slow Burn; Idiots in Love; Mutual Pining; Canon-Typical Violence; snark for days; Ruby ships It; oh my Saints they were housemates; Knight!Juno Steel; Monster!Peter Nureyev

---

My fic for the Penumbra Bang 2022 (@penumbrabang) is finally done! So many hours went into this, and I’m incredibly excited to finally have it be out in the world 🌹 Also there is some lovely art by @typehere452​ (here) and @cryke-art​ (here) for you to enjoy ✨ And a million thanks to @prydon for beta’ing!

#the penumbra podcast #tpp #juno steel #junoverse #jupeter #the second citadel #penumbra bang 2022 #peter nureyev

[scarlettrust]

a little late! but here we go:

Witness by meverri / 1894 words / general / jupeter / s3 miasma talks 

Juno helps Nureyev with a nightmare.

In The Dark (The Day Appears) by Illuminahsti / 13931 words / explicit / jupeter hades & persephone inspired au

Twenty years ago, Sarah Steel sent Benzaiten to the underworld. It took his whole life, but finally Juno found the path to follow him. As a living human, he walked down to bring his brother back. 

Instead, he found the King of the Dead, who offered him a very different bargain.

i'm afraid we won't be leaving by goinghost / 2097 words / teen / vesbud comedy - meeting your ex (vicky)

So, what’s this guy’s name again, Bud?”

“Vicky,” Buddy replied in a clipped tone. “Valles Vicky. Known for her extensive smuggling ring on Mars operated out of an adult establishment that appears to have vanished into thin air.”

--

Buddy and Valles Vicky are exes. That's it, that's the fic.

#the penumbra podcast #tpp #juno steel #jupeter #vesbud #fic rec sunday

[reyev]

The Amazing Spider-Steel

Juno Steel was bitten by a radioactive spider. He has his ups and his downs, and he has a dangerous relationship with an homme fatale. On top of all of that, he's trying to make a living scraping by in Hyperion City. But when was that ever easy?

Ranging from Rated T to Rated E

Spider-Verse Juno Steel AU with Black Cat Nureyev? Yeah. That's about it. Currently in progress, co-authored with user hydrobates (on both tumblr and ao3).

Individual fics include:

You Can Be Their Super Steel rated T | 1/1 chapters | 3.4k archive warnings: Major Character Death Juno's life changed when he became Spider-Man. He didn't realize just how much it could change after that.

Juno Steel and the Black Cat by alwaysyourqueen rated T | 2/? chapters | 10k+ archive warnings: Major Character Death The people of Hyperion City refer to the thief as the Black Cat. It’s a cute enough moniker, though he doesn’t wear cat ears or even claim to have a name. Spider-Man calls him many things, when they’re next to one another. Lips next to ears, masks pulled partially away, other things pulled more away. A name, a spider, a cat. A whole lot of messy, messy feelings.

Afraid of feeling too good (that's a shame) by hydrobates Rated E | 1/1 chapters | 3.1k archive warnings: none It's not a new thing, the two of them. Spider-man and Black Cat have been a thing for ages now. But it is their first time somewhere people normally fuck. And it brings new things to the table that the two of them don't expect in the slightest.

Acrobatics by alwaysyourqueen rated E | 1/1 chapters | 1.3k archive warnings: none No one goes into the superhero or other costumed personality business because they don't love an edge of danger. Spider-Man and the Black Cat decide to add a little something special to one of their acrobatics practices.

#tpp #the penumbra podcast #tpp fic #jupeter #junoverse #mine #spider steel

[wastrelwoods]

my favorite genre of rec lists are “good shit you’ll probably miss if you sort by kudos” so I figured it would be good to make one with. some underrated gems from the penumbra tag

1. sealed with a -- by availedobscurity (5k)

set mid-season 2, juno/peter, juno leaves mars, solves a train murder, and meets a familiar face. i love amy i love that she wrote this fic featuring my absolute favorite top-tier femme fatale trope which i WILL NOT spoil and i think about it all the time. technically marked as a WIP but stands alone as a perfectly good oneshot

2. shake the dust by caelta (16k)

season 3 casefic, juno/peter getting-back-together focus. wonderfully fraught and funny in all the right ways with just an excessive smattering of puns and delightful turns of phrase and dad jokes that are just so stylistically right for penumbra. juno and peter’s easy back-and-forth banter contrasted with all the pining going on just under the surface? i don’t know why more people don’t know about this one it deserves more

3. in remission by gaytypo (3k)

season 3 vespa character study, short and sweet but i just really appreciated the exploration of vespa’s schizophrenia by an author who knows what the hell they’re talking about! and also just the crime family looking out for each other

4. give us your strength, world by nex_et_nox (4k)

mid season 2, juno hanging out at the lighthouse after monster’s reflection and before returning to hyperion city...if u hadn’t guessed i love fics that focus on non-romantic relationships and those are ALWAYS criminally underrated but listen. why must a fic have a romance. is it not enough to see juno steel, 40, stumbling around and hissing like a feral kitten being domesticated?

5. zichronot by julomaiboulomai  (5k)

season 3, my favorite of the several very good fics about juno bein’ jewish. i like the contrast of the past and present sections and sort of. the two families juno has had? i also chug that respect julia juice hard i think her fic always slaps. AND i love that everybody gets a chance to have their relationship with juno highlighted and i think that juno being in. a season of life about recovery and making amends works really with the observation of Rosh Hashanah here basically it’s just a really well-crafted fic! its good

6. sunrise, sunset by easiIyamused (4k)

pre-canon, mag and peter! mag and PETER! cannot get enough of the complex, fraught family dynamics and just ANY exploration of mag being. a loving father but not a good man. and also nureyev being a precocious little twink....god i’d die for him. what a baby. who gave him a knife. SIGH anyway this is probably one of the MOST deeply underrated ones on the list

7. it’s alright, it’s ok by atlantisrises (3k)

season 3, juno/peter with an outsider pov. all the goodness of two queer men who had rough childhoods gently taking a child under their wing when she needs help...i’m weak to that damage. half a kidfic and half a casefic, i guess? anyway i think it’s great

8. a slightly kinder world by dooiney_oie (8k)

canon divergent AU, set at the end of murderous mask. i think it’s funny we all knew benzaiten was dead years before we knew the first thing about him but the second he showed up we all determined “no i’m gonna need more of this fool” . anyway i live for the benten&juno&”rex glass” dynamic here it’s really somethin

9. i’ve been having revelations (and i’m gonna let them shine) by barelyanybears, dreamsanddeath, gerrystamour (12k)

season 3, juno/peter focused but with some appearances from the rest of the family. just...just the most sweet domestic shit ok the concept? of just two thieves off exploring the galaxy and building a magpie nest together? and building a life together? good lord. i ALSO think on the other side of the coin the depiction of juno dealing with chronic pain was really nuanced and interesting and i stayed thinking about it for a long time

10. a distraction by aesphantasmal (1k) 

nonspecific AU....the juno/peter cat-and-mouse dynamic becomes...a homoerotic swordfight!! god everything this author writes is so good and underrated i think they have the banter so down every time they write it it’s just...the centerpiece here. as it should be! 

11. with feeling by acerbicsarcasm (9k)

juno/peter and also BEN. ALIVE. you know how it is! musician AU that feels romcom in tone to me in a way that i absolutely mean as a compliment because now i think about it this definitely inspired my last minibang fic

12. the signal and the noise by ty(umami) (10k)

what’s your toxic trait, mine is putting WIPs which haven’t been touched for a year and a half on a rec list. listen. i would pop bottles if this fic were to be continued but i do think what is already posted stands up as a SUPER interesting bit of writing with some cool worldbuilding and characterization. canon-divergent AU from the season 2 finale, that good theia! brand amnesia content, and really memorably good prose 

13. comfortably bound by axel_knochenmus (2k)

season 3, juno/peter but mostly focused on juno’s...extensive experience with uhhh riding the uh,, subway. choosing the bottom bunk. sfw but with obvious implications of past bdsm experience, basically. this is the funniest goddamn fic i think it’s delightful, and also i’m just charmed by fic that explores juno being kinky in a way that doesn’t imply it’s unhealthy of him to have a history with that. its like how he just knows a lot about cardstock and collects bad art. he’s lived a life

14. every story has its chapter in the desert by howlikeagod (1.5k)

mid-season 2, juno and jet missing scene immediately post “monster’s reflection”...sometimes a man does emergency brain surgery on you in the middle of the desert and you don’t actually know his name because you’re just not on that level yet. listen. i know i simp but i can’t not hype sarah up i think her writing is spectacular and i think a lot of it DOES get the recognition it deserves but this is one of her less known oneshots that i like a lot

15. do-over by vitreousmonotreme (2.5k)

AU/futurefic, peter nureyev and a mysterious stranger who corners him in an alley...this rly just caught me by the brain and hasn’t let go since 2017 but listen. if peter nureyev DID go on a heist with his kid from the future would that be bitchin or what

16. coltsfoot by northisnotup (6k)

ANOTHER futurefic and another kidfic. i’m being exposed here for my personal weakness to well-written kidfic but while THAT is undeniably cute enough this fic is ALSO a canon-divergent AU so sarah and ben are alive. and its really a fic about juno’s complex relationship to motherhood and recovery? YEAH anyway fuckin. tear this fic up into bite sized chunks dunk it in your soup it’ll cure what ails you

17. become a thief in the night (become a dog on the run) by elanoides (8k)

pre-canon, an alternate nureyev backstory written just before angel of brahma! i can see why it didn’t get an immense amount of traction considering that timing but like. i’m suggesting it, read it, you’re missing out. sometimes a fic does not have to be even a little bit canon-compliant to be a really compelling character study and i’m SO fond of this one because as i mentioned earlier kid!nureyev is just such a precocious twink

anyway that’s what i have that’s my gift to you 

#the penumbra podcast #i dont think it'll show up in the tag there's Links #but anyway spread this if the spirit moves you #rec list

[genderbinaryisforlosers]

everyone on the carte blanche for the ask meme

everyone? oh boy this is gonna get long ajfhdsf

JUNO

First impression: i, like a lot of people who get into the podcast without knowing a great deal about it, was expecting at most an ambiguously bisexual angst machine with a closely-guarded heart of gold. juno being an explicitly bisexual genderqueer angst machine is perhaps the most pleasant surprise of my life. the angst machine heart of gold characters were kind of my type at the time, so i loved him right away

Impression now: every time i think about juno’s arc from depressed mess held together by bad coping mechanisms, safety pins, and a few good strong puns into someone who can talk about his feelings, feel comfortable about being happy, and recognise when he needs to change, i want to cry about it a little bit. the depth of my love for juno steel has only grown along with him

Favourite moment: juno has a lot of great one-liners and i’m still a big fan of the “on the other hand i wasn’t wearing a watch” bit and who can forget such classics as juno finally deciding to stop moping over nureyev and move on only for him to open the door to his apartment and find nureyev sitting in the dark dramatically, but honestly nothing will ever hit me harder than his sudden, pissed-off declaration of “i can’t die yet, i still have shit to do!” in promised land. god.

Idea for a story: oh i have so many and i want to write most of them so no spoilers, but juno accidentally kidnaps a baby during a carte blanche heist and shenanigans ensue

Unpopular opinion: obviously we all know he’s dummy thicc but i feel like a lot of people forget he’s an actual genius, like the stuff he notices and how he strings it together is sometimes so obscure and he’s almost always right. oh, also juno is not skinny and i will not be taking criticism on that

Favourite relationship: this is so tough because every dynamic is so good, but i think it has to be juno and rita. those two are so good! the best best friends in the world!! i’m really a sucker for any dynamic that’s ridiculously in-sync so i loved these two as soon as juno saw rita’s notes in prince of mars and went “makes perfect sense to me” (which it probably didn’t, because rita, but he trusted that she knew what she was doing which is the important part)

Favourite headcanon: this isn’t really a headcanon but i still think about how juno is (was?) deathly afraid of heights but when he heard rex glass coming he still attempted to climb out of the window. either his aversion to working with dark matters/other people in general was so strong is overrided his fear, or his office was actually on the ground floor. not sure which of these is funnier.

NUREYEV

First impression: we’ve all seen the memes about nureyev knowing juno steel for one (1) day and deciding to Risk It All by leaving him with his name, look at this Hopeless Romantic, this utter DISASTER of a homosexual. the fact the very next time we hear from nureyev (at least directly) he’s patiently waiting in juno’s dark apartment to surprise him with a heist definitely supports this image.

Impression now: even after literally being inside peter’s head, i feel like we didn’t get a real sense of who he is until man in glass, where we find out he aggressively compartmentalises everything that causes him stress. he’s also distinctly someone who’s had his heart broken before, i think, which makes those first appearances of his very strange. but it does remind me of what juno says about diamond, and how he decided to provide the trust first and wait for the trustworthiness to grow in (only to get severely hurt), and i think that’s exactly what nureyev did. i am also... very uneasy with how suspicious he’s behaving this season because obviously i want to believe he’ll sort it all out and not betray the crew but... oof

Favourite moment: the beginning of what lies beyond pt1 where he’s affectionately bullying juno into taking care of himself? cleared my crops watered my skin etc etc etc

Idea for a story: i’d love to hear more about his past as a young thief idolising buddy and vespa (i can’t actually remember if that’s canon or fanon but anyway i wanna read it!)

Unpopular opinion: i think people often cling to an image of him that more resembles his first impressions in season 1 instead of seeing the depth that we’ve been given about his character in season 3

Favourite relationship: him and juno but honestly it’s a close call between them and his budding friendship with rita. even though she learned it by accident, his name is still a point of intimacy and it’s one less secret to keep around her which has to be a weight off his shoulders, at least a little? they seem like they could be really good friends once ultrabots is out of the way. juno steel love (and also bullying) zone activates whenever they’re together

Favourite headcanon: i’ve said it before and i’ll say it again - nureyev has never done a household chore in his goddamn life. he doesn’t know the water needs to be hot when you wash dishes.

RITA

First impression: honestly i’m not sure? i don’t remember having a big awareness of her in murderous mask but i remember loving her “note-taking” in prince of mars, i thought she sounded really fun and cute

Impression now: rita is really fun and cute, she’s also an extremely hardworking and dedicated woman who had the guts to throw in with a detective fired from the force and then invest all of her time and money into helping him help people.

Favourite moment: Rita Gets A Knife. enough said

Idea for a story: i don’t know honestly! i really struggle to write rita because her thought processes are so wild and i don’t think any story i could come up with would match mega ultrabots of cyberjustice.

Unpopular opinion: this shouldn’t be unpopular because juno steel himself shares this opinion but all future-jupeter headcanons are incomplete without rita also being a huge part of their lives

Favourite relationship: rita + franny 4ever obviously.. jk it’s juno & rita have you heard rita minute 3 they’re too adorable for this world. im still Soft over their conversation at the end of soul of the people when he said he couldn’t stay in hyperion anymore but he wouldn’t leave with the carte blanche if rita wasn’t coming because he was done leaving her behind, and she threw out all her hesitations on the spot and said call the big guy. speaking of, rita & jet are a close second. instant best friends i love them.

Favourite headcanon: i think this is basically canon now but rita being literally half the height of jet is so good

JET

First impression: “haha lorge funny man puts juno in the trash”

Impression now: jet sikuliaq is one of the dearest characters to me out of anything ever. he is a huge, menacing, polite, kind, sincere man who i would very much like to give me a hug. he’s the best aro ace in outer space and while being generally very levelheaded and straightforward, also takes every opportunity to fuck with juno because it’s very easy and very hilarious to him personally. he is everything my autistic acearo ass needed and i’m so glad to have him

Favourite moment: all of them every single one. him putting juno in the trash is of course a classic and every moment jet chooses to be funny makes my heart happy, but also every piece of genuine advice he gives. i’m a particular fan though of buddy recounting her years in the lighthouse and him saying he became concerned when she didn’t come downstairs at the usual time. “you took the door off its hinges.” “i was deeply concerned.” king of understatement

Idea for a story: again no spoilers for you but..... tools of rust time loop au

Unpopular opinion: this isn’t “unpopular” as much as it is unknown but jet is buddy’s queerplatonic partner and i will keep saying it until everyone believes it

Favourite relationship: jet and buddy,,, just everything about them. the way he suspects when she’s lying, the way she makes tea for him when she expects him to drop by. the fact he comes to check on her when she is 41 seconds late to the family meeting because it’s unlike her to be late and the last time she was late for something her brain was turning to radiation soup. but most especially the way she snaps at him to stay out of her business and he said he could not because he made her promise eight years ago to never stay out of the business of her health, no matter how many times she asked. they r literally in a qpr

Favourite headcanon: i don’t think this is true but i still think it would be funny if the ruby-7 used to be painted red but when jet got it he had it painted green because he Just Really Likes Green (as evidenced by his hovercycle). it’s very funny to me.

BUDDY

First impression: it’s been a minute since i relistened to time gone by but i’m pretty sure the first thing she ever says in the podcast is sliding up to depressed accidental whiskey thief juno and say “that’ll be ten million creds,” scaring the shit out of him, so needless to say i was in love instantly.

Impression now: my love for buddy aurinko has only grown and if it sounds like i already said that in this post it’s because i did about juno and it’s appropriate because the parallels are astounding. the heart of it all gave us such depth to buddy’s internal monologue and why she always sounds like she knows exactly what to say and what that’s like and honestly will i ever be over the heart of it all as an episode? unlikely. i think i’m gonna have a little piece of it in MY heart forever.

Favourite moment: everything she’s ever said is iconic as hell i especially like “in an impressive fit of hubris i’ve decided not to prepare my words for this vow” which made me laugh out loud but once again i must give it up for her iconic “I WANT TO LIVE” moment. honourable mentions to her taking rita out for ice cream and giving juno shooting lessons while she’s in her actual wedding gown. i love her

Idea for a story: buddy and vespa as sun/moon dieties.... that’s all

Unpopular opinion: stop drawing her with a fancy high-tech eye like the theia!! it canonically looks like garbage and it’s described in detail, please, i’m dying, also don’t minimise her scars you bastards

Favourite relationship: buddy and vespa invented romantic love and the entire carte blanche crew’s relationship to her is great but you know by now i’m a slut for buddy & jet out-of-this-world queerplatonic partners. the way she checks in on him during tools of rust to make sure he’s not relapsing and he comes to find her when she is 41 seconds late in the heart of it all to make sure she’s not having a heart problem!! it’s the trust,, the devotion,, the mortifying ordeal of being known

Favourite headcanon: she can sing. absolutely tears it up at karaoke. i’m right

VESPA

First impression: knife lesbian goes STAB. she will heal your wounds but she will be threatening to give you more the whole time

Impression now: she is extremely strong, heart-rendingly tender, and despite being in the older half of the carte blanche crew somehow has unmistakable little sister energy which makes her downright hilarious. i’m so glad she got to marry buddy and they’re official space wives now they’re so good for each other

Favourite moment: both from shadows in the ship, either “GUN!!” “KNIFE?!” (iconic) or when she clocks the dark matters drone pretending to be juno because it called her crazy and juno wouldn’t call her crazy. i’m always a sucker for “shapeshifter fails to fool mark because they Know Each Other Too Well” and it was just *chefs kiss* so good

Idea for a story: i really want to write something about when she was first staying at the lighthouse with buddy post-reunion, and getting to know jet and stuff. i think it would be cute

Unpopular opinion: i know vespa doesn’t canonically have lots of scarring but people who don’t draw her with scarring? cowards.

Favourite relationship: once again, although buddy and vespa invented romantic love, i just love the dynamic between vespa and juno so much. they’ve come so far with each other and their weird sibling dynamic gives me life. at the end of what lies beyond when juno says “we’re not gonna kill her, vespa” and instead of sounding full of Rage and Suspicion she’s like “whyyy notttt?” and he’s like “because i said so!” and that’s just good enough for her even if she’s a bit grumpy about it. i love it.

this took.. a hot minute to do! jshkfjsdgsa thank you dyl ily <3

#michaelburnnham #riley replies #be gay do crimes in space #the penumbra #juniverse

[candlecoo-sideb-art]

Doing some concept sketches of dream!juno in my Life not Lived au. He's just such a pretty lady.

#digital art #juno steel and the life not lived au #tpp juno #juno steel #junoverse #tpp au #tpp fanart #life not lived au #my art #art #fan art #the penumbra fanart #the penumbra podcast #penumbra podcast #i also downloaded new pens and wanted to experiment

[shelbychild]

[begin ID: A title card edit by mininacl depicting a bank vault door with a large spinning wheel. The wheel has the name of the safe company and where the company is located printed on it. To the right, in large, white Gagalin font is: Juno Steel and the Duplicitous Double Heist. To the left, in smaller, white Kollektif font are the authors’ names: shelbychild and dont-taunt-the-octopus. end ID]

mine and @dont-taunt-the-octopus's first fic for this year's @podcastbigbang!!

When Ben and Juno left Mars to start their life of crime, they saw no reason to let the world know that there’s two of them. For years, they operated comfortably under one name, and one day they got an anonymous tip about a heist almost too good to be true. They aren’t the only ones who got the tip, however; one Peter Ransom is also on the case. With a group of thieves working the same job it’s a race to see who comes out on top and what secrets are revealed in the process.

In other words, a Ben!Lives jupeter heist au.

which you can read here!!

big shoutout to our team, @darlinglissa and @ravenick as betas, and @mininacl (who did our title card) and @battoad as our artists!! you can see parker's art here and here, and auri's here!

#my stuff #podcast big bang 2021 #the penumbra podcast #tpp #juno steel #peter nureyev #benzaiten steel

[mollymauk-teafleak]

A Stranger in a Crown (part one)

Thanks to my amazing beta readers @spiky-lesbian and @minky-for-short who came up with the premise for this AU!

--

Please consider leaving a comment! I work super hard on this 

Juno Steel has one night to pick the person who will become his betrothed, one night to pick the person who will save their planet and he will spend the rest of his life with. None of the choices offered appeal to him, he's exhausted with the expectations of being the crown princess.

But there is a potential suitor amongst the crowd that he hasn't met yet.

--

The only time Juno liked to see his reflection was when it was gazing back at him from the surface of the champagne in his glass.

Then it would always be shifting and changing as the bubbles rose to the top and burst like stars falling to the ground, only played in reverse. Then it would be the colour of old, faded gold. Then it would be small, shrunken down to the circumference of the flute in his hand, looking far enough away to not hurt him.

With such a blurry and indistinct reflection, you could be anyone. It all became so wonderfully hard to pin down. He couldn’t see the too large nose or the scar across the non functioning eye, the scowl or the lines at the corners of everything that told him he’d waited too long. He could pretend he wasn’t looking at Juno Steel at all but someone else, someone with a different life. Even the background became an abstract, watercolour, blotches of cream and gold and silver, pricked through by points of light. Anyone and anywhere. What a dream.

And when he remembered, when reality came crashing back in...well, there was alcohol right there.

“I’ll be watching how many of those you have,” his mother’s voice came from behind him, “Tonight is not the night to disgrace yourself, Juno, too much is riding on your performance.”

Juno set the flute back down, now holding dregs, back amongst its many twins on the table by the door, set so the guests didn’t have to spend a moment at the ball without a drink in their hand. Would that he’d be granted the same courtesy.

“It’s my ball, isn’t it?” Juno muttered, in too much of a dark mood to back down, “I can have one drink.”

His performance. It was that word that had set his hackles up, made him snap back at his mother when he knew the sensible thing would be to bow his head and keep silent, especially when she had that face on.

But it was true, wasn’t it? Tonight was the most choreographed event their tiny outer world had seen in years, more effort had gone into it than a freaking cabaret. And Juno was the star, not that he’d ever auditioned. But so much more was at risk, way more than a bad review, if he put a foot wrong tonight.

“You can have one drink,” his mother narrowed her eyes, that scowl settling into her powdered face and cracking it like a poorly made cake. She’d blame him for that too before the night was out, “One drink, out here. But if I see you so much as reach for a glass when you’re out there, where everyone can see you, after the way you’ve been behaving lately…”

“I know,” Juno said sharply, feeling his cheeks colour, shame burning in his chest, burning the fight in him to black, brittle shards that didn’t have a hope in hell of standing on their own, “I won’t...it won’t be like that.”

“Then prove it,” there was a note of triumph behind her voice, “Stand where you’re supposed to and wait for our cue. Like we actually rehearsed.”

Shoulders feeling heavy, Juno returned to his mother’s side, the enormous silken skirts of his ridiculous gown whispering as he moved, sounding like a hidden audience gleefully gossiping about him. Back in their allotted places, the three of them arrayed in a triangle. Juno and Sarah in front and, just behind, Benzaiten. As soon as Juno was back in place, his brother reached forward and took his hand, giving it a quick squeeze, the only comfort he could give right now. But it was something.

Juno held his fingers tightly in return and wished he dared turn his head to see him smile, the kind of smile that made him believe everything would be okay because Benten would never be far, no matter what happened tonight.

Except now, even that was running on borrowed time. And as that thought entered his mind, his hold on Benten’s hand felt like a desperate grasp, like trying to keep his grip on a rocky shore when the sea was trying to drag him out into fatal depths.

But the tides were moving and nothing could stop them. His mother raised her hand, dripping with gemstones, and attendants began moving at her wordless command. The enormous oaken doors in front of them creaked and began to move, their bulk inching forward. The noise of the party within went from muddy and blurred to clear, the music and voices untangling themselves and becoming separate sounds, the rich golden light flowing into the hallway. It all resolved itself, like a picture on a comms, becoming an enormous ballroom spread out like a tapestry from the balcony they walked out on. The chandeliers, fitted with genuine halogen bulbs, hung like watching spacecraft, illuminating the party attendants below, elaborately dressed lily pads bobbing aimlessly on a lacquered wood pond. It was all enormous, lavish dresses in rich materials, exquisitely embroidered suits and some garments that straddled the line between the two, every single one of them encrusted with jewels like beetles with fabulous carapaces. At the opening of the doors, the musicians paused and the directionless meandering stilled, hands that were reaching for glasses of wine or the tables of delicate canapes quickly returning to sides. All eyes turned upwards and the cameras began to flash.

The herald drew herself up and, rather unnecessarily announced for all to hear, “Her Majesty, Queen Sarah, the Prince Benzaiten and the Crown Princess Juno.”

As if there was anyone in the room, anyone on their entire tiny outer world planet, who didn’t know who they were.

His mother, smiling benevolently with an expression whose falsehood could only be seen from up close, raised her hands in welcome and projected her voice through the ballroom, “I thank each and every one of you for your attendance tonight. Truly, we hope this will be a magnificent night that will change the future of our humble planet and secure a path to bigger and better things for all on Harpyia. With the long awaited selection of a spouse for my heir, your devoted Princess Juno, we will put the war behind us and move forward together. So! Welcome suitors, visitors and Harpyians. Welcome all.”

There was a polite clapping at the end of her pronouncement and more eyes on him, making his skin crawl. He tried to fix a regal smile on his face, like he’d seen his mother do, like he’d been practising in the mirror since he was eight, waiting for it to get easier.

Cameras flashed and there were appreciative murmurings as the party’s attentions fragmented again, dissolving back into little bubbles as the music started up again, flowing seamlessly back together as if there had been no break.

“Now,” Sarah turned and lowered her voice, talking only to her two children though her eyes were fixed on Juno, “You know what I expect. Smiles, light conversation and above all, get them on our side. This is a ballroom full of wolves, my little monsters, and tonight is the only chance we have to turn them into wolves on our side. So charm them, however it takes. And Juno?”

Juno lifted his eye from the floor, already knowing what was coming, “Yes, mother?”

“Pick one,” Sarah said through gritted teeth, “Or I will pick one for you. This is your last chance.”

Pick one, Juno thought miserably. Pick one set of those eyes to have to live with, to own you, to spend the rest of your days hiding from while sharing their bed. Become a china doll, sitting on their mantle. And pick correctly or Harpyia is done for. Our mines are empty, our seas and skies are poisoned, our people are dying, the much larger planets that circle us are watching hungrily, ready to fight over what scraps of meat remain on our bones.

Save the planet. And doom yourself. But for the love of god, do it right.

“Yes mother,” he murmured.

The queen’s words followed Juno on his circuit of smiles and platitudes like the train of his ridiculous gown.

This is a ballroom full of wolves. And he was the bait.

They were all here, he could find their faces in the crowd with very little effort, they stood out like pins pushed into a map. All his suitors. God, he hated that word. And by the time this ball was over, he had to pick one of those pins and follow it, to whatever depressing end.

They went on a sliding scale, these people who were courting him or being forced to court him by parents somehow even more demanding than his own. From very bad ideas all the way down to abominably bad, borderline suicidal ideas.

One of those was eyeing him from across the dancefloor and, when Juno noticed, gave him a smile of the kind a Halloween decoration might give. That was the only kind Cecil Kanagawa was capable of.

The tricky part was that Cecil actually seemed to like Juno, or at least his own twisted version of that. They’d known each other for some time, his mother and father’s kingdom was closest to their own, their planet hanging in Harpyia’s sky like another moon. They’d also eyed the queen’s throne with more hunger than most dared. It was rumour so widely accepted that it wore a fact’s clothes that it was the Kanagawas who had sent the assassin that had almost claimed the Steel twins’ lives when they came of age. Almost. Would have succeeded, too, if Juno hadn’t woken up to see the figure holding the blaster to Ben’s forehead and been stupid enough to launchhimself at them without a second’s thought to call for the guards.

Though the queen had been paralytic with rage, there had never been anything to tie that figure to their neighbours in the sky, and the assassin had become a corpse before they could give up the name of their employer, thanks to the letter opener Juno had shoved through their neck. It was all courtroom gossip, nothing their guard could do to make it solid and graspable.

But still, the hollow socket Juno had been left with after that night always ached when he looked at Cecil.

Juno quickly stepped into a circle of the rich merchants who ran the banks of their capital city, subjecting himself to the most boring and vaguely sickening conversation just to get away from those eyes and that smile, the deranged potential future husband standing across the room, dressed like a murderous peacock.

The men, whose names Juno really should have known but couldn’t extend the mental effort to track them down, acknowledged him politely and congratulated him on his upcoming betrothal but immediately dismissed him afterwards. Juno was used to that, most of the queen’s important subjects, those who sat her various councils, saw him as less of a son and more of a colourful pet who’d been perched on her shoulder since he was born. Good for generating interesting gossip and very little else. It had always been the same, ever since he’d started shadowing the queen. They still looked at him like he was a prettily dressed toddler, made to be cooed over and complimented and indulged with gifts but nothing more.

Juno would wonder how his mother ever expected him to rule them after her death and then remember, depressingly, that of course she didn’t. She expected his spouse to do that.

He’d proven he couldn’t be trusted.

Speaking of which, the bankers were all well into their cups, carelessly dripping wine worth more than most of their workers would see in their lives onto the floor as they guffawed over their own cleverness. The smell of it, acrid and heady and so goddamn tempting, made the constant, prickling thirst in the back of Juno’s throat flare up even worse. He excused himself politely and quickly, to none of their notice.

Juno went into autopilot for a while, circling through a seemingly never ending parade of half familiar faces and identical conversations of no substance, fake smiles and laughs like puffs of cotton candy, sugary with nothing inside. While his facial muscles moved, his eyes scanned the room for Benten, catching glimpses of him occasionally, as ensnared in the net as he was. He knew tonight was too important for any of their games but it was still some small comfort to know his brother was just over there, going through the exact same hell he was.

After a while of this, his mind wandering behind his mask, a voice far closer and far more aware startled Juno into something more like being awake.

“Having fun, Your Majesty?”

Juno turned to see a smiling, well lined face, a sharp suit, a simple cocktail held lightly in one hand.

“Jack,” Juno relaxed a little, turning to face him so the two of them were a little ways apart by the table of desserts, as private as two people could be at a function like this, “Not exactly.”

“I can tell, son,” Lord Takano- Jack to Juno and Ben since they were little kids- chuckled wryly.  He must have seen the panic in Juno’s eye for he quickly added, “Only because I know you. Your mother will be none the wiser, you’re the image of a perfect princess.”

Juno gave a mirthless laugh at the irony of that, hand reaching automatically for a glass of champagne before drawing back, “Yipee for me.”

Jack’s seamed face softened in sympathy, “I know, kiddo. I know this night isn’t your idea and, believe me, your mother and I did everything we could to try and find another way…”

Juno didn’t doubt that. Lord Takano was the queen’s closest advisor and had been for as long as either of the twins could remember. He’d been by her side all through the war and had been the loudest, firmest voice in setting Harpyia back on its feet in the aftermath. Juno, also stuck in those seemingly endless, seemingly depressing meetings, was always glad that Jack was there. He was sometimes the only person in the room that spoke sense, with the way he always put the people of their planet first and prioritised things that seemed actually important like schools, healthcare and housing. On the very rare occasions Juno was allowed to open his mouth in those sessions, what came out was usually an agreement with whatever Jack had said. That often earned him a warm smile from the lord himself and a look from the queen that was hard to parse.

“I know you did,” Juno grunted, not meaning you both.

Jack’s smile turned fond, the kind Juno imagined from streams and stories that parents were supposed to look at their children, “I know you’ll do what’s right, kiddo. The whole planet’s proud of you.”

Juno thought viciously that he didn’t care about the planet being proud of him. He’d have settled for just one person on it in particular. Then he felt horribly guilty and chastised himself, turning his eye to the floor.

“Hey,” Jack gave him a smile, leaning in and opening one side of his jacket, pulling out an elaborately carved silver flask, and passing it to Juno, “Our little secret, eh? Your mother doesn’t have to know.”

Juno hesitated but after his eye glanced up to Jack’s, seeing warmth and the knowingness that he’d always respected, the one that had always reassured him, he reached out and took a lightning fast swig, chasing it with another. He didn’t even know what it was but it had a foggy burn to it that made him not care. It put some distance between him and the room.

“Thanks,” Juno returned it, feeling the loss as he made his fingers uncurl, “I needed that.”

“I’m your mother’s advisor and one day, god willing, I’ll be yours,” Jack grinned, “I’m very well practised at giving you Steels what you need. What do I always say, after all? It’s a fact…”

“I can count on Jack,” Juno finished, feeling a little silly parroting their childish mantra but it made him smile, “I’d better get back out there…”

“Of course,” Jack nodded, “Sensible, Juno, as always. Best of luck, kiddo.”

Juno gave a grunt that could have been a laugh in the right light, moving away with a macaron in hand in case anyone might wonder what they’d been doing over there for so long. Jack’s words echoed in his mind like they were a part of the thrumming music filling the ballroom.

Juno didn’t need luck. If he had a scrap of that, there would be some fantastical deus ex machina that would swoop in and pluck him out of this situation, freeing him from the current that was dragging him into a future he didn’t want, snipping the strands of the spider web that was holding him. And somehow manage it without dooming his planet to being pulled apart by greedy kingdoms or more war and splintering his family into the bargain. The best of luck would give him that, what he wanted but knew he couldn’t need.

Juno swallowed the lump in his throat and plunged back into the crowds, clinging to the taste of whatever had been in that flask.

“You’re dragging your feet, little monster.”

That was the only thing the queen said to him, whispered in a hiss to his left ear as she passed him by to another gaggle of cortiers, to smile graciously and tell them how proud she was of her dear princess.

And she was right, Juno knew that. They were an hour in and he hadn’t approached one of his suitors. In fact, he’d been actively circling away from any of them that came near, feeling like a pinball in one of those old arcade games, bounced from side to side in a colourful contraption, an instant away from getting hurtled off course at any moment. The ball was likely to last into the small, grey tinged hours of the morning, when the decorations had wilted to loose petals and the hangings pooling on the floor, but every moment counted tonight. And Juno was deliberately wasting those moments.

He stifled a sigh and tried to take stock of his options. Cecil was dancing with his twin sister, the two of them looking eerily beautiful and eerily identical. Marrying Cassandra wouldn’t have been so bad, Juno supposed, she didn’t have the sadistic streak her brother did. Just the baseline narcissism, psychosis and ruthlessness that came standard amongst the Kanagawas. If not for those five minutes that made Cecil the oldest and by law the heir to everything that came with the surname. Juno knew damn well how scant minutes between births could cause a hell of a lot of trouble.

Not that their stepmother wasn’t keeping her options open. Juno couldn’t help but notice she’d been sending Cassandra in his direction at previous balls similar to this one, going so far as to somehow get them locked in a closet together the last time he’d been forced into a stiff, awkward diplomatic meeting at their palace. Juno’s panic attack had soured the seven minutes in heaven mood somewhat, at least Cassandra had been apologetic.

There were a few more in the line up,l heirs from neighbouring planets rendered as exhausted by this life as Juno himself. Most of them with blank eyes, the telltale sign of normalcy being a paper thin mask, the person behind it just waiting for the next fix of whatever they drank, injected or snorted to help them put one foot in front of the other.

Juno knew far too much about that. Looking at them, picking out faces he knew from parties the queen certainly hadn’t sanctioned that he'd had to slip out of the castle to attend, Juno felt old guilt and shame stirring in his stomach. Suddenly the hard won distance he’d put between himself and his demons didn’t feel like all that far. It felt like it could be covered in a single step, every inch he’d struggled for could be lost so easily.

So Juno kept his distance from them as well.

Which left him with one option. The only option he knew he could never take.

“We should, uh, probably go dance, huh?”

He’d finally tracked him down when he was standing by the band, swaying lightly to the music. They were finally playing a song he liked. His own damn ball and they didn’t even let him choose the music.

Juno gave him a tired, wayn smile but nothing in it said he wasn’t happy to see him.

“I think we’d better. Nice to see you, Lord Mercury.”

Mick pulled a face, shifting from one foot to the other, “C’mon, cut it out or I’m going to call you ‘your majesty’ all night.”

“Don’t you dare,” Juno grunted, taking his hand and walking with him into the middle of the floor.

Juno could remember when he, Mick and Ben had all been of a height, before they selfishly grew when he didn’t and left him behind. Now he had to crane his neck to look into his eyes.

Bartholomew Mercury had grown in a lot of ways, since the three of them and the captain of the guard’s daughters had been best friends, playing in the gardens around the palace. The sudden loss of his father in the war, propelling him into suddenly being the head of the biggest, most powerful family on Harpyia at just twelve years old, now having to manage his family’s finances, their power and having to awkwardly court his best friend at the insisting of his board members, it had changed him. He wasn’t the kid who’d told his stories about the dangerous and fantastical and heroic exploits his father was surely getting up to on the battlefield, all of them enraptured.

In a perfect world, Mick would be the answer to all of Juno’s problems. A good, rich family with Harpyia’s best interests as their motivators, plenty of creds to refill their lacking coffers, a long standing reputation for loyalty and patriotism. They wouldn’t need to sell themselves to a bigger planet, they could build themselves stronger from within. And Mick had a good heart, if Juno could be selfish for a moment and want that in his spouse. He was a goof and lived with his head in some story he’d made up himself but he could make Juno laugh and they cared about each other, still in the fierce, unbreakable way that children did.

It would have been perfect. If Mick had the good sense to fall in love with the right twin.

It had been the little things, at first. The way Ben had looked at Mick as he’d tell his stories, like the rest of the world had fallen away apart from him. It was the way Mick would make excuses to sit in at the end of Ben’s dance lessons and watch with much the same expression. It had been annoying at first, when Juno was too young to know what it all really meant, just a way his best friends were excluding him. It had been hard, realising that there was someone his twin needed more than him, but Juno had quickly made it part of his job in their late teens. He couldn’t count the amount of times he’d distracted some servant or even the queen, knowing Ben and Mick were in some compromising position behind the twins’ bedroom door.

That was back when it had been fun and games, just two young nobles feeling stifled by their lives and finding some small joy in each other, spiced with rebellion. Him and Juno swapping clothes in the middle of parties to give them an excuse to cuddle up, Mick stealing up through their bedroom window on nights where Juno made damn sure to ‘accidentally’ fall asleep in one of the guest rooms.

And then the time for games had run out, the reality they’d all been ignoring coming collapsing back in on them when Juno had come of age, half an hour before Benzaiten. Such a small amount of time to make so much difference.

But Juno still did everything he could to give the two their time together. It was the least he could do, after all.

Even now he could see Mick’s eyes looking past Juno’s face, snagging on something in the background while they chatted mildly, joshing each other back and forth. When they spinned with the swell in the music, Juno saw exactly what he expected to. His brother, standing and watching them, not at all listening to the socialite he was supposed to be talking to. His expression broke Juno’s heart clean in two. Soft and sad and miles away. And accepting.

If Juno asked, he knew Ben would say yes. He’d tried to start the conversation a few times, in that fuzzy hour as they both fell asleep in the beds they insisted on keeping no more than a few meters apart. But Juno had stopped him every time, sharper than he’d meant to but he just couldn’t hear it. He couldn’t hear his little brother, his bright, smiling brother who’d gotten him through the worst years of his life and deserved only good things, he couldn’t hear him, out loud, give up the man he loved, had loved since they were ten, to keep Juno safe.

Because Juno didn’t want to feel the part of him that would long to let it happen.

“Mick, go dance with my brother already,” Juno let his arms fall as the song faded, speaking below the babble of the voices around them, “You’ve done your time.”

Mick bit his lip, a very unlordly habit he’d not been able to shake, “Aw Jay, you know it isn’t like that…”

“I know what it’s like,” Juno shook his head, straightening Mick’s tie where he hadn’t got the knot quite right, “It’s okay...just make it last for him, yeah?”

Mick swallowed a sigh and kissed the back of Juno’s hand, “I will.”

Juno found another partner within a minute, he was the belle of the ball as it were. But, as cruel as he felt, his eyes never stayed on their face for more than a moment because they were watching Lord Mercury and the prince share their dance. It was known throughout the court that they were boyhood friends, of course it was only natural that they should dance together, laughing and smiling as two young men at a party would.

Only Juno saw how Mick’s hand would brush Benten’s cheek as they moved between holds, over the scar there from when he’d fallen from one of the curtain walls on a dare. He saw how Benten’s long, graceful fingers played with Mick’s dreads as they swayed. He saw the myriad of subtle, tender gestures that were all that they could give each other even when they were so close, hearts beating side by side. It was beautiful and tragic all at once.

Juno watched, seeing what everyone else missed, even with one eye less than everyone else in the room.

A dance could last a lifetime, if you lied to yourself enough.

An hour shy of midnight. The ball was still in full swing, no self respecting noble dared yawn before it was technically the next day. The drinks kept being refilled, the plates of tiny desserts replenished themselves whenever you looked away, like fairies were working behind the scenes to keep the tableau as exquisitely crafted as anything from a stream or, hell, even a child’s picture book. This was a marathon of decadence, not a sprint.

Decadence Juno knew full well Harpyia couldn’t afford. Every meringue done up to look like a perfect cloud, every drop of wine rich as summer, was more gold that didn’t exist in the vaults. The queen may expect him to sleepwalk through the council meetings but Juno had long ago perfected the art of looking utterly bored while his eye missed nothing. Splendour was expensive but not nearly so much as war. The system wide conflict, the one that barely had anything to do with any soul on Harpyia, had taken great, greedy bites out of their creds, their resources, their populace. Larger planets with more corrupt governance could bear it quite easily but Harpyia was outer rim which meant small, beautiful and fragile. Not that this was spoken about, certainly not outside of the council chamber, but Juno could pick from the crowd who was really in the know by the vaguest hint of anxiety behind every sip of wine and every bite.

And in the way they looked at him, the formerly wayward princess who was going to save them all by lying down, opening his legs and keeping his mouth shut. As the night wore on, the jewellery that had been laid out beside his dress that evening, the bangles and cuffed earrings and strings of gold around his neck, started to feel like chains under those glances. The tiara, the one the eldest Steel child had been wearing for centuries, felt like a cage around his head. They could almost have been dragging on the floor as he tried to stand to the side and take a breath. Long, golden chains arching up into the ceiling and disappearing into shadows, someone unseen at the other end. His mother, the queen, the two sides of Sarah Steel that he often forgot was one person? Lord Takano, with his confidential smiles, playing at being his father from a safe distance, always with a flask on hand? The centuries of Steels who had come before him, all wearing that damned tiara, stretching back to when Harpyia was just a rock floating in space, content never to know the touch of human feet on its surface?

Or someone beyond even them?

Suddenly, all too fast, it was hard to breathe. Juno cursed silently, taking a seat on one of the long, satin pillowed benches that edged the hall. He bent his head as low as he could, under the guise of fixing a heel on his shoe, trying to breathe slowly.

Why did it have to happen like this, hitting him like a brick wall so he had no chance, like a sudden current grabbing his ankle and yanking him below the surface. It had always been like this when he would drink, feeling so loose and free one instant and his heart hammering against his ribs the next. Like he’d just stumbled wrong and fallen badly but there was no steadying himself.

Benten, where was Ben? Juno didn’t dare lift his head to look, just in case someone saw the panic on his face, the tears building in his eye. He couldn’t let them see, that would be the worst thing he could imagine, worse than if he’d drank three bottles of champagne himself and danced on the band’s stage. The off the rails princess narrative had been at least acceptable when he was younger, at least it had entertained the gossip streams for a while, but if any of them saw the very real cracks behind the dresses and the lipstick, the scars they couldn’t spin or monetize, then they would really be in trouble.

They’re all counting on you, he tried to tell himself to force himself to calm down, Ben, Mother, Jack, they’re all counting on you, all of them.

But it only made his lungs clench harder.

Juno could feel shadows creeping in around his already tilted vision, a taste like the gin in Jack’s flask but sharper, more metallic. He’d tried to sit apart but soon they’d hear, they’d hear his ragged breathing, whistling between his clenched teeth. They’d hear and they’d see and they’d know and everything would come crumbling down, everything he said he was caving in on itself like spun sugar. Pretty, sweet and utterly useless.

They’re counting on you, on you and if you mess up, if you ruin it, when you ruin it…

“Ma’am? Excuse me, are you alright?”

Juno thought he’d imagined it at first, how could there be a voice he didn’t know at this party? They were all the queen’s courtiers and servants, people he’d known all his life, suitors who had been circling since he came of age. How could there be a single voice he couldn’t place? A queen must know her subjects, he’d always been told that, he was good with faces and voices and names.

Juno looked up, remembering too late that he couldn’t let anyone see him like this, whether he knew their voice or not. But his face was so kind, too kind to look away, the way you couldn’t look away from a fire when you were cold down to your bones. He was young, Juno’s age, his eyes bright and alive in a way no noble born kid’s had ever been, his hair dark and looking impossibly soft. And he was smiling, gently curious, gently worried.

“Are you alright?” he prompted again, his voice softly accented in a way Juno couldn’t place.

“Yes,” Juno said quickly, realising how unconvincing it sounded, “Thank you, just…”

What could he say? Tired? Desperate for a drink? Ready to rip this ridiculous dress off at the skirt so his legs were free to run?

“Overwhelmed?” the man provided gently, lifting an eyebrow.

Juno swallowed hard but there was no judgement in the stranger’s gaze, “Yes...I suppose that would do.”

“We could step outside for a moment?” he offered, “Get some fresh air? It’s rather a lot in here, I do agree.”

Juno frowned, trying to make sense of this with his already exhausted mind. Didn’t he know? How was that even possible, how did anyone set foot on the palace grounds, hell on this planet, and not know who he was?

“I don’t know…”

His eye darted around the ballroom, quickly, not wanting to catch the attention of anyone else. The queen was dancing with Lord Takano, their faces warm with old friendship but Juno could tell at a glance they were in some kind of disagreement behind those smiles, a silent argument was taking place. They’d been fighting a lot lately. Benzaiten was carrying two drinks over to where Lord Mercury stood, chatting away to Sasha with his usual goofy smile, Sasha probably in the middle of exasperatedly explaining that she was supposed to be on duty tonight and couldn’t stop to chat. Cecil Kanagawa was talking to a pretty socialite whose expression was falling into poorly concealed disgust and fright at the exact same rate as he grew more animated and enthused.

He wouldn’t be missed for a minute. Just a minute, to breathe and settle himself again. Already he amassed excuses for the queen. He was preventing a bigger disaster, he was in the bathroom, he was integrating himself with this stranger, hadn’t she told him to win people to their side?

“You have some lovely gardens around this palace,” the man in question smiled, “Perhaps you’d like to show me them? If you have the time of course. I would hate to keep such a beautiful lady from his admirers.”

Juno felt his cheeks get hot at that, in a pleasant way. This man was exactly the type of person he’d try and snag at a party back in the day, tall and well dressed and a sharp smile. He’d been denied every other small pleasure tonight, every escape, why let them take this one too?

And he liked a mystery.

“I’d be happy to,” Juno stood before he could change his mind, making his stranger quickly straighten and step back, though not too far, “Just for a moment.”

He smiled, showing teeth that were more pointed than could be natural. Was he a journalist, new enough on the scene that he wasn’t included in Sasha’s dossiers yet? He certainly had the smile of someone who knew more than they should.

Juno took the offered arm, feeling very expensive silk with costly detailed embroidery. Far too nice for a gossip hungry shutterbug. He made for the large door but Juno shook his head silently and wove them a different way, one where they were less likely to be seen, slipping out from behind a curtain into a library, through the stacks to a much simpler iron door that led right out into the topiary.

“An impressive disappearance, ma’am,” the man smiled crookedly, eyes twinkling now there was moonlight to be caught in them, “Have I made off with tonight’s entertainment? The best magician in the solar system?”

He did know, Juno decided, smirking. But he was happy to play along, things would be so much easier if they were both strangers.

“Perhaps you have,” he shrugged, making his jewellery ring loud in the empty garden, “You should be flattered, I don’t often perform for private audiences.”

“Oh, my dear,” there was that smile again, sharp and almost hungry, “Just having you out here with me is flattering.”

Whoever he was, he flirted better than anyone Juno had ever met. His cheeks were getting warmer by the second.  

He did show him the gardens, they were something of a pride of the palace, it was boasted that they were the only gardens even more beautiful by night than by day. The flowers that grew here were all native to Harpyia, carrying the natural bioluminescence that seemed inherent to their flora. The glow on their bare skin shifted between blue, green, pale yellow and a starlight white as they moved between the beds that hugged the winding paths. The scent was light, not overwhelming but pervasive, it would cling to their skin for hours after. Juno told him everything he remembered about them, everything he’d read in a book or picked up by osmosis when he was running through them carelessly as a child, bothering the gardeners.

“Incredible…” his stranger breathed, the awe on his face clearly not an act.

“Wow,” Juno chuckled, “You really aren’t from here, are you?”

The smile that won him made the hair on his arms stand up, “I’m from nowhere, my dear. And this planet certainly isn’t nowhere.”

“No,” Juno agreed, eye flickering back to the facade of the palace, sharply lit by flood lights so the soft biological glow didn’t touch it, “No, it isn’t.”

He felt his stranger’s eyes on him, like he could tease out what was behind those words with a glance.

Juno quickly cleared his throat and pinned his smile back into place, “There’s a little grove just up here, it’s a nice place to sit.”

“Lead the way, my dear.”

It was a cosy, secluded area and the stranger certainly wasn’t the first pretty face Juno had brought there. It was all encased in a grand, natural archway of the climbing, ivy like plant of blue glowing leaves with five points like how a child would imagine the stars. The butterflies that made Harpyia famous would nest here more that anywhere else in the garden, wanting the shade and the peace as much as their princess seemed to. Sitting on the ivory bench at it’s centre had always made Juno feel like a decorative bird in one of those grand, old fashioned cages. Especially now, in this get up with all the gold and gems and the flowing skirts and the attachment at the back that was basically a cape for fancy people.

“Beautiful,” the stranger murmured, again unable to hide how genuine his delight was.

Juno had to admit it was nice to see Harpyia through his dark eyes, not in the least because it gave him an excuse to look at them. But it reminded him that there were beautiful things about this palace and that helped his lungs open up and his heart slow down.

“We have a folk tale,” he explained, voice soft in the dim light, “It says the butterflies are gifts from an ancient king to make our planet beautiful and our people happy.”

“I can see why,” the stranger smiled, turning to look at him.

Juno realised he wore very little jewellery, just a simple cuff and chain on one ear and a bracelet of large links on one wrist. His clothing was expensive but the ornamentation was minimal, far more than a grand ball at the palace would expect. What made him seem so sure, so confident, more of a lord than anyone else on that dancefloor, was all in his face. Not in the paint on his lips or kohl on his eyes, it was in the way he carried himself. The way he smiled. Like he knew exactly where he was and where he needed to go after this moment.

Juno was so gripped with envy that, for a moment, he could taste it.

“What do I call you?” he asked, that instant of sourness making him want to press more, “I can’t very well keep calling you the stranger from nowhere.”

“Why not?” his companion smiled, “It has a certain mysterious ring to it... but I see your point. Call me Rex Glass, my dear, and we shall get along just fine.”

“Rex, huh?” Juno arched his eyebrow at that, not believing for a moment that it was the name he was born with, “What does that mean?”

He smiled knowingly, “Not all names have histories stretching back centuries. Some names are just sounds. Signifiers.”

Juno gave a grunt of assent, turning his eye up to the canopy of flowers. The night sky could just barely be seen through them, patches in a quilt. Scatterings of tiny dots that could be raging balls of gas or long dead rocks shrouded in deadly cloaks of radiation or even other planets where other people went about their lives and made their own choices. They all had names, names they’d been given or names they’d chosen themselves. Some names would have history, but a softer, kinder, familial history that didn’t feel like a weight around their necks. A name that wasn’t a prize others competed for. A name that wouldn’t mean they had to sell themselves in a wash of pomp and luxury, calling it tradition.

“Dear? Are you sure you’re alright?”

The tear had reached his jaw before Juno even realised it was there. He struggled with feeling things around his eyes sometimes, remnants of the old damage.

“Yeah,” Juno quickly wiped it away before it could beckon friends, “Just...what was the word you used, Rex? Overwhelmed? That’s it.”

“I must admit,” he seemed to be choosing his words carefully, “I’ve never had a ballroom full of people force me to get engaged. But it doesn’t take a lot of imagination to see it would be unpleasant. And overwhelming.”

“Not pretending you don’t know me anymore, huh?” Juno smiled sadly, mourning quietly for his false anonymity.

“I don’t know you,” Rex insisted, “Knowing your name and knowing you’re a princess does not equal knowing who you are, knowing your heart.”

Juno looked over at him, confused by that at first, the way you would be if something you’d always wanted to hear had just been plucked from your mind and said aloud. You’d feel a guilty responsibility for its presence in the real world.

“What if that’s the only good thing about me?” Juno joked thinly, trying to throw up the same shields he always had, only now seeing how thin they were, “The only thing people could now and still tolerate me?”

Rex frowned a little, “I don’t think that’s true, Juno Steel. Not from what I’ve seen in only half an hour.”

“We’ve been out here for half an hour?” Juno nearly shrieked, latching onto that because it was easier than everything else, “The queen’s going to kill me, she’ll have noticed by now…how does she not have half the guard out looking for me…”

Rex had a soft expression of regret as he put a hand on Juno’s shoulder, the touch warmer than it ought to be in the cool night air, “You can go back if you’d like, Juno, but I mean it. I think the only reason you worry there’s nothing to you other than your crown is because no one’s ever really asked. But I’m here, I’m asking. I want to know.”

Juno felt like a light had come on above the surface of the water he was submerged in, finally showing him which way to kick. But could he reach it? Did he have the energy to try?

But it would be nice to pretend.

Intending it just to last a moment, Juno leaned in, inviting Rex to come the rest of the way. And he did, eagerly enough to make his heart kick. His lips were as soft as he’d thought they’d be from the moment he saw them and he found himself hoping there’d be a trace of his lipstick lingering when he moved away. Which he should have done by now. That had been the plan, a brief, sweet thing he could think about later when he was in bed, then run back to the ballroom and do everything he could do to calm the storm that would be waiting for him.

But it was so nice. It was so achingly sweet and simple in a way nothing had been for as long as Juno could remember. Rex kissed him like nothing else would ever be as important, like there were no unanswered questions between them, like this pure delight could go on and on forever even after the kiss had to end.

Juno leaned closer, bringing a hand up to rest lightly on Rex’s cheek, thumb stroking against those sharp cheekbones. Rex’s hands moved in answer, one hand slipping around Juno’s waist, pulled tight by the corset of his dress, hand splaying over the curve of him under the billowing silk, drawing him close. The shrinking, unoccupied part of Juno’s mind noted that this was moving beyond the realm of chaste kisses in the garden, edging up the royal scale of scandalousness if anyone stumbled upon them. But he found it very hard to care, especially when Rex moaned and those sharp teeth grazed Juno’s lower lip, when he pulled him close until their chests were pressed flush against each other, silk whispering against silk.

Juno smirked against his stranger’s lips. So he wouldn’t be the only one in trouble.

Eventually they had to stop, both panting, noses close enough the bump into each other, making them giggle breathlessly.

“My, my,” Rex exhaled and his breath smelled of mint, “I believe my first guess was correct. You, my dear, are simply magic.”

Juno grinned, not moving away just yet, heart beating in his chest like bird wings, “Now who’s flattering?”

Rex laughed, the hand on his ass squeezing lightly, shamelessly, “Always me. Was that enough to convince you to stay, dear heart? Now I want to know you even more…”

“Well you can’t stick around too long either,” Juno murmured, resting his forehead against Glass’s, “Not with half of the queen’s jewellery box in those hidden pockets of yours.”

Juno had to admit, for someone who’d been underestimated almost consistently since he could walk, it was damn satisfying to feel Rex Glass stiffen in shock against him.

“Ah…” his voice was surprisingly smooth, “I don’t know what you’re talking about, dear…”

Juno chuckled dryly and slipped his hand into Rex’s jacket. It was pretty clever and could only be handmade, sewn so cunningly you’d never know what was there. Unless he was pulling you close and kissing you.

Juno didn’t recognise the necklace he withdrew, the queen had so many jewels it would have been impossible to keep track of them all. But all of them would have that gold seal pressed into them, on the latch or the chain or even worked into the design for the days she was feeling ostentatious. On this one it was small, set into one of the pearls, the butterfly that was the crest of their house.

“Not exactly the wisest move,” Juno hummed, drawing away and passing the necklace through his fingers, toying with it the way the queen had let them do when they were toddlers. On her good days at least, “Unless you’re taking them far off planet where someone won’t know that symbol. Or if you’re gonna melt them down. Which one were you planning?”

Rex did seem to be a gentleman through and through, accepting graciously when he was caught out, “Both, actually. I was going to take them into the Solar planets and break them into smaller pieces that could then be passed off as antiques.”

“Smart,” Juno nodded, “I mean, you’d have to be. I know how good our security is, one of my best friends works in it and I do listen in all those meetings the queen thinks I sleepwalk through. How did you come up with an ID good enough to fool our systems?”

He smiled then, “Well, I’m hardly going to reveal all my secrets on the first date, am I?”

“Cute,” Juno grunted, handing him back the necklace, hands shaking softly as he did so, “I guess you were going to go for the crown jewels next, huh? They’re on display in the ballroom. Taking them in front of all those eyes should be a breeze for you, Rex.”

“I wouldn’t blame your guard so harshly,” he allowed, “This night has been a long time in the works. Though…” he looked down at the necklace, “I fear you’ve lost me?”

“You think I’m gonna stop you?” Juno arched an eyebrow, feeling acid in the back of his throat, “My mother has enough jewellery on her person right now to feed every hungry child in our capital, let alone what’s in her bedroom. And those crown jewels? Stolen centuries ago from the indigenous aliens that lived here before it was settled. They’re not ours. I couldn’t care less whether you take them.”

Rex was clearly deciding whether or not to believe him, clearly he wasn’t used to his plans going awry but was trying to make the best of things.

And Juno couldn’t stop now, the words were coming out like oil bubbling up from beneath the ground, “It’s all a big fucking game, isn’t it? Let’s play at being kings and queens like all the old Earth storybooks, making the exact same mistakes they made without even tasting the irony. Let’s dress up our princess, paste make up over his scars, paint over his depression with gold and silk and trot him out for the highest bidder so we can scrape together just enough to refill our vaults so we can keep on getting gout, stabbing each other in the back and looking the other way while our children overdose on designer drugs just to feel alive, for another hundred years. And then maybe, just maybe, he gets to grow up and sit in the big fancy chair, looking beautiful and wondering where his humanity went, just like me.”

His voice, cracking with anger and guilt and despair he hadn’t realised was building up, echoed off the shining faux stars that arched above them, making them shudder slightly, as if in grief. The butterflies shifted and stirred, wings fluttering in fear. But the words went no further, thankfully caught in the greenery. The flowers would keep safe his truths, the ones he’d never dared say out loud.

“Juno…” Rex murmured, he hadn’t taken his arm from around his waist, “Juno, dear, it’s alright…”

Juno gave a bitter laugh and shook his head, not even knowing where to start with how wrong he was. He reached up and took the tiara from his hair, the spun gold and otherworldly diamonds tugging painfully as if they were trying to cling on. But he got them free.

“Here,” he muttered bleakly, holding it out to Rex, “Take this too. I mean, you were probably planning on it anyway. I guess that’s why you took me out here, to flirt and flatter the gullible princess and rob him blind while he was still reeling? Not bad. You are a clever thief.”

“Juno,” Rex breathed, not moving to take the tiara, “I know I have no right to ask you to believe a word I say but, please. That is not why I approached you. I brought you out here because you looked like you needed it and...and I wanted to help. I know that sounds completely preposterous coming from me but it’s the truth. And, if it’s any proof to you at all, I will not take your tiara.”

It was the truth. Juno had spent enough of his time around people built entirely out of falsehoods to know that taste of something real, the way the water would taste slightly different on another planet or the air felt fresher after rain.

“You might as well,” Juno didn’t pull back his hand, “I hate the damn thing. Consider it a gift.”

Rex sighed softly and looked from side to side. Something in his face had changed, Juno realised, something subtle and hard to pin down but he could see it now in this light. He looked less sure of himself, wary, odd that he hadn’t up until now when he was planning one of the most ambitious jewel heists in Harpyia’s history.

But now he looked like he was taking a real risk.

“How about this…” Rex put his hands gently over Juno’s and took the tiara. He moved away and placed it between them on the bench where it shone with the bioluminescence, “Let us say I did mean to take this beautiful piece from you but, rendered careless by your beauty and that wonderful kiss we shared, I forgot it here. Now…if it is still here in an hour, when I realise my foolish error, I will take it back and steal away, never to be seen again on Harpyia.”

Juno nodded, biting his lip.

“However,” Rex lifted his eyes to Juno’s, “Say you find it first and take it back with you. I cannot leave this planet without such a lovely thing, of course I can’t. If it was gone then...I’d have to come back for it another night, wouldn’t I? And...on that night, maybe I would steal something far more valuable. If he wished to be stolen, of course.”

Juno inhaled in the softest gasp as he realised what Rex was saying, what he was suggesting, “Rex…”

“Don’t call me that,” he pleaded gently, rising up, “Not now. Call me...call me Peter Nureyev. An orphan from a small, battered planet much like this one who is trying to make something of himself. And who would gladly take on a partner.”

“Peter Nureyev,” Juno murmured, to feel the words on his lips. That was his real name, there was no doubt about it. He suddenly felt as if he’d been given a very precious gift.

The stranger, this Peter Nureyev smiled and bowed his head slightly, “Juno Steel. I am an expert on disappearances and I am offering you a ticket on one. I understand what you’d be leaving behind and I understand if the consequences are too great. But...I want you to see what you are worthy of, Juno. I want you to watch as someone truly sees you, for everything you are beneath that crown, and wants this for you.”

“I...I don’t know if I can…” Juno felt old excuses, old fears press up his throat, “And there’s no time, I’m supposed to be betrothed by the end of the night…”

“Then don’t take it, dear,” Nureyev said gently, “This is a choice. I feel it’s high time you got one of those.”

A choice. A chance to choose another one of those faces he saw at the bottom of his champagne glass. A chance to wear a name as lightly as Peter Nureyev did, to feel so free. To not feel the golden fetters around his ankles, tugging him into a life he didn’t want.

At such a high price.

“I’ll think about it,” he murmured, wiping away the last of his tears.

Nureyev nodded and smiled, leaning in and kissing him softly on the lips before saying, “Then goodnight, Juno Steel.”

Juno breathed in the scent of other planets, the scent of fresh, clean air and rain speckled earth, “Goodnight, Peter Nureyev.”

He straightened up, flashed those fox-like teeth and walked away into the shadows of the garden. Juno felt a flash of worry for him, there were guards all around the palace but he told himself he would have a plan to escape. Of course he would.

And he had left Juno with one too.

He lingered in the garden far longer than he should have, looking at his tiara, resting slightly crookedly on the bench, looking fragile and beautiful. He sat until goosebumps rose on his bare arms, possibilities blooming and dying behind his eyes, a hundred arguments raging inside his head.

And then he heard them, footsteps in the gravel.

“There you are,” Benzaiten was breathing heavily, “God, Juno, mother nearly called off the ball, she’s in there right now crushing macarons to dust so she doesn’t scream in front of everyone. She’s so mad, Juno…”

“I know, Ben, I’m sorry,” Juno stood, smoothing his skirts, “I just needed some air and I lost track of time. I’ll go see her now.”

Guilt and sorrow flickered over his brother’s face, “I...I don’t have to tell her I saw you…”

“No,” he took his hand and squeezed it, “It’s time I went back. Not like she’s going to get any less mad. I’m just sorry you had to tear yourself away from Mick.”

“Juno…” Ben groaned, blushing as he’d known he would.

He chuckled, nudging him with an elbow, “Come on. Any last words for me before mother tears me to shreds?”

“Not funny,” Ben walked closer to him than he needed to as they started back towards the palace, their hands still joined. Though just before they stepped back into the golden glow of the lights, he stopped them, “...oh, wait.”

“Hm?” Juno looked over as his brother reached up to the top of his head and brushed a few curls, neatening his hair with deft hands.

“There. Your tiara was crooked.”

#jupeter #juno steel #peter nureyev #benzaiten steel #mick mercury #sarah steel #angst #jack takano #tpp #the penumbra podcast #tpp fic #junoverse #juniverse #royalty au #juno is a princess #Nureyev is a thief #you know where this is going #please to enjoy!

[nureyevv]

Benzaiten lives! AU

Despite being polar opposites of each other, Benten has an absolutely killer Juno impression. He finds this immensely funny and, on a multitude of occasions, has attempted to fool Juno’s closest friends.

Buddy was fooled once and only once, but the first time it happened it took her a good 24 hours to figure out what was happening. She congratulated Ben on the accomplishment, but since then he’s never gotten another prank by her.

Vespa can not tell them apart even when they aren’t trying to trick her. She’s pulled a knife on real Juno four times and accused him of being Ben. It took Buddy assuring her that Ben had been out of town on work for a week for her to believe Juno when he insisted it was really him.

Jet... no one can really tell if he falls for it or not. He treats them with similar mannerisms so even if he did get them mixed up Ben would never know.

Rita seems like she’s been properly fooled but an hour later when Ben tries to leave she says to send Mista Steel over when he gets home. It just keeps happening. Ben is starting to think he’s the one getting pranked.

Unsurprisingly, Peter can identify an act when he sees one, especially when someone is pretending to be his partner. He can appriciate the challenge, however, and will often play along until one of them calls it off.

Juno has scolded Ben about it mutiple times but he just keeps doing it. He’ll show up to meetings only to have Vespa scold him for something he had done the day before (a day he’d spent out with Rita). The stress is adding years to his life. Also, there was one day where Ben was so in character that, when Juno had caught him in the act, he had begun questioning if he was the real Juno. He has yet to live it down.

Each twin has a nasty habit of raiding the other’s cupboards. Ben hasn’t gotten the chance to have a bowl of the cereal bought with his own money in three months. Juno swears he picked up mayo at the store but it’s always gone. Why just the mayonnaise, Benten??? He’s a literal PI and he can’t fucking figure out the motive there

It’s not really his style, but Ben loves painting nails. Luckily, Juno likes to have his nails painted (and for all his sharshooting he cannot seem to get the hang of the right hand). Every Saturday they get together so Juno can rock a new color. Rita and Peter are invited on occasion and the group makes a day of it.

“Hi, I’m Juno But Cool”

Buddy will send Ben and Juno on jobs together under the same alias so while one entertains the crowd witnesses who can attest where they were when the crime takes place the other steals the mark with ease

For the more gracefully challenged memebers of the crew Ben teaches dance lessons when they find themselves preparing for a high class job that will require basic waltzing skills to get by undetected

Peter and Buddy already know most of it but the refresher is beneficial. Jet is a surprisingly quick learner while Vespa threatens to stab someone with every wrong move she makes. Rita participates much longer than necessary for her because she just thinks it’s neat

Juno opts out. Except no one, especially not buddy, is gonna risk the mission on his pride. She insists he learns before he falls on his face and blows their cover

As a result, the team discovers that Juno is... a very good dancer. Not on the same level as Ben of course, but he’s been his brother’s go to partner for long enough to have picked up a few things.

Ben may or may not fix the lessons so Juno and Peter keep ending up partners, but it’s not like they can prove it. What can he say, he’s a fantastic wingman, whether Juno will admit it or not

Ben is the only one of the ship who can match Peter’s level of culinary disaster. They tried to surprise everyone with homemade dinner one day, and, on the bright side, they accomplished the surprise part.

Not a single one of them saw the emergency evacuation coming

And the poor bread pudding definitely didn’t predict its unholy fate...

“MooOoom, Juno stole my eyepatch!”

“Ben what on earth would you need an eyepatch for??”

“We’re space pirates, duh!”

As Buddy has determined herself the mom in this situation she attests that Ben has a point

Juno nearly steals Ben’s eye to see how HE likes it

Ben 100% shares fun childhood Juno facts. Some of them aren’t even true, but it’s too funny to watch Juno convince everyone he didn’t actually wear exclusively clown shoes in the eight grade

It was sixth grade, Ben, and I thought we agreed Not to speak of it

Ben stays impressively up to date with mars pop culture while Juno lives under a rock as much as possible

Juno: what does that even mean??

Ben: oh, you know, just get bees, bro

Peter, confused and afraid: what the fuck is a bee?

Ben makes no attempts to be subtle with Juno. Peter and him being pining idiots? Fine, but he’s gonna call them out on it

It’s just the “boOoOoOnNe??” scene from b99 but in space

Juno and peter: *tension*

Ben: y’all gonna smash already or what?

Ben is a horrible influence on Rita. He’s notorious for getting to go trouble and Rita is very good at making that possible.

On one occasion they decided to hack into the wealthiest bank on Venus. They didn’t even steal anything, it was just to see if they could.

The entire planet went into lockdown for a week

Ben also has all the best Juno insight and is the proudest of everyone to see just how far he’s come. He knows better than anyone how tough the journey has been.

Or at least, these are all the things Juno thinks of late at night, when he imagines what his brother and best friend would have been like if he lived past nineteen. He would have liked it, Juno thought. Juno would have liked to have him there too. The possibilities were endless, really. Ben could have done anything. He had his whole life ahead of him.

[gemsofthegalaxy]

I should be working on my Wedding Date AU but instead I have yet another AU premise I’d like to jot down before I move on:

Peter Nureyev is looking for something that he knows is in the possession of an elderly lady who also happens to be hiring for a personal assistant. It’s the perfect opportunity to make it into a long-con, so he to be her assistant in order to find out where the object is and, of course, steal it from her. 

So, as Morrigan Vale, he gets hired on as an assistant to Ms Maisel Galad. 

She was a business owner and artist most of her life. She lost her partner a couple years ago and now leads a somewhat secluded life. She lives in a townhouse and frequently requires the use of a wheelchair, so she pays a few people to help her out with her daily tasks. Her role in the company is mostly hands off, but she wants the personal assistant to help her tie up some loose ends as well as schedule her increasingly frequent appointments. 

Her new(ish) neighbor also comes over to help with cooking and sometimes tidying, as well to chat and recommend books. That neighbor is none other than Juno Steel, PI. 

#juno steel #peter nureyev #jupeter #my fic #my writing

[ao3feed-jupeter]

A Tired Author, A Nameless Thief

by fancryptid

Bruno Bronze—AKA Juno Steel—is practically a household name to bookworms across Mars. For better and for worse. It’s a good thing almost no one knows the two men are one and the same.

An AU in which Juno is a bestselling crime author, writing under a pseudonym and using his stories to take shots at the rich and powerful of Hyperion City. All his plots are inspired by real-life unsolved crimes, many of which he’s beginning to suspect were perpetrated by the same thief.

It’s all business as usual, right up until the real-life thief takes notice...

Words: 11354, Chapters: 1/1, Language: English

Fandoms: The Penumbra Podcast

Rating: Teen And Up Audiences

Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply

Categories: M/M

Characters: Juno Steel, Peter Nureyev, Rita (Penumbra Podcast), Benzaiten Steel, Mick Mercury, Sasha Wire, Alessandra Strong

Relationships: Peter Nureyev/Juno Steel, Mick Mercury/Benzaiten Steel, Rita & Juno Steel, Benzaiten Steel & Juno Steel

Additional Tags: Alternate Universe - Juno is an Author Instead of a Detective, Alternate Universe - Benzaiten Steel Lives, "What do you have there Nureyev?" "A knife!" "NO!!", alcohol consumption, Relatable Writer Content, Brief Mention of Blaster Violence (in the past), Fluff

Read on AO3 at https://ift.tt/2XpFsIJ

#jupeter #jupeter fics #tpp #IFTTT #AO3 Feed