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incarnateirony · 4 years

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15.11 and moving forward

Some of you may have seen my Putrefied in Purgatory video surrounding 15.09. Putrefaction is the reduction of a material to its barest state for a new foundation, rotting away to the alchemical Blackened state to rebuild on new stages of whitening (which seemed to crest in 15.10 for Dean), then yellowing and reddening en route, though for completion there's other stages ahead of us (as per what I lended towards in Philosopher's Gold, also 15.09 video.)

But I think what I need to do is discuss the tree.

SO MOVING FORWARD, WHAT THE FUCK IS GOING ON IN ALCHEMY AND QABBALAH SPN LAND. GLAD YOU ASKED, NOBODY.

I *AM* gonna need you to bear with me right now, because I’m about to data-dump out a bunch of information and then go back over and explain how this is connecting to what Andrew Fucking Dabb and company are doing actively, episode by episode. If you don’t get it on first read, that’s fine, once I start putting it in terms and concepts and show stuff you get, scroll back and re-digest in frame.

Okay so, let’s drop some points. You may have remembered me making early videos of Belphegor as the ruler of Thagirion after 15.01 (x) and later, one called Worthy of Love for Tiphareth (x), but not before he who blocks and hampers the heart guides walked them through flames they were not yet ready to access (x), causing an unlevel involution between the Three Principles with Castiel reaching a reddening while Dean sat in darkness and Sam struggled to maintain his own light.

This is going to become very important to my babbling, but the concept is that there is a nega/void/blockage version of the tree that has “evil” versions of each node. Tiphareth’s shadow is Thagirion. Tiphareth is the essence of love, true and genuine. It dominates the heart chakra, and its disputer, Belphegor, the blocker, is he who does not believe in love and observes marriages for dissent and further aggitates the blockage in the path. Sound familiar?

This Sephira is in some respects the most important of all. It is the centre of the whole system; it is the only Sephira below the Abyss which communicates directly with Kether. (Think crown/godhead/source -- white node #1) It is fed directly from Chokmah and Binah; also from Chesed and Geburah. (I’ll... get into these another time, they’re a higher segment) It is thus admirably fitted to dominate the lower Sephiroth; it is balanced both vertically and horizontally. In the planetary system it represents the Sun; in the system of Tetragrammaton it represents the Son. In other words, the Son is an interpretation of the Father in terms of the Mind. [Tiphareth is] thus representative of [the four] elements at their practical best. (Book of Thoth, p.181)

You don’t say. (vaguely screams into fist about who and what the Mind is and who and what the Father in this Aeon is)

Soft Husband Gaze Dot Gif not found in tumblr search so I’ma nab and tag another by @starsmish

Dean and Cas’ blowout over Jack, “you’re dead to me”, was over Cas knowing something was wrong with Jack, and not telling them, and Dean’s anger leading to distrust.

That was putrefied in purgatory, everything laid bare. And while they haven’t had their heart to heart yet (that big good omens energy shot is probably from 12, a bobocuda episode like The Future was), here–

Cas already had his gasping, shocked, clutched reunion with the son. Sam came home and gave a squeeze too.

But Dean walked up, put a hand behind his son’s neck, stared deeply into his eyes to see if it was him. And, as if doubting himself, looked to his somber husband, who silently communicated and affirmed it, and Dean knew, and trusted, and believed, and their son was home.

Someone launch me to jupiter please

oh wait neverfuckingmind, Dabb and co are working on that shortly.

Tiphareth, the heart, is the central vein, the power between godhood and the terrestrial earth as manifest in Malkuth.

I had pointed out the choice taste in Dean emerging from black in a white suit to look into yellow light and past red drapes in 15.10 and that Dean seemed to be approaching his whitening, but that’s even truer now.

The phases I speak of bear relevance to these.

Just--humor me and see earth as the blackened base from the human perspective, even if the blackened base of the Shadow of Man lies beneath the Ain Soph (which I’ll show some inverted trees for later). I’ve spoken of lunar light in regards to the whitening before, and it even rose in my Reflection video about crucifying the ego before it was too late (x) (please mind the video was made a year ago now based on hermetic pattern spec) “The moon gives me her secret, a confidant; as full and bright as I am, this light is not my own and a million light reflections pass over me.”

(aside re: crucifying the ego, it’s about removing the blackened snake of our unrefined parts of the self, similar to putrefaction, so a step we just crossed)

In alchemy, albedo is one of the four major stages of the magnum opus, along with nigredo, citrinitas/xanthosis and rubedo. It is a Latinicized term meaning "whiteness". Following the chaos or massa confusa of the nigredo stage, the alchemist undertakes a purification or rectification in albedo, which is literally referred to as ablutio or absolution – the washing away of impurities. This phase is concerned with "bringing light and clarity to the prima materia (personal material)". But the transmutational state is ... well.

“The whitening phase is ruled by the moon and as such is reflective, in that it does not have its own light. The maturation of the whitening happens via reflection and is often described as mirroring. The reflective processes, of thinking and feeling, dominate the direct experiences of intuition, sensation and imagination. Knowledge is King, and Mystery is banished by the whitening ego's searchlight. Perfection is idealised, and imperfection seen as weakness. Immediate gratification is expected. Nothing is allowed to mature. Lacking true wisdom, we are children in adult's bodies. Our leaders lack the vision to see the real problems, and the guts to really change things.

“The first main goal of the process... highly prized by many alchemists... is the silver or moon condition, which still has to be raised to the sun condition. The albedo [whitening], is so to speak, the daybreak, but not till the rubedo [reddening] is it sunrise. The transition to the rubedo is formed by the citrinitas [yellowing], though this, as we said, was omitted later.” (x)

Now let’s take a look at how that applies to Yesod in the middle pillar, above Malkuth, both of which gain power from light *elsewhere* -- that is, Tiphareth.

Of Yesod:

“After the double excursion into misfortune, (Hod and Netzach) the current returns to the middle pillar. This Sephira is the seat of the great crystallization of Energy. But it takes place very far down the Tree, at the apex of the third descending triangle, and a flat triangle at that. There is little help from low, unbalanced spheres like Netzach and Hod. What saves Yesod is the direct ray from Tiphareth; this Sephira is in the direct line of succession. (Book of Thoth) “

Yesod is that subtle basis upon which the physical world is based....It is the Astral Plane, which in one sense being passive and reflecting energies from above is lunar, even as the moon reflects the light of the sun. The Astral Light is an omnipresent and all-permeating fluid or medium of extremely subtle matter; substance in a highly tenuous state, electric and magnetic in constitution, which is the model upon which the physical world is built. It is the endless, changeless, ebb and flow of the world's forces that, in the last resort, guarantee the stability of the world and provides its foundation. [...] The general conception of Yesod is of change with stability. (Regardie, 1994)

So let’s take a quick aside on that double journey into instability in Hod and netzach, and I’ll leave everyone to think of how this correlates now.

The position of Netzach is doubly unbalanced; off the middle pillar, and very low down on the Tree. It is taking a very great risk to descend so far into illusion, and, above all, to do it by frantic struggle. Netzach pertains to Venus...and the greatest catastrophe that can befall Venus is to lose her Heavenly origin. (Book of Thoth, p.182)

The sphere of Hod represents on a very much lower plane similar qualities to those obtaining in Chokmah. It is the lower plane, first primitive version of union and sharing between the divine masculine and feminine (SPN video recs [x], [x] ) as mirrored to Netzach’s above details.

So we’ve got... lesser unions *scrolls over 15.9* cast down Mark wedding, check, from a blackened putrified base of Malkuth not yet even fully acquiring its own awareness of reflected light in Yesod or Albedo. 15.10 Dean does seem to start gaining some sense of light and dream, if reflected off of imaginings of others while coming out from behind the curtain *checks* but it’s not fully manifest yet. Now the heroes struggle through descending into illusion and frantic struggle, questioning all they know in existence, or their “luck”. *checks*

Now, Fortuna tells our heroes a good deal of what we knew they needed to hear. In the end it really isn’t about their luck. Heroes aren’t extinct, but it’s not about playing god’s game, it’s about playing their own. The divine feminine told them the secrets of the gods and, in a way, it is the steps towards mastering their human sovereignty.

Notice the lunar card path lending towards the lunar Yesod node, for example, even using arcana -- given this is Grey’s system, there’s a few others.

Uh, ignore the given card/highlighted path for now, that’s there for reasons you may recognize that I’ll bang on about elsewhere.(Aeon, for the record, is basically the same as Judgement and World=Universe, and Lust=Strength different naming system -- you’ll notice the second names on the first chart apply here, though in a matter of descending vs ascending. A few are different; and I’m not gonna pledge up and down which version Dabb is using, so I’m more going to take the raw idea that works across multiple models)

In the interim -- and defaulting back to Tiphareth after following the path of the Sun through Art, towards the philosopher’s stone of unabridged love, marriage, the sun and the son, the moon reflects the light of the sun, the Rising Sun, albeit not yet back to its proper reddening -- the yellow familial light I’ve banged on about in this show, even beyond our romantic pairings. The sun had been lost and the family and the three principles fell into chaos, needing to rebuild. And yet, as Castiel brings home Jack, we see the growth even in these few episodes:

With pain and distrust betrayed in purgatory, over having failed to communicate issues with Jack, once everything was laid bare and rotten to base to rebuild in Purgatory, Dean looked to Castiel after doubting himself staring into Jack’s eyes to know if their son was truly home, and by a look, he knew, and accepted, and as weighty as it was, that family was complete.

Back to Tiphareth as the four elements in harmony, we have our future playing field here.

I will tap back to Hod reflecting Chokmah though, at a lesser value, by citing some points of Chokmah: “male creative energy, wisdom and the expression of a single idea in terms of duality. It transmits the idea of the divine unity to its feminine counterpart, the understanding, somewhat as a man transmits the essence of his character to his wife so that he perceives his inmost nature, itself unintelligible to him directly, by observing the flowering of that essence in his son. “

Cough. blossom.

Anyway,

the yellowing is upon them all now, in actual harmony, with the return of the sun by which to reflect their light in Yesod, but furthermore, to step forward.

Hm. What saves Yesod is the direct ray from Tiphareth.

Their su/on. Is home. And the yellow light, if faint at first, as they come to speak, has returned, lingering between them. The yellowing itself comes from moving into a form of being where one’s own soul is less a reflected light of the grand scheme of things and one’s own personal, generated light, and that is landing upon us shortly.

To like, fully break down this path shit I’d have to go full like alchemical sermon here, but I’m more trying to map out just how artistically rendered this show is using these paths.

So where do we go now? The crown, Kether, is our goal. But we’re not ready to Priestess rocket straight that direction, as much as there’s still a strong overshadow of Kether upon them, even if the Star’s light descending leads towards hope.

But we’ve left the primitive base triangle now. Geburah and Chesed await.

Geburah:

The introduction of the number Five shows the idea of motion coming to the aid of that of matter...The result is a complete upset of the statically stabilized system. Now appear storm and stress. (The Book of Thoth, p.180)

Despite the fact that Geburah is a feminine potency, as are all Sephiros [sic] on the left-hand column of the Tree, practically all its attributions are male and vigorous...This is not confusion of thought, but a recognition of the necessity for equilibrium." (Regardie, 1994)

Geburah represents on a much lower plane the Sakti force-element attributed to Binah. (Regardie, 1994)

The quality of Geburah is summed up in the general idea of strength and power and force. Its card based attributions are strife, disappointment, defeat, and worry. That which the heart must overcome with strength.

Chesed:

Lots of crazy mystic math involved but summarily Righteousness, Mercy, and Love, combining seemingly diverse ideas.

"below the Abyss"; therefore, in practice, it means solidification, materialization. Things have become manifest. The essential point is that it expresses the Rule of Law...The manifestation promised by Binah has now taken place. Chesed...is the highest idea which can be understood in an intellectual way. (The Book of Thoth).

These are given to travel to Chokmah (which I’ve noted already) and Binah “For she is omniform as Love and as Death, the Great Sea whence all Life springs, and whose black womb reabsorbs all. She thus resumes in herself the duplex process of the Formula of Love under Will" (Little Esssays Towards Truth, "Love") - planetary association Saturn, so you may.. *gestures back at other videos* (x)

Like... Rowena’s Reverse Womb Symbolism Dot Jaypeg, “Death is an infinite vessel.” (reminder drop x)

“In short, Binah is the substantive vehicle of every possible phenomenon, physical or mental” (Regardie, 1994)

opposite chokmah, as above mentioned in the masculine presence of the union to meet the godhead.

These lovers must still walk different paths for a time, but will meet across the void of hidden knowledge before standing at the crown, if only after facing their strife and personal strength, taking the understanding of the moon and fortuna, to not play another’s game, to blossom into holding one’s own light along with completion in the family unit, and to find wisdom in the hidden things between them, by which the aged hermit, the hierophant, he who held the unofficiated wedding’s gold, the incomplete, lesser manifestation at Hod, and formerly cast it down -- as his foundation to approach the crown.

At more immediate, Netzach is also led forward by Fortune or Fortuna towards Chesed. The Hermit, a role Sam has heavily embodied on his Hierophant path, crosses from Tiphareth. As the one that impressed Fortuna, Sam is likely the one to hold the torch of her words right now, and figure out how to make Chuck play their game. Whereas Hod travels the road of the Hanged Man, each to find their strength sourced upward from Tiphareth, the heart, the sun, the son, the marriage, the family light, the yellowing, with adjustment through Tiphareth removing some of the pillar of severity and the hanged man road ahead of the struggling, still separated union.

Death descends from Binah to Geburah, enacting her volatile change and meeting the path of the hanged man, empowered by heart and adjustment; the hierophant will meet and become the hermit at Chesed. The path of the united lovers is an inevitability in any system rising from the heart towards the path of the hanged man in affiliation with the divine feminine, death's forces included; and the hierophant enacts the emperor on way to the divine masculine. The Emperor and Empress' marriage will end up being the fundament by which to face that final triangle of upper creation.

For those of you who remember me banging on about Art/Temperance versus Lovers arcana all goddamn hiatus, enjoy seeing them spawn out of Tiphareth there.

Here the red eagle and white lion commune and share in their parts, for the restoration of the golden orphic (x) child and great work under the hands of the Hierophant against the pillars of overseeing divine fem/masc (here represented in Adam and Lilith, other versions Adam and Eve)

Just... honestly just read this (x) if you want to know more about how each of these elementson those cards correspond to the above paths.

So I guess this is a really long magical way of shipper Sam is gonna have to get these two knuckleheads cosmically married and complete before standing as the godman and subverting the allfather with the rebirth of the heart and their su/on. And hopefully not have Eileen recreate the Rowena thing on the way. Or Cas for that matter.

The complete deconstruction of the lovers in purgatory was necessary, having been in the cursed and evil, inverted tree and blocked at Tiphareth. Now we can build forward in light and knowledge and the sovereign journey of man, even if it has its pitfalls and misfortunes. The Empress’ marriage to the Emperor makes foundation for the Fool (which isn’t what it sounds like) and the Magician’s completed work, finalizing the top triangle of unity to complete their magnum opus against god. Man created the gods, and are to soon prove themselves the equal of him.

And that’s my rambling because I suck at teaching this shit.

*nervous chuckling for potential ways for Castiel’s deal to work out right now*

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ginger-grimm · 3 years

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Fun house mirrors and broken glass

A thousand times Beth had told Misty that she didn't want to go to the carnival. Her experiences there had never been peachy and she didn't trust anything in Riverdale to be normal. She had heard about bad things happening there before.

"Murders, Mis. People got murdered here!"

Misty sighed. "Ay, reina del drama. You are such a buzz kill."

"I am not!" Beth insisted as they trudged towards the fun house. "I am concerned for our safety. You can't deny the creepiness of people having been killed here."

Misty held up a finger. "One person," she reminded Beth. "One person got murdered here. People get murdered every day all over the planet. All over Riverdale, even. That girl got murdered like twenty years ago. We're going to be fine."

Beth sighed, twirling her thumbs as they entered the fun house. She whimpered slightly. Misty considered leaving, Beth already getting on her nerves. "You don't have to go in with me."

"So I can get killed out here? No thank you, Misty. Just don't leave me alone!"

She stomped through the crepe paper strips that functioned as the entrance. The inside of the house was terrifying. Big warped mirrors ordained every wall. Spiral designs painted on the wall caused Beth nausea already.

"I hate this," she whispered. There was no one else despite the two girls as far as Beth could see, which only made it creepier.

"Calm your crazy ass down, chica! You're getting on my nerves. I should have taken Jupiter out instead. He never complains."

"He doesn't complain because he wants to fit in-"

Beth halted abruptly, nearly causing Misty to crash into her.

"Ay, ahora que?!"

"I saw something! In the mirrors!"

"Baby, it ain't even Halloween yet. You have got to calm down."

Beth threw her hands up. "It's in two days. Riverdale has had crazier things happen. I don't put it past anyone to start a killing spree now."

"You know what, crazy? I'm gonna keep going. Either you come with or you leave now and wait for me it's up to you."

Misty walked away from her. Beth scoffed, crossing her arms in front of her chest. She turned and went for the exit. "Fine. Don't haunt me when you get murdered."

Beth walked out and leaned against the wall, whipping out her phone to text her dad. She couldn't wait to get home. She hated Halloween and the weeks leading up to it. It made the people in Riverdale act up in erratic ways.

"I hate this fucking town," she whispered as she typed away on her phone.

She got startled by a scream. It came from Misty, she was sure of it. It got cut off as soon as it started. "Goddamnit!"

Beth balled up one of her fists, clutching her phone harder with the other. She should call someone. The police. Too bad all Riverdale cops were useless and in Hiram Lodge's pocket.

"Oh, come on!"

She looked around for anyone that could help. The carnival was near deserted. "Seriously?"

"Fuck it!"

Beth slowly walked into the house once more, her hands shaking as she swatted the crepe out of her way. She halted for a second, her breath hitched. She didn't want to go in, but Misty could be in trouble. She could be dead.

"Oh, God," she mumbled as she kept moving.

Something was off now. Different. Maybe it was because she was scared. Maybe there was nothing. She just had to move quickly. Get Misty, drag her out. Go home. Curl up in bed. Don't leave it until Halloween is over.

The further she got into the fun house, the trippier it got. The mirrors were starting to make her see double. Tripple. Beth wasn't sure if she would find her way out again if she tried.

She halted abruptly when she crashed into one of the mirrors. She whinced, holding her nose. There was a bit of blood coming from it, but it didn't look broken. "Christ!"

Beth turned around. There she was again in the reflection. Every which way she turned she saw herself in the mirrors. No Misty anywhere in sight. Beth wanted to run home. Misty had gotten herself into whatever mess she was in. But that would be cruel. She could actually be hurt.

Beth continued on to find her best friend. The deeper she got the harder it would be to find their way out again.

She was lost in her thoughts, trying to negate the sinking feeling in her stomach. It was not out of the ordinary for someone to snap around Halloween and try to be the next Michael Myers or Jason Vorhees.

Beth halted again when she encountered a broken mirror in front of her. There was a strand of hair tucked into it, blood smeared all over it.

"Oh fuck me, this is not really happening right now!"

She turned, trying to find her way out again, when suddenly Misty popped up in front of her, screaming at the top of her lungs. Beth shrieked. She only stopped when Misty stopped and started laughing maniacly instead.

Beth stared at her, mouth agape. "Are you serious, right now? Misty!"

Misty continued to laugh, pulling a tube of fake blood out of her sleeve. Beth scoffed, throwing her hands up. "Unbelievable!"

"Oh come on, chica! You needed a good boost of scariness before the crazy starts. You need to get used to these things-"

Beth rolled her eyes as a knife suddenly burst through Misty's neck. "Really? You're not done yet?"

Misty grabbed at her throat, choking on her own blood. She grappled for Beth, trying to hold on to her as she went down. Beth took a step back, her face scrunched in disgust as she wiped at it furiously. "You got fake blood all over my jacket!"

Misty fell to the floor and onto her stomach, still gurgling. A guy in a Black Hood mask stood behind her, wiping off the knife he pulled from Misty's throat.

"Okay, who is this? Booker? Sweet Pea? Fangs? Don't tell me it's Reggie."

He stalked forward her as Misty's gurgling died down. He knelt next to Misty's body. Beth narrowed her eyes and let out a bemused chuckle as the guy started wailing in on Misty more, stabbing her in the bag over and over again.

"You guys really went the extra mile for this, huh? How are you pulling this off right now?"

With a grunt, the black-hodded man delievered once last hard stab to Misty's back.

He got back up. His eyes were a piercing light blue and they were practically staring into her soul as he stood quietly in front of her. He continued to eye her down as she realized that there were no people with eyes this blue in their circle of friends. There was no way Misty hired an actual actor to do this.

Beth's eyes wandered down to Misty's body. She was laying still. Not breathing. She wouldn't go this far for a joke.

"Oh, God."

She swore she heard the black-hooded man silently giggle as it finally dawned on her. She turned to run, finally breaking out of her schock, only for the man to yank her back by the hair and slice the knife across her throat.

Beth gurgled as she fell to her knees. She looked up at the man. He stared at her for a while, watching as she started trying to crawl away. Eventually, she stopped and went still.

That Halloween, twenty people were murdered by what Sheriff Keller could clearly indicate was a Black Hood copycat. Only this Black Hood wasn't incompetent. He didn't differenciate between sinners and saints. He killed everyone the same. And he made sure no one lived to tell their stories.

TAGGING: @hughstheforcelou @firsthorror @eddysocs @raith-way @foxesandmagic @reggiemantleholdmyhand-tle

#ocappreciation #riverdale oc #riverdale original chracter #oc: beth lambert #oc: misty ortiz #i feel like this one is stupid #i sorry #it has been 84 years since you sent this ask #this is obviously an au #beth and misty are aliving and thriving

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yetanotherreader · 4 years

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Useful—3

Genre: College AU

Pairing: Dean Winchester x Y/N Y/L/N, slight Dean x Lisa

Summary: The school's most popular boy wants to be friends with Y/N, out of the blue. It definitely doesn't have anything to do with her hot best friend, though.

Word Count (For the chapter): 2,712

Warnings (For the chapter): None.

[For some reason, some of the tags aren't working. I'm sorry about that.]

[[ Also I'm sorry for the no Read More thingy because it doesn't happen on the phone app :-(]]

Useful Masterlist

Chapter 3

Chapter 2

Mondays.

You dreaded them. For some reason, they were never good. They were sleepy, tiring and grumpy and unfortunately you couldn't do shit about it. You always had to wake up extra early for a hopefully refreshing shower, take the supposed-to-be small bus ride to the uni, which just got longer because of the Monday traffic and run to the lecture hall, only to have the professor glaring at you for coming late to the class.

Mondays.

Today was no different. You woke up extra early, took a hopefully refreshing shower, took the supposed-to-be small bus ride—WHICH was surprisingly not as long as always—and still ran to the lecture hall. Fxckin' tiring mess. The sleepless sleep still showed in your eyes and you would have given anything to have an extra hour for it that morning. But well, same old—Mondays.

And suddenly, today was different.

"Come on…" A group of annoyed whines were heard from the lecture room just as you entered the hallway.

"What's wrong?" You asked a very pissed Rhea, or was she Akira?

"Morning classes got cancelled. We woke up for nothing."

Honestly.. what the fxck was wrong with the university? Mumbling and whining to yourself, you made your way to the cafeteria, maybe some coffee would help. Tried enjoying the warm sunshine on your face, keyword: tried, as you slowed down your steps near the playground. Or maybe you could just sit in the sun and make the most out of your oh-so-lovely Monday morning? Taking a seat in the bleachers, you decided on reading the book you were, at that time, reading.

Just halfway through the chapter— "Good morning, nerd. I see you're doing some fun stuff over here." You sighed, not wanting to get into any kind of argument at that particular time, or day- or life.

"You're back at it, aren't you?" You looked up at the still smirking Dean, dressed in his black and blue football jersey. A sight for sore eyes.

"Back at what?"

"Being a dick?" You looked back at the book still tired, "Look, Winchester, I'm so not in the brightest Monday sunshine mood right now. Don't bother."

"And here I thought we were friends." He sighed feigning sadness as he turned around to make his way back to the other side of the ground.

"You're here for practice?" He turned back to you, grinning adorably, just as you rolled your eyes.

"Yep but it doesn't start until at least a couple hours."

"Why so early here then?"

"Apparently, there's an emergency board meeting that all the HODs need to attend. So, delayed."

"Oh...that is why" You concluded why your classes got cancelled, "God. Don't you just hate it how they don't inform us about anything beforehand." You groaned.

"Not having the best morning?" He chuckled, as you gestured him to take a seat next to you.

"Nah. I'm the happiest I could ever be," You said with a yawn, "Should we go to the cafeteria before I die or we just let me die?"

"You're such a mood," He laughed toothily shaking his head, "Let us."

Sitting in the cafeteria, you sip on your coffee awkwardly trying to ignore the very obvious gazes of the people around you. You couldn't even make out how Dean looked so unfazed by all the attention, or maybe—obviously, he was used to it.

"You know," Dean started, seemingly, figuring out your awkwardness to ease the tension, "You could have just asked me on a date instead."

You chuckled, thankful for some words, "You wish, Winchester."

"Honestly...I don't" He said winning a laugh out of you.

Time flew by quickly, filled with laughter, corny jokes and sassy remarks with you not even realizing that all that attention didn't bother you anymore. Quite honestly, you didn't even realize they were there. To your surprise, you really did enjoy a Monday morning.

"Oh," Dean exclaimed as his phone buzzed, "Totally lost track of time. It was fun, but Y/N, I gotta hurry now. I'm late."

"Well I still have an hour to kill. Good luck with the practice."

"Oh yeah, there's still an hour to the class," Dean said as he hurried, "You wanna come see the game?"

"Oh, no no. I don't understand it. I'll rather read my book here."

"Nerd," he smiled at you, "Alright then, see you in the class."

"Yeah" You smiled back, as he went. Maybe Dean wasn't all that bad after all.

You just started with the chapter, again, that you were rudely interrupted... again.

"Look who's trying to get some attention, there. Whatcha think guys? What does she think of Dean's charity? That he got the hots for her or something?" You flinched at the ear-piercing group of laughter came from the direction.

"Tss. Geez, Cassie, mind toning down that screechi- sweet laugh a lil bit? Kinda trying to concentrate." You gave her a sweet smile and turned back to your work.

"Hey, Y/N. How's you? Long time no see." She came and sat where Dean sat not even a couple minutes ago.

"Was doing just good." You muttered as you kept your eyes in your book.

"You were? Obviously, you were," she started taking ahold of Dean's cup, playing with it, "Y/N, stop trying, darling. Dean is very out of league for you. I'm saying for your good."

"Sweets. You know the only reason I'm replying to you, Cassie, is just because it's rude not to?" You looked up at her at annoyed, managing a sarcastically polite smile, "Now if you could excuse me, I'm kinda in the middle of something.

She stood up rolling her eyes as you spoke up again, "And well, don't worry. I'm no threat. Dean and me, nope. Not happening. Also, stop acting like he's your property. The guy's got a life of his own to live, about time, you get one for yourself too."

Before she could retaliate, you made your way out of the door, leaving her processing what you said. Not gonna say that you had got bad blood with her but you had got bad blood with her. Honestly, you wouldn't give two flying shits about her if she wasn't the one with the brilliant idea of throwing you into the pool on your very first day. And if that wasn't enough, she had the nerve to bully you about it for the next few months too. Initially you ignored for a long time, hoping she would end it herself, but was she one to? When you had enough of her shit, all it took, then, was one punch to the wall and an angry 'next time it won't be the wall' for her to stop. Not that she ever was a trouble for you later, but you were her glare dart ever since. You were kinda looking forward to her passing out of the college— one year without her unnecessary glares and hushed whispers but she just had to get a year back for her last year. Oh, your life.

Practice was tiring, and since they had gotten just one hour for it, they didn't even get any breaks. On top of that, Dean might have sprained his neck. Maybe Y/N's bad day was contagious. Maybe she passed it to him.

Y/N. The thought of her bringing a faint smile on his lips. Damn, she was awesome. He wondered why she kept to herself, her personality sure would get her a lot of friends. That morning, Dean had actually enjoyed himself after a long time. He'd been so lonely for the past few months, he had almost forgotten how to laugh like he did today. She could be an amazing friend. Not to mention, he was still not over how she helped him back at Jo's without even mentioning it once today. Y/N was a good person, he could say that. Mysterious, but nice. He hoped that they actually became really good friends.

His eyes wandered to find her sitting by herself, in a corner as he made his way into the almost empty classroom, "This seat taken?"

She looked up from the book and, for once, smiled, "Hey..yes..no, please sit."

He smiled in return as he sat down beside her, lowly groaning in pain.

"You okay, there?"

"Yeah, I don't know, I think neck strain."

"Oh, geez. Want some help?"

He chuckled humorously, "And what will you do to make it better?"

"Well, they do say I have magic hands." She chuckled in response too, getting up to stand behind him. She started lightly massaging his neck and shoulders, pressing her fingers to his shoulder blades whilst her thumbs worked on his neck. She did the motion a few times as she felt his muscles relax, his knots loosening. He felt himself relaxing, the pain still there but better. How was she always good at whatever she was doing? She stopped her movements abruptly, as he realized a loud moan escaped his lips, only to burst out laughing the next second, "God, Winchester, what the hell?" sounding a little embarrassed.

"S-sorry. Damn it, your fault. What can I say, you do have magic hands." He laughed out, too.

The day went by quite fast after that. They didn't cross paths post the class again. It was the last lecture when Dean met with Cas and Jo. Finally.

"Hey!" Jo chirped as she came after the class, and hugged Dean from behind, Cas copying the action, "Dude?"

"Hey, strangers." Dean said, not in any mood to have a happy-go-lucky conversation with them.

"What's wrong?" Cas asked, clueless. Jo elbowed his ribs gently.

"What's wrong? Nothing." Dean walked ahead, rolling his eyes as the two of them followed him.

"Dean, come on. We're sorry, okay?"

"Well, don't be. Not that it matters anyway." Dean said coming to a stop, "What? You guys didn't go somewhere private, again?"

"Okay, first of all, stop taunting us, jerk. And second of all, we're sorry. We didn't mean to-"

"First of all, don't copy Sammy. And second of all, I called you two how many times, Joanna?"

"What can we do to make it up to you? Jo is right Dean, we're genuinely sorry. We just had a tiring night, so we slept in. Really really tiring." said Cas, blushing a shade of pink, as Dean's lips lifted in a very surprised smile.

"So...you finally, finally did it?" He looked from Cas to Jo grinning, "So you finally did our virgin angel, huh?"

"Shut up" she grumbled, trying to stifle a laugh of her own, blushing a few shades herself, "What about you and the specsy?"

"Who? Y/N? What about us?"

"Don't act innocent, De. Coffee dates and massage and all, huh." She said, cocking her brow, piquing Cas' interest in the conversation too, "Didn't think you'd go for her."

"We're just friends," said Dean, thinking about it from all the angles, "I think."

"You think?"

Dean shrugged, unable to come with a proper answer.

The rest of the day went pretty okay for him. Cas and Jo finally did spend time with him but it wasn't like before at all. They were different and he expected this, as much as he shipped them. They were a couple now, dynamics changed. He wasn't the same for them like earlier, he was the lesser priority. And single.

"So, you're telling me you're single?" You said, surprising yourself with the subtle, unnoticeable relief you felt. Dean and you had bonded pretty well over the past couple of months. You had never thought you two were ever going to be friends, but he was nicer than he made himself look. You learned a few things about him, and about the first day dare too. Oh boi, weren't you just ready to whack his butt with a spoon.

"Yeah. Well, that sounded judgy, Y/N."

You grinned apologetic, "Hee, sorry. It's just it's hard to believe is all."

It was funny how you two became good friends so soon. You were not really one for friends. For a long time, you'd been alone, convincing yourself you liked the quiet. Although you did, it was undeniable how loneliness got to you every time you wanted to talk to someone about something going on in your life, a bad day or even something as normal as your new favorite TV show. It sucked, now that you were admitting to yourself. It sucked how you had no one to talk to. It sucked how you couldn't even complain about it to anyone. And it sucked to spend your weekends alone in your dark room, trying to distract yourself with a book or fanfic, pretending that it was all okay.

And now here you were. Not in a dark room, not alone and not pretending. Here you were actually talking to someone about the random-est things on the planet, laughing with him and actually enjoying yourself. You both still weren't on the we-tell-each-other-everything stage and you highly doubted you ever were going to be but it was still nice. Yeah maybe you hadn't told him shit about yourself yet, but he was still the closest you'd ever been to someone in years. You had Lisa and you cared about her, you did. But where was it written that the person you care about would care about you the same way too? You were never in the list of her priorities, never even close. But she trusted you, and that's why you were...friends? You didn't know exactly. She would come to you after a break up or when she was having a bad day. You had helped her so much, for so many years, it became your instinct to do it. She had friends, she was loved and she had a life you would never. She was Lisa Braeden. She was she, and you were...you. Plain, dull, unattractive Y/N. That's it. That was you in three words. And honestly, you didn't mind. You had come terms with it a long time ago, terms with no one caring about you.

Until two months ago. Dean was a good friend. He was nice, sweet, protective and funny. And most importantly, he...cared. He would tell you jokes on Monday mornings, give you ice pack when your clumsy ass ran into the closed door and invite you for movies with his friends which you always refused to. When Dean realized you didn't like going out with strangers, he invited you over for a movie night to his place. It was, maybe, the sweetest thing someone had ever done for you. He made you snacks and then you guys talked about random things the entire night only to pass out on the couch later. After that, it had become your Friday night tradition.

And with all these sweet things, could you blame yourself for starting to feel something more for him than you should? You, very well, knew this would never happen. Dean had a type, a taste in girls and you were far from that. You had too few/many curves than what looked beautiful, you didn't have the most beautiful hair or skin and you were not pretty. Simple. He would never feel for you. And you, too, only had a silly little crush on him, which would go with time. Right?

You woke up, cuddled with a warm figure on the couch, head under the blanket. You struggled to pop your head out of the covers and once you did, you were met with a beautifully freckled face sleeping soundly. He looked so peaceful that you never wanted to wake him up. Your eyes just briefly glanced at his plump lips, wondering what it would be like to touch them or maybe, feel them against your own? And in a matter of seconds, your eyes were back at the blanket, hiding your little secret you kept from yourself. A secret only your late night or early morning self knew, which you would conveniently deny to yourself later during the day. A secret you would pass off as nothing but your sleepy head's made up story.

Nothing, but a story.

___________

Chapter 4

A/N: Alright, I don't know how it turned out. It took me more than a week for this chapter, and I couldn't even think of anything. I'd write a few sentences and close the document. A writer's block, I think. Well anyway, I didn't have anything in mind so it's mostly a filler chapter which I somehow used to make the little-st progress in the story. Mostly their friendship. I think I'll make it stronger before I do the shit I have planned. Please don't hate me for the chapter coz I already do :')💔

Tag list:

@bi-danvers0 @mrsdeanfuckingwinchester @itsjaybro16 @mml232 @blablatiti @stilltoomuchafangirl @bat-shark-repellant @bluebell-24 @shortwinchester @always-money-in-the-banana-stand @soullessbabee @ima-be-a-mongoose

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luckycheesefoodie321 · 5 years

Text

AWAE 3.05 SPOILERS + LONG POST

guys this is the episode we needed...it was the wholesome, feel-good episode we NEEDED and I am so happy... my reactions are self-explanatory.. if you’ve watched it you’ll know...just... just excuse me while I go check out the anne with an e tag bc this was so much wonderful in one ep and idk how to summarise it sooo yeh

WEVE GOTTEN CHARLIEXANNE AND DERRY BEFORE WEVE GOTTEN SHIRBERT IDK HOW TO FEEL BUT I AM ENJOYING MYSELF

Ooooh Gilbert taking an interest in medical stuff is gooooood news

I’m sorry did Gilbert NOT react to Anne being taken notice of????? THOSE HEART EYES WERE FIXED COMPLETELY ON HER

I don’t particularly enjoy Rachel Lynde but she doesn’t hesitate...that’s for sure

Diana rushing off to a date with Jerrryyyy

Aw man boi couldn’t make it??

BOI COULD MAKE IT

Boi just quoted Frankenstein to her I’m dyingggg

Where’s Billy??? Also why is Gilbert fully on the other side of the bois??

OH Lynde Boi what’s his name???

Ok Rachel is one thing but the Mr and Mrs Lynde are adorable

The Pauls are adorable

STOP IT GILBERT IS FACING ANNE ACCKKKK

Jane is delightful and I love her

Oh shoot Moody and Charlie holding hands somehow in the dance was everything XD

Ruby you sweet summer child noooo

No children what the fuck noooo Tilly oh my god “who’s the father?” we need a better sex education system clearly XD

Oh wow. Miss Stacy is equipped for teaching many things. Sex Ed is not one of them.

Moody brings out the banjo and what? Ruby is struck dumb. I SEE YOU. MOODY RUBY TIME

Ruby loves a strumming boi

I CANT I CANT I CANT OH MY GOD OH MY HOD I CANT BREATHE WHAT WAS THAT THEY WERE BEIGN SO CHARMING AND HE PULLED HER TO HIS SIDE SO HE COULD DANCE WOTH HER AND THEY COULDNT KEEP THEIR EYES OFF EACH OTHER HOLY SHOT OH MY GOD IM DEAD IVE DIED IM GONE MOTHER FUCING MISS ROSE WHO?!?! HAND HOLD WHAT?!?! YOU AINT GOT NOTJING ON WHAY JUST HAPPENED

I was so overcome with Shirbert I didn’t even notice Ruby sit next to strummer boi Moody until the third time through repeating that scene XD

Wait no Charlie oh honey wait. Are those his wingmen in the background???

Wait no we had a magical Shirbert moment is someone gonna put this walking with Charlie bit on the Take Notice board????

GIRL YOU LYING YOU LOVED DANCE PRACTICE

Why is she angry??? I don’t... Anne please poor Charlie

Bahahahhahahahahaha Charlie oh honey you’ve literally never had a conversation with Anne Shirley Cuthbert huh?

Charlie Sloane. Oh. My. God.

Anne. No. Please. It’s not true. Oh my god. WE NEED A BETTER SEX EDUCATION AT THIS SCHOOL. AND EVERYWHERE.

GILBERT OH MY GOD WERE GETTING HIS REACTION DONT CUT YOURSELF GILLY JUST BC YOURE FEELING FEELS FOR ANNE

oh my god they’re the exact same

Hoooo boi he just asked Bash about marrying Anne. HE JUST ACKNOWLEDGED HE FELT SOMETHING FOR ANNE.

Awww c’mon Shirbert shipper #3 wants to know the deets Gilbert. Tell him you’re thinking about Anne. TELL DELLY SO BASH CAN OVERHEAR SO HE CAN KNOW YOURE THINKING ABOUT ANNE

Ohhhhhhhhhhh Dianaaaaaa. If anyone would understand, it’s Anne. Don’t do thisss to my boi Jerry

She gave him a favour oh boi

Oh my god they’re gonna get Anne to ask Gilbert about baby making holy crap this is gonna be amazing

Oh my god that was amazing and just sooooo embarrassing

This is the first time they’ve talked since that dance this is insane

Ooooh we about to get their witch meeting on!

Oof. That obituary was gotdang ding dang beautiful. I’m glad Mary’s death is still being felt. And the Barry’s realised they rejected a wonderful lady.

I’m sorry but an episode about budding romantic feelings between boys and girls and questions about sex and reproduction only to end on all the girls casting a spell to honour their womanhood and to cherish themselves as they are and not let any man define them and to be free to choose and love whom ever they want is goddamn fucking amazing and powerful and my heart is full

And Belle had her foal. THIS is the feel good ep we needed

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pendulum-sonata · 5 years

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Chapters: 1/1 Fandom: Yu-Gi-Oh! ARC-V Rating: Teen And Up Audiences Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: Rin/Yuri (Yu-Gi-Oh) Characters: Rin (Yu-Gi-Oh), Yuri (Yu-Gi-Oh), Yugo (Yu-Gi-Oh), Gloria Tyler, Grace Tyler, Dennis Mackfield Additional Tags: One Shot, Belligerent Sexual Tension, Resolved Sexual Tension, Love/Hate, Alternate Universe - High School, Fluoriteshipping, Arc V Rare Pair Week 2019, at last :P, Crack Relationships Summary:

This god dammed school was awful in everything except campus and the food in the cafeteria; all the teachers and students were the same

And Yuri was definitely the worse of them all.

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

RIN USED TO BE A DELINQUENT IN XXX MIDDLE SCHOOL, SHE WAS KICKED OUT FOR HAVING AN AFFAIR WITH A TEACHER AND EVEN HAD AN ABORTION!!!

Those were the words that she was greeted with when she entered the classroom, okay, she didn’t actually notice at first, she just walked in as usual, there were little groups gossiping among each other, but that was not weird, they were always gossiping about one thing or another, they stopped talking when she passed, but they always did that too, so she didn’t take any notice.

When she took a seat, she saw the message.

Or maybe accusation?

Whatever it might be, she had to suppress a snort at the ridiculousness of it; but she held to her temper, she would not give them the satisfaction of even that.

Instead, Rin did exactly as she always did; she pulled out her phone and started to browse random things, occasionally answering texts – mostly from Yugo – and didn’t pay attention to the blackboard for more than it was necessary to read.

She forced herself to hid her smile when she heard their gasps of surprise and their sighs of frustration, she could swear she even heard someone click their tongue and stomp on the floor and stomp on the floor.

Fitting of spoiled brats.

“Someone should clean it.” A voice she knew very well piped from behind her seat.

The teacher – a nervous wreck of a man already in his forties – had entered the class, and as usual, he gave a half-hearted greeting and request for everyone to seat which in response got half-hearted complains and even though everyone obeyed, no one greeted back, much less bowed to the teacher.

When his words fell on the class, right on cue, she felt everyone's stares growing more intense.

“I agree,” Rin said, barely lifting her eyes from her phone. “It’s not my turn to clean though.”

“I'm pretty sure it is" Someone else said, she didn’t pay attention to who it was, they all hated her anyway, and the feeling was mutual.

So, of course the room was quickly filled with sounds of agreement, the teacher goes and makes a mock show of checking the list in his notes and looks straight at her, as if expecting to abide.

“It’s not, because I have the list of duties right here.” She said, and pulled out a copy of the list she made the first time she was actually on cleaning duty. “And, oh would you look at that, It’s Sawatari’s turn.”

There were some strangled noises among the group, clearly not expecting her to retaliate or even complain, they probably never had to deal with someone punching back, much less when at their glares they were giving her, she glanced at them, not with challenge or fire in her eyes.

But simply with dull indifference.

Instead she willed herself to show no emotion whatsoever, her eyes unblinking and uncaring, her mouth set in a straight line.

After a few minutes of silence, the teacher sighed and after lots of complaining from Sawatari – something about his back hurting – three other classmates, she never bothered to learn the name of stepped in to do the cleaning duty, acting as if it was a noble mission from a king or something similar.

All in all, they wasted twenty whole minutes of class.

Every slight of interest on her, had been apparently erased along with the words on the board, and all of them went back to their businesses.

Except for one, usually sitting somewhere on the back rows of the class, never paying much attention to class if at all, but now of course he chose to seat himself right next to her, with the dumbest hairstyle she has ever seen, all sleek and brushed, as if he used a whole can of hair gel every morning, and the glariest shade of violet she’d ever seen, sometimes showing up without his uniform or even his backpack, if any teacher dared to tell him to get to work, he flashed them a toothy smile so wide, it may as well look as if he would bite someone’s hand off if they got too close, and eyes that flashed with such entitlement and conceit it made her feel sick to her stomach to just look at him.

Rin hates him more than the others, she hates him so much that even as she can brush off the other’s taunts and hurtful words, just his eyes fixing on her, with a devil-may-are attitude all the way down to him using his hand to lay his face, giving her a wide and tilted-looking smile, it had her concentrating on not flinching, lest he’d notice.

“I’m a little disappointed, I expected to see you stand for yourself.” His voice drawled low enough to not call anyone’s attention but hers, she could hear the laughter laced in his words and she almost snapped her pen in half.

‘And give them the satisfaction?’ She had to bit her lip to avoid saying something so obvious.

“Such sloppiness is not worthy of my attention, if something like that was remotely true, the teacher in question would have been all over the news, whereas no one could find out the name of the students, because as minors they’re protected from media harassment by law.”

“Oh? Are you saying that you’re good at covering your tracks? I suppose my classmates will have to try harder then.” He said finally tearing his eyes from her, and almost sighed in relief until he spoke again. “I’ve read that the harder the prey is to catch, the more exciting the chase becomes.”

This god dammed school was awful in everything except campus and the food in the cafeteria; all the teachers and students were the same

And Yuri was definitely the worse of them all.

-oOo-

“You’re the new girl right?” She heard for the fifth – or the sixth? – time in the day, “I’ve read all about it, you're the winner of a full scholarship to the LDS Academy!” The girl kept talking her ear off, about the school, her family, where the classes where held, the different clubs, and a long, long etcetera. “I’m Sayaka Sasayama, I’m on my first year too! I was wondering if we could become-”

Then, the girl finished Rin felt herself being pushed with more force than such a lithe girl should have, but before could complain about being shoved so harshly against her locker, the girl was signaling her to be quiet.

That was she realized all the people in the hallway was in the same position as them, not sticking to the walls like Sayaka was, but they put a very significant distance between them and the person in the middle of the hallway.

It was a boy who looked about their age, brown hair and short in height, or maybe it was his entire frame that made him look like that, his back was hunched, he had bags under his eyes and his uniform looked not just unkempt, but also dirty and even ragged in some places, he was walking at a very slow pace, while some looked at him as if he was a past or something worse, others looked at him with pity.

Somehow she got the impression of some type of criminal procession.

“Why are you all outside?” Asked a woman, a teacher she assumed, she was tall and had a voluminous ginger hair, and brown eyes, that looked reddish from her angle.

“It’s Sam, Miss Claire, It’s his last day, remember?” Sayaka said in a low voice, she was on the people who looked at this ‘Sam’ with pity. “His parents pulled him out, I guess he couldn’t take it any longer.”

“I see,” Rin tuned her ears to hear more clearly, without taking her eyes off Sam.

There was a heavy sigh coming from the teacher, and in her hear, Rin had red alarms flaring through her mind, she didn’t like how the woman sounded, how Sayaka talked or how everyone behaved, as if this was normal, expected.

“What happened to him?” Rin didn’t need to voice the real question to know they understood what she meant.

“If he just stayed out of their way, he wouldn’t be in this situation,” It was the teacher who answered her, and she sounded tired, as I she saw this happen one times too many. “But problematic cases will always find their way out.”

One times too many to care apparently.

Rin perked when she heard a thumping noise; it was Sam, or rather his belongings, who had fell to the floor, books, notebooks and papers all spilled around him. No one moved a finger to help, even more so, she heard some giggles when he got to his knees to pick them up.

She had not realized she stepped forward until she felt Sayaka’s hand hod her arm.

“Don’t! They’ll do the same to you if you help him.” She whispered to her, and the teacher nodded.

Her teeth gritted at her words and she easily yanked her arm back, throwing them both her best glare.

This was bullshit, total and utter bullshit.

-oOo-

As usual, the classes had dragged until it was time for lunch.

Today, it was day of steak and some weird assortment of vegetables and rice, and she almost found herself staring at the food while she waited for her turn to be served. The only people she allowed herself to smile at, and give her thanks to, was the kitchen staff – an old lady, who always gave her an extra portion when the other were not looking – and she would keep it that way.

Ahead of her one of Sawatari’s pets was obviously waiting for her to pass and make her trip.

They were so obvious and sloppy she almost could laugh, with the way Sawatari was grinning at her, the hushed whispers from the rest of the table and how rigid the volunteer’s leg was.

When she was barely a step away and his foot was put in place, she pretended not to see it, but she made sure to put a little extra strength in her step as her feet kicked his ankle.

“My bad, I didn’t see you there.” His exaggerated cries of pain, made her cover her mouth with her hand, to stifle the laughter.

When she finally found an empty table, where she wouldn’t be disturbed, she finally took a seat, not listening to the protest of the others, as the other guy kept whining, each time in louder yells. It almost made the food taste better.

At least until she heard a groan, as if someone just woke up from a nap.

Rin almost choked on a mouthful of rice when she saw two arms stretching above the table, soon joined by a slightly disheveled head of violet hair.

Yuri yawned for a little too long, and even rubbed his eye and blinked lazily, focusing his eyes, almost as if he had forgotten where he had decided to nap; he looked almost like a child, and Rin cursed herself for drawing that comparison.

For staring long enough to even notice.

Then, he noticed who he was sitting with, for single moment he looked like a deer caught in the headlights – his stupid hair antennae didn’t help – and he turned around, the slight motions of his back made her realize he was huffing.

Obviously, he must be laughing at her, and she just decided she would ignore him and went back to her food, she picked the knife and fork to start picking at the steak; not because she imagined herself using them on Yuri’s face instead, nope, she was above that.

“No fried shrimp or pasta this time?” He asked, but she refused to look up, while she sank the fork a little too hard on the meat, so what if she liked them? They were delicious and filling unlike their ‘fancy’ tuna and sushi.

Of course now Yuri helped himself to her plate and used her chopsticks to grab a big chunk of meat before her fork could take it.

“Wow, you know how to use chopsticks, congratulations.” She said, her teeth grinding, it still stung when he did that, for him it was just a stupid game to get on her nerves, for her it was her only food until she got home for dinner and he probably didn’t appreciate it like she did.

Spoiled, rich kids, she hated them all.

“I can’t help it,” He said, licking his lips from leftover gravy – stop noticing Rin – “Food from your plate tastes better,” He wasn’t even bothering to be quick when now he stole a mushroom. “It gives it a zing.”

She snorted, she couldn’t help herself.

“Then you’ll be glad to know that the chopsticks you took to your mouth, were mine, used them for the rice,” She said this in perfect synch when the food and thus the wood made contact with his lips “So at least this time you know where the zing comes from.” Rin allowed her lips to from a small smile as she watched the realization sink in.

For a moment, she felt triumphant, watching him squirm a little and she could swear – if she squinted hard enough – that the tip of his ears had reddened.

It didn’t last, his eyes flashed with... something – amusement? – And he seemed to be chewing the stolen food very thoroughly, and when he swallowed he directed her another of his wide smiles, his teeth almost showing.

“If you wanted a kiss, Rin, you only needed to ask.”

Rin would give herself a pat in the back if she could, because she somehow managed to keep her expression unchanging, even if her tongue felt tied in place, her belly was doing flip-flops and she could swear her ribcage felt a little too big for her own chest.

“Disgusting.” That simple word came out of her mouth almost without her permission, and even she was surprised by the venom she put in it.

She didn’t wait for his answer, nor his reaction, and she didn’t she feel hungry anymore.

And she simply left him there.

-oOo-

Rin was furious.

No, furious was not enough to describe how she felt, her entire body felt stiff with so much hatred swallowing her whole in the moment for the people in in front of her; Yuri and Sora looking as pleased as they could, Dennis inscrutable face that didn’t seem to care at all about his surroundings let alone her, and lastly Gloria and Grace looming over her, with their almost identical silhouettes.

Her school bag was floating on the pond, empty, all her belongings – notebooks, pens, her wallet and laptop already sank at the bottom of the murky waters. It wasn’t about the stuff... lie, it was about it, and school supplies weren’t cheap; but also, above everything, it was their faces, full of delight at her expense.

“What is it Rin-chan?” Gloria asked, looming just a bit more. “It’s just a bit of water right? Just take a dive and pick it!” From the corner of her eye she saw her hand, ready to push her.

With a speed Rin didn’t even know she possessed she grabbed her wrist, and twisted it forcing her to look up to her. Just a little more pressure and she could do it, her wrist would be sprained, maybe even broken, or she could push her instead into the pond, have her retrieve her stuff for her instead...

“Ugh, you are all so ridiculous, getting all worked up for a bag.” Yuri’s voice said and it was enough of a surprise for her hold to slacken and for Gloria to tear apart from Rin.

While she was focused on Gloria, Yuri had moved towards them and between his fingers her bag, holding it as if it was the most disgusting thing he ever had in his hands, dripping and muddy Rin couldn’t even say she would disagree with him.

He threw it at her feet without even looking back.

“That little bitch was-” Gloria started and was interrupted by her sister, with her vibrant eyes she looked at Rin and smiled.

“Let her be to her misery, you had your fun.” Rin had sometimes fooled herself believing that Grace was the nice one between the two, of course she was wrong.

“I’m bored now, let’s go.” Yuri said and started to walk away, obviously expecting everyone would follow, so of course they did, like little soldiers.

Gloria of course took her chance to push her shoulders into her, Grace only giggle at the sight and Sora skipped on the shallow side of the pond and splashed her shoes and socks, Dennis was the last one to follow, and he also brushed against her.

To pass her a note.

Your stuff is in under my desk.

Rin wasn’t sure what to make of the note, maybe he was screwing with her and hid something awful for her to find, or maybe he would stage a scene to make it look as if she was robbing him.

She really needed her stuff though.

-oOo-

“Why did you help me?” Rin said, cutting to the chase when she finally found him having his lunch in an empty classroom. After she found all of her stuff, hidden exactly where he told her, for days, she had pondered on whether or not, to approach him about it, part of it because he was always seen with Yuri and the others and partly because she was still half-expecting to be the first part of another prank.

“Does it matter?” Dennis said, putting his sandwich away, probably sensing she wouldn’t leave any time soon.

Yes it did matter, because he was close to Yuri and his awful friends, because she had assumed he was compliant with everything they did to others and herself, and maybe, just maybe she hoped to convince him to get on her side, and he could help her get an advantage on Yuri...

Yeah, right. Even in her mind that sounded stupid.

“I’m curious.” And she didn’t miss lunch at the cafeteria just to get such a bland answer, to get her point across, she sat atop the desk next to him, just to look down on him as unlike Yuri, he was way taller than herself.

“Is it so hard to believe I didn’t want to be complicit?” He said, not looking at her but at the window, she must have been looking at him in disbelief because he sighed and finally looked at her and said: “We’re not friends.”

“What?” Of all the explanations she could get, this was not in what she expected. “You’re always around them, and...”

“Yuri, Gloria, Grace and Sora, are no friends of mine, my family moved to Japan a year ago, I’m a foreigner, I talk ‘funny’, I don’t know how to behave half of the time, and like you I’m a charity case.” Rin had heard the term thrown around occasionally, they meant the scholarship students. “What I mean, is that I’m an easy target; but because Yuri and the others think I’m amusing and help them with their English homework, they keep me around.”

“A protection.” She said almost in a whisper.

“Not that they know, mind you.” He said and he laughed a little, but it was humorless and empty of emotion.

“So that’s it? You play along with them and turn a blind eye to everything they do, so you don’t become a target?” She had not realized her voice had raised until an echo resounded at her outburst. “I thought...”

“I’m sorry if I burst your knight-in-shining armor fantasy, but I’m just a coward who had a fleeting moment of decency and now it’s gone.” He sounded genuinely apologetic and that only pissed her off more.

“I don’t care about that fairytale bullshit, I thought you could be of use!” Her hand slammed on the desk.

For the first time, he looked surprised instead of bored or nonchalant, and then he laughed, this time a hearty laugh that even had a few snorts in between and had him holding his belly.

“I think I know now,” He said, still stifling a bit of laughter, until he finally composed himself. “Why Yuri it’s so bothered with you, I mean.”

“Because he thinks I’m a thorn on his side.”

“Maybe a poisonous thorn.” He insisted, “You know, the type that will spread poison through your blood until it reaches your heart, if you don’t get rid of it.”

“What?” Why was he acting like he had some huge revelation was beyond her. “That’s dumb. He just wants me to back down, to make bow to him, like you, like every person in this school.”

“Not really, Yuri doesn’t care much for that, sure he enjoys the benefits of it, but for him it grows old fast...” He paused, giving her a strange look, appraisal? “... No, what he wants is this, he wants get past this ‘Ice Queen’ act you put on, he wants to provoke you to do something, anything about everything.”

“That’s stupid, even If he wants me to have a meltdown or whatever...” But the more she thought about it, the more sense it made...

Rin couldn’t finish her line of thought, because the door of the classroom slides open so suddenly and so harsh that she could swear the frame made creaking sound, she almost turned around to nag whoever it had entered, but Dennis beat her to the punch.

“Yuri, what ha-”

“What the fuck do you think you’re doing?” She barely finished to process it is indeed Yuri, when he had already thrown the question, he looked far more agitated than she ever saw him before, his breath ragged, as if he ran all the way here.

Wait, had she ever heard him curse before? She is too stunned to even wonder if the question is for her or Dennis.

Their silence seemed enough to make him look pissed off beyond belief, he was usually so expressive – even if his expressions were for the worst – but now, with his lips stuck into a thin line, his glare held absolutely no amusement instead it looked as if he was imagining the many ways he could bring suffering to either of them, and his usually relaxed stance had gone, his shoulders looked completely rigid to the point it looked as if he was carrying something extremely heavy, even then, he looked almost calm, like a statue.

“Well?” When he spoke again, with a tone that demanded answers, the shock quickly vanished and gave place to annoyance.

“I was not aware I needed to report myself to you.” She said, and crossed her legs and crossed her arms putting as much finality to her words. From the corner of her eye, she saw Dennis looking aside, his face looked a little red... of course, her skirt had hunched up, but if she tried to fix it now, it would ruin her stance.

“No one is talking to you.” Yuri said, directing his glare fully at Dennis now. “Leave, we need to talk.” This new side of Yuri was definitely unknown to her.

And it was giving her a thrill to think she was the cause of it, with so little effort.

She propped down from her ‘seat’ and very much with purpose she waved at Dennis, giving her the brightest smile she could muster, she even threw a wave at him – which made him pale so much, she almost felt bad for him, almost. – And the moment her eyes were posed on Yuri’s general direction, she morphed her face back into indifference, acting as if he was below her notice, invisible even.

Rin didn’t even turn when she felt Yuri’s intense look posed on her, she just passed next to him, and closed the door behind her.

Sayaka had once warned her that playing with Yu– with them would be acting like a mouse thinking it stood a chance against a feral cat. But Rin could prove her now that she was no mouse, no, she was the person holding a toy mouse above the cat, just out of its reach.

Every single time.

-oOo-

From the corner of his eye, a head full of soft-looking green hair catches his attention.

Yuri stops in his tracks to get a better look at the owner, but when he does, her back is turned and some girl is talking her ear off, he only catches the words ‘new girl' and ‘winner' before they get too far for him to listen.

He feels someone hanging from his arm and using it as a swing, pulling him out of his thoughts.

“Stop it Sora,” he said and he only did it one more time before he actually listened.

Laughter came from behind him, and he knew it was the twins, standing behind him now and looking at Sam.

He was walking in the middle of the hallway, almost dragging his feet with each step, neither of then needed to send anyone a warning for the people in the hallway to part and avoid all contact with him.

He didn’t even remember what he had done to piss off Gloria, but as Sora and Grace followed along with whatever or more like whoever had sent her into an indiscriminate swirl of spite, he just shrugged and played the part for as long as it was fun, then the rest of the people did the work for them.

Dennis was quiet, he was only required to do his digging as usual and told them what things they could use against him.

It was successful as usual.

Then out of nowhere he hears dozens of surprised gasps, before he could even ask or look around for the source, he was already feeling Gloria's nails digging on his shoulders, he could almost hear her teeth grinding.

“Who is that?” She asked, and Yuri's eyes caught the green hair before anything else.

There she was, kneeling on the floor and helping Sam picking up her stuff, from the distance he couldn’t hear what or if she was talking to him or even her face.

“I read something about her, she’s the new scholarship student, Yukimura Rin, I believe.” Dennis said from behind them. “She won it by academic excellence.”

“Hmph, another charity case, and look at her thinking she’s better than everyone then?” Gloria was now biting her finger. “I say she needs a reminder that peasants need to keep their head low.”

Yuri was only half-listening, the girl was now helping Sam – he was truly pitiful and insignificant – carry his stuff down the hallway.

He felt something ugly twist in his gut the longer he looked.

“Yes, let’s do it.” And for the first time he means it.

-oOo-

Yuri has a problem, a problem named Rin.

Why? For many reasons, for example how much of a swot she was, always answering every question correctly, even when the teacher wasn’t even asking anything, the she went to give that little jump on her seat and lean forward until the old man sighed and gave her the word, sometimes when she gave the right answer after someone else got it wrong she even directed them the most conceited look in the world right afterwards.

In gym class, she never understood the meaning of the word ‘practice’ and always went all out, whether it was jogging it always ended up turning into a race – usually between Rin and Gloria – or some volleyball game when somehow after a very unhelpful opinion from Dennis, it turned into something called dodgeball, it ended with most of them sent to the infirmary for bleeding noses, black eyes and at least one concussion – but he could bet that Sawatari was just being dramatic – she always showed off when they had to do gymnastics. But above all, Yuri thinks he hates the school sport’s uniform, it’s too short and... form-fitting, and Rin doesn’t seem to care that by the end of the class there’s at least half a dozen guys ogling at her.

Of course they don’t flirt or approach her at all, because they’re also terrified of her.

Which was… good, because the thought of anyone wanting her like that, touching her made him sick to the stomach.

Her new fame probably had to do with the one time threatened to post the personal phones of the entire class online along with recordings and footage of everything they'd done to her.

If teachers refused to discipline them, then maybe being trolled non-stop by strangers online would do the trick.

Soon the class learned that it was better to leave her alone, rather than try to grind her down, because when that happened, nothing would protect them of whatever fitting punishment Rin cooked-up in her pretty little head.

That leaves Yuri in tight spot in which her mere existence in the school made him bristle with... too many feelings that he doesn’t have time to think about – nor does he want to – he just wants her out of his sight, out of his class, and out of his life.

Anything to stop feeling the way he does.

But he can’t do much of anything, or else he risks having people realizing that she had managed to put a dent in him.

If only, if only she was also bothered as he was, if only there was the slightest hint that he also provoked her the same ugly and unwanted feelings then maybe he could try or pretend to be at peace, there would be some balance. When it all started, there were a couple times when it looked like something was coming through her cold and listless expression.

Sometimes he thought he saw something in those eyes, he though he saw her jaw tightening, her composure wavering.

But then it was gone, always gone, when he thought he had something on her, she just left him to his misery, sometimes throwing some scathing line.

‘What’s so funny?’

‘I was just thinking it must be nice to be rich, and not having to develop a brain or a personality.’

“Yuri, you’re up!” Sora yelled in his ear, once he focused again, he remembered where they were: the moon-viewing festival that he very reluctantly go so he could get away from his house, Sora has promised fun and lots of candy, Dennis had simply shrugged and said he never went to a temple before and would be interesting, Grace wanted to win every prize of every game and Gloria was happy with showing off one of her extra luxurious kimono.

Right now they were all nudging him to play ring tossing.

He just rolled his eyes and took the ring from the vendor’s hands a little too harshly, before tossing it with a little too much force.

“It looks like we have a winner!” The old man said, and handed him a tube of chips.

“Aw, I was hoping you would win the chocolates box.” Sora said, obviously thinking only of how much he could stuff his face.

“Tough luck,” he said popping the tube open and throwing at least five chips into his mouth, they were good, he was quickly gobbling them down.

“Easy there,” Grace said. “Your dad will get mad if he realizes you were eating junk food.” She only said it because she tried and succeeded to steal a chip while she removed the crumbs from his clothes, but she had a point.

There was a photoshoot coming up.... fuck it, they were just entering the food stands and the smell of fried shellfish and dough had his mouth watering, if he was gonna be nagged for his weight gain anyway, then he may as well enjoy himself.

And the yakisoba looked delicious. While he went to the line, he couldn’t help notice something.

Right at the front of the line, there it was, the back of a head full of green hair.

Rin, it looked like she had just been served and she dived right in, eating almost all of it in three mouthfuls. She always ate so heartily, not caring if anyone was looking, or if she filled her face with soy sauce and the like. She was not wearing a kimono or even a yukata – his mind helpfully reminded him that those were expensive – instead she was wearing a pink short – too short – and blue and white jacket and high-thigh boots, there was even a pretty bracelet on her wrist and a necklace.

Yuri swallowed a little, clearly seeing her outside school had caught him off-guard, but he wasn’t going to let that ruin this night, and he tore his eyes from her, before she or anyone realized he was staring.

“Ugh, finally! What took you so long?” Rin said out loud, and not like she was yelling or as If she was angry, no, someone he couldn’t see or hear clearly said something funny to her and she laughed.

She laughed, loud and clear, she didn’t even cover her mouth and her eyes were closed in merriment.

He found himself staring again, drinking on the sight, she never, ever laughed like that when he was near, nowhere in the school.

Then, a gloved hand touched her shoulder, and a boy that had to be around their same age, wearing something that looked like a biker outfit, his hair was put up in the most ridiculous hairdo he ever seen; and he laughed too at whatever she had said back.

He leaned into her, his arm went around her shoulder and pulled her into a half-hug, that she only half-heartily shrugged off, her hands were all over him too, and his hair, his arm, he saw how she pulled his cheek jokingly.

Yuri couldn’t believe it, she never once stopped smiling, she looked happy and at ease. And it was all because of this random guy.

His head started to fill with red static, it didn’t let him think clearly let alone act clearly; when he saw them leave, he marched towards them, forgetting all about the food, about his friends, he didn’t know what he would do once he caught up with them.

But he couldn’t let this slip, he just couldn’t.

-oOo-

“What a surprise," She heard that voice and instantly felt herself frozen in the spot, maybe she had imagined it, maybe- “Hello Rin.”

Yugo turned then, and she had no choice but to do it too.

“Hey, didn’t see you there.” Yugo said and as usual greeted him with all the enthusiasm he put in pretty much anything, Rin almost wanted to groan. “I’m Yugo, are you from Rin’s school?”

“I am, it’s a pleasure to meet you.” He said giving both of them a sickly sweet smile, and forced Rin to face the facts.

Yuri was there, looking strangely unearthly… the purple kimono with stripes and a faint pattern of petals matched perfectly with his hair, blowing the slightest bit on the autumn chilling wind, and the pale moonlight bathing him a glow that If she didn’t know any better she would think he was a nature spirit who popped right out of ancient painting.

“Cool! I’ve been wondering why Rin never talks about her new classmates!” Yugo said quickly pulling Yuri closer.

“And I’ve wondered so many things about Rin myself!”

Rin bit the inside of her cheek to remind herself of the type of person he really was; just because she had never seen him outside school wearing anything other than slack pants or dress shirts didn’t mean she was going to lose her head over him, anyone would look good on a kimono, especially one as skillfully crafted like the one he had.

He didn’t even knew how to wear it properly, because one of the sleeves was hanging lower than the other, leaving part of his chest open for view.

“Oh you know her since kinder garden? That’s so sweet.” Yuri said and Yugo, bless his oblivious heart, somehow didn’t realize the sarcasms dripping from his voice.

“Yes! We’ve been inseparable since then! Well, at least until she got into your school he he...” Yugo’s voice faltered, and Rin’s heart skipped a beat at it. “Anyway, you look a bit familiar... “

Seeing them together brought her the thought that they both represent the comfortable – if slightly boring – life she traded for the one where she felt like she was walking on knives, filling her with a strange surge of adrenaline every day.

“Rin!” She was pulled out of her thoughts when Yugo practically jumped into her face, jumping up and down. “Why didn’t you tell me you went to school with Yuri? You could brag with everyone.”

“What?” Rin was stumped, why she would bother to tell anyone that she went to school with a rich spoiled brat like Yuri? At best she could brag about his good looks, but it’s not like he was her boyfriend or anything.

Yugo dug inside his pockets for bit to pull out his phone searching for something, and Rin took a second to throw a warning glare to Yuri, who simply looked too delighted than he should be allowed.

“Got it!” said Yugo at last, shoving the phone against her face

“Yugo I can’t see like this.” Rin said and she took a step back.

“Look!” Yugo repeated, and she saw the image in his phone: it looked like the cover of a magazine, there, Yuri was posing – more like standing – in the middle of a park, wearing some type of posh clothing and gigantic headphones, a jacket thrown over his shoulder.

Rin grabbed the phone and was looking between the picture and Yuri still standing behind Yugo.

She almost laughed at how ridiculously retouched the picture was, because yeah, she was willing to admit Yuri has very handsome, but he wasn’t particularly tall, not that thin, and specially his eyebrows where not that delicate-looking. Suddenly why everyone at school tolerated Yuri’s lack of studying was clear; he was just doing an act of presence, he obviously had his life solved for him, and would go on to become huge after they finished school.

“You know I don’t buy fashion magazines.” Rin said, feeling her annoyance back in place the more she thought about how easily handed was everything for Yuri. “Maybe I should be wondering how you know about him.” She said suddenly feeling like a tease and was rewarded by the stupefied looks of both boys, in the case of Yuri his face was blue for a couple moments.

“I just know because Amanda and Aru have a crush on him!” Yugo yelled almost too quickly, and she laughed at his outburst. “Come on Rin, you know no one can replace you in my heart!” He said, looking a little too much like a kicked puppy, and she relented.

“Silly, I was joking.” She said, even sticking out her tongue, it took a few seconds for him to get it, but when it happened he laughed and she couldn’t help but laugh with him too.

“Oh” Yuri said, and it made her look at him again, “I apologize for interrupting your date.” even though he was still smiling, there was something weird behind it and it couldn’t have been just the darkness, she could swear a shadow had fallen on his eyes.

It was the same aura from back when he had found her talking with Dennis in private.

“D-date?!” Yugo said, and for a minute Rin thought he might actually faint from how red his face became, his eyes practically shimmered and she felt her own face get warm at the complete adoration he was looking at her with. “...but, you got it wrong, Rin and I aren’t like that.”

Rin felt her chest tighten when a good part of his good mood had been sucked off him.

Because she never gave him a clear answer.

“So, you are not her boyfriend?” Yuri asked, and got into Yugo’s face, as if he wanted to detect any hint of lying, Yugo just shook his head and shrugged, giving him a smile that didn’t quite reach his eyes, Yuri on the contrary completely perked up at the confirmation. “Ah, that makes much more sense, isn’t she just a tease?”

It was as if her stomach and her heart just somehow dropped to the bottom of her body, or maybe this was just what it felt to be frozen in place, due to shock and fury.

Tease, Yuri had... he just called her a... Rin’s fists balled at her sides, trying to breath in and out to calm down herself.

“What are you talking about?” Yugo asked this time, turning completely to face Yuri, his voice was low and so flat, so unlike him that it was almost scary.

“Well, since you ask,” Yuri didn’t seem to notice the change in the air, or most likely didn’t care, as he had now abandoned all pretenses of niceties, his voice full of the scorn and disdain of every day. “Rin here has a little trouble with showing off all the time, she wants everyone to look up at her, praise her, maybe even love her, but what does she give in return? Nothing, she only ever let’s people see a glimpse of what she can give and uses it as bait to string them along, just so she can continue to lead them on, and have them to her beck and call, like little trained puppies, vying for her attention.”

Rin couldn’t believe her ears, the things she was accusing her of were completely outrageous, she didn’t show off just for the hell of it, she had to do it to prove her worth; she didn’t care if people wanted to looked up to her or showered her with compliments, she didn’t like when she got under people’s skins and then acted as if they didn’t matter... and she wasn’t stringing anyone along with the possibility of any reciprocation...

He eyes sneaked up on Yugo’s back, his face still hidden from her.

She... she didn’t do that right?

A strangled noise broke between the heavy silence and it made them both look at her.

It took her a moment to realize that it had come from her, her throat was closing and opening rapidly, making it hard to breath, her lips trembled, trying to keep any other noises from escaping without her permission, and her eyes felt itchy and watery.

“You bastard!” She barely heard the curse from Yugo, because her head was filling with white noise, not letting her think clearly.

At least until she heard a loud growl, the swish of a fast motion and them a loud bash, followed by the sound of something, or more like someone falling flat on the stone cold floor.

The image that greeted her when she searched for the source was Yuri fallen on his butt, one of his sandals had slipped off while one of his shoulder was uncovered because the kimono was in complete disarray, but the most shocking was that he was using both hands to hold the lower side of his face, between his fingers there were faint trails of blood, and some drops had already stained the cloth of his kimono.

“Don’t you dare to get anywhere near Rin again!!” Yugo was hovering almost on top of him, in fighting stance, ready to strike him one more time.

“You savage!” Yuri yelled, but he was clearly frightened, the sight went a long way to make her feel a lot better.

Unfortunately the yelling had gotten people’s attention and if they realized what had happened they would call security on Yugo.

“Let’s go!” She said, gathering herself as quickly as she could, and grabbed him by the arm, forcing him to run with her to the nearest exit.

-oOo-

“I formally rejected Yugo this weekend, I hope you’re happy.” Rin said the moment she finally found him after scanning every single place in the school; she thought that maybe he had not shown up, but his shoes where in the lockers, so she just redoubled her efforts, and as it turned out he had been hiding in the multi-purpose room all along.

Of course, after all they didn’t have English or P.E. class today, she should have started here; he had brought together and bunch of chairs and then simply laid on them as if they were a futon, he acted as if it was an impossible tasks to get up and

Now that his face was in full view, she could see why he didn’t want anyone seeing him; he had a Band-Aid on his nose, but even then it didn’t hide the reddening bruise that was underneath.

It was... strange, seeing him like this, she always thought that it would give him pleasure to see him suffer the consequences of his actions for once – she definitely had pictured herself decking him more than a couple times per day – but right now, she couldn’t find enjoyment within herself.

“And your boyfriend, sorry, your friend almost broke my nose, gave me a concussion and ruined my kimono, so I hope you’re delighted.”

Rin ignored the jab and grabbed a chair to seat right in front of him, he almost immediately straightened up, looking at her with narrowed suspicious eyes.

“Let’s settle this matter between ourselves once and for all.” She started crossing her arms and her legs, having a good pose couldn’t hurt.

“And why would I want to do that?” He said, almost spitting the words.

Because she was teetering towards the edge since she first took the challenge he brought her, and now she feared that if she continued, it would consume her whole.

He didn’t need to know that though.

“Unless you want more than a broken nose, I highly suggest it, because you won’t want to see me truly pissed off.” She said, and he snorted in response. “Yugo is scared of anger, and if you’re smart you would be too.”

“Oh, I know you’re terrifying,” He said, not an ounce of laughter in his voice. “Why do you think I stopped you from breaking Gloria’s hand months ago?” He asked, apparently surprised that she had not picked it up.

Rin felt a wave of shame at realizing that the thought never crossed her mind. In fact she was forced to think of all the times when she was about to burst to someone else – mostly Gloria – and he immediately would start trying to annoy her.

“If you know that, then why do you keep this up?” Why had he put himself on harm’s way? The concept of Yuri helping anyone was too alien for her, it had to be something else.

“Maybe I just like pissing you off,” He looked to the side while saying this. “And I don’t want anyone else hogging it up.”

Rin blinked, very slowly, mulling over his words, a thought had started blooming in her mind, one so ridiculous that it had to be a false.

“So that’s it? You get bored and get a rise out of making me angry?” She made the disbelief in her tone as obvious as she could.

“Are you mocking me now?” He said, passing a hand through his hair. “It really isn’t fair you know? It doesn’t matter what I do, it’s never enough, you always look at me as if I was a bug you accidentally squished with your shoe, what else do I have to do?”

Yuri looked and sounded really miserable at the admission.

“You... wanted my attention?” Even saying it out loud, Rin doesn’t believe it, but like everything else, it makes so much sense than any other convoluted theory she ever had she can feel herself starting to laugh, her gut is twisting and untwisting in tight knots, her heart is beating too fast and the amusement quickly melts into “Are you an idiot or what?!”

Yuri’s eyes were wide as plates when she yelled at him, looking at her as if she was seeing her for the first time, then he shakes his head and then sneers at her.

“Don’t make a big deal out of it.” He said and she never before wanted to punch him as hard as she wants now.

“Me? Make a big deal?! That’s rich coming from you! What are you in kinder garden?!” She said throwing her hands at the air, she gets up and starts pacing around the room, trying to calm herself, but it’s no use. “If you wanted me to look at you, then you should have talked to me like a normal person, you should have been nice to me!”

“I wanted to!” He screamed, his face buried in his hands. “I saw you, during your first day, walking down the hallway, and I immediately wanted to know who you were and... I wanted to... but you had to go and piss Gloria off, you had to go and be nice to Sam and talk to him, help him and smile at him, and then I was pissed off too.”

“If anyone is at fault that I helped Sam, is because you people made his life miserable first, don’t try to pin this on me.”

“Oh yeah that explains Sam alright, I’ll drop it then, but what about Yugo?” She couldn’t believe Yuri was bringing him up again, this felt like a bad joke.

“What?! He has nothing to do with you.” Rin turned to face hi fully and her words seemed to piss him off more, and he stalked his ways towards her.

“No, but isn’t he nice all the time? Doesn’t he shower you with compliments and hugs you and makes moony eyes at you, hoping for a kiss or a sign, and you still rejected him? What chances do I even have?” Yuri was standing in front of her now, only a step away from her, she’d never been this close to him before and now she was finally able to see how dilated his pupils were, his ragged breath in synch with the rise of his heaving chest.

“It’s none of your business what happened between the two of us.” She said closing the distance between them, his eyes were impossibly dark now and fixated on her mouth. “And if you wanted a kiss, you only needed to ask.”

Rin grabbed the hairs of his nape and pressed a harsh kiss to his mouth.

She couldn’t believe this was the whole cause of their stupid fiasco, for a god dammed kiss, thinking about it just gave her another peak of anger and she grabbed him forcibly from his shoulders, just to have his body to claw at; on top of it, he wanted this so much and he is barely responding, his surprisingly soft mouth is still against her lips. She pushed him backwards until they were stopped by either a chair or a desk, it didn’t matter, but she stopped only a moment to pass her thumb across his lower lip, and the moment he sighed she crushed her lips against him again.

That was the moment he finally, finally matched his motions to hers.

She doesn’t have much experience with kisses – more like none – and she guesses he doesn’t either, because just like her, he is sloppy, in the mesh of lips, tongues and teeth, sometimes he bits where he shouldn’t or she forgets to breathe through her nose, but even then they cannot stop, it’s almost they’re intoxicated with each other.

Yuri hops up onto the hard surface behind him – a desk she realizes now – and she follows just so they can keep kissing. With their bodies now meshed against the other, the sensations heighten up and she can’t help running her hands through his back and her fingers dig into his hair, her nails into his scalp.

He moans when she does it and she swallows it as if it was the air she needs to live.

“I hate you, you jerk.” She whispers between kisses. “I’ve hated your stupid looking hair since I first saw you.”

She feels him press his body harder against her and gives her a deep kiss, as if he was tasting every single nook inside of her and the intensity makes her toes curl in her shoes.

Then he stops, they both looks at each other, waiting, too see if the other will do something else. Rin can’t help but stare at her work: his face is flushed and his lips swollen, his shirt is a mess and a couple of buttons had unfasten.

She hopped down from him, satisfied, feeling his eyes roving wandering all over her as he moves.

“I hope is everything you dreamed of.” She said, turning completely away from him, trying to calm her beating heart.

“I don’t know if a single kiss will be enough.” He called before she reached the door.

Yeah, she doesn’t think so either.

#arc v #yugioh arc v #fluoriteshipping #arc v rare pair week #my fics #FINALLY I POSTED IT!!!#long post

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jiminthestreets-bonesinthesheets · 5 years

Text

Lost in Translation - Ch 7

Title: Lost in Translation

Fandom: Star Trek

Pairing: Mckirk

Rating: Lemon

Tags: minor character death, hurt, little bit of self destruction, stranded, possible smut down the line, FLUFF OH THE FLUFF!!

Summary:

“Attention citizens. This is the crew of the Enterprise asking for your aid. On Stardate 2264.78 a shuttle manned by our captain and fourteen cadets was ambushed by an unknown source and chased out of sight of our ship and into open space. Those cadets as well as our captain, James Tiberius Kirk, are still missing. We are asking anyone with any information on their whereabouts, or regarding the attack, to please contact the Enterprise immediately. Our family would appreciate any assistance you can give.”

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Masterlist

Special Thanks: wanted to give a huge shout out to my girl Katie, AKA @goingknowherewastaken for being a huge inspiration for this fic as well as for being a huge help (especially when it comes to putting up with my frantic ramblings lol) you're awesome boo <3

A/N: So this chapter is a bit longer, but I think you’ll find it well worth it! *wink*

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Chapter 7

Len found himself in the same spot he had been pacing nearly everyday for the last two and a half weeks, and Scotty was sure that if he didn’t stop the doctor would ware a hole in the floor of the transporter room. Scotty watched from his chair as the doctor did circle after circle, eyes wandering between the transporter padd and the screen in front of him before he finally spoke, “Doctor McCoy?” Len stopped for a brief moment to look to Scotty, “Might it be better if you waited back in the medbay, or your chambers? I can call ya when they get back.”

Len shook his head and continued his pacing, “Spock said they wouldn’t be more then a day, it’s been two, what the hell’s taking so long?! Has anyone had any communication with them at all?!”

“Sorry, Leonard,” Scotty shook his head, “I tried calling them yesterday and nothin’. I'm sure they’ll be back any minute now, so why don’t you head down to your office and I’ll call ya, you need rest doctor. You look a mess.”

“I am a mess!” he shouted, though he hadn’t intended to yell at Scotty. But after nearly three weeks now of built up anger and impatience he couldn’t help it. “We’re going on three weeks Jim's been missing and no one seems to know a damn thing about where he went! I can’t take much more disappointment, I just want to know where he is-”

As it all came boiling over Len felt the all too familiar clench in his chest, the rush of air being forced out of his lungs as if he had been punched. He leaned against the wall behind him and slid down to the floor, wrapping both arms around himself as he tried hard to catch his breath.

“Right, hod on, doctor!” Scotty was at his side in seconds, sitting beside him, and instructing Len to match his breathing to his own, “I know it’s hard, but we’ll find him, Len, we will. You’ve just got to have a wee bit of hope. Jim's a smart man, I'm sure where ever he is he's just fine and waiting for his doctor to come rescue him.”

Len looked up at Scotty, his breathing slowly coming back to normal, but before he could say anything the screen lit up and Spock's voice filled the transporter room, “Spock to Enterprise.”

Scotty jumped up from his spot beside Len and landed himself in the chair, “Scott to Spock, you ready?”

“Lock on and beam us up.”

“Aye, one moment.”

Len watched from his place on the ground as the padd lit up. He counted the figures as they came in and it didn’t look like they had any more people then they beamed down with.

As they walked off the padd Spock eyed Len and shook his head. All Len could do to avoid another panic attack was pull his knees to his chest and burry his face in his arms. But he could still hear Spock and Nyota as they spoke to Scotty off to the side.

“What took so long?”

“When we entered the planet’s city centre there was someone there who thought they had information for us,” Nyota sighed, then continued, “but it was a dead end. It was a completely unrelated incident.”

“I see,” Scotty ran a hand over his face and crossed his arms. His eyes wandered over to Len still huddled against the wall. He turned back to Nyota and nodded his head towards Len and whispered, “I don’t know what to do wee him. While yous are gone he comes in here and damn near wears a hole in the floor, and this time he went into a fit. Thought he was gunnae stop breathin’. He cannae take much more o’this, none of us can really.”

“I know,” Nyota turned towards the still unmoving Len and placed a hand on Scotty’s shoulder, “I’ll get him back to his room.”

“And I shall make way to the bridge. Perhaps some information came in while we were off ship.”

Spock and Scotty both left the transporter room leaving only Nyota and Len. She slowly walked over to him and knelt down in front of him. She placed her hand on his arm and rubbed her thumb back and forth a moment before she placed her other hand on his shoulder and helped him off the ground. “Come on, Leonard, let’s get you to your room.”

Without a word Len got up and allowed her to lead him through the halls.

~~~~~~~~~~~

Before Len even knew it he was standing in front of his door.

“Ok, in you go, Leonard,” Nyota’s soothing voice came from behind him, “just go to bed and hopefully we’ll have good news tomorrow. If anything happens you know I’ll call you.”

He nodded mindlessly as he opened the door, then turned back to Nyota, “He's… he’s not coming back.”

“Don’t say that, Leonard.”

“I have to face this at some point, Nyota, I can’t…” he stopped to take a calming breath, “I can’t keep hoping that he's going to walk off the transporter padd and come running into my arms. He's been missing for nearly three weeks and we have no information, not a damn thing. And there’s no way his shuttle travelled this far away from the original attack point. He's gone.”

Len was near tears now and Nyota could see it. She could see the quick rise and fall of his chest and knew he was close to another attack. Running soothing hands down his arms she took a step closer, “There’s always hope.”

“Yeah,” he scoffed, “people keep telling me that but I'm damn near out of hope at this point. Reality is what we need to face now.”

“And the reality is that Jim is the best man that Starfleet has, and if anyone could have survived this attack and found somewhere to hold down until rescue, it’s Jim.” She gives his arms a squeeze and says with confidence, “I know it looks bleak but we’ll find him, even this far out. We’ve mapped out a few more planets they could have made it to, and we will find him on one of them, I know it. And he will walk off that padd and he will come running into your arms, I promise.”

He shakes his head, “You can’t promise me that, no one can.”

“Leonard, you know Jim better then anyone else. Deep down do you really think he's gone?”

“I… I don’t want to.” He starts and she stares him down, knowing that was a half assed answer at best, “No, I don’t think he's dead, but I'm so drained, Ny. Every time you head down to a planet I get my hopes up and every time I'm disappointed. I can’t take much more of that. I just… I need Jim.”

“I know,” she rubs his arm again, “we all do. But he is out there and we will find him, alive. And when we do if you two don’t get over this ridiculous tension, or shyness, or whatever it is between you, and finally admit your feelings for each other after all this, so help me god, Leonard, I will do it myself.”

He chuckled, but he knew she was right. If… when they got Jim back he was laying it all out on the table. He wasn’t going to let another chance slip away from him, and he certainly wasn’t going to risk losing Jim again without telling him everything.

Nyota gave him a small smile then turned him towards the door, “Get some rest, Leonard, I’ll see you in the morning.”

He nodded and walked inside without another word.

~~~~~~~~~~~

After the door closed behind him Len stood there for a few minutes just staring at the floor. Nyota was right, Jim was still out there somewhere and they would find him, but the wait was killing Len slowly, agonizingly.

Without even thinking about what he was doing he wandered over to the liquor cabinet in his sitting area, and found himself with a bottle of bourbon in his hand. He popped the lid off and was just about to put the bottle to his mouth when he remembered what had happened the last time. He remembered Nyota's words to him the next morning in medbay. When they found Jim, he would need him to be the best he could be, sober and ready to give Jim whatever he needs.

Without taking a sip he dropped the bottle to his side and walked over to the sink. No hesitation, he poured the entire bottle down the drain and placed the empty bottle on the counter, and with a new found determination he marched over to the cabinet and started removing bottles by the armful. One by one he dumped all of it down the sink, emptying the cabinet completely, and with a sigh he left the kitchen and walked straight to his room.

He didn’t even bother changing, just sat on the bed and ran both hands down his face. When he looked up he was staring at the only picture he had in his room, one single frame perched in a place of pride on his nightstand. Len had purposefully placed it there when they were assigned to the Enterprise so he could look at it every night before bed, and it would be the first thing he saw when he woke every morning. It’s his favourite picture in the world, a memory of happier times. It’s a picture from when he and Jim had visited his Gran, back when they were still in the academy.

His Gran had called him near the end of their second year. She would call every week to hear about Len's school, about his cute and funny room mate Jim, and sometimes Jim would scoot him out of the chair and talk to his Gran for hours. But this time she had called from the hospital. Len’s Gran had been having more and more health problems lately but she insisted that it was nothing, just a small bout of pneumonia, she had said.

He thought back to their conversation that day, Len worried and Gran brushing it off like she always did, insisting she was perfectly fine…

“I am fine, Lenny, don’t you go worrying about me.”

Len sighed and shook his head, “I always worry about you, Gran. You're calling me from your hospital bed, how am I not supposed to worry!?”

“You just focus on those exams you have coming up and make your Gran proud,” She pointed at the screen, “no fussin’ over me.”

“Gran,” he pinched the bridge of his nose, “if I talk to your nurse, Karen, is she going to tell me I have to come down there?”

“You know if it was serious Karen would have called you herself,” and she was right, he knew it, “but speaking of, it’s been a long damn time since I’ve gotten a visit from my favourite grandson.”

He chuckled, “I'm you're only grandson.”

“Still my favourite,” she smiled, “now, about that visit…?”

Len turned away from the computer for a moment. He wanted to visit his Gran, he really did, but there was just something in him that couldn’t allow him to leave Jim.

As if she could read his mind she asked, “Is it Jim?”

Turning back he nodded, “Yeah, Gran. I don’t know what it is exactly but… I just can’t leave him.”

The door opened then and Len turned to see Jim walking through the small hallway, toeing off his boots as he did. He waved to Len with a huge smile on his face and walked towards him shouting, “Guess who’s last lecture was cancelled and now has the whole night off!”

Len laughed at him dancing through the living room and towards him, “I'm guessing the horribly dancing cadet in my living room.”

“You love my horrible dancing,” he continued to sway his hips towards Len who leaned back in the computer chair with a smirk. When he got almost close enough to sit in Len's lap he saw the computer screen out of the corner of his eye, “Is that Gran!?”

“It sure is, Jimmy my boy!” she smiled at him, “How are you doin? Good grades I hope.”

“Nothing but A’s, Gran,” she gave a little fist pump and Jim sat in Len's lap to better see her, looking around her, “are you in the hospital?! What happened?!”

“See, I'm not the only one that worries about you, Gran,” Len smirked from over Jim's shoulder, leaning his head there and wrapping his arms around the fidgeting body in his lap.

“Well neither of you should, I'm fine,” both boys gave her a knowing eye roll, “but enough of that. Jimmy, I was just trying to talk Lenny into coming out to visit me the next time y’all have some time off school. What would you say to coming along?”

Jim's eyes went wide, “You… you want me to come visit you in Georgia?”

“If you want to,” she smirked then said, “and it would seem that my little Lenny has an awful soft spot for ya, doesn’t want to leave without ya.”

Jim turned his head to try and hide the blush and Len couldn’t even believe his Gran. “I don’t want to impose on you guys. You should have your family time.”

“Nonsense,” she waved him off, “you wouldn’t be imposing, no such thing. I want you here and so does Lenny. You are family Jimmy, you belong here, and you're more then welcome to come along if you want to. But I do hope you say yes.”

Jim's smile brightened tenfold as he answered enthusiastically, “In that case I would love to come! I’ve never been to Georgia.”

“Well now, that’s a damn shame son,” she pointed to Len behind Jim, “while you're out here you better show him all the ropes, you hear, full Georgia experience, and I’ll make you all my famous dishes.”

Len shifted his head again to try and get a word in over Jim's shoulder, “We’ll have some time off after exams, Gran, so if you're home by then we’ll head out once exams are over. We’ll have two weeks off before we have to be back.”

“That sounds great boys, I’ll see y’all then!”

“Bye Gran, feel better,” both Len and Jim waved to her as she blew a kiss and ended the call…

Thinking back on the memory Len laughed. After that call with Gran, Jim spoke of nothing else for the next three weeks leading up to exams. It was the most excited he had ever seen the kid and he thought it was adorable.

Len ran his fingers over the picture in his hands. Gran had taken that picture on their first night in Georgia. The minute their last exam was over Jim was ready and waiting for Len inside their room, bags packed, and shoes on waiting by the door. They hopped on a shuttle and arrived at his Gran’s house late afternoon. When the sun went down Len had dragged Jim outside and started a fire, then the two of them laid in the grass and spent hours looking up at the stars together, clear as day in the Georgia sky.

It was night one of their two week stay in Georgia, and Gran must have snuck outside to snap this picture. Len was lying on the ground, one arm behind his head and the other around Jim. Jim was using half of Len's chest and his arm as a pillow, wrapped in Len's oversized high school football jacket, smiling and pointing towards the sky. The glow from the fire lit up their faces and Len couldn’t help but think Gran had captured the perfect moment. Jim in all his wonder filled glory, and Len staring at him like he hung the moon and stars.

That trip back home was the best two weeks of Len's life. Two weeks spent with Jim, two weeks of no class and no work, two weeks of just being together. And now that he thinks back on it, two weeks completely wasted. He was given so many opportunities in Georgia to tell Jim how he really felt, and out of fear he let them all pass him by. Now, he couldn’t help but think that maybe if he had told Jim back then, just grew a pair and told Jim how he felt, maybe things would have turned out differently. Maybe Jim wouldn’t have been so stubborn and let him on that shuttle, instead of heading off alone with fourteen fresh cadets. Then at least, they would still be together now, rather then Jim being god knows where, and Len laying in bed clutching desperately to precious memories.

He lay back in his bed clutching the picture tightly to his chest thinking back on all the chances he had back then. So many opportunities wasted, and he swore then and there, that if someone would give him the chance again he wouldn’t pass it up this time. Jim would know, as he should have known back then in Georgia.

~~~~~~~~~~~

“Turkey dinner, peach pie for dessert, and the best damn grandma anyone could ask for?! Bones, if you would have told me how amazing Georgia was, we would have come sooner.”

Len just chuckled at Jim sitting on the couch across form him. In the mere two days they had been at his Gran’s farm in Georgia, Jim had certainly made himself at home. Not that Len or anyone else was complaining. His Gran loved Jim. Yeah, she had spoken to Jim over video calls before, and she always loved chatting with him, but seeing the two actually interact with each other was priceless. Not to mention Len was loving relaxed and carefree Jim Kirk. Usually the kid was running back and forth across campus morning, noon, and night. Taking on extra classes, joining extra curricular’s, and Len was lucky if he could pin the kid down for more then fifteen minutes before he was either running off to his next class, or promptly passing out on the nearest flat surface in their room. Social life be damned, apparently.

But in good old Georgia, with no classes or crazy course loads, no late night medbay shifts or 2am emergency surgery calls, he was actually able to spend proper time with Jim and they were both finally able to breathe. And he noticed that Jim was taking full advantage of the fact that the next two weeks were completely wide open and stress free. No class, no obligations, no work, just him and Len and sweet little Gran.

“Yeah, well don’t get used to it, kid. When we get back to the academy don’t expect me to dote on your every whim like Gran.” Len then shot a look at his Gran across the room. She was sitting in her rocking chair, smiling at the two of them. “Which you shouldn’t do, Gran, by the way. He's like an animal, if you keep feeding him he’ll never leave.”

Jim threw one of the couch pillows across the room at Len, hitting him in the side of the face. Len launched the pillow right back, Gran laughing along with the two of them.

“Nonsense,” she laughed, “I'm just glad to have two wonderful boys in the house to spend my time with. And you, my beautiful grandson, I haven’t seen you smile like this in a very long time.”

She reached over and took his chin in her hand, giving his face a squeeze and a little shake. When she let go he smiled and his eyes trailed across the room to Jim, and when their eyes made contact his smile beamed even brighter than before.

Gran watched the two of them, had been now for the last two days, and she was no dense woman. She had raised Leonard from the time he was knee high to a grasshopper. She knew the life he had lead up until now. She knew of the hardships he had faced from such a young age. And she knew that the reason why Len's attitude and entire outlook on life had done a complete u-turn, was because of the very handsome blond haired boy currently sitting on her living room couch.

The two never took their eyes off of each other, just stared between themselves like no one else was there. But as said before, she knew her grandson and she knew him well, which meant that she knew if she didn’t do something about the tension between them, her head strong grandson certainly wouldn’t. And in her opinion it had already gone on for two years too long.

A quick turn of her head brought her attention to the old record player in the corner of the room. A rare collectable Leonard had bought her for her birthday one year, along with a small box of vinyl’s to go with it. Standing, she motioned to the two boys, pulling them from each others eyes and said, “Move this table for me, would you boys?” as she sauntered over to the record player and began fiddling with it.

The two got up without question and shoved the table out of the way against the back wall, leaving the room now wide open.

“What are we doing, Gran?” Jim quirked a brow and Len returned to his seat.

“We, dear boy,” she turned as she got the player working and an old song played through the room, “are going to teach you how to do the quick step.”

“Alright!” Len chuckled at Jim’s enthusiasm, watching from his seat on the couch with a smile as his Gran began leading Jim around the living room.

He remembered when he was younger, on the good days when it was just him and his Gran at home, and she would put on music and lift him onto her toes. She would swing him around the living room just like she was right now with Jim, and it was one of the very rare times she was able to pull a smile from Len. Of course, after many years since then and a significant dip in her health, she couldn’t move as fast as she used to but she was still as graceful as ever. And Jim, despite his obvious two left feet, never faltered her step and was somehow managing to pick up the steps fairly quickly. Even managing to swing Gran out for a twirl and pull her back in for a dip in Len’s direction. Len laughed and clapped for their performance as they continued to move around their makeshift dance floor. Jim laughing and swaying his hips to the beat of the music.

Halfway through the song Gran caught Len's eyes over Jim's shoulder. She sent him a look and a nod in Jim's direction, a look that she had given him many a time before that meant “pick up your feet, boy!” and Len merely shook his head. Of course she would have an ulterior motive for the impromptu dance session, of course it involved getting Len to finally make a move on Jim, and of course she would have already figured out that Len would need a shove in the right direction to do so.

So Len waited until Jim's back was to him again and stood. Gran saw him, and waited until Len was in the perfect position, then quickly turned in Jim's hold and twisted Jim around and snuck away from him. Leaving a very confused Jim halfway through a twirl and partner-less, until he found himself being quickly pulled into a pair of strong steady arms, flawlessly being swept back up into the motions of the dance.

Len took the lead and Jim easily followed, the two dancing and laughing through the rest of the song. Gran took a step back to watch, loving the bright smile on her grandson’s face, a smile that even reached up to touch his eyes. She knew from the very first time she spoke to Jim that he was something special to Leonard, she knew from the way Len would tell her about Jim when she called every week. They were made for each other and obviously both too damn stubborn to do anything about it. But she would be damned if she was gunna sit back and wait.

When neither of the boys were paying attention, Gran snuck up to the record player and swiftly switched the song, this time to a much slower one. She smirked as the two faltered at the sudden change in pace, their hands still clasped together, Jim's other arm around Len's neck and Len's holding Jim firmly at the waist. They stopped moving, both of them awkwardly looking away from each other and standing very close. Len watched as his Gran gave him a nod, then silently left the two of them alone in the room closing the door behind her.

Len smiled and shook his head again. He could always count on his Gran to give him a not so subtle push in the right direction.

He let go of Jim, who still couldn’t make his eyes, and took a step back. Len held out his hand and as the smooth voice of Elvis began singing the sweet lyrics of “can’t help falling in love with you,” and Jim finally met his gaze as he smiled and asked, “May I have this dance?”

Jim smiled back and took Len's offered hand, allowing Len to twirl Jim once before pulling him in close, as close to his chest as he could manage, until there was nothing left between them. Len swayed them gently to the music, and as the song went on their steps began getting slower and smaller, until they had almost stopped moving. Len took the hand that was holding Jim's and placed Jim's hand around his neck, using his now free hand to lift Jim's face up to his.

They were so close, closer then he had ever been to Jim. Their bodies were pressed tightly against each other, noses bumping and eyes half lidded as they stood almost motionless in the living room. While the song played on Len couldn’t help but think just how perfect the lyrics were for the two of them. He had fallen so hard and so fast for Jim Kirk right from day one, and he just couldn’t help it. No matter how many times he told himself it wasn’t the case, they were only friends, or that Jim would never love him back, in this moment he couldn’t help but think that maybe none of that was true. The way Jim was holding him, leaning flush up against his body and wrapped tightly around Len, one hand clutching his neck and the other wound into his hair, he wondered if maybe it were possible that Jim did feel the same way, maybe he could love and be loved by Jim after all.

He decided then, as he ran a hand up Jim's back and felt the shiver that struck his whole body with the action, that he had to know. He needed to know how Jim felt, and he needed Jim to know how he felt. He couldn’t wait any longer and decided to go for it, he was finally going to make his move. The song was coming to an end and it was now or never. Their faces were already so close, noses touching and breath mixing between them. Len shifted slightly, bringing their lips closer, almost touching. He heard Jim's breathing hitch when their lips brushed against each other, and all Len had to do was press the smallest distance forwards and he would finally be kissing Jim. He was almost there…

The fire alarm from the kitchen ripped through their moment, the two jumping in surprise with the sudden loud shrieking. After a moment to gather themselves they remembered that they were not alone and pulled away from each other in a panic, Gran was in the kitchen alone, and both went running through the door.

Gran was standing on a chair by the stove, frantically waving a towel back and forth in front of the alarm over head. Jim quickly sprung into action and ran to the stove turning off the burners and opening windows. Len followed Jim further into the kitchen and looked up to his Gran who shot him an apologetic look and whispered, “I'm sorry, Lenny.”

He just smiled at her, holding up a hand to help her down from the chair once the alarm stopped screaming at them. “What happened, Gran?”

“Well, I thought you and Jimmy might like some ice cream and custard,” she began, knowing full well already that she had ruined anything that might have had a chance of happening in that room between them, “turned my back for a second to grab the custard mix and the damn milk boiled over and started burning. I'm sorry, boys.”

Len gave her back a quick rub and Jim turned to shoot her a smile. “No worries, Gran, Bones and I will clean this right up for you.”

“Yeah, Gran, why don’t you go sit in the living room. We’ll be in once we’re finished.”

“You boys are too good to me,” she gave them both a pat on the arm as she walked past them and back into the living room, settling herself back into the rocking chair.

It wasn’t too long before both boys came back, ice cream in hand for the three of them. She may have accidentally ruined the moment earlier with the burning milk fiasco, but it didn’t miss her eyes when Jim sat on the couch next to Len this time instead of the other couch. She also didn’t miss when Jim pushed himself even closer to Len, so close that their sides were touching from shoulder to knee, and Len's neck and face turned a shade of red so deep her roses would be jealous.

They finished off their second desert of the night and turned on an old movie, but she was less interested in that and more so in what was happening on the couch to her left. From the corner of her eye she watched as Jim, who was already pressed right up against Len, shifted impossibly closer and leaned his head on Len's shoulder. Not soon after, Len lifted his arm inviting Jim to curl in, which he took no time in doing, and held Jim close to his side, placing his free hand on Jim's thigh and rubbing small circles in the soft skin there.

It may not have gone exactly how she had planned it, but she couldn’t help but think to herself, point one for Gran!

~~~~~~~~~~~

Len placed the padd on Jim's side table and took both his hands in his. “Do you remember that Jim? Dancing with me in the living room?”

With the padd and logs forgotten for now, Len dove deeper into those treasured memories back in Georgia. “I remember it as if it were yesterday. You and me, swaying to Elvis in Gram’s living room. I… almost kissed you that day, I wish I had, and every day after that I wanted to. I guess I just never got the nerve to actually go through with it, with telling you how I felt or kissing you.” He sighed, giving Jim's hands a squeeze, “I doubted it at first, assumed maybe I was just reading signals wrong, but after our visit with Gran I knew there was more between us then just friendship, but I never wanted to push you.”

Len chuckled. His Gran was right, they really were two stubborn and hard headed boys. “I guess both of us were waiting for the other to make the first move, and now look at us. I nearly went mad while you were missing and you're here unconscious and…” he took a steadying breath, “you're here and I can touch you, and feel you but I can’t… I can’t have you until you wake up, Jim. Just wake up for me, I don’t want anymore lost time between us.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A/N: Sooooo getting into some sweet memories!! XD I’m looking forward to writing more of these!

Would anyone like a little sneak peak...? Ok then!

So things to look forwards to: Cowboy hats, possibly more dancing, and...... THE POND!

As always if anyone wants to be tagged for the future, or any other fics, just let me know :D

Tags: @goingknowherewastaken @bi-e-ne @weresilver-in-space @0dannyphantom0 @haveyouseenmymind @medicatemedrmccoy @resistance-is-futile81 @jimboy-mccoy @reading-in-moonlight @flaminglupine

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superdecade · 6 years

Text

Levidromes

A levidrome is a word that when spelled backwards makes another word. Well, at least not yet. It is not in the Oxford English Dictionary. Levi Budd is a six-year-old boy from British Columbia in Canada who has coined the term 'levidrome' after spotting that the word 'STOP' spells 'POTS' backwards. After realising that there is no such word in English for this phenomena, a social media campaign has started to get this word in popular usage (hence this post). I wrote a short Python script this morning that will pull all of the levidromes from a dictionary file. The full list is copied below.

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aa ab aba abac abba abo abos abut acca ad ado ados ae aga agar agas agenes ah aha ahs aia aider air airts ajar aka al ala alan alif alma alula am ama amahs amas amen amene amir amis amla amman an ana anal anan anana anes anew anger animal animes anna annat anon ante apod araara arak arb arbas are ares arf aril arret arris arum arval aryl assam asses at ataata ate ates aua auks ava aval avel avid avo awa ay ayahs ba bac bacs bad bag bal bals ban bans bard barf bark bas bat bats bed beef ben bens bib bid big bin bins bird bis blub bo bob bobac bobak bod bog boh bok bon bonk boob boord bor bos bots bows boy bra braced brad brag braw bro brod bros bru bub bud bug bulb bun bunk buns bur burd burg bus but buts cab caba cabob cam camus cap card cares cep ceps cire cires cis cit cite cito civic clat cod cor cos cot cram cran crem cur da dab dace dad dag dah dahs dal dam dap daraf darb darg dart darts das daud daw daws day de deb debut decaf decal decarb dedal deed deem deen deens deep deeps deer dees deet deets def defer deffer deffo deg degami degged deid deified deifier deil deke deked del deled delf delis deliver delos dels deman demit demits den denier denies denim denis denned dennets dens depart deport depot depots derat derats dere dered deres deros derris dessert desserts deus devas devil devils devots dew dewans dewed dexes deys di dial dialer dials diaper dib did died dif dig dim din dinar diol diols diram dit div diva do dob doc dod dog doh dohs dol dom don dons doom door dop dopa dops dor dorb dormin dorp dorps dort dorter dos doser dot doy drab drac drail dram drap draps draw drawer draws dray drey drib drier droob drool drow drows drub duad dual dub dud duel duo dup dups ea ean eas eat ecad ecce ed edile edit ee eel eels een ef eh ehs eke eked elide elides elutes em eme emes emir emit emits emmets emong emos en ene enema enes enol enows er era ere ered eres ergo eric eros ervil eses esnes espial esse et eta etas etat etats eten etic etna euk eve even evil eviler evils ewe exul eye faced farad fe fed feeb feer fen fer fet fid fier fig fila fir fires fled flog flor flow fool fra frab fret fro gab gad gag gal gals gam gan gans gaps gar garb gas gat gateman gater gats gay ged gel gelder gem gen get gib gid gif gig gins gip girt girts git gnar gnat gnats gnaw gnaws gnome gnus gob god golf gon gons goog gorp gorps gos got grad gram grub gu gub gul gulp guls gum gums guns gup gups gur gut guv guy ha habus had hadedah hah hahs hajjah halalah hales hallah hallan halos han hap haram hay he heh henry hep her hey ho hob hod hoh hon hoo hoop hop hos huh hup id ikat imaged io iris iron is it itas iwi jar kabob kaiak kak kam kara kat kay kayak keek keel keels keep keet keets ken keps kier kips kirks kis kiths knaps knar knit knits knob knop knot knots know knub knuts kob kook kor korat kow krab krans kue la lab laced lacer lad laded laer lag lager laid laipse lair lam lamina lana langer lap lares larum las laud lava lavra leat leben led lee leek leep leeps leer lees leet leets leg leir lemel leper les let leud leva level lever levins levo lez liar liard liart lias lied lies lin lion lira lit live lived livre lobo lod loges loid lone loof looks loom loons loop loops loord loos loot looter loots lop los lotos lug luxe lyra ma mac macs mad madam maes mag mak mal malam mallam mals mam man map maps mar marah marc marcs mard marg marid marram marrum mart mas massa mat maws may me meed mees meet meets meg mem merc meter mets mew mho mid milks mils mim mined minim mips mir mis mm mo mod mom mon moo mood mool mools moops moor moos moot mop mor mos mot moy mu mug mum mura mural mures murram mus mut muton muts na naan nab nae nag nah nala nallah nam named namer nametag namma nan nana nap napas nappas naps naras narc narcs narks nas nat naw ne neb nebel ned nee need neep nef neg nek neks nelis nema nemas nep net nete nets neve neves new nib nid nil nimrod nip nips nis nit no nob nod nog noh noil nolos nom non nona nonet noo noon noop noops nori nos not notes notum now noy nu nub nun nur nus nut nuts nys oat ob oba obey obo obol od oda odas offed offer ogre oh ohm oho ohos oi oiks om on ono oo ooh oohs oom oon oop oor oot op oppo orb orf os otic otto oud ova ovel ow owt oxo oy pac pacer pad pah pal palp pals pam pan pans pap par pard part parts pas pat pats paw paws pay pec peed peek peel peels peen peep pees peh pelas pen peons pep per perp perts pets pig pin pins pip pir pis pit plap plug po pod poh pol pols pom ponk poo pooh pool pools poon poons poop poor poort poos poots pop port ports pos pot pots pow pows prat prep prod prog pud pug puh pullup pup pupils puris pus put puy radar rag raga rager rages raggas rail rait raj raja ram ramis rang ranid rank rap raps ras rast rat rats raw ray re real reaps rebus rebut recal recap recaps reccos redder redes redia redips redleg redraw redrawer reed reef reeks reel reels reens rees ref refed refer reffed reffo reflet reflow regal regar regna regnal regos reh reif reified reifier reik reiks reined reird reknit reknits reknot reknots relaid relit relive reliver reman remeet remit renies rennet rep repaid repaper repel repins repot repots res resat resod retag retem retool retrod retros revel reviled reviler reviver reward rewarder rewets rexes ria rial rias ribas riel rif rim rima rime rims rip rits rob roc rod rok rolf rom rones roo rood room rooms roop roops roots rosies rot rotator rotavator rotor rub ruc rucs rug rums run sab sabir sabra sad sadis sado sados sae sag saga sagas sagenes saggar sail sair sakis sal salep salles sallets sam sama samas samen san sanes sap sapan sappan saps sar saran saros sarus sat sate sati sav saved saw saz scab scam scares scot scram scran scur seals seam seat secret seder sedes sedile seed seeks seel seem seems seep seer sees segar segol seil seined seiner seis seisor seities sekos sel selah selahs seles sellas selles seme sememes semes semina sena senas sene senega senegas sennet senor sense ser sera serac seracs seral sere sered seres seric serif serons serres serum sese sesey sessa sesses set seta seton setule seven sexed sexer sexes sey seys sha shad shah shahs shakos shales shama shay shaya she shod shoo shtik si sib sic sidas sies sik sikas siled silen sim sima simar simis sin sined sinnet sip siri siris sirra sirred sirs sirup sis sit six skat skeer skees skeets sken skeps skier skio skips sklim skool skran skrans skrik skua slab slaes slag slaid slam slap sled slee sleek sleep sleeps sleer sleet sleets slim slipup slit slive slived sloid sloom sloop sloops sloot sloots slop slug smart smees smew smir smits smoor smoot smug smur smut smuts snab snag snap snaps snark snarks snaw snawed snaws sneb sned sneed sneer snib snig snip sniper snips snirt snit snivel snod snoep snog snool snoop snoops snoot snores snort snot snow snub snug so sob soba soc soccer sod soda sodas sog soger soh soho sokahs sokes sol solah soled solon solos som some son sonnet sool soom soop sop soras sorb sore sored sorter sos sotol sow soy spacer spaer spag spam span spank spans spar spard spart sparts spas spat spats spaw spaws spay spaz spec speed speel speels spek speks spets spider spik spiks spim spin spins spirt spirts spit spod spool spools spoom spoon spoons spoor spoots sports spot spots sprat sprits sprod sprog spud spug sris stab stag stang stap staps star stared start stat state stats staw staws steed steek steeks steel steels steem stellas stem stemme sten stenned step steps stet stets stew stewer stime stimed stims stink stinker stir stirps stob stonk stonker stool stools stoop stoops stoor stop stoped stoper stops stot stots stoved stow stows strad strap straps straw strep stressed stria strig strips strop strops strow struts stub stum stums stun stunk sturts sub subah suber succus sued sulu sulus sum sumac sun sung sup suras sus susus swad swam swang swans swap swaps sward swat swats sway swey swob swone swop sword swot swots syed syes syn ta tab tae tael taes tag tak taki taks talc tallat tam tan tang tanna tao tap taps tar tared tarok tarp tarps tart tas taser tat tate tats tav taw taws te teed teek teel teels teem teemer tef teg tel telfer ten tenet tenner tennes tennis tennos tenon terces terf terra terret tes tet tets tew ti tiar tic tid tide tig til tiler tils time timed timer tin tink tinker tins tip tips tirrit tis tit toc tocs tod tog tom ton tonk tonker tons too tool tools toom tooms toons toot top toped toper tops tor torot tort tot tots tow tows trad trail tram trams trap traped traps trat trats tressed trew trig trins trips trod trons troop trop troped trot trow tsar tub tuba tubed tuber tug tum tums tun tup tut two ug ulu ulus um umu un urb utu vas vat vav vid vug wad wan wang wans wap waps war warb ward warder warts was wat wats waw way wed wem wems wen wena wert wet wets wey wo wok wolf wolfer won wonk wons wop word wort worts wos wot wots wow xis ya yad yag yah yahs yak yam yap yaps yar yard yaw yaws yay yebo yeh yerd yes yeses yew yews yo yob yod yom yon yos yrneh yug yup zaps zas zel ziz zuz zzz

It is interesting to note that some levidromes are also palindromes. I wonder whether we need a new word to describe this phenomenon also? Furthermore, there is no word in English for "a word that you make up in order to make another word make sense". I suggest: "emordivel" ?

via Blogger http://ift.tt/2nbSsPu http://ift.tt/eA8V8J

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emotio-nality · 7 years

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eleven questions game

thank you thank you to the lovely @s-yr !!

rules: answer eleven questions, make up eleven questions, and tag eleven people

what are your fav animals?

i adore elephants and bees and lil kitties and pups omg theyre so cute!! like, even though im kinda scared of dogs, i do adore them. but yes, bees, hell yeah theyre so cute, just buzzing along, making the world a better place, doing their best, i love them what are your fav subjects/ area of focus in study????

i really really enjoy ancient history and art,, i think those are two of my favourite subjects atm. and im enjoying german too, although im starting to lose motivation for it, which is kinda disheartening, but hopefully i can pick my motivation up again, along with my grades hahaha who are your fav artists?

oh my gosh, this question is so difficult L but ahhh lets see, ofc the classic van gogh bc lets be honest, ive adored his works for so long. also love john william waterhouse, his paintings are so enchanting and yeah, i cant think of anyone else at the moment though ahh

who are your fav music artists?

Oh boy, of course Lana Del Rey is one of them, you can’t expect me to not mention her hahaha. atm im also really digging Tunde Olaniran, LANY, (I only recently found her but shes incredible) Ivy Sole, and there are a whole heap more that I cant think of at the moment who is your fav internet personality/celeb?

tbh im so out of the whole internet personality thing and i don’t know all too many celebrities, so im just gonna say either lana del rey or amandla stenberg or rowan blanchard bc theyre really important and vocal about issues in the world and its really important esp due to the political cimate at the moment how would you want to be described as?

i would really love to be described as the girl who is really friendly and nice to people and also perhaps the one who makes people smile or has good taste in music or whatever hahaha, tbh if people are talking about me, i don’t really mind what they say, as long as its not something horrible or fake how would you describe yourself?

id describe myself as someone who is still learning to be their best self. switching to third person bc why not but yeah okay, id say that nadya was someone who is extremely clumsy, god she needs to learn how to exist without walking into a door or tripping over air, a hopeless romantic who is always in the mood for something hella cheesy, romance is good okay, love is nice, and yeahh? what is your fav social media platform? why?

im gonna say either instagram or tumblr. instagram bc i love seeing all my friends post stuff and looking good and all that, and tumblr bc i feel like i have the freedom to post what i want without the judgement or concern of any of my friends. which sounds weird i know, but yknow, it is what it is who has been an important influence in your life?

to be completely honest, im going to say my english teacher and the english hod at my school, because i feel like both of them have pushed me in directions i wouldn’t really have gone if it wasn’t for their nudging and in some cases forcing me into certain situations, bc its actually really helped me to grow as a person and into what and who i am right now, even though a lot of it wasn’t exactly massive, t was all kinda big for me what do you look for in potential love interests?

kindness!!!! for real this is so important to me, as well as respect for your decisions and actions and beliefs, bc they could just as easily slam everything you do and make you feel like shit and that’s just so horrible. but yeah, kindness, respect, intellect, and humour! (also a side note is that they don’t support trump or any assholes like that) how/what do you want to be remembered as/for?

kinda don’t really mind if i don’t get remembered for anything, but i would like to be part of something that leaves a lasting positive impact on people and the world. super simple, but im not really a complex girl

okey dokey, so my eleven questions are:

1. if there were only three things you could take with you to a new country, what would you take? (the essentials such as money and clothes are already packed)

2. what is the one thing you regret most in your life?

3. if you could do any five things before you died, regardless of cost, what would they be?

4. what colour would your name be?

5. if you had a superpower of your choice, what would you choose and why?

6. what is your favourite movie, and without giving away any spoilers, why is it your favourite?

7. if you could only eat four things for the rest of your life, what would they be and why?

8. who was the last person you said ‘i love you’ to (whether in text or in person)

9. what are your top five songs at the moment?

10. have you ever confessed your feelings to someone? or been confessed to?

11. what do you love most about yourself? (please dont just say that there is nothing you like about yourself)

eleven people: @aqueerhedgehog @theowlqueenie @tomorrown3verdies @honeybee-fuzz @nephelei @communityoutcast @alacritatis @rebel-dandelion @lookalike5516 @patheticelizabeth (its okay if you dont want to do this! please dont feel pressured to if you dont want to. also if you havent been tagged, but want to do this, please feel free to say that I tagged you 😊)

#tag game #thank you for tagging me #sorry this took so long though omg #nadya.tag

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dangerously-human · 7 years

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Tagged by @brandonsgame and @thiswreckresists (thank you!). Rules: Always post the rules. Answer 11 questions, Ask 11 questions, tag 11 people.

What’s your least favorite candy? You know those Krabby Patty gummies you literally only see on Halloween? Those.

What’s the most obscure thing you can think of at this very moment? Like... obscure in what way? Just a topic people don’t know a lot about? Does it have to be something I know a lot about? Okay, the first thing coming to mind is that apparently, history started ~5,000 years ago. Anything before that is considered prehistory. This was a point of contention between two guys in clinical at work (I sided with the guy who said history just counts as anything that happens, and Wikipedia proved us wrong).

Ever punched a sibling when you were young? (Younger than 11) If an only child ever punch a kid when you were young? LOLOLOL if your answer to this is no, you probably did not have siblings!

Movie that you love that everyone seems to hate? I like most movies the first time I see them, but I don’t think I love anything super unpopular? I think I’m the only person I know who liked Tron: Legacy.

If you could gain any one thing that doesn’t raise your social status (Money, power, so forth) without working for it, what would it be? I’d be fluent in a bunch of languages. Namely ASL, Spanish, and at least one moderately uncommon one, because I’ve learned from my job that you can make BANK translating!

Favorite smell? Probably lemon.

Think of a movie show or book you don’t like. What would you do to improve it so that you enjoy it? Hmm... the first show that came to mind was Supergirl. I wanted to like it, but the plot just bored me. The characters seemed interesting, though, so maybe focusing more on their interactions and less on the action sequences.

Favorite flower: I have a LOT of favorite flowers! The first one that came to mind today was bleeding hearts.

Anniversary gift you would give/ gave to your spouse for your first year together: I think a photo album or scrapbook of things we did in our first year of marriage would be really cute.

Would You want to become a massage therapist? Nooo thank you.

Favorite Pokemon? Chansey!

What do you think of the word victory? It doesn’t have the most pleasing sound. It’s been too long since my linguistics class in college - is it plosives? Idk, but anyway, I think the meaning is fine, but the sound is just ehh.

What is your favorite movie series? Oh... I don’t think any of my faves are part of a series. I like the MCU, though!

Do you usually wear a watch? Assuming a Fitbit counts, yes.

What is one elective or class you’ve always been interested in taking? There was a class called Writing of the Inklings at my college that I really, really wanted to take. I actually signed up to audit it my senior year, but I ended up dropping it so I could nap then instead (if I skipped chapel, I could get an extra two hours of sleep, which makes a pretty big difference when you’re averaging four at night). I did make the excellent choice to take a creative writing class for my senior year J-term instead of a probably more practical Intro to Social Work, and it’s one of the best decisions I’ve ever made!

Most common typo you find yourself making? I type “Hod” a lot instead of “God” on my phone, and my autocorrect doesn’t catch it, which is annoying.

Preferred type of weather? I like sunny but not super bright, like with plenty of clouds, and cool but not cold. In the mid-60s to low 70s is great.

Thoughts on plaid button up shirts? Love them on other people, not so much on me.

What’s one gift God has given you? I’m really, really good at encouraging people! Noticing nice things about other people comes naturally to me.

What is the first book or book series you remember loving? The Giving Tree is probably the earliest.

If you got a tattoo, what would it be? I have three! I have a butterfly with “hope” on my left wrist (a gift to myself for a year clean from cutting and a reminder not to do it again), a collection of animals just above my right ankle (each one represents a member of my family), and a pansy on the left side of my chest (just for funsies).

What is your favorite Holiday and why? I’ve said Easter for the last few years, because it’s the most important in terms of meaning (how can I not be in love with a day to remember my God dying for me, then rising again in the greatest act of sacrificial love humanity has ever seen?), and I love the time of year and all the flowers. But I also love love love Christmas, which has the bonus of being for a great reason (Jesus giving up heaven for a time to be a human) AND having so much secular fun associated with it (decorations, music, getting to give presents to people). The anticipation of Christmas is so fun! So I think Christmas an Easter are probably tied.

My questions for those tagged:

What’s your go-to book when people ask for recommendations?

What’s something you’re proud of?

How do you prefer to tell people you love them?

What food could you never give up?

What word do you wish you got to use in conversation more often?

Would you actually want to meet your favorite celebrities?

How do you store your socks (folded, rolled into a ball, shoved haphazardly into a drawer, etc)?

Did you enjoy any of the books you had to read for school? Which ones?

What form of exercise do you like best?

Have you ever managed to break a bad habit? How?

Who is someone you admire?

I tag: @xubbs, @wisegirlandseaweedbrainforever, @saint-louis-is-awful, @greater-than-the-sword, @crazystupidfine

#personal

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starddust-blog1 · 7 years

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i was tagged by @complexitiesareme!

rules: enter your answers then tag 10 people! use the first letter of your name to answer each question. real answers only. if the person who tagged you has the same initial, you must use different answers. you cannot use the same word twice.

name: tom

four letter word: tall (???)

a boy’s name: omer (idk i love this name)

an occupation: math (i hate it but well)

something you can wear: tie dye shirt???

a food: orange

something you find in a bathroom: towel

a place: tel aviv??? idk i love this city

a reason for being late: mornings

something you shout: “OH MY GOD”

a movie title: the hobbit

something you drink: orange juice

an animal: mouse

a type of car: ??? do you really think i know car types

title of a song: tt - twice

I tag @laura-baeleen-hollis @fairy-queen-wendla @stellaristix @hjppogriff @all-we-hear-is-radio-ga-ga @carl-grims @ai-hod-yu-in-heda @donna-noble-is-my-queen @alexturnerwithouthairgel @bisexualspacenerd

#i'm bad at these #me

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rpchive · 6 years

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107th Encounter-- Smoking Barrel

The background noises of the IT travelling come to a stop as it reaches its next destination. Collin looks up from the table in his room where he is currently working on something with his magic. He quickly moves the project into a drawer and turns himself around in his chair to look back for Jay. "Sounds like we've finally landed somewhere. Do you wanna go see what we've got?" Shifting to a seated position on the bed, Jay nods. "Always should." Collin hops up out of his chair and walks over to Jay as he gets up. Taking Jay's hand in his, they make their way down the hall to the console room. Nydins; Demo; and Maya are all patiently waiting around the console. Rio's chair remains empty as she remains with XL and Hod. Collin: Hey guys. Man, I know Rio isn't always in here, but it feels even weirder than usual not to see her... Nydins: I know. Late nights got a lot quieter suddenly...I keep having to visit her in XL's room now. Collin: You know you don't always have to be in here, right? It's fine to leave the console for a while; I think the IT can handle itself somewhat. Nydins: Yeah, but if something weird happens to our coordinates, who's gonna tell everybody? Collin: I guess that's fair. I wish this thing had a PA system or something so it could just say when stuff was getting weird.

look me in the eyes and honestly tell me you want the IT to start talking and I’ll do it

Fawkes enters the room, quickly jumping into the conversation. "I do find it a little odd that a ship as complicated as this one doesn't have any automated alert systems. Verbal ones, at least." Demo: Wow, you're about the last guy I expected to see show up. Is it a special occasion? Fawkes: Not exactly. I finished decommissioning the speedwell weapon I installed a while back, and I figured I've spent enough time working on another personal project for now. I thought now would be as good a time as any to join you for a change. Demo: The more the merrier, I guess. Anyone gonna take a look outside first? Collin: I guess I can do that real qui-

He gets cut off as Daedalus quickly hurries into the console room, Clair closely behind him.

Daedalus: Wait wait wait, hang on a second. I was on my way here when I ran into a tag-along. You guys already got a full group yet? Demo: Well no, but I guess we can make this a field trip if we're gonna bring half the IT. At least we aren't bringing everyone who can fight.

Maya: Eh, I'll hang back unless you need me. Looks like Nydins could use the company anyway. Collin: I think we can manage. We've got a pretty decent group right here. Everyone ready then? alienrabitt: Looks like it. Daedalus: Cool, let's see what we're dealing with then.

Fawkes, Collin, Jay, Demo, Daedalus, and Clair step out of the IT and find themselves standing in an alleyway between two tall brick buildings that have seen happier days. The sound of numerous voices clamor at the end of the alley, and sand swirls around their ankles as the wind sweeps the worn pavement. They head out of the alley and find themselves at the far end of a long stretch of market stalls. Colors, smells, and sounds rush toward them in a wave, trying to convince them to come further.

Clothing lines run across the buildings on either side of the market, various personal belongings hanging from them in the breeze. On the rooftops are numerous personal windmills that seem to provide power to the buildings, and solar panels dot the outer walls to catch the sun as it moves across the sky. The wind that spins the windmills above continues swirling sand through the market occasionally, though the locals seem to pay it no mind. Demo: I feel over-dressed...what kind of place is this? Daedalus: Beats me. The IT doesn't exactly print out a tourist pamphlet whenever we go somewhere.

Fawkes: It feels like Earth, but something also feels... off. I can't quite identify what it is though. Demo: I'm more trying to figure the time period out...

alienrabitt: Won't figure anything out standing around here... Collin: In we go, then. Maybe someone can help us out...?

As the group enters the marketplace and begins looking around, they quickly find themselves pulled along in the current of people. Fawkes occasionally draws an interested or admiring glance, although no one seems to perplexed by his presence. Several members of the group are assailed by a barrage of invitations to come look at stalls or deals as they make their way through, but even those are hard to place in the confusion. alienrabitt: This is way too many people...

Clair: They're not weirded out by you guys? Between your arm and Fawkes, I kinda expected a lot of attention...

Demo: As if this crowd isn't?! A voice suddenly calls out to them through the crowd. "E-Excuse me, Mr. Robot? Can you and your friends come here for a minute?"

Fawkes perks up and spins his head around, finding the source of the voice to be a girl in her late teens at the latest standing in the front of another alleyway, waving to them.

Fawkes: Well I can't say no, can I? She called me "mister". Demo: Anything to get away from all these people...

I never inherited mom’s claustrophobia but since Jay is “me” Demo did, which is surreal

Fawkes ushers the group through the crowd into the alleyway with the girl.

Fawkes: Alright, what is it you need, little miss? Oh, and you can call me Fawkes. "Mr. Robot" is my father.

domo arigato

it’s actually hard for us to sing that song because Miku always falls into the phonetics during that part (domo arigato meestaa robotto)

The girl gives a small bow to them, brushing a stray hair behind her ear as she stands back up. "I'm Senri. I... really appreciate you coming over here. I know it's probably strange getting flagged down like that. You're travelers, right? I doubt there's a family here with a working robot and a hard light prosthesis that I don't know at this point." Demo: How'd you know...? Senri: That you weren't from here? Like I said, I know everyone in town with tech like yours. When you run a newspaper, you need to know your audience, right? Clair: A newspaper? Is that why you flagged us down? Senri: N-No, not quite. I lost track of my younger sibling, and I've looked in all the normal places where he usually plays. No one else has seen him in a while either, and I'm worried he might've gone into the... sketchier part of town. If you could find him, I'll give you anything you want. I've got some money saved up, or maybe I have something at home to trade... alienrabitt: What exactly do you mean by sketchy, anyway? Senri: Well, you probably know this is arguably the biggest trading city in the Burning Blight. Obviously you need places to store those goods. There's an old storage depot at the far end of town, but some of those areas are owned by... seedier individuals. If Raz is over there, I'm afraid someone might decide he'd be a... valuable asset.

The thought forces her to pause for a second before she continues. "I just need someone to go look and make sure that he's not over there."

so I remember a trillion years back you said that Daedalus likely had a secondary love interest from Somewhere and part of me was like “is this her” but this is a Teenager and we’re all in our 20s so Probably No

Demo: Say no more; we're on the case. ...Unless it's more info on the case; then probably say what you can. Senri: Well, he's... about this tall, twelve years old. I... shoot, I can't remember what he was wearing today, but he always has his toy laser gun with him. It's white with red markings, the only one like it that I've seen. Does that help?

did you give him the fucking Nuka Blaster

Demo: Well, unless this seedy part of town is the hip hangout for teens and tweens, I think we'll be able to work with that. Senri: It shouldn't be, not for kids his age. I've told him not to go there, but... Please, just help me find him. The depot is down this alleyway and to the right. Just follow the road and eventually it'll be on your left. Demo: Alright then, let's get going! The group leaves through the other side of the alleyway and start following her directions.

Daedalus: Sheesh, finding lost kids? The IT has a weird classification for "emergencies" sometimes, huh? alienrabitt: What's gotten into you, anyway? Helping people find little kids isn't really your thing.

Demo: Well, I helped pull you out of the ground like a potato; might as well try to beat somebody to the punch for once.

alienrabitt: D--don't say that!! Ugh! This is somebody's brother we're talking about!

Demo: And? So were you; but they definitely don't know that now. So let's try not to make the same mistake twice, alright? Save the kids before there's trouble; not when they're gods that wind up falling in love with a god magnet. Collin: It's like a good intention buried under several feet of manure... alienrabitt: A salt brick road to a shit brick house; but at least it's paved with good intentions?

probably the first and only time you won’t make fun of me for saying “shit brick” instead of “brick shit”

Daedalus: Alright alright, as funny as it is roasting Demo like a grumpy marshmallow, I think we're getting close. Geez, this place really has seen better days though...

On the group's left is a line of large storage depots, just as Senri said. The structures are very clearly lacking maintenance and appear to have scorch marks along most of the outer walls on the right side of each building. Some depots even have holes hastily patched with clay or other various materials. A few men seem to be moving items in and out of a few of the storage buildings, although the workers are fairly spaced out between depots. alienrabitt: So, how should we be doing this? Surely we can't just check all of these one by one...

Demo: I think there's juuuust enough sand blowing around for me to be able to sneak some anubis out; but we'd have to wait for them to come back; and we're kind of a big group... Fawkes: ... How stealthy can your anubis be? Demo: As quiet as the wind and as dark as the shadows. Unless someone would just really get upset about seeing more sand somewhere, my anubis will be fine. Fawkes: Sounds perfect. Could you have one look around the far side of that last depot in the row? I think I just saw someone suspicious go around the corner outside, but I wasn't able to zoom in fast enough to get a better look. Gently tilting her head in the direction briefly, Demo watches the smallest cloud of black grains of sand blow off towards where Fawkes mentioned. "It'll lay low from here." After a minute or so, the anubis returns to Demo and reports back to her. Two men were holding a small child up by the arms, and a taller, third man with a mechanical right arm was giving orders to the first two men while twirling a white and red gun in his metallic hand. After a few more moments getting the child under control, they took a side entrance through a hole in the wall on that side. Demo: ...Sounds like we found our guys. At least three of 'em; one's got a prosthetic right arm. They took some side entrance through a hole. Hopefully they aren't expecting company. Fawkes: I would expect more company. That seems like a large building for only three people to use.

Daedalus: It's really weird to hear you get so tactical, you know that?

Fawkes: I was originally designed to be a military turret, you know. Sometimes the files come in handy.

Collin: So we go in through that side entrance; then what?

Fawkes: I'll try and do one final sweep to identify hostiles. We priortize targets, take them out, and save the child. Any thoughts? Demo: Sounds good to me. Worst case we hope Azreldeh's riding around in someone's shadow again; though I guess she wouldn't be able to drag someone with her with the magic she has after what she pulled in Lobotomy... Fawkes: Alright. These are probably simple thugs, so I doubt lethal force will be necessary. Now we just need to wait for a moment...

The group waits as some of the other depot works in the other buildings continue their own work. Once they are suitably busy, the group hurries across the open space between the street and the depot and ducks behind the outer wall. They soon find the side entrance and sneak inside.

The inside of the building is full of tall racks full of various crates and other items, with a larger open space in the center. Everyone hides behind a few boxes on the closest shelf while Fawkes pokes his visor just over a box. He scans side to side for a few minutes, then turns back to the group. Whispering under the cover of the people moving and talking inside, he relays his findings to the others.

Fawkes: Alright, definitely more than three. There are at least fifteen people here, although luckily only two have any sort of firearm, and they're both up on a balcony. I can take one out with several tranquilizer rounds if you can dispatch the other one, Collin.

Collin: Yeah, I can do that, no problem. After that, should we just group up and take out the others?

Fawkes: I think pairs will work best. You and Jay, Daedalus and Clair, and Demo and myself. Any objections? Demo: ...Yeah, I guess that's fine. Do your thing, then. Fawkes: Alright, on three then. One... two... three!

Collin and Fawkes dash out from their hiding space and fire simultaneously up toward a balcony across from them. Two surprised shouts and thuds echo out in response, spurring the rest of the group into action as the people inside start to go on the alert. Sneaking through the shelves, Demo attempts to group up with Fawkes as planned, while Jay heads for Collin. Clair, unsure of what to do in the commotion, sticks close to Daedalus. As the pairs come out of hiding, the gang members inside pick up various pieces of junk or tools as makeshift weapons and start charging in to meet them. The gang is far outmatched by the strength of the IT crew, however, and quickly start falling one by one. Half of the gang is down by the time a voice finally shouts, reverberating off the walls of the depot, "Enough!"

The man with the mechanical arm grabs Raz by the back of his shirt and deploys a razor sharp blade from the underside of his prosthetic wrist, then quickly holds it against the boy's throat. "One more move and I slice the kid open like a pig!"

okay so idk if you intended this or not but all I could visualize for this dude was that pirate captain from fucking Treasure Planet

Glaring coldly, Demo backs down first. "Put the kid down...he doesn't have anything to do with this." ?: In the long run, absolutely. Right now though, he makes some great leverage. Now, why don't you all be good little boys and girls and get on your knees right over there? I think we should have a little chat before you give anyone else a fucking concussion. No sudden moves, remember...

He motions with the knife for a moment and gestures toward a small area fifteen feet or so away from him. Reluctantly, Jay backs down as well; Clair, offering no resistance to begin with, follows suit. Fawkes, Collin, and Daedalus follow suit behind them, although Daedalus can hardly keep himself still.

?: Now, let's start simple, alright? The name's Cidney, and within a few minutes I'll have the power to hold this entire stinking trade center in my palm. Should've figured someone would come looking for this little brat, but I didn't figure they'd send a group so....spirited. Guess I should've tried to snatch the kid faster, but eh, what can you do? Demo: What the hell are you going on about? Cidney: Not surprised you don't know. Most people don't, as it turns out. So, quick storytime for ya, back before the war, one of the old governments decided to try making an orbital laser cannon, but not just any laser, no no. This sucker is solar powered; literally infinite use, at least until the sun burns out in another few billion years or whatever. The problem is that the whole thing was still in the testing phase before shit hit the fan. Fast forward to now, and the whole thing is still useless without its target designator. Do you know how hard it is to find a target system for a weapon that no one knows about? Demo: Clearly somebody had to know if you know. So I'm guessing you found one...or someone that could make one. Cidney: Well, I did have a diagram of it, which helped when trying to look around and ask people what they knew. Rumor after rumor led me aaaall the way to here, and wouldn't you fuckin' know it...

He whistles, and one of the surviving thugs walks over and takes over holding Raz hostage, holding their own knife against his neck. Cidney steps over and grabs Raz's toy gun from a table, twirling it around his finger as he walks in front of the group. "Hiding in plain sight." alienrabitt: You've gotta be kidding me... Cidney: I know, right? The fucking kid could've brought the wrath of the fuckin' sun on this city at any moment in the last couple of months if it weren't for one teeny tiny detail...

He grabs the barrel of the gun, pushes it inward, twists it back and forth in a specific pattern, and releases the barrel. The gun makes an ominous charging up tone, forcing Cidney to hold the gun much more carefully. "The damn safety was on. Lucky him, right?" Demo: What the hell do you think you're gonna get out of this place if you blast it to bits with the sun?! Cidney: The best weapons are the ones you never have to fire, sweetheart. With the threat of annihilating entire buildings with a single shot, they'll have no choice but to turn over control of the city to me. 'Course that's just the start of everything, but I won't bore you with that. Back to you guys, then. I'm feeling pretty generous, so I'll tell you what. I pick one of you to test this bad boy out on, and the rest of you get to live! 'Course, I'm taking all your stuff and selling you to slavers the next town over, but you'll be alive at least, right? Demo: You won't get away with this... Cidney: That's what everyone says. Hmm, now then...

Fawkes: Just pick me.

Collin: Fawkes, no!

Cidney: What, are you kidding me? Who's gonna cry about a melted hunk of slag and circuitry? You're worth way more in parts, frankly.

Cidney makes a dramatic exaggeration of him trying to make a choice, then finally points the gun in Clair's direction. "Alright, you're up, blondie. On your feet." Flinching as she's called upon, Clair shakily stands up. "...F-fine...just leave them alone..." Daedalus stands up right after her. "Absolutely not. I'll go."

Cidney: My my, what unexpected chivalry! You don't look like the type for sacrifice, buddy!

I mean, he looks like his “twin,” and that’s right up Collin’s alley, soooo...yeah he does?

Daedalus: Shove it up your ass, "buddy". Leave her out of this.

Cidney: Hmm... Y'know what, sure! This should be good.. You're free to get back down, sweetheart. Demo practically attempts to launch herself off the floor, but Jay yanks her down, desperately attempting to keep her from getting anyone else hurt as she swears profusely and attempts to shove Jay away from her with an equal sense of desperation and anger. Clair, frozen to the spot with fear and heartbreak, collapses to her knees, tears already beginning to fall as she barely chokes out an objection that she cannot back with any effort, instantly overwhelmed with grief. Cidney points with his gun a fair distance away from everyone else, and Daedalus resolvedly strides over to the spot, turning back to stare him down. Cidney pulls the trigger while pointing directly at Daedalus' feet, then casually blows the barrel off. A loud sizzling noise can be heard from above the roof as it seems to get brighter outside. A few seconds later, a piercing column of sunlight rips through the roof of the building and slams down where Daedalus is standing. Air rushes away from the intense heat source as the ground cracks underneath the beam.

The beam's width begins to shrink at the bottom, gradually tapering into a single point as if it were being pulled inwards. Cidney's look of confidence finally breaks into one of confusion as the beam starts to rise upward off the ground. A towering humanoid figure of golden light appears to be sucking in the sun's laser as it pushes it upwards, while a fully armored Daedalus begins to push himself off the floor. His armor is clearly based on that of a knight's, but significantly streamlined and modernized, with mesh-like accents around the shoulders and stomach. Both the figure and Daedalus stand to their full height, and a moment later the beam is completely consumed, and a blast of blinding light shakes the very ground.

When the light clears, a huge armored figure stands behind Daedalus, banners and tapestries with depictions of a sun emblazoned upon it. Its face is a golden mask with an expression of joy and determination, as though excited to face whatever challenge stands before it. The mesh parts of Daedalus' armor now have a fire raging inside of them like a roaring forge. The figure behind Daedalus raises its arms in the air triumphantly, and a deep voice bellows forth.

?: THE DAWN BREAKS ONCE MORE!

THE SHADOW REMAINS CAST

Demo: Wh-what?! What the hell is...?! The figure bends over so that its "face" is next to Daedalus', then casually glances over at him and speaks in a much softer voice. "I think you know what to do." A harsh grinding noise and a rush of air is Cidney's only warning as Daedlaus suddenly lunges forward, grabbing both him and the thug holding Raz hostage as he blazes through a charge, knocking Raz over but leaving him otherwise unharmed. The thug is then hurled head over heels into one of the shelving units, then crashes to the ground. Cidney however is hurled straight up toward the ceiling. Daedalus kicks off the ground and launches himself clear to the ceiling, conjuring an enormous searing halberd on his way up. He then kicks off the ceiling and drives the weapon straight through Cidney's stomach as they plummet back down to the ground.

Once back on the ground, Daedalus removes the weapon and allows it to dissipate. He calmly turns his back to Cidney and takes three confident steps toward the others before promptly collapsing to the ground, the flames in his armor fading away. Stunned by the display, Jay is easily pushed off of Demo, who quickly gets off the floor and rushes over to Daedalus. Forcing her legs to function, Clair shakily stands once more, stumbling initially as she hurries over but drops to his side just as quickly.

Demo: What was all that?!

Clair: A-are you okay?! Daedalus: I... think we... figured out... the fire thing.

The armored figure strides over to where the laser target sits on the ground and picks it up in one hand. He glances at the few remaining thugs in the room and then emphasizes one single command by crushing the weapon in his grip. "BEGONE!"

beGONE, THUG

The thugs, to their credit, quickly accept the man's request and scramble out of the depot, running for their lives. "There, that settles that business." alienrabitt: Who...who are you? ?: Hmm? Oh, of course, we haven't properly met the rest of you yet, have we? I am-

The sound of a crowd of people shouting and approaching the building suddenly drifts through the open doors of the building. "- going to have to answer that question in a bit! I'll see you on the IT!"

With no further explanation, he bursts into a shower of sparks, letting the remains of the gun drop to the ground. Demo: ...Come on, help me get him off the floor; we need to get that kid back to his sister and get the hell out of here, we've got a corpse to answer for now... Fawkes approaches the trio and lifts Daedalus off the ground. "I'll handle him. This armor makes him much heavier than normal."

Collin quickly gets up and hurries over to Raz. "C'mon bud, we need to get you back home. You're safe now, don't worry."

Still stunned from the events of the day, Raz quietly nods and glances sadly at the remains of his gun as the group makes a hasty escape out of the depot. As they exit the side of the building, they run into Senri, who seems just as surprised to find them there.

Senri: Oh, it's you! Wait, please tell me you found- Raz!

Raz doesn't even try to let go of Collin's hand as he sprints forward into Senri's arms, yanking him forward slightly. The pair embrace tightly as Senri spins him around a couple of times. She brushes the back of his head as she speaks again. "Oh thank you, thank you... I'm so glad you're okay..."

She looks back up at the others, tears running down her face. "Thank you so much for finding him. I didn't realize it was going to be that much trouble or I would've warned you!" Demo: Sweetheart, I don't think anybody could've warned us for all that. If he brings home something like that again, maybe check for batteries or something next time first. Senri: Wait, what are you... are you saying that was because of...? Demo: Yes. Senri: ... Oh.

She seems almost too stunned to properly change her facial expression for a second.

Collin: Wait, how did you know we would be coming out here this way anyway?

Senri: Huh? Oh, well that's easy, at least. I know most of this city like the back of my hand, and a good reporter never uses the front door.

Fawkes: ... Well, you can't argue with that logic. Demo: Right, a reporter. ...Look, this story's a little big for your breeches; I don't think you're ready for this yet. Senri: Hey, don't underestimate me just because I'm small! But... this time, I have more important things to deal with right now. Is there anything I can do to repay you all? Demo: Yeah, just keep your brother-- oof!

Demo's cut off as Jay elbows her in the ribs.

alienrabitt: I think we're good for now! We'll...let you know sometime, though. Senri: Alright, my newstand is in the marketplace when you need to find me! I think everyone's inside the depot now, so you should be good to go if you hurry. See you later!

The pair hurry off ahead of the others, quickly making their way back home.

Collin: All in favor of following their example?

Daedalus: ... Aye... Demo: Do you even have to ask? Let's get the hell out of here.

me, visibly attempting to reel in the BPD salt, knowing full well there’s no reason to be angry:

The group quickly makes their way back through the streets and the marketplace to the IT. The crowd is now so abuzz with the news from the depot that no one even really pays any mind to them as they pass back through, and eventually they wind up back in the console room, safe and sound. The instant the door closes behind them, a glowing ball of light appears in the console room with them and then bursts back into the masked figure from earlier. "Ah, home sweet home." Nydins: What the hell is that?! ?: Oh, my apologies! I didn't see you there! Forgive my rudeness for earlier and now. As I was saying earlier, I am Voltarus, embodiment of the Radiant aspect of the stars, twin god of the art of Astral Sorcery, and companion to your friend Daedalus, at your service.

He prostrates himself in a deep bow, then rises back up to his full height. "It is good to finally meet all of you in person." alienrabitt: Twin? So there's a second one somewhere? Voltarus: Of course!

The mask where his head should be suddenly flips like a coin, revealing a silver side with a much more calm and blissful smile, its eyes closed peacefully. Voltarus' body suddenly changes color and shape, swapping heavy armor for graceful robes of deep blue and black, studded with diamonds. A short bob of "hair" circles around its head, although an aurora would be a more apt description of its appearance. The new figure folds its hands in front of itself and gives a small curtsy.

?: Ah, my turn already? Well, I am Vintillo, embodiment of the Serene aspect of the stars, twin god of the art of Astral Sorcery, and companion to your friend Daedalus. It is truly a pleasure.

vinti skinny mocha chai god

Demo: A-are you a golem or something?! Vintillo giggles, a surprisingly sweet and bubbly sound. "Of course not! We are not such a mundane being. We are merely two sides of the body that is the heavens and the stars. In the same way a flame can both burn and illuminate, so too do the stars burn and combust with unparalleled ferocity, and yet guide us through the world and inspire awe and wonder... Do I make sense? It's been a while since I've given this speech, hmm hmm! Demo: S-so you're...stars? Vintillo: Mm, yes and no? It's a little more complex than that, but... alienrabitt: I think she's just trying to figure out if you just twisted a physical neck around like an owl or something... Vintillo: Oh! No, we don't have a neck!

Collin: You say that a little too casually... Daedalus: So.... hang on... Is this some bullshit... like what Collin had until recently?

Vintillo: Ah, good question! Our connection is similar but notably different. As you can see, we can project ourselves into the material world already. In addition, our connection is a contract rather than a bond. At the time of your resurrection into this world, we were given the opportunity to enter the physical realm once more, although we had to lend you our strength in order to do so. If you decide that you would rather not have our strength, or if we deem you unfit to wield it, the contract can be broken at any time.

Daedalus: I don't remember.... anything like that happening.

Vintillo: It was all a bit of a blur for even us, truthfully. The process took its toll on us, which is why we were unable to be present immediately upon arriving. Luckily someone fed us energy directly from a star, which greatly accelerated the process! alienrabitt: So, do the rest of the gods know about you? Collin: I certainly don't, so I have a feeling they might not either....

Vintillo: This is most likely the case. We are... not quite from the same realm as each other. They may praise our influence, but they will not know us. But I'm sure they wouldn't mind a new companion though, right? Hmm hmm!

[muffled da vinci noises]

Daedalus: Listen, I appreciate the honesty, but... this armor is hot as hell and my entire body hurts. Can we hold off on this until tomorrow or something?

Vintillo: Oh, of course. We will leave you with your friends for now. Let us know when you wish to speak again!

Vintillo's body dissolves into a sparkling mist and then vanishes entirely.

Daedalus: Alright, well, I think you can put me down now, Tiny. I'm pretty sure I can hobble to my room at this point.

Fawkes: If you insist.

He moves his arms to let Daedalus down onto the ground. Daedalus stumbles for a second, but finally manages a shaky standing position.

Daedalus: Okay... I think I can do this. Someone mind walking with me just in case? Clair: Um...yeah, of course! The pair make their way down the hallway to Daedalus' room. Stepping inside, Daedalus slowly moves over to his couch and rests his hand on the back of it to steady himself. "Okay, this armor sucks to wear when you're tired. Can you close your eyes for a second?" Covering her eyes with her hands, Clair nods. "Go ahead." A loud clattering sound of metal suddenly dropping onto something further away in the room rings out for a second, followed by the soft thump of something dropping into the couch. "Alright, you're good." Letting her hands fall down to her sides, Clair glances over to the couch. Daedalus is now lying in the closest available seat, already changed into his normal shirt and a pair of shorts. His armor is still wobbling slightly on the rack across the room as it comes to rest. Letting out a long sigh, he leans his head back and speaks a moment later. "You can sit if you want to. I'm... sorry for scaring you back there." Clair: ...Did you know you'd be okay? Daedalus: It was... a weird feeling. It almost felt as if I needed to do it. Maybe that was mister and miss sunshine's way of nudging me along so that they could recharge, or maybe I was just... stubborn or something. The whole thing feels like a haze now. I guess more than anything, I just couldn't bear to let that happen to you. Clair: M-me?! What about me?! I...you can't stand the thought of losing your only friend, but if those two hadn't been there, I would've lost everything! I lost my parents; I lost Zenith; and I couldn't do anything to change that; and then all of a sudden I get wrapped up in another situation where I'm totally helpless, and all you can think about is--!! Do...do you seriously just think so little about yourself that you thought you could just...risk throwing yourself away like that?! I...I just...!! Why does this keep happening?! Why does everybody...?

Crying to the point where she can quite literally no longer stand it, Clair falls to her knees, burying her face in her hands. "...Why does everybody I care about keep trying to leave me like this?!"

quit being dramatic and making everything about you, ffs, this is what I hate about you

Daedalus is quiet for a moment. He pushes himself back up and walks over to the side of the couch, then drops back down to sit on the floor with his back against its side. "I wasn't trying to leave you. For the first time in my life, I think I felt like I could actually protect someone; that I wanted to, even. I know that wasn't fair to you given... literally everything else."

He takes off his sunglasses and sets them on the floor next to him. "I... really am sorry, Clair. This was probably the last thing you needed right now. Is there... Is there any way I can make this right with you?" Clair: Just...just don't do that again...! Everybody keeps leaving me behind; I just...I don't want to keep replacing people...I want to help everybody; but I can't even do anything...I can't fight; I can't protect anyone...what am I supposed to do...? Daedalus: I think it's time we really started trying to figure out what exactly you can do. You're half kleivenn now, that's gotta mean something. Maybe you can't summon spears or shoot missiles or whatever, but there's gotta be something you can do with all that magic. Clair: ...M-maybe, but I don't know what...I thought that if something like this happened, I'd be able to do something in the moment, but I couldn't do anything at all... Daedalus: Maybe you just need a different push or something. First though, can we continue the conversation off the floor? This isn't exactly helping my- agh, fuck!

He moves to pull himself up onto his feet but suddenly winces and drops back down, clutching at the left side of his chest. "Okay, that still hurts..." Clair: ...What's wrong? Daedalus: I uh.... may have cooked myself slightly in all of that back there. Didn't think that was possible but shows what I know. The adrenaline's wearing off so now the pain's starting to kick in. I'll live, just hurts. Guess I had that much coming, though. Clair: Um, well, l-let's get you off the floor first...I guess XL has a way to help... Standing up, Clair offers Daedalus her hand. Daedalus hesitates for a second as an odd look crosses his face momentarily, but then takes her hand. Clair: Wh-what? Is there something wrong...? Daedalus: No, it's... Hang on, let me just sit for a second.

He slides over to the couch and takes back his old seat. "I'm... not really used to touching people yet. I know that sounds stupid but it's true." Clair: Oh! I, uhh...I can stop? Daedalus: No, you're... you're fine. It's just that historically speaking, anyone touching me meant bad news. Sorry, I've gotten us off track again, shit. Listen, I... I promise I won't do anything like what I did back there again. Clair: Believe me, the last thing I'd want to do is hurt you. And...I'm gonna hold you to that; so don't let me down, okay? ...But seriously, how badly are you burned? If it's something small, you could probably avoid XL, but if it's bad, you seriously need help. Daedalus: I'm not well done, don't worry. I try to stay further on the rare side of the cooking spectrum. Clair: Haha; alright. Just make sure you get it checked if it starts bothering you. Daedalus: I'll keep it in mind. So... are we good? You're not angry or anything? Clair: I'm still shaken, but I think I'm calming down. I'll be okay... Daedalus: We can still talk about it if you want. I'm not kicking you out or anything. Taking a seat beside Daedalus on the couch, Clair lets out a sigh of relief. "I'm just glad you're still here! Watching you walk over like that felt like someone just straight up pulled the wind out of me..." Daedalus: I guess I underestimated how bad that was gonna be for you guys. It's strange, honestly. Not so long ago everyone was probably glad to be rid of me, and now suddenly it's a big deal when I'm in danger. I guess I'm just not used to people feeling that way about me. Clair: I mean, you still mean something to them too...they might not be close friends or anything, but they do care... Daedalus: Maybe so. I'm just not in the habit of thinking about it. Guess I've got more to work on than I thought.. Clair: Probably doesn't help that you spend a lot of time in here... Daedalus: ... Well, you've got me there too. If this conversation was a game of chess, you'd be kicking my ass right about now. Clair: Haha! I've never actually played chess. Or...most games, I guess. Daedalus: Really? What have you played? Clair: Um, well; I did draw a lot back when I was younger; but I guess that doesn't really count. I used to draw all the interesting things I saw when dad took me to visit other places... Daedalus: Huh, go figure. I'm guessing you don't have any of your drawings now, though...? Clair: I...actually have one sketchbook I managed to sneak around. It was from our trip to some snowy place I haven't seen again; I don't know the name... Daedalus: No kidding? Well, I'm glad you were able to keep something. Would you mind showing me some time? Clair: Of course! I'll have to find it again first, though. I put it in my bookshelf; but I've done a lot of reading since... Daedalus: What, you get to read books all day but I'm the one being a shut-in? I think I smell a double standard somewhere on this couch...

that might just be your fucking burnt flesh

also now that I think about it this game is basically what you did with that gun

His normal teasing demeanor starts to sneak back into his tone as he grins cheekily at her. Clair's face turns a little pinkish red. "W-well, I can't defend myself if anything happens outside, so I just...stay in." Daedalus: Bah, don't be like that. There are plenty of people on here that would be able to keep you safe if something happened. Don't be afraid to live a little, you're safe here. Clair: ...At the least, I'd like to know what I can do before I wind up going out again. I've tried asking Karumet, but she keeps ignoring me for the most part. All she's really said is that, whatever I can do, I can do it because of what I wanted when I tried to get back up; but everything in that moment is so hazy, I wouldn't know where to start... Daedalus: Oh, you meant going outside. I just thought you meant around the IT, sheesh... Well, do you remember anything from when all of that happened? Any detail is a possible clue at this stage. Clair: I just wanted...I wanted Zenith to be okay. I felt like I really messed up by being there...I shouldn't have gone back then either...now it just kind of feels like, if I go anywhere, people will get hurt or worse...and that's about the last thing I want... Daedalus: Hmm...

He starts getting lost in thought as he processes Clair's words, unintentionally staring straight at Clair. Clair: ...Um...are you okay? Daedalus: ... Oh, sorry. It's just that last bit you said got me thinking. If hurting people is the last thing you want, maybe your powers aren't meant to hurt? Clair: ...Maybe not; but if I could defend people, I'm pretty sure you wouldn't have gotten shot with the sun... Daedalus: You've got a point there... What about healing? It doesn't get much more opposite from pain than that, right? Clair: I...haven't tried that, actually. But if you don't want to be touched, I'm sure you definitely don't want me trying to touch where you're hurt... Daedalus: I'll survive. It helps that I'm expecting it, for starters. Ever so gingerly, Clair attempts to touch the area where Daedalus was burned; however she makes no effort to remove his shirt. Nothing seems to happen, and Clair pulls her reach away. "...I...don't think that worked." Daedalus: Doesn't feel like it, either. You... don't think it's the shirt, do you? Clair: Maybe? B-but you don't need to take it off or anything; I can just...wait for somebody else to get hurt somehow? Daedalus: I don't think I need to take the whole thing off, you know. Look, if it helps you figure out what you can do... I can deal with it. I sorta owe you after today anyway.

Not waiting for a response, he takes one deep breath and then lifts up his shirt up just above his stomach. A bright red patch of skin stretches along most of the revealed area. A little surprised to see him lift his shirt, Clair turns her head away almost immediately. "Uhhm...! Ah, right; I-I guess it won't work too well if I can't see where I should...haha..."

Nervously, Clair slowly returns her gaze back to Daedalus, but only long enough to see where to place her hands. Closing her eyes, she returns her hands to Daedalus' side. With a small, but not harsh, flash of pink light, the burned area returns to normal, with little more sting to it than an average sunburn. Daedalus: ... Wow, uh... That was fast. Clair: H-huh? ...Oh! Oh, you're better now! I...uhh...y-you can put your shirt back... Daedalus: Right, right.

He lowers his shirt back down and tentatively pats his stomach slightly. "Man, that really did help though. Looks like this place finally has someone that can heal people. Quickly, I mean. Are... you alright?" Clair: Yeah, I'm just a little winded, I think... Daedalus: I guess using magic for the first time is pretty draining... Do you need to lie down or something? I can take you back to your room if you want. Clair: N-no, I'm okay...! Just...probably shouldn't get up too fast. What about you...? Daedalus: I'm... definitely feeling better, honestly. Shame about the skin-to-skin thing though. Here's hoping no one gets their literal butt kicked and needs your help before you find a way to get through clothes.

okay so basically I know why Clair’s powers are “held back” and the only vague comment I’m gonna make to keep it no spoilo is that they’re like that because her magic and stuff draws from an unexpected source

Clair: I...might be able to figure out how to do it without touching people; but I think it'll take practice... Daedalus: Oh I'm sure you can. You're always full of surprises like that. 'Course, not sure how you're gonna practice that, but y'know.... Clair: I'll probably just wait for someone to bang their knee at breakfast or something. Seems easy enough... Daedalus: Guess so. Just don't start punching people or something; that'll just get 'em annoyed with you, trust me. Clair: Haha, I won't! I'm not exactly tough enough for it to hurt, anyway. Daedalus: Maybe we need to start taking you to the gym then. We'll have you benching 250 in no time. Clair: 2:50? Nah, I'd be benched the whole time! Daedalus groans and covers his face. "Please no, not corny jokes. Someone get that laser gun again, I need out of here." Clair: H-hey, it wasn't that bad...! Daedalus flops over on the edge of the couch. "Nope, it's killed me. Farewell, world." Clair: ...Well, I can't heal that. Guess I better go show everyone your sunglasses since it's all we'd have left...maybe we'll make a little memorial thing at the breakfast table with em; people will get all emotional and stuff; it'll be great. Daedalus: Yeah, and then I'll haunt you all from beyond so you have to deal with me forever... Although actually lying here is making me realize how tired I am. I should probably take a power nap or something. Clair: I don't blame you; I'd be pretty tired if I had to go through all that too. Alright, I'll leave you be, then.

Getting up from the couch, Clair heads for the door. Perking his head up, he looks at her as she leaves. "Don't forget to look for that notebook of yours." Clair: I won't! Just don't expect it to look too good; I wasn't even 10 yet. With that, Clair leaves the room. Daedalus puts his head back down and is asleep within a minute.

the next log is gonna be something I find Particularly Interesting and I can’t wait to expand on it

#[S4]

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