#so i get the house to myself and its the perfect time to plan discord shenanigans | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

strawberrymilkgeorge · 3 years

Text

Part Nine. Minecraft Dating 101

warnings: swearing, mostly super freaking fluffy but some oopsies at the end (which is the barely-there angst that i mentioned before!!), pet names?? if that bothers you??? (like...... one or both of them might use baby.........) word count: 5.3k (not including pictures)

behind the screen (irl dream x f!reader) series masterlist ultimate masterlist

A/N: HEHEH SORRY ITS SO LONG SORRY hope you guys like it!!!! hope it lives up to your standards of minecraft dates lol also thank you guys all for all your suggestions!!! i loved all of them so much!!!! i would have added every idea except this was already 5k words so its much less “flirting” and more so “oh gosh im so nervous what am i supposed to do” from both of them so hehe i think thats more endearing anyway

**********

The familiar sound of a FaceTime call connecting rang in Y/n's ears and she held her phone up to her face. "Hi, Karl," she sighed.

"Y/N!!" he said with a cackle. "ARE YOU READY FOR YOUR DATE?!"

"Shut up, I'm doing this for you."

"I already gave you the tour though so really you could back out. You're choosing to stay." His voice was teasing and giddy. "Why's that, hmm?"

Heat rose instantly to Y/n's face. "Because I'm a woman of my word?"

"OkaAaAyy," he sang. "Or because you liiiiikeee himmm."

"Shhhut up, Karl. No, I don't."

"Suuuure."

"Is this why you called me?"

He giggled. "Yeah, but—"

Y/n disconnected the call and set her phone down with a small laugh and a shake of her head.

With her stream started and her chat greeted, the donation limit raised to $100 (both because she didn't want to be flooded with questions on the date and because she didn't want people to donate their hard-earned money), Y/n logged onto Dream's SMP and found the voice call Dream was in, George's name right under his.

After she clicked it to join, a small gasp emitted from her headphones before she heard Dream mutter something. "Get out, get out, leave."

George's voice was normal. "But I wanna—"

"GEORGE!" Dream yelled, making Y/n giggle.

"Fine!" George yelled back. "Have fun you two," he sang like Karl did before a sound from Discord told them that he left.

It was silent for a second before, "Hi."

"Hi." She giggled. "What was that about?"

"Oh, nothing, nothing. Just some last minute, uh, setting up."

She hummed, amused at the sound of his frantic voice.

"So, um... are you ready for our date?"

"I don't even know where you are. I'm still in my house."

"Knock, knock," he said with a laugh. Y/n turned to see green peeking through the cutouts on her oak door and she laughed.

She ran to the door and opened it for him, revealing Dream in a slightly altered version of his Minecraft skin. He looked the same, except the white blob appeared to be wearing a necktie of some sort. "You look ridiculous," she admitted with a smile. "Wait, is this a fancy date? Should I change my skin?"

"It's not fancy, I just wanted to look my best for the prettiest girl in the world."

"Ohmygosh," she muttered to herself, hoping that writing off his charming words and actions as annoying would make her face not heat up as much. So far, it hadn't worked. Two minutes in and she was already blushing like a schoolgirl whose crush asked her to play tag at recess. "So, I'm not underdressed?"

"No, you're always perfect."

She didn't comment, opting for an eye-roll instead. Truthfully, she wanted to flirt back with him, try to make his heart beat fast like hers already was, but she was worried her words wouldn't come off joking and that the true intention would be obvious, that he'd be able to breeze right past the jovial tone and hear the sincerity in her words. Wait, true intention? What was her true intention? Her true intention should obviously be to just joke around and have some fun, but deep down she knew the motivation for teasing him came from somewhere different, somewhere more meaningful.

She wanted to tease him because she wanted to be the one to make him blush, to make him trip over his words and not know what to do with his hands.

Why? Well, she was still figuring that out.

"If you're ready, follow me, ma'am."

"Where are you taking me?" she asked as she followed his character down prime path.

"Hmmm..." he mused. "A secret, obviously."

"Obviously," she scoffed. She noticed that he was several blocks ahead of her and she smiled to herself. "Hey, Dream?"

"Hm?" he asked, spinning to face her as he ran backward.

"I don't know how many dates you've been on, but usually people walk together. You know, gives them an excuse to maybe hold hands or at least enjoy each other's company?" She made sure her voice had just the right balance of teasing and seriousness, curious as to how he would respond.

"I, uh... oh."

"Unless you want me to just meet you there. I mean, you're practically running away from me."

"I'm just excited!" he excused, stopping briefly so she could catch up with him.

"But look at how many beautiful things there around us to look at while we get to where we're going!" she told him. "Well, maybe not that," she said with a laugh as she punched her fist towards Tommy's dirt house. "But other things."

Dream laughed and continued to walk next to her like she requested, pausing if he ever got too far ahead. "How can I look at all those when the most beautiful thing is walking right next to me?"

She's never rolled her eyes so hard in her life. "Shut up," she mumbled as she punched him.

"OW! BUG!"

"That was supposed to be a pat on the arm but Minecraft only has one level of hitting and it's a punch. Sorry."

Dream wheezed briefly before containing his laughter. "This way," he instructed, getting off the path and starting into the woods.

"Oh, really you're trying to kill me. That's why you didn't want me to wear anything nice. Didn't want me to ruin any of my fancy stuff."

"Foiled my plans," he joked lightly. "Okay but really, um, I was thinking—well, so you already have a house but I was thinking we could build one together. Or build something, I don't know. But you're really good at building and I know you really enjoy it so I thought maybe you could show—like, teach me and then later I'll teach you something and then we can have a little picnic dinner."

Y/n smiled at her nervousness. "Hey, that actually sounds really fun!"

"What? What do you mean actually?" He laughed. "What, did you expect me to plan something boring?"

She laughed over his dramatic pouting. "No, but I mean, I didn't know what to expect," she said shyly. "I do have to say, though, I'm not sure what you plan on teaching me. I'm pretty much a master at all possible Minecraft skills, so..."

"Oh, really?" he taunted. "Everything?"

"Mhm," she hummed, her confidence wavering at his smooth voice.

"We'll see about that..."

"Unless you mean you're gonna teach me how to code Minecraft. That's a Minecraft skill I will admit I know nothing about."

"No, no, nothing like that," he said with a laugh.

"Good, save the programming talk for later."

"For laaater, hmmm?" he sang flirtatiously.

"Oh my gosh," she said through a laugh. "You would think that's what I meant."

"Hey, you're the one that said you think it's cute when I talk about coding. Maybe you're into that."

"I was saying it's sweet hearing you talk about stuff you like, you nerd. Why did you immediately think—what, is your idea of dirty talk talking about... like... computer viruses?"

"WhAT?"

"Hey girl, lemme clean out your motherboard," she mocked in a deep voice. "You overclock my processor. Lemme program your, uh—uh...hAHA, nevermind, ew, no."

"BUG?! WHAAAT? What is wrong with you?" His gasps for breath between wheezes made her laugh with him. "Don't ever talk like that again, pleASE."

"I won't, I won't, I'm sorry. Oh my gosh."

"Is that your idea of flirting? You are bad!"

"No, no, no!" She laughed. "I was making fun of you. No, I'm actually really good."

She couldn't stop giggling to herself for a few minutes, embarrassed but also proud of the reaction she got from Dream. She loved hearing him laugh as if he would never stop, it made her heart so happy to hear, especially when she was the one who caused it.

Though she feared her horrible pickup lines, if you could even call them that, were already clipped, ready to be used against her for the rest of her life. Worth it. Probably.

They approached a cleared-out area in the woods and Dream stopped and turned to Y/n. "So, we're here. What should we build?"

"Oh, so now I have to plan? Wow, you are so underprepared," she joked.

"What, no! I originally... I wanted to build a, like, a house together because I didn't— I forgot you made your—your house already and—but since you already have one—"

"We can still build a house," she interrupted with a soft voice. Him fumbling over his words was very endearing but also very confusing. How serious was he taking this bit? Or was he... actually nervous? She was actually nervous but she had reasons to be: a huge live audience to entertain and not ignore, and the weird staticky, itchy feeling in her tummy every time Dream spoke to her. Both valid reasons to be nervous. What was his excuse?

"Really? You wanna build a home together?"

Heat rose to her cheeks at his wording and she hummed. "Mhm. You can be my secret lover I hide in my vacation home. Like a second life kinda deal."

He scoffed. "Oh, now I'm just your side piece, Bug?"

"Nah, you're my main bitch, baby. I just wanna hide you away to keep you for myself because I'm selfish."

There was silence on his end for a few moments, making Y/n's face practically catch fire as she thought about her words. Why did she say that?? How can he flirt all the time but as soon as she says something: dead silence.

"Well.... shhhhhit," he finally mumbled definitively.

"You wanted me to flirt with you, Dream. You literally asked me too!" She laughed, trying to cover up her embarrassment. It had been less than 20 minutes and she already made a fool of herself.

"I did, I did, I just—wow. Come on, that was... I didn't expect you to go from never flirting to calling me baby!"

"Too much?" she bit her lip as she waited for him to explain if it was a good or bad thing.

He paused again. "....no."

She laughed loudly, pulling her hoodie collar up to her face in an attempt to rid herself of the giddiness and heat on her face. Like anyone could see anyway.

"So, a house?"

"A house."

"What kind of house do you think we should build together, Dream?"

"Maybe...." he thought as he ran around the area. "Maybe, like, a log cabin? Since we're in a forest. It's fitting..."

"Very true, very true..." she thought. "I was thinking a castle was more suited for you, king, but a cabin works too."

"Bug!" he yelled, laughter bubbling up in his voice. "What is wrong with you?"

"What?" she said defensively, giggling.

"You're a handful today," he groaned under his breath and she smiled. Though his words said one thing, Y/n could tell he was enjoying her energy.

"So, a dinky, old cabin, or what?"

"Whatever you want to build," he sighed.

"You always this agreeable?"

"Only to you."

"Well, I honestly don't have much practice with building cabins and since I want to show off my skills, I mean, that's the whole point of this, right? For me to impress you with my skills?"

Dream laughed so she continued.

"I think we should build a treehouse."

"A treehouse?"

"Mhm. What do you think? I make a pretty bomb treehouse."

"That sounds awesome!" he agreed. "Oh, and it could go from, like, one tree to another and, like, connect with a bridge! Like, the living room on one and the bedroom on another."

"Yeah, exactly! Okay, it's settled."

"What do we need? What do you want me to do?"

"I'm thinking.... we use cobblestone?"

Dead silent. Literally no noise until a few moments later, ".......Bug. This might be a deal-breaker."

"I'm joooking! You think I'd build something out of cobblestone? Who am I, Tommy? No, what's your favorite wood?"

"Dark oak."

"GOOD. Me too. So.... we need dark oak. Or, wait! Okay, hear me out."

"I'm hearing..." Dream prompted as he pressed A and D on his keyboard back and forth, earning a giggle from Y/n. He character was bouncing left and right is excitement.

"Dark oak planks..." she started.

"Mhm."

"Stone bricks..."

"Go on."

"And green wool for accents."

"Well, now you're just pandering."

"No!" she laughed. "Not, like, lime wool. Green wool. It's close to you but not as... obnoxiously blinding."

"I trust your vision. I'll go get materials."

"Perfect, you're the best, Dweam."

"Yeah, yeah," he grumbled before laughing. "You pick out a tree you think would be best for the main part."

40 minutes later, they were nowhere near being done. Y/n had shown him how to make a good house layout after he placed the floor in the shape of a square. She had yelled at him for it first, of course. They also had the frame of the walls and one bridge but nothing on the other side of said bridge. Not wanting the stream to last six hours since this was only the first part of the date, Y/n made a suggestion.

"What if...."

"What if what?" Dream asked, pausing to look at her character, who had stopped fixing his mistakes. "Did I mess something up?"

"No, I was just thinking. What if we make this the whole house and do a little garden on the other side of the bridge? Or like a little cute thing."

"A little cute thing?" Dream laughed.

"You know, like a thing," she said, knowing she hadn't clarified anything. "I forgot this is only date one, you can't read my mind yet."

"Oh, so there are gonna be future dates? I thought this was just to pay off your debt?"

She paused, playing with her hoodie strings between her left hand. "Well, I guess we'll see."

Dream laughed. "So, what little cute thing did you want to make?"

"We could put a bench facing the sunset and have some potted flowers and hang lanterns and stuff."

"Oh, like a romantic spot?"

"I guess if you wanna think of it like that."

"Sounds cute," he said. "So, we have to change the layout in here then?"

"Nah, I mean, we can just not add a kitchen, we obviously don't need one anyway."

"True. Then all we need is to put our bed down, right?"

"Beds," Y/n corrected.

"Well, when they're together it looks like one big bed."

"Who said we're putting out beds together?"

"Buuuuggg..." he whined. "Come on... lemme put my bed next to yours."

She giggled again. What was with all the giggling, sheesh. "No. There's plenty of space, put it somewhere else." She placed her white bed down in the corner and went across the bridge to bring her idea to life, or, to Minecraft.

It only took about ten minutes and she finished when Dream spoke again. "I think I'm done."

"I am too! Let's take one final look around." She went back inside and immediately noticed his bed right next to hers. She stared at his character and he laughed.

"Whaaat?" he asked shyly and she just sighed, letting it happen. They took a look around and agreed that it was basically the best treehouse in the entire universe, both in Minecraft and real life.

"Bug, you're so good at building," Dream complimented as he ran around the house. "What's your favorite part?"

"Ummm...." She looked around before deciding on the bridge. "I like how you made the bridge. And I like the little touches you added to it. It's nice."

"Thanks! I think the 'little cute thing' you did is the best part."

"Shut up, I can't stand you," she scoffed. "But thanks."

"Hey, Bug?" Dream asked, leading her back into the house. He faced the two beds placed together and she prepared herself for the worst joke of all time. "Is this where all the programming talk happens?"

"I knew it! I knew you were gonna say that! Shut up!" She punched Dream as he laughed loudly and she couldn't stop smiling. "You're such a nerd. You're so annoying."

"OH! I have an idea, wait here."

***

It had been a solid eight and a half minutes of Y/n waiting for Dream and he showed no signs of returning. He was silent too, so she resorted to saying random things to get him to crack.

"When will my husband return from war?" she joked, her voice laced with sadness and longing.

There was a small suppressed laugh from his mic, but still no words.

"Sometimes I think I can still hear him laughing at me."

He must have gotten reeeaaalll close to his mic, because his next words, the first ones he had spoken in almost ten minutes, were whispered but she felt like he was in her ear. "I'll be home soon, baby."

Once again, she was so glad her chat couldn't see her because she literally shivered and her face was so warm she felt like she was glowing.

For the first time all stream, her eyes betrayed her and she looked at her chat as she pulled her hoodie collar up to her face.

user18: BUGSY BEIN REEEAL QUIET

user4: i think i just passed out

user11: wHAT ON EARTH DREAM ADKXKH

user7: BUGSY ON GOD BE REAL WITH US WTF IS GOING ON RN

user2: hey bestie i cant do this rn

user9: they can't talk to each other like that and say they're just friends pleASE

Also for the first time all stream, someone dared to donate at her limit (which, again, was ONE HUNDRED DOLLARS).

karakatara donated $100 I had to donate bc I just HAD to tell you how cute you and dream are! honestly my favorite couple ever and I was just wondering how long you've been dating??? love you and your videos!!!!!

It was $100. She had to answer it. Meaning, she had to use words after Dream said that like that and she wasn't sure that was physically possible right now.

"Aren't you going to answer?" Dream taunted.

"Wha—what, are you—you stream watching, you weirdo?" she forced out. "Why?"

"I wanted to read your chat, they're really funny."

"I haven't been reading it."

"What, why? They've been so funny this whole time."

"I've been too scared to."

"Too scared? Of what?"

Of the jokes that she wanted to be real? Of seeing something so cute only to break her heart when she remembers it's all a joke? Of seeing someone hate her for being so close to Dream? Many things.

"Of seeing something... that boosts your ego."

"What? Oh, come on. Hey, answer the dono. Someone gave you their hard earned money for that."

"Yeah, wait, chat, I had the limit that high so you DON'T donate! Why on earth would you—"

"You're avoiding the question."

"We aren't actually dating! Not actually a couple!" she said with a laugh, though something in her heart was very much against laughing at that fact. "Obviously not."

"Well, it's only the first date, so, we'll see I guess, but..."

"I cannot stand you. Thank you so much for the dono, though, Karakatara. You're insane for... yeah. Thank you so much." She turned her attention back to Dream. "Actually though are you ever coming back?"

"Yeah, what, I'm almost there. I see the you staring out the window. ."

When he got inside, he dropped a blue cornflower for Y/n and stepped back. "Okay, now, give that to me."

She followed, not understanding. "For you, Dream." She dropped the flower.

"Aw, Bug! That's so kind! Aw! Thank you! Here's a flower for you, too!" He dropped her a red poppy and then put two item frames on the wall above their beds. He put the blue cornflower above his bed and she followed by putting the red one above hers. "Now that's my favorite part of the house."

"You didn't want to use the real ones? What, did you lose my flower or something?"

"Hell no!" he defended loudly. "No, I just don't want someone to steal that one. It's in my enderchest for safe-keeping."

He said it so casually like it was no big deal, but her heart soared. She too had his flower in her enderchest.

"This," she said dramatically with a sigh, "is now a treehome."

***

"I already told you I'm the best PVP player out there."

"Bug, honey, I've seen you play Bedwars. You're trash."

"Hey!" Hehe, honey. Shut up brain.

"But that's okay! I'm here to teach you."

Y/n's character stood across a makeshift battlefield from Dream's, an axe in hand and armor that was definitely donated by DreamXD on her body. "This is kinda sexist of you. Assuming I know how to name a cute house but not fight."

"Oh no, that's not—crap. Bug, I'm only basing this off of your streams, which I watch all the time—"

Once again, he said something so casual and yet it still made her heart skip three beats and once again, she grabbed the collar of her hoodie and pulled it up to hide her face. This thing had to be stretched by now from how often it was yanked on in this stream alone.

"—and don't get me wrong, you're great! But you're also good at a lot of stuff and—"

"Dream!" she giggled out. "I'm teasing. I admit you're much better than me."

"I wouldn't say much better but... it's the only thing I could possibly teach you anything about because you're just so good at Minecraft." His tone was sarcastic at this point but she knew he was meaning what he said.

"Whatever. Come on, Dream, show me how it's done."

He actually had a lot of very useful tips that Y/n otherwise would have never thought about. I guess when you tryhard Minecraft, she thought, you learn a thing or two about pvp. It was a complete joke, but she still kept it to herself.

"I could basically beat anyone now," she said confidently.

"Yeah, basically. Except maybe Technoblade."

"Nah, even him."

"Let's see how good you really are. To the death."

"What?" She laughed. "You're gonna try to kill me on our date?"

"Yeah, scared?" Seconds later, a creeper exploded near Dream and he screeched, jumping back. Y/n lost it. She laughed loudly, clutching her stomach.

"Dr-Dream!" She laughed. "What the hell was that?"

"It scared me!" he argued. "Here, I'll protect you," he offered, running past her and killing a skeleton that was shooting towards her.

"I don't need protecting, especially from you! Besides, if you're trying to kill me, you'd let the mobs get me."

"No," he decided. "No one's allowed to kill my Bug."

She was literally going to explode. "Wh—"

"Only I get to."

"Dream!" she scoffed, running to kill the skeleton first. She succeeded and he pouted.

"Hey—I did more damage than you, you just had the final hit."

"Really? Cause to me it looks like I'm your knight in shining armor."

"Nuh-uh," he spat.

"Dream. F5 right now, you're covered in arrows."

There was a pause. "Oh whatever." He hit her once and that's all it took for them to start fighting, throwing jokes and taunts at each other the whole time, eventually resulting in a satisfying win for her.

Dream was slain by Bugsy

"WHAT?! HOW?"

<Tubbo> i thogt you were on a date <Ranboo> well definitley not anymore <Ranboo> is that canon <JackManifoldTV> WOMEN

"What was that about you being better than me?" Y/n teased.

"Oh, come ON! I still had damage from the skeleton, and besides, I taught you everything you know!"

"That just makes you a very good teacher, Dream," she said sincerely and he paused, probably expecting her to insult him instead of compliment him.

"Yeah, suck up now that you've murdered me."

***

They were finally at their final stop, three hours into the stream. Not too bad on time, though this was probably the longest Minecraft date in the history of Minecraft dates. Also the best, but maybe Y/n was biased.

There was a huge tree, obviously built instead of naturally generated, with lanterns hanging down and lighting areas of the dark world around them. Under that was a checkered pattern of carpet, a single chest in the center with a potted plant sitting next to it.

"The carpet is supposed to look like a, uh, what's it called... picnic blanket?" Dream explained as they approached the scene, clearly not happy with how it turned out. "It looks weird. Nothing compared to the treehouse you built."

"We built," she corrected. "And this looks awesome, Dream," Y/n complimented. "It's is also my favorite colors."

"Yeah, I had some help from Karl on that one."

She leaned back in her chair in real life and pressed her hands to her face. Oh, it was so unfair how cute he was when he was shy like this. She glanced at chat, which only made her face go from the temperature of molten lava to basically the sun. She was going to explode.

She hummed, a little giggle coming out as well. "That's cute."

She sat (crouched) on the picnic blanket (piece of carpet) while Dream put a disc in the jukebox off to the side.

"Is that a Tommy disc?" she giggled and Dream laughed.

"No, no, no, don't worry. There shouldn't be any continuations of wars interrupting our date."

"Shouldn't be," she emphasized, noticing someone approaching them from the distance.

Dream was about to speak when Quackity reached them and quickly joined the voice channel.

"Oh no," Dream sighed. "We've come so far."

"AYYEEE WHAT'S GOING ON, MAN?!" Quackity yelled in his Mexican Dream voice, his voice bubbling with laughter. "IS THIS A DATE OR SOMETHING, MAN?"

"Quackity, go AWAY!" Dream ordered, punching the character who had stripped to his underwear. "YOU'RE INDECENT! THERE IS A LADY HERE!"

Y/n laughed, enjoying the scene of fancy Dream hitting naked Quackity away from their picnic dinner.

"I'm your waiter, I'm your waiter!" Quackity said in his normal voice, still laughing. "DREAM! WILL YOU STO— QUIT HITTING ME!"

This had turned chaotic very quickly.

"We don't need a waiter," Dream informed him.

"Then I'm the singing gram you ordered." He started singing a song and Dream groaned. "HEY THERE DELILAH WHAT'S IT LIKE IN NEW YORK CITY—"

"No! You're being a clout chaser, go away!"

"I'm honestly impressed we made it this far without anyone coming into the voice channel," Y/n admitted.

"I paid them," Dream joked.

"You did not!" Karl's voice suddenly came through and Y/n laughed. "We were all just being polite and staying away but we're getting bored! We've been so patient!"

"Yeah, hurry up! We wanna play!!!" Sapnap whined. "Dream, it's not fair for you to steal Bugsy from us for so long."

"Oh my gosh!" she exclaimed with a laugh as Dream laughed along.

"Just ten minutes! Ten more minutes!" Dream bargained but none of them would have it. "Just so I can say goodbye!"

"No!" George insisted. "Right now!"

"Look, wait, wait, hold on—"

"—hold ON!" Dream begged, watching as the three boys ran and joined Quackity by the picnic blanket.

Y/n could not stop laughing at all the avatars around them. The date had been so peaceful and cute but all good things must come to a chaotic end.

"Wait, come on, Karl, Karl, Karl," Dream said quickly. "Come here. Bug, just a sec, please. Stay right there."

"Okay," she agreed, curious to see his plan.

Karl followed him and of course Sapnap couldn't help but also join them.

"Okay," Dream whispered loudly, clearly wanting everyone to hear his offer. He crouched and the other two copied. "Just give me ten minutes—"

"Ten?" Sapnap asked loudly.

"Shhh!!! Yes, ten minutes, to say goodbye and, you know, end the date."

There was a long, thick pause. "What exactly are your intentions with Bugsy Games," Karl asked seriously, matching Dream's whisper.

"Well, I wanna make sure she gets home safe, you know, so I'm gonna drop her off and, I don't know, see if maybe.... maybe she'll give me a hug?"

Karl and Sapnap both gasped dramatically and Y/n giggled, sparing a glance at her chat who were all freaking out.

"What the hell?" Quackity said while laughing. He and George were still standing near Y/n so they were just watching the goons with her.

"Bugsy is not that kind of girl!" Sapnap protested. "You think she's just gonna give you a hug?"

"Sapnap! Do you not know how to whisper???"

George let a loud laugh slip before slapping his hand over his mouth, which his mic picked up.

"Okay, Dream, wait, so you're gonna try to... hug her?" Karl clarified. "She won't even let me hug her. Good luck."

"Well, I'm not going to force her into anything but, I don't know, she said something about holding my hand earlier so I just thought maybe there's a possibility—"

"WHAT?" Karl yelled before going back to the whisper. "Okay, okay, don't panic, but that's huge. Dadnap, a word?"

He and Sapnap broke off from Dream and formed their own huddle, except their whispers were incoherent mumblings that weren't even English.

"Oh my gosh," Y/n groaned loudly, an unmistakable laugh behind her words.

"Okay," Sapnap said, rejoining Dream. "We'll give you five minutes but if you take any longer, we're barging in and killing you."

"Yes, sir!" Dream said. "Thank you, sirs."

"Mhm. Okay, break!"

They all uncrouched in sync before Dream ran back to Y/n.

"How did it go?" she asked as if she didn't hear the entire conversation.

"Bad news," he started. "Your dad's want you home."

"Shame, I was quite enjoying my time."

Dream slowly turned towards the boys as if to glare at them for ending the date before turning back to her. "Then, maybe, I don't know, we could do this again sometime?"

"I.... think I'd like that," she said slowly, trying to tease him.

He giggled and told her he was going to drop her off at her house, even though when the date was over, they were all probably gonna mess around together anyway so there was no point in them leaving the group. But it was the thought that counted.

He ended up taking her back to the treehouse, which warmed her heart. She also noticed when they faced each other at front of the door, she could see the four other boys watching them.

"Goodnight, my sweet Bug," he said poshly.

"Goodnight, Dream." He turned away but she stopped him. "Wait!" She moved to his side and made a loud, MUAH, sound before stepping back in front of him. "A kiss on the cheek," she clarified, not wanting him to think she gave him a real kiss.

"Cute," he said under his breath, almost like he didn't mean to say it out loud. "Night night." He turned away and ran down to the others, screaming the whole way. "GUYS, DID YOU SEE THAT? BUG GAVE ME A KISS ON THE CHEEK!! OMG DID YOU SEE, DID YOU SEE?"

Chat was gonna have a field day with that. Actually, with a lot of things that had happened. Oh, she could see the clips and edits now.... oh boy.

**********

PREVIOUS | NEXT

**********

Taglist: OPEN (at the time) (bold = couldnt tag)

@theboywhocriedlupin @hydrate-tion @loraleiix @tinaswagbd @charsdummb @smileyyuta @1ghoste1 @cerberus-hellhound @gaysludge @queestionmark @carnations-red @letsloveimagines @the-fictionwriters-hairdo @boiled-onionrings @a-cryptic @fee-btheweeb @erwinss @just-a-stan @axths @kayleigh2703 @furiouspockettoad @sometimeseverythingsucks @powerpuffyn @itshaileyn @millavalntyne @automaticcomputerpaper @nikkineeky @fivedicksinatrenchcoat @sprucekot @bellomi-clarke @possiblyanxioushuman @jabby16 @mae-musicbitch @hungoverhellhound @dreamyteam @kuroo-icedtea @stuffforreferences @menacingaesthetic @sapphic-soot @fangeekkk @haseulreturns @queenwastaken @peteysgf @losingvienna @bi-narystars @zero-nightshade @erinitoburrito @sparklykeylime @youhyakuya @danny-devitowo @clubfairy @loser-keiji @oi-itsemily @alm334 @the-katastrophe @wreny24 @applecakeradio @unicornblood4ever @brendalopez99 @spacecluster @justonemoreepisode @strawbrinkofdeath @aikochan4859 @chaotic-tieflings @dreamsofficialwife @where-thesundoesntshine @jamiealenaa @unstableye @kageyamama-hinatatata @officiallyunofficialperson @secretly-a-weeb @localsimp @loxbbg @rhymeorreason1

#rpf #real person fiction #dream x reader #mcty x reader #dreamwastaken x reader #dream x y/n #dreamwastaken x y/n #mcyt x y/n #dream smau #dreamwastaken smau #smau #social media fic #dream social media fic

943 notes · View notes

jokertrap-ran · 3 years

Photo

(光与夜之恋 Light and Night) Jesse’s 6✩ Inspiration: Gorgeous Polar Night [绚丽极夜] Date Translation (Prologue)

“Visas, flights, lodgings, itinerary; leave them all to me! All you needa do is to bring yourself!”

*Light and Night Master-list | Jesse’s Personal Masterlist *Spoiler free: Translations will remain under cut *Join the Light & Night Discord (＾▽＾)~ ♪ *6✩ Inspirations have 6 Endings!! *Requested by a friend *Jesse’s tag will be #For Night, For Belief

The endless pure white snowfields exuded a silvery-white halo of light under the moon.

Occasionally, a small unnamed animal would dart across the snow, leaving a small trail of displaced snow in its wake.

On this serene and beautiful little island up north, was where my journey with Jesse had unwittingly come to an end.

Due to the high latitude of the place and given the fact that it was currently the dead of winter, the long nights always tended to come early. Orange lights were randomly strewn across the houses of this small town, shining as dazzlingly as the twinkling stars up above the brilliant night sky, like something right out of a fairytale.

And what had us tethering at the end of our seats was none other than the most anticipated and the most unpredictable aurora borealis.

We’d been eagerly awaiting its arrival ever since our first day of arrival here. Yet, the aurora never once graced us with its magnificence…

MC: It would be great if we could catch the aurora on the last night at least.

Jesse: I know, right? I really wanna see it once too!

I turned back to look at him in suspicion.

MC: I recall this isn’t your first time seeing one; so do you seem more excited than me?

Jesse: Seeing it with you is a different experience…

Jesse awkwardly averted his gaze.

Jesse: Uh… I mean, you’re very amusing to look at when you get excited about every little thing.

MC: Now you’re just asking for it.

Who knows what this guy’s up to this time. I recalled how he’d exuberantly invited me onto this trip.

❖☆———————————★❖

Jesse: Let’s go on a trip together on your annual vacation next month! We’re going to the northernmost part of the country!

MC: Really? I’ve always wanted to go!

MC: Though the whole ‘attain a visa’ process was too cumbersome, so I shelved that plan almost immediately after.

Jesse: Just prepare all the things you need and leave the rest to me.

He straightened up, patted his chest, and confidently winked at me.

Jesse: Visas, flights, lodgings, itinerary; leave them all to me!

Jesse: All you needa do is to bring yourself!

❖☆———————————★❖

At the end of our trip, I really did accomplish what he told me to. I brought myself, one mouth and two legs; the complete set.

Is this what it means to be “carried” in the game of life?

Jesse: What are you inwardly giggling to yourself about…?

MC: How can I be “inwardly giggling” when I already told you?

He softly snorted at that, scuffing my nose with his knuckles.

There was a distant rumble of thunder as we spoke.

❖☆———————————★❖

I followed the sound, gazing out the window. There were heavy clouds on the horizon, crowding the once clear skies.

MC: But looking at the weather now, I don’t think there’s going to be an aurora borealis for us.

MC: And the neighbours also said that it might snow tonight when we bumped into them this morning…

Jesse patted my head that had hung in disappointment. He walked around me, coming up before the window and blocking my view of the dark clouds gathering outside.

❖☆———————————★❖

Jesse: Weather forecasts are nothing more than a reference. You never know, maybe the weather will get better later.

Jesse: But I’ve still got a few plans other than the aurora for the finale of our trip here.

MC: More plans for the finale?

Jesse: Yup! If we’re only basing it off on what’s close by… There’s a handicraft shop with lots of homemade crafts that I think you’ll really like.

Jesse: And if you want to go somewhere further out… There’s a restaurant in the city that serves local specialities. You can even go for a stroll around the city once you’re done eating.

MC: They all sound really interesting. Looks like you’re really good at keeping trump cards up your sleeve.

Jesse: Not just one.

He waggled his eyebrows, his lips uplifted into a smile and his face full of earnestness.

Jesse: I did all my homework to ensure that you’ll have a perfect trip.

MC: I’ll have to start seriously considering it then.

Faced with several enticing options, I finally decided on one after much contemplation…

⊹ ˚✩ ━━━━━━━━━━━ ∘◦ ✥ ◦∘ ━━━━━━━━━━━ ✩˚ ⊹

✥ Choose your Ending:

END 1 | Choice: Do Nothing [都不做]

END 2 + 3 | Choice: Approach [亲近] ⊹Touch⊹

END 4 | Choice: Listen [倾听] ❖ASMR

END 5 + 6 | Choice: Heart-throb [心动] ✩Light & Night★

❖☆————— ⊹ For Night, For Belief⊹ —————★❖

#光与夜之恋 #Light and Night #Otome #Translations #Tencent #夏鸣星 #Jesse #For Night For Belief #绚丽极夜 #Gorgeous Polar Night

16 notes · View notes

bittybattybunny · 3 years

Note

I hope your not feeling down on your writing skills because I haven't caught up and commented on your latest releases. It's not you it's that I pick too many fanfics to follow and they all update a lot and I've been so busy and I've fallen behind on so many fics from various authors and sometimes my depression just makes me want to lie in bed all day doing nothing and it doesn't help I have to spend my limited spoons helping family everyday. I know these aren't good excuses, but I do sympathize with the lack of energy feeling at least. But your work really does bring a lot of joy to my life. It's so fun keeping up with your various AUs, and your latest one that features Kaya as Spider King has me really hyped because I want to learn more about Kaya, she's so fun! And Ruclipse is such a good comfort ship that just hits all the things I like seeing in a ship. You're so amazing and creative and it's awful that anyone would try to make you feel otherwise! Like your newest OC, Justin Tyme seems like such a lovable dumbass bastard. I love his wild, curly hair and his dapper outfit. I can't wait to see what dumb shit he gets himself into! I know this is really long and rambly, but I hope you know you have fans who genuinely love your work. I don't know if you're still thinking about that one comment you mentioned that got you really down, but honestly, fuck that guy. I don't know what they said but it must have been pure BS to have you doubting your hard earned art skills. I wish I could do more to prove you're awesome and that your fans really admire you, I just hope you don't stop sharing what you love because some rando was nasty for no good reason. Because we love what you do!

It's not like anyone one person nonny so please don't blame yourself. This has been an ongoing thing for a few months actually...

it's just a general thing over all lately like. I mentioned this in dm's with a friend but overall past few months I've had lower engagement overall with my works and it really does a number on my confidence. More so because like your latter point.

yes, I am still very much thinking about that one negative comment. Because that person also has the need to comment on other things and I even had a thing asking why I took a few weeks to update (when reality I posted to another ongoing fic and my TLC chapters are long chapters) and just the fact they could tear into a character (yes it was a comment on a character specifically and not even a main character it's a side character who has an important role for Snatcher's growth as a person down the line) then go saying "why didn't you update" when I posted a double update that week---

Like it lives in my head rent free and I want to literally cry because like the character is a focal in an upcoming chapter and I can't deal with another "why are they back" type thing. because "everyone finds them annoying"

And I'll be honest. it was Kaya. Like I've been trying to have fun with my BCU stuff with her as Spiderking because it's engaging for me and me and @/doodleimprovement even came up with a b-plot involving Kaya and Hattie trying to hook Nell and Marcus together and it's one of the best things as well as Kaya and Nell having a really good relationship.

but because of that one comment it makes me hesitant to do anything with Kaya despite she's one of my oldest ocs, my most thought out ocs and I adore her beyond anything. Like yes she's over powered and such and in TLC rn she comes off as a know it all, but upcoming chapters will show she's just a spacey kid who's trying to fit into a role others decided for her and isn't really as all mighty as she seems. Snatcher even ends up thinking of her as a little sister more than anything. Like fuck I'm even hesitant to share anything on her actual story despite how much work is in it. Like she's my favorite Oc (that's why shes my discord icon, and I'm pretty sure she's my twitter icon as well)

And like the points in the comment just. IDK they didn't fit to her, if anything the points are more suited to be shot at Eclipse.

Which is another thing I just get iffy on. I love RuClipse and everything with it. I love writing and drawing the dorks. But I'm now so afraid if Kaya could be attacked for only showing in a handful of chapters that don't even touch on who she is, when is someone going to finally tell me off on my wolf? who's going to tear into a character I pour a lot of personal shit into to try and comfort myself?

I use Ruclipse to deal with my own romantic heart, they are what I wish I could have so I love to write them, I hurt them but i like to make them happy in the end. Someone who can deal with your highs and lows. No ones perfect but you can still figure it out and love even the negative parts (I am a heavy romantic OTL)

he is in fact a lovable bastard. i have fun plans and he gives me an excuse for why Cel is so tired and having to be the brain cell and how she even wound up working with the time kids when she's so much older than they are. Currently I'm trying to think of how to use him and honestly I think he's gonna wind up hella comic relief fun guy who's just making a mess and do his own side story while Hat and Bow are busy in subcon----

thank you, I don't mind the rambly it kinda gave me a chance to get this off my chest... like I've typed this kinda response up time and time again and I always delete. I feel like I'm whining because I get upset but it's just, I spend so much time making things, I use all my spoons on either working or creating, I just want to know if it means anything but then negativity lives in my head because what's a functioning meat cube??? I try to stay positive but it's hard. Like another thing is Moon Guardian; the reason I haven't updated? because I have had someone bothering me about it. weekly I get asked about how I'm doing on it but it's not from a place of "want to read it" it's because I told them they couldn't post a certain thing until the chapter is done so it feels pressuring to constantly get asked because I feel the only reason they want to post is to boost their thing and I'm just the machine to boost it with my characters and comic.... like it feels they've taken the comic from me and it sucks because I have so many fun things planned. Like I accidentally went off on Nina about a thing with Alpine skyline and Eclipse as well as a thing with a Time Rift and a Jelly ghost.

Sorry kinda went off, just I've sat on this thought train since like early april. I've done my best to ignore it and just keep going but it's gotten really hard with the fact my health hasn't been really great. I've spent a lot of time lately bed bound because I just hurt so badly. if I'm not resting, I'm at my day job which is incredibly stressful rn as I only really work mornings and I see things that are being missed so then i report it and it still gets missed and i can't get it fixed after a point cuz we're back to full service and need the people so I can't nitpick but just.... I'm bitter okay like if I left this shit when I worked I would have gotten yelled at but now we just let it slide??? and this stresses me out which then causes my body to freak out because I'm stressed which puts me in more pain. and then like at work have people acting shocked I have my cane or soemthing and just skfdslkfksdf

so my energy is so tanked. and then the negative comment in my head, no idea if people like things cuz I have no idea if I hear nothing, just has had me doubting why post. Like I should go back to just not posting my stories and sketches or w/e and slink back to my hole like I was before.

idk Its just. a bad night in the house of bun. I've had these thoughts festering and I guess today was the dam breaking. It's probs cuz I'm nervous posting Chimeras because it's a very dark au.

#ask #anon #not art #long post #sorry im just in a bad spot tonight I guess #like i started my day pretty okay but somewhere along the way it nose dived and I'm just trying to not cry in my room

11 notes · View notes

butterbuni · 3 years

Text

♥ Prologue ♥

Prologue of Disguise, a Kaminari x Fem Reader

"Hello my dear viewers! Thank you for joining my stream. If your new here thanks for coming. If your one of my regulars welcome back, you know the drill." I looked up at my left monitor watching the numbers of watchers rise as well as the number of donations.

"We are just waiting for one more guest! LightningMcSpark101 he is always late." I rolled my eyes playfully knowing he would be watching the video later when I upload it. My discord rang and I quickly answered it, "Dude you are so late!! The viewers were waiting!" I said into my mic.

"Aw man, I was so sure I was on time this time!" I heard him say from the other end. "Alright alright, all is forgiven! Hurry up and let's get this started. I only have 2 hours today!"

"Sure thing dude! I am so beating you this time!"

"In your dreams Sparky!"

"It's on G/N (Gamertag name)"

I smirked at my screen and took hold of my controller pressing play on the newest battle game that I was sent to try and review.

The screen lit up as it announced my ultimate victory. "Haha! In your face Sparky!! I win once again!"

"Awe man!!! I was so sure I was going to win this time!! You defeated me dude how is that even possible!!!" he exclaimed from his end.

"Ha, you thought. Thanks for helping me show off this game!" I looked over to my left monitor and saw my view had only gained as well as the occasional donation, "I hope you guys enjoyed my demonstration as much as I did! Make sure to go out and buy this amazing game! It's a lot of fun to play especially with friends maybe one of you may get lucky and I would play with you next time. Unfortunately, it is time for me to log off however same time next week. What do you say Sparky?"

"You bet!"

"Bye guys!" I said as I waved goodbye with one hand and clicked end stream. I let out a sigh of relief. That was so much fun. "Sparky you do not know how much fun that was!"

"I am so glad you let me try it out with you! Hey, when are you going to let me see your face you always wear that face mask. I only see half of you!"

"I will let you see my face when pigs fly!" I said scratching the side of my face avoiding not wanting to give him a straight answer. He asks this every single time we go on live together. "Plus it's not like I've seen your face either for all I know you are a 40-year-old man, but you don't sound a day over 15," I said cheerfully.

"Oh wow thanks." he said sarcastically, "I would show you my sexy awesome face but I don't think you would be able to resist me."

"Ha, you wi-"

The alarm on my phone went off stopping all conversation, "Oop looks like my time has come! See ya later dude!" I said quickly changing tabs to end our call. "Aw, c'mon just a little longer. I'll promise I'll be good."

"Sorry, sparky you know the drill I really need to go now," I said hastily wanting... no needing to end the call.

I heard him sigh from the other end. My cursor hovered over the end call button impatiently. My eyes kept darting to my bedroom door. He was taking too long and I didn't want to end without saying goodbye

"I'll catch ya next time G/N. Next time I promise to beat you in whatever game we play."

"Don't hold your breath," I laughed and clicked the end call button. Once it ended, I quickly tore off my face mask and took off my headset. I pulled out a medium-sized box from beneath my desk and put both of them in.

I quickly took out the game cd and put it back into its packaging. I pulled out a bigger box from beneath my desk that had various other games I've collected and put the game in. I sighed, "I wish I didn't have to live like this." Almost as soon as I closed both boxes and put them away, there was a knock on my door.

Fuck. Already?

"One moment!" I called out. Why why why now. I went into my walk-in closet and quickly changed into clothes that my parents deemed suitable for walking around the house. There was another knock at the door, "I'm coming!" I fixed my hair and opened the door quickly revealing my butler. He wore a simple black and white suit with a handkerchief hanging off his arm and as usual his gray hair was slicked back.

"Hello Bertrum," I said standing up as straight as possible.

"Hello ma'am your parents are waiting for you downstairs. Dinner today is coffee-rubbed steak with brussels sprout salad." He bowed down to me.

Great just my luck. I rolled my eyes just before Bertrum rose from his position. "How wonderful I will be down in a second."

He nodded and went on his way. I shut my door closed once he left. With my back against the wall, I slide down to the ground. I wish we could have normal food for one. I would kill for a hamburger right about now.

I got up from the floor and dusted myself off. I might as well get this over with. The sooner I get there the sooner I can leave.

I walked over to my vanity mirror making sure all my 'imperfections' were perfect in the eyes of my parents.

Once I felt ready I walked out of my bedroom making sure to be extra slow about it. I walked through the halls of our family portraits and statues. I've walked this same path for years and each time I still don't feel like I belong.

Every single one of the pictures had a family member who did something great with their lives. Some went on to be some of the greatest support items manufactures. Some became politicians. Some even became costume developers. But here I was, some random teenager who just happened to be born in a family with everything.

I walked down our spiral stairs my hand running down the banister. Well, everything except parents with the capability of love and care.

I walked into the family dining room to see the long table completely dressed in fancy dishes. Both my mom and dad weren't looking at each other. Mother was typing away at something on her laptop and Father was talking to someone on the phone.

I don't even know why they require me here anymore when they wouldn't even pay attention to me.

"Hello Mother. Hello Father." I said flatly announcing myself in. "Hello Y/N," they said without even glancing at me.

I sighed. Of course, they wouldn't even look at me. I am sure they have even forgotten how I looked considering I don't even remember the last time they looked at me for more than 10 seconds.

I took my seat at the far end of the table to wait for the maids to deliver the food.

The dining hall instantly fell into silence with nothing but the clacking of Mother's keyboard and the low gruff talking of Father on his phone. It was unbearable.

Mother finally spoke to me as the maids came into the room with our dinner.

"We have decided where you will be going for high school." She spoke, "With your quirk, we decided that you will go to U.A and join their support course."

"But mother I was planning on becoming a hero like the rest of my friends," I spoke up as a maid dropped my dish in front of me.

She scoffed at me, "I can see why the Todoroki family would want their son to be in the hero course but I don't know why the Yaoyorozu family would let their daughter partake in such a trivial career."

"Mother heroes have a lot of importance in our society! Without them, the world would spiral into chaos. Plus the support course won't even have people to sell their inventions."

"Support for quirks will always be in business with or without the heroes. The heroes are the cause of chaos. They refuse to properly dispose of villains, making our society go into a cycle of a hero-catching villain only for the villain to escape and wreak more havoc. If they would make an example of one of those good for nothing bastards, the people in our society wouldn't have the nerve to stand against heroes."

"But Mother that is such a horrible-" I started to say looking at Mother in disbelief.

"I know you are not talking back to me right now!" she raised her voice at me slamming her fork down on the table.

"No Mother," I said looking down at the plate of food.

"Good."

It was silent once again. Father didn't even bother trying to come to my side and I didn't even bother standing up for myself.

I've learned the hard way that when something is asked of me, I have to do it. Or else.

I picked up my fork and picked at my food. I wasn't even that hungry plus it wasn't like brussel sprouts and steak were very appealing.

"Aren't you eating Y/N?," Father said turning off his phone and picking up his own fork to eat. He only said that to me so he could still pretend to be that caring father he once was in his only little fantasies.

"I just don't have the appetite right now," I said dejectedly. "You should eat your food. Do you know how many kids are starving?" Mother said.

"Maybe you should feed them this nasty stuff," I mumbled.

"I didn't quite hear what you said. Could you repeat that for me?" Mother's eyebrow twitched as she gripped the fork in her hand tightly. I didn't think she could hear me. "I just think we should distribute our wealth to help people less fortunate. People could stop going home hungry," I said dropping my fork down. If she wanted to talk about starving people we can talk about starving people.

"It is not our fault that they made bad choices in their lifetime and ended up poor. Why should we share what we worked hard to get." She said not sparing a glance at me.

I rolled my eyes once she paid more attention to her food than me. Every time I try to have this conversation with her she shuts me down with her hypocritical ass. I stared at her as she ate her food. Who is she to talk about hard work when she worked her way up into my father's pants. The only hard thing she's probably ever done up till now was picking a way how to seduce him.

After a considerable amount of time of pushing my food around my plate the maids came and whisked away our plates. I gave them my thanks. Mother and Father however just picked up their laptop and phones and excused themselves from the table leaving me by my lonesome.

I sighed. Welcome to the life of L/N Y/N.

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

Once my parents were out of sight I rushed up the stairs and past the halls filled with everything my family wanted me to be and into my bedroom. The one place in this house that I felt comfortable. The one place in this big mansion that felt like home.

I locked the bedroom door and quickly logged into my computer. I looked at the number of donations I received from today's stream. I let out a yell of excitement seeing the 2000$ on the screen. A whole 500 more than last time.

I could do more with this money. I pulled up a list of local poverty fundraisers. If Mother and Father won't do anything, I will.

I donated the money equally between the topmost trusted charities. As soon as I clicked the submit button for each I felt satisfied. Even if it wasn't much, the money I made off my twitch account was what kept me motivated to keep going. People out there were suffering and people like my parents were sitting down and letting it happen when they could be doing something about it.

I've thought about wiring money from my parents' accounts but I'll just get myself in trouble so two years ago I started live streaming. When I started earning money from it, I realized I could be making a difference with it.

I sighed as I leaned back in my chair. Two years ago I wouldn't have dreamed of going against my parents' wishes but here I am. Created my own monitors from scratch with the help of my quirk and Momo making the parts. I let out a sad laugh. I even went as far as to covering half my face just so I won't be recognized by anyone.

Just as I spun in my chair looking at my ceiling, my phone buzzed on my table. My head perked up looking at it. Who could be texting me at this time?

I picked up my phone seeing it was a discord notification from Sparky. I smiled softly at my phone. It's like he always knew when I was down in the dumps. I may not know who he is behind that screen but he has quickly become my best friend. ~~~~ Y/N Character Sheet

#bnha #bnha reader insert #bnhareader #bnha x reader #bnha x you #bnha x y/n #reader insert #reader #mha #my hero academia #mha reader #mha reader insert #bnha kaminari #bnha kami #denki x you #you x denki #kaminari denki #denki kaminari #kaminari x reader

10 notes · View notes

kyberled · 3 years

Text

SENTENCE STARTERS: LET’S PLAY CYBERPUNK RED: THE RING BOX: EPISODE 3

A collection of prompts and starters taken from the third episode of Polygon’s Cyberpunk Red campaign series: [x]

Content warnings for death, strong language.

“You can just say ‘assholes’. Team of assholes.”

“No, you’ve got this, [NAME]. You’ve got the big brain.”

“She’ll probably bounce back from this.”

“I’m imagining somebody telling me the story you just told me, and I’ve got a lot of questions.”

“Oh, no, we don’t have a plan, do we? We don’t have a plan!”

“Mm, no, that’s a good point, yeah.”

“We’ve always got the dead body plan if this one doesn’t work out.”

“It’s the perfect out for us.”

“This is a terrible plan! This is a bad plan.”

“I had no idea what you guys were going to put forth, and this is better than I expected.”

“We guarantee know that that mother fucker’s gonna work.”

“We’re already on the way, fuck it.”

“How would that not be bad?”

“I am loving this plan.”

“They can try to subpoena us, but you know, what power do they have?”

“Whenever [NAME] says a word like ‘subpoena’, I get worried.”

“Do you wanna go with the dead body idea? Because I think that was a fine idea.”

“We wouldn’t even have to kill anyone!”

“What did we do?”

“Literally just go steal a dead body, bring it in, say, ‘Hey, here’s your guy!’ And it’s done!”

“Let’s steal a body!”

“We can’t do this every time!”

“No one has stopped me yet!”

“We have made it a hard nut to crack, here.”

“I did not expect it to be this difficult.”

“The two options here is, you can tell the truth, or you can lie.”

“This is the only way to grow a brand, I guess.”

“Party on, good fellows!”

“Get paid and do the right thing. ... For us.”

“Dang, you guys are good at your jobs.”

“Oh no! They’re in the mainframe!”

“Yeah. This is happening. This is so exciting.”

“It’s incredible what people will post on line. Disgusting.”

“Disgusting.”

“I have to have something to take to my boss.”

“This is not optional.”

“He’s a great guy, you’re going to love him.”

“Is it possible we could get paid right now?”

“This is not an escort.”

“It’s been so long since my comfort has been considered like that.”

“I have got some Lethal Weapon-ass ideas.”

“You’re small, you could get back there.”

“You know what, let’s do it.”

“I haven’t had any good streaming content today anyway.”

“Let’s freaking do it.”

“Do what?!”

“That’s what you want to do?! That’s your plan?!”

“We’ll be hunted down in the street and shot!”

“I was just getting a little caught up in the heat of the moment.”

“Put your burger brain back in its bun!”

“Okay, I could survive this jump, I could survive this jump, I could survive this jump- Okay, now I’m sort of in the danger zone, okay, nope, shit.”

“That sounds like a thing a good guy would do.”

“Now who wants to sit next to who?”

“I’ve always kind of considered myself your right hand man.”

“It’s an empty chair, please sit down.”

“We found a house in discord.”

“Mr. Fuck.”

“Don’t ask me to say things.”

“Fight or flight usually just turns to fight for me.”

“Well, shit.”

“I think maybe you might’ve called the wrong number, or contacted the wrong person.”

“Earlier today, I broke a glass over my head because I thought it would convince somebody that I was credible.”

“Amazing gambit, I love it.”

“I live in a van and a boat.”

“He’s a man of two vehicles.”

“Oh, thank fuck!”

“Congratulations, you have successfully passed the buck.”

“Please let us leave.”

“You gotta let us leave, please.”

“We are in so over our heads.”

“You gotta let us leave, please, we are in so over our heads, please let us go.”

“Ow. Ow. Ow. Please, [NAME], don’t embarrass me. Ow.”

“Should we go warn [NAME]?”

“I think we should just go to the beach and stay there for a few days.”

“Sorry about all this.”

“We got fucking scammed.”

“When we need her, we’ll find her again.”

“She owes us now.”

“We did an adventure!”

“Spoiler alert: Absolutely not.”

#&& give the sun a head start; ooc #&& incoming transmissions; memes #sentence starters #rp starters #ok last one #i just love this series and hope they di a new episode someday fghfgh

5 notes · View notes

cheerystarlightwish · 4 years

Text

Millionaire Detective Balance: Unlimited Episode 9 Thoughts

Hi guys! Episode 9 got me thinking and though I didn’t want to create theories or analyzations about Fugou Keiji because we are nearing the end already, I simply can’t help myself. To be honest, I wanted to create some earlier and chat with people but my schedule didn’t side with me for the past three months. Nevertheless, here I am better late than never and excited to read other peoples’ reactions, analyzations, and theories as well. Anyways, For those who haven’t watched the recent episodes yet, there are spoilers ahead as I share my thoughts so please be cautioned! Thank you, have a nice day, and stay safe!

(Disclaimer: Any similarities with other posts are purely coincidental. Moreover, if that does happen, I am glad that there are many who think so too because that increases the probability of the statement, thought, analyzation, or theory being somewhat true.)

______________________________________________________________

Oh.my.goodness.

If I were to summarize my reaction for Ep.9? it would be those. It was nothing short of thrilling and is a perfect stepping point before we get to the climax of the show. Be that as it may, I still can’t wrap my head around the fact that we only have a few episodes left before it ends. Oddly enough, it feels as though we just began due to the pacing of the revelations. Yes, it allowed us to answer some of our previous questions but at the same time, it created new ones as well.

The first answer we were able to infer is with regards to Shigemaru Kambe. As we have gathered from the previous episodes, he was alive and supposedly went into hiding for the past 19 years after he killed his wife. Throughout that period, he was believed to be dead by both Daisuke and the world. This is with great exception of his mother who had known of this fact for a long time and even kept it secret to the point of trying to dissuade Daisuke from investigating further. Second, Daisuke's parents were both scientists who were researching an "element" called “adolium”. Such a thing was considered to be dangerous by Sayuri and despite her husband's claims that he will not use it, she completely did not trust him. This could only mean that "adolium" is something that people, powerful people, would want to have for their benefit. Unfortunately, this argument of theirs led to Sayuri leaving the house which prompted her husband to kill her because as he said, he has invested too much on the project to let it be for naught.

Though we were able to answer the question regarding the culprit of Sayuri's murder, it raises the question of what is the true purpose of “adolium”? From the last episode, it was hinted that it had something to do with energy. When it was introduced head on, it was used in a way that caused several nearby electronics to malfunction. The weird aspect of that event is that the ship itself was unharmed, and it only specifically targeted those Shigemaru's group considered to be "enemies". This realization is alarming because it basically means that they have advanced in their research, against Sayuri's efforts to prevent them from doing so, and can now utilize the "element" in a destructive method. Now, what exactly will they use it for? I deduced that it would be applied in creating some kind of set of weapons. The reason I thought so is because of that episode with the president of a country from Central America. The one who visited to resign an agreement for further collaboration with the Kambe family. He was apparently affiliated with them when the latter provided resources for that president’s country’s “development”. A “development” that turned out to have caused or will cause harm to a community, as evidenced by an attempted assasination of their lives by someone who belonged to that group of people. One thing to note though is that there are similarities between the machines seen in episode 5 and 9 in that they both interfered with a specific set of electronics. Therefore, I think it is safe to assume that the machine in the earlier episode contained the aforementioned “element” as well. This theory raises new questions in how that person from that community got their hands on those technology, which seemingly belongs to Shigemaru’s group as backed by Daisuke’s discovery of it in Laboratory 3. It makes one wonder, is the family involved in some kind of civil war and profiting from it? No matter what though, we cannot deny the detail that the Kambe family provides resources, technology, and weapons to their “customers”.

Moving on, another key aspect of the mystery is why the higher ups seem to be bent on not being involved nor further investigating the case of the Kambe family. I first thought that it is mainly because they are afraid for their own lives but looking back, that doesn’t seem to be all there is to it. With all the information we have been given, I have two, maybe three if I combine them both, thoughts or theories on this. The first one is that the superiors themselves have invested on this project and are benefiting from it as a whole. It is possible that they too may have a stake in it and will be used by them to acquire future advantages. The second one is that the ones on top contain Kambes or their puppets and alliances. I pondered on this because of the Kambe family picture and how Shigemaru has been described to be the eldest child.The latter seems a little far fetched because if that were the case, why would Daisuke not know about them? Unless, it is specifically being hidden from him as to continue the image that their corporation or conglomerate is “good”, a high probability.

The last facet of this mystery so far is what they could want with Daisuke and the identity of the newly introduced characters as well as the location they are currently headed to. With regards to what they want with the former, I’m not quite sure. Daisuke obviously disapproves of whatever this “adolium” business is because of its contribution to his mother’s death and its evident dangerous nature. Shigemaru himself is aware of this, and yet why did he say that he has been waiting for Daisuke for a long time? Why did he instruct Frantz to keep him alive? With these set of questions, I could only gather three possibilities. The first one is that they could be trying to silence him about the matter at hand. They will probably try to kill him too or at least make it so that he would not want to further delve into the issue. Second, they will try to get him in on the business itself by reasoning with him as they might have supposedly did with the higher ups. The last one is that they will let Daisuke take the fall of whatever downhill event is bound to happen next, another high possibility. It cannot be denied that Daisuke is known by the world to be the head of the Kambe Conglomerate. Therefore, it would not be farfetched to think that they might be saving him for future use in taking the fall for the result of whatever they are planning to do. On the matter of the identity of the new characters, we have yet to know more. The only thing episode 9 told us is that Frantz is a multinational weapons merchant on top of being Thomas Matheson’s bodyguard. From that little introduction, it is no doubt difficult to hypothesize the extent of their role in the mystery. Nevertheless, I do have some ideas I would like to share. Frantz’s characteristic of being a weapons merchant aligns with the certainty we had that the Kambe family produces and sells weapons. It would then make sense for them to be related, but what intrigues me is his listed job as a bodyguard which could be some sort of coverup for his true job. The question is, is he the boss or is he just a representative of his true boss? Additionally, is Thomas aware of Frantz’s involvement with the Kambes? Is he another leader of a country? or better yet, is he himself part of the masterminds or true bosses? We can only know for sure in the next episode. As far as I can conclude though, it would seem that Frantz is an underling, given his actions, of an even bigger persona and that the Kambes are profiting from discords and strife.

With everything they have given us, there are quite a lot of ways it can go. So in consideration of all these notions and ideas, we can only wait for future revelations, confirmations, and validations. To be completely honest, I cannot wait for this mystery to be further unfolded.

Predictions:

Based on a post (link) I saw earlier, it seems that Episode 10 will contain epic scenes. According to the source, the FKBU team apparently called in the director for Shingeki no Kyojin and Kabaneri Fortress to aid in this specific episode. As a result, they themselves are still in awe of how it turned out when they all worked on it together. Now given this information, it fuels my curiosity to the brim and I simply can’t wait for tomorrow. It seems to me that the scene wherein Daisuke and Haru fight side by side in the opening is about to come true. Imagine that sequence and the possibility of the background music being the OP Navigator, and we will get one hell of an iconic scene. Moreover, I can’t wait to find out who are the other people involved in this scheme and what is “adolium” going to really be used for, because as far as we know, it has something to do with energy and interference. Additionally, we are already aware that the ship is headed for Panama, a famous country that is known for its transit through the Panama Canal. Is it their destination or is it simply a stop over? I guess we'll just see tomorrow!

#fugou keiji balance: unlimited #fugou keiji #fkbu #kambe daisuke #daisuke kambe #katou haru #haru katou #kato haru #haru kato #the millionaire detective balance: unlimited #im really excited guys

6 notes · View notes

multifantingz · 4 years

Text

Seblos Barn Date

Okay so here's my first ever oneshot for seblos. I hope you enjoy. Thank you to all my friends and especially the discord diner server for hyping me up and helping me write this. I love y'all!! Also big thank to my girlfriend for assisting me with the kiss scene lmao. With a further ado, here it is:

When Saturday came around, Seb was going to ask Carlos to officially be his boyfriend. Carlos was coming over that night for a sleepover. Little did he know, Seb had his own masterful plan to surprise the other boy.

Spending homecoming dancing with Carlos was one of the best nights of the farm boys life, even though he arrived three hours late. The way Seb felt about Carlos couldn't be described through any words. Getting a text from the other boy made him light up in a way he didn't know he could. Let's just say, seb was smitten. This made him want to make it up to his almost boyfriend, and he was going to do it in a way that was memorable.

Seb begged his parents to use the barn that night, in order to have a "friend" over. They didn't really understand why he wanted to have his friend stay over at the barn instead of the house, but nonetheless they couldn't argue with sebs pleads. With this agreement between his parents, the teenage boy scavenged for anything and everything around his house and storage for a cutesy barn sleepover. He wanted the decor to resemble something out of a romantic movie.

After looking for an hour, he had carried all of his findings in a big grey box from the barn. Then Seb dumped everything carefully on the ground and began to plot the setup in his head. He had the perfect plan, now it was time for the execution of that plan. Near the red barn doors stood a ladder that could reach all the way up to the high ceiling. Seb was going to hang the fairy lights he had found from the sides of the rafters. And so he moved the ladder to where he needed it and climbed up and positioned the clips for the lights. This went rather well. Now he just had to tie the lights into the clips. He finally finished the most treacherous task, after putting the ladder back to its original place: it came to the exciting part. Putting everything together.

In the pile of the miscellaneous items there were many blankets and pillows to cover the wooden floor with. He put about five comforters of different colors on the ground. Then the farm boy covered the mismatched comforters with two giant fluffy white blankets with red hearts. He added many white and red pillows to the arrangement of blankets and changed the color of the lights to white in order to fit the romantic theme.

Seb checked his phone for the time since the other boy would be at his house around 8:00 pm. He was right on track and even had about an hour to spare. This prompted him to put a small table up by the makeshift bed. He had put various snacks such as popcorn, chocolate, pretzels, soda and more on the table. He added a vase of roses in the middle of the table, along with a homemade card. He was almost done. Now all Seb needed to do was set up the projector to face against the barn doors. He moved the ladder into the back of the barn and pushed the plug into the outlet. He wanted to watch the high school musical movies with Carlos which made the projector a vital part into the entire operation. Seb was completely done and was proud of the beautiful creation.

Moments after daydreaming about the fun they would have together, Seb realized he had to go back to his house in order to greet Carlos and take him over to the barn. The blonde boy sat on the couch anxiously waiting for the ringing of the doorbell or knock in order to alert him. Carlos had texted Seb after a few minutes of waiting to let him know that he was 2 minutes away. This led the boy to panic as he waited for what felt like days for his crush to arrive. He heard a subtle knock at the front door as sebs heart started racing, he rushed to open it.

In the doorway stood the black haired boy with a beaming smile and a bag in his hand. Seb exchanged an even wider smile while pushing the door far enough for the other boy to get in. "Hey Sebby!" Carlos said as he set his bag down near the entrance and proceeded to get closer to the blonde boy in order to hug him.

"Hey Carlos!!" He replied as his stomach fluttered even more with the gentle embrace of his crush. Both boys cheeks turned crimson red as they felt at peace within each others presence. Seb gently released the grip from Carlos's waist. "Do you want to come with me to the barn? I was just about to finish up some work." He hoped Carlos wouldn't suspect anything with the tone and apprehension of his voice. Seb was never really good at lying.

"The infamous barn where all your moves are practiced in?" Carlos replied with a cheeky smile which made Seb stop breathing for a second because of how cute the black haired boy was at that moment.

Seb gave a quick nod, "That's the one." Seb opened the front door and held it out so that the other boy could walk through.

"Why thank you." Carlos said while walking through and then turning around to wait for Seb to lock the door behind him. Seb chuckled while walking closer to his almost-boyfriend and reaching for his hand. The boys intertwined fingers and walked comfortably to the other side of the property. Carlos was still flustered that another boy, let alone Seb, was holding his hand. They both exchanged glances and small chuckles within their conversation while treading towards the barn.

When they reached the barn, seb let go of the other boys hand and tugged on the door handles. "So... I wanted to surprise you." Seb said as he tried to gauge the black haired boys reaction. "Do you like it?"

Carlos entered the barn and was filled with pure euphoria. "I love it. I can't believe you did this for me." Carlos said while examining all the thought Seb had put into the room. This had prompted Seb to close the wooden doors.

The blonde boy inched closer to where Carlos was standing. "You deserve it. After everything you've done for me and everyone else. You've taught me so much about myself and you've helped me get out of my shell completely." Seb said only inches away from the other boys face.

Carlos leaned in closer. Sebs soft breath coming into reach. Seb softly placed his hand on the boys neck, closing the distance between them. With that, they melted into a sweet kiss, their bodies pressing into one another softly. After a few seconds the boys returned for air. They both ginned but remained speechless for a second. "Wow." Seb whispered just before moving his hand away from the other boy.

"Thank you for that. And also what you just said. You mean so much to me." He said chuckling while his face turned even redder than it already was. Carlos sat on the edge of the blankets watching as the blonde boy walked the other way.

"Thank you, Carlos." Seb said moving over to the small table in order to get the roses and the card. He approached the other boy with deliberation on his face, "So, you should read this." Seb handed Carlos the card while sitting right next to him.

Carlos grabbed the card gently and opened it to start reading Sebs neat handwriting. "Aww Seb, you're going to make me cry." He said as he looked up at the boy next to him.

"Don't cry!!" Seb said in a concerned tone. Carlos laughed and put his hand on Sebs thigh in order to reassure the other boy.

Carlos started reading the card, trying to hold back the happy tears emerging from his eyes. 'Dear Carlos, you've been a really great friend ever since last year's production of Brigadoon. And, I've had a crush on you since then. I couldn't even believe you asked me to go to homecoming with you. I still feel bad that I was late. But, at least our ties matched. Anyways, I want you to be my boyfriend.'

"Sorry if it's cheesy." Seb said as he waited for a response.

Carlos put the card down beside him, as well as the flowers. "It's perfect, just like you. Of course I will be your boyfriend." Carlos replied and immediately gave Seb a quick kiss on the cheek.

"I was hoping you'd want to watch the high school musical movies with me." Seb commented, pointing to the projector.

"PLEASE!!" Carlos exclaimed as he started getting under the first blanket.

"We should probably get your bag from the house first." Seb added, giggling and getting up.

Carlos reached for Sebs hand and pulled him down onto him, "We don't have to!" Seb hugged the boy in the interesting position they were in. They both laughed in sync with one another.

"Okayyy fine, let me put on the movie first." Seb smiled and got up from the other boys grasp to project the movie.

The farm boy put on the movie and walked back over to the blanket pile. He got into the right side next to Carlos under the blanket. Seb cuddled up closer to Carlos. He put his head on the other boys chest just as the movie started. Carlos couldn't help but playing with the blondes hair. The boys stayed like this for the rest of the night. Of course, with the addition of many laughs, snacks, and cuddling. They ended up falling asleep only getting to the middle of the second movie. But frankly, they weren't paying attention anyways.

#seblos #seb matthew smith #carlos #hsmtmts #oneshot #this is my first oneshot please dont roast me #i love my discord fam #thank you for reading

38 notes · View notes

lorencourtier · 4 years

Text

Discord Thread II Loren, Jace, and Emily

Discord thread featuring: Loren and jace @jace-matthews and Emily @warmvlbes

Mentions: @malakhai-ozera @davieslandon @bensonnick

When: July 28th

Description: Loren, Jace and Emily all get into a fight after Lorens texts with Emily

Jace “do you know what’s funny? You and emily living under the same roof but texting each other. Cutest friendship ever.”

Loren. “It is funny. But I don’t wanna leave you.” He laughs

Jace “I’m sure it’s juicy whatever it is.”

Loren. “Oh, just Khai shit” he shrugged

Jace “because....he backed out of a chat after a couple exchanges about a food item?” He snickers rolling his eyes.

Loren. “Yeah... I don’t know. I thought it was funny”

Jace “guys are weird. Id know. I am one.”

Loren. “Yeah, I just don’t have the brain power to analyze Khai right now” he chuckled

Jace “who...does?” He laughed. “I haven’t even had the chance to speak to him really”

Loren. *so, I guess if you wanna move in with me. It’s gonna be at my old place. Thank god I still haven’t sold it yet”

Jace “I beg your pardon? No I’m not doing that.” “I like it here.”

Loren. “So then move in with Emily. I’m out.” He gets off the bed and starts grabbing shit from the closet to throw back into its box

Jace “can you explain to me what is going on?” “because y’all are literally in the same house. Don’t make me pull you both out into the common room and treat you both like my students that I mentor”

Loren. “I’m just done supporting her ass and then she turns around and calls me fake because I think their being intense and weird? Fuck that Jace. I don’t need this shit in my life. I’m sorry.”

Jace “Okay first of all: watch your tone with me. Second of all: if you felt that way, then maybe you should’ve told her that versus saying other things? Calling people is tense or weird isn’t nice. And you know how Khai is with emily. You can’t blame her for acting out. He’s literally done nothing but to prove he can’t be trusted. If I did that shit with you, how would you feel being called intense or weird? You’re her best friend loren. She’s always going to look to support you bc I’m sure if I fucked up, she wouldn’t be on my side. you don’t have the brain capacity for tonight, okay. But insulting them all together isn’t going to solve anything. It does come off a little left sided.”

Loren. “Okay, you know what. She should know damn well I love her. I get intense and weird myself and if I was being that way I wouldn’t be all shitty for being called out on it. Second off. I know how he’s been, fuck do I know, and if it were you I would have already left. I don’t do this drama shit, I don’t play, and I’m not about to be disrespected for speaking my mind. I always have her back, always. She knows this. I try to help her see the light in Khai because she loves him. I personally don’t like him. Anyway, I’m leaving. You can stay wirh her”

Jace “loren you’re staying and thats final.” He said raising a brow. “Im literally moving in with my boyfriend of 24 hours and she didn’t call us intense or weird. So she’s stronger than the average person but that doesn’t make her crazy. You hurt her feelings loren. And so she did it right back. Y’all just need to talk this out. But you’re not leaving and if you do, thennnn....I’m gonna take a step back because this can be easily solved and if you walk out on her for this, then I’d hate to see how you’d react for the first time we fight. running away solves nothing.” He shrugged. “So either get it together the both of you? Orrrrr Im out.”

Loren. “You’re kidding right? This isn’t our first fight, and if your out for that. Because she disrespect me. Then you know what? I’m sorry. I’m not gonna sit down and be a fake person and smile when all I do is be there for her. I say one thing she doesn’t like and I’m the bad person, and now you threaten to leave me because I don’t wanna deal with it? That hurts” he turns around and walks into the bathroom slamming the door

Jace “did she not feel disrespected by you too though...?” “EMILY GET IN HERE RIGHT NOW.”

Emily She walks in, standing in the door frame.

Jace he opens the bathroom door. “LISTEN TO ME RIGHT NOW. I’ve had enough with both of you. This is bullshit. OVER A BOY? REALLY? Y’all- it’s KHAI WE ARE TALKING ABOUT. he’s not perfect. You’re not perfect. pointing to em and you are not perfect pointing to loren. BUT DISRESPECTING EACH OTHER IS A LOW OF ALL LOWS. IT SOLVES NOTHING”

Loren. He comes out of the bathroom and pushes past them both. “Figure your shit out. I’m done” he said to Emily. Turning to jace after. “You wanna leave me over this? Fine. Do what you want. I’m leaving” he walks toward the front door

Jace “Loren if you walk out that god damn door, I will know your love for me was not real and you are running from me just like you had to do with Landon. Pick and choose your battles right fucking now bc she is here and so am I. I am trying to help. and you literally aren’t even listening. You’re too busy trying to run.”

Loren. “I can’t believe you just said that to me. You can’t be serious”

Jace “you two need to talk. I don’t care if it doesn’t happen tonight but we’re not about to throw away this home over a boy. YOU can’t be serious. You’re running. Is it that easy for you to walk? I’m trying to help.”

Emily “I’m not going to be the reason y’all break up either.”

Loren. “I’m leaving because I’m obviously needing to cool off. But you want me to stay and keep fighting? You want me to be fake and say it’s all okay? Fine... it’s all okay baby. She didn’t disrespect me at all. Happy?”

Jace “did I fucking say THAT LOREN? NO I DIDNT.” “I JUST SAID TO TALK IT OUT”

Loren. “I DONT WANT TO! I tried and she just kept saying fuck me. So guess what! Fuck me!”

Emily “Loren wait*”

Loren. “I don’t wanna do this. I am not about to do this again. Just stop” he said dropping to the floor and holding his head

Emily “look i was fired up and said some things I didn’t mean. But you really did hurt my feelings...”

Loren. “Just stop”

Emily “stop what! I’m trying to apologize”

Loren. “I didn’t do a fucking thing wrong. And I can’t do this... i need to leave”

Emily “so my feelings are invalidated because it stung to hear you call me weird and intense? With someone you’re usually happy for me for?” “i mean if it means saving the friendship, I’ll just stop going to you about Khai. It’s not like I can talk with anyone else about him. So I’ll just leave the subject of him to deal with myself.” “because all people do is want to either try to insult him or tell me how I should do better. I’m just gonna...stop...talking about him”

Loren. “Well I’m sorry you don’t think it’s intense and weird to be off and on and constantly trying to one up each other. I don’t care what you do. I always support you, you know damn well I do. But YOU” he pointed to Jace. “Just broke my fucking heart.”

Jace “what the fuck did i do? You just tried to walk out on me for trying to help mend something?”

Loren. “I never said I was walking out on YOU”

Emily “Loren YOUVE always supported us so it was just weird to hear you say that...it felt out of no where. But I am sorry that I disrespected you. I just felt disrespected too.”

Loren. “But to throw Landon in my face? That hurt”

Jace “I’m not talking about this in front of emily.”

Loren. “Yeah. I’m just don’t with this whole conversation”

Jace “then go like you planned on doing.”

Loren. “I’m not going”

Emily “can we just light a joint or something? I don’t like us all fighting.”

Loren. “But I’m not about to ever be threatened like that again. Ever”

Jace “you tell me you love me every fucking day and you were ready to throw me in her by myself over some petty ass bullshit. You’re not going to just walk out on me trying to talk to you and that wasn’t a threat. It was a promise. Bc it was juvenile. This whole thing is Juvenile.”

Loren. “I was upset and the first thing you did was say I was acting out and sides with her. You wanna do that, fine. You don’t wanna talk about this in front of her, fine. I wasn’t walking out on you. I just don’t wanna live somewhere that I feel like I have to walk on eggshells. I did that my entire fucking life”

Jace “I was trying to get you to see from her perspective as you do every time I’ve spoken to you about my mom, or anything else loren.”

Emily “can no one leave? Please. Y’all this is my fault. I raised the tension bar and i don’t like this. I’m really really sorry loren.”

Loren. “ I see her fucking perspective. But she doesn’t care to see mine. I’m not even going to be okay with this. Or pretend to be. Maybe you should just... I’m not doing this. Fuck this” he started to cry

Emily she walked over and held him. “Jace can you just give me 5 minutes? Please.”

Jace “whatever”

Loren. “Don’t touch me I need to leave. I need to go. Just leave me alone”

Jace “I thought you said you weren’t going.”

Loren. “I-“ he just shook his head

Emily “Jace! 5 minutes.” She said again watching as Jace walked out. “Loren I know you hate me right now but you need to listen to me. You hurt my feelings too. Okay? I know you support me and yeah I see your perspective. But you’ve literally called me strong from day 1 and now it’s like you’re calling me weak for even attempting to make shit work with Khai.” She shrugged. “I don’t want to fight you at all. I’m just a little blindsided by the comments you made and I’m sorry because yes, you have supported me 100% of the way. But that’s exactly why I got confused and upset just now. as for Jace, I-I don’t have advice for that but you guys love each other and y’all just need to breathe and talk this out. But don’t leave. Because that’s clearly not what he wants. But if it’s what you NEED to do, then I guess do it.”

Loren. “Emily, I do nothing but listen to shit between you two. I never complain, I never hardly ever bring up my own shit. But the truth is. I do think you could do better. He obviously has shit he needs to deal with before locking down. But still I support you and root for you. I’m always honest with you, and I’m sorry you didn’t like what I had to say tonight. But it’s always something with him, and that’s a lot on me to make you feel better. I told you I was off. But you still get shitty with me like I’m supposed to just kiss your ass and lift you up. Now I This shit with Jace? Because of Khai and you and what he said... I don’t know if I can forgive that. It’s obviously just too much for me.’so leaving felt like the right thing to do. If he doesn’t wanna support me. Then maybe I was wrong about him”

Emily “I think he was just trying to support us both.” She said through worried eyes. “He cares about Our friendship, Loren. That’s not terrible but he didn’t need to stoop that low and I’m sorry he did. But i don’t think you were wrong about him. Just remember how much shit i deal with when it comes to Khai. But i still love him. Just like you love Jace. If you need to, stay in my room tonight. I don’t care. I want to be there. And like i said, I’ll stop talking about Khai because yes I fully take responsibility for this and that’s exactly why I don’t want to be the reason, or my bullshit with Khai, to be the reason y’all break up.” “I’m really really sorry.”

Loren. “I don’t wanna stay in your room. I don’t wanna be here. You both hurt me. You both made me feel like my opinion or feelings didn’t matter. He should support me not you. I know your friends but he is supposed to be my number one supported. Someone who calms me and is there for ME. I’m just not going to pretend this didn’t happen, and yeah. You started the whole fire in me but he fueled it. I’m just done. I’m just fucking done. Do what you want with Khai. But don’t expect me to sugar coat shit anymore. You deserve better. He’s a piece of shit. Handle it”

Emily “I’m just gonna try and move on. It’s all i can do and i don’t expect you to just bump and forgive me for this or forget this happened. I’m just saying sorry because your opinion does matter. It just hurt coming from you. And if you don’t want to be here, then go.” “or I’ll go. I’ll just go stay at nicks.”

Jace “and I’ll go too.”

Loren. “It’s like everything is fine as long as I’m saying what you wanna hear. How many times have I backed you or lifted you up?”

Emily “every time...”

Loren. “Now it’s all my fault and I’m losing my boyfriend over it? Go stay with nick like I fucking care.”

Emily “i was just saying that i will go....Christ.”

Jace “actually I’m still here but I can go if this is how tonight is gonna continue to pan out.”

Loren. “Are you here for me or her? Cause I’m a little confused right now”

Jace “I’m here for both of you because this fight is dumb. Like y’all both invalidated each other. Grow up”

Loren. “Yeah, grow up” he just laughed

Jace “yeah I’ll just go because we’re gonna be going in circles all night. I’ll see y’all later.”

Loren. “Okay, Emily, baby, it’s okay. I forgive you.”

Emily “no you don’t. I’m leaving too.”

Loren. “Jace, I forgive you too. It’s all my fault and next time I will watch what I say more carefully”

Jace “goodnight, Loren.” Walks out the front door and slams it

Loren. “Let it all be on me”

Emily she sighs, runs into her room and starts packing an overnight bag

Loren. “Don’t you ever talk to me again. I can’t believe you just did this to me after all I did for you”

Emily “loren I do not control Jace’s actions....”

Loren. “This is not friendship You just broke me in a million pieces all because of a stupid left on read by Khai”

Emily “Okay this is bullshit. I didn’t even do anything except fight with you. I don’t control what Jace does. I’m sorry he cared about both of us??? LOREN I SAT HERE AND TRIED TO APOLOGIZE AND YOU ARE BEING A DICK SO INSAID ID LEAVE. IDK WHATBYOU WANT”

Loren. “I’m going to get high. Fuck you”

Emily “fuck you too dude.”

Loren. “I’ve never felt so alone in my whole life. And I’ve been beaten, raped, and disowned by my father.”

Emily “I’m not Jace, Loren. he tried to help...”

Loren. “No your not. Did he?”

Emily “yeah he did but you’re too pissed off to see that and taking it out on me.”

Loren. “I don’t think he did. He threatened to leave if I didn’t just suck it up and forgive you”

Emily “shouldn’t you be fighting him?”

Loren. “That’s not someone who was trying to help”

Emily “you’re not even taking fault for what you said. You’re not sorry at all. You don’t care how it made me feel so why should I care how you feel right now? Oh that’s right. Because i tried to apologize and it’s still nothing.”

Loren. “All I did was wanna leave and I wanted him to come wirh me. But he chose you”

Emily “Because he didn’t want to see a friendship end over a stupid boy...”

Loren. “I didn’t say anything wrong You both were being intense and weird.

Emily “it’s funny how you can see things from Khai’s prospective but when it comes to people pissing you off, it’s complete tunnel vision” “Loren you don’t have to berate or lecture me again on how i can do better. I got it the first 2 times you said it.”

Loren. ”oh my god. Can you not just take one step back and try to see where I’m coming from?”

Emily “I did and do. Do you know how many people tell me that i can do better?” She asked.

Loren. “I don’t care that’s the thing. If you wanna be wirh him I support you. I just said what I saw and you flipped”

Emily “do you know how annoying it is to feel like Me fighting for something that i really want only for people to say why emily?”

Loren. “I give up. It’s always about you” “I’m trying to tell you. I support you”

Emily “if you’d let me fucking finish— I should not have snapped at you but it had been everyone. Literally everyone. Even anonymous beings telling me to do better. Hearing it from you, it just hurt. AND I KNOW LOREN. OKAY I KNOW.”

Loren. “But all you hear is this stupid shit I said one time”

Emily “you want what’s best for me. Okay i hear you. I do. I’m sorry. Idk how many times you want me to say it. I’m. Sorry. I know you want to see me do better.”

Loren. “I can’t even keep up with you right now. That isn’t even what I was saying” “Let me talk”

Emily “It’s how it came across loren.”

Loren. “I wasn’t saying that in our text. I was just saying. You two are intense and weird. I don’t see anything wrong with that, it’s who you two are. But you completely flipped on me. I always support you and root for you and try to paint him as an angel for you. You know I do. So why you went off on me is beyond me. You should know I’m not aaron or any of those stupid assholes. I’m here for YOU! Yeah, maybe you could do better. I don’t really like the way he treats you. But I didn’t say that in the text. I always support you. I wanted to take a step back and just cool off because you literally went off and said fuck me. I don’t need that shit. I’m battling my own demons too you know. Now Jace...”’he teared up. “I should have known better. But guess what? I didn’t. So now I’m broken and you can be sorry but it doesn’t matter. I learned what I had to I guess. I hope you do too.”

Emily “Loren you also just said that I could do better though. But i do appreciate you supporting me and I’m sorry...I’m sorry if I’m the reason you and Jace break up but i really hope I’m not. I highly doubt he’s even left. He’s probably just as broken but this is my fault and I feel horrible for all of this. At this rate, i don’t even know how i have friends because I’ve snapped at every single one of them this week.” She shrugged. “I just don’t want this friendship to die over this. This is so stupid. And I will bring Jace back in here because yalll have to talk. Don’t let this ruin you both. Please. but can i also please just ask for pure transparency with you? Because painting Khai as some angel ISNT going to help me if he pulls the shit like he did tonight.” she sighed, peaking out the window. “He’s literally on the staircase, top step. I’m gonna bring him back in here. Just please...try to talk.”

Loren. “He didn’t even do anything but not text you back. That’s why I try to calm you down. Cause something you act like he’s so bad. When literally he barely did shit. I get why you feel the way you do, trust me I do. I have trust issues myself. But Jace using Landon against me. I can’t even.... that’s just not okay.”

❈ Ⲉⲙⲓ𝓵ⲩ ❈ “Loren it wasn’t even about the text. It was the fact that he backed out of a convo when I was joking with my best friend. Hello.” She sighed. “Talk to Jace. It’s the only advice i can offer. I already said he shouldn’t have stopped that low and i mean it.”

Loren. “I didn’t run from Landon. I tried to protect him and then I fell in love with someone else. I don’t run. I cool off, and I’m done with this. This is too much”

Emily “Loren I’m behind you on this. But I can’t solve it. You have to talk to him, babe”

Loren. “Nope, let him go” “I’m used to being left”

Emily “Loren stop.”

Loren. “I don’t want to” “I don’t have the energy for this.”

Jace he walks in and grabs his book bag, trying to grab his things in peace, his face red from crying but doesn’t say a word

Emily “then give it up. If he’s not worth it then let him go”

Loren. “I didn’t say he isn’t worth it”

Emily “well he’s leaving.”

Loren. “Don’t you dare put words in my mouth”

Emily “I’m not...I’m giving you options Loren. Either talk it out with him, or let him go. doesn’t have to happen tonight. He’s already on his way out”

Loren. “Wow, you really don’t ever listen to me do you?”

Emily “LOREN IM LITERALY SAYING TALK TO HIM WHEN YOU CAN”

Loren. “Has the one choosing to leave” “He’s also the one choosing to hurt me. I can’t control him”

Jace “BECAUSE I DONT KNOW WHAT ELSE TO DO, LOREN!”

Emily she sighed, and walked out.

Jace “IM HOMELESS. I HAVE TO FIND SOMEWHERE TO GO”

Loren. “Well, im just done. I literally can’t do this anymore” “You didn’t want me to leave. But there you go”

Jace “so that’s it. Youre breaking up with me”

Loren. “As long as it’s not me right” “No I’m not. You’re the one leaving”

Jace “I didn’t leave. I’m still here. I was crying on the top step because I shouldn’t have said what i said. And now yes I want to leave because I really don’t think i should be here. I’m not good for you loren. I’m not.”

Loren. “Wow.’okay”

Jace “You can’t convince me I am when I just hurt you that badly.”

Loren. “I really just don’t even understand how this is my fault”

Jace “i have to live with that for the rest of this life, this relationship. I’m not blaming you. I’m blaming myself.”

Loren. “You wanted to protect her instead of me. That’s fine. I’m just not going to beg you to want me. I’m not gonna beg you to side with me. And I’m sure as hell not staying in this fucking town”

Jace “so you are leaving”

Loren. “Why do I have any reason to stay without you?”

Jace “and I didn’t want to protect anyone...I was literally just trying to help... immsorry” “Loren if you leave, so will I.”

Loren. “You literally ask me every day if I’m okay. No, Jace. I’m not”

Jace “you don’t talk to me. You never fucking talk to me maybe I’ll just take that trip to Hawaii like I planned to find my mom.”

Loren. “I try to stay stable for you. For her. For myself for gods sake. But I’ve been through a lot. To the point I just wanna die most days. But you are literally the only thing keeping me going. Then you say that about Landon. Like I actually ran from him? I didn’t run from him. I was beat within inches of my life. Then I met you... and now you. Okay you know what. I can’t even... I just need to go. This is pointless”

Jace “our love is FAR from pointless, Loren.”

Loren. “Neither one of you let me talk”

Jace “you just spoke”

Loren. “I’m sorry okay? I’m fucking sorry. Can I please go get pure now?”

Jace “I don’t even know what that means. And I don’t know why you’re apologizing when I’m the one who fucked this up.”

Loren. “I don’t know either. I literally am not in the right state of mind tonight. I said that half a dozen times. And still... “

Jace “I’ll just crash on the couch. Talk later.”

Loren. “Okay. I’m done”

Jace “ok”

Loren. “Don’t say I didn’t fight for this” he says walking out the door and slamming it

Jace “what the fuck is going on?” He follows him. “you’re really confusing me loren. You wanna talk but don’t. You don’t want me to walk out, I don’t want you to walk out but here you are ready to skip town. So which is it? I thought you were needing a break to talk about this later. So I opted to stay on the god damn couch but that was a wrong move too. What the fuck do you want? Talk”

Loren. He sat on the top step and just cried

Jace “I love you loren. I’m trying here. But I don’t know what you want me to fucking do”

Loren. “I wanted you to back me. No matter what. I wanted you to love me, no matter what. I just wanted to know I could come to you with anything and you wouldn’t leave or tell me I was invalid in my feelings. Now everything is ruined, and it’s all because I didn’t want to be treated like shit by my so called best friend” [3:32 AM] “I’ve done shit for her that was so out of line, I’ve done everything for her. I didn’t deserve any of this”

Jace he sighed and sat down beside him, keeping his hands to himself. “Loren, you’re right. You don’t deserve anything that happened but you have 2 people trying to apologize. I don’t know how many times I have to say this: I was trying to get you to see it from her perspective. That is it. I’m not saying what you said was wrong. Im not saying what she did was right either, baby. You have to listen to me.” He sighed, wiping his own tears. “It’s...a boy. And this is a friendship. Khai is a shitty person, okay? But she loves him. And truth hurts. People lash out on that shit. All i was trying to do was for you to see why she did. I did have your back by trying to help mend it but I see that’s where I came off wrong. And I’m sorry.” He sighed, choking up. “And I’m sorry for what I said too. That was low of me and i know you will never forgive me for that.” She sighed, trying to catch his breath. “Truth is I do love you. I do have your back. You can come to me with anything but much like you told emily, I’m not one to sugar coat shit. I’ve been in my own depression since finding out about bea but you’re the reason I stay afloat. And no. Not everything is ruined. You still have me and you still have emily. But if you don’t want us, that’s your decision. We can’t force you to do anything. No matter how bad I may not want you to leave, the choice is yours.”

Loren. “I did see her side, Jace. That’s the whole point. I tried to talk to her and explain myself and she tore into me like I haven’t been there for her the whole fucking time. I can’t do this shit with her anymore. I can’t, and I can’t let it come between us. Yeah, you hurt me with what you said. I don’t even know what to do with that. But I’m so in love with you, I need you. I know you’ve been stressed and I think I just need to focus on us and not them. I need to. Because I need you, and I’m so in love with you. I’d fucking marry you if you’d let me. But you need to know, when I say I’m leaving. I just need to cool off. I’d never walk out on you. Never”

Jace he took a deep breath and moved to hold loren, cupping his face. “I know what it’s like to try and focus on others relationships. But she has to fix this on her own. You can only do so much. But y’all need to support each other. NOT that you WERENT before. Because you were. But you know what I mean.” He presses his forehead to his. “But i love you so much and yes, we’ll get married. I don’t want to lose you. I want us to work on ourselves together. But please be open with me baby. I can’t help you if you’re not”

Loren. “I’m trying” he said grabbing his wrists. “I’m so used to being told to keep quiet and to stay in my own lane. But I’m really trying. I told you about the heroin, and Dominic, and I have been doing good. But, I’ve just been stressed with Emily. Because I love her and I hate seeing her hurt” [3:55 AM] “Please don’t leave me. I love you so much and don’t you ever threaten me like that again. I literally crumbled”

Jace “of course you do baby. Shes your best friend.” He pressed his forehead to his. “I am so sorry. I really am. I just was scared to lose you. I didn’t want you to leave. Too many already have walked out of my life.”

Loren. “I didn’t even think that’s how you might have felt. I just thought you knew I needed to cool off and that’s my bad. I apologize for that. I do” he pressed his head back against his and sighed. “I’m never gonna leave you okay? I just build up and I go off. So I just need to calm down. Please know I’d never leave you”

Jace “I believe you. I’m sorry.” He told him, moving to hug him and breaking down in his arms. “I’m so sorry, I’m so sorry, I’m so sorry.” He repeated over and over in light whispers

Loren. He wrapped his arms around him and cried with him. Kissing the side of his head. “I’m so sorry too. I really am. I love you”

Jace he sobbed into his neck before pulling out and pressing his lips to him. “Can we go back inside our home?” He asked, breaking away from the kiss.

Loren. He kissed him back with all the love he still had for him and nodded as he pulled away. “Yeah baby. Let’s go to bed.” He brushed his cheek wiping his tears and smiled softly. “I love when you call it that”

Jace “well it is. It’s our home. I want it to stay that way.” He smiled, kissing him again as he wiped his own boyfriend’s tears. “Let’s go” he took his hand, holding tightly

Loren. “Yes it is” he nodded. He kissed him back and took his hand before getting up and leading him inside. “I’m not going anywhere, ever. I promise”

Jace “I’m not either. A trip to Hawaii? Without the love of my life to support me? I’d be out my damn mind.”

Loren. “Yeah, you would. But if it’s something you really feel you need to do alone. I’d respect that”

Jace “I can’t do that alone. I don’t have the balls to do it alone*”

Loren. “Okay, then I’m there. I’m by yours side always. I love you” he led him into the bedroom and pulled the covers back on the bed. “You sleep on my side okay?”

Jace “w-where will you sleep?” He asked lying down hesitantly.

Loren. “In your spot” he said. Crawling on top of him and laying his head onto his shoulder”

Jace “the switch up only for you to cuddle me.” He smiled, tilting his head up to kiss him. “I love you.”

Loren. “Yeah”’he chucked. Kissing him back before rolling off of him. Half his body still on him though. “I love you too. With every ounce of my existence”

#chats:jace #chats:emily #chats:discord #ft.emily #ft.jace #ft.khai #ft.landon #ft.nick

1 note · View note

tragedybunny · 4 years

Text

The Blade’s Edge - A League of Legends Fanfiction - Chapter 13

They had a simple arrangement. She was the weapon to be used on his enemies. Things get more complicated when emotions bleed into what should simple. Now the two of them find themselves on the precipice of something that was entirely unexpected.

He’s already gone when I awake, of course, the sun indicating that it’s already near mid-day. How do I still feel tired? I roll over and stare at the canopy above me, reliving the feeling of him undressing me last night and pulling me into his arms before sleep overtook me. It’s maddening. No, I’ll continue in my resolve to see nothing in it, to not give meaning where there is none. I suppress the memory and pull myself from bed, heading to my room to dress for the day. A note waits for me on my dressing table, written in his measured script, exacting and precise, as would be expected from him.

“I trust tonight the Guild will be meeting and you will take control of it with little resistance. Once you have that firmly in hand I require a task of you. Augustus Montrose must be eliminated tonight, he’s begun to realize the alliance between his sister and myself. As always, take care of yourself. - J”

“PS. I was informed that you were almost out of that violet perfume you always wear.”

I finally notice the ornate glass bottle to the left of where the note was, full of the aforementioned scent. My reward for being a good little pet. I wonder what Augustus’s death will earn me. That poor little idiot, he tried so desperately to be important and powerful, he’s earned a death sentence instead. I’d almost feel bad for him, but getting in that deep with any faction in Noxian politics is basically asking to be struck down at any moment.

After I’m dressed I ring for Gwen and she appears in short order, always eager to be of use. “Yes Madame.” She has a sober look to her face, as if she already has sensed why she’s here.

I sit at the dressing table and examine the wide bruise that has bloomed on the right side of my face. “I’ll need your kitchen boy to come through, I need to know where Montrose intends to be tonight.”

In the mirror, I see her expression change to one of smug self-satisfaction. “As it turns out, I took the initiative to inquire after him this morning. He complained that tonight another elaborate dinner party has been planned, even after all the Solstice revels. Montrose is celebrating some new, powerful friends he’s made.”

I stop and turn towards her. “Did he mention a woman at all, unusually pale?” How deep is he in, what are we about to stir up?

She bites her lip and shakes her head. “No, just some of the usual nobility who rankle at the loss of privilege they’ve experienced. He’ll stay in the kitchens after dinner and the other servants have been dismissed. Knock if you see no movement inside.”

Well, we won’t be taking a piece off the board that she’ll desperately miss. “Perfect, thank you, Gwen, that will be all.” I dismiss her with a gesture and turn my attention to readying myself for the Guild tonight. Augustus will be easy to find when I’m ready for him.

Weapons sharpened and muscles stretched in case of confrontation, Inara, Lark, and I gather early in the Guild’s headquarters, finding it empty thanks to a generous bribe I supplied via Lark. The unassuming building sits amidst a group of others housing various government functions. While most of High Command still functions from within the Immortal Bastion itself, bureaucracy has spread like a fungus to the area around it. It’s a reflection of the temple district in that way, both of them evolving over the years with Noxus itself, Old Town pressing up against them both and the Bastion as the nobility grappled for power. In times past, the Grand General dwelt in the Immortal Bastion, making it the ultimate seat of power. Jericho is different, preferring the control he has over his own family home to the mysteries and hidden spaces where a plot could come to fruition at any time. Of course, he still has unfettered access to it anytime he wishes. The Guild’s place here would shock outsiders who don’t understand it’s place within Noxus. Assassination has never been a method that our government or military has considered off-limits. The position in Intelligence of a Guild Officer enables the government to make use of its services at will, effectively making the it an unofficial branch of High Command.

I spent countless hours here as a child before our move to Shurima, and many more once we returned. I know all its twists and turns and nooks and crannies as well as that of my own family’s home. I even pass a small alcove I remember as a favorite of mine for spying, shrinking into the shadows as a child to listen to the adults around me. We clear the rambling structure room by room, including any hidden ones and secret passages that I know of, ensuring no one is lying in wait. Next, all secondary exits are secured, leaving only the main door as the way in or out. When I’m satisfied that everything is in place, Inara and I retreat to a side room off the main hall, to await or moment.

They trickle in through the next couple of hours, Inara and I taking shifts pressed up against the door to listen, some voices we recognize, some are unknown. Someone opens a stored cask of ale, they drink and converse, some begin to openly mourn the fallen. There’s a rising tide among them, confirmed dead members, Marius among them, who is targeting them? For what reason? Suspicions are aimed everywhere, including the Grand General. When the time is right, Lark raps on the wall next our hiding space, three sharp knocks, it’s time.

We emerge and push through the crowd to the very center, gasps and whispers following in our wake as recognition dawns on them. Time seems slow, this is it, the moment there’s no going back from. Now that I’ve come to it though, I know that every step I’ve taken has lead me here. Perhaps there is such a thing as destiny, and this is mine. Destiny or not, I am no longer General Du Couteau’s shamed daughter, and no longer the Grand General’s pet, I am Commander of the Assasin’s Guild, a force and entity in my own right.

“Brothers and sisters, your leaders are dead. They were weak and have paid the price for that. I stand before you now to take my rightful place in their stead, as your Commander.” Raucous noise breaks out among them, the three we recruited before this passionately on my side in the debate.

The din reaches its crescendo and a woman steps to the forefront. “You would deliver us into the hands of the Usurper, to be used as his weapon.”

I snort, someone was bound to put this forth. “The Grand General is the rightful ruler of Noxus, along with the others of the Trifarix. The Guild will support High Command as it always has, nothing more, nothing less.”

“So says the Grand Whore. Do you believe you can deceive…” She’s cut off by the dagger that flies from my hand and buries in her chest. I’m weary of the same nonsense being spewed over and over again.

No other moves to challenge me, they’re undecided, for the moment. “As I was saying.” Inara covers the fallen in a cloak and moves her discreetly out of the crowd. “Our numbers have dwindled, our coffers are depleted, and those arrogant bastard ‘guilds’ take our potential recruits. Let us rectify this, and find our strength once again. We’ll scour the lessor guilds from Noxus, once and for all, and become the power we were meant to be.”

Father made a grave error in his leadership, he finally succumbed to the Black Rose. His single-minded pursuit of their objectives took a toll on the Guild. I can see it in their faces, they hunger for a return to glory. The murmuring returns, this time it begins to swing in my favor. She took down Marius, we would have the Grand General’s support, she’s here and Marcus is not. Lark joins in, adding to the momentum, a vote is called for. I take note and the slim few who still dissent, they’ll have to be watched. When it finally ends, I’m officially Guild Commander Katarina Du Couteau, with Lark and Inara acting as seneschals.

My first order of business is just as I promised, both the Guild and Jericho, I assign a few of our members to begin tracking our competition. My second act is far less exciting, Inara and I head to the archives to understand the degree of disorder things have fallen to, leaving Lark to monitor for any fresh discord. I have some time before it will be clear to go after Augustus. I had briefly considered assigning someone else to the task, but I’m familiar with the Montrose estate. I suppose it’s fitting, he once said I stole his heart, now I’ll steal his life.

The Guild records are a shambles that reflect the last few years of leadership. I thumb through the latest records, noting the brazen embezzlement, and stare longingly at the fire. Inara laughs at me from behind a stack of loose papers belonging to gods know where. “Didn’t think this would be the hard part?”

I lay my head down on the desk. “How did it get this bad? Is this a Guild of idiots?”

“This is what happens when we rely on anyone who volunteers to do this. We only get thieves and idiots.” She sighs as she tosses the stack back down in front of her.

“Nevermind, I resign my position.” That gets a small laugh from her and her eyes brighten a bit. I stand and stretch, time to get the blood flowing back into my limbs. “I’m done, I’ve got some other business to handle.”

“Happy hunting, Commander.” For all that we have a mess ahead of us to deal with, there’s satisfaction about her. It makes me even more proud of what we’ve accomplished here tonight.

The city is quiet, still wrapped in a snowy mantle from the other night. I move through the streets in welcome solitude, reaching the Montrose estate with ease. With my cloak tucked around me, I watch the kitchen from the garden, someone has left a lamp burning so I can see the vague shapes within. When I’m finally satisfied that no unwanted company is around, I approach, keeping my cloak tight, and tap lightly. It only takes a second before a scrawny young man with dirty blonde hair cracks the door, the corners of his mouth up turning into a vicious smile the second he sees me. “He’s saying a drunken farewell to his guests, a girl awaits him in the blue parlor upstairs.” With that he vanishes up the servant stairs, leaving me with free reign.

With the other servants all withdrawn to their quarters the halls of the manor are as silent as the grave. I cautiously stalk through them, not making a sound, nearing the blue parlor. My plan is to take the girl first and wait for him. Quick and clean, he won’t even know what happened. Then I hear it, from a room back near the main staircase, that ancient snarling voice. “Augustus, you spoiled little hedonist, where are you?”

“Coming Grandmother!” His impatient reply comes from the bottom of the stairs. Life is good sometimes.

The old woman is ensconced in an over-decorated bedroom that’s rotten with faded glory. I slip in and silently shut the door behind me. She scrambles to prop herself up in bed, she knows I’m not her grandson. Her eyes have begun to fail though, so that’s all she can make out. “Wh-who’s there?” She summons some power to her voice, she’s so used to being obeyed. She and many others are relics of old Noxus, a time when the nobility were parasites, feeding off the strength of the Empire. They are a vain, petty, self-absorbed, lot whose time has passed.

I steal to her side and she makes a quiet gasp as her eyes finally reveal me. “Death Lady Montrose, death is among you tonight.” She makes to cry out but my hand slams down over her mouth. “This will be the fate of all who refuse to bend to the Empire’s new order.” I slide my blade between her ribs and down into her heart, a task made easy since she has no strength to struggle against me with. She slumps forward, her lifeblood draining into her fine bed covers.

There are footsteps in the hall, Augustus finally decided to answer his grandmother’s summons, and I slip behind the door to await him. It's only a moment before he throws it open snarling. “What do you want, you old bat?”

Three steps in and he finally takes in the scene before him, coming to a dead stop. I softly shut the door once again. He sucks in a breath as if he wants to scream and then I’m right behind him, breathing down his neck quite literally. He laughs, a mirthless sound. “Two nights. I was allowed to live two nights after getting too close to you. He’s certainly possessive.”

“Don’t be dramatic. This is about something entirely beyond you and me.” He’s unnervingly pliant as I put the dagger to his throat. Poor, weak Augustus, he doesn’t even know how to resist me. He sniffles when he feels it against his skin, all his bravado evaporated. He’s not the first I’ve seen to shed tears at their end and I’m not inclined to be moved by it.

“I would’ve done great things, you could have joined me at my side, Kat.” The words are marred by a strangled sobbing that he fights to keep from overtaking him. Back firm, but shoulders quaking, he struggles to meet his end with dignity.

“I’m already doing great things.” I dig the edge of the blade into his flesh and a whimper escapes him. His knees buckle immediately and I step back from him as his life flows into the plush carpet. It’s not long before a shudder marks his last breath.

Surveying the carnage around me I realize I may have gone a bit far with the old woman’s death. If Coraline faces repercussions from it Jericho will be furious. But then again, I smile to myself, it had been deeply satisfying putting an end to that bulwark of old Noxus. Either way, it is done and can’t be changed. I’ll need to slip out before that girl gets impatient and comes looking for Augustus.

I find the kitchen door left slightly ajar after heading back down the servant stairs. I shut it fast behind me and return to the waiting darkness of the night. It’s been a long night and I feel it in the stitched wound in my leg and the aching bruise on my face, and it feels wondrous. Tonight I am triumphant. I finally have what my father once promised to me. I took it with strength and cunning, as a Noxian should. Would father be proud? Perhaps I should go ask mother, a cruel, petty voice inside whispers. No, forget it. I’m beyond her, she’s nothing, a ghost haunting the ruin of her own life. The rage I have toward her will not be so easily extinguished though.

I focus myself back on the Guild, that thundering sensation as the crowd declared for me. I feel pride welling up in me, my confidence soaring. I’m damned self-satisfied and achingly confident as I approach the house. I wonder if Jericho is awake. He shouldn’t be but he rarely sleeps as much as he ought to. If he is, we should celebrate tonight’s success. The thought of him whispering in my ear about how pleased he is with me sends a shiver through me.

I’m broken out of my reverie by the sight of Dras shutting the gate. Odd that it’s open at this hour. He looks up at me and quickly looks away, but movement on the stairs has already drawn my attention. Jericho, he stops at the door when he hears me on the walk behind him. Breathing becomes difficult as I ascend the stairs to where he’s paused. I’ve always known I wasn’t the only one, I’ve just never had to viscerally confront it until this moment.

“Kat.” He already sounds like he’s going to attempt some insincere apology. I brush past him, an ache spreading through my chest. Then it hits me, the cloying smell of decaying roses, the scent that always marks her presence. Her, why her? Of course, it’s all another little power game to him. He puts a hand on my shoulder.

I shake it off with a violent shrug. “Don’t touch me.” I need to get away from him. I feel my eyes start to sting. No, I can’t do this in front of him.

He cuts in front of me, blocking my way to the stairs. “Don’t be like this.” He’s so irritatingly calm compared to the storm exploding inside me.

I put my hand up to ward him off. “It’s fine.” My voice somehow remains steady. “Exclusivity wasn’t part of our arrangement. I just want to be alone.”

He steps forward, stubbornly ignoring everything I said, and reaches out to put his hand on my cheek. Gods, that normally has the power to melt me. “If it is fine, why are you being dramatic?” How typical of him.

“Fuck you.” I shove his hand away from me. “You always have to have the last word. You could’ve just let me walk away.”

He pinches the bridge of his nose, eyes shut for a second, as though I’m the one who’s offended him. “Fine go. I’d rather not put up with a childish tantrum.”

Childish, it stings in ways I can’t define. The pain of it all twists and transforms, becoming fury. I close the distance between us, tilting my head to glare up at him. “Maybe you’d prefer to not put up with me at all? I can arrange that.”

“Try it. What have you ever accomplished in your life without me.” He snaps back at me.

Black washes over my vision, my thoughts vanishing into rage, and I lash out, striking him across the face. He catches my wrist with his left hand as I pull back. That roiling anger too quickly vanishes, replaced by a sudden dread as his eyes begin to smolder an unnatural crimson. I’ve never born witness to the demon truly unleashed. An aura of terrible power blazes around him, filling the hall with a haunting flickering red light. I quake slightly as I feel those unliving fingers dig into my wrist. “You ungrateful little bitch.” Another voice speaks along with his. Is it him or the demon in control now?

Instead of the unnatural warmth of his touch that I know so well, a burning begins to singe my skin. “Let go!” I try to pull away and I flashback to that night that started all of this, a similar altercation between us, how frighteningly strong he actually was. “Jericho, you’re hurting me.” In fear and desperation, I step forward and slam my shoulder into his chest.

He inhales sharply, backing up, and let’s go. His eyes close and that terrible power dissipates, coiling itself back inside him. I turn and flee, scared, humiliated, heartbroken. “Kat wait. I’m so sorry.” He calls after me, but I can’t even turn to face him.

I slam the door to my room behind me and collapse into the window seat. Pulling my knees up to my chest, I try and steady my rapidly beating heart and panting breath. I should leave, just forget whatever this absurd arrangement has become and go. I look down at my wrist, a scarlet, irritated handprint wraps around it. I shift and a sheath digs into my back, causing me to recoil as though someone was behind me. “Godsdamn it.” I pull out the dagger and send it across the room to embed in the wall. “Damn it all.” I rip the other blade from my back and toss it to the ground with a snarl before pulling my legs back up to my chest. Why can’t I find it in me to leave?

I stare apathetically out at the dark city until there’s a soft knock at the door. I’ll have to face him sooner or later anyway. “You wouldn’t go away if I told you to, so you might as well come in.”

He doesn’t meet my eyes as he enters, genuine guilt for once written on his features. “I wanted to apologize. You told me that I should not wait to do so. So I am here. Peace offering?” He holds out a bottle of wine, Shuriman, dark and bitter, very fitting.

Perhaps I am mad, but now that he’s here I don’t want him to leave me alone. I take the bottle and gesture to the seat next to me. As he sits I take a long pull from it. “Well, I’m listening.”

He fixes his gaze on the floor. “That was...not entirely me. However, losing control, that was my fault. And I do beg your forgiveness. I will understand if you do not wish to give it.”

After everything tonight I’ve grown numb and his words leave me oddly empty. But that lack of feeling brings some clarity, he’s not the only one who bears responsibility for what happened. “I shouldn’t have hit you. I’m sorry about that.” I take another pull off the bottle. “Interesting choice for an apology, what should I make of it?”

He shrugs. “I was sure you would be gone. I actually planned to drink myself to sleep.”

I hand him back the bottle. “Would you really allow that?”

At last, he turns to look up at me, our eyes locking. “I would not stop you if that is what you really wanted.” He passes the bottle back to me.

I take another long pull. “And where would I go? What would I do?” Our fingers touch as he takes the bottle back from my hand and he brushes his thumb along mine.

“You would work something out. You don’t really need me. That’s the truth, despite what I said earlier. ” Is it? I stretch my legs out into his lap and hiss as pain shoots through my leg. He looks at the floor again. “I forgot about your leg.” He sets the bottle to the side and takes my hand, looking pointedly at my wrist. “Should I go? Am I only making things worse?”

I don’t think I could bear it if he did. “No, it’s fine, stay.” I leave my hand in his. He squeezes it ever so slightly as if he’s worried I’ll make him let go.

Suddenly he leans over, arms around my waist and leaning his head against my chest. “I would prefer it if you didn’t leave though. I would miss you.”

Why is it that the only mercy that exists in my soul is for him? I wrap my arms around his shoulders and return his embrace. “I’m not going to leave.”

“Swear it?” he asks softly.

“I swear I’m not leaving.” I kiss the top of his head and lean my cheek against it.

He sighs as though he’s been relieved of a great burden. “And I swear to take more care from now on.” He pulls himself even tighter against me. “My Kitten.” Does he really not know that oath or not, I can be nowhere but by his side?

#swain #Katarina #swain x katarina #League of Legends #league of legends fanfction #tw domestic violence #jericho swain #katarina du couteau #swain league of legends #katarina league of legends #the blade's edge #my fanfiction #my writing

8 notes · View notes

hyperesthesias · 4 years

Text

Boba x Valera

Lost Time | Part II

Rating: T

Word Count: 4.9k

Notes: part two as promised. a III act short story designed to be a quick read. au crossover with a novel of mine. 25+aby.

Part I

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

Valera woke with the warmth of the rising daylight that seeped through the bedroom window, a warmth in the centre of her soul, and the remnant heat of her husband in the bed sheets. But she did not wake to him beside her. Her hand outstretched to an empty pillow and discordant blankets that’d been thrown aside – he was gone.

A pang knifed through her throat at the thought of another broken promise, and the wondering if perhaps the man she’d once known had changed so drastically. He was the same man last night. I could see it in his eyes. She felt it as he made love with her with hunger and avarice, she knew it as she drifted to sleep with a hand tucked beneath his arm, and her body curled into him.

The pain steeped into disappointment both in him and in herself, that she would be so gullible. He’d always warned her to never trust anyone. She asked him once – before they were married, when she nursed him to health on her farm on Tatooine – if that meant him as well, and at the time he hadn’t given her an answer. Perhaps he’s never had one.

Valera held back the pang as long as she could before it stewed into tears and she did her best to swallow them. It was foolish to cry, there was nothing to be done and she couldn’t change anyone or their mind even if she wanted to. Therefore, she would get up, she would dress herself, and return to the estate with no mention of her encounter with the bounty hunter – my husband –, she would continue her job without a word. As it was so. But as she palmed the tear that escaped her swallow, she frowned at the scent of something that seeped into the room. Out of place, unusual, and certainly not from anything she’d left on the stove.

It was caf.

She sniffed and her furrow deepened as she lept out of bed and threw her dressing gown around her shoulders. She grabbed her harpoon that rested at the corner of the room and steadied it in her hand as she glanced out of the space between the jamb. Never would she have thought of doing such a thing before she’d met her husband – she’d welcomed him freely into her home many years ago, when he’d arrived at her doorstep before she knew he’d a bounty to fulfill. It was part of the reason he’d chastised her trusting nature, and he trained her to the best of her ability. Boba’s armour was gone from the scattered places on the floor they’d left them the night before, and she could see no one, nothing else in the house. But the caf maker was brewing and an empty mug sat beside it, waiting.

She opened the door without a sound and drew a breath as she held the harpoon at her shoulder. Its weight friendly to her hand, she could throw it with perfect aim for as far as her eye could see. But when she saw her target, she quickly lowered it and put it aside, tucked away in another corner.

“I thought you’d left.”

Boba turned around from the lush view of forestry outside the den’s window. He glanced at her up and down, he took in the way the gold of daybreak rested against her figure, then spotted the misplaced harpoon; he held back a grin as he made his way to the caf maker. With another mug in his hand, he filled the empty one and handed it to her. “I never make the same mistake twice.”

Something in her stomach fluttered – be it fear or relief – and she took the mug into her palms as she studied his bare face. He wasn’t lying. He’d never lied to her before. He’d never left before, either. But then again, he didn’t leave now. She nodded, granting him grace despite the adrenaline and doubts that’d filled her waking blood, and she decided to dilute it with caf. He always made damn good caf. She made a humming noise as she drank it and let the steam refresh her face as she sipped. “I’ve missed the ip’spa you make.”

His sights lingered on her for a moment as she enjoyed it, the dawn of her happiness – the happiness he’d wanted for her, the happiness he’d missed seeing – water for whatever lay inside him.

Her feet pattered against the tile of the kitchen as she searched for something for them to eat for breakfast. Biscuits and berries. “I picked them myself,” she said and set them on the table. She saw the armour collected on a chair and resisted calling herself a fool. If she’d been gullible it’d only been to herself.

“I expected nothing less.” He sat in the same seat he had the night before and stifled a sigh of fatigue and pain as he leaned back into the chair.

She noticed. She didn’t say anything. “Your bounty,” she said instead, “perhaps I can help you. I know the guests by name, I know all their rooms and what they eat for breakfast. I can get you where you need to go.”

He chose to believe she wasn’t offering help because of his illness but because of convenience – he knew in reality, it was both. “I’m not after a guest.”

A fleeting fear passed her and all her senses were on fire for a fraction of a second. She had the sudden and vivid memory of him coming to collect her, and of him eventually letting her go. She gathered herself and hid the pallor she could feel in her cheeks with a sip from her mug. “Who is it, then?”

He noticed. He didn’t say anything, either. “Gira.”

She nearly spat back out the caf. “Gira? What did he do?”

“Don’t know, don’t care. He has information I want, the bounty happens to be mutual.” He took a bite of the biscuit and hoped he’d still be chewing by the time she asked her questions.

“Get paid for someone you already want – smart.” She smiled and took another sip as she thought on what her employer could possibly have that Boba would want. It didn’t take long for her to put it together. “Gira – you mean his research project?” she asked.

He paused, and wondered if only for a brief moment how close Gira thought himself to be with Valera to entrust her with details of a life the man no longer lived. A nod finally emerged and he swallowed. “Cellular regeneration.”

“Right – he has very lucrative clients.”

This time he stopped altogether and looked at her. “What do you mean?”

“I’ve overheard him talking with his rich friends – you know the type. The kind that have more money than they know what to do with and who want to live forever.”

He didn’t like how close he was to that description.

“He says he’s continuing the project privately, he gets investments from them. It’s part of the reason he throws these parties.”

Another thought he didn’t like occurred to him with more ease than it should have.

She could see the dissonance in him, the way he detached from everything for a moment as he thought. “You’ve just had an idea.”

He glanced at her from the corner of his eye.

“What is it?” She craned her neck to him with narrowed eyes and urged him on.

“Bait.”

“‘Bait’?” she repeated and took another small bite as she thought. It dawned on her when his eyes wouldn’t leave her. “Me bait?”

He nodded. “You bait.”

She gave him a blank stare for a moment before her face lit up. “That’s a brilliant idea! Especially with what happened last night –”

He groaned audibly.

She only pursed her lips and gave him a scolding look. “With what happened last night, I can call him over, tell him I wish to apologise.”

“You know how he’ll take that.”

“And I know you’ll be here to make things very clear,” she grinned.

He was surprised and sat back a bit more as he studied her. “You want me to kill this man?”

“Your client wants him dead?”

“Five hundred thousand, proof of death.”

Valera’s nose scrunched in a grimace. “What did he do?”

“Doesn’t mean he did anything,” he sighed again and finished the last of the caf in his mug. He stood to pour himself another and considered the consequences of involving her in a hunt. It hadn’t happened often – he’d liked it that way, there was less liability. “When can you call him over? What’s his itinerary?”

“I can call him over as soon as you’re ready – he sleeps in after a gala, brunches with his friends. Those who are awake, anyway.”

“Good. Get dressed. We’ve got a job to do.”

Gira Lemm was an easily amused and fickle man who enjoyed the current company who lay sleeping in his bed as much as the prospect of the future company of Valera, with whom he was more intrigued than infatuated. He hired her out of curiosity – and because her ability to make a masterpiece out of banal mushrooms and quaint village trappings spoke of talent. He was curious, however, if her goodness, if her kindness and sweetness, the purity that seemed to emanate from those dark black eyes were a mere facade – and what lay behind them if it was. She was a good, hard worker who treated everyone with dignity and respect, and who never said a word out of turn to him. There was a part of him that wondered what would happen if he prodded her, if he could manage to erupt a beast within her that she may or may not have known about. He relished unexpected results. And her call to him had been most unforeseen.

He arrived at the guesthouse he’d lent her in a casual suit with a bright smile as a gift, and his hands in his pockets.

Boba Fett stood hidden in the corner, able to see everything that transpired in the open plan house from his visor, and watched as Valera opened the door to the quarry. He hated people who held their hands in their pockets – they always had something to hide.

“Valera – good morning,” Gira greeted her. “Is everything alright?”

“Yes, please come in,” she welcomed him with mirth and stepped aside to allow his passage. He meandered in and appraised the house, she’d done little to make it a home, but it was warm only because of her presence. “I wanted to apologise for last night,” she said and closed the door behind him. “Forgive me for abandoning your hospitality. I wasn’t myself.” She offered him a seat at the table and poured him a fresh cup of caf.

“I hope I hadn’t done anything to offend you,” his eyes followed her as she turned to the counter.

Fett didn’t like the way he looked at her. He didn’t like anything about the man.

“No, no, of course not.” She set the mug in front of him and sat where Boba had been with a cup of her own. She took a sip, and he mirrored. “No, I was merely overtaken.”

“’Overtaken’?” he repeated and took another generous sip to hide the pleased expression that impeded his face.

“Yes, you see I’ve hesitated to say anything for the time I’ve been here, but I feel there’s something I must tell you.”

He inclined his head and swallowed – certain and uncertain of her meaning. Certain and uncertain of what he was hearing – from both anticipation and a fog that began to cloud his senses. “Please, do go on.”

“The way you brushed my face last night,” she watched as his expression turned from delight to confusion. “It reminded me of my husband.”

“‘Husband’? You have a husband?” His words began to slur and he couldn’t keep his head upright.

Good girl. Fett watched the man’s shock as he grappled for some semblance of sense and struggled to sit up. He couldn’t help a smirk.

“Yes, I do,” Valera said as Gira’s head slammed into the table, then muttered under her breath: “And don’t forget it.”

Boba emerged from the shadows and surveyed his wife’s good work. The man was out solid, hunched flat on the table, arms languid at his sides, he thought he could even see a bit of drool.

“Mushrooms work quickly. He’ll be out for no more than a half hour – I put very little in his coffee. He evidently can’t hold his champagne or his mushrooms.”

Boba scoffed and yanked Lemm’s chair away from the table. “Get the rope.”

Valera had it ready beneath the sink and handed it to him.

“I’m going to kill him,” he said blatantly.

“I know.”

He looked at her from his visor. “You okay with that?” Whether she was or wasn’t was inconsequential, it wouldn’t prevent him from fulfilling his contract. He wanted to know what she would say.

She was silent for a while and watched as he tied the unconscious man to the chair in knots and loops he’d never shown her, with knittings she’d never done when she once braided fishing nets a lifetime ago. “What matters to me is your life.”

He didn’t say anything else, and found it difficult to look at her while he wrapped a noose around the man’s throat.

Gira woke what felt to be hours later and had difficulty remembering anything past the events of the night before. He didn’t know where he was, nor who he was with, neither why everything was so bright. All he did know was that he couldn’t move his hands or feet, and the more he struggled the less he could move his neck.

“Don’t fight it, I need you alive for now.” Fett stood in front of Lemm with a blade drawn. Valera was locked in the bedroom, safe and away from the violence he was about to incur.

A Mandalorian figure began to materialise in Lemm’s sights and when the realisation of who it was, of what had happened spurned inside him he began to struggle in his bonds. He more he struggled, the fiercer the ropes burned around his neck.

Fett rested on the edge of the table, one ankle crossed over the other. “Project Rebirth,” he made no introductions neither any apologies. “I need the data.”

Lemm floundered for an answer, taken off guard completely by the bounty hunter’s request. “Data? What data?”

“No scientist worth his credits would let his research be lost completely. I want your copy. I would pay you for it, but you’ll have no use for payment after I deliver you to my client.”

Lemm’s eyes still searched the man, desperately seeking some indignant joke. “The research is worthless – it’s, it’s–nothing, I have nothing! I don’t have any copy!”

His efforts to protect his property were admirable but pointless. “Then I’ll recover what you remember.” He propped himself off the table and made for the scientist with the blade in hand.

The man winced and tried to pull away from Fett, but his constraints twisted and began to gag him. “No, no – wait! Wait!” Fett stopped and Lemm struggled to catch his breath from the noose. “You don’t want it – you don’t want any of it.”

Boba was close to losing his patience, the pain reliever wasn’t working as well as it should have been and every joint ached and pounded from tying up his quarry. They all have to do it the hard way.

Valera listened from the other side of the bedroom door as Gira pleaded and began to scream; the only thing he repeated: ‘I don’t have anything!’ Pieces began to fit together for her and her eyes closed with a shuddered breath, she realised she had to stop Boba.

She stepped out of the room and approached him.

“Get back,” he told her, his voice even and unraised.

“Bo’aba,” she called to him and stood beside him. Gira looked like a different person – he barely looked like a person from the contortion of pain on his face, the way the ropes bent his body against the chair. “Stop,” she breathed. She forced herself to swallow and put aside what she was seeing – she put it in a box inside herself, a box filled with other men and women who looked much like Gira at the hands of men much unlike Boba. Men without honour.

He stopped. She wouldn’t ask if there wasn’t a reason. “Why?”

Valera did what she could to loosen the rope around Gira’s neck and helped him sit upright somewhat. “There isn’t any research, is there? There never was.”

Lemm gasped for breath and fought to see her through the sweat that beaded into his eyes. He shook his head. “There was – it was – it was a long time ago, it never worked. The results – fake. I faked it. Money ran out. Too much – to cover up,” he groped for air and choked. “Too many – victims.”

“You used people for their money?” Valera helped him along.

He shook his head. “Bodies – tests.”

She swallowed again, this time somehow more dry than the last and let another quavered breath as she looked up to her husband. “What about your other project? The one you’ve told others about? Do you have anything there that worked?” It was a great effort not to let her voice shake as much as her lungs, but she knew Gira could feel the shiver in her fingers as she helped his back and head to remain level.

He shook his head again. “Fake. Money.”

Valera nodded in knowing. As she stood she felt her legs would give out from under her, but she remained her strength and kept her hands on the man. She turned to Boba whose sights were fixated on Lemm in front of him, but she knew he saw nothing of the man. He saw only the narrowing tunnel he’d spoken of before.

“Go outside,” he told her. It was not an order, he was not unkind. But a chill breathed against her shoulders as he spoke. His sightless visor turned to her when she did not respond. “Go.”

Valera did not need to be asked thrice. Her feet began to take her to the backdoor of the house, but her sights remained on the two men before she opened the door. Boba did not move, but she knew his eyes followed her, watched her and waited until she could no longer see.

The moment the door closed behind her, Boba released his holster and pulled his blaster as he turned back to Lemm. A pathetic and greedy thing, chasing dreams and grandeur. He wondered, by that respect, how different the two of them were. But it wouldn’t matter to either of them for long. “This isn’t personal.”

Valera closed her eyes as Gira pleaded, and flinched at the sound of blasterfire. The tips of her fingers on her mouth, her body vibrated with the echoes of screams – not all of them Gira’s, not all of them her own, but all of them she knew by name.

Boba did not emerge from the house for a long while, but when he did he smelt of blood and ozone. “Have you packed your things?”

She didn’t reply, she couldn’t hear him. She couldn’t see him, neither the green that filled the mountainside in front of them. She wasn’t there.

“Valera?” he beckoned her, but he did not touch her.

She started at her name and slowly turned around to see her husband. “What?” She bat her eyes, they were dry, and she wondered how long she’d stood there so utterly motionless.

“Have you packed your things?” he asked again.

She nodded.

“Do you still want to leave with me?”

She breathed in sharply and gathered herself – she felt the grass beneath her feet, the cold river wind through her hair that was once again tied back with her red ribbon, the scent of evergreen leaves instead of death. She’d had no delusions of what her husband did. She never had. But the past doesn’t die, regardless of who else does. “Yes,” she answered and found it was easier to swallow now. “I’d like to leave here. And never come back.”

He gave her a nod. “Meet me off the property, I’ll bring the bags.”

Boba sat across from his client, the Twi’lek woman, who had the same disinterested expression from when he’d met her before. The scars on her face and lekku made more sense than the last time he’d seen her, and it wasn’t difficult to understand why she’d want Gira Lemm dead. He lifted a case onto the table – and struggled greatly to suppress the grunt and heavy breath that gathered in the back of his throat – then slid it towards her.

The woman took the case and opened it discreetly before she peered into the face of Gira Lemm. Her dark green lips spread into a smile. “Job well done. You’re worth your reputation.” She took the datapad that rested beside her elbow on the table and keyed in several swipes. “The other two hundred and fifty.”

He checked the control on his arm and noted the full amount in his account. He gave her a nod and stood to leave, but paused before he passed her completely: “Did the research ever work?”

The woman turned and rested her arm on the back of the seat, still trying to see past the visor – her interest in what lay behind it greatly piqued from such an unusual comment. “Not well. It had its moments, but then the others started dying. I was lucky. He only used me for grafts.” She motioned to the scar tissue that was visible, he was sure there was more than wasn’t.

Fett stayed still a moment as he considered mortality and its fickle nature, then walked away again without a word.

Valera waited for him on the Slave I, and when he approached the personal quarters she’d just finished replacing her belongings to where they’d been before. She looked pleased, at home – as at home as he was on that ship. He briefly thought of he and his father and how he would have felt as a boy to be banished from the co-pilot’s seat. It wasn’t the same, he was sure, but in remembering, in imagining, he could catch a glimpse of what he’d put Valera through. He felt like a fool. All that and it’d been for nothing.

“How did it go?” she chirped beside him. It betrayed her – he knew her chipper nature was over-compensation for the fear that still rattled inside her, for the memories that wouldn’t leave her be. He knew a little something of that, too.

“They paid,” he said and moved to climb the ladder and enter the cockpit.

“That’s good,” he could hear her voice from below, then her footsteps up the rungs a short while later. She settled beside him and strapped in without being told, her mind and body remembering the routine she’d ardently missed.

Fett sat in the pilot’s seat and geared the Slave I for take off; it didn’t take long for them to vanish from the atmosphere and from the Alexandira system. He searched nearby systems for a destination, but found none of them appealing. He couldn’t focus much on anything, on the words on the screen or the stars that passed by the transparasteel. The only recurring thought was that of defeat. He’d never been beaten in a fight – even if he’d receded himself, it’d been out of strategy, not weakness. And yet, the battle against his body was the one fight he couldn’t seem to win.

“Are you alright?” Valera asked, she looked from his unmoving gaze to the same words on the screen he’d been staring at for a few minutes.

His head moved an inch to her as she called him. He opened his mouth to give her a quick answer, but nothing came out; anything that would have, would have been a lie. He’d already broken her trust once, he couldn’t afford to do it again. “I’m not gonna make it,” he finally said.

Valera remained quiet, motionless.

He realised as he watched her – perched there, her eyes and heart invested in him fully – why the idea of his death bothered him. He realised it wouldn’t have mattered much to him if he didn’t have her with him. It was the unspoken and supremely selfish reason within himself as to why he’d left her – so it wouldn’t bother him. He wondered if the thought of possible death troubled his father when he would take dangerous jobs away from Kamino – he remembered it did. He’d turned out more calloused than his father – a poor imitation, in more ways than one.

Fett sighed and removed his helmet as he turned to her. “I’ve got a couple years – there’s nothing to be done about it.” Why is this more difficult than it should be? “Anything else is a delusion.”

Valera’s silence continued, but her gaze averted and he watched her swallow hard. Whatever pain he might’ve been in, he was sure she could feel it, too.

Because I don’t want to disappoint her.

“I have no delusions,” she whispered. “I just have the hope that something might work. Eventually.”

He exhaled and turned his head briefly. “Face the facts, Valera.”

“I am,” she answered, it was a stern plea that he would listen to her despite his detached calculation. “Even if it’s unlikely, it might happen. I never knew there was life outside the three realms of my galaxy. Then I was brought here. Anything can happen, my dear.” Her voice wasn’t confident, but she knew she spoke truth. She was worried the concept of hope would upset him further, but even if he couldn’t carry it, she would for the both of them – at least for now.

He glanced at her again. He couldn’t deny when she’d said, but he couldn’t fully believe it, either. The statistical likelihood of finding a cure was unfathomable. But then again, so was surviving a Sarlacc.

“I need you to do something for me,” she said.

It wasn’t often she requested things from him, and he ran a mental checklist to ensure he’d provided everything for her before they’d left; that he hadn’t forgotten anything, that he hadn’t neglected her further. Curiously, he could think of nothing, and he turned to her to pay her his full attention.

“I need you to swear you will never leave me again.” She stopped and hesitated in saying what she really wanted to, but found courage as she closed her eyes from him quickly. “That you will never betray me like that again.”

His jaw locked and he looked away from her. He couldn’t deny the truth of that, either.

“I need you to swear it to me – on your father.”

He swallowed and took a breath. With a silent nod he agreed: “I swear.”

“Thank you.” She placed a hand on his, gloved and cold, as it rested on the console. “I’m not leaving you, either.” Her hand gripped him a little tighter, a little more fervent. “No matter what happens.”

His fingers curled around hers, and he could feel the heat of her through the leather – her warmth a constancy, a solidity. He didn’t say anything, but he didn’t have to, he knew she would keep her word, invariably. His thumb brushed against the scars of her wrist and along her outer palm where there were ripples of skin that’d grown back through violence; some of them from bonds, others from brands, others still of her own making when she skinned the brand from her own flesh, when she freed herself at last – before he’d met her, before he was sent to collect her, before he’d stayed. She’d been through much – what she would endure when he was gone was a consistent thought impressed upon him.

His hand fell from hers and nudged against her chin. He’d solidify the contingencies he’d implemented for her when his time was up, but he didn’t have to think of them now. All he had to do was find the next system, the next job, the next stay. All he had to do was not waste any more time.

Valera took his hand and kissed it, her lips lingered on his knuckles a little longer than they needed to, but he didn’t move from her. His thumb caressed the edge of her jaw as he remained there, and when she relinquished him – with halting hands – he turned back to the console.

“Where to next?” she asked.

He paused for a moment, surveying the star chart before a refreshing thought crept upon him. “Somewhere with water.”

He knew she missed the water dearly – and so did he.

#boba fett #star wars #star wars fanfic #fanfic #*#i enjoyed writing this greatly #i felt like i learned a lot too #if you have any feedback youre always welcome to message me #enjoy

7 notes · View notes

everyman0 · 5 years

Text

A PALE BLUE GHOST

over on the discord, i announced my decision to make another trip to the Edge to try my luck at finding any kind of clue that could help me make sense of it. patrick gave me a whole lot of lip about not using his fucking mirror and other bullshit, but ill save that for another post. this is a lot more fresh and painful for me.

going back outside was a mistake.

i journeyed the five hours it took to get to the impenetrable black wall of the Edge. my plan was to walk down its length, survey anything unusual, you know. obviously i wouldnt have been able to observe all of it in one day as ive mentioned the area it covers is rather large, but i felt some effort was better than none at all, and i wasnt exactly comfortable with the idea of spending the night this far away from the house. simple enough right? there was nothing out of place on the way out here, so i hardly expected what i saw just as i approached the wall.

it was jeff. sort of.

when i first saw him, he appeared almost like a reflection of me in the blackness. as i stepped closer to the wall, so did he step forward as well - until eventually seeming to step out of the wall entirely. we stood face to face, a mere foot apart, and i noticed then that his entire being was tinted with a pale blue.

i was terrified. i wanted to run away, but i couldnt make myself do it. so i asked timidly, "what are you doing here?"

jeff seems to come alive then.

"what? you told me to grab some stuff for the video today."

fucking bastard. i was still scared, but somehow i just knew he was mocking me. i frown, reaffirming my stance. i had to ask myself if jeff would even do such a thing to me...and then i figured yeah, probably - ghost or not.

"dont you dare pull that bullshit on me," i said, "those days are long gone." and they were.

jeff laughs. "don't you miss it? simpler times." he splays his hands out like an offering. "cant be all that bad to pretend, for a little while."

i squint my eyes at him - both of them. these days i dont bother wearing an eyepatch, since the point was for evans comfort to begin with. now it doesnt matter that i have a gaping fucking hole in my head for all to see.

i ball my fists at my sides. "i dont have time to pretend, and i dont have time for this conversation - so lets get to the point. why are you here?"

"to see my old friend again! and to tell you there's always more than meets the eye." jeff then taps a finger underneath his left eye, and a phantom pain throbs in my own empty socket. i try to ignore it.

"yeah, no shit," i say, and cross my arms. i was losing my patience. "if you're just going to spout vague nonsense at me like every other motherfucker does on a constant basis, i'm sorry to say but i will have to pass. i have more important things to do."

"like stand in front of this wall and bitch? is that what you're doing here?" jeff grins, and tilts his head at me. i just scoff, and deciding i had enough, i begin trying to do what i came to the wall for in the first place and begin walking parallel to it. jeff follows after me.

"im only bitching because here you are to distract me," i say, side-eyeing him, "so if you don't mind, kindly fuck off."

"i do mind, actually. why do you even want to leave? its paradise in here. no need to eat or drink, perfect climate, no irritating neighbors or awkward staredowns at the grocery store- you'd love it!"

i stop in my tracks. i hate that the sound of his voice is enough to get me to actually consider his words. but i do, and then i say:

"you know, for a while there, i did enjoy it. to an extent, anyways. you can only enjoy so much when you are all too aware of every little fucking thing. and maybe i could have handled the ghost thing, right? like you said, no neighbors or weird interactions. but then i saw this wall, and now i feel like a trapped animal - and im not okay with that."

"so if you couldnt see the wall, it'd be fine?"

i shake my head, "i came out here the first time to see if i could leave, and i wouldve kept walking if there was nothing to stop me. maybe i would have returned, after a while, had i done so. maybe not." i shrug, somewhat frustrated at the thought. "a wall is a wall, whether i can see it or not. seeing isnt the problem, the existence of the thing is."

"well yeah, but you can't just leave." jeff says it like its obvious. in hindsight, maybe it was. i could already imagine a few reasons as to why, but i wanted to pry out what jeff seems to think the answer is.

so i ask, "and why is that?"

jeff answers: "because there's...people, out there? like, innocent fuckin people, dude." well duh.

i roll my eyes, "im aware. but what does that have to do with me, exactly? habit is already somewhere else doing god knows what."

jeff looks on blankly. "we don't need two of you out there."

ouch. and unfortunately, on some level i believe it to be true. and the implication that i would intentionally hurt or even kill anyone like habit would...im sadly all too aware of the likelihood, really. it doesnt hurt because i feel bad, it hurts because i dont. however, i wasnt about to let this guy know that.

i say, "it's not like id be very social anyways. at this point, i dont think i could even stomach it."

jeff takes on a darker sort of air about him. "evidently so, based on how you treated evan. do you have your head screwed on straight, dude? because like, holy shit was that hard to watch."

i tense up, and i can feel a spark of anger rising from within me. guess it didnt matter what i tried to hide, jeff knew what weak points to hit.

"i was just trying to protect him."

"uh huh," he nods, "sorry vinny, but you're not the guardian in this one."

"clearly," i grumble, "but i was fucking trying, okay?" i was trying. jeff thought otherwise.

"yeah, trying to get everyone killed. thanks for that one, by the way. you've been self absorbed, irresponsible, reckless and horrible to everyone around you that isn't the entity playing games with our lives, and you can't keep pretending it's not true! do some soul searching. meditate. i don't care. but you're not leaving any time soon, so you'd better get used to it." jeff jabs me in the chest with a pointed finger.

it didnt take but a moment to process jeffs words, and ultimately, i agree with him. im a terrible fucking person. i just am. but i wasnt going to give jeff the satisfaction of me fessing up to it - because i felt like all of this was beginning to become unproductive bullshit and i wanted to do what i came all the way out here to do dammit.

i go to smack jeffs hand away from me, but i come to find that i simply pass through him like he was air. i felt the jab, though, even if superficially. this confirms my suspicion about the ghost thing, but jeff was different from the ghosts in the town; like being able to talk and acknowledge my existence.

i take a step back, "we'll see about that. who the fuck made this wall, hm? you of all things must know right? since you are apparently a plethora of knowledge of good and evil now. can you do that much for me jeff?"

jeff considers my words before he turns away from me to face the terrible wall, his hands on his hips, and his head craning back to presumably observe the wall's endless climb into the sky above.

"habit designed this gaudy architecture as part of his grand scheme. you probably could have figured that much, eh? but what you wouldnt know is that its been here since the very beginning, before you even arrived at the house." he looks back at me, "come on vin. you should know by now that habit is well prepared...even if this timeline is bonkers. you shouldnt need me to tell you that."

i grumble in annoyance, but consider his words carefully. sure, maybe i didnt need him to tell me habit was a suspect in all this, and maybe i could have figured that out just by doing what i had originally planned with scouting the perimeter of the wall. but...here jeff was, telling me things outright. it was a convenient time saver really, even if he was going about it in a bitchy way. i needed to take advantage of this.

"so, if habit made this cage to keep me in, why shouldnt i try to break out? why shouldnt i try to fight his subjugation?"

"one, because habit has eons of experience over you and you'll likely fuck something up really badly," jeff says, and turns towards me again. "two, you're part of this place now. removing you would shatter a really delicate balance. the house is a place of fluctuation, because there's not enough power to sustain herself. and you're radiating power, dude. would you really just abandon her like that, after all she's done to keep you safe and alive?"

ouch again...ugh. i dont usually feel guilty over a lot of things, but jeffs second point seemed to get to me.

i relent. i cower my head to stare at the ground. "i wouldnt have left her forever."

jeff gives me a disappointed sigh. "go back home, man. she's really worried about you."

i bite my lip and give the slightest of nods. i still want to do what i can to escape, and i hadnt forgotten about why i came to the wall in the first place...but jeff's words had me thinking about my desires for the house. in truth, the house and i have formed a strange sort of...i dunno, friendship? its the closest human word i can think for it. i would talk to her, she would listen. id even clean up her rooms, even though ive observed that she can do it by herself.

i think she may be the only thing in this world that can understand me now.

so i feel like in some weird way, the house cares about me. she has done quite a few favors for me, after all; favors that kept me safer. jeff was right again, and i couldnt shake the wrongness of abandoning the house enough to continue talking my way out of this bind.

it was time to go then. but first, i look back up at jeff.

"what about you?" i ask, my mood seriously taking a nose dive off a cliff. sad and desperate and pathetic and lonely. "you came all this way from wherever, however you did it, to tell me all this...are you going to leave me now too, just like evan?" fuck. "i wouldn't blame you if you did...but i have to admit, it was nice seeing you again."

and truthfully, it was - despite the treatment i received. its fine. i deserved it.

jeff leans in, and i can feel the pity in his eyes as he puts a hand on my shoulder.

"that choice isn't mine to make."

and then he shoves me away from the wall with a force that sends me tumbling across the ground a good few feet. i think it fucked up my shoulder. its fine. deserved that too.

and then i went home.

#evrymn0 #phase???#everymanhybrid

19 notes · View notes

kotlc-oneshots · 5 years

Text

Blind!keefe au

Hey all!!! Sorry I’ve been dead, but writings block kills lol. Anyways I got this idea off of some lame discord convos and uhhh I hope it’s good. Also it’s late and lmao I have no motivation to edit my own writing uhhh here u go. Some mild swearing. Will be Kam if I keep going w it. Lov yall.

*~*~*

Pt.

one

Keefe

I’m lying in bed, of course, when the shrieking of my alarm goes off about four feet away from me. I blink my eyes open until they don’t feel sticky and gross, then grab my alarm clock. It’s a simple thing, a brick with about 5 buttons total on it, probably.

I pushed the button on the bottom left corner, and the loud wail finally ends. I groan and rub my head, wishing the colors and blobs that cloud the center of my milky vision would just come into focus.

However after years of hoping for that, every morning, I know nothing is going to happen. With a small sigh, I go into my ultra-specifically organized dresser.

Today is the first day of my senior year. Even if I wont be able to see myself, I want to know that others will appreciate the way that I look- or, at least, am dressed. There’s not a lot I can do if there’s anything wrong with my face or hair. I wish I could, though- even though I’ve been blind since birth, I still always want to look presentable. In order to do that, my friends help me once every other week to organize my outfits for the upcoming 14 days. It started in sophmore year, when Sophie got the wonderful idea, and it's been a tradition since. And thanks to my ‘photographic (ha) memory’, I always know what clothes I’m wearing. Always.

I’m about halfway dressed when hear a beep from the direction of my bed.

“New message from Fitz.” The automated, robotic voice of Siri tells me.

“Hey siri- read message from Fitz.” I respond, then finish putting on the rest of my clothes.

“Ready for your first day as a senior?” she reads back to me. I automatically change the sound to Fitz’s deeper, more human voice in my head. It’s pointless, but necessary.

“Hey siri- text Fitz ‘hell yeah brother.’” After a quick confirmation of what I’m sending, I go into the bathroom next to my bedroom. I carefully feel my way around for my toothbrush and brush my teeth, then proceed to run my hand through my hair. For a short moment, I wish I could see myself as more than a blob of milky, too bright color, but it fades quickly. I’d rather not think about it. So I finish up in the bathroom, then return to my room for my bag. With a quick ‘hey siri’, I manage to find my phone as well.

After a few more voice commands, I receive the news that Fitz will be here to pick me up at 7:30, which gives me about 20 minutes. I hop over to the kitchen and make myself a quick, hearty bowl of cereal. Being me, I choose the healthiest kind- Lucky Charms. When finished, I smile to myself and set the bowl near the sink- I know my dads at work by now, so I don’t have to worry about him. Sometimes there’s good things about waking up early. As I slip my bag on and go to the door to wait, I remember how lucky I am to have such a good memory, and such a constantly cleanly household. Otherwise, I’d be as clumsy in my house as Sophie is. I grab my cane and walk outside, chiding myself for thinking so much about the little things.

Fitz is there, honking his horn, about 5 ish minutes after I get outside. Sophie yells at him for being annoying, and I chuckle a bit. A window rolls down, and Biana’s voice comes through hollering to go to the back passengers side. I use my cane to help me a little bit, then grab onto the ledge made by the open window. I proceed to find the door handle, then carefully step into the car.

“If any freshman gives you crap today, you have full right to hit them with your cane.” Dex, who must be on on the other side of Biana, says.

“Thank you. I’ll definitely do that,” I respond with a laugh, and I can practically feel the worry in the air as Sophie warns me not to.

“We really don’t want you to get suspended on the first day. So just wait until tomorrow, and give them an extra hard whap on kneecap.” Biana adds cheerily.

“This is why you’re my favorite.” I awkwardly try to wrap my arm

around her head, but fail miserably. My peripherals are even worse than the center of my vision- there’s almost no light visible towards the edges. So I end up hitting her on the head, and play it off by messing her hair up. This, of course, causes her to whack my arm and call me a jerk.

“Alright, dumbasses, knock it off,” Fitz, my best friend of the

past 6 years, yells. “By the way, Keefe, we’re pulling in now.” A knot forms in my stomach. Man. First day of senior year at Foxfire. I can’t believe its so close to being over. The beginning of the end.

We pull into the parking lot and step out of Fitz’s Volvo. I turn towards the building, and take a deep inhale of the crisp morning air. My friends and family always like to comment on how pretty the building looks. Foxfire is a really prestigious private high school, and I know that they put a lot of money into the architecture

and the grounds. It's a pity that all I see is a building shaped blob of its beige color, and the faint blobs of green and other colors that I know are trees.

I try not to let myself think about it.

We walk into the building, and Fitz automatically splits off. He's supposed to help some teacher set up the presentation that the Freshman go to. I love him, but it's the first day of school and that man is already busy. This year is gonna be rough if we wanna keep up our hangout sessions- although, we both did take the same 6 AP classes. We’ll probably study together, when he’s not with his million other commitments.

After a few hugs and highfives, and a few debate friends greeting me, I go to my first class. I’m /not/ getting caught in that crowd, especially with the idiotic freshman pretending that they own the place. Off to AP music theory it is. C118 is easy enough- no stairs, and it's a pretty straight shot to the classroom. Again,

I thank my perfect memory to get me around. I may not know what the building looks like, but I basically have the blueprint downloaded in my head. Good times, man.

First period doesn’t result in much. We all get a copy of the syllabus, and a short introductory reading. I can feel a tinge of annoyance when the teacher acknowledges my inability to.. Uh, read it, but a girl named Linh volunteers to help me out with it. She seemed nice enough. She had a bit of a Canadian accent, and when I asked about it she confirmed that she was from… Minnesota. She was really sweet, and I’m genuinely hoping that’ll become a friendship.

The next couple periods go uneventfully. Fitz is in one of them, and Dex the other so I don’t have to worry about another situation like in first period. And the teachers always let me go about 2-3 minutes early, so I can avoid the crowds- that is, until lunch. I’m on my way down to the cafeteria when I run into… someone. They must have been very quiet- I didn’t realize they were that close to me and coming around the bend. So when they did, we kinda collided. I hear a soft curse when they thud to the ground, and from the shape and sound I know its a guy. I put the cane in my left hand and offer to help him up. I’m not sure what it is, but he doesn’t accept it.

“You good man? I didn’t see ya there.” I laugh a little, because

duh. He doesn’t. I can’t really make out any of him- his hair is /probably/ black- and this agitates me, because he doesn’t respond. And then he practically runs away.

I have no way to identify him- probably a dumb freshman that didn’t want his ass kicked by the blind senior. Trying to shake off the interaction, I roll my eyes and start on my way to lunch again.

“Honestly, today was AWFUL. The second half, at least.” I’m now at Fitz’s house, along with Dex. “I already told Dex about that one guy that ran into me, but Stats teacher was awful. She probably heard something from Michaels about last year- just because I rarely showed up doesn’t mean I don’t know what I’m doing! I got along in that class fine.”

“Keefe, I taught you like half of that course.” Fitz replies, laughing.

“Because you actually know how to do math! Michaels is an awful excuse for a pre calc teacher. Dex, be glad that you got Hex.” I retort. It’s not wrong- Mr. Michaels had been very incompetent. If not for Fitz, I would have gotten the worst grade I ever had in my high school career.

“You know I am.” Dex agrees. “Even Hex hates Michaels, but she won’t admit it. Outright, at least.”

“Ok, enough about horrible teachers. Tell me about the guy who ran into you.” Fitz pipes up, not wanting to be apart of a conversation dissing his soccer coach. I let him divert the conversation, even though I really wanna rag Michaels to the ground most of the time.

“Well, that's the thing. There’s nothing to tell- I ran into him and he fell. Then he ran away, without saying a word,” I say. “I wanna know just as much as you do.”

“That’s cute.” Dex comments, and I shake my head.

“You know what I mean.”

“Suuuuureee.” The tone of his voice makes me hit him, which starts a wrestle between the three of us that lasts for about half an hour. By the end of it, I’m sure I have multiple bruises from falling, kicking something wrong, and getting hit, but I don’t care much. We fall into a panting heap on Fitz bed, and we through half hearted punches at each other that hold no intention. Needless to say, I’m sweaty and gross, and when Fitz informs me that it's almost 8, I ask to go home. A man's gotta shower- and get his beauty sleep.

So Fitz drives me and Dex home, the three of us having pointless conversation about classes and plans we should make. I get dropped off first, and they wait as I carefully make my way to door of my house, not leaving until I get inside. I hear the thrum of his engine as Fitz drives off, then make my way to the bathroom.

After a quick shower, I brush my teeth and head off to bed.

I drift off, and my thoughts are filled with a mysterious blob with probably black hair and evil math equations.

#keeper of the lost cities #dex dizznee #kotlc #keefe sencen #sophie foster #tam song #blind!au #fitzvacker #writersblock #highschool!au

26 notes · View notes

tidesreach · 5 years

Text

For Now I Am Winter

Skam Italia | 1497 words | Warning for suicidal ideation.

Note: I feel a bit awful for dedicating this to the Skam It discord because it's utterly miserable. But alas. This one's for you, pals.

When Nico wakes in his own bed there’s a short and almost perfect moment of ignorance before his brain kicks in and it all hits him like a double-barrelled shot to the gut.

You can also find it on AO3.

***

When Nico wakes in his own bed there’s a short and almost perfect moment of ignorance before his brain kicks in and it all hits him like a double-barrelled shot to the gut.

Milan.

It's like trying to piece together broken memories after an inadvisable night spent drinking. He can only remember it in flashes. Fleeting moments of distorted time. Part of him wishes he could remember it in more than bits and pieces. Part of him is glad he can’t. The weight of the shame feels crushing enough without remembering the details. He can barely stand to be in his own head. Because he remembers how perfect it was. Until it wasn't.

Maddi told him the details—as much as them as she managed to get out of Marti. Nico wishes she hadn’t. Wishes he didn’t have to have those words in his head. He wants to cry himself raw but he’s so devoid of energy that he doesn’t seem to have the capacity. He peeks his head out from under his blankets, afraid that the world might be on fire. It feels like it should be. But it isn’t.

His mum must have taken any potential sharp objects out of his room while he was sleeping -- as if he wouldn't just get up and go to the fucking kitchen if he was really determined -- because even his glass he uses for water to take his meds has been replaced by a plastic cup. Like she's child-proofing the house.

The apartment is too quiet. Nico wonders if this is what it really feels like—to be the last man on Earth. Because he is now, he supposes. Now that Marti thinks he’s broken and delusional too.

It makes him want to break skin. He’s half a heart lighter and exhausted. Tired of not being able to experience normal and universal emotions without everyone equating it to a symptom of a stupid fucking illness. Without it being twisted it into something ugly and illusory. It's enough to drive him crazy—it did drive him crazy.

Nothing about his love for Marti is ugly. Nothing about it was ever untrue. Nico wishes he could tell Marti that. He wishes Marti would believe him if he did.

He stares at the ceiling and thinks of giraffes. He thinks of Stefano Benni. La giraffa ha il cuore lontano dai pensieri. He had always loved that quote—felt it in his bones. Like someone out there finally understood that his disorder doesn’t dictate his heart. It makes him ache—that a stranger can understand but not the people he loves most.

He sleeps again because it’s the only thing he knows how to do.

***

When he next wakes, Nico sends Marti the quote. He fiddles with his phone on and off for twenty minutes or so after, waiting for the flash of a name. The tell-tale vibration against his hand. Something. Just a small thread of hope. Written proof that he hasn't completely fucked up the only real thing in his life. But it never comes. He knows it's too much to ask for. That he's too much. He tosses his phone onto his desk and tries to ignore its silence.

After another hour of shut-eye, he gets up. He wraps himself in a suit of armour made out of blankets and shuffles over to his desk. The few steps it takes to get there feel like a marathon. He checks his phone in between sketching out giraffes – some big, some small, some with a tiny Nico and Marti sitting on their back – and starts over a dozen letters. Dear Marti… No. He scrunches it up in his hands with a frown. Elio… No. Man of my dreams… No.

I love you. I’m so fucking sorry… Fuck.

He throws the pen at the wall in frustration and shucks himself back over to his bed, blankets in tow. They’re a castle now. Soft but fortified walls around him. He falls asleep in the tower.

When he blinks awake for a fourth time, Maddi is sitting in his desk chair. His walls weren’t as fortified as he thought, it turns out. She's tapping at the keyboard on her phone—sending his mum a status update, Nico presumes.

"You can tell her that I'm not planning to kill myself with broken glass," Nico says hoarsely. "Those plastic cups taste like shit."

Maddi blinks up at him, surprised. Then she frowns like she thinks he shouldn’t say things like that out loud. "She's worried about you. You put her through hell."

And there it is. The guilt-trip. The "do you have any idea how difficult this is for us?" Nico is well aware that he's a burden to live with. A canonball chained to everyone's fucking ankle and dragging them down. But he doesn't need to be reminded at every opportunity.

"How do you feel?" Maddi asks the quiet.

Nico shrugs a non-answer. He feels like porcelain covered in crazing. Like if you were to look close enough you would be able to see the spider-webbed network of fine cracks across the surface of his skin. He wonders what would happen if he were to shatter.

His mum was probably right to take away the sharp objects.

His eyes wander anxiously over to his phone still sitting on the desk. He wants to check -- wants to see -- just in case. But he can’t make himself move.

"Has Marti..." He trails off. He knows the answer.

"No," Maddi says shortly.

“Okay.” he says. And he can’t even be angry because he would leave himself too if he could.

Maddi waves her hand as if it will expel Nico’s broken heart. “It’s for the best.”

And Nico can't stand to look at her. Hates her so much that he thinks he might choke on the bitter intensity of it. Because she sent him away.

"Nico. It will pass."

"He's not a passing phase," Nico snaps, quietly angry. Too exhausted to be loud about it. "He's—"

"What then?" Maddi demands tiredly. "Let me guess. A saviour? You thought he was going to save you?"

"No." That's not it. That was never it. Nico didn't need Marti to save him, he just wanted him to—

"Love me," Nico says finally. "I thought he was going to love me."

Maddi huffs out a disbelieving laugh. "He doesn't even know the real you, Nico."

"He’s the only one who does,” Nico says. He remembers the way Marti looked at him in perfect clarity. He committed it to memory—a keepsake. He memorised Marti’s soft eyes and his unashamed smile. The way he would hold Nico in place and look at him and see him.

“He’s the only one who sees me,” he continues finally. Softly. “The real me, and not this--this fucking illness. Or at least he did.”

Maddi takes a careful breath. "I'm not even sure you know the real you right now."

"I do,” Nico argues, but he already knows it’s pointless. “It’s you who doesn’t."

And fuck, he is so completely tired of this. So tired of repeating himself and being switched off like he's a broken record. He could be standing in a crowded room screaming it at the top of his lungs until his throat bleeds and still no one would fucking listen.

"Ni—"

"Get out," he says, cold.

"Niccolò," Maddi presses.

"I said get out."

She sighs, like this is all such a chore. Like he’s a petulant child throwing a tantrum. "I told your mum I would keep an eye on you."

Nico shrugs and buries himself back under the covers. "Then you can do it from the fucking living room."

***

When Nico wakes up for the fifth time -- sixth time? He’s losing count now -- there’s a quiet stillness to the house. The kind that only settles in the small and deathly hours of the night. He clambers to switch the light on and watches as it illuminates the darkness shadow-by-shadow. There’s a package beside his bed with a pharmacy label printed on it that he steadfastly ignores. His mum must have picked up his prescription.

He looks at the space next to him—remembers Marti taking it up all those weeks ago. Remembers lying next to him and feeling the noise in his brain dim to barely audible background noise. Suddenly he can’t be in his own bed. He pulls himself out of his now-ruined castle of blankets to find somewhere safer but realises quickly that there isn’t anywhere.

His bed reminds him of soft and lazy kisses traded back and forth in the midday light. His desk of Marti valiantly trying to study while Nico played the nuisance. His sofa of marionette battles and hopeful will-we-won't-we stolen glances. His kitchen of not-really-carbonara that tasted like sweat but was theirs. It’s one suffocating reminder after the other of everything he has lost.

His mum was right to take away the sharp objects.

***

#i will put this on ao3 at some point #this is so awful #i'm sorry #skam italia #niccolò fares #my fic

229 notes · View notes

cloudbattrolls · 5 years

Text

GLIESE: Break into a seadweller hive.

This is the log so far of a roleplay @anontrolls and I have done on discord until now!

Summary: Having lost a coat to an alleyway stabbing Lee needs help breaking into his old house to retrieve more of his belongings. Gliese volunteers, which seems like a perfectly fun idea... until they run into the hive occupant.

You did not sufficiently think this through.

Your ancestor's hive is largely underwater, true to traditional seadweller fashion. Your block has always been in the dry portion (much to your old man's disapproval) simply for the ease of keeping certain types of material items when waterproofing is not required, but the main entrance is deep enough underwater that Gliese's ears would pop out of her skull before she ever made it.

Also true to fashion, the windows to your room are pretty high up. There's no way to get up the smooth marble walls without a significant boost, and you don't realize this until you are squinting up at said windows.

"Ah," you start eloquently, "How do you feel about... seeing how high you can throw me?"

If Karina ever hears about this, she’ll rip your ears off and feed them to you.

Fortunately, you have the good taste required to not give a shit what she thinks unless you have to. You rescued Pheres that one time and got away with it; why should this be any different?

Part of you whispers that this is a much bigger deal than just grabbing a maroon, at least in the Empire’s eyes, and that maybe messing with a very prominent violet when there’s no fleet to protect you might not be the smartest thing you’ve ever done.

But like hell were you going to let Lee do it himself.

Since it’d be unwise to give your usual snort, you roll your eyes at him from behind your mask. Not black - what is this, some cheesy movie? - but dark blue, and equipped with emergency breathing devices just in case god forbid you have to get wet for a bit.

“Great idea, what trash can did you fish it out of?” You reply idly, only realizing the pun too late and sighing. “Lucky for you, I’ve got a better one.”

You put on your rocket boots, a pair with silencers attached. You experimented with them earlier, and it isn’t perfect - they’re too loud for that - but it keeps them from causing a giant racket. Smirking slightly, you gesture for him to come closer.

“Into my loving arms, Lee, time’s wasting.”

"Hey," you grumble, "It's not as though I go breaking into places very often, darling, I'm hardly bristling with a repertoire of larcenous plans - and most trolls would consider that a good thing."

"- But nice pun," you tack on, and do precisely nothing to stifle the smarmy smile.

Her suggestion, on the other hand, does a much better job of that. You actually have no idea what she's suggesting - what, do her boots bounce? - but you're practically contractually obligated to jump into 'loving arms' when invited.

So you do! "Oh, sweetheart," you declare, pretending to swoon into Gliese, "I thought you'd never ask!"

“Ooh, ‘larcenous plans’, huh? I don’t have those either, but I do have lots of useful life skills beyond radiating sparkles and fluttering my eyelashes.”

You smirk as you say it, though it morphs into a scowl as he smiles with insufferable smarm. Dick. Lee’s so light for his size that you almost stumble because you expect more resistance than you get; he feels as thin as you did before you joined fleet. Not that you’re bulky now by any stretch of the imagination, but you have more muscle and less bone showing than you did a sweep ago.

“Bite me.” You reply, before hitting them at the right angle to the ground to turn them on and rising into the air at a slow pace, then faster as you click them together.

You slow as you reach Lee’s window, hovering up and down a few feet back and forth outside it (the boots aren’t really made for staying static).

“All right, fishnugget, what’s the best way to get in here without tripping alarms, if there are any?”

"The sparkles are largely photoshop, actually-" you start, lifting a finger, and promptly yelp, clutching at Gliese haphazardly and significantly more frantically than you were before she started raising the two of you into the air.

"Only if you ask nicely," you still manage to squeeze out, because the joke was already on the tip of your tongue before you were airborne. You're a mite too frazzled now to make another, which is a shame, because there's probably something to be said about the fact that you've gone and wrapped your legs around her waist in fear of falling off.

The breeze ruffling your hair about your face (you have to spit some out your mouth at one point that you're fairly sure was actually Gliese's) stills somewhat after a few moments, and you squeeze a single eye open when Gliese asks her question.

"My block," you gasp, and gesture very vaguely in the appropriate direction. "Turned off the window alarm ages ago. Bad for daycaps and shenanigans. Oh, goodness."

Okay, eyes closed again.

You snicker in a tone too low for him or most trolls (except you and Kit) to hear.

Only for a second; you focus on his words and your face slides back into seriousness. “You wish.” is your last, kinda lame response to this biting comment. At least he’s holding on tightly, because you’d be real fucking pissed if you had to go catch him.

Well, that’s reassuring. He sounds like he’s going to pass out.

“Guess I’m just gonna have to hope Fuckface Senior hasn’t turned it on again.” You retort.

If only you had one of those fancy devices that can detect security sensors, but you don’t exactly have that kind of resource anymore; the separatists have some tech, but they’re a lot more careful with how they dole it out.

Still, it’s worth the risk; any other route would be a huge pain in the ass and slow to boot. You zoom up to its edge and, very carefully, lower the speed enough to get yourself and Lee in but not lose all your lift.

Your knees are bent rather uncomfortably and you had to tilt your neck to avoid bashing your horns, but the two of you are inside now and you stand back up, boots off. The damn mask is making your face sweaty, though.

“Get off me and let’s get this done.”

The lock might be disabled, but the window is still shut, and it takes a bit of scrabbling on your part to get the window open enough for you and Gliese to tumble through - and tumble is absolutely what you do, releasing your death-grip on Gliese and practically sliding to the ground before she's through with her sentence.

"Mnh," you moan into the carpet, spreading your arms until you're sufficiently certain of your full-body contact with solid ground. "Can we take the long way out? I fancy a swim after that, my dear."

Glancing up, you... are rather surprised to see that not much has changed since you left. You're not even sure your ancestor bothered to come in here after booting you out. Your clothes are still in half-disarray from your haphazard packing, and your keyboard is still right there, folded up with its stand and entirely prepared for you to grab it and run.

But, well. So long as you're here...

You snatch a rather larger bag than is required for this endeavor out of your sylladex, and start stuffing it with clothes and the rest of your belongings.

No sense in leaving more of your things behind if you don't have to! It's not as though Hiro doesn't have the closet space.

Besides, it's a good distraction from watching Gliese out of the corner of your eye, wondering what she thinks of the one place you've ever really considered your own space. It's a weird sort of vulnerability, to have someone in here - even your, uh, recreational guests, you usually took to some other room. No need for a one-day stand to screw up your record collection.

“Sure, whatever.” You reply in a low tone, not really caring one way or the other. You can’t say swimming is your favorite activity - water’s so damn cold - but you came prepared. You just hope the pair of you have that luxury and don’t leave chased by security droids.

Place is quiet as a burial mound so far, though, not that you trust it. Your ears are pricked for the slightest sound that’s not the pair of you. The room itself is…pretty typical for a fish who spends most of his time being a social butterfly, you guess. You’re kind of surprised it’s not more glitzy. Soft snickering escapes when you see giant posters of himself.

“Wow, Lee, didn’t take you as the egotistical type. Guess you proved me wrong.”

Then you notice the vanity, and your brow furrows. Is that a quad? It’s none of your business, really, but you can’t help wondering. Lee didn’t strike you as the type to quad any lower than teal, but who knows.

“Nice records, though.” You admit. You loved antiques when you were a kid; you can tell he’s got some rare stuff in there.

You blink, staring at Gliese for a moment. 'Not egotistical.' It takes you a spot longer than it should to put together a response.

"Me?" you ask. "Not shallow enough to put posters of myself up? Goodness, darling, where have you been living?"

You perk up when she compliments your music collection, though. "Hey, thanks," you say, grinning, "I'd offer a listen, but, ah, as unlikely as it is, I'm not actually entirely certain the old man isn't home, and it's best not to risk the noise, I think. It's a pity I'm leaving most of them here, though - I suppose that means you're free to whatever catches your fancy. Leastways they won't be rotting in here or sold off."

The thought is frankly actually seriously depressing, and you go back to speedily sorting through your clothing to distract yourself. Sweeps spent collecting, and it's all gone to shit, now. And the records are the absolute least of it.

“Somewhere I’d barely heard of you before you became scandalous.” You retort, then regret it slightly. You grimace, flicking your ears.

“Not that I care about that. You’re fine, if a fucking dweeb, all that junk is ridiculous anyway.”

Nice save, Benral. He probably won’t be too hurt and if he is, whatever, it’s not your problem.

He looks so stupidly happy you half want to punch the dumb grin off his face. The two of you are breaking in, even if it’s technically his place. You have to stay on guard.

“Yeah, no. We need to get in and out.” You pause to listen. Nothing, you think, except the distant ocean. It’s weird how low-security the place is.

You look at Lee’s records, but only one stands out to you. Its label has a faded troll curled up in a blue rose.

“Huh. Flower Fellow.” You muse, then tentatively reach out. Should you, even if Lee said it’s all right? Well. He has a point about it rotting in here. The thought saddens you, for some stupid reason, and your expression darkens. You take it very carefully and put it in your sylladex.

“Thanks.” You say, a bit uncertainly. Ugh, you’re probably making too big of a deal out of this.

You watch him go through clothing, curious despite yourself.

“So you really like being a model? Or was that just for the cameras.”

You can feel the corners of your mouth turning down almost entirely against your will, and turn away from Gliese to fiddle with the sleeve of a dress shirt. Have you brought anything with you that matches this shade off off-white, or do you have to stick with your minimalist neutrals?

"Well," you murmur, "I appreciate the stamp of approval."

If not the accompanying declaration that the things you care about are ridiculous junk.

Well, not all the things you care about. She's here helping you pick up your stuff, isn't she? And you've retrieved quite the collection already, even without considering your keyboard. It's time to start stuffing it into your sylladex.

Gliese seems to have the same idea, because you watch her pocket a record, as gingerly as you've ever seen her do anything. She glances back at you as she does, very nearly looking worried, and you grin encouragingly. You're happy she'll be able to take something from this for herself.

Her question, though, you're not sure how to answer with any level of expediency.

"Sort of?" you try. "I mean, it's like anything you do, really, isn't it? One likes certain aspects and dislikes others! I enjoy being a model, of course, and it certainly is the perfect occupation for someone whose primary skills in life pretty much amount to being pretty and - well, I'd say posing well, but half the time you're getting moved around like a doll anyways."

"That's the part that's always a little odd," you admit. "I'm sure it's the same for everyone else at the casting calls, too, but it's still somewhat disconcerting when people forget you're a person and not a figurine."

You once walked into a photoshoot, one you'd already been signed for, with a rather well-known photographer. You hadn't had time to change, yet, but she had just flung some - you don't even remember what it was, some sort of faux-leather thing patterned after snake scales, and told you to strip right there in front of the whole crew.

And when you'd gotten topless, laughing airily as your fingers stumbled over the buttons of your shirt, she finally looked at you for the second time as though just remembering you presence, and practically barked a laugh. 'No,' she said, 'That's not going to work.'

And she walked out the door.

And that was that. You were too stunned to cry about it. You didn't even get paid.

You are not going to tell Gliese that story.

Damn it. How do you fix this? Should you even try before you make it worse? Ugh. He’s clearly upset and you’re not sure why.

“I mean-“ you start and then stop, biting your lip. You hate this. “I mean...you’re fine, Lee, because you’re not...things people say can fucking hurt, but you’re better than all that. You’re...a good guy.”

Please let that be right. You look weak and stupid right now and it fucking sucks. You turn away from him so he doesn’t have to see your blue face.

But you listen with your long ears as you look at the rest of his stuff. It’s nice, though obviously it would be, he’s violet. It must have been hard to leave this all behind.

He’ll deal, you remind yourself. You did when you joined fleet. What he says makes you manage to turn back around, face curious and ears tilted quizzically.

“Like what? Do people push you around or something? Who’d even try that on a seadweller.” You say, snorting. Lee may be a weenie, but he’s still violet. Pushing him too far would still be a mistake for anyone lower than you.

You bite your lip to stifle a totally inappropriate smile. Gliese is really trying, and, okay, watching her drag the words out like she's navigating an eggshell obstacle course is a tad bit hilarious. It's like someone that just realized they've been insulting the sweets at a gala to the confectioner's face and is trying to save face.

You glance back out of the side of your eye, and she's turned away - but that doesn't stop you seeing that Gliese is blue to the tips of her ears.

Aw, you can't even be miffed anymore. You sidle over and elbow her gently.

"Don't hurt yourself," you tell her sweetly, and then dart away laughing, almost expecting her to jokingly swipe at you - but that's just the echo of Thistle's shadow in your mind.

Then she asks about the modeling thing, and you're back to trying to figure out what kind of go you're going to take on the subject. "Well, no," you admit, "It's hardly as though I get shoved around, or anything! There's simply a certain... perception, I suppose, or perhaps a lack thereof. The photographers and designers are...artistes-" You nearly snicker. "- And utterly beyond the concerns of such things as remembering who they're dressing or posing is not quite a mannequin, you know? As in, stylists pulling hair out, or photographers literally moving you around bodily, etcetera."

"- And not all of them, of course!" you're quick to qualify, because, well, yeah, you do (did?) actually have non-model friends in this industry.

#anontrolls #gliese benral #lionel prince

2 notes · View notes

harrisonstories · 6 years

Photo

First off, the 2018 Mix, Take 5 Instrumental Backing Track, and Esher Demo of Back in the U.S.S.R. are now on Spotify.

Secondly, Rolling Stone just published an article noting the “15 most revelatory moments” by Rob Sheffield, who was lucky enough to be able to listen to the Super Deluxe Edition of The White Album. You can read the full article here.

[...] The outtakes defies the conventional wisdom that this is where the band split into four solo artists. “Do you think the perception of the Beatles history has been tainted by their own commentary in the early Seventies?” [Giles] Martin asks. “That’s what I get. I think post-Beatles, when the champagne cork has flown out of the bottle, and they’ve gone their separate ways, they reacted against it. ‘Oh, to be honest we didn’t work well as a group,’ and that sort of thing. Yet they never slowed down creatively. I quite like the idea of them throwing cups of tea at each other in the studio. I’m mildly disappointed not to find it. But what they’re doing is making a record.”

The Deluxe and Super Deluxe Editions finally unveil the Esher demos, which hardcore Beatle freaks have been clamoring to hear for years. In May 1968, just back from India, the group gathered at George’s bungalow in Esher (pronounced “Ee-sher”) to tape unplugged versions of the new songs they’d already stockpiled for the new album. Over the next days, working together or solo, they busked 27 songs. The tapes sat in a suitcase in George’s house for years. Seven tracks came out on Anthology 3; others have never been released in any Beatle version, including John’s “Child of Nature” and George’s “Sour Milk Sea.” The Esher tapes alone make this collection essential, with a fresh homemade intimacy that’s unique. Martin says, “They’re rough takes, but spiritually, the performances stand on their own.”

Here are 15 of the most revelatory moments:

1. “Revolution 1” The legendary Take 18, a nearly 11-minute jam from the first day of the White Album sessions. The other Beatles were surprised to see someone new at John’s side: Yoko Ono, who became a constant presence in the studio. It begins as the version you know from the record: John’s flubbed guitar intro, engineer Geoff Emerick’s “take two,” John’s “okaaay.” But where the original fades out, this one is just getting started. The groove builds as John keeps chanting “all right, all right,” from a low moan to a high scream. Yoko joins the band to add distorted synth feedback, while Paul clangs on piano. She recites prose poetry, fragments of which that ended up in “Revolution 9”: “It’s like being naked…if you become naked.”

The story of this jam has been told many times, usually presented as a grim scene where Yoko barges in, sowing the seeds of discord—the beginning of the end. So it’s a surprise to hear how much fun they’re all having. It ends in a fit of laughter—she nervously asks, “That’s too much?” John tells her it sounds great and Paul agrees: “Yeah, it’s wild!”

2. “Sexy Sadie” As the band warms up, George playfully sings a hook from Sgt. Pepper: “It’s getting better all the tiiiime!” John snorts. “Is it, right?” Take 3 is an acerbic version of “Sexy Sadie,” with Paul doodling on the organ. Yet despite the nasty wit, the band sounds totally in sync. When George asks, “How fast, John?,” he responds, “However you feel it.”

3. “Long, Long, Long” George’s hushed hymn has always been underrated—partly because it’s mastered way too quiet. In the fantastic Take 44, “Long, Long, Long” comes alive as a duet between George and Ringo, with the drums crashing in dialogue with the whispery vocals. Giles Martin explains, “I suppose, as is documented here, George was Ringo’s best friend, as he says. That song is kind of the two of them.” George starts freestyling at the end: “Gathering, gesturing, glimmering, glittering, happening, hovering, humoring, hammering, laquering, lecturing, laboring, lumbering, mirroring…” It closes with the spooky death-rattle chord, originally the sound of a wine bottle vibrating on Paul’s amp. “It still gives you the fear when it comes.”

4. “Good Night” Of all the alternate takes, “Good Night” is the one that will leave most listeners baffled why this wasn’t the version that made the album. Instead of lush strings, it has John’s finger-picking guitar and the whole group harmonizing on the “good night, sleep tight” chorus. It’s rare to hear all four singing together at this stage, and it’s breathtaking in its warmth. “I do prefer this version to the record,” Martin admits. (He won’t be the last to say this.)

John plays the same guitar pattern as “Dear Prudence” and “Julia.” That’s one of the distinctive sonic features of the White Album—the Beatles had their acoustic chops in peak condition, since there had been nothing else to do for kicks in Rishikesh. In India, their fellow pilgrim Donovan taught them the finger-picking style of London folkies like Davey Graham. “Donovan taught him this guitar part. John was like ‘great!,’ and then in classic Beatle style, went and wrote three songs using the same guitar part.”

The other “Good Night” takes are closer to the original’s cornball lullaby spirit. In one, Ringo croons over George Martin’s spare piano; in another, he does a spoken-word introduction. “Come on now, put all those toys away—it’s time to jump into bed. Go off into dreamland. Yes, Daddy will sing a song for you.” By the end, he quips, “Ringo’s gone a bit crazy.”

5. “Helter Skelter” This Paul song inspired endless studio jams, lurching into proto-headbang noise—they started it the day after the Yellow Submarine premiere, so maybe they just craved the opposite extreme. This take is 13 minutes of primal thud—remarkably close to Black Sabbath, around the time Sabbath were still in Birmingham inventing their sound.

6. “Blackbird” Paul plays around with the song—“Dark black, dark black, dark black night”—trying to nail the vibe. It isn’t there yet. He tells George Martin, “See, if we’re ever to reach it, I’ll be able to tell you when I’ve just done it. It just needs forgetting about it. It’s a decision which voice to use.” He thinks his way through the song, his then-girlfriend Francie audible in the background. “It’s all in his timing,” Martin says. “There’s two separate things, a great guitarist and a great singer—he’s managed to disconnect and put them back together. He’s trying to work out where they meet.”

7. “Dear Prudence” Of all the Esher demos, “Dear Prudence” might be the one that best shows off their rowdy humor. John ends his childlike reverie by cracking up his bandmates, narrating the tale of Prudence Farrow that inspired the song. “A meditation course in Rishikesh, India,” he declares. “She was to go completely berserk under the care of the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi. Everybody around was very worried about the girl, because she was going insaaaane. So we sang to her.”

8. “While My Guitar Gently Weeps” There’s an early acoustic demo, but Take 27, recorded over a month later, rocks harder than the album version—John on organ, Paul on piano, lead guitar from special guest Eric Clapton. (George invited his friend to come play, partly because he knew the others would behave themselves around Clapton.) The groove only falls part when George tries to hit a Smokey Robinson-style high note and totally flubs it. “It’s okay,” George says. “I tried to do a Smokey, and I just aren’t Smokey.”

9. “Hey Jude” Recorded in the midst of the sessions, but planned for a one-off single, Paul’s ballad is still in raw shape, but even in this first take, it’s already designed as a 7-minute epic, with Paul singing the na-na-na outro himself. Another gem on this box: an early attempt at “Let It Be,” with Paul’s original lyric showing his explicit link to American R&B: “When I find myself in times of trouble / Brother Malcolm comes to me.”

10. “Child of Nature” Another treasure from Esher. “Child of Nature” is a gentle ballad John wrote about the retreat to India: “On the road to Rishikesh / I was dreaming more or less.” He scrapped it for the album, but dug it back out a few years later, wrote new words, and turned it into one of his most famous solo tunes: “Jealous Guy.”

11. “JULIA” One of John’s most intimate confessions—the only Beatle track where he’s performing all by himself. You can hear his nerves as he sits with his guitar and asks George Martin, in a jokey Scouse accent, “Is it better standing up, do you think? It’s very hard to sing this, you know.” The producer reassures him. “It’s a very hard song, John.” “‘Julia’ was one of my dad’s favorites,” Giles says. “When I began playing guitar in my teens, he told me to learn that one.”

12. “Can You Take Me Back?” The snippet on Side Four that serves as an eerie transition into the abstract sound-collage chaos of “Revolution 9.” Paul toys with it for a couple of minutes, trying to flesh it out into a bit of country blues—“I ain’t happy here, my honey, are you happy here?”

13. “Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da” Paul spent a week driving the band through this ditty, until John finally stormed out of the studio. He returned a few hours later, stoned out of his mind, then banged on the piano in a rage, coming up with the jingle-jangle intro that gets the riff going. This early version is pleasant but overly smooth—it shows why the song really did need that nasty edge. A perfect example of the Beatle collaborative spirit: John might loathe the song, Paul might resent John’s sabotage, but both care too deeply about the music not to get it right.

14. “Sour Milk Sea” A great George highlight from the Esher tapes—“Sour Milk Sea” didn’t make the cut for the album, but he gave it to Liverpool pal Jackie Lomax who scored a one-shot hit with it. (It definitely deserved to rank ahead of “Piggies,” which remains the weakest track on any version of this album.) “Not Guilty” and “Circles” are other George demos that fell into limbo—“Not Guilty” sounds ready to go at Esher, yet in the studio, it was doomed to over a hundred fruitless takes.

15. “Happiness Is a Warm Gun” A tricky experiment they learned together in the studio, with John toying with the structure and his mock doo-wop falsetto. “Is anybody finding it easier?” he asks. “It seems a little easier—it’s just no fun, but it’s easier.” George pipes in. “Easier and fun.” John replies, “Oh, all right, if you insist.” It’s a moment that sums up all the surprising discoveries on this White Album edition: a moment where the Beatles find themselves at the edge of the unknown, with no one to count on except each other. But that’s when they inspire each other to charge ahead and greet the brand new day.

#john lennon #paul mccartney #george harrison #ringo starr #giles martin #yoko ono #george martin #eric clapton #the white album #esher demos #i disagree about piggies but anyway...#the beatles #1968 #rishikesh

37 notes · View notes