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dreamypeaches · 4 years

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run, baby, run | jj maybank x reader

request: @drewsephsmiles asked: an imagine where reader and jj sneak into midsummers under a different name, and he finally confessing his feelings as you guys are running away??

summary: angry at your friends for spending the night on the dark side without, you and jj decide to crash midsummers, only to grow closer throughout the night.

warnings: alcohol use, cursing, ward cameron

word count: 3.2k

a/n: this made me so happy while writing it. it’s just a bunch of fluff and dorky jj. also, lmk if you notice the parks and rec reference in here. i think it’s pretty obvious lol. enjoy :)

You and JJ had been abandoned. Thrown to the wayside in favor of some Kook party. And not just any Kook party, but Midsummers, the Kookiest event of the year. To be fair to your friends, none of them wanted to be there either. Pope had to work with his dad, Kiara was forced by her parents, and John B was Sarah’s date. Usually, you would have attended as Kie’s date, keeping her company while the two of you got drunk off expensive champagne. But, since John B was attending this year, you didn’t want to leave JJ all alone. So now you found yourself in the least Kook place in the Outer Banks: lounging on the couch on the porch of the Chateau, smoking with JJ while complaining about your friends going to the dark side.

“Did you see John B is his monkey suit? He looked ridiculous. Sarah’s got him whipped for sure,” JJ noted, referencing the suit Sarah had picked out for his best friend for Midsummers. The moment John B had emerged from his room wearing a dark blue suit and a pair of fancy loafers, JJ couldn’t help but go off on the boy.

“Leave him alone, he’s in love,” You said emphasizing your words with a fake dreamy voice, “Besides, we both know your ultimate dream in life is to go Full Kook.”

“Yeah, well, doesn’t mean I’m not allowed to complain about it now. I mean, that suit probably cost more than my whole life, and Sarah just bought it like it was nothing.”

“You should see her closet. She’s got shit in there that could pay my parent’s mortgage five times over.”

JJ passed the joint you and you took a hit, mind wandering to Sarah’s closet full of beautiful party dresses. JJ sighed and flipped around so his head rested in your lap. Your fingers instantly went to his blonde locks, running through them lazily.

“If I went full Kook, I would buy a suit for every day of the week. No, every day of the month, plus one to sleep in. That’s what I want, so much money that I can sleep in a suit and not even think about it. If I fuck it up, oh well, I’ll just go buy a new one.”

You giggled at JJ, looking down at him as you passed him the joint. His red, hooded eyes met your own, just as glazed as his. For a moment, you were thankful that your friends were all stuck at Midsummers. You cherished moments like this, where it was just you and JJ. You had been friends with him and John B as long as you could remember, the three of you sharing a third grade class. The three of you were thick as thieves. You thought of John B as a brother. JJ, on the other hand, was something else entirely. He was your person, always there by your side. He could read you like no one else could, and you understood him just the same. That’s why you loved spending time alone with JJ. Neither of you had to be anyone else but yourselves. Sure, you could do that with the Pogues, but with you and JJ it was just different.

You’d really started to notice the difference lately. You noticed it in the way he looked at you, in the way his touch would linger on your skin, the way your heart skipped when he laughed and they way your stomach flutter when he sat close to you, like he was doing now.

Looking down at your best friend, observing his lazy smile and the way his hair felt against your fingers, you could safely say you were in love with JJ Maybank. And you were okay with that. You were also okay with never telling him your feelings, because you couldn’t risk losing him. Even if it was only as friends, you wanted to keep JJ by your side for the rest of your life.

You were pulled out of your thoughts by JJ booping you on the nose after handing you the joint, small giggles escaping his lips.

“Whatcha thinking about, sunshine?” He asked. You took a hit to avoid answering for a moment, mind racing to come up with something.

“Just imagining myself as a Kook at Midsummers right now. As much as I complain about it, I actually love getting all dressed up and getting shitfaced with Kie.” You said, Midsummers being the first thing that came to your mind. JJ suddenly shot up from his place on your lap, almost knocking your head with his own in the process. He spun around so he was facing you, a mischievous glint in his eyes.

“Then let’s fucking do it!” He said. You furrowed your eyebrows at the blonde boy.

“Do what? Go to Midsummers? JJ, how will we-”

“Sarah got John B an extra suit, just in case she hated the way the other one looked on him. And I’m sure Kie wouldn’t mind if you borrowed one of her dresses, it’s not like she uses them anyway.”

You opened your mouth, ready to question every aspect of his plan, when JJ jumped to his feet and stopped you. He positioned himself so he was standing obscenely straight, a studious look on his face.

“Ms. Y/L/N, would you do me the pleasure of allowing me to escort you to Midsummers this evening?” He said in a terrible fancy voice. He extended his hand towards you expectantly. You looked at his hand then up at his face. His gaze was soft as he looked at him, wiggling his eyebrows at you as he waited for your response. After a few moments of thinking over everything that could go wrong, you looked at him again, and remembered, this was JJ Maybank. You would walk through Hell for him. The only differences between Midsummers and Hell was free booze and food.

You gently placed your hand in his, meeting his eyes and smiled.

“It would be my honor.”

After stealing the extra suit from John B’s room, sneaking into Kiara’s house to pick out a dress (you knew where she hid the spare key), and quickly doing you make up in the car, you and JJ parked outside of Kook country club where Midsummers was taking place.

“So what’s the plan?” You asked. JJ just looked at you.

“What do you mean?”

You stared at him incredulously, throwing your arms in the air.

“What do you mean “what do you mean”? What is your plan for sneaking into the most prestigious Kook event in the Outer Banks?”

“When have I ever had a plan?”

You glared at him for a moment, before rolling your eyes and stepping out the car. He met you on your side of the car, positioning his arm for you to hold onto.

“If we get caught, I’m telling them you kidnapped me.”

JJ chuckled and started leading you towards the door.

“Don’t worry, sunshine, we’ll be fine. Just follow my lead.”

You sighed and shook your head, too used to JJ’s antics to truly be worried.

When you were a few feet from the door, JJ leaned down till his lips were close to your ear.

“By the way, you look beautiful, sunshine.”

You turned your head away from him, trying to hide the smile that was stuck on your face.

A man stood in front of the door into the country club, blocking the way. He looked the pair of you up and down as you approached, picking every detail that set you and JJ apart from the Kooks. Despite dressing the part, you two didn’t hold yourselves the same way the Kooks did.

“I’m sorry, but the club is closed for a private event,” The man said with a look that said “sorry, not sorry.”

“Oh, we’re well aware. We’re here to attend. Sorry, we’re running late, you know how women can be with their make-up,” JJ said, motioning to you. You lightly elbowed him while continuing to smile politely at the man.

“I understand, sir, but…the event is at capacity. Maybe next year!” He said, giving you a snide smile. You glared at the man while JJ removed himself from your grasp.

“Excuse me, do you know who I am? My name is Charles Cameron, and I don’t think my uncle, Ward Cameron, would be very happy if his favorite nephew didn’t make it to his party. Especially a nephew who is visiting on his honeymoon and wants to show his wife the absolute best the Outer Banks has to offer.”

You felt your cheeks heat up as he referred to you as his wife. But you didn’t have time to dwell on it as the man opened the door quickly. The look on his face made it clear he didn’t want to take the chance of facing the wrath of Ward Cameron. JJ looped his arm with yours once again and led you inside, giving you a wink and a smirk after thanking the doorman.

“Wow you really unleashed your inner Karen back there, Charles,” You laughed.

“Nah, it was more of my inner Gretchen Wieners. I’m so glad you made me watch that movie last week. I went all my father, the inventor of toaster strudel on his ass,” JJ said, putting on his best teen girl voice.

“I think we need sign you up for acting classes, you’re a natural!”

“Classes? Nah, sunshine. The master doesn’t take classes, he teaches them.”

You threw your head back in laughter as he pulled you to the open bar. The pair of you ordered the fanciest and most expensive drink you could think of, trying your best to blend in with the Kooks surrounding you.

Sipping on your disgustingly expensive drinks, you moved through the crowd. You spotted John B and Sarah at he edge of the dance floor and led JJ toward them.

“What the hell are you doing here? Is that my suit?” John B questioned.

“It’s not like you were gonna wear it. Anyways, Y/N and I were no pissed that you guys abandoned us for this Kookfest, we decided to come crash your party. Free booze, dancing, the chance to fuck with some Kooks, it’s one hell of a honeymoon.”

He wrapped an arm around your waist and pulled you closer, giving John B an exaggerated smile.

“Honeymoon?” Sarah questioned, raising her eyebrows and giving you a sly smirk.

“Yup. Oh, and, by the way, if anyone asks, I’m your favorite cousin Charles. Okay, we’re gonna go find Kie. See you love birds later.” He led you away from the dance floor, but you didn’t miss Sarah mouth we’ll talk later at you.

Sarah was the one to help you realize your feelings for JJ. When she had first started dating John B, she has assume the two of you were dating. When she asked you about, you were disgusted. After asking her to elaborate as to why she believed you were dating your best friend, it became less and less disgusting. Suddenly, you realized that you very much wanted to date your best friend. That had been three years ago. Ever since, Sarah was constantly pestering you about telling JJ how you feel. She would always mention things that proved JJ felt the same way. From the way he looked at you, how protective he was of you, how he got jealous when anyone was even remotely interested in you. But no matter how much Sarah pointed out to you, you could never believe that JJ would want to be anything but friends.

The pair of you wandered around Midsummers. You eventually found Kie, who had escaped the center of the party by hiding by the grill with Pope. After complimenting your dress, then realizing it was her own, you were forced to explain how you kinda, sorta broke into her house. You and JJ escaped her wrath quickly, running to the other end of the party. You spent the next hour wandering around, drinking champagne and making shitty small talk with the Kooks who always found ways to rope you into conversations. JJ had somehow convinced a lady that the both of you were very wealthy entrepreneurs on the look out for new companies to invest in.

“So, you do a lot of investing?” The lady, you think he name was Eleanor, asked.

“We like to dabble. I recently invested in some shirts I got a garage sale. Left those at Wendy’s on the way home, so,” JJ raised his glass towards the women, giving her a serious look, “the economy.”

You both let out the fakest rich laughs you could, causing the women to step away from you quickly. Your fake laughs turned into real giggles at the look the lady’s face. You walked father away from the crowd learning against a wall near the edge of the party.

“Who knew Midsummers could be so fun,” You remarked, grinning at JJ. He smiled back, bumping shoulders with you. You dissolved into a comfortable silence, observing the party moving in front of you. You glanced toward the front of the club and noticed the doorman from watching you and JJ.

“JJ!” You tapped the boys shoulder and nodded toward the man. He looked at him quickly before looking back at you.

“I think it’s time for an acting lesson. Lesson one, method acting,” JJ said. He leaned forward, placing a hand on your cheek. For a second, it seems like his lips are heading straight for yours. You stomach flips as he gets closer. But he suddenly changes course, his lips landing on your cheek.

“I don’t think that’s what method acting is,” You said.

“It’s my method of acting,” He whispered in your ear, sending a shiver down your spine. He quickly pulled away, going back to leaning against the wall. You gave yourself a moment to calm your racing heart before looking back towards the doorman. He was no longer watching the pair of you, thankfully. You returned your attention towards the party, trying to ignore the tingle on your cheek where his lips has touched.

Your head perked up as the music changed, the band playing Dream a Little Dream of Me. You let out a content sigh.

“I love this song,” You said. JJ gazed at you, taking in the peaceful look on your beautiful face. He slowly took your hand in his and brought it up to his lips. He placed a gentle kiss on your knuckles as he met your eyes. Your breath caught in your throat at the intensity of his gaze and practically swooned at the tone of his voice has he quietly spoke.

“Sunshine, would you like to dance?”

You could only nod, smiling at the boy as he led you to the dance floor. Your hands stayed clasped together, while your other hand rested on his shoulder. His hand landed dangerously low on your hip, gripping it and pulling you close. Your face was only about a foot from his, breath mingling as you swayed to the music.

“You look beautiful tonight,” He whispered.

“You already said that,” You whispered back.

“And I’ll say it again.” He grinned at you, pulling away to give you space to twirl before pulling you back in, closer than before.

“God, you deserve this. Not having to worry about a thing. Getting to wear beautiful dresses and go to glamorous parties. Why do people like Rafe Cameron, the living equivalent of trash, get to enjoy this shit while you, a literal goddess among women, gets stuck on the Cut with trash like me.” He glanced down has he spoke, refusing to meet your eyes. You placed your hand under his chin, lifting it to look at you.

“I’m glad this wasn’t my life. Because if I was stuck on Figure 8 I never would have had met you. I’m glad I’m stuck on the Cut, because I get to stuck with the coolest people I know. Even now, if I were given the chance to go Full Kook, I wouldn’t go anywhere unless you were with me.”

JJ looked at you, mouth agape. Your hand moved from his chin to his cheek. You started to move in, as did JJ, breath picking up the closer you got. Suddenly, a hand slammed onto JJ’s shoulder, making both of freeze.

“Enjoying your honeymoon, nephew?” Ward Cameron spoke from behind JJ. JJ looked in your eyes and smirked.

“Well honey, looks like we’re heading home early.”

Out of the corner of your eye, you saw a few security guards making their way towards you. JJ gripped your hand and began running off the dance floor. You ran with him, laughing as he antagonized the security guards chasing after you. You kicked off your shoes as you ran, making a note in your head to apologize to Kie later. The two of you weaved through the crowd, running down the beach and into a grouping of trees. JJ suddenly pulled you to the side pressing you up against a tree. You could hear the the security guards talking at the edge of the woods.

“Just make sure they don’t make it back in.” One of them said, before walking away. You barely paid attention to the security guards, though, too busy staring into JJ’s eyes. You both were breathing heavily after your daring escape. JJ’s hair was a mess, falling into his eyes. He licked his lips, eyes moving from your eyes to your mouth. You reached up to brush his hair back. Hi hand caught your wrist, pulling you closer to him before his hands wrapped around your waist. His lips crashed onto yours hungrily. You kissed him back with equal fervor, hands tangling in his hair and forcing his head closer. He tasted sweet and bubbly like the champagne you had consumed the night. He tasted like the stars, beautiful and sparkling and like a dream.

When you finally parted to catch your breath. His hand move up to your face, cupping your cheeks.

“I love you, Y/N. It may be selfish, but I’m so glad you got stuck on the Cut with me. Being around you makes me feel like I can be anything and that I don’t belong dead in a ditch somewhere. And for so long I thought I could handle just being friends, but I can’t fucking do it anymore. I want kiss you and hold you and make you feel good!You are my fucking sunshine and I want to give you everything you deserve. I may not be able to give it to you now, but, if you’ll let me, I will stop at nothing to give you everything.”

You were frozen. Tears were gather at the corner of your eyes as you took in his words. One of your hands moved to cover JJ’s on your cheek. You gave him a watery grin.

“JJ, you’re here in front of me. I already have everything.”

He smiled and captured your lips once again, silently thanking the universe for putting you in his life.

#jj maybank x reader #jj maybank #jj maybank fic #jj maybank fluff #obx fic #my writing

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purrsonaimagines · 3 years

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Face the Music - [ Akira Kurusu x Reader ]

prompt: The Phantom Thieves flee a rather difficult Palace early, but some sacrifices are made.

How could have happened so fast?

You were infultrating a palace of a pop-star in Japan, who manipulated those beneath her to ruin lives of other threatening her career. Though her palace seemed dainty and soft... It was difficult to manuver.

“Joker! What do we do?” Panther asked in a scared voice.

“I don’t think anyone else can take anymore danage...” She continued, glancing to where her friends were. They were all beaten and tired, trying their best to push through alongside their leader.

“We need to get out of here..” Joker replied with a determined nod, glancing over to everyone.

“You guys! We need to run!” He yelled, causing everyone to look up in surprise. Though as they overcame that, they all started to group up and fend off the smaller shadows as they began to retrace their steps.

“[CodeName]! How’re you holding up?” Joker asked, turning to your faltering form behind the running group. He tried his best to mask his concern, but you saw it seep through him like he was an open book.

“Could be better.” You replied with a smile, “But I’m gonna pull through. No sense in becoming dead weight now.” You chuckled weakly, clasping a hand over your aching side before forcefully picking up your pace to get to the front of the group.

Joker watched carefully before shaking off the ill feeling in his gut, also picking up his pace. Though suddenly, a heavy rumble in the palace caused a few thieves to lose their step. A few stumbled into something, and other fell. Though you stood up alone, looking at you weakened team mated in concern.

“W-What was that?” Ryuji stuttered out, his breaths labored as you all turned behind you in sync.

A large shadow figure was scrambling over, letting out a demonic yell. It’s body was deformes, and on all sides were heads of people’s careers who were ruined by this woman. Your heart sunk as you urgently turned to everyone on the floor, some still recovering.

“Go! Go!” You urged in a shout, helping Ann up before pressing them to run again.

You followed suit, taking quick strides as adrenaline now fueled you. You looked back, only to have your eyes widen once you noticed the creature getting closer. Hope filled your heart as you all sprinted towards the wide double doors, breathing heavy in uneven puffs.

Suddenly it let out another yell, and before you knew it something flew past you and into the wall. As you shielded yourself from debris, you couldn’t help but joticed the steaming residue on the burn mark on the wall. Your eyes widened as you kept your gaze focused on the monster. Though suddenly it let out the same noise, and this time it sent a ball hurdling towards Joker.

“Joker!” You bellowed pushing him forwards, sending him in between Ryuji and Yusuke.

You yelped once the shot met your shoulder, grazing it and leaving a sizzling burn. You fought the urge to clutch it with your dirtied glove, sucking in a breath as you struggled to stand your ground.

“[CodeName]! Let’s go—!”

Your breath was sucked from your lungs when something latched onto you, causing your to freeze up. Your widened eyes met Joker’s for a split second, catching their flash of fear, before you were sucked back towards the beast. You screamed in pain at the collision of your shoulder, the shadows of the beast curling and twisting around you.

Your shoulder ached as it slowly began to pull you into it’s shadowy abyss, leaving your hand outstretched for Joker. You hopelessly stared at everyone as they stood quietly, unsure of what to do. You panicked before grabbing your weapon, hitting the creature with it harsh. It let out a yell and suddenly you fell out of it’s flesh and onto the ground. You let out a grunt, and you hardly registered the hands on you, helping you up to keep going.

Your body entirely ached, as you hobbled to the door. You ducked as another shot flew towards you, gliding over your heads and into the door. Just as you reached the exit, Morgana became your getaway, and you all hurriedly climbed in. You couldn’t help but notice the shadow monster scurrying away now, just as You got into the van, your body hitting the seat.

“Holy fuckin’ shit!” Ryuji exclaimed, noticing your shoulder.

Your head weakly turned to it, only for you to let out a choked gasp at what you saw. The skin was dirty and caked with blood, along with the skin being burned harshly from the heat of the attack.

“You’re bleeding!” Haru exclaimed in concern, her eyes wide in shock.

“Jus’ a burn..” You slurred out tiredly, your head lolling onto Akira’s shoulder.

“We need to patch that up.” Makoto advised, scanning your wound.

“Mhm... I’l.. I’ll patch..” You mumbled, eyes fluttering open as you leaned forward for any medical supplies, but Akira’s hand stopped you.

“Rest. Please..” He pleaded with soft eyes, watching your weak gaze shift from his sincere gaze to the front.

You nodded slowly and shifted against the seat, your head falling into his lap. Soon enough you drifted off into sleep, calm consuming the car.

“She took a hit for ya.” Ryuji mumbled, elbowing the boy beside you.

“I know that.” Akira hissed, watching as Ryuji finched.

“S-Sorry.. It’s just nerve-wracking. I didn’t think that.. That we’d have to retreat, and I especially didn’t think she’d do that. Especially when she was already hurting...” Akira admitted softly, brushing a hand through your messy hair.

“Love makes you do crazy things..” Ryuji shrugged, looking out the window.

That was one thing Akira heard and agreed with all night.

— —

You groaned in discomfort against the creaky mattress, a damiliar scent hitting your nose. You opened your eyes slowly, relief filling you at rhe dark room, the only thing you saw was a desk lamp.

Your eyes followed and you saw Akira hunched over in his chair, soft snores escaping his lips. A small smile net your lips as you began to push yourself up, but a sharp pain in your shoulder made you gasp and loose your grip on the bed.

Your head shot over to Akira who suddenly shot up with a snort, his head darting directly at you. You both stared with wide yues, before he reached up to rub his and stand.

“You’re okay..” He breathed out in relief, hurriedly stepping over to where you sat.

“Yeah, I am.. Just.. My should is killing me..” You said with a chuckle, looking down at the wrapped wound.

Akira stared too, but remained silent. He cracked no smile, he just.. Stood. He was observing you, after being together for a while you’d know this. You sighed and reached out for his hands, holding the frigid appendages in your own.

“Whats on your mind, babe?” You mumbled, scooching back to let him sit down with you.

A pang of guilt passed his stare as he sat down beside you, a heavy breath leaving his nose.

“I.. I caused this.” Akira voiced, looking down.

“What.. Honey, no you didn’t—“

“But I did.. I was reckless, and I didn’t think ahead. I shouldn’t have let a member of the Phantom Thieves get hurt so easily when—“

“Akira Kurusu. Stop scolding yoursef, I mean it.” You growled out, swatting his shoulder lightly.

“I chose to take that shot, Akira. An besides.. It hardly even hurts anymore. I bet it’s just a scratch now.. It happened in Mementos, didn’t it? So that means-“

“It doesn’t matter where you got hury.. You still got hurt..”

“Akira..” You sighed taking his hand lightly.

“People get hurt doing what we do.. It’s something we accepted when becoming Phantom Thieves. I knew the risk when I took that hot. I made the choice, not you.” You explained in a motherly tone, reaching up to brush a hand through his hair.

“But you shouldn’t risk your life.. Not for me..”

“Akira.. You can’t always protect everyone. You can’t burden yourself always about other people...”

“Then what good am I?!” He said in a eaised fone, whipping his stare to you to reveal hos tears.

��W-What good am I...? If.. If I just c-cause more pain..” Akira whispered with a soft cry, causing you to frown and take him in your arms.

You pressed his head into your shoulder, rubbing soothing motions into his back as you held him tight.

“Akira.. Sometime, it has to be about you. Other people do not determine you and your worth. Do not limit yourself to those around you.”

“Now I want you to stop blaming yoursef for my short comings. It was stupid, I know. But would you do the same?”

“Yes, of course I would.” He answered softly.

“Would you want me to blame myself?”

“No..”

“Then that’s how I feel. And.. This stuff takes time. Learning your sef worth, and understanding yoursef.. But, I trust that it’ll happen. In due time, of course.”

“I know...I know..” He whispered, a sob racking his body as he grabbed onto you tighter.

“I-In the van.. You fell asleep, and I was.. So..S-So scared that I lost you.. T-That you were going to leave me. T-That because of that one moment, y-you weren’t.. I thought...”

Akira’s voice grew overgrown by sobs, causing you to whisper lovingly into his ear as you rocked him side to side delicately.

“Akira.. I promise. They’ll have to completey tear me to shreds before I leave you, understand?”

“Mhm...”

“Good.. Now let’s get back to bed, okay? In the morning I’ll make us some coffee.”

Despite his tears, Akira couldn’t help but laugh.

“You’re terrible at making coffee.” He croaked, shaking his head.

“Well then we can make it together. babe.. Let’s just head to bed, alright?”

“Okay.. Goodnight.. I love you..”

You both settled down before you lightly pressed a kiss to the back of his neck, a smjle growing on your lips.

“I love you too, Akira Kurusu.”

#akira kurusu x reader #akira kusuru #ren amamiya #ren amamiya x reader #persona 5 #persona #persona fanfiction #persona fandom #personafic #xreader #persona imagines #persona oneshots #persona 5 oneshots #persona 5 imagines

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wickedsrest-rp-archive · 3 years

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New Year’s Mischief || Group Chatzy

Timing: New Year’s Eve Night Summary: Don’t trust balloons or mimes or hanyo Warnings: Sauce

The Common was alit. There was no evidence of the chaos that had befallen the Christmas market not that long ago, although a fire engine and ambulance are parked nearby. Instead, stalls were lit up in every colour imaginable, offering hot meals and hot drinks, even the occasional alcoholic drink. Sparklers and popping toys were being sold alongside glow sticks and neon jewellery. There was even a stall run by mimes which charged you three dollars to stick your hand into a strange box which may contain prizes. This was particularly popular. Further on, there were a couple men in plain brown suits at a stall with mysterious stains on it. The men were making the most incredible balloon sculptures, more detailed than any balloon sculpture had any right to be. Beside them was a sign that read “WARNING: DO NOT POP BALLOONS”. Aunt Jolene, however, who ran the brownie stall, claimed she’d popped hers and found a check for a thousand dollars in hers. It was a beautiful, lively evening, ready to ring in the new year, as if the black ocean, eye sun, sandman and all else could be left in this one.

Nora insisted that her and Remmy had to be the first at the Mime event. Remmy may have told Nora that it wasn't a complete mime event, but Nora wasn't hearing any of it. If anyone was going to watch the silent ball drop, it was going to be Nora. As they approached the commons, Nora was craning her neck wondering if Marie-Jeanne was going to grace them with her presence. Nora was a big fan of her.

Dakota had heard about what was happening at The Common through a few people at work—excited chatter between coworkers grabbing a cup of stale coffee before returning to their desks, or their offices, or their labs. Originally, she hadn’t been planning on showing up because New Year’s Eve happened to be the busiest night of year for most people at the precinct. For Dakota, the disasters usually followed a few days after, because that’s when you found the bodies. But tonight she was feeling more adventurous than she’d had in weeks—mainly due to the fact that she was bored, but she had also never been to The Common, why not check it out? So, she showed up. There was a bit of commotion concerning someone popping a balloon and finding money, but she decided to spend a bit of cash and grab a cup of hot chocolate and watch the events unfold, much like a wallflower would do.

Ally debated the whole day as to whether to or not she would be in attendance at the ball drop. She could’ve sat in the office all night, waiting for the calls that would inevitably come in the closer that they got to midnight, or she could get dressed up and be on call at the party. Every time she decided she wasn’t going and took off her dress she remembered what Christmas alone felt like, and she sure as hell didn’t want that again. So eventually she got herself into her car and drove to The Common. Best case scenario, she made a new friend, worst case scenario she wasted a few hours. When she arrived she walked around, looking at all the activities and nervously staying far away from the mimes, especially after what Regan had told her.

After the kitchen incident with Nadia, Arthur really hadn't been planning to leave the house. But it was New Year's Eve, and whenever the mimes were out in force he couldn't entirely control the morbid curiosity to witness them. The issue he had presently was trying to get his wallet out to pay for a hot chocolate with one arm presently held in a sling and cast. "Ah shoot" he muttered as he dropped the wallet on the floor crouching down to grab it and glancing over to a lady who was also stood nearby. "Sorry- Could- Would you mind helping me?"

Being first to the ball drop hadn’t been important to Remmy, but it was to Nora, and so they’d donned their nicest clothes that weren’t packed, and had headed out before the sun was even beginning to set with Nora. They noticed her looking around for someone and raised a brow. “Who are you looking for?” they asked, casting a glance around as well, seeing if they could spot anyone they recognized as well. Wondered if Luce might show, wondered if they’d want to see her, even. They rubbed the back of their head as they walked along. “What do you wanna do first? Looks like there’s some sort of carnival game stuff. Wanna check that out?

This was the last place Kaden wanted to be. Ringing in the New Years surrounded by goddamn mimes. He was going to be at home with his dog and some wine and cheese. It was going to be simple. But no. Nor was going to steal a fucking ball from the ball drop. And he had a feeling he had to be there to either stop her or help her. He wasn’t sure which right now. Either way, he had a flask on hand. He didn’t know what he needed but he knew he needed that. When he saw Nora he waved. She could call the shots. And she was hanging out with that other hunter, Remmy. Interesting. “Hey,” he said with a nod.

"Marie-Jeanne." Nora answered without explanation. Nora cracked her neck. It hurt after so much craning. "I gotta go steal the ball before it drops. Will you be good?" Nora asked. Nora wasn't sure Remmy would want to help. Nora had met them whilst they were working security and the conversation about thieving public displays of new year bringing. Just then Kaden showed up. "Good." Nora gave him an approving nod. She thought he'd be too chicken to show up. "Step one. Don't get seen by any mimes. Step two. Steal the ball. Got it?"

Never having been very good at dealing with the unknown, the moment Solomon learned that they were warned to not pop the balloons, the ache to rip them all to bits was almost overwhelming. He was perched on a bench, his attention flicking between that stall and the one with the mimes and mystery box, trying to decide which one would be more satisfying to wreck. The fact that he was surrounded by people, something that would normally make him extremely antsy, was completely overshadowed by the need to reveal whatever those men in the suits were hiding. In what he thought was a sly manner (but probably wasn’t), Solomon sidled his way toward the balloon stand, still eyeballing the creations as they were whipped together at record speed and handed off to their buyers. As one of them passed hands from the artist to the commissioner, Solomon made a quick gesture with one hand, sending a couple thorns hurtling from his fingertips and bursting the thing right in the woman’s face. The delighted laugh was barely muffled as he relished the loud sound (which had been unexpected) and sudden burst of glittery bits of... whatever it was that exploded in her face. Which of course drew attention to him, so he quickly turned tail and slipped off to find more people with those balloons.

“Steal the...ball?” Remmy asked, blinking. They looked around again, when a familiar voice piped in. It was Kaden, the guy from the cooking class that Remmy was pretty sure was another zombie. They wondered if Morgan knew him, hadn’t she mentioned him once? They smiled, waving back. “Hey-- oh,” glanced over at Nora again. “Uh, yeah, I’ll be good. Just try not to get into too much tro--” they paused, snapped their jaw shut, “never mind. Just don’t get yourself hurt, okay?” they said, sighing and shaking their head. But they were smiling.

Connor wasn't sure how long he was going to stay, mostly for the sake of his new companion, Nico. So far she'd seemed to be a well-adjusted and friendly dog, but he didn't want to put her in a situation that would be overwhelming, so was more than ready to head home early and have a quiet night instead. “Come on, girl,” he said, scratching behind her ear as they walked. So far, so good. He headed over to the common, looking around for someone he might recognize.

The celebration of the coming year was a strange, but pleasant thing. Kevin couldn’t quite recall the last year she had seen come and go. Glamor in place, she wandered about, making her way over to the stand with the mystery box. Such an enchanting idea… even if the people running it were clearly abominations. She was never one to leave much to chance, but there was a certain appeal to the surprise. Still, this was for the people of White Crest to enjoy, she was content to simply observe… at least for the moment.

“This is Hell. I’m dead - for real this time - and I’ve gone to Hell.” Mercy had a very deep hatred for mimes. Not humans playing at being mimes, but Mimes. Of the White Crest variety. The kind that had shot her and tried - see: very nearly succeeded - in murdering Arthur. Not to mention a slew of others. So while she waited on Arthur to come back from the hot chocolate line - Mercy had opted for beer, which she sipped thoughtfully from her perch on the back of one of the Common’s benches - she took in her surroundings, noting all the strangeness (both normal and suspicious in nature) and thinking that maybe the four knives and her pistol (for which she was properly permitted thanks much) that she currently had hidden on her person might not be enough if shit went sour. Which there was a fifty-fifty chance of. The sharp pop of a balloon caught her attention, and her gaze cut across the crowd, locking on an unfamiliar face that was quickly exiting the scene. “I’d be careful popping those,” Mercy said, hopping off her bench as the stranger passed by. “Some of them might not be so… sparkly.”

Savannah would have happily been at home with a bottle of wine, but she was trying, perhaps in vain, to be a little more social. Every time she went out into the world, something unexpected seemed to happen, and not all of them were welcomed. Still, anything this event and its mimes could offer had to be better than ringing in the New Year alone, right? She spotted a few people she knew, but opted to quietly observe for a while.

Kaden sighed deeply before bringing the flask to his lips and taking a swig. He held it out in case Nora or Remmy wanted any, too. “Lead the way.” This was a mistake. “You want to help? I feel like this is a terrible idea and could probably use more hands,” he asked Remmy.

If only Marley could’ve used the excuse of working the party to come, but as it were, she wasn’t allowed in the field anyway, but she sure as hell wanted to show up to what would likely be a disastrous event. If only for the free food. People around here either loved mimes or hated them, and with hate often came fear. Donning her glasses, she strolled into the Common with hands tucked in pockets, glancing around to see who else was going to show up to this place. Kept to the fringes of the crowd for now, spotting Kaden with two others, including that nuisance bugbear who kept bothering all the cops at the precinct. Solano was on the other side, idling around as awkwardly as Marley, as if trying to blend in, and over at one of the drink stations was Dakota. Marley made a mental note to stay far away from there for now. Maybe after a few shots of tequila she’d gather up enough courage to go over to her.

Remmy looked at the flask Kaden was holding out to them, then up to his face as he asked if they wanted to help. “Oh, uh-- n-no, that’s okay. I’ll just...I mean i guess I could keep an eye out to make sure ya’ll are good, but I’d rather not.”

All at once, there was a screech of violins. The college band fell silent as the mime band began to play real music, despite the apparent lack of real instruments. Even more unnervingly, the mime lead singer's lips did not move, but they sang with the exact vocal cords of the college band singer, who was clutching at his throat in distress.

Dakota hadn’t really been paying much attention to the guy with his arm in a sling—at least not until he dropped the damned thing and she was the closest person who could help in the least bit. “Shit, yeah,” she said. Dakota did sort of feel bad for him, crouching down like that, so she kneeled and grabbed his wallet, handing it back to him. “The hell happened to you arm?”

Nora took a large swig of the flask then grabbed Kaden by the arm to pull him behind a stall. Reaching into her coat she pulled out two berets and some face paint. "We need to get in disguise. Paint up." Nora started applying copious amounts of white face paint onto her already pale face. In retrospect, she should have brought a hand mirror. Oh well, much like this year, hindsight was 2020.

Slowing his roll as he heard someone speaking to him, Solomon whipped around to look at the woman, offering his best innocent shrug. “I don’t know what you meeeaan!” he lied, snickering all the while. “What else could they possibly stuff in there, bees?” There was a pause, and he raised his eyebrows. “Actually, that wouldn’t be a bad idea. Bad for the bees, though. I gotta free them!” He sucked in an unusually energetic breath, ready to take off again in pursuit of another target, but rattled to a stop before he’d even gotten started. “... Aren!” He waved both arms when he spotted his friend just a short distance off, beckoning him over. “Aren, come help me rescue some bees!”

Connor spotted the person with who had the giant fluffy dog that he'd seen at Nell's party, although no dog in tow this time. "Hey," he greeted. "Nice to see you again." The strange noise brought his attention over to the stage and he cocked his head curiously. "Oh. That's... normal."

Ally heard the screech of violins and spun around to look at the band. When she heard the sound coming from the mime band she scrunched her eyebrows trying to comprehend how sound was coming from the mimes. The stall nearest to her was selling drinks, and although alcohol certainly wasn’t going to explain what she just saw, she suddenly felt like she needed a drink. She downed it and leaned toward the person nearest to her, “Is this like a performance piece or something?” She whispered.

Savannah spotted Marley, but she didn't want to approach her given the last encounter they'd had. Probably better to talk in a one on one environment. She saw Kaden, and a couple of people from the station, one of whom she thought she remembered was called Alejandra. "A performance piece... that's one way of putting it," Savannah said, grateful she'd already grabbed a drink. "You're new here, right?"

As the woman handed back his wallet Arthur smiled awkwardly as he stood up, "thanks, sorry- I'm not normally this much of a clutz." He took the wallet back, awkwardly trying to fish a couple of dollar bills out to pay the disgruntled looking hot chocolatier. "Oh this? I was involved in an accident-" not the total truth, but near enough all things considered. Taking the bills he finally handed them over. “Sorry again- thanks.” Catching a figure waving in his periphery Arthur grinned and waved back "Hey Sol- Bees? What bees?"

Mercy tipped an eyebrow, unable to help her own amusement. “Bees would… be preferable actually,” she said. Before she could say anything else, he was going on about freeing said bees and Mercy was… thinking her night was getting just a little bit better. This could only end in glorious chaos. But it took a slightly unexpected turn when the stranger called to someone in the crowd… and used a name had never heard anyone else use. Not in a very, very long time. “You know, Arth- Aren?” Mercy said, grabbing one of the excited stranger’s flailing limbs. “There aren’t bees…” she told him. “No bees,” she said to Arthur as he approached. Mercy took a long sip of her beer. “Not yet at least.”

Was he drunk or did Nora just pull out fucking berets and facepaint? “No. I’m not doing that. You can’t make me. I’ll just put up my hood or something.” Kaden tugged it up and hoped that was enough. After being striped for about a week, there was no way in fucking hell he was putting on any more goddamn facepaint. “This way,” he said quietly as he led the past a few crowds of people and around some tables and decorations. They reached a group of “performers.” He sure as shit wasn’t going to work to blend in. He made a gesture that he’d just go around, but it was too late. One of the mimes grabbed his arm and then made a gesture, pulling their finger across their throat. Uhhh. He looked to Nora for help.

Ally nodded in agreement with what the woman next to her said. When she asked if she was new she turned toward her. “Right, yeah, I’ve seen you around the station. I’m Ally.” She said sticking her hand out. “Do they do this every year?”

"Savannah," she introduced herself. "Yeah, I consult on cases there sometimes. I'm FBI." Apparently the White Crest Police Department was just a bunch of attractive women and one weird Sergeant. "I wouldn't know, this is my first time here. I only came to town a little over six months ago. Still long enough to no longer be surprised by these things."

“The bees in the balloons!” Solomon bleated over Mercy’s attempts to stifle him, though the wind did seem to get sucked out of his sails after another brief moment of consideration. “Fine… but I still want to see what’s in them. “Yeah, yeah, we met, uh… a long time ago. Y’know.” He gave her a shrug, beaming at Arthur as he approached. “I’m breaking stuff, d’you want to help?” He glanced at Mercy, giving her a quick once over. Any friend of Aren’s was a friend of his. “You too!”

It was the fatal error of refusing to put makeup on that caused Kaden to get grabbed and noticed by the mimes. As the mimes made a slit throat gesture to Kaden, Nora, now a true mime, made the gesture of a tear rolling down her face. Deciding she'd better do her best to help her tall friend Nora decided to speak up for Kaden. The mime sequence was intended to say "I was chasing him, and he got away, then you caught him, and now I'll kick him out." In Nora's mind, she was convinced it looked brilliant. Truly she was a mime natural but to a person who could actually perceive Nora's actions, Nora looked like a flopping dead fish. Letting out an exasperated sigh, Nora summoned an illusioned mime bear to scare the mime and pull Kaden away in that moment of shock. Nora grabbed Kaden's arm and made a run for it.

Wandering over to his old friend Arthur's brow pinched in confusion as he looked over the crowd and realised what Solomon was referencing. Balloons. Oh right. "You're breaking stuff? That tracks..." his smile grew a tad devious as he glanced at Mercy and back to Solomon. "Do you need help with that?" As if to emphasise the point he glanced at the nearby balloon stand where a black balloon was in the process of being placed in the extended hands of a middle-aged woman. It didn't take too much focus to warm the air around it just enough to make it explode, sliming the recipient's hands in lumpy hanyo.

“Nice to meet you. Do all towns have a dedicated FBI agent or is it just this one on account of the…” Ally motioned to the mimes bizarre behavior. “Alright so six months until this is normal. Great. Another drink?” She suggested. She had moved across an ocean for a new start, and the new start was fucking weird. She heard a balloon pop and glanced over, watching what looked like mayonnaise cover a woman’s hands. “That’s going on the ‘not illegal but it should be’ list.”

What a curious thing, how the music changed, seemingly stolen away from the poor child trying his best. Best not to interfere. Kevin instead busied herself, walking over to the delightful bunch of balloons. Her eyes widened as one of them suddenly popped, a delighted smile curling onto her face as she drew near the strangers at the stand. “Ah, I thought the sign said not to pop them. How strange. Do they all have that… substance inside them, do you think?”

Jared was only there to support one of the mimes in the band. He was a regular at the restaurant in town and the nymph always tried his best to mime back with enthusiasm when he was ordering. It seemed to have won him some favour when he was slipped a flier for the event in the commons, the mime silently letting him know that they were to be there. And so there he was, miming clapping along to the supposed beat of the silent band, only to swap to real clapping when the band burst into sound.

Savannah snickered. White Crest's dedicated FBI Agent. That was a funny way of looking at things. She certainly felt like that, at times. Although she was beginning to get the feeling it wouldn't last much longer. "I came for one specific case, and found several more. Missing people, cults, a ridiculously large death toll for a town this side. What could be better?" she said, playfully sarcastic. "I like the accent," Savannah said. "England, right?"

“No, I didn’t.” Mercy didn’t seem to know a lot of things these days. Not that she expected to know everything about Arthur’s life here in town. But if this guy knew him as Aren… then he was old like they were. He had to be. Mercy thought at least something like that would be worth her knowing. Her mind drifted off to places she didn’t want it to be, places that held nothing but self-doubt and bitterness, but her new acquaintances excitement pulled her out of it. “Oh, you don’t want my help…” she huffed, glancing between Arthur and his mysterious friend as she finished off her drink. “Unless you like fire. Lots of fire.” Another balloon popped, this time at Arthur’s bidding, and Mercy shook her head. “And people say I’m a bad influence…” Though the air around her hummed slightly, sounding ironically… like bees.

Kaden wasn’t sure what the hell was going to happen. Or what Nora was trying to convey in what he assumed was mime gestures. It looked like a lot of flopping around. From the looks of it, the mimes weren’t convinced. Putain de merde, this was how they died. Or became striped again. He wasn’t sure which was worse. Before any of them could reveal extra teeth or stripes under stripes, a mime bear appeared and chased the mimes. Kaden was prepared to high tail it and run the opposite direction, but the actual bugbear pulled him away. He wasn’t sure where the fuck they were running, but he kept going. Straight into Marie-Jeanne. Putain de fucking merde.

Kevin let her attention wander, humming along to the music. It was a pleasant sound, but it was being stolen. So very rude. Well, two could play at that game. A twist of her fingers was all she needed. As the mime band continued on, their music seemed to spread. It spilled out of the mystery box and echoed from the balloons, sounding almost as if it was trapped inside. As the melody went on, it grew stranger, louder, almost as though it were at odds with itself. Impossible instruments joined in, a few discordant voices joining into the mix. Now this was what a party was supposed to sound like.

Looking absolutely thrilled as Arthur joined in on the balloon-bursting fun, Solomon tut-tutted at Mercy. “Come on, it’s not often you get to cause a little mischief and not worry about repercussions. Also no, not the biggest fan of fire, but… a little seems to work just fine,” he added with a grin. Extending his hand to the woman, he figured a proper introduction was in order. “I’m Solomon, by the way. Aren and I met back in the… gods, what was it?” He glanced to Arthur, cocking his head to the side. “1700?” Then he noticed the sound around them was changing, and made a face. “The hell is that?”

Ally sipped on the next drink she was handed, feeling a little more comfortable. “Cults?” She said, perking up. In London there had been a cult that she had suspected was actually just a clan of vampires. “I’ll have to look into that. At least it’s not boring.” She said simply, glancing back down at her drink. “Yes, yes I’m from London. And you?”

Marie-Jeanne grinned at Nora and Kaden, swivelling her hips salaciously. Unfortunately, she saw what they were going to do and that was ever so unacceptable. She peeled one of the stripes off her body to reveal more stripes underneath. She'd gotten ever so many more stripes since the last time they'd met. With the stripe of questionable material, she tried to tie the pair of them up.

Witnessing all these people seeming to run a muck made Dakota truly wonder why she had moved to White Crest in the first place. Sipping her hot chocolate, she did happen to see Marley, and she promptly choked on her drink and made a bee-line in the other direction, stumbling in to someone else’s conversation. Oh, wait… She’d seen this person before. FBI agent, right? “Uh, sorry, I heard there was commotion about bees.” She looked between the FBI agent and the other person she was speaking with, whom she had not the faintest idea of a name. “Sorry to interrupt. Are you guys talking about London?” Please be a normal conversation…

"Yeah, my colleague who worked here before he passed away was an expert in cults," Savannah said, as plainly as she might when talking about the weather. "I'm from Massachusetts," she said. "I was working at the Field Office in Boston for a few years prior to moving here. I'm sure the place will leave an impression..." She turned to the newest person who'd entered the conversation, someone from the crime lab. "Yeah," she said. "You been there?" She wrinkled her face in confusion. “Bees?”

“London? No, no. I do know there’s like, a big clock. And a ferris wheel. And I’m not sure what I heard, but there was definitely someone shouting about bees…” Yeah, Dakota, that’s why you tried to make yourself look busy. “Have you?”

"Big Ben and the London Eye," Savannah said, nodding. "Yeah, I went to a few places around the UK on my Honeymoon," she answered, but was quick to lift her drink to draw attention to her empty ring finger.

Nell had come to this event for one reason, and one reason only. To ruin as much of it as she could. The mimes thought they ruled this town, holding it under the tip of their striped thumbs, but in her mind they could stand to be brought down a few pegs or more. As she finally arrived, her eyes narrowed, nose scrunching at the cursed sound the band was emitting. Without a second thought she murmured a spell under her breath, snickering as the strings of the mime band’s violins snapped to slash back across the musicians faces in a light slap. Already in a much better mood, she made her way through the crowd looking for more opportunities to soil the mimes.

Ally made a mental note to ask Savannah about her colleague, interrupted by a new person in the conversation. “I mean, bees aren’t usually out in the winter. Have you seen any?” she asked, looking around. “Oh, well, I’m from there.” Ally explained. She looked at Savannah’s empty ring finger and nodded. “Ah, sorry.” she said awkwardly, unsure what to say.

“Oh, it’s fine,” Savannah answered. “It just means I’m single.”

Remmy was instantly relieved when they spotted Nell across the way, and started making their way to her. Picked up a drink on the way and watched out of the corner of their eye as Kade and Nora went off to do their mime shenanigans. The screeching of the new violins were lost on Remmy’s ears, and they smiled brightly as they found their way over to Nell, waving. “Hey! Nell!” they called out, “I didn’t think you were gonna come. I thought you hated mimes?”

Connor was grateful that someone else he knew had shown up; someone in a similar age range. It was weird when everyone around him was in their thirties or forties. "Nell!" He called, unaware of what she had just done to upset the mimes, waving her over. "Come meet Nico!" The Golden Retriever seemed all too happy to make a new friend.

"Oh! You haven't met? Mercy this is Solomon. Solomon this is Mercy now you know one another." Arthur would've clapped, except, he couldn't so he grinned instead looking between his compatriots tonight. "Oh come on," he nudged Mercy "let's be the chaos crew." Another balloon nearby popped and a plastic necklace dropped into the hands of a pleased looking little girl.

Dakota furrowed her brow, not exactly sure what had happened with Savannah and her ex. “Damn, was the honeymoon that bad?” she joked, then drew her attention to Ally. “Sorry, I totally butted in. I’m Dakota. And I heard London is nice. Except for when you’re having bad honeymoons, apparently.”

He heard a familiar laugh and turned to spot Remmy and Nell across the way. Jared gave a small smile to his mime pal in the band, giving them a thumbs up before heading over. Overhearing Remmy’s words he frowned, however. “Hate mimes? Why?”

Savannah rolled her eyes with a snicker. "No, the honeymoon was great. The marriage was just average," she said, shrugging. "No huge angst, no broken hearts. Just better off as acquaintances these days."

Nora was ready to book it over to the ball to steal it when the most beautiful person Nora had ever seen stepped in front of them. Of course, Nora had seen this person before but that didn't make her appearance any less breathtaking. Nora skidded to a stop, not willing to brush past Marie-Jeanne. It was with rapt attention Nora watched as Marie-Jeanne took off one of her many stripes. It was with no quarrel that Noar let Marie-Jeanne wrap her in the stripe. It was with a weird sense of belonging that she thanks Marie-Jeanne for tying her up. "Thanks." Nora let out. Of course, that came with complete forgetfulness of having been pretending to be a mime. Nora looked expectantly to Kaden, expecting him to get tied up as well.

“Oh, you fucking bet I hate mimes. That’s why I came to destroy everything they love,” Nell quickly replied to Remmy, her voice bright despite the doom promised in her words. “Why are you here?” There was, without a doubt, one thing that could momentarily turn her head from her current mime mission in life, and that was one singular golden dog that was approaching with Connor. “Nico?” Nell asked excitedly, already bending to pet the pup. “Since when do you have a dog?” Then she turned to Jared, confusion and judgement plain on her features. “Jared- you know I literally despise mimes.”

After several drinks, Marley finally felt confident enough to join the group without either accidentally feeding off someone or saying something stupid or rude. She made her way over to the group of people she recognized all together-- Savannah, Ally, Dakota. Only two out of three of them would be awkward to talk to, so that was a win. In most situations, they all would be. Grabbing another spiced eggnog, Marley headed over, pausing just short when the violins began screeching, turning to glance back over at them. Disaster one, she supposed. Opting to ignore it, she leaned against the table. “If we’re all here, who’s working the lines?”

“A partner is usually more trouble than they’re worth, I’ve found. Except it would certainly lower my rent.” Ally offered. “Maybe one of those are looking for a roommate.” she joked, watching the mimes lose control of their violins. Another sip of her drink. “I’m Ally, nice to meet you.” she smiled. She was heading toward best case scenario territory. Even with the mimes and maybe bees. When Marley approached Ally smiled, glad to see someone she recognized. “I’m on call.” She said, tapping her earpiece. “I’ll have to arrest someone in a dress tonight, I’m sure of it.”

Remmy felt a tad overwhelmed as the boy from Nell’s birthday party that had wanted to pet Moose came up to them as well as Jared. Nell confirmed her hated for mimes and Remmy shrugged. “I came with Nora, she was really excited to be here. I think she’s trying to con that guy Kaden into stealing the ball for the ball drop with her,” they said, looking at the other two. “You brought your dog? Are they okay with fireworks? I heard there might be some later.”

"They are kind of weird, aren't they?" Connor said about the mimes. There was something even more unsettling about the White Crest version of mimes than the usual ones. "I adopted her right before Christmas.” He looked to Remmy. “I'm gonna leave if she gets antsy about the crowds and fireworks, and probably head away before they go off, so I can see how she is at a distance, but she's a gundog, so she might be alright."

Savannah shrugged, unaware of the situation with Marley and Dakota, and also not really caring. She was just happy Marley wasn't avoiding her. "I dunno, Keene, maybe?"

Ah so there was another witch about. How sweet. Kevin found the woman quickly, feeling the magic in the air trailing from the broken instrument to the caster in question. It was a decent spell, clever and rounded at the edges. Still, her own had already reached the music, and Kevin wasn’t particularly interested in letting others cross paths with hers. Her hand turned, hidden in her glamor. The music grew louder, horns and bells chiming in, whispers of voices in a dozen unknowable tongues joining in. All of it centered around that sweet, young caster. The musical notes began to take shape around her, turning into birds, into bubbles that popped with a scream, and all the while, the volume continued to grow.

Jared spared a bright smile for Remmy and the stranger before mumbling a soft “I hoped you’d grown out of hating mimes… We haven’t really spoken about them all that much since you got back…” He glanced back at his mime friend in the band hoping they weren’t hearing this; he’d hate to offend such a new friend like this. “They’re just trying to get along like everyone else.”

The mention of the word partner made Marley’s skin vibrate and she nodded perhaps a bit more enthusiastically than she should’ve. “Agreed. People aren’t worth the trouble,” before shooting back another chug. “Oh, right. Agatha.” She should’ve known that, Agatha had practically tripped over herself to volunteer tonight. She was a real teacher’s pet, but for whatever reason, Marley only found the trait endearing, whereas usually she hated it. She watched Dakota back away and head off, wondering if it was because of her, frowning. She glanced at Savannah, only for a moment, before turning her eyes away. “What do you think of the band? Kinda eerie, huh?”

“You’d be surprised,” Mercy said to Solomon, eyeing the stranger with even more curiosity. “Though it has been awhile I suppose.” Besides, Mercy’s brand of mischief might utterly ruin the mimes’ night. How could she resist? Especially as Arthur so eagerly introduced her and the stranger. “It’s an honor to meet you, Solomon,” she said, shaking hands. “But you can call me Freyja if you like. I’ve known Aren… well, forever really.” And that was the truth. Idly she wondered if she and Solomon had perhaps met in passing when she’d been in Maine herself in the early 1700s. Or if the man had known Arthur’s family. His children. But the dour thoughts passed easily as she was jostled by Arthur. She sighed in a pseudo-put upon fashion, smiling faintly as the little girl showed her necklace to her father. “You really want me to do this?” she asked, looking first at Arthur then at Solomon, who seemed a bit worried all of a sudden.

“Kind of weird is an understatement,” Nell replied dryly, glaring at a passing mime as if she were daring it to say, or sign something. “Steal the ball?” she asked with renewed curiosity. Surely that would be a good way to throw a wrench in the mimes’ celebration. Unfortunately Jared’s words were lost as the music swelled around her, and her skin prickled as another magic blossomed. Apparently someone wasn’t all too thrilled with her antics around the band. “I can’t hear you!” she yelled over the music towards her friends, but that didn’t matter now. If someone was upset she was messing with the band, deafening her was the wrong way to make her stop. Instead it fueled her hatred of the mimes even further, and in another moment she let her magic fly again, targeting the mime band with renewed vigor as she flipped the chairs of the first row, sending mimes tumbling.

It was her. The mime who had given him the lapdance on his birthday. The one with too many teeth and stripes under her stripes. He tried to get away, make a run for it, but she had peeled off her stripes and was tying him up. Shit. Shit fucking shit. Of course Nora was thrilled. Kaden tried to pull his hands away, but she had a vice grip on his wrist and wasn’t letting up. Even with hunter strength it was hard to pull away. He heard strange sounds coming from the center of the Common from the band, seemingly. Like someone threw something at the musicians. “Hey, uh, this was, this is great but I gotta go.”

Remmy glanced between Nell and Jared, wondering what was going on between them that someone would think Nell liked mimes. Anyone who knew Nell knew she hated them. It was strange to think she ever did or ever would like them. But then she was shouting and Remmy was glancing around anxiously. “Nell, are you okay?” they asked, reaching out for her, but she was already doing something else, and Remmy watched as the front row of the mime band was upturned. They winced. “Nell, was that--”

"Kaden's here, too," Savannah said. She knew she'd spotted him talking to a goth-looking person earlier. Speaking of the band, Savannah's head turned as the front row of the orchestra seemed to all be thrown off their chairs. "The band are... interesting, but... Oh. Well, I don't think that's part of the show."

Quickly forgetting the bizarre sound he’d heard in favor of getting up to no good, Solomon nodded enthusiastically. This wasn’t normally his brand of activity, but something about running into such an old friend had rekindled a spark in him that had been snuffed out long ago. “Well then, Freyja, yes! We do!” He scanned the crowd for another unsuspecting guest, spotting a balloon gripped in the hands of a young boy, and grinned. “It’s easy… like this!” Letting loose another small volley of thorns, Solomon’s delight quickly turned to confusion as the balloon burst and out fell… dust? What was that? “Huh,” he grunted, a little disappointed. But then the dust was on the move, balling up in clumps as it rolled along the ground, with alarming… intelligence. “Uh oh.”

There was a horrific clatter of musical instruments (including the ting of a strangely loud triangle). The mimes stopped all at once, helping their brethren to their feet. In unison, they turned to face Nell in particular, and frowned as one in perfect synchronisation, drawing a sad face onto theirs. There was a ripple of perfect silence across the crowd before the music started up again. Unbeknownst to Nell, changes were beginning to happen at the Vural household. Then they sat down, picked up new mime instruments and began to play once more.

“Single cops who spend all their time at the precinct. Aren’t we stereotypes.” Ally noticed Marley frown when Dakota disappeared and wondered if there was a story there. “Very eerie here. How do you think they’re doing it? Hidden speakers.” She said, leaning over to see if she could spot them. She noticed them get thrown off their chair. “What is happening?” she said, wondering if they should do something.

Jared whipped around to see the chairs fly and his smile vanished. “Nell what the hell! Stop that, what have they done? They haven’t done anything, stop that.” He glared at her and stomped over to help pick up the chairs. He missed the eerie stop of the music completely in his anger.

As the mimes looked to Nell in unison, she raised a single finger. A very carefully chosen finger. The most offensive finger a person could raise as she collectively flipped them the bird.

Remmy, noticing the mimes all staring at Nell, backed away slowly, taking Connor and his dog with them. “We should...go.”

Connor didn't need to be a genius (he definitely wasn't one) to figure out that Nell was the one messing with the band. He raised an eyebrow, chuckling as she gave them the finger. "Careful. I've heard they can be pretty dangerous." He nodded to Remmy. “Yeah, good idea,” he teased. “You’re on your own, Penelope.” Miriam had made him promise, after all, not to let the dog get into any dangerous situations.

Nell’s finger began to develop stripes.

Wincing, Marley took another long sip of her eggnog, watching the turmoil begin to crescendo-- pun intended. All the mimes were focusing on one single person, and Marley noticed it was the little jailbird, Nell. Chuckling, Marley relaxed little, excited to see how this might play out. She glanced over at Ally and Savannah. “Well, here’s to being single and dedicating our lives to shit like this, yeah?” she raised her glass to them both, not bothering to answer the unasked question of whether they should intervene. She wasn’t on duty, she had no obligation to act, just like with the Dullahan. Instead, she’d enjoy the show, and the free meal. She deserved it.

Oblivious to the ensuing chaos by the bandstand, Arthur watched the strange clumps of dust rolling across the floor mildly entranced by the dust bunnies. "Huuuh, weird." As if on cue another couple of balloons popped, but this time instead of their owners suffering the repercussions he heard a pop too close for comfort and felt the wet slide of something down his face; which was now covered in a stream of white mayo. "Ewwwww- I hate mayonnaise Disgusting."

Nell couldn’t deny that her first thought upon seeing her finger develop stripes was ‘chop it off.’ Thankfully, she did no such thing and made the very wise decision to raise her other middle finger, brandishing it as she stuck out her tongue to the mime band. “I have two, bitch!”

Her other finger began to develop stripes. So did her tongue.

Sam Rainsbottom grinned for a camera as he posed in front of the New Years party panorama. “Hello everyone! This is WC Student Broadcasting coming to you from the Coooomon!” Sam’s blue eyes flicked up to where the Yearbook students manning the camera switched to a new cue card. “We’d like to officially thank the Striped Club, The Quiet Place, and Your Mime and Ours, and whole Silent Thespian community for sponsoring this civic event!”

Sam looked back at chaos of stands being tipped over “shit shit” he side shuffled and made motions with his hands for the camera to pan away to some non-destruction scenes of this New Years party.

Marie-Jeanne giggled silently, tapping Nora's nose that developed some stripes of their own. She did not do the same to Kaden, holding him tightly as she pulled a balloon out of her pocket. Don't ask how she has pockets. Don't ask how a large balloon fit in the pocket. All Kaden and Nora needed to worry about was that the balloon was slowly expanding, getting ready to pop.

Mercy glanced over at the ruckus from near the ‘mime band’, but since it was actual sound being made, she didn’t pay much attention. She turned back to watch Solomon send a volley of… was it thorns??... through the air and pop another balloon. “Good shot,” Mercy grinned, squinting at the balls of dust that rolled away. “Oh… it’s just some dust bunnies. Nothing to worry about.” The air hummed with chaotic energy, the brisk chill of the evening and the sounds of the crowd - barring whatever was happening with the ‘band’ - along with the contagiousness of her companions’ mischief was quickly taking over any good sense she might’ve shown. The balloon that popped nearby only got a passing glance from the Fury, though she did grimace a little at substance that coated Arthur’s face. “Are you sure it’s mayo?” she asked, scooping a bit onto her finger to taste. “Yeah… yuck. Definitely mayo. With undertones of birb.” But… with no harm done from yet another balloon, Mercy finally handed Arthur her drink. “Those were both great shots, boys…” she said of their individual balloon-popping. “Now it’s my turn…” With that, she turned and walked off into the crowd. A brush of a hand here… a tap of a finger there… and when she returned a minute or so later, her cheeks were flushed, and her eyes were bright with mischief and the effects of her power. Mercy glanced at her watch. “You wanted chaos…” It read about a minute or so til somewhere nearby a bell would toll. “You’ll get chaos…”

Nora giggled. Nora actually fully giggled as Marie-Jeanne tapped her nose. She might have actually giggled more if she'd known that her nose was now striped. It was like mime themed freckles. Her eyes followed the balloon, looking up at it. The roundness of the balloon reminded Nora that she was on a mission. "I'm sorry. I have something I need to do." Nora rolled to her side and started rolling towards the giant ball. Not very fast, to be fair. Definitely not fast enough to get away from the balloon. The balloon popped above her in a shower of rainbows. It was a beautiful effect. It was less beautiful as Nora noticed that her outfit went from the signature black to colorful rainbow.

Looking a little grossed out when the new substance appeared on Arthur’s face, Solomon only looked more aghast when Mercy tasted it. “That… could have been one hundred percent bird poop! You’re brave,” he laughed. Happy to see that she’d finally decided to join in, the leshy watched curious as she walked away, nudging Arthur gently in the side. “Cool friend you got there, Aren. She seems like fun!” His eyebrows raised again as she came back into view, and that struggle with the unknown took hold once again. “What did you do?” he gasped excitedly, eyes widening.

Tired of being unable to hear the voices of those surrounding her, and currently angered by the mimes audacity at stripe-ing her, Nell cast another bit of magic to disrupt whatever spell it was the other caster in the crowd had thrown at her. The music returned to its normal, albeit still disturbing volume, but at least she was no longer being taken over by sound. Unfortunately...there was no saving her fingers. In rebuttal, she magicked a few of the mimes into the opposite of her fingers...rendering them solemnly solid rather than striped.

Kaden tried to pull away and swore he could have made it, but it was too late. It didn’t matter. The balloon exploded and rained down color on them. Great. That was fine. Just a nice pretty balloon. And he seemed to be free to walk away. “Great. Nice seeing you again. I guess.” And while Nora rolled away, Kaden just walked around Marie-Jeanne as she blew him a kiss and headed towards the ball. He looked down briefly and noticed the color seemed to be following him. Hmm, no it was on him. He looked down at his clothes and noticed, like Nora’s they were all rainbow. He look at his hands and his fingernails were rainbow colored. With a deep dread, he sighed and leaned over to take a quick look at himself in a pane of glass nearby. He saw his hair. It, too, was rainbow colored. “Putain de merde!” he screamed. Loudly. It wasn’t Regan loud, but it was loud. He heard balloons popping in the distance. And what sounded like flesh exploding closer by. He looked to his left and black sludge was splattered across the way.

Whilst trying to help the first row of chairs up again Jared tripped. He’d never been super sure in his step when he was wearing shoes. So, as he tripped a balloon tied off to one of the nearby benches popped. In the rain of confetti Jared blinked. And then he blinked again. His entire being was striped. But it wasn’t static. He was flashing stripes that moved up and down his body as if to the beat of the remaining music from the band. He was a disco mime.

Nell's stripes began to extend down her fingers and her arms. They extended into her clothes. She would notice that, but the more sinister change, she would not notice later tonight, once she was out of these stripey clothes. She could only speak when dressed as a mime.

Solomon's statement made Arthur snicker even if he was kind of disgusted by the sentiment. "That's rank, ew." But his disgust was forgotten as Mercy wandered off into the crowd attempting to roughly track her movements but she was lost for a few and so he turned back to Solomon. "She is. Like the coolest." There was a small swell of warm pride as Mercy returned and whatever she had done he knew it was bound to be great. In for a penny in for a pound, he popped another three balloons. One of which splattered a white substance on the ground into which a young boy stepped... And got stuck. "Mummy!” the boy screamed “Mummy! Help! I'm stuck!" The second balloon popped, and a rotten banana peel fell out of the sky landing on Mercy’s head with a wet squelch.

Marie-Jeanne exploded at the sound of Kaden's yell. She would be back.

Sam listed off more town facts and corporate sponsors as the sparkler burned in his hand. His eyes briefly strayed to the sparkler ignition. Pure white and black flames poured from the sparkler, strange umbral fire and pale fluoresce weaved together in a mydriatic dance that caused an ecliptic blur across Sam’s vision when he focused on it.

How..did…how could fire? That's not how light works..right?

A cough from the camera guy brought Sam back to reality, away from questions, and unwelcome thoughts suppressed across generations. Sam grinned with a thumbs up as the mime-flame burned without a sound.

A rainbow tear slid down Nora's face as Marie-Jeanne exploded in front of them. Nora, tied up, defeated, lay there. Was there a point to stealing the ball? This was a bad end to the year.

Nora looked defeated. Which was probably for the best. They likely didn’t need to anger the mimes anymore. “Come on, let’s go back to the party or whatever you’d call this,” Kaden said as he tugged on Nora’s arm to lead them back to the center of the Common. As they made their way back to the center of the Common, he saw Nell. Covered in stripes. “Putain de merde, what the hell happened to you?” he said in between laughter. It was horrifying, sure. But it was also fucking hilarious.

The gayest bear to ever exist, covered in rainbows and stripes, followed Kaden without complaint. Not a word would come from Nora’s mourning mouth for the rest of the night. The rest of the new year was in memory of Marie-Jeanne.

An enthralling quiet descended across the crowd as the mimes began to mime out the minute long countdown. Even if you wanted to yell (with two colourful exceptions) you would barely speak louder than a whisper. On top of a tall spire, a striped black and white ball slowly descended. The silence rang like an orchestral harmony, which was a strange experience for everyone who hadn't heard loud silence before. When the clock hit midnight, the silence was loudest of all. Then the ball burst, and black sauce the hadn't been seen since the Sauce had dried up exploded over the whole common, covering many people. Those who got some in their mouths would soon come to regret it.

“What happened to me? What happened to you?” Nell cackled as she took in his rainbow stripes. But Nell certainly wasn’t about to let Kaden have the last laugh, and with another narrow of her eyes and quick spellwork, she wasted no time in hauling a metric fuck-ton of Sauce towards the hunter, pouring it over Kaden in a cursed and sticky waterfall, but purposefully leaving his rainbow hair on full display.

Snickering as the banana peel dropped on his new friend’s head, Solomon gave Arthur a nod in solidarity. Not wanting to fall behind, he made sure to get another popped balloon under his belt, but… nothing happened? He was certainly close enough to have seen it, the young man was passing right by them, balloon tucked beneath his arm when Solomon reached out and burst it with a prick of his thorned finger. Disappointed, he gave the two of them a shrug. “Guess it was a dud…?” Glancing up as a sudden hush fell over the crowd, he watched with interest as the mimes counted down silently, the ball slowly started to slide down, and then… exploded? Alarmed, he raised his arms to cover his face, sidestepping behind Arthur quickly as he could.

“Nah. Bird poops all runny. Was too thick for that.” Mercy wiped her hand on her jeans as she departed for the crowd. It wasn’t often that she used her power to such an extent, but tonight, with so much chaotic energy thrumming around them, the pull was… irresistible. Add Arthur’s gleeful encouragement - along with that of her new friend Solomon - and nothing could stop her from tipping the scales in favor of letting chaos reign supreme. She gave Arthur a warm, knowing smirk as she returned, and glanced at Solomon as the moment the bell would toll drew closer. “You’ll see…” She looked up as the little boy got stuck in the glue, but his mother got him out eventually, sans a shoe she didn’t bother to retrieve. “Eww!” she laughed, swiping the banana peel off her head… “That’s so gro-...” Mercy’s voice fell to a whisper. She frowned. She looked at her watch.

There was only silence where a bell should’ve sounded the time…

Silence that was deafening… until...

...pop… pop… pop-pop… POP

The sound of balloons.

Because in the crowd that Mercy had ducked through moments earlier, people were raising whatever they could find to the floating bits of plastic… and as the New Year began… they were popping them, one by one. Not all of them, and not everyone, but enough.

Mercy wasn’t sure what was happening. Only that she was covered in…. glitter. So much glitter… but it could've been worse. So much worse. So in true Fury fashion, she embraced the chaos she’d helped create… and laughed.

The echo of pops broke the otherwise eerie silence and Arthur didn't even bother to stifle his chuckle. "No no no!" he protested as Solomon tried to hide, grabbing his friends arm and scuffling to get behind him instead... Right as a balloon popped over his head and covered him in glitter. Well, that was the weirdest New Year’s he’d ever experienced.

Even the camera footage has been tainted with the Sauce as Sam and his camera crew tried the playback function on soggy recording device. Everything just played back in black and white without any sound, like an old silent film.

Sam tried to give an updated new report on what happened for the Camera after trying to wipe black goo from his hair and gag it off his tongue. But he couldn’t speak. Sam raised his voice and even shouted until he was red in the face, but not even a rasping sound left his throat.

Eventually the sauce-sodden student was reduced to forlornly scribbling on the cue card with markers and holding them up to the camera.

HAPPY NEW YEAR WHITE CREST

<3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3

#wickedswriting

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reinabeestudio · 3 years

Photo

To celebrate Valentine’s Day, I wrote a humble one-shot featuring Phantom Thief Karamatsu and Detective Shinshia, inspired by the Phantom Thief set from Hesokuri Wars lol.

It is very simple, and I did it just to cater myself LMAO. But maybe some of you find it cute✨. As a small fact, I titled the story “Alone Together”.

Story under the cut!

Finally, February was here! Heart-shaped decorations in every store, roses of different colors were seen over different parts of the city, cute sweets… last but not least, there was the romance. For a long time, this was a sour month for the sextuplets. They were phantom thieves of renown, yet they never got a single chocolate in their whole lives by their fans! It was truly demoralizing, almost as bad as Christmas.

Tradition said that women were the ones that gifted chocolate for the men they had chosen. This year, however, the blue phantom thief had a mission. An important gift to give.

Karamatsu tried so many times in the past to convey his feelings to the new detective: Shinshia Doremi. She acted rough and distant at first. “We are enemies,” she declared coldly. But in the rare moments they could spent together, her behaviour softened and the real Shinshia Doremi was exposed: a warm, yet shy girl. Sadly, everytime he tried to tell her about what he felt, someone or something would interrupt their moment together. Often their separate duties, as detective and phantom thief.

Oh, Cupid, how cruel was he! Keeping the hearts of this couple in the scale of Lady Justice, its pans so close but never together! Such a tragic fate!

Well, perhaps the vision he had of their love inside his head had evolved into something more dramatic than what it actually was in real life. But it added some excitement to whatever their situation was.

Karamatsu was no fool, either. He knew there were others interested in the girl… Mostly, his boisterous, shitty eldest. He noticed the way that idiot looked at her, and it wasn’t love. At least, not the the type of love he felt inside. The blue thief decided it was time to strike while he still had the chance, and ask her out. Subtly.

⊱ ────── {.⋅ ♡ ⋅.} ───── ⊰

Once more the young detective ended up being one of the few remaining people in the department. Rookies got so much paperwork, it was just ridiculous. She had to keep a dictionary close to her, too. Some of these characters looked like an amalgamation made of nightmares.

To keep boredom away, Shinshia started singing, the words echoing throughout the empty office. A soft duet, the name of which she could not call to mind at the moment. However, she did remember that it was a popular love song. It was one of the first songs she heard when she first arrived to Japan.

The sun goes to sleep once more

In this lonely time, I wonder

Is your heart dreaming of me?

The detective finished with the paper she had in front of her, and grabbed the next one in the pile. “How tedious,” she thought. She kept singing to herself.

Stars twinkle above our heads

And the moon gives us her best glowing smile

But tonight, I’ll be yours...

“... And yours alone.”

Another voice joined in with her song, singing along. Shinshia went silent and turned around, but she saw nothing besides empty desks. She went back to her paperwork, along with her song.

However, before she could sing another word, Shinshia stopped entirely when suddenly a pair of hands covered her eyes. “Who is it?” a familiar male voice asked in a sing-song tone.

“The sweet release of death, I hope.”

She resumed her work when she regained her sight as the infamous phantom thief, Karamatsu, casually leant against her desk with a subtle smile. “Long day, I presume.”

“You have no idea,” she sighed and tucked her hair behind her ears . “You should leave before someone sees you. Unless you want me to handcuff you.”

Karamatsu laughed quietly. “Heh, being helpless at your mercy sounds like a very tempting offer, darling. ” Shinshia’s face immediately flushed and he laughed again, genuinely. “But I am here to steal you away.”

“Steal me away?” Shinshia asked, not even looking away from the papers. She put some loose locks of hair behind her ear again. She was often pulling hair away from her face lately. “Sorry Karamatsu, but I have a ton of paperwork left to do. I can’t be stolen right now.”

“C’mon, Shia-chan! It won’t be for long. I’m just asking you to take a break.”

“I told you, I’m busy right n-”

The phantom thief put a hand over the paper she was writing on, and the scowling detective finally looked up at him. It was in that moment when she noticed that he was wearing casual clothes, and not his usual garish outfit filled with blue glitter. The only part that did stand out was, perhaps, the black eyepatch on his left eye. He felt triumphant over this, how she looked at him.

“Tonight, be mine alone ♪.”

After a minute of silence and a staring competition that was perhaps getting a bit too intense for the situation, Shinshia got up from her desk grumbling. “Fine. A short break.”

With a triumphant spring in his step, he suddenly scooped her up in his arms effortlessly and left the office. His plan was working so far.

⊱ ────── {.⋅ ♡ ⋅.} ───── ⊰

Now this was strange.

Karamatsu dragged Shinshia out of the office. That was not the strange part, but instead of avoiding crowded places like he always did, they just… kept walking. Out in the open. Walking didn’t bother her, it was just unusual. He was a famous criminal, after all. It was a miracle they left the building so easily. Or maybe the author was just too lazy to think of something smart.

Wait, author? What author? That makes no sense. Just ignore it.

It was snowing outside. Snow wasn’t common where she was from, so she still marvelled at the sight of it everytime. Despite how much she enjoyed watching the snow fall, it was still cold in the streets. So smart was she, that she forgot to grab her jacket before they left, and now she was constantly rubbing her hands together.

Karamatsu laughed. “You’ll end up setting them on fire, Shia-chan.”

Shinshia snorted. The comment was lame, yet she snorted, like the fool she was. Karamatsu took her hand on his own and blew on it, before he decided to put both of their hands inside his coat pocket. She glanced at him, noticing that he was actually doing the same at her. However, as soon as he noticed her eyes on him, Karamatsu quickly looked away and instead focused on the cars that passed by.

After spending their evening with an impromptu stroll, they finally headed back to the building. Karamatsu spent most of the time silent, which was even more unusual that this whole situation. Usually, he loved doing long monologues filled with inscrutable flowery words that probably sounded cool only in his mind. But during that evening, Karamatsu seemed focused in whatever was going through his head at the moment. Then again, Shinshia didn’t talk much herself.

The poor detective couldn’t help it! He was a man that had to be put behind bars for his crimes, she knew this. However, everytime they were together, her mind just stopped working properly. This had been happening since she actually caught him once: Karamatsu, one of the six-colored phantom thieves that stole valuable pieces of art all around the city. He was pretty popular among the youngest members of her department, some of them even called themselves his fans. That was done in secret, of course.

Shinshia knew little about the man next to her. Truth be told, she wanted to unveil that air of mystery around him by herself. Not as a detective, but as… something else. Maybe as a friend. Or maybe as something deeper. Only the author knew.

Hold on, what-- you know what, nevermind that.

First she thought, maybe she was just starstruck. After all, as soon as she arrived to that building, she was assigned to the case of the phantom thieves. Shinshia was in a country that was so different to her native Spain, and she knew no one, besides this guy. A criminal. But he kept coming back when she was alone, giving her advice and listening to her troubles… And then a bond bloomed between them. So sudden, yet so natural, as if it was destined to happen.

“Shinshia,” Karamatsu called to her softly, pulling her from her thoughts, “I have a little present for you.”

“A present? Why?”

“Just a little something I got for you! It’s fine, I promise.”

Shinshia sighed. “Well, fine.”

His eye glittered as he clasped his hands happily. Gosh, what a big baby. “Good! Close your eyes, and don’t open them until I say you can, understand?” He said that last part in English, for some reason.

Strange request, but Shinshia did what he told her anyway, and closed her eyes. She could hear Karamatsu fumbling with something- not sure with what, but it was small, she supposed. He did say it was a little something, after all. Suddenly, she felt his hands on the sides of her head, playing with the locks of her hair. He put them back, and then she felt those same hair locks being slightly pulled back by something. She feels his warm hand linger on her chin, delicately caressing along her jawline before pulling away.

“Open your eyes.”

Shinshia opened her eyes, feeling really curious about what Karamatsu did. He took out a round pocket mirror and then he showed her: a blue hair bow was holding back her hair.

Karamatsu smiled at her softly. “Your hair is growing long, Shia-chan. It keeps getting in front of your eyes, doesn’t it?” She nodded, impressed. When did he notice her annoyance at her hair? It was such an insignificant detail. “Now I can see your cute face again.”

Shinshia looked down, feeling her face warm up. “T-Thanks.”

After he put the small mirror back in its place, he took an envelope out of the same pocket. He gave it to her. It would have looked like a normal letter, if it wasn’t for the small heart on the back… And the blue glitter. So painful.

“What is this?” Shinshia took the envelope and opened it. Inside there was a single piece of black paper with text in gold letters. “An invitation?”

“Observant as always! It’d make me very happy to see you there.”

“I’m not sure, Karamatsu… this is very sudden.”

“But, Shia-chan! It will be so much fun!” Karamatsu looked at her with puppy eyes. Uh, eye. “Do it for me. Please?”

How was that working so well, what the hell. Shinshia sighed in defeat. “I will think about it.”

Feeling victorious yet again, Karamatsu took her hand and kissed her knuckles. “Good night, Shia-chan. I hope to see you there.” Those were his last words before he turned around and walked away, quickly melting into the crowd. Now Shinshia Doremi was left alone at the doors of her workplace with her heart beating incredibly fast.

The detective looked down at the sparkly envelope. This thing was so shiny that it hurted to look at it for too long. It was so painful! It was so tacky!

“You're so troublesome.” she said to no one. She released a deep sigh.

She was in love with the blue phantom thief called Karamatsu.

Shinshia decided to attend to the party, after all.

She didn’t go to parties often… mostly because she wasn’t invited to any of them. But, if she was being honest with herself, the promise of meeting him again was too tempting to resist. Also, free food and drinks.

Woah. She really had to have a deep crush on the man of strange monologues, if she was going to ignore her insecurity just for him. What a guy, he was making miracles happen even when he wasn’t present.

So she got ready, donning the prettiest dress she could find inside her closet. She wore the blue bow he gifted her, and after checking herself in the mirror, she grabbed her clutch purse and left to the party.

“Even if Karamatsu isn’t there, it’s better than to be alone during Valentine’s day,” she thought as she locked the door of her house behind her.

⊱ ────── {.⋅ ♡ ⋅.} ───── ⊰

It was a Valentine’s dance party. It should have been obvious, considering the day it took place. But she wasn’t aware that Valentine’s Day parties existed at all. Of course they do, why wouldn’t they? Maybe the host was single as hell, and this was their attempt in trying to find a partner. Or maybe it was a Jay Gatsby trying to find their Daisy Buchanan. Yikes, hopefully not.

Also, every celebration needs a party, obviously.

Somewhere, someone in the world will throw a party for Cat Day. Maybe they will put a silly little hat on top of their cat’s head, followed by the confused pet trying to swat it away with its little paws and failing as the owner was in the floor laughing to tears.

That turned to be a very amusing thought, after all. It’d be so funny if someone celebrated Cat Day like that. She didn’t even know if Cat Day existed at all, but now she really hoped that it did.

Back to reality, Shinshia grabbed a glass from the nearest table as she looked around, moving between the many guests that were having fun together. Where in the world was Karamatsu? How could a single man wearing a black eyepatch be so difficult to find among so many colorful outfits? Pretty sure his full name was Karamatsu Sandiego. A famous thief whose signature look features a blue, glittery matching top hat and long cape. Of course, it all checked out, she just solved the case.

The detective was so into her own dumb line of thought that she didn’t notice the carpet, and her shoe caught. There was barely time to react; carpet veered up, her drink tipped forward, and suddenly the floor was very close. Extremely close. However, she hadn’t bit it, and that didn’t quite make sense. Gravity existed, and through gravity, she should have hit the floor.

There was something holding her up. A hand, which connected to an arm, which led all the way to a well-tailored suit. A delicious, familiar fragrance reached her nose.

“Well now,” a voice purred so slowly, and hands turned her to face upwards. Karamatsu’s face slowly turned into a tender smile. “I see you decided to come after all, darling.”

“Ah, well…” Shinshia really couldn’t say much with her waist held so enticingly by those hands, as warm hands brushed up against her skin and tickled. “I... I had to make sure that you didn’t steal anything! There are many people here wearing valuable jewelry, I’m sure you’d manage to steal something.”

“Heh, it seems my plans were ruined by the great Shinshia once more!” Karamatsu continued onwards with that smile just deepening at her sight, and somehow, he seemed to be leaning a bit closer. The room rang with cheery laughter, and the party carried onwards without a single glance towards the thief and the detective.

“You always seem to be,” one hand caressed its fine way up to her shoulder, “Stumbling around me. I’m starting to wonder if you are tripping on purpose now, hmmm?”

He knew well she wasn’t doing it on purpose. But before she could complain about that, he pressed a finger to her lips, silencing her completely. The hand on her waist pulled her just a little closer that she could feel the warmth radiating from him. He laced his fingers with hers. “I enjoy our moments together, darling.”

The orchestra struck up a mesmerizing waltz, and Karamatsu’s eye perked up enough that Shinshia could practically see the lightbulb above his head.

“Let’s dance!” he invited her without a second thought, and Shinshia stumbled as Karamatsu guided her to the dance floor. A violin hummed and a key plucked, and then his hands were on her waist, a smile beaming away.

Unexpectedly, he was good at the waltz. What the hell, that was not fair. Shinshia found herself tripping quite a lot, and the phantom thief just chuckled everytime she crashed into his body. It didn’t seem to phase him either, he just grinned all the wider and adjusted until she fell back into rhythm.

Finally, somehow the rhythm came to Shinshia. Maybe it was the guiding steps of Karamatsu. Maybe it was the smile he gave her as she fumbled along. Or, perhaps, it was the hand he still had on her waist, caring as it kindly led her along despite her inexperience. Whatever it was, it had her steps synchronize with Karamatsu’s, and suddenly she started noticing other things: how his rings glistened in the light as Karamatsu led both of them through the swarm of couples, or how his brown eye never looked away from her face. Small details, yet they were such lovely little things that made her heart beat wildly inside the detective’s chest.

“Say, Shinshia.”

“Yes?”

“You said you came here to make sure I didn’t steal anything, right?”

Shinshia raised an eyebrow in confusion, but she nodded. Where was he going on with this? Was he actually going to do that? She told it as a joke, she didn’t want to work tonight.

“Heh, well, my beloved Shinshia... ” Karamatsu leaned down slightly and whispered. “I believe I already stole something.”

Shinshia didn’t really notice the song grew faster until a violin screeched in delight and suddenly Karamatsu was really close. When the song was over, he had dipped her just as the last violin ended with an exaggerated flourish.

Karamatsu leaned forward, his lips brushing hers, and perhaps it hadn’t been such a bad thing, tripping over her own shoe. Not when she could feel him gaze at her in rapt adoration. Not when Karamatsu had her so lovingly wrapped in his hands, and clutching as if she was the most fragile, most precious thing in the world that had happened to him.

No, perhaps it was for the best.

#Self Insert #Shinshia Doremi #Karamatsu #osomatsu san #My writing #my art #HAPPY VALENTINES DAY!!! HAVE SOME CRINGE <3 #the lyrics song she's singing to herself was written by me!!!#the song is called ''alone together''. hence the title lol #also yeah shia gets distracted easily by her own thoughts (bc shes me AKLSDMA)#i have no idea if valentine parties exist actually. they prolly do tho #btw if you wonder: ''Also every celebration needs a party obviously'' part?? yes it was sarcasm LMAO #more or less what you can expect in Nil Admirari #albeit the romance wouldnt happen so fast AJKSFNAJKS this is a oneshot after all

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twiistedgalaxies · 3 years

Text

Genesis: Chapter 5: Evening Stroll

How two brothers can take two opposite paths. How a man can be made into a monster and how the other must pay the ultimate price to save everything he knows and loves.

Or, alternatively:

The origins of All for One and One for All.

Previous Chapter

First Chapter

Hisashi Shigaraki did not consider himself to be the type of individual to regularly lower himself to the level of petty thieves and thugs. He preferred to operate in the shadows, to provide plans and information while reaping their rewards. From a young age he’d dealt in favors, his compassion and intervention never free. His lips twitched. Yes, he’d always been good at bringing people together in the cold dark.

But there was always an exception to his rules. All it took was one push for everything he’d created to come crumbling down, his livelihood built on sand and dust. His first error was tying his work to others, to the perceived invincibility of the adults around him.

He’d never make that mistake again.

The night was cold, cast into the pale yellow glow of the waxing moon. A single eye fixed upon a dark canvas. Hisashi threw his jacket onto the top of the chain link fence and climbed the rickety, rusty thing, careful not to attract too much attention to himself. The cameras were easy to evade. Concerned pedestrians were not.

Brown oxford shoes landed on dark asphalt with a click, jacket seized and put back on with practiced ease. Hisashi glanced around the dark alleyway one last time. Empty. Good.

He rolled up his sleeves. Unfortunately, with the…. unprecedented nature of his parents' deaths there were some loose ends he needed to tie up. Loose ends that couldn't be addressed while slumbering under the watchful gaze of the police precinct. Hisashi strode down the alleyway, possessing a confidence unbecoming of most teenagers. He was not most teenagers. Always he'd done whatever he could to survive and support those under his wing. This would be no different.

The alleyways were winding and twisting; a maze to those unaccustomed to LA’s numerous backstreets and barren waterways. He walked for ages, breathing in the crisp air like incense. It was here in the quiet darkness and hostile concrete jungle that Hisashi finally felt comfortable, the closest he has ever been to feeling, dare he say, peaceful.

This would not last. He finally stepped out of the alleyways (between an apartment complex and a run down 7-11) into a parking lot. There were few occupied parking spaces, the cars’ metallic sheen reflected the convenience store’s warm glow. Hisashi leaned against the telephone pole and reached into his pocket, fiddling with his closed switchblade. There was no such thing as too careful. He waited for a time, observing the land occupied solely by long distance travelers and painfully obvious drug deals. A huff. It seemed there was no one interesting here to spy upon tonight. For shame.

“Hisashi,” a voice spoke up behind him. Young, only a few years his senior. “I heard about what happened, I’m surprised to find you out here so soon. I thought you were out of the game!”

He gave a joyless smile and spun on his heel to face the newcomer, “Well, nothing short of death will keep me away from my work for long.”

The newcomer hummed, “Same as usual I see, I suppose you’re here for information?”

It took every ounce of willpower to keep from rolling his eyes, “Obviously.” The young man that stood before him, Matt Shield, was talented in the art of keeping his ear to the ground and occupying all the right places at all the right times. Hisashi had saved him a few years ago from getting mugged and beaten bloody by a band of roaming thugs, something that had grown all too common since the economic crash. The fact that Hisashi was the one in charge of said thugs? Well, what Matt didn’t know wouldn’t hurt him.

“I’m sure you’re aware I don’t work for free,” Matt continued, eyes gleaming and expectant. He took a sip from his cherry slushie.

“Name your price,” Hisashi replied, tilting his palms to the sky in a gesture of reception.

“Now that my friend,” he said, gesturing dramatically with his plastic cup, “depends fully on the information you want.”

Hisashi felt a burning hot coal of irritation in his chest, he despised this song and dance, but it was a necessary evil, “What do you know of the people who broke into our apartment?”

Matt tilted his head to the side, “Maybe a limited edition Nintendo Switch will jog my memory.”

Hisashi pinched the bridge of his nose, unsurprised, “Fine. Any specifics?”

“I want the Mario one,” Matt grinned, it was all sharp teeth, stained by his beverage, “There should be a used one in the GameStop six blocks west of here, across from the Ross.”

“I’ll get it to you tonight, behind the car shop,” he responded. There were much better things he’d rather be doing with his time, but information was information.

Matt reached out his hand, “A pleasure doing business with you.” Hisashi shook it, and instantly felt the urge to wipe his hand on his pants as if they had been contaminated with miasma. He refrained.

They parted ways, Hisashi beginning his trek westward and Matt slinking back into whatever shadows he had spawned from. Of course he knew what GameStop Matt was referring to, he used to hang out at the bakery next door with his brother while studying for tests. Security there was a lot more lax than usual, the high concentration of stores meant there was a lot of foot traffic, something that shop owners thought was a deterrent.

Not that they could afford to ramp up security anyways. There were two cameras, one facing the door and one facing the cash register, if he recalled correctly. Hisashi zipped up his jacket and covered his curly white hair with its hood. He reached into his coat pocket and pulled out a simple black cloth mask, a remnant from the pandemic. Access to precious cold air was cut off as he fastened the smothering fabric to his face. There was no need to hastily give away his identity after all, even if he'd just blend in with the ever-rising crime rates anyways. He was halfway to the store. Hands cold and reddened, he shoved them in his pockets for warmth. Truly, he was irritated that Matt had decided to give him another one of his tests, hadn’t he proven himself capable after all these years? Maybe it was to see if Hisashi had gone soft. If that was the case, he was sorely mistaken.

The rest of the walk was quiet. He passed a few people on the sidewalk and the road was barren apart from the occasional car. In the distance, he spotted the car parts store. Idly, he wondered if Matt had already made his way there. The young man had always been able to navigate LA’s labyrinth better than most. Hisashi reached an intersection and jammed on the crosswalk button with his elbow.

After a few beats of silence, a familiar robotic voice rang out, “Walk.” It was glitchy, like a record that had been scratched one too many times. He paced across the street, keeping his head down and eyes fixed on the asphalt. The streetlight cameras were not something he wanted to deal with tonight. His feet hit the other sidewalk and he breathed out a sigh. Only a few more blocks to go. Hisashi thought of his little brother, whose face was nuzzled into his pillow when he had left his side tonight. His brother may be oblivious, innocent to the nastiness of this world, but Hisashi was not. He saw the looks the younger kids in the orphanage shot Tomura when they thought he wasn’t looking. Hisashi could only hope that they would behave and leave him alone while he was out taking care of things. He’d hate to get his hands dirty to protect him again. Speaking of brats, the way Zach was snubbing Tomura was beyond infuriating. He dared to treat his brother so flagrantly? If Tomura wasn’t so fond of the child, he’d be actively hunting him down.

But alas, he had much more trivial things to do. Hisashi stood behind the GameStop, being sure to obscure himself with the thorny bougainvillea bushes that lined the sidewalk. Unfortunately for him, almost every window and door of this establishment was covered in thick iron bars. The sole exception was the bathroom window, a tiny thing that was slightly opened to let out stuffy air. Taking the screen off the window would be no issue. Squeezing his six foot tall self through the small opening, however? This was going to prove to be a long night.

Hisashi pulled out his switchblade and flicked it open. He poked around the edges of the screen for a bit until he found a side that gave more than the others. Carefully, he wedged the knife into the crevice and rocked it back and forth before the screen jerked inwards with a satisfying pop. He used his arms to push the screen inwards and winced as it fell to the tiled floor with a loud clatter. Quietly, he crawled through and let out a silent curse when he felt his shoulders get caught in the frame. He thanked his lucky stars that it was the dead of night, if someone walked up to see his ass hanging out of the window he’d never live it down.

With a little rocking back and forth and quiet swearing he was able to finally squeeze through the narrow opening and slide into the bathroom. Said bathroom was small, roughly the size of a janitorial closet, and looked like it hadn’t been cleaned in ages. Hisashi felt his nose scrunch up with disgust, fingerprints wouldn’t be the only reason he’d try not to touch anything. He used his coat sleeve to turn the doorknob and poked his head out to examine his surroundings. There seemed to be a small break room to his right, to his left was the rest of the store. It was empty, as he expected. He crept forward, careful to make his footfalls silent and to avoid the cameras. His eyes scanned the shelves, luckily he was already close to the Nintendo section in the back of the store. Ah, there it is. So much effort for such a simple thing. The limited edition Nintendo Switch sat on the top shelf, dust accumulated on the packaging due to neglect from the high price tag. There wasn’t much to distinguish it from the other consoles apart from it’s red controllers. He picked it up, examining the smooth packaging for chips that could set off alarms. Nothing. Perhaps the shop owners were just as desperate to be rid of it as Matt was to have it.

Hisashi tucked the overpriced console under his right arm and returned from where he came. The Switch was delicately shoved through the window first, he went second, having to repeat the irritating process from moments earlier. He hastily headed towards the intersection, feeling his palms start to sweat. In his opinion, this part was the best. Adrenaline provided clarity that caffeine could never replace. His elbow slammed into the crosswalk button so hard that he winced. The seconds it took for the familiar monotone to ring out felt like hours. He hurried across the street, doing his best to look confident and self-assured. A niggle of anxiety churned in his gut. This was easy. Far too easy. He made it to the front of the car parts store. It was a hideous white and purple building wedged firmly into the street corner. He crept into the back alley behind the parking lot and leaned against the white brick wall, attempting to steady his heart rate.

A few moments later, Matt’s head popped up over the wall opposite Hisashi, “You got the goods?” He absolutely did not jump and let out a yelp of surprise, and if any witnesses came forward to testify otherwise he’d be sure to dispatch them quickly. In the name of truth and integrity of course.

“No, I thought I’d just hang out behind the ugliest building in LA for no reason,” He snarked, “Yes, I have the Switch.”

Matt’s face lit up and he climbed into the alleyway, “Great! Just hand it over and I’ll tell you what you want to know.”

He passed over the console with a huff, glad to be rid of the clunky hindrance.

“So,” Matt began, glancing around the alleyway conspiratorially, “word on the street is that the mob was doing some digging about your mom. A client of mine saw them breaking into the justice building to look through their records. Her name came up.”

Hisashi raised an eyebrow at this. The mafia had grown in prominence since the start of the economic crisis. They often coordinated with local gangs and extorted businesses in exchange for protection from the chaos they were responsible for. Even Hisashi’s own group had to pay a small cut to operate in their territory. Overall, he thought it was an efficient system, it was much better than the turf wars that had riddled the city in the years before. Still, what the hell could they want with a random Japanese immigrant? Why would her records be in the courthouse?

As if sensing his thoughts, Matt shrugged, “Don’t ask me, I know better than to get involved in their business. I like not being twelve leagues under the sea thank you a-very much.” He finished with a dramatic bow. Hisashi felt a tension headache forming. Unfortunately, Matt had always been like this. How the man hasn’t ended up in a shallow desert grave for being a pain in the ass was beyond him.

“Okay,” he replied, resisting the urge to pinch the bridge of his nose again, “what do you know about my mother?”

“That, buddy, is the question of the hour!” Hisashi must have been making some sort of face, because Matt laughed, “If you figure this out do tell me, I love a good story.”

Silently, Hisashi vowed to himself to not be placed into a position where someone could withhold information and waste his time like this again. His lack of control over the situation was infuriating, and his hands itched for the feeling of cold steel. Hiding his right hand behind his back, he clenched his fist, careful not to draw blood. A smile curled on his face. Ringing in his ears that only seemed to grow louder with each aching, passing sec-

Matt began shuffling down the alleyway, “Anyways, it’s rather late and I have other clients to attend to,” he glanced at Hisashi over his shoulder, batting his hand in the air like a kitten with yarn, “ya’ know how it is.”

He was about to reply with a scathing remark when he felt his clunky burner phone buzz in his pocket. A frown. How on Earth did someone get this number? Sure, this used to be the main way he’d make deals, but he hasn’t made any in at least a year. He pulled out the metal brick of a device and flipped it open, eyes widening.

Unknown Number

3:25am

[I need a favor.]

A/N: Hoo boy Hisashi is so long winded compared to his brother. I had something else in mind for this chapter but when I started writing his POV that went straight out the window. Obviously he's more immature than his canon-era counterpart, but that's because he's just a teenager and still needs to grow as a character. I was honestly dreading writing him, because his character is really hard to portray correctly, but I think I did okay. I have 4+ unrelated one-shots I'm working on on the side, I have no idea when those will be out but keep your eyes peeled. As usual, feel free to leave comments! It was actually a series of comments left by oneptxneo on AO3 that motivated me to get this chapter done (and finished early).

AO3

Next Chapter

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akanennie · 5 years

Text

Hot and Cold

Words: 4.626

Paring: Loki Laufeyson × reader

Warning: Accident in Mission, Dominion of fire and ice and unprotected sex scene. Internal ejaculation.

Y/N didn't call the Avengers attention in a good way. It's not like she wanted to cause trouble in New York, but since she couldn't properly control her powers, she ended up being seen, initially, as a threat.

But even though Y/N sometimes froze some innocents in an attempt to catch the thieves or accidentally set off a diner, Y/N was called to be part of the Avengers.

It's an honor. That's what she thought. Working with the Black Widow and Captain America was a dream that Y/N had since she developed her pyrokinesis and cryokinesis powers.

In other words, it creates and controls not only ice, but also its complete opposite, fire. This was unusual even for mutants and this yielded many days of testing on Y/N on the part of Banner and Stark.

However, the lack of control that Y/N was not just something that worried her. She was insecure and most of the time Y/N felt out of tune with the other team members. It was too much power to control and learn to use, it was too much pressure for Y/N to handle.

--------

Y/N was alone at a diner table. She had just ordered a juice and the same came, but the warmth of Cuba was so strong that even if Y/N ordered the iced juice, it came almost at room temperature. Of course, this was not a problem for Y/N, because being a manipulator of ice and fire, it can freeze the juice at the temperature she wanted and without attracting attention.

"All right, what do you see?" Steve's voice came through Y/N's earpiece.

"Regular patrol cops. Few men, busy streets, yet not too noisy." Y/N consisted before taking a sip of her juice observing everything with description. "A good target."

"We're facing the biggest bank in Cuba, what does it mean?" Steve's question came as a teacher's and Y/N had to restrain herself so as not to turn her eyes.

"Cams." Y/N answered the obvious. "But that's not gotta stop him."

"Surely not, this guy isn't afraid to be seen." Steve agreed, seemed pleased with Y/N's comment.

"You see that SUV?" It was Natasha's turn to ask, she was at the diner across the street, also at an open-air table, just as Y/N was now.

"The red one? Cute." Y/N took another sip of her juice. Field recognition was the worst part of her training and that she could say for sure.

"That means it's private security. Which means difficulty for some people. These people are us." Natasha added.

"You know, with a snap of fingers, I can incinerate or freeze them?" Y/N asked looking at Natasha across the street and the two faced herself for a moment before Bucky finally spoke.

From above one of the buildings, Bucky was watching everything with Sam's support. "We've seen very well how your snap of fingers is effective, Y/N."

Y/N's right hand began to heat the juice unintentionally. "Are you gotta get into this things, Barnes? Shall I remind you of the Starks?"

It was Bucky's turn to get angry and growl.

"It's not helping, Bucky. Focus on the mission, you both." Steve scolded and Y/N practically growled.

A sound from a heavy vehicle caught Steve's attention and he had Sam check it out. With one of his drones, Sam scanned the old garbage truck that went straight from the bank and went to the big building at the end of the street.

"It's at its maximum capacity and the driver is armed." Sam said analyzing the scan, it left everyone on alert.

"They aren't attack the bank." Steve said and everybody went out where the truck was going.

Bucky ran to the car where Natasha also went and went out together. Sam went to Steve's meeting and took him flying to the scene while Y/N used her ice powers to glide down the floor and quickly go to the scene.

Steve and Sam were the first to arrive on the scene, there was already a small trail of destruction while Steve was recognizing how many were still there.

"Sam, I counted eight..." Steve said after he knocked down three men. Sam who was in the air, struck one with his feet and shot another. "I counted six..."

Men started shooting in their direction and Steve and Sam used their equipment to protect themselves. But soon some shots were fired and the men fell dead on the ground.

"You counted better, Steve." Bucky provoked him as he approached his friend.

"Now there are six..." Natasha said accompanying Bucky's quick walk.

The loud sound of a rifle shot echoed and the gun was flying all the way to the team's direction. Steve automatically pulled Natasha under his shield while Sam and Bucky protect themselves from the attack behind the Hawk's wings.

But the shot never came, because the gun was frozen in the air and then fell to the ground, undoing it into little pieces.

"I thought you all were more attentive..." Y/N commented, serious and with her ice powers she create ice stakes and throw against the enemies.

Sam's drone flew over the building while they were protecting themselves from the shots and managed to find the location of the people behind it.

"Romlow is on the eighth floor." Sam announced to Steve and the same has already turned to Y/N.

"How we train, Y/N!" Steve ordered it.

With both hands and using all the concentration he could, Y/N created a pillar of ice for Steve to enter the building directly on the eighth floor.

The team went into confrontation with Romlow, but unfortunately he managed to steal the bio weapon and try to escape with it. In the midst of the crowd they parted and the whole team also separated to try to capture what was with the weapon since there were not many men left. Sam and Natasha went west, Bucky to the north while Y/N and Steve went east behind Romlow

Y/N went into a melee fight against Romlow, but he was clearly stronger than her in this category and ended up tipping her off. But he before he could give a fatal blow to it, Steve came in and knocked him down with a punch. The two began to fight eagerly. Steve had lost his shield in the fight process, but didn't stop tearing down Romlow, several times.

However...

"They'll coming after your little friend, Bucky..." Romlow said provocative when he was visibly impossible for him to win Steve. "They'll frying his brain like they did in the last 70 years..."

Steve, who until then held Romlow by the collar of his clothes, lost a bit of firmness and that made Y/N apprehensive.

"And when they get to him, he'll forget about you again, because there's nothing left to remember!" Romlow said showing the grenade in his hand.

Steve automatically walked away and Y/N took her front so that Romlow detonated the grenade. Because of her pyrokinesis, she managed to restrain the fire from the bomb blast. Y/N only didn't count that Romlow, still carbonized, would make one last act of cruelty throw another grenade toward the innocent population of Cuba who watched frightened the situation.

Again Y/N tried to use her ice powers, but it didn't work out. The bomb exploded and in an attempt to freeze the fire, Y/N ended up doing the opposite and the fire spread, it ended the lives of many innocent people.

Y/N didn't know how to do it, she reduced Romlow to ashes while Steve was trying to help save as many people as possible from the fire. Bucky and Sam arrived next to help, then came the firefighters, finalizing the mission of the Avengers.

Still on the way to where they had landed the Quinjet, they were all in an absurdly uncomfortable silence. Y/N looked at the landscape from outside the car just like everyone else, or maybe not all of them.

"Really, we're not going to talk about what happened?" Bucky was the first to talk.

"There's not much to talk about, Bucky." Steve said without taking his eyes off the road.

"Yes, there is, Steve. She burned over 100 innocent people and you're not going to say anything?"

"It was an accident!" Y/N defended herself, not that she was in the mood to talk about it. She kept serious and looking into the landscape without paying attention in Bucky.

"Bucky!" Natasha scolded him, but he turned to Y/N looking from the front passenger seat.

"A fatal accident. If you had trained your powers better, you might have prevented it."

"You're the last person who can judge me, HYDRA Pinocchio." She lifted her right hand and a flame appeared in her palm. "Now shut your damn mouth before I fry you too." Y/N added, and as much as Barnes was ready to Retruffle, Steve made him sit right on the bench.

"That's enough! The mission didn't end the way we hoped, but it's over. Don't prolong that anymore." Steve said, stern and they both crossed their arms like two angry kids.

That failure was all Y/N didn't need. Incinerating people wasn't in her plans when she woke up in the morning.

Y/N was the first to leave the Quinjet as soon as it landed. As soon as she entered the compound, Y/N went to her own room where she intended to be isolated. She didn't turn on the TV, didn't turn on the radio, didn't touch her phone, because Y/N knew she'd be in every kind of media her failure as an Avenger.

The only thing she did was climb into her bed and grab her knees. Y/N still heard in her head the screams of the burning people while she could not change from fire to ice. That's the enraged, she hated not being able to control her powers properly and so ending innocent people dying.

A knock on the door caught Y/N's attention, there was Steve still in his Captain's uniform. Y/N diverted her attention to the window and sighed. The frustration of knowing that he had disappointed Captain made Y/N even more upset with herself.

Steve sat next to her in bed and touched her hand. "Don't cover so much of yourself..."

"Don't touch me! I don't want to hurt you!" Y/N said she was trying to loosen her hand. Steve held her hands and looked at her. "You're not going to hurt me, see?" He raised his hands together and no fire.

"You must be disappointed in me, won't you?" Y/N asked, afflicted, finally looking into Steve's blue eyes. "I tried to stop Romlow, but I ended up burning innocents in the process..."

"It's not your fault, there was no way you could imagine he had two grenades." Steve lowered his gaze and released Y/N's hands. "Romlow said those things about Bucky, and suddenly, I was 16-year-old Steve in Brooklyn." Steve sighed and looked at Y/N, she had lowered her gaze too and now looked at her own hands. "I never expected you to use both of them at the same time with so little training time. We don't even know if it's possible... "

"But..." Y/N would argue, but Steve interrupted her. "I already said, don't cover so much of yourself, with more training you can control it. "

"How many people gotta die there?" she asked about dropping Steve's hands. "I don't wanna hurt anyone else, Cap. So... I think I'd better stay in the compound while I try to find a way to switch. It's safer..."

Steve sighed giving up for an hour and agreed. Y/N was already determined not to act, unless it was extremely necessary or when she was in complete control of her powers.

Days later, Y/N still didn't have the guts to go out on missions and because she refused to leave the compound, the security secretary, Ross, understood that Y/N was in some kind of house arrest, so he didn't arrest her for what happened.

It was Y/N sitting in the garden, it was the maximum limit that the secretary had free air tax to Y/N within the premises of the complex. She looked at her right hand and she began to light up, then ignited her and a flame began to spread as if she was burning her, but Y/N felt nothing. She made the fire go out and with the same hand tried to create ice, but could not.

Y/N went on with it until the thunderously loud sound followed by a colorful light came to reach the garden, meters ahead of Y/N. She rose immediately, but remained standing where she was while she saw the strong light burn a circle on the earth and gradually the other Avengers left the complex, standing beside her.

"Looks like you'll finally meet Thor." Banner commented when he put himself next to Y/N.

She said nothing, just watched and breathed deep. One more to disappoint.

When the light subsided there were two men in the middle of the burnt-out Earth circle and they began to walk towards them. One was Thor, pompous and with his blond hair and short, he walked with confidence and with a huge smile on his face. The other was dark and Y/N didn't recognize him at first, he didn't seem comfortable to be there and so walked slower and with less haste than Thor.

"It's good to have you back with us, Thor." Natasha commented as the tallest approached and greeted everyone. "I just can't say the same about your brother..."

"Nonsense, Loki is learning not to be so selfish... Please give him a vote of confidence." Thor said greeting Banner with a strong embrace.

The others did not seem comfortable with it, but by Thor they decided to accept to give Loki a chance. Now when Thor saw Y/N, he looked at her with doubts.

"And you are...?"

"Y/N..." Y/N responded a little intimidated by the enormous man in front of her. "I'm relatively new around here..."

"It is a pleasure to meet you, young Lady Y/N..." Thor said and soon entered the complex with the other Avengers.

While everyone was away, Y/N stayed behind with Loki who watched her from the feet to her head, jerking her lips while analyzing her. Y/N was somewhat intrigued by his constant gaze and returned to sit on the grass. Soon Loki approached and lowered the front of Y/N, making her more intrigued.

"What are you so special about getting into my brother's super-gifted group of friends?" Loki asked curious, even if he had a smile playing on his lips.

Y/N spoke nothing but raised her right hand in front of her face and Loki's. And with that hand she created a strong flame of dense and very red fire.

"I can control ice too, but I can't make the transition from one element to the other yet." Y/N said looking at the fire.

"Wow! That is... Amazing!" Loki commented by trying to touch the flame and removed his hands the instant it burned.

"It would be better if I could control..."

Y/N's frustrated gaze intrigued Loki and, as strange as it seemed to him, Loki settled next to Y/N.

"It is a matter of improvement and this comes with training." Y/N kept staring at the fire in her hands and laughed Unbeliever. "You spoke like the Captain now."

Loki twisted his nose with the comparison, but he didn't say anything. A newcomer doesn't have much right to say anything, especially when he was taking refuge.

"I'm a freak even for my own kind..." Y/N commented frustrated when she finally extinguished her hands. Such a commentary caught Loki by surprise. "I practice, I study about pyrokinesis, about cryokinesis... But since I'm the only one on the planet that can manipulate both elements, I have to figure out how to control it myself..."

"Maybe you just needed someone to understand you..." Loki said with a softer tone in his voice, there was no sarcasm there.

For the first time in more than 1500 years of life, Loki was being entirely sincere. He gently held Y/N's right hand and gave her a kiss over her fingers. She was blusher and instinctively her hand warmed, almost burning Loki's hand.

He released Y/N's hand quickly for it and instead of fighting with her, he began to laugh. It was the beginning of a friendship between the two... Or something else.

Six months have passed since the arrival of Thor and Loki. And as much as Loki found a lot of tedious things, he learned to appreciate some things from Earth. One of those things was Y/N's company. Since they met, Loki is almost always with her.

Y/N understood the motives of everyone in being insecure with Loki, but for some reason, with her Loki lowered the whole cynical wall that had built in front of the others. He smiled cheerfully, had fun with her and helped her control her powers.

With a very rudimentary method, Loki made Y/N able to change the elements in the same hand and almost use both elements at the same time. This made Y/N hopeful of being able to finally get back to work properly this time, so much so that when she realized she could make the exchange with more freedom, Y/N asked the captain to integrate it again into the new missions.

The relationship between Loki and Y/N was not only in friendship in those six months. Loki learned that the more time he spent with a girl as inconstant as Y/N, the more he fell in love. After almost three months of living with each other, just as friends, he finally broke the pride barrier and declared himself to Y/N after one of the trainings.

She was shocked to hear about his feelings, but as Y/N also fell in love with Loki, it was inevitable that they would enter into a relationship.

On any day, Loki enters his room ready to rest. He had come out on his first mission with Thor and Barnes, and now he understood why everyone came back extremely tired after they left and battled. And to his surprise, Y/N was in his room, lowered in front of his bookshelf. She was wearing a small shorts, a big shirt that almost covered the shorts and barefoot. Y/N looked at him as soon as the door opened.

"Oh, you're back!" Y/N excried and stood up. Loki arched an eyebrow and went to her. "What are you doing here?"

"I... I missed you, so I came to read one of your books to soften." Y/N confessed and Loki came to the ruborize.

Never in his life did he feel so important to anyone besides Fregga. Y/N smiled at Loki and he couldn't stop the smile. He closed the door, and it was up to her whom he kissed fondly, matched likewise.

To relieve some of the stress and enjoy a little time together, since Y/N would be the next to go on a mission the next day. Loki chose a book on his bookshelf to read it together.

Together they settled in bed, Y/N laid her head on Loki's chest as he read aloud to her. It was wonderful to hear the story told by Loki's voice. Exciting until...

When the story's over. Loki closed the book with one hand and left on the nightstand.

"You read so well... I like to hear you reading." Y/N confessed to stroking Loki's face.

Loki gave a malicious smile and stole a time-consuming and warm kiss from Y/N. She corresponded in the best way she could, she did not expect a kiss like that and Loki's hands stroking her by the waist, pulling her closer already said a lot of what he wanted with his girlfriend.

When the kiss was over, Loki's eyes were pure lust. Y/N felt a shiver running her spine, but it was a good chill, made her smile.

"Do you like my voice? "Loki asked, the voice a little more hoarse and laden with desire. Y/N stated with her head, slipping her hands to his neck. "I like it a lot."

"You haven't heard her in a more sensual way, have you?" Loki asked, provocative, descending his hands to Y/N's bare thighs.

She already had her body in hot, not literally. Still panting, Y/N climbed on Loki's lap and practically devaged him with his eyes.

"I'm anxious to hear..." Y/N's voice was pure desire and the two finally surrendered.

As they kissed, Loki began to take off his coat, soon after it was Y/N taking off her shirt.

Loki ended the kiss and descended his lips to Y/N's still-covered breasts. He removed her bra and started sucking on the nipple while using his hands to rub Y/N's hip against her own. Y/N signed by the feeling of Loki's waking erection between her legs and rushed into taking off her bra as quickly as possible.

Loki laid her down in bed and stood over her, kissing her again and he massaged Y/N's breasts with both hands, making the woman sigh during the kiss.

But Loki needed more, Y/N also needed more. Loki rose from the bed and, once standing, he took off all his clothes. While Loki undressed himself, Y/N also took advantage of what she had left of her clothes.

Y/N went to the edge of the bed where Loki also approached, he kissed her again. A more warm kiss while Loki tried to pass on all of his feelings to Y/N, but without leaving the desire they felt sideways and he transmitted all of it by his touches. Loki's hands held Y/N's hips and pulled her out of bed.

Loki ended the kiss and turned her back on him, surprising Y/N. The kisses before fallen were to Y/N's neck and now she also felt the erect penis of Loki rubbing her buttocks.

"You wanted to hear my voice, didn't you?" Loki asked almost in a whisper and Y/N shudced in her arms, agreeing with her head. She had no strength to answer. "Because you will only hear me and feel, but you will not see me..."

Loki laid Y/N in bed and imbeded her hips carefully. Every move of Loki was delicate, as if she could break to a harder touch--indeed she could, since he was a Jotun.

Y/N cannot contain a groan in anticipation when the glans of Loki swiveled her vagina, but did not enter. But when he finally penetrated her, Y/N arched her back, feeling Loki's chest touching her back.

Loki's movements began slow and sensual, came along with the groans of Loki's satisfaction. Those hoof moans right at the foot of Y/N's ear along with the delightful sensation of him coming in and out of her made her drop a moaning. She needed more, she wanted to feel more like Loki.

Y/N chiped and gasped before taking a breath and finally talking. "More.... Loki, more... Hmmm..."

"You want some more?" Loki asked in a hoarse whisper between his groans and that made Y/N even more ecstatic.

"Oh, yes! Please, fuck me!" Y/N asked and continued to moan.

Given his girlfriend's requests, Loki moved away a little and holding Y/N by the hip and with faster and stronger moves, Loki made Y/N delify even more.

The bed began to creak as the movements got faster. The high groans of the two showed to themselves how much they were delivered to each other, how much they were passionate for each other.

Loki loved to feel Y/N pushing his own hip against his in search of more. He loved the way she gaily and that ironically she was almost burning him when he was almost freezing on the inside.

Loki felt his climax approaching, Y/N was already close to her orgasm as well. Loki's big hands went to Y/N's shoulders and firmed there, and with the pleasure growing for him, he made Loki start to rush against her with more brusquely, almost howling with pleasure when her orgasm came.

Y/N turned her eyes to pleasure by feeling the icy jets of Loki on her buttocks and fell on the bed, panting and without strength. Loki lay beside her, as weary as, panting he pulled her to her lap and embraced her.

"I don't know if I can go on a mission tomorrow." Y/N commented and Loki laughed.

"So stay... Ask Maximoff to take your place. " Loki suggested and Y/N lifted her face to look at Loki.

"I don't think the captain's going to accept that..." Y/N said and received the mumps of Loki as an answer.

They stayed a few moments just enjoying each other's affection before finally falling asleep.

The next day very early, Y/N met Steve, Bucky and Sam for a mission in Germany. They were all on their way to the Quinjet, all with their uniforms and heavily equipped. Steve was ahead with Sam, the two seemed committed to the Bucky mission was a little further behind and Y/N behind them.

She noticed Bucky looking at her a few times over her shoulders. First Y/N thought it was some silent complaint that she was walking slower, but when she squeezed the step and put herself next to Bucky, she could see a malicious smile on his face and it puzzled her.

"What's wrong?" Y/N asked, confused. Bucky kept his eye on the Quinjet where Sam and Steve were already climbing. "I always hated having neighbors, you know?"

"I don't understand."

"Oh, you don't understand?" Bucky laughed and made her stop him. "More.... Loki, more... Hmmm..." Bucky pretended to moan is Y/N turned red and all in flames at the same instant.

"You..."

"Well, I'm a neighbor of Loki's room has its disadvantages." Bucky said provocative. "I didn't know you was so noisy when you were going fuck someone..."

Bucky was going to keep teasing, but Y/N acted faster. She made a layer of ice grow from her feet to Bucky's calf and ran to the Quinjet, the fire in her body went out when she climbed on the ship, but she was still blushing red.

"What's that? Anyone in the compound heard you!" Bucky's screams left Y/N even more embarrassed, she looked at Steve and Sam to make sure what Bucky said.

The fact that Steve blushing and diverting the look and Sam smiling maliciously for her left Y/N even more embarrassed. But soon she began to burn again.

"Oh, don't you bother me either. You going to say you don't have sex?" Y/N accused her of rage and pointed to Steve. "You can't judge me, Cap, I've heard very malicious noises from your room and it wasn't your voice there."

"No exposing the others! Focus on the Mission!" Steve sentenced to go to the pilot's seat under the laughter of Y/N and Sam.

#loki x reader #loki (marvel)#loki fanfic #loki odinson #loki laufeyson #loki x you #loki laufeyson x y/n #loki laufeyson x you #loki laufeyson x reader #God of th mischief #loki imagine #loki laufeyson imagine

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chickensarentcheap · 4 years

Text

Sanctuary -Chapter 46

WARNING: DARK TYLER, MENTIONS OF BLOOD, MILD TORTURE, PROFANITY

TAGGING: @alievans007, @thunderintheshadows, @innerpaperexpertcloud, @c-a-v-a-l-r-y, @valkyrie-of-the-light

It's five thirty in the morning when Tyler arrives at the storage facility, the hood of his sweater pulled over his head, sunglasses covering his eyes. Yaz said there'd been some 'activity' during the night; most likely homeless folks looking for a place to sleep, or thieves taking advantage of the night to break into some of the occupied lockers. Still, without knowing exactly who'd been poking around, it's better to take precautions; hide your face, cover the numbers on your license plate, only use your SAT phone within a kilometre of the place. Small things that can often make the difference between life and death.

There's three insulated coolers in the back of the SUV -filled with bags of ice and bottles of water- and he leaves them for the time being; killing the engine and then gathering up the cardboard carry out tray of hot drinks and the bag of breakfast foods that sit in the passenger seat. It's a cooler morning; a stiff breeze rolling in from the east, bringing with it the smells of rotting garbage and pollution produced by the surrounding industrial plants. And he keeps his head down as he climbs out of the car, shutting the door with his hip and setting the alarm via remote, the soles of his boots crunching against dirt and debris as he heads through the gate and towards the front entrance. Eyes always searching; skirting left in right, constantly on the look out for anything suspicious or any sign of trouble.

Michael McMann is still restrained to the chair; hands still secured behind his back, ankles still tethered, hood still over his head, chin tucked into his chest.

“You're early,” Yaz comments from where he sits in the far corner of the room with his laptop on his thighs.

“Couldn't sleep. He been awake at all?”

“Couple times. Totally flipping his shit. Calling you all sorts of filthy names. Were your ears ringing? Because they should have been. And he may or may not have had an accident.”

Tyler arches an eyebrow. “What kind of accident? I don't like cleaning up piss or shit when it's kids, never mind an adult. So if you left that for me...”

“Nothing like that. He lost his balance when I took him over to the bucket to take a leak. Took a header right off the floor. Split his forehead open pretty good. Thought he was going to bleed out all over the goddamn place and I might have to call an ambulance. But as you can see, he's still here. Breathing.”

“You make that sound like a bad thing.”

“Bad thing for him, maybe. He's going to wish he was dead when you get through with him. What'cha bring me?” Ya peers into the paper bag that Tyler sets down on the table. “Hardening of the arteries, that's what you brought me. I like working with you much better than my sister. She's into all this healthy shit that tastes just like that. Shit. You spoil me. If you weren't already married, I'd scoop you right up.”

“I already told you, you're not my type. You're a brunette, but you're way too tall and way too skinny. I'd break you in half.”

“Hey, if Esme can handle you, I can handle you. I honestly don't understand how someone as small as her, can carry a baby made by you inside of that little body. Especially two at the same time? You're like a fucking giant compared to her. How do you guys manage to...you know...”

“I am not discussing my sex life with you, Yaz. But my wife is happy and satisfied. And then some. We make things work. If we didn't, we wouldn't have four kids.”

“And one on the way,” Yaz points out. “Another spawn of yours let loose on the world. I appreciate your hard work when it comes to populating the world, but the last thing we need is another one of you. One Tyler Rake is enough. Now there's going to be five? This world does not stand a chance. This gonna be the last one? For the good of humanity?”

“Definitely the last one,” he says, and shrugs out of his hoodie, grimacing at the pain in his shoulder.

“Those guys fucked you up pretty good,” Yaz observes. “You alright?”

“I've had worse,” he shrugs, and removes a bottle of pills from one of the sweater pockets before tossing it on the back the chair, sitting down with a grunt.

“You look like shit.”

“I feel like shit,” Tyler admits, and twisting the top off the bottle of pills, dumps two in his mouth and swallows them down with hot coffee.

“Not sleeping again?”

He shakes his head.

“Back on the Valium, huh? Thought you weren't going to take it anymore? Thought you didn't like the way it makes you feel.”

“Better than the way it makes me feel when I'm off it. And I told my wife I'd get back on them, so...” he shrugs. “She doesn't like who I am when I'm not taking them.”

“You have been a little...” Yaz choose his words carefully. “...on edge.”

“I think that's more to do with this prick...” he nods at McMann. “...then not taking meds.”

“I'm not just talking about that. About this job. I'm talking in general. You haven't been yourself. You've been a prick for the most part. Like you're ready to just tear someone apart if you think they're looking at you in the wrong way. I get the stress and the worrying about the kids and now your wife's pregnant and you got that on your plate. But for you to decide to do something like this? That isn't you, Tyler. You're the one that had to talk Esme out of getting her revenge on the kid who nearly killed you. And now you're doing this? You drugged somebody. You kidnapped him. You're going to torture him. Shit like that? That's not you.”

“I warned him. That if he fucked with my family...”

“Your family is safe. Nothing happened. You were able to stop that. I get that he needs to pay. But handing him over to the IRA should be enough, don't you think? You shouldn't need to do this. You shouldn't want to do this.”

Tyler's eyes narrow. “I thought you were on my side. You said you'd help me.”

“And I have. Helped you. But this is getting out of hand. This is far beyond what I'm comfortable with. Just hand him over and call it a day. Wash your hands of him and that's it. Go home, Tyler. Go home and get your kids. Spend time with your family. Forget about this shit. If you walk away now, no extra harm has been done. Your hands are still clean. Your conscience is still clean.”

He frowns. “You've been talking to that prick Mark, haven't you.”

“I don't like the guy anymore than you do, okay? But he has a point. This is going to mess with your head. This is going to fuck you up and you're going to change, man. You're own wife and kids won't even recognize you anymore. Is that what you want? You want to loose them? Because that's what's going to happen. Whether you lose them because you go through with this and try to keep it a secret, or because you become someone else. And I know that's not what you want.”

“Of course that's not what I want. But...”

“So get your ass on the next plane and go home. Take your wife, go home and get your kids, and live a normal life. You deserve that. Aren't you tired of this? This bullshit? The constant travelling? The danger? The blood? The killing? Putting your ass on the line for people who don't even appreciate it? I know the money is good. But when does it become less about the money and more about keeping yourself alive for your kids?”

“Don't do that, Yaz. Use my kids against me. That's a bitch move and you know it.”

“You're a dad, Tyler. They depend on you. They need you. Where have you been for most of their lives? Can you sit back and say that you've been around more than you've been away? That you've made the best of your time with them in the past five and a half years? Because if you can, you're a fucking liar. You've been away more than you've been with them. And I'm sorry if that's a huge kick in the nuts hearing that, but it's the truth. They deserve better than that, man. They deserve to have memories of you being there, not memories of their mom single handily trying to hold everything together. Your responsibility didn't stop when you helped make them, you know.”

He sighs heavily, runs his hands over his weary face.

“I'm saying all this because you're my boy. Because I care about what happens to you. This life...being a husband...being a dad...this is the life you never thought you'd have. You shouldn't even be here. Everything says that you never should have made it alive out of Dhaka, And you did. You were given a second chance at life and this is what you do with it? You piss away the chance to have a good life? A relatively normal life? Why? For what? For an asshole like him!” Yaz jerks his thumb over his shoulder at McMann.

“He fucked up. And he needs to pay the price. And maybe you'd understand that if you had a family to loose.”

“You're not going to have your own family if you do this. You stand to lose everything. Your wife, your kids. Don't do that to yourself. And most importantly don't do that to them. Don't do that to Esme. She's stuck by you through even the hardest shit. All those times she probably should have told you to fuck off and stay away. But she always gave you another chance. And this is how you repay her? By pushing her away? What the fuck is wrong with you?”

“Can we not talk about this? Because no matter what you say, I'm going through with this. This is what he deserves. And if I lose everything because of it...”

“You're actually willing to lose your entire life because of him? Just hand him over to the IRA and wash your hands of him. They'll punish him enough. You don't need to do it.”

“Yeah, Yaz. I do. And I get that you don't understand why and if you want to walk away...”

“I'm not letting you do this alone. Fuck that. I don't trust Mark or his two flying monkeys. But if I can't talk you out of it, maybe Nik can. She's flying in this morning. And she's pissed as hell. She's going to come for your balls; just a heads up.”

“This has nothing to do with her. She can stay the fuck out of it. She's only sticking her nose in it because of Mark.”

“I agree he's a little weasel and she's way too good for him, but she's worried about you. We all are.”

“There's nothing to worry about. I'm fine. And I'll be fine.”

Yaz stares at him pointedly.

“I'll be fine,” he repeats, hoping he sounds more convincing to other ears than he does to his own.

*****

It's seven am by the time McMann begins to stir. Mumbling incoherently from underneath the hood, soles of his feet scraping against the cement as he attempts to move his legs, muscles straining slightly as he tries to fight the zip ties binding his hands together. Tyler watches him; leaning back in his own chair, hands clasped behind his head, his feet propped up on the cooler sitting on the floor in front of him. And it isn't until the other man begins to struggle in earnest that he moves; taking his feet off the cooler and popping open the lid, taking out one of the ice cold bottles of water before shutting the lid.

“Time to wake up,” he says, as he approaches McMann. “Time to get this shit started,” he yanks the hood off the restrained man's head and tosses it into the corner. “Hey...wake up....” he grabs a hold of McMann's chin, vigorously shaking his head from side to side. “...time to wake up, asshole. Time to reap what you sow, mate.”

McMann pulls his head back, then makes a noise in the back of his throat as gathers up saliva.

Tyler wraps his hand around the man's throat, fingers digging into the flesh. “Don't even fucking think about it. 'Cause I'll break your goddamn neck and then I'll be pissed because you ruined all my fun. Swallow.”

McMann shakes his head.

“Swallow. Now.”

Another refusal.

“Why do you have to make this so hard on yourself? Why do you have to make me work even harder?” he uses his teeth to uncap the bottle of water, then spits the lid across the room and moves his hand from McMann's throat to underneath his chin. Roughly forcing his head back and painfully pressing his thumb and forefinger into the other man's cheeks, effectively forcing his jaw open. “You gonna swallow or are we going to do this the hard way?”

McMann stares up at him, eyes defiant.

Tyler smirks, then shoves the opening of the bottle into other man's move, pouring out the ice cold liquid as quick as possible, until it's pouring out the corners of his mouth and trickling down his cheek and McMann begins to cough and sputter; fighting helplessly against his restraints. “Wasn't so hard was it?” Tyler tosses the empty bottle into the corner. “Try that again and I won't go so easy on you. I will snap your windpipe, understand me?”

McMann doesn't respond.

“Understand me?” Tyler snarls, and yanks the man's head back by his hair. “Fucking answer me when I ask you a question.”

McMann nods. “I understand.”

“Good,” Tyler releases his grip on the other man's hair, then wanders over to the table where all the weapons are other tools are being held. Selecting one of the box cutters before grabbing one of the plastic chairs and placing it in front of McMann. “You and are I going to have a little chat. About a few things. You remember that conversation we had on the plane? About what would happen to you if I found out this was all a game? If it turned out you were playing me? You remember that, right?”

“I remember.”

“I told you that I come for you. That if you were fucking me over, you'd regret it. So...” he sits down in the chair, leaning forward with his elbows on his knees. “...here we are. Just the two of us. And that table over there...” he nods in the direction of the stash of weapons. “....see that? All those things are for you, Michael. Can you I call you Michael?” he smirks. “Of course I can. First name basis, yeah? I think we're close enough for that now, don't you?”

He nods.

“To be honest, mate, I really don't give a shit that you tried to kill me. Twice. I've had a lot of people try to kill me. One of them almost succeeded five and a half years ago. See this...” he taps the end of the box cutter against the scar on the left side of his neck. “...a kid did that. A fucking teenager. He managed to get me closer to death than I've ever been. How does that make you feel? Knowing you fucked up...twice...but a kid nearly managed to kill me?”

McMann remains silent.

“You don't feel much like talking, huh? That's okay. I have a lot I need to say. And I've got ways of making you talk. So...” he pushes down on the release button on the box cutter; every snap as the blade pushes out echoing in the room. “....what I'm really upset about is that you showed up where I live. Not just where I live, but where my wife lives. Where my kids live. Because I don't care about myself nearly as much as I care about them. You could have just cut your losses after you fucked up in Guatemala, but you didn't. You had the goddamn nerve to come to Colorado and watch me. Watch my family. You were in that ice cream shop that day. Ten feet away from daughter. Ten feet away from my sons. That was a bad move, mate. A very bad move.”

“I did what I had to do,” McMann finally speaks. “What I was paid to do.”

“Something tells me you weren't being paid to stalk my kids. Maybe me. But not my kids. Whatever told you that was a good idea? Everything that you've heard about me. Everything you obviously saw me do in Guatemala. What the hell ever told you it was a good idea to near my kids?”

“Money. It was all about the money.”

“Now normally I'd agree with you. Because I've done some questionable things to questionable people for money. Good money. But I've never, ever gone after kids. Unless I was saving them. So here lies the problem, mate. My kids are safe. Your people will never get to them. There's some pretty powerful people I've made friends with and they won't think about twice about killing whoever you got working with you. And your kids are still out there. Now I could say fuck it and just go home and keep letting you use your own kids. But we both know I'd never be able to live with myself if I did that. So I'm going to make this easy on you. You tell me where your kids are, and maybe, just maybe, I won't hurt you nearly as much as I plan to.”

“I'll never tell you where they are. And you'll never find them on your own.”

“Oh you'll tell me. Eventually. Because I've got a lot of tricks up my sleeve to get you to talk. But first things first...” he stands up, using his foot to move the chair out of the way. “...out of sheer curiosity, just what were you planning on doing to my kids? Because I'd like to hear it. I'd like you to tell me what you had in mind. So I can judge just how bad I make things for you.”

“Nothing. We weren't planning on doing anything to your kids. We were just going to grab them and hold onto them for a while.”

“You said nothing but that's something, innit?” Tyler moves behind the chair McMann is restrained in, and he holds the box cutter close to the man's ear, repeatedly opening and closing the blade. “Grabbing them is something. Michael....I don't think you want to be fucking with me right now. You're not in the position to be fucking with anybody. See, I know guys like you. A lot of guys like you actually. I've had to get people away from guys like you. I'm going to ask you again. I'm going to give you a chance to tell me the truth. What were you planning on doing to my kids?”

“I wasn't planning on doing anything to them.”

“Aww mate...come on...” Tyler chuckles. “...maybe you weren't personally planning on doing something, but the people you have working for you were. You're the one who told them what to do right? You're the one who planned it, yeah?”

McMann refuses to respond.

“I asked you a fucking question,” Tyler snags him by the hair once more, yanking his head back with enough force to crack his neck. “You're the one who planned things?”

He swallows noisily and nods.

“What did you tell them to do to my kids?”

“I told them to kill the big one if they had to. The Indian kid. I knew he'd fight. I knew he wouldn't let the little ones go easily. So I told them to kill him. And his girlfriend. That way we could just get your kids without any problems.”

“First of all, his name isn't 'Indian Kid'. His name is Ovi. And he's got more balls in his little finger than you have in your entire body. Second, I'm proud of you. For not pissing me off enough to take an ear off. I'm going to ask you again. What were you planning on doing to my kids?”

“I'm not saying anything else. I'm not saying shit. You don't have the balls to go through with this. You just want to scare me into giving you what you want.”

“Mate, do you really want to test me right now? Do you really want to see if I have balls or not? Because I'm all out of patience here. I'm all out of fucks, like my wife would say. So...” he tightens his grip on McMann's hair, yanking his head to the side and then pressing the tip of the box cutter blade into the skin below his ear. Enough to break the surface; a trickle of blood appearing. “...I'm going to ask you on more time. What were you going to do to my kids?”

McMann refuses to answer.

Tyler presses down harder; feeling the blade dig into the man's neck, his free hand still gripping McMann's hair. Using enough force to draw even more blood, feeling it drip down the box cutter and onto his own fingers; hot, smooth, the smell tangy and pungent. And it only encourages him even more. Kicking his adrenaline up another notch. And he slowly drags the blade along McMann's next, prolonging the pain, until the other man is screaming in pain and attempting to get away. Kicking his bound feet, trying to break the ties around his wrist, struggling to get away.

“Okay! Okay!” McMann finally relents. “I'll tell. I'll fucking tell you.”

“Now that wasn't too bad, was it?” Tyler asks, and cleans both his fingers and the box cutter off on the front of McMann's shirt. “You live to see another day. For now. So, tell me...” he uses his forearm to clear sweat off his brow, then walks over to the cooler and grabs a bottle of water; tearing off the cap and downing half of it before returning to his chair. “...what did you tell them to do?”

“They were going to grab them. After they killed the big one and his girlfriend. They were going to hold them somewhere. Like I did with my kids. Everything was going to be the same. The duct tape, the zip ties, everything. They were going to rough them up a bit...”

“You told your people...grown men...to beat on my kids?” The fury is instant. All consuming. “Is that what you're telling me? That you told adults to put hands on them? The oldest is five. The youngest is ten months. And you told people to beat on them?”

McMann nods, tears sparkling in his eyes.

“Don't cry now, mate. Tears won't work on me. They aren't going to save you. And I know those tears aren't for my kids. You told adults...men...to beat on my kids?”

“I just told you....”

“Now we have a real problem,” Tyler leans forward in his seat, elbows on his knees. “If you'd just said you told them to grab them and hold them somewhere, I wouldn't be as mad as I am right now. I could have probably kept it together when you mentioned the duct tape and zip ties. But you actually told people to put their hands on my kids. That...well that I can't forgive....so....” he jumps to his feet, then heads back to the weapons table. “...I don't think a box cutter is going to quite cut it this time....this calls for something a little...I don't know...worse.”

He selects the crow bar, then decides against it and puts it back. Opting for the pliers instead.

“My daughter,” he says, as he walks back towards McMann. “Well I think you know what I'm going to ask you next. Did you tell them to do anything else to my daughter? Like what happened to that Erin girl? Did you tell any of them to do something like that to my little girl?”

“No. I'd never suggest something like that. I'm a lot of things, but I'd never, ever, allow that.”

“You're lucky I believe you, Michael. You know Erin was a message? To me? Well I'm going to send a message to your people. To your wife.”

“What kind of message? What the hell are you doing with those? What...?”

“I want them to know that I have you. And that I'm going to keep sending little pieces of you until I get what I want. So...” Tyler once more stands behind the metal chair. “...we can either do this the easy way or the hard way. Which one do you want?”

“What's the easy way?”

“Easy way is you just sit there and open your mouth for me and I take out a few of your teeth. With these,” he waves the pliers in McMann's face, and the man immediately reacts; panic and terror surging through him, screams and profanities flying out of his mouth as he struggles against his bonds. “Hard way, huh?”

Tyler shrugs, then wraps an arm around McMann's throat; squeezing as hard as he can; muscles bulging, veins prominent. Stronger and bigger than the other man, easily able to hold his head still with such a powerful grip, and he shoves the pliers past the other man's teeth, until he's hitting the back molars and clamping down on one, yanking it clear out of the gum. Tightening his hold when McMann fights even harder; choking and gagging on his own blood and saliva and the gradual collapsing on his windpipe. Sweat forming on his own brow and trickling down his temples; dripping into his eyes as he removes two more teeth before gradually releasing the pressure on McMann's throat.

“You're fucking crazy,” McMann pants; his face near purple, a mixture of sweat, saliva, and blood trickling down his chin and onto his shirt. “Insane. You're fucking insane.”

“Maybe,” Tyler says, as he pockets the teeth and cleans the pliers off on the thigh of his jeans “But you fucked with the wrong man's family. And I'm going to make you pay. A little bit at a time. So get comfy. Because you're not going anywhere for a while.”

****

He stops at a gas station and uses their restroom; washing the blood, saliva, and spit off of his arms and hands. He changes his clothes, pulling on a fresh pair of jeans, clean t-shirt, and a pair of flip flops, and discarding the others in the trash can. Esme hadn't been awake when he'd left that morning, so there would be no need to explain why he'd left in one outfit and returned in another. He searches the cabinet under sink; locating an extra garbage bag and stashing the hoodie into it and his boots into it. Those things he can clean later.

He's back at the hotel before nine am. Finding Tanis once more sitting in the hallway with her back against the door, this time with a large, leather bound novel resting against her thighs. They don't exchange words; barely a glance in each other's direction as she forcefully snaps the cover of the book closed and silently gets to her feet, stomping down the hall towards her own room.

The bed is empty; sheets rumpled, covers thrown back. The sliding door that leads out onto the balcony is open, allowing fresh air into the room, and he can see her sitting in one of the chairs. Still in the clothes she'd worn to bed, with her back towards the room and the sunlight making that red hair dye sparkle and shimmer. He moves quietly through the room; locking the garbage bag with the boots and the hoodie in it in the closest that he'd used to store the bag of weapons and ammunition. In the bathroom he checks every inch of his forearms and hands for even the smallest remnants of blood; scrubbing his fingers with so much force he almost reopens the slowly healing wounds on his knuckles.

As he reaches for a towel, he catches sight of his reflection in the mirror. Noticing the deep creases in his brow, the darkness in his eyes, how tight his jaw is clenched. He'd been riding on pure adrenaline and rage back at the storage facility; yet fully aware of the things he was saying and doing. And while the former has passed, the latter lingers. Running on a slow boil right under the surface. Yet he feels nothing. No shame. No disgust. No remorse. His heart and his conscience as empty as the look in his eyes.

He slips his sunglasses back on before heading outside to join her. It's sunny out; she won't question him about leaving them on and he'll be able to hide that 'look' from her. The emptiness. She'd notice it right away; she was always talking about how all of his emotion and a lot of communication came from the eyes. There'd be no way of hiding something like that from her. She'd known as soon as she looked at him that something was wrong. That something very, very bad had gone down.

“Hey,” he greets, as he steps out onto the balcony.

She tips her head back to smile up at him, using her hand to shield her eyes from the sun. “Hi.”

He lays a hand on her back, leaning down to press a soft kiss to her lips.

“Where did you disappear to? I heard you leave really early and you're just getting back now?”

Fuck. He had been one hundred percent certain that she'd been fast asleep.

“Mark and the guys were having some issues with McMann. He needed someone to provide a little extra muscle.”

The lie rolls easily off his tongue. A little too easily.

“I bet McMann was thrilled to see you,” Esme scoffs. “You're his favourite person, after all.”

“Yeah,” he rubs at the back of his head and drops into the chair beside her. “I didn't make him too happy, that's for sure. You're actually eating,” he nods down at the plate of food in her lap; a wide assortment of fresh fruit.

“I don't know how much of it will stay down, but I've only puked twice this morning so far, so that's a good sign.”

He nods in agreement.

“Nik called when you were out. She said she couldn't get a hold of you on your cell or on the SAT.”

“Yeah, I blocked her. On both.”

Esme arches an eyebrow. “Why?”

“She annoys the shit out of me. This isn't even her job anymore. It was never her job in the first place. She needs to stay the fuck out of things.”

“I'm actually kind of glad she can't get a hold of you. I'm kind of tired of always worrying about her motives when it comes to you. I highly doubt every time she calls you or texts you, she has business in mind.”

“Let it go, Esme. There's nothing between Nik and I. There hasn't been in years. Since I met you.”

“You're not the problem. It's her. Like, go and find someone else's husband to lust over and pine over. One hat doesn't four kids and one on the way.”

“Just ignore her. She's not a threat. I've told you that a million times. I'm not going to cheat. She can ask me a million times and the answer is always going to be the same. So stop worrying so much about her. Maybe she'll calm down now that she's seeing Mark. Or whatever the hell you want to call it.”

“Well she can have him. Good riddance to old rubbish.”

“What did she want?”

“She just said she'd be arriving around noon. And that you and her needed to talk. She didn't sound very happy with you. What did you do?”

Tyler shrugs. “She's probably got some other job she wants me to do...”

“Yeah,” Esme snorts. “Like her.”

“...or she's pissed this one is taking so long.”

“Would you take it? If she offered another one?”

“I'm already on a job.”

“But if she could talk you into it. Would you abandon this one and take another one on?”

“No. Because I already told you that this was my last one. There's not going to be any other jobs. This is it. This is the end of the line. I promised you it would be, and I'm not going back on that promise,” he reaches out and lays a hand on the back of her neck, softly kneading the tense muscles. “We talked about this,” he gently reminds her. “I told you that this is the last one.”

“You've said that before. A handful of times.”

“Well, I mean it this time. I am tired of this life. Just as much as you are. It's time to move on. And I want us to do that together, not apart.”

She smiles at that, and he leans sideways in his chair to press a kiss to her temple.

He reaches for her hand, lacing his fingers with hers, bringing them up to his lips and kissing the inside of her wrist.

“We're going to be okay,” he says, finally feeling optimistic. “I promise.”

#tyler rake #tyler rake fan fic #tyler rake fan fiction #extraction #sanctuary #chris hemsworth character

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newstfionline · 3 years

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Friday, January 8, 2021

Spending the pandemic talking to yourself? If you live alone, you’re not alone (Washington Post) One bleak pandemic day in November, Aisha Tyler caught herself vacuuming the inside of her freezer. Then she scolded herself. Yes, out loud. Sometimes the Los Angeles-based actress will tell herself to “snap out of it.” On brighter days, she’ll congratulate herself on what a good job she’s doing and call for a celebration. Humans leave little unspoken, and this past year, as many of us have avoided social events and worked from home alone, we’ve been forced to talk out loud to the only person still around to listen: ourselves. Sure, it may take the form of bantering with our pets, scolding the politicians on TV or cajoling our malfunctioning printers, but that’s really just another way of hearing our own voice, helping us discern what exactly is going on inside that head of ours. What’s going on here? Charles Fernyhough, a psychology professor at Durham University and author of “The Voices Within: The History and Science of How We Talk to Ourselves,” says research shows people talk out loud more when under stress or facing cognitive challenges. It was praying aloud that kept 44-year-old April Harris going during her 32 days in quarantine with a deep cough at the California Institution for Women in Chino, Calif.—not just self-encouragements like “I can do this” and “You got this, April,” but repeated declarations like “by His stripes, I am healed.” “I would pray for our country and for a cure to this virus,” she says in an email from the prison, where she has spent 24 years but had never previously talked out loud to herself. “Now I pray that I am covered by His blood, not wanting to endure that again. I pray for the women who are in isolation now.”

Here’s Why Car Thefts Are Soaring (Hint: Check Your Cup Holder) (NYT) After years of declines, car thefts appear to be surging in cities and suburbs all over the country. The spree, which has been exacerbated by the pandemic, does not appear to be the work of sophisticated crime rings, the police say. Instead, this new wave of car thefts seems to stem from a combination of simple carelessness and the same technological advancement that once made stealing cars nearly impossible: the key fob. The broad adoption of keyless ignitions that began in the late 1990s ushered in a dark era for car thieves. New cars had engine immobilizers that only a microchip in the key fob could unlock, and vehicle thefts quickly plummeted. Technology, it seemed, had largely solved the problem of stolen vehicles. Until people started leaving their fobs sitting in their cup holders. Now, the police say forgotten fobs and keyless technology have contributed to soaring stolen car cases. In Hartford, the police have traced the surge to teenagers joyriding in from the suburbs. In Los Angeles, stolen cars reappear so frequently that the police believe thieves are using them like Ubers. And in New York City, a related but different problem has emerged as more drivers leave their cars running to make pit stops and deliveries during the pandemic, making their cars easy targets for thieves who can simply drive away, even without a fob.

Canadian compensation (CBC) Based on companies that trade on the TSX, in 2019 the average total compensation for the 100 best-paid CEOs of Canadian corporations was $10.8 million, while the average annual salary for a worker in Canada was $53,482 the same year. That means top CEO pay is about 202 times that of the average Canadian worker, which is actually down from the 227 observed the previous year. It also means that at 11:17 a.m. on Monday, the average CEO had already made the annual salary of a typical worker.

An unimaginable moment in America (AP) To see it unspool—to watch the jumbled images ricochet, live, across the world’s endless screens—was, as an American, a struggle to believe your eyes. But there it was, in the capital city of the United States in early January 2021: a real-time breaking and entering the likes of which the republic has never seen. The U.S. Capitol was overrun by violent supporters of Donald Trump, who exhorted them to march on the domed building as lawmakers inside carried out their constitutional duty by certifying his electoral defeat. The proceedings were quickly abandoned as the selfie-snapping mob smashed windows, marched through hallways and rummaged through lawmakers’ desks. Fourteen days before Joe Biden is set to be inaugurated on the very same site, elected officials sheltered in place in their own building. Agents barricaded themselves inside congressional chambers, guns drawn. The stars and stripes—soaring over public property—was lowered, then replaced as a blue Trump flag ascended. In one of the day’s most indelible images, a hoodie-clad trespasser sat in a chair overlooking the Senate floor—minutes after it had been vacated by Trump’s own vice president, Mike Pence—waving his fist in front of a thick, ornate curtain designed to summon the trappings of democracy. The United States on Wednesday seemed at risk of becoming the very kind of country it has so often insisted it was helping: a fragile democracy.

World reacts to US mob (AP) Amid the global outrage at the storming of the U.S. Capitol building by angry supporters of President Donald Trump was a persistent strain of glee from those who have long resented the perceived American tendency to chastise other countries for less-than-perfect adherence to democratic ideals. In China, which has had constant friction with the Trump administration over trade, military and political issues, people were scathing in their criticism of Trump and his supporters, citing both his failure to control the coronavirus pandemic and the mob action in Washington. The Communist Youth League ran a photo montage of the violence at the Capitol on its Twitter-like Weibo microblog with the caption: “On the sixth, the U.S. Congress, a most beautiful site to behold.” That appeared to mock House Speaker Nancy Pelosi for her June 2019 comments in praise of sometimes violent antigovernment protests in Hong Kong. Iran, another country that faces routine U.S. criticism over violations of human rights and democratic values, jumped on the insurrection as proof of American hypocrisy. The semiofficial Fars news agency called the United States a “fragmented democracy,” while Iran’s pro-government Twitter accounts gloated, circulating photos of the mobs with hashtags that included #DownfalloftheUS. “The beauty of democracy?” with a shrug emoji was the reaction tweeted by Bashir Ahmad, a personal assistant to the president of Nigeria, which has seen several coups since independence—including one led decades ago by President Muhammadu Buhari, who most recently entered the office via a vote. Venezuela, which is under U.S. sanctions, said the events in Washington show that the U.S. “is suffering what it has generated in other countries with its politics of aggression.” Several countries, both allies and antagonists of America, issued travel warnings to their citizens.

America the exceptional? (Foreign Policy) It’s not easy to say how much the storming of the Capitol will contribute to the decline in the reputation of the United States abroad. That’s because that decline has already been so steep: A Gallup poll of 29 countries in 2020 found that 20 already had approval ratings of U.S. leadership that are at new lows or that tie the previous record lows.

‘The power of life and death is in the tongue,’ Senate chaplain says (NYT) “We deplore the desecration of the United States Capitol building, the shedding of innocent blood, the loss of life, and the quagmire of dysfunction that threaten our democracy.” Those words, spoken by Barry C. Black, the Senate chaplain, resounded through the government chamber in the early hours of Thursday, as he declaratively closed a joint session of Congress marred by violence with a prayer. A Seventh-day Adventist minister and former Navy rear admiral known for his penchant for brightly colored bow ties, Mr. Black has been the Senate’s official clergyman for nearly two decades. His prayers in the chambers have long been laced with rebukes for the infighting of the lawmakers surrounding him, and his words have often served as a conscience check for those on both sides of the aisle. That was never more true than on Thursday morning, as he warned lawmakers that their words could have great consequences. “These tragedies have reminded us that words matter, and that the power of life and death is in the tongue,” he said. “We have been warned that eternal vigilance continues to be freedom’s price.” His prayer also urged new unity in the face of the deep divisions among lawmakers and within the country, driving home a need to “see in each other a common humanity.”

Twitter, Facebook muzzle Trump amid Capitol violence (AP) In an unprecedented step, Facebook and Twitter suspended President Donald Trump from posting to their platforms Wednesday following the storming of the U.S. Capitol by his supporters. Twitter locked Trump out of his account for 12 hours and said that future violations by Trump could result in a permanent suspension. The company required the removal of three of Trump’s tweets. Facebook and Instagram, which Facebook owns, followed up in the evening, announcing that Trump wouldn’t be able to post for 24 hours following two violations of its policies. Facebook later said that Trump would be banned indefinitely.

Indian farmers take to their tractors (Quartz) On the other side of the world, a protest of a different kind is taking place in Delhi, as farmers who oppose India’s newly passed agricultural laws plan to march into the city with 2,500 tractor trolleys today. It’s the latest action in nearly two months of demonstrations that have grabbed headlines globally for their scale, but also for their inventiveness—some of the tractors have previously doubled as screens for movie viewing as protesters dug in for the long haul. The latest round of talks between the government and farmers is scheduled for tomorrow. If the two sides can’t agree on a path forward, farmers’ union leaders say a tractor rally and nationwide protests will start on Jan. 26, when the country celebrates Republic Day.

With Mass Arrests, Beijing Exerts an Increasingly Heavy Hand in Hong Kong (NYT) They descended before dawn, 1,000 police officers fanning out across Hong Kong to the homes and offices of opposition lawmakers, activists and lawyers. They whisked many off in police cars, often without telling relatives or friends where they were being taken. Within a few hours on Wednesday, the Hong Kong police had arrested 53 people, searched 76 places and frozen $200,000 of assets in connection with an informal primary for the pro-democracy camp—all under the auspices of Beijing’s new national security law. In one swoop, the authorities rounded up not only some of the most aggressive critics of the Hong Kong government but also little-known figures who had campaigned on far less political issues, in one of the most forceful shows of power in the Chinese Communist Party’s continuing crackdown on the city. The message was clear: Beijing is in charge. The mass arrests signaled that the central Chinese government, which once wielded its power over Hong Kong with a degree of discretion, is increasingly determined to openly impose its will on the city. In the months since the law took effect, Beijing and the Beijing-backed Hong Kong leadership have moved quickly to stamp out even the smallest hint of opposition in the Chinese territory, where the streets once surged with huge anti-government protests. And they have shattered any pretense of democracy in Hong Kong’s political system.

Japan declares emergency for Tokyo area as cases spike (AP) Japan declared a state of emergency in Tokyo and three nearby areas on Thursday as coronavirus cases continue to surge, hitting a daily record of 2,447 in the capital. Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga issued the declaration at the government task force for the coronavirus. It lasts from Friday until Feb. 7, and centers around asking restaurants and bars to close at 8 p.m. and people to stay home and not mingle in crowds.

The next catastrophe has already been predicted (Les Echos via Worldcrunch) The epidemic surprised us, but it was predictable. In the risk report regularly published by the World Economic Forum (WEF) for its annual Davos summit, infectious diseases were listed every year as one of the 10 biggest threats. The report’s description of a virus spreading uncontrolled around the world was exactly what played out in 2020. There were frequent discussions at Davos about this type of danger. For example, in 2016, after the damage caused by Ebola, the general director of the World Health Organization, Margaret Chan, sounded the alarm about the next pandemic. Jim Yong Kim, president of the World Bank, drew a parallel with the Spanish Flu, evoking the risk of an illness that killed 30 million people. Bill Gates, the founder of Microsoft-cum-health philanthropist, insisted on the necessity of training teams in public health management and logistics. If this health crisis is causing so much suffering, it’s because we refused to seriously prepare for it. We didn’t follow the advice of the philosopher and engineer Jean-Pierre Dupuy, who pushes us to think about catastrophe to prevent it from happening. The time has therefore come to think about the next global catastrophes—the less predictable ones.

#headlines #news

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toomanystoriessolittletime · 5 years

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Trick or Treat?

Summary: Having moved in into your new apartment you haven’t met your downstairs neighbour yet. That changes when you hear someone breaking into your apartment in the middle of the night.

Paring: Loki / F!Reader

Words: 1876

Warnings: uhm. Loki being mischievious and... some making out?

A/N: Happy Halloween! I hope you enjoy this little story that has been sitting in my drafts. Enjoy :)

Ever since you moved into your new apartment you felt watched. Like someone was observing your every move. Sure it was an old house. 200 years old to be exact. What these walls have seen since they were build... You didn't even wanted to think about it, if you were honest with yourself.

Sighing you closed your bedroom window which opened to your balcony that overlooked the little garden of the house. Your neighbor from downstairs really had a hand for gardening. You admired his beautiful roses everytime you sat on the balcony, when you read. You hadn't met him yet. He seemed to be a busy man. Leaving the house before you even woke up and getting back mostly when you were fast asleep. Today however you heard the front door close and saw that the light went on downstairs, illuminating the garden in a warm light. Smiling to yourself you put on your sleep shirt and brushed your teeth before you went to bed.

Something woke you from your sleep. Searching for your phone you looked at the time. 2:24 am. Weird. Head shaking you turned around in your bed, bringing the covers up to your nose when you heard it again. Glass shattering. Followed from some low voices. Somebody was in your apartment. Thinking fast about what to do, you grabbed your phone and carefully and as silent as possible got up from your bed, walking to the doors that opened to your balcony. That was the tricky part. The door always made a noise when it was opened. Today however there was no noise as you opened it and stepped through it to walk to your balcony.

You felt someone grab you by your wrist, a hand over your mouth. You couldn't help the surprised yelp that got out of your mouth.

“Hush.” A low voice said. You looked up into almost hypnotizing green eyes. Shoulder long emerald hair framed his face.

“We haven't met yet, but I'm your downstairs neighbor.” He whispered as he looked down at you. You narrowed your eyes.

“You don't believe me? I know you've been stealing some of my roses for a month now.” Your eyes got big. He chuckled almost silently.

“I don't mind. Now, please don't make any noise when I release you.” He pleaded. You nodded. Moments later the hand over your mouth and the one grabbing your wrist disappeared.

“What are you doing up here?” You asked whispering.

“They tried to get into my place first, but they couldn't because of the spells I have cast.” He said. You raised your eyebrows.

“Spells.” You repeated.

“Magic.” He said as he looked over your shoulder through the window into your bedroom. The door opened and you saw two people entering the room. Almost jumping so they wouldn't see you, you felt his hand on your shoulder.

“They can't see us.” He smiled. Something about his face was familiar to you. You just couldn't put your finger on it.

“If they aren't blind they can see us.” You said as someone walked by the window looking out of it. You were busted. There was no way he wouldn't see the both of you standing out here. However nothing happened. He just walked away into your wardrobe.

“What in the...”

“Later. Now. How do you feel about causing some mischief?” He smiled, showing almost all of his teeth. And finally your brain could name what felt so familiar about his face. You had seen it on TV and in the news numerous times since he joined the Avengers.

“You're Loki.” You whispered surprised. He chuckled.

“Indeed I am.” A green mist surrounded him, before he was dressed in his usual leather gear. You couldn't help opening your mouth in surprise.

“Now... Let's have some fun, shall we?” He said as he walked into your bedroom. You just looked after him. Your neighbor with the beautiful roses was Loki of Asgard?

Fun in Loki's eyes was driving the two thieves in your apartment to near insanity. Apparently he put some very disturbing pictures in their heads which ended in them fleeing the house screaming for help. They got arrested 2 streets away from your house, hiding behind a car and screaming on the top of their lungs.

“Do I want to know, what you made them see?” You asked as you sat in a comfy armchair downstairs in Loki's apartment. Afire was burning in his fireplace, warming the room. A cup of delicious smelling tea in your hand.

“The last day of Asgard.” He said, as he sat down in the armchair next to you. He was wearing some sweatpants and a green very soft looking shirt now, having magic-ed into something more cozy as soon as he was done causing his mischief.

You took a big sip of your tea and couldn't help the quick moan coming out of your chest. That had to be the best tea you had ever had.

“Glad you enjoy it.” Loki smiled as he himself drank.

“What is it?”

“It's my mothers receipt. She always had a hand in putting herbs together. This one is to calm your nerves and help you sleep.”

You nodded.

“I'm sorry we haven't met yet. It has been some rather busy weeks ever since you moved in.”

“I heard. If I had known I am living with an Avenger I would have baked you a cake or something.” You laughed.

“Say that again?” Loki said. You looked at him.

“What exactly?”

“That you're living with an Avenger.”

“I am living with an Avenger, aren't I?”

An honest smile graced Loki's face.

“With my history people tend to see the worst in me.”

“But your mind was controlled back in New York. People should see that you've changed. I mean you just helped me in the middle of the night not getting robbed. You're my friendly neighborhood Loki.” You smiled. And Loki laughed.

The two of you enjoyed your cups of tea in silence after that. You really liked the tea. And you felt it's effect as you yawned.

“You should go back to bed. This place is perfectly safe from now on. I cast the spell protecting my chambers over yours as well.” He said. And for some reason the thought alone made your heart beat faster.

“You didn't have to.” You said, as you got up putting the cup down on the table.

“I wanted to.” Loki said and got up as well. You turned and walked towards the door. Hesitantly you put you hand on the handle before you turned around to face him once more.

“You know it's Halloween today.” You said.

“I know.”

“What are you doing on Halloween?” You asked.

“Stark demanded me to go to his Halloween Party and I haven't found a reason to decline yet.” He said honestly.

“I guess my little Halloween party can't compete with one of Tony Stark's parties. It's more of a horror movie marathon anyway. But if you want to come, you are more than welcome. You saved me tonight after all.”

“I would love to come to your party.” He said and grabbed one of your hands, kissing the back of it, as he looked into your eyes.

You swallowed. “It's settled then.” You smiled as you tried to hide your blushing cheeks from his view.

“I'll be there.” He promised. Finally you opened the door, stepping out of it, walking up the stairs.

“Happy Halloween Loki.” You said

“Happy Halloween Darling.” He answered and only closed the door, when he saw you safely in your apartment.

By 7 pm and all your friends canceling because of the storm outside, you made your way downstairs. Knocking on Loki's door it didn't take long for him to open it. He was wearing some black linen pants and a dark sweater. His hair combed together in a bun in his neck.

“All my friends canceled due to the storm. I just wanted to let you know. You don't have to come up.”

“Why don't you stay here then?” He asked. You blinked, looking up at him. A little smile was on his face and you one again starred at the sheer beauty of him.

“Uhm...” Was all you came up with.

“You don't have to. It was just an idea...”

“I would love to, Loki.” You smiled and stepped into his apartment.

You didn't know when exactly you had ended up on his lap. Throughout the evening the two of you were getting more comfortable in each others presence. Loki kept finding excuses to touch you whenever he was close to you. And you didn't mind. At all. Everytime you felt his touch a shiver ran all over your body, hungry for more than he was giving you. So when the two of you had watched the first movie, sitting on his comfy couch under the same blanket, sides pressed together, you couldn't help running your hand over his knee. He sighed at your touch, which you took as an invite to maybe explore some more. So when he grabbed you by your thighs, bringing you up to straddle his lap, his hands slowly running up your thighs, you yourself couldn't stop yourself from sighing.

“You are a tease.” He said lowly looking up at you. Looking at his lips, you wrapped your arms around his neck, getting closer to him.

“I'm not.” You whispered, before your lips crashed on his. His hand ran up to the back of you head, pushing you closer to him, as his other hand lay firmly on your lower back. His teeth nibbled on your upper lip and you opened your mouth for him. Moaning as you felt him explore you, your hand played with the hair in his neck.

The doorbell ringing startled both of you and you parted heavy breathing.

The doorbell rang again.

“I was wondering when some kids would come trick or treating.” You said lowly looking at him. Carefully you got up from his lap, making him moan as you rubbed over his bulge. You bit your lip as you looked down at him. His eyes were definitely darker as he looked up at you, looking like he was ready to eat you.

“I'll be right back.” You said, straightening your clothes.

“I''ll be waiting right here darling.” You hear him say, as you walked to his door, grabbing the bowl with sweets to hand out to the waiting children.

Breathing in deep before you stepped into his apartment again, you set down the bowl on the table next to the door and found yourself pressed against the wall in the next moment. You giggled as you felt his lips on your neck.

“Trick or treat?” You asked he kissed himself up your neck.

“Why choose?” He whispered and teleported the both of you to his bedroom.

#ff #fanfic #fanfiction #loki #loki of asgard #tom hiddleston #halloween fic #one shot #halloween

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iconsumeheadcanons · 4 years

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April 19: Role Reversal AU

“You really should go to bed,” Morgana says to Ren with a big yawn.

Ren pays the boy no mind, continuing his foray through a box full of metaverse junk. Futaba laughs from her perch on Ren’s bed and gives a little kick to Morgana’s back.

“You should just give it up, leader,” Futaba says, typing away at her laptop, “He’s been inside way too long to worry about human concepts of time!”

Morgana pouts and pushes himself up from the floor with indignation, “It’s not like you're any better! You go to school and you still don’t go to bed on time!”

Futaba snorts and rolls over so she can bop Morgana on his head, but she misses and swipes at his tummy instead. Mona squeaks and then swipes back, and then the two first-years are engaged in a brawl of tickles and tugs that lands them both on the floor.

Marion sighs heavily at their antics and tries to act like he’s not irritated, but when Morgana’s foot flies just millimeters shy of his beak, he snaps. “Stop horseplaying will you! If you two keep shouting you’ll wake up Sakura-san!” His feathers puff up so he looks like an angry ball of black.

Futaba pauses, unknowingly saving herself from banging her head on Ren’s PC, and frees a hand to fix her glasses. After a second to process Marion’s complaints, she snorts and raises an eyebrow at the angry crow. “‘Horseplay’? What are you, my teacher?”

Marion growls in response and flies up to Ren’s shoulder to glare down at the idiots. “Had I not been teaching you all this time, Isshiki would have killed you both for all the noise you would have made in his library!”

“Well, we were noobs then,” Futaba jokes, taking Morgana’s offered hand so she can stand up, “We’re much more sneaky now! Right, Ren?” She leans over Ren’s hunched form.

Engrossed in his material sorting, Ren does not answer. Marion narrows his beady eyes at Futaba’s looming face.

“...Damn, he’s really into that, huh,” Futaba observes, swirling around to the other side of Ren’s collection of boxes so she can watch his face. His eyes are pointedly aimed at his hands, and he dips his head further when he realizes Futaba’s staring at him.

“Futaba…,” Mona scolds and Futaba steps back with a muttered apology.

The thieves had been spending the end of their summer break reacclimating Ren to existing around strangers and trusting friends. Later in the week, they planned to go to the beach--a challenge for Futaba and Ren both--but neither had allowed themselves to back down. They may have been wordlessly competing over who could ‘push down’ their agoraphobia the best, but it was clear at the end of the day that Futaba had months of near constant companionship (and multiple life and death experiences) with the other thieves and that Ren had spent most of those months contained in Sojiro’s house stewing over fears and angers.

“Um...Ren? Will you...Will you be okay tomorrow?” Futaba asks quietly with her hands tucked together like she was a scolded child.

“...hm?” Ren looks at Futaba’s wiggling bare toes and absently brushes Marion’s head with his thumb. Futaba and Mona grin at each other. Any noise Ren makes is a sign of his acknowledgement for a conversation, even if he’s too nervous to talk.

“She asked if you would be okay when our senpai come over tomorrow,” Mona says. His smile is supposed to be gentle, but he looks more like a smug cat when he does.

“W-We can stick around if you want!” Futaba adds hastily,” Mona’s already my key item, but I can be yours if you want! Or, like, your accessory or armor or something!”

“I’ll come with. You’ll need any protection you can get. Takamaki and Sakamoto are almost as rambunctious as these two,” Marion mutters into Ren’s ear.

“Ooi! We heard that, birdbrain!” Futaba shouts with tension-relieving anger, clearly amused at her cliche line.

“Hey! There’s NO way in hell that I’m as loud as Ryuji-senpai!” Argues the leader of the Phantom Thieves, stamping his foot like a child. Marion glares disapprovingly at Morgana as much as his avian features allow him and provides no comment. Behind Mona, Ren’s bedroom door opens and Sojiro leans inside looking haggard.

“Oi! Quiet it down! This old man needs to sleep, alright?” Sojiro says and then pauses to take in the room that he has seen little of since Ren moved in. “I don’t know what you kids are up to, but Takemi-sensei’s lookin’ for you,” he says to an embarrassed Morgana,” and I’m sure the kid’s had a long day of you and your bird squawking around him. You two can go back to...whatever you’re doing tomorrow, yeah?”

“Sorry, Boss,” Mona says, offering an arm for Marion to land on and reaching for his bag with the other.

“You’re fine, kid, just let sensei know where you are every once and awhile. Parents get worried, y’know?” Sojiro says with a fond smile and a hand behind his neck.

“Yes, sir,” Morgana nods. Behind him, Futaba coos at Sojiro’s words.

“And, you, young lady, need to get to bed too,” Sojiro points to Futaba and puts on a strict tone to cover his embarrassment, “If you don’t fix your sleep schedule now, you’re gonna be a mess when school starts back up again.”

“Aww, Sojirooooooo…” Futaba whines, “But I live here!”

“Yes, but this is his space, so you got to let him have it. You guys have done a lot for him recently, but you know he needs some time alone just like you did, alright? Besides, it’s late and you need to take your meds.”

“...Message received,” Futaba mumbles, turning to look back at Ren, “Good night! Don’t die!”

“Bye, Ren, see you tomorrow!” Morgana says. He leaves the room with a chuckling Sojiro on his tail and a chittering Futaba by his side.

When Morgana and Marion make it to the Yongen-Jaya streetlevel, they breathe in the humid air together with contemplative silence. All the nearby shops and izakayas have long been closed for the night and few pedestrians are about on the streets. Mona can hear fewer cars from the highway above the streets than usual and he tries to take in the rare loudness of his footsteps on the pavement. He passes a baffled business man as he walks under the light of the apartment-slash-clinic building where he and Takemi live, the light illuminating the calm crow perched on his shoulder. Unperturbed by the stranger, Mona carries on to the stairs to the building elevator, more worried about the notifications he sees from Takemi on his phone. He knew he was out late, but really this late?

I’m coming up right now, He types with both hands, waiting for the slow ass elevator to come down.

He gets a ping almost right away, and he expects it to be Takemi, but he is delightfully surprised to see a message from Ren on the groupchat.

Its Joke: futaba ill be good tmrw

Its Joke: i mean how bad can a student council president and a private school kid be?

The Gay Panther: Thats the spirit!! ♪(ﾟ▽^*)ﾉ⌒☆

‘Science class hazard’: you speak big little man!

Mama’s boy 101: hey its not like im stuck up or anythng!

Ass Kicker 3000: I’m glad you’re all excited but please go to sleep

The messages continue even after Makoto’s plea, but Morgana puts his phone away and steps into the rickety elevator with a fond shake of his head.

Marion, who had been looking over Morgana’s shoulder, looks up to Morgana’s face and says, “You are all children.”

“Yeah, yeah,” Mona yawns, pushing down on Marion’s head with a teasing hand. “That’s what we have you for.”

#persona 5 au week #my writing #p5 #ren #futaba #this is based off of my wip roleswap au i posted a while ago #i went for 'marion' as you can see #srry im not great a writing akechi but hes like the 2nd party member here #boop.txt

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stahlop · 4 years

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Once Upon a Time 2x06 “Tallahassee” Review

Reviews 1x01 1x02 1x03 1x04 1x05 1x06 1x07 1x08 1x09 1x10 1x11 1x12 1x13 1x14 1x15 1x16 1x17 1x18 1x19 1x20 1x21 1x22 2x01 2x02 2x03 2x04 2x05

The mystery man from the season premiere is finally revealed and he is Henry’s father! And apparently a complete asshole. As is August. Ugh! I get that forces apparently had to converge together to get Emma pregnant so she could put Henry up for adoption and Regina could adopt him, but did she have to be betrayed by the man she loved to do that? No wonder Emma’s such a tough cookie and doesn’t let people in. Also, Emma in the past will be referred to as young Emma to distinguish the two.

Summary: Emma and Hook climb a beanstalk to find the magic compass that will get her and Mary Margaret back to Storybrooke. In Emma’s past, we meet Henry’s father and how she ended up in jail (and how she acquired the yellow bug).

Opening: Growing beanstalk

New Characters:

Neal: I know he was in new characters previously as Mystery Man, but since we actually know who he is now, I’m putting him in here again. Also, my initial reaction to him was correct, I hate him. We first meet Neal in Portland, OR as he pops up in the backseat of the yellow bug young Emma steals. She thinks he’s the owner, but it turns out he’s also a thief, so, of course, she feels a kinship with him. Now, I’m not sure why, but the costumers did nothing to make him look any younger in this flashback, so he just seems like a creepy, older pervert using a young girl to help him with his stealing exploits. I’m not sure how old he’s supposed to be, but he’s at least 21 since he repeatedly asks young Emma out for a drink and she’s only supposed to be 17. But, I’m guessing he’s more between 23-25, even though he looks his real age which is around 35. Anyway, he gets out of a cop pulling them over by being completely misogynistic with the cop, and they go on their way. We next see him and young Emma in a convenience store and she’s very pregnant, and he refers to her as his wife. Neal distracts the cashier from him and young Emma shoplifting by asking him directions to Eugene on a map. A customer comes in and notices them stealing so young Emma pretends to go into labor. This whole scene is hilarious. They leave and we find out that young Emma is not pregnant and that she was using the bag under her dress to collect the pilfered items. And then they’re kissing in the car. Ew! They go to a motel and grab a room that a family is leaving and happens to not close the door all the way. Well, that’s lucky. Young Emma notices a dreamcatcher and explains what it is to Neal. He calls it flypaper for nightmares. He thinks they should keep it. They’re still living in the bug so young Emma doesn’t find that feasible. Neal suggests getting a real place together. Young Emma is skeptical and even suggests Neverland, which angers Neal slightly. He finds a picture of a map and tells young Emma to point to a place with her eyes closed. She points to Tallahassee, so they decide that’s where they’ll go. Young Emma asks if this is what he really wants and he says what he really wants is her. I really want to believe him, but knowing what we know later, I find it hard to believe. Neal is in a mood the next time we see him. He’s apparently wanted by the FBI and he managed to snag his poster from the post office. He stole some expensive watches when he was in Phoenix. He came to Portland and stashed them in a train locker. He tells her Tallahassee is out, he needs to head to Canada. Young Emma assumes she’ll go with him. He needs to go alone. She doesn’t think so. They argue until she decides that she’ll get the watches out of the locker. They can fence them, use the money to change their identities, and go to Tallahassee. Honestly, I thought that Neal was doing this to set young Emma up even before August came on the scene. But, apparently he really does love her and didn’t plan on being a complete asshole. So young Emma goes and gets the bag out of the locker. I’m still not sure why Neal couldn’t do this. It’s not like anyone knows where he is. Why would security think it odd if he got a bag out of a train station locker? It doesn’t seem as if it’s being watched for any reason. Why did young Emma have to be involved with this whatsoever? It seems like the fencing of the watches would be the more dangerous part of this whole scheme. Anyway, young Emma brings them to Neal and he thinks he can fence them for around $20,000. He’s going to fence the watches and reminds her to meet him at 9:00, and gives her one of the stolen watches so she has the time. Again, seems like this would be some sort of set up, except he hasn’t met with August yet. Neal is walking to meet his fence and feels someone following him. He runs off and the person runs after him. The guy tackles him and Neal thinks it’s a cop, but it turns out to be August! He and Neal argue about who’s doing a better job taking care of young Emma. August realizes Neal actually loves young Emma. He thinks that will make leaving her easier, because he’ll want to do right by her. August asks Neal if he believes in magic. Neal considers this before telling August that he obviously does (you didn’t answer the question Neal). August says he’s going to show Neal something that will make him believe. It’s in his typewriter box. And Neal does believe the minute he sees what’s in the box. August tells him about the curse and that Emma needs to break it, and she can’t do that with Neal in the picture. August asks him if he’ll do the right thing. And the right thing is apparently setting young Emma up for stealing the watches. WTF, Neal? We see Neal meeting with August two months later in Vancouver, Canada. He feels guilty about young Emma (GOOD!) and just wants to know if she’s okay. August informs he she got 11 months. He says it should be him in there. Well, it’s good to know he has feelings about this. Why didn’t he just get himself arrested and not let young Emma know? Why did he have to frame her? Ugh!! Neal wants August to promise he’ll be there for young Emma since he can’t. He does. He gives August the money from the watches and the car (with a clean VIN just like young Emma had suggested) to give to young Emma so she’ll have a fresh start when she gets out of jail. He also asks that August let him know when the curse ends. I’m sorry, I don’t know what could scare Neal so much that he would frame the woman he purports to love for his crime. That is not love.

Character Observations:

Young Emma/Emma: I’m just going to come out and say it. Young Emma is an idiot. She may know how to steal a car, but she clings to Neal because they’re both thieves, and they don’t have any family. We know she’s grown up in the foster system and she was moved around a lot, so she’s clinging to the little bit of stability that she can find. Even if it’s with a much older man that is a thief. So let’s just skip to the part where she’s set up, because this whole thing is absurd. Young Emma goes to meet Neal at the prearranged location after he fences the watches. She calls him up on her flip phone and finds his number has been disconnected. Then a cop comes and tells her that her boy set her up. He called in a tip and is probably off to Canada by now. Why does the cop know all this information? Neal called in a tip to check the surveillance footage at the train station. Ok. What does this prove? She took a bag out of a locker. Unless they have proof that there were watches in that bag, they have nothing. All they have is the one watch young Emma is wearing and there is no proof she stole it. Technically, it was a gift from Neal, so she’s done no wrong there. The cop tells her to give him the watch and then asks if she knows her rights. He doesn’t even say them to her. She just answers yes. Now, while this technically wouldn’t set her free, anything she would say after this would not be admissible in court, so most likely the judge would throw out the case unless there was other evidence that could be used. So when the cop asks where the rest of the watches were and she said ‘Gone, not coming back’ (and yes, she’s actually talking about Neal), that would not be admissible in court as her knowing about the stolen watches. And the wanted poster had Neal’s picture on it of him stealing the watches! Who was young Emma’s public defender? They did a real shit job for her to get 11 months for possession of stolen goods that she a) didn’t steal and b) they never recovered. I seriously cannot figure out how the hell this case even made it to trial, let alone a guilty verdict. The only thing I could even think they’d get her on was being Neal’s accomplice, but she didn’t even know him them, and they could see what foster home she was in and that it wasn’t in Phoenix. But back to young Emma, who is feeling very betrayed, obviously. We next see her in jail. The prison guard has a package for her that she has to open in front of her. It’s car keys to the bug, with the swan keychain. The guard says at least she has a car when she gets out, and apparently a baby, as young Emma is holding a positive pregnancy test.

In the EF, Emma volunteers to climb the beanstalk with Hook, which makes him very happy. He has a magic cuff they need to use to climb the beanstalk as it’s enchanted so no one can climb it. Was this instituted before or after Jack? Mulan gives Emma poppy powder to knock out the giant. She also asks Mulan to cut down the beanstalk after 10 hours. Emma’s story is about trust. Hook asks her to trust him several times, but after the betrayal of Neal, it seems Emma can’t trust anyone. Or at least not flirty, innuendo dripping, hot pirates. They manage to knock the giant out and get to the treasure room (with a lot of flirting from Hook, and a lot of eye rolling from Emma), before the giant wakes up and comes after them. Hook gets trapped under some fallen pieces of the roof while Emma freezes when the giant comes after them. Emma manages to trap the giant in his own cage. The giant shares with her that he is alone and how the dried bean he wears around his neck is a reminder of how all humans are killers. This hits a bit too close to home with Emma and she walks away rather than kill him with Jack’s poisoned sword. The giant frees himself and shows her a way out as a favor for not killing him. Emma starts to leave but negotiates another favor since she could have killed him twice. Turns out she wants him to not let Hook go free for another 10 hours after Emma rescues him from the rubble and then conveniently handcuffs him to a chain that happens to be there. Emma says she can’t take a chance she’s wrong about him as Hook pleads with her not to leave him there. She tells him he’ll be okay, she just needs a head start. Emma manages to get down the beanstalk right after the original 10 hours is up. Mary Margaret is upset that Emma told Mulan to cut the beanstalk down. Emma tries to explain but Mary Margaret makes it clear that they go back to Storybrooke together. Emma hugs her (awww!) and agrees.

Hook: He’s overly flirtatious with all the ladies, but especially Emma. He’s the master of innuendos, and he’s sexy and he knows it. Plus, he can read Emma like an open book. He guesses correctly that she’s an orphan due to the same look in her eyes that the Lost Boys have. He also realizes she’s had little love in her life and asks if she’s ever been in love. She lies and answers no. But after she sees Milah’s tattoo, and deduces that Rumplestiltskin most likely killed her as well as taking Hook’s hand, she confesses that she may have been in love once. This whole conversation is weird. What does having been in love have to do with her perception of Hook? He continues to be flirtatious throughout their whole journey up the beanstalk and once they reach the giant’s lair. And he’s dead sexy when he has to tie Emma’s hand with his scarf. Yummy! Sorry, but that’s just hot!!! He asks Emma to trust him several times but she just can’t do it, which leads to him being handcuffed in the giant’s castle and pleading with Emma not to leave him there. She tells him she just needs a head start, and he screams for her. I think we have an angry pirate now.

August: Ok, I cut August some slack for leaving Emma when he was seven, because he couldn’t handle that kind of responsibility. I get that. But now he’s technically behind her going to jail because he somehow spooked Neal into leaving her? He calls himself young Emma’s guardian angel and he’s trying to make up for leaving her when she was young. Okay, I get that, but to help frame her so she goes to jail? What’s that all about? August admits to Neal that he can’t say no to temptation, that he’s not built that way. This is true, Pinocchio was never good at making the right choice, but it’s such a cop out. And then it gets worse. Neal gives August the car keys and $20,000 to give to Emma so she has a chance to start over once she’s out of jail. Emma gets the car keys, mailed to her from Phuket, where August apparently took the money meant for Emma. August is an even bigger ass than Neal is. Neal at least felt guilty. August only came back to help Emma break the curse because he started turning into wood. That money could have let her keep Henry.

The Giant: We don’t get a lot of backstory. Only that it seems the fairy tale and EF history got his story wrong. That Jack attacked him and killed his family and he’s the only giant left. He’s very angry toward humans because of this. But in the end, he finds an ally in Emma and gives her the compass and agrees to watch Hook for 10 hours so she can get a head start.

Mary Margaret/Aurora: They find some common ground due to both having been under a sleeping curse. Aurora is having nightmares about a burning red room and someone inside it watching her. Mary Margaret seems happy to have a princess to mother, since Emma won’t let Mary Margaret mother her. And Mary Margaret goes all mother bear on Mulan when she tries to cut the beanstalk down. Mary Margaret makes it quite clear to Emma that they are going home together, no matter what.

Henry: He’s apparently having dreams of the burning red room with someone else watching him as well.

Questions:

Was Cora really going to climb the beanstalk with Hook? She doesn’t seem the type to do that.

Has Mulan been to Oz? Poppies are what put Dorothy and her crew to sleep in the movie.

How long have young Emma and Neal been together by the pretend pregnancy scene?

Is Neal having nightmares? Is that why he wanted to keep the dreamcatcher?

The map that Neal has young Emma point to is a map of all the states the motel chain is located.

What does being in love have to do with being perceptive about why Hook wants revenge on Rumplestiltskin? If Emma had never been in love she wouldn’t understand that Rumplestiltskin killed Milah? That would make her a pretty bad bail bonds person if she couldn’t figure things out like that.

Why does young Emma say Neal got away clean with stealing the watches? The wanted poster has a picture of him stealing the watches! Why does Neal have to explain about the security cameras?

Why is Neal running to Canada? They have extradition laws there. He could still be arrested and sent back to the US. Better to go to Mexico instead.

Is Neal not wanted by the FBI anymore? How is he currently living in New York if he’s still wanted by the FBI? Did he change his identity? He would have to if he has an apartment and seems to working somewhere that requires a suit.

How long has Neal had this train station locker? I don’t know what lockers were like in 1999 or 2000, but according to Google, you can only store something in a train locker for a day.

What’s in the box, August?! What’s in the box?!

Neal doesn’t seem to find August talking about curses weird at all? Could he be from the EF?

Why didn’t Neal just leave? Why did he have to set Emma up to go to jail? Just ghost her and run.

What does it matter if Hook steals other things from the giant?

If Neal felt so guilty about what happened to Emma that he wanted to know when the curse broke, why hasn’t he come to Storybrooke to find her? Or is he currently on his way?

Why did the giant have the compass on him? Was he expecting someone to try and steal it? Was it special to him in some way?

Are Aurora and Henry seeing each other in the burning red room? Will they be able to communicate with each other?

Did Emma spend two years in Tallahassee waiting for Neal? Or did she just like the idea of Tallahassee enough to go there after she was free?

Observations:

It’s nice that Emma’s false eyelashes stay on so well throughout this entire journey without bugging her at all.

There are apparently no more magic beans to make portals with, as they were destroyed by the giants after a great war led by Jack the Giant Slayer.

The swan pendant Emma wears around her neck is the keychain Neal stole for her.

Tallahassee is not near a beach. The closest beach is about 90 miles away.

According to the wanted poster, Neal’s birthday is March 23, 1977. That makes him 22-23 at this point.

Now we know why young Emma went to jail in Phoenix; that’s where Neal stole the watches.

The giant’s castle seems to be made pretty shoddily if just walking makes everything shake and pieces of the roof cave in.

Jack’s skeleton is still in the giant’s castle and his sword has his name on it.

Emma has a flower tattoo on her left wrist.

August says that Emma was sent to a minimum security prison in Phoenix. In Desperate Souls Emma says she was in juvie and her records were supposed to be sealed. A juvenile detention center and a minimum security prison are two separate places. Juvie means she’s under 18 and minimum security means she was tried as an adult.

August sent Neal the postcard in Broken.

That’s a pretty big cage considering the giant’s enemy seems to be humans.

Once Upon a Time Firsts:

We actually saw a dreamcatcher hanging in Neal’s apartment in Broken, but this time it’s shoved in our faces and we will be seeing them again throughout the series.

Hook asking Emma to trust him.

Emma’s tattoo.

Names:

Neal Cassidy: Neal Cassady is the name of a beat poet in the 60’s and hung out with Jack Kerouac. Not sure if this was intentional somehow by the writers or if Neal made up his name being that he’s a thief.

So, I’m extremely angry over young Emma’s shoddy frame job, and the fact that Neal and August got away scott free apparently. I love Hook’s flirtiness and his innuendos. All in all, Emma’s backstory was really important to understand why she doesn’t trust real easily, but I don’t see her trusting Hook any time soon, regardless of the circumstances. But she’s finally starting to trust Mary Margaret and hopefully see her as her mother.

Please leave comments and reblog! Let me know if you’d like to be tagged in future reviews.

@searchingwardrobes @thisonesatellite @justbecauseyoubelievesomething @laschatzi @profdanglaisstuff @mariakov81

#once upon a time #once upon a time review #once upon a time rewatch #once upon a time 2x06 #once upon a time tallahassee

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shirtlesssammy · 4 years

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1x11: Scarecrow

Welcome to our harvest themed hiatus episode. Hope everyone enjoyed their freakin’ pie this week!

Burkitsville, Indiana

Sixteen Years One Year Ago

A young couple leave a friendly town after the townsfolk load them up with pie and gas for the car. “Everyone in this town is so nice,” remarks the wraith young woman. The man adds, “Yeah, what’s the catch?” The townsfolk’s daughter niece notes that the dude has a cool arm tattoo.

Once on the road, the couple’s car dies. I love how the woman asks what happened and the dude is just ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ . They head into an orchard looking for help. They come across a scarecrow.

The woman is a bit freaked out, and I would be too if I saw the damn thing move! They hear strange noises and start running. The camera work gets grainy so you know we’re in scarytime land. The couple gets separated. The woman runs alone until she finds the man again -faceless and dead on the ground. She screams and then the now loose and animate scarecrow is upon her!

*John Winchester is a Horrible Father Alert*

Sam wakes to a ringing cell phone. He answers it and it’s John. He’s all evasive and apologetic about disappearing. He’s on the trail of the thing that killed their mom. It’s a demon! They have to stop chasing him. It’s not safe. Sam refuses. He wants answers. John jumps into drill sergeant father mode and Sam continues to balk.

Dean grabs his phone, AND MY GOD, watching Jensen transform silently while Dean listens to John talk is magnificent. He just falls right into order, writes down the names of three missing couples, and the brothers hit the road.

*Sam is driving Alert*

Ok, hold the phone, Dean’s giving backstory to the missing couples. They’ve gone missing every year in the second week of April. I --what? I should probably watch the whole episode before recapping, and I haven’t seen this episode in years and don’t really remember the secret. There were apples all over the orchard implying it’s the fall...hmm. Dean’s amazed at the level of research John did to figure out something was happening. He calls him “a master” and I just die a little knowing how very little John knows.

Sam stops the car and tells Dean that they’re not going to Indiana; they’re going to California.

John is on the trail of what killed Mary and Jess, and Sam wants to be there for it. Dean insists that John gave them an order (I’m having serious John/Chuck and Soldier Dean/Free Will feelings right now, give me a moment). Whew, Sam pulls the ‘My girlfriend just died six months ago’ card and insists that Dean can’t know how important this is to him. Dean continues to be a good little soldier though. Sam gets out of the car and tells Dean that he’s going to California. See ya! Dean tries pulling what I can only imagine the same move John pulled many times over the years, and tells Sam that he’ll leave him on the side of the road. That’s what Sam wants! Dean leaves.

Oof, there’s a lot to unpack with that fight. I’ll just throw up @mittensmorgul post. I’m just so very happy to see how far Dean’s come.

Dean pulls into the town in Indiana. He meets Scotty, owner of the local cafe. He introduces himself as John Bonham. “Isn’t that the drummer for Led Zeppelin?” How this hasn’t happened more over the years is beyond me.

Dean asks about the missing people and Scotty dismisses him quickly. They don’t get a lot of strangers around the town. Dean tries flirting with the guy but the man is a stone wall.

*Meg Alert*

Sam, meanwhile, continues to walk down the road hoping to see a passing car. He finds a young woman just sitting and listening to music instead. Like, wtf is Meg doing? Sam, how is this not suspicious activity to you? Anyway, a truck pulls up and offers to take only the lady.

Dean asks at the general store about his “friends”. Emily, the young woman there, remembers them. Dean heads off to where the couple was last seen driving. Dean’s driving along and his EMF starts to go nuts. He’s right by the orchard and walks in to investigate. How is this April? Anyway, Dean finds the scarecrow and we’re gifted with the now iconic line: “Dude, you fugly.”

He takes a closer look at the scarecrow and sees the tattoo on the arm. SMART, OBSERVANT BOY.

Dean heads back to town. He stops to get gas and talk to Emily. (Sidenote: Can all guest stars wear a necklace with their names on it so I’m not scrambling to figure out names every week? Thx.) Emily tells Dean how she came to the town when she was 13. It’s the middle of nowhere, but she loves it. This town seems blessed compared to the surrounding towns. Dean’s not suspicious at all. Dean asks about the scarecrow. Emily admits that it’s always just been there. Detective Dean also finds out a couple is in town waiting on their car to get repaired.

Sam is dealing with the nightmare that is the American Car Culture and lack of decent mass transit across our expansive 50 states. He runs into Meg again. This time she introduces herself.

Dean heads to Scotty’s to find the couple (and eat pie.) Boy does he need to work on his casual chit chat. Scotty is suspicious AF at Dean and tells him to leave them alone. Dean doesn’t and even offers to fix their car for them so they can hit the road sooner. They decline his offer, and like, I get it, but HOW DARE they accuse Dean of not being a mechanic.

Dean tries to warn them again but just comes off as creepy and they brush him off. Dean laments the lack of Sam’s puppy dog face, and then Scotty calls the local law enforcement on him. They literally chase him out of town. Lol.

Meg and Sam bond over a romantic bag of Cheetos and some beer. She’s on the run from family expectations too! Looks like they’re made for each other, friends. (This is the nicest damn bus station I’ve ever seen. It has NAPKIN holders! And tables! And beer!)

While Sam’s enjoying a meet-cute, the couple from the restaurant clutch each other in the apple orchard, the scarecrow in hot pursuit, when Dean appears. He shouts at them to run back to their car and shoots fruitless holes in the scarecrow. The moment they all arrive back on the road, the scarecrow disappears.

On his phone, Sam gets the hunt recap from Dean while he watches his new friend sleep at the station. Dean figures that he’s dealing with a god because the killing happens once a year, it’s always couples, and “you should see the locals. The way they treated this couple. Fattenin’ ‘em up like a Christmas turkey.” It’s ritual sacrifice, baby. While Dean’s talking, he’s driving out to a local community college to meet with a professor there and get some information about what kind of god he might be fighting. He tells Sam that he’s proud of him for defying their father and going his own way in life. Dean wishes he could do the same. To quote Boris, excuse me while I fling myself into a volcano.

Dean chats with the Cigarette Smoking Man a professor in the nicest damn community college I have ever seen. He asks about pagan lore and the origin of the residents of Burkitsville. They were Scandinavian which leads to Dean’s next pointed question: he’s looking for a Scandinavian god who might live in an apple orchard. They pull down an ancient book of lore - the kind that is standard issue in every community college classroom - and start paging through looking for a “woods” god.

Dean spots a creepy scarecrow drawing. The description lists the scarecrow as a Vanir, a norse god of protection and prosperity which keeps villages from harm. Worshippers built effigies of the Vanir in their fields, and some practiced human sacrifice. They’re tied to a sacred tree. Dean, my best and direct friend, asks, “So what would happen if the sacred tree was torched? You think it’d kill the god?” LOL, there’s no such thing as gods, young man! Dean bids farewell to the professor and immediately gets conked out by the Burkitsville sheriff. SIGNIFICANT LOOKS™ are exchanged between the professor and sheriff.

Later, rain falls heavily on a group of older folks standing outside under umbrellas. Three of them plead with Harley, the gas station owner. His wife tells him that the trees are beginning to die. It’s the “seventh night of the cycle” and they have one more chance to appease “it.” Dun dun DUN.

For Pretty Shot Science

Cut to a cellar door opening. The cadre of elderly conspirators hauls a tearful Emily down to be trapped alongside Dean. Her aunt comfortingly tells her that it’s for “the common good.” (This REALLY makes me want to rewatch Hot Fuzz again!)

At the bus station, Sam and Meg’s bus finally arrives. But Sam’s got a problem. His brother hasn’t answered his phone for the last three hours. He’s got to go to Burkitsville! “You’re running back to your brother? The guy you ran away from?” Meg implores Sam to go to California with her, but Sam tells her he can’t. His family needs him.

In the cellar, Emily freaks out about her newfound knowledge of a murderous scarecrow god and her accomplice relatives. Dean describes human sacrifice as “classier” than plain murder and…Dean Bean. More helpfully, he tries to put together a game plan with Emily. He asks her about an old tree - one the locals might treat with respect. Emily does know about a tree that the locals call “the First Tree.” Subtle naming, dear locals!

They’re seized from the cellar and tied in the orchard as evening approaches. Emily pleads for her life, but her aunt tells her that family bonds aren’t enough to save her. “That’s what sacrifice means. Giving up something you love for the greater good.” (I’ll just...look directly into the camera.)

Much later, night’s fallen and Dean is still working on a plan to free them both. Something insidious approaches and….wait, it’s Sam! Dean’s practically giddy to see his brother, who stole a car to get to town in time. What a good, thieving bean! Dean tells Sam to keep an eye on the scarecrow because it “could come alive any minute.”

In classic horror movie fashion, Sam asks, “What scarecrow?”

The scarecrow’s on the loose, but our trio is finally free in the orchard. They’re prevented from escaping by the four town elders penning them in with shotguns, however. Harley tries to convince Emily to give up (and die) when the scarecrow’s sickle slices through him, killing him. It drags Stacy and Harley away, having claimed its yearly couple at last.

The next morning Sam, Dean, and Emily walk through the orchard with a can of fuel. They find the “First Tree” which has runes carved into its bark. Sam douses it with gasoline and Emily lights the tree on fire. Look at this wholesome tale of youth dismantling a toxic system!

Back at the station I finally get a good look at the bus company. It’s called “American Freedom Coach Lines.” LOL, if you need me I’ll be picking myself up from the floor after being hit by this symbolic brick.

Emily boards a bus headed towards Boston. Dean gleefully anticipates the murder-town’s slow, god-less demise before asking Sam about his plans. “I still wanna find Dad. And you’re still a pain in the ass. But, Jess and Mom…they’re both gone. Dad is god knows where. You and me. We’re all that’s left. So, if we’re gonna see this through, we’re gonna do it together.” Can I get a yee-haw?!

Meanwhile, Meg’s hitched a ride with Creepy Driver Number 2 and suggests “pulling over” when he asks her where she wants to go. He pulls a little way off the road and she takes out a silver bowl. “I’ve gotta make a call,” she tells him before slicing his throat open and filling the bowl with blood. She stirs it, mutters an incantation, and then asks the bowl why she wasn’t allowed to just kill Sam and Dean. Someone clearly gives her orders and she says, rather ominously, “Yes, Father.”

Natasha: This is one of my favorite episodes! What’s not to love about creepy scarecrows and murderous fertility/prosperity rituals?

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I Hope These Quotes Were Frickin’ Worth It:

I’ve given you an order

I don’t understand the blind faith you have in the man

Dude, you fugly

Nice tat

My brother could give you this puppy dog look and you’d buy right into it

Indiana isn’t really known for its Pagan worship

I hope your apple pie is freakin’ worth it!

Hold me, Sam. That was beautiful.

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#spn recap #spn rewatch #spn 1x11 #scarecrow #dean winchester #sam winchester #supernatural season 1

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