#we’re always overheating and we saw it’s getting hot in the world so uh

[dreamlandsystem]

Our system is very warm blooded. We tend to overheat in 80° F weather - our autism makes being hot sensory hell! Here’s some stuff you can do to keep cool; it’s been really hot lately and it’ll probably continue to be that way for the next couple months!

Stay hydrated! This one is a no-brainer and the most important thing! We have a water bottle we keep in our fridge so it’s always cold, and we always keep it topped off. We also use it to refill our pets’ water bowls, so they can have cold water in the afternoon when it gets really hot

Keep frozen treats around! A popsicle or ice cream sandwich can work wonders when coming inside from a really warm day. Be sure to eat it slowly so you don’t get a brain freeze! Our syskids like to eat frozen peas and frozen grapes - you can have all sorts of frozen treats if you get creative!

Take a cool bath or shower! This can help lower your body temperature and keep you feeling cooler longer.

If you have long hair, keep it tied up or maybe get a haircut! We have short hair, but back when we had longer hair, it always kept the back of our neck hot and sweaty 😖 Having shorter hair or keeping it tied back and away from your skin absolutely can help keep you cooler in the summer months!

Eat cold foods and things you can make without an oven/stove. Having the oven or stove on can heat up your living space, even if your air conditioner is running! Now is definitely the time for sandwiches, cereal, salads, and other cool meals that you don’t need to heat up.

Never underestimate the power of a cool wet rag on the back of your neck or your other warm bits!

Keep your blinds and curtains closed! The sun streaming through a window can really increase the temperature inside. If you’re able to, maybe hang blankets over your windows to keep the light (and heat!) from getting in

Wear light, breathable fabrics like linen or cotton, and avoid layering outfits! If you bind, please remember to take lots of breaks (even just a quick moment to breathe in the bathroom would help) - binding in the heat can be much worse than binding in cooler weather!

Plan indoor activities. If you want to go out, go to an aquarium, the mall, or a museum (please remember to mask up!). Visiting somewhere indoors can be a great way to get out of the house without overheating!

Use fans! Place a bowl of ice between yourself and a fan at home, and it’ll help keep you cooler. You could also get a fan to plug into your phone that can help keep you cool while you’re out and about!

Stick to the shade (and off of the pavement!). When going out, choose routes that have more shade access and less pavement (especially if you have dogs - hot pavement can hurt a dog’s paw pads!). Maybe bring an umbrella with you to help shade yourself from the sun!

Create a designated cool room. If your home doesn’t have air conditioning, creating a designated cool room will really help, especially during the hottest time of day! In this room, make sure you’ve covered the windows with dark material to keep out as much light as possible. If you can, place a portable cooling unit or some sort of fan inside. This way, you can trap the cool air inside the room - it’s easier to cool down one room than a whole home! Sleep on top of some blankets on the ground with only a thin sheet for cover - heat rises, so you’re more likely to feel cool if you lie close to the floor!

Play in the water! We bought a little plastic pool for like $8 from Target for our littles and our dogs to play in. Dance in the sprinklers, splash around in a little pool, or have a water fight! See if your community has a pool, lake, creek, or splash pad that you can cool off in. Remember to wear sunscreen and drink plenty of water if you’re going to be outside!

Create a cross breeze at night. If your house has been getting warmer throughout the day, at night open two windows on different sides of your home. By one window, place a fan that points inward towards the rest of the house. In the other window, place a second fan that points outside. This will help pull in cool air while pushing stale warm air out of your home. If you have a home exhaust fan, it pretty much does this same thing!

There’s definitely more things you can do to help stay cool, but we just wanted to share a few tips! Remember to Stay Hydrated and take care of yourselves and each other! Try not to push yourself to hard and remember to take breaks - autumn will be here before you know it!

#sys.txt #keeping cool #we’re always overheating and we saw it’s getting hot in the world so uh #we wanted to put this together! #🌸💚👻

[funkymeihem-fiction]

Honeydew Cha

(A 5k commission done for https://pandaioh.tumblr.com/ Thank you so much for your support!)

“Can’t believe this. Can’t even bloody believe this. Thought I was dating the smartest girl in the world, and here I come t’find out she doesn’t even know what ‘vacation’ means.” Junkrat wrinkled his nose, already smeared in sunscreen and dented by his oversized sunglasses. “Well here’s what it means, love. It means fucking off! We’ve fucked off from Overwatch and finally got time all to us here in Oz. It means we got weeks of leave for our very own pleasure, and we’re supposed to spend it drinking, rooting, or at the beach. It’s supposed to be those four things!”

“That’s three things,” Mei’s voice said from behind the changing screen.

“And here I am, ready for bonding at Bondi and this is how you do me! I’ve already got all our things- towels, blankets, umbrella, esky. Even got my trunks and hat and thong on—”

“Your what on?”

“My shoe, Mei! You know, pluggers, flip-flop shoes. I mean, with the peg I only have the one. Did you think I meant the other kind of thong? Because ‘strewth, I’ll go put one of those on too, if it’ll get you to come to the beach with me!”

“Please do not!” She made no move to come out from the screen and seemed unmoved by his fits. “Besides, I told you I wanted to do other things than just lounge at the beach all day. I got the idea when we were out walking the other night and I think this might be really good for me. And I think you’ll change your tune when I tell you the rest of my plans.”

“What’s to tell? You snuck out and got a bloody job while we’re on vacation at the shore! Got this nice vacay cabin all to ourselves, just steps away from the surf and sand, and you’re not gonna appreciate it. My very fave girl is on holiday with me, and she wants to spend it working?! And they say I’m the mad one?”

Her voice gained a sing-song quality, lilting in tone. “I still think you’re going to liiiiike it! Just give me one more moment and you’ll see.”

“Unless you’re coming out of there with surprise lacies on, I doubt I’m gonna—”

The screen shuffled aside and Junkrat squinted, suddenly unsure about things. Mei definitely was not wearing a brand new set of lingerie all for him, but what she was wearing was certainly enough to give him pause. He recognized it almost at once too: the green sweater vest and matching visor, the little ruffled yellow apron, the polka dot socks, the cheerful winking mascot…and those jean shorts that rode up so high on those nice wide thighs were certainly nothing to be ignored, he especially appreciated that particular part of her uniform. Her new job’s uniform.

“Honeydew Cha? You’re working at Honeydew Cha?” He lingered forward, rubbing at his chin and inspecting her. “Arright, love, you got me interested.”

“I told you!” She flashed him a little smirk. “And I know you might think it’s a little crazy to get a job while I’m on vacation, but… I think it might be good for me? I like spending time at the beach with you and Mr. Roadhog, I really do, but I want to do more than just linger around on the sand all day. I think I want to meet people and talk to everyone and learn new things and…” She suddenly faltered, gaze downcast. “And I used to be a tea waitress back while I was still studying. I remember it being really fun? And then I graduated and went away…and then I was…gone…nine years…”

Junkrat was already upon her, long arms wrapping about her new uniform and rumpling her nice green sweater as he nuzzled at her hair and snorted air into her ear with his pointed nose. She yelped aloud and pushed at him, but it had served to distract her. He plucked at her apron with his mechanical hand curiously. “Getting a job at all though? Is it because of money? I got cash to spare! Tell me what it is you need and I’ll get it! Whatever you want, darl!”

“It’s really not about money, honest. I just want to do something normal. I woke up and everything was so strange, and Overwatch was different and the world was different and the climate is getting worse and my friends are all in trouble and maybe it would be okay if I just did this for a little while and forgot about it all? I could serve tea and chat with customers and not worry about everything, and maybe I could feel like I used to, before everything happened. It’s just simple and nice. Like it could just be tapioca pearls and fruit poppers and people being happy drinking their tea and just being…normal. Does that make sense?”

“Nah,” he blurted out, before noticing her crestfallen expression. He frowned, chin jutting as he tilted his head to rest atop her visor. “I mean! Uh, I guess I dunno what all that’s like. But if that’s what ya wanna do? ‘Course I’m not gonna stop you from working. Just don’t understand why you wanna spend your vacation at work.”

“I like working. I think this will be fun. And this is just a little seasonal part-time sort of thing, just to help the shop for the big holiday vacationer rush. I saw the Help Wanted ad and the owner seemed really grateful for the extra hand. Plus…” She rolled onto the balls of her feet, folding her arms behind her and staring upward coyly. “I mean, if you don’t want me using the Honeydew Cha employee discount…?”

Rat gave her an affronted look before snickering aloud. “You trying to bribe me with free boba, you little tart?”

“Milk tea, half sweet, extra pearls! Just how you like it?”

“Huh. Tempting, tempting. Can I bring in my own container and fill ‘er up? Swear it, I’ll drink it straight out of a bucket. I mean, it would definitely not be the first time I’ve drank some stuff I found straight out of a bucket—”

“Ew, Jamie.”

“Okay. Okay. I’ll try not t’let my feelings be hurt when I’m all by my lonesome at the beach. But I got conditions. One— you abuse the hell out of the free boba thing whenever we want. I’m talking Super Gulp American Size! Two— I get to fuck you in full honeydew uniform. With the pony and polka dot socks still on and everything.”

“That’s strange, but okay,” she said, pulling herself to the tips of her toes to kiss his chin. “But not right now, because I’m going in for my first shift! I’ll see you this evening, okay? And I’ll bring you a boba tea every night I work.”

“You better! You got a deal, darl!”

 ***

Serving boba tea and customer service was a lot different than how she remembered it. Maybe it was just being in Australia? Or had boba tea changed since then? Or had she just gotten older and everything really was just that different from however she remembered this job, from so many years ago. The customers seemed a little grumpier, the machines weren’t the ones she had learned to work, her co-workers were no longer the same age as her, and everything just seemed a little harder than what she’d thought.

She’d been at this little job at Honeydew Cha for a few weeks now, much to Junkrat’s irritation, but it was only for a few hours a day. He tended to lighten up a little when she placated him with a steady stream of all sorts of different tea flavors and treats every time he stopped by…and Roadhog hadn’t cared one way or the other, but she brought him entire bags of leftover pastries after the day was done and he always thanked her anyway. Even then, before each and every shift, Junkrat bothered her to drop everything and go to the beach with him.

But now their vacation time was dwindling and her side job was coming to a close anyway. At least she’d been able to help out the Honeydew Cha during its busiest season. There had been a steady stream of customers all afternoon as the temperature soared and overheated beach-goers ducked inside for air conditioning and cold drinks. Most of them had been quite pleasant, the Australian boardwalk crowd being so infamous for their laid-back attitudes and surf culture.

But there were always the outliers…

It was a group of six: five boys and a single girl, all in their teens or early twenties. None of them bore the mechanical limbs or robotic enhancements of the Outback’s junker clans, but something about their countenance made Mei just as wary of them. Their leader seemed to be the largest of them and was almost as tall as Junkrat himself, though built wider, with spiked black hair and a jacket despite the hot weather. The scraggly lone girl clung to him and giggled in his ear, whispering as he pulled out his wallet and counted out money for her tea. When Mei smiled at them and offered to take their order, the girl glared at her and pulled him closer.

They made their orders with no trouble and they paid, but Mei kept an eye on them all the same, as they loitered in one of the booths and talked and laughed too loudly. She could ignore them at first, but their conversation quickly turned crude and sexual in no time at all.  Mei could do little but keep one ear out as she leaned down to check the syrup pumps and count their cups. As the group drained their boba and popped pearls between their teeth, things took a turn for the disgusting.

“Anyhow, that’s why I had to leave that party real fast. Turns out she had a boyfriend.”

“What, the scrag you went upstairs with? That was a fockin’ thing to walk in on. You going at it, with the fat one with the pockmarked arse?”

“Oi. Barely fatter than the ricer they got working the counter here, mate.”

Mei’s heart dropped, freezing mid-stack and staying very still for a moment. Her throat suddenly felt very tight, but she swallowed the feeling down and forced herself to move again, continuing to unpack the cups. So what if that group were being jerks over at that table. Jerks were temporary, and they’d be leaving soon. Those jerks. She just had to let it pass, and breathe, and ignore them…

The voices continued, and even though she knew she shouldn’t, Mei listened.

“She ain’t that bad for one. I’d fuck her. Nice big tits. Bigger tits than yours.”

“What the hell! Fuck you.”

“Ay, you’d fuck anything, mate. Even an omnic. Fuckin’ root rat.”

“Fuck off.”

“She’s prettier than the one at the slope shop on your road. Heh. Go ask her out on a date? Give her a tip and then give her the tip, ay! You can have kids that look like this.”

When Mei dared to peek through the little slit between the top and bottom counter, she already knew what she would see. Sure enough, the group were pulling their eyelids shut, pinching them upwards and making grotesque parodies of their faces. She felt her chest lurch again in a potent mixture of anger, sorrow, and even a tinge of pity. But how dare they! How dare they! She should march right over there and tell them off for being such bullies, for being so—

But could she risk it? The owner of the shop might get angry at her for antagonizing the customers, even the rude ones. And she had been having a nice time before that, just serving boba and treats like in the old days. She couldn’t let it get to her, no matter how awful they were being. Best to just wait them out until they left.

Unfortunately for her, they seemed to have no intention of leaving. They carried on, discussing loudly what sexual positions that they had planned for her and wondered as to her cup size. Mei did her best to stay out of sight, and wished she’d had Snowball and her endothermic blaster with her. That would shut them up, all right. Maybe if she built a new blaster very quickly out of the boba chiller in the back…?

“What about the other girl? The skinny ginger with the sunburn?” One of the boys wondered aloud.

Mei felt her temper flare anew, head jerking up to where said ‘sunburnt ginger’ was working unawares in front of a fruit slicing machine. That girl was one of her younger co-workers, still in her teens, a softspoken local who had admitted to Mei that she had hoped this job would help her get over her shyness. And now that group of boys was targeting her too.

“Wot, that one? Yeah, I seen her here before. No tits or arse on that one, though.”

“Wonder if she’s sunburnt all over? Heh.”

“You know what they say about gingers, mate? They say down th—”

CLACK.

She could ignore it when they targeted her, but she wasn’t about to let it happen to that girl or anyone else in her charge. Mei slammed the empty stack of cups onto the counter with a clatter, swinging open the little door as she went marching straight towards them as all heads turned her way. No matter her cheerfully goofy outfit with the frills and ruffles and polka dots, she descended on the group like a thunderstorm, her jaw set and her eyes narrowed.

“Tíng xiàlái! Excuse me but you need to stop this instant! These awful things you’re saying, you need to stop.” She tried to loom over them as best she could despite her height, little white gloves clenching into fists. “In fact, I think you need to leave! Right now!”

For a moment, silence reigned in the Honeydew Cha as every patient turned to watch the tiny woman in the bubble tea waitress uniform confront an entire pack of Aussie goons. Even the group seemed startled at first, though it rapidly changed to confusion, annoyance, and anger. The girl was the first to react, shooting her a sneering grin and urging the boys on as she wrapped her arms around the largest boy’s arm and shook him to action.

“Leave off, we haven’t done anything wrong! We don’t have to go anywhere!” she said.

The boy snorted and took another swig of his drink. “Dunno why you’re so worked up about what we said, none of it was that bad.”

“No! You need to leave the premises at once!” Mei said, pointing to the door. “If you have a problem, you can call our Honeydew Cha headquarters, I’m sure they’d love to hear from you. But you are not staying here after that. Leave!”

There was an answering array of snickers and insults, but when Mei narrowed her gaze and stared them down, they finally stirred and began to drag themselves upright. Muttering insults and shooting her nasty looks, they finally began to head to the door. Passing by the counter at the front, they headed for the exit…only for the girl to suddenly launch to the side, seizing the jar that had been set by the register. The jar had been decorated with post-it notes and drawings that Mei had made herself, with little cartoons of her yeti doodle thanking them for the tips.

With that day having been busier than ever, it was brimming with tips. Coins and bills filled it nearly to the brim where they simply hadn’t had the chance to empty it. Some of the coins went bouncing away as the girl slung it under one arm, laughed and gave her the finger, and then broke into a run as all the boys followed after her. In a sudden stampede, they nearly broke the door open as they fled.

“Hey!” Mei flung herself after them, but it was too late. She stumbled to a stop at the open door, yelling after them. “That’s our tip jar!”

Hoots and jeers answered her.

“What, you wanted us to leave!”

“Thanks for the tea, you chunky-arse cunt!”

“I got a tip for you right here!”

One of the boys made a very offensive gesture at her with both hands.

“Hey! Hey! You get back here this instant! You can’t—!” Mei lingered there in the open doorway, unable to continue. She wasn’t about to leave her younger cohorts alone in the shop, and without Snowball or her weapons to back her up, there was no way she could take on an entire group like them if things went south. She could only watch as her team’s hard-earned tips got further away in the hands of those goons, their laughter fading as they slowed to a walk, when they saw her unable to chase them. She bit her lip and sniffled, and had just started to close the door in abject defeat when a shadow fell across her.

“Oi! S’wrong, love? What’s going on?”

She whirled about, to where Junkrat suddenly stood above her. “Oh, Jamie! Those awful people just robbed us!! They made a mess and caused trouble and took the jar and they were…” Her expression fell. “They were saying very awful things…About us. About me.”

His face darkened, glancing up to where the group was laughing and walking away, the stolen jar still under one arm. Even if it wasn’t the jar that really concerned him. “You? Saying things ‘bout you? What kinda things?”

His suspicions were confirmed when Mei looked down, refusing to meet his gaze. “It was bad…I don’t want to repeat…”

“Oh yeah?” He asked, voice suddenly too airy. “Well, my tea can wait. Lemme just go see about that jar…and see if maybe I can’t get ‘em to rethink talking to you like that.” He started off, peg leg clacking, and made a strange gesture to Roadhog. The larger man only nodded and peeled off into the crowd, heading in the opposite direction.

Mei watched him go, leaning further and further out the door, still unable to follow. “Jamie, wait! Wait, don’t blow anyone up! Please! I-I’m fine, see! No matter what they said, I’m fine! We can make more tips! Jamie!”

But he was already gone.

 ***

The gang of goons turned a corner, still celebrating their victory as the girl passed the stolen tip jar to her boyfriend to start counting out. Wasn’t a bad take, especially since it had irked that Chinese lady so much. Heading down an alleyway, littered with dumpsters and bins from the nearby shops and restaurants, they began to talk over their plans for dinner. The tip jar would more than pay for all of them, after all.

Over the sound of their chattering, the clicking and clacking of a peg-legged gait sounded behind them. Junkrat, smiling maniacally as ever, had found and followed them. At a leisurely pace, he started tailing after them, giggling the entire way before finally hooting aloud for their attentions.

“Hey mates! How ya goin!”

The others were none too keen on his appearance, their leader lingering behind to scoff at him.

“The fuck’s a junker doing out here? Lost your way home to the landfill? Oi, need directions to the nearest bin?”

The entire group laughed, and Junkrat abruptly began shrilling his wild laugh along with them. Cackling like a hyena, he bent over and slapped at both his knees with a thud and a clank, before his head jerked upright, yellow eyes alight and lips stretching open in his mad grin. “Ahahaha! Good one, mates! Haha! A trash bin! Ya sure got me! Imagine! Hahaha! A junker and his bins!”

His laughter only rose in pitch and ferocity. They scowled at that, and their leader snorted and flicked a cigarette in his direction, turning to lead his lackeys off along the other length of alleyway. “Fockin’ junkers, ay, radiation-rotted in the brains. Dunno what this city’s comin’ to. C’mon, let’s go—”

“Now hold on, mates! Hold on!” Rat hobbled after them with his uneven limp. “C’mon, I appreciate a good sense of humor much as anyone. Heh, junkers belonging in the bin! Absolute classic. And…say, you know any other real good ones?”

“The fuck you w—”

“Ya know. Maybe about nice ladies working in boba shops, with a ponytail and glasses, Chinese accent? That sweet girl in the green uniform what you’ve had some real choice remarks about. That girl. My girl.” His grin tightened, teeth scraping so hard that they nearly sparked. “How about it! Ya had any real rippers about my girl? Ya wanna tell them to me right now?”

There was a long pause from the other group, glancing to one another before the leader finally snorted and went skulking down the alley more. “Ah, fuck off.”

“C’mon now, let’s all be mates! I just wanna know what you said to my Mei!” Rat said, still following them. “Just tell me what you said to her. And normally I got no qualms at all about taking money that’s just laying out there in perfectly good jars, but… Well y’see, that’s my girl’s money, right there. So you gotta give it back too.”

That made the whole group turn upon him, and several of the larger ones began to advance to back up their leader, standing until they were shoulder to shoulder. Junkrat found himself faced with an entire little crowd of bogans that were nearly as large as he was, and significantly more aggressive. Several of them were already reaching for the batons and knives he knew they were carrying. But still he didn’t back down, and his grin didn’t even waver as he faced them head-on.

“Now this is normally something that I don’t do, but because my girl’s involved and she’s a real sweet sort, I’m gonna give you a choice between easy way or hard way. Now the easy way is, you fucks are gonna go apologize to my girl first of all, and give back what you took from her. Easy squeezy! Or you can choose the hard w—”

The lead man moved, his hand launching out from his belt and holding a glint of metal. The knife slashed through the air, narrowly missing the junker’s lanky frame.

There was a blur of movement, followed by the sickening hollow crack of bone against bone. The top of Junkrat’s thick skull slammed full force into the man’s forehead, splitting skin and crunching cartilage as part of his nose dented inward, and took part of a socket with it. He staggered backward as the knife went spinning out of his grasp, stunned, eyes rolling in several directions before he collapsed against a nearby wall and clutched at his face with a shout. His mates surged forward to aid him, holding him up before he could fall any further.

“Hard way it is!” Rat reared up to his full height, blood trickling a sticky trail down along his grinning features, outlining his wild smile where every tooth was bared, yellow eyes alight.  “You’re choosin’ to scrap with a junker?! Good choice, mates! Oi, Roadie! They chose the hard way!”

The other group had just begun to rally, their leader balling his fists and starting to square up with the lanky junker across from him, when there was a low rumble from the shadows at the other end of the alleyway. Amongst the piles of garbage and dumpsters, an immense shape turned its head and began to lift out of the background. The pig-masked behemoth loomed above them, one tree-trunk-thick arm uncurling with a viciously curved metal hook in his hand. Slowly advancing towards the scene, he let the sharpened tip drag along the wall, screeching and spitting sparks as it went.

Junkrat cackled from the other end of the chokepoint. With a metallic clatter, he slammed a fistful of grenades into the weapon he suddenly sported in one hand, aimed right at them. The group of hooligans found themselves penned in between the two junkers, one armed with explosives and the other…a veritable monster that was headed their way.

“Oi!” Still grinning and with his face covered in blood, Rat whistled jovially to catch their attention. “You still don’t wanna apologize to my girl? Then how ‘bout you make it up to her.”

“We didn’t mean nothing by it, ay!”

“Swear, it was nothing!”

“How we gonna—”

“SHUT!” Rat shrilled, lifting his grenade launcher as they shrank back. “You’re gonna drop your money and everything what you got…and if you don’t feel like droppin’ em, then my mate would be happy to uh, give you a sort of pat-down? And I gotta warn you, he’s got a reputation for playin’ a bit rough. Ain’t that right, Roadie?”

Roadhog rumbled dangerously, and the group shrunk into an ever-smaller circle. The girl was the first to crack, audibly starting to cry even as she upended her purse and began tossing her belongings onto the filthy ground. Among them was the crumpled bills from the shop’s tip jar. Following her lead, wallets and jewelry and credits and other bits and pieces began to shower down onto the pavement, and even their foul-tempered leader soon tossed his wallet and cards onto the ground before Hog’s spiked boots.

“That’s all of it, mate, swear.”

“We’re gonna go, we’re gonna go.”

“No harm, ay? We’ll fuck off.”

Junkrat’s gaze darted downward before he snorted aloud, nodding sharply to Roadhog before his blood-smeared grin eased and he cheerfully stepped to the side, waving them forward with his gun. “See! Glad we got all that sorted out. And if me and Roadie see you cunts lurking anywhere within boba’s reach of that shop, well… Let’s just say that Roadie’s got a real temper on him and I dunno if I’d be able to stop the big lug. In fact…seems he might be in a bit of a mood right now. Go on, then, start runnin’.”

They took their chance, bolting forward just as Roadhog’s gargantuan form suddenly broke into a run. Scraping his hook against the brick, he hurled the wicked metal thing forward in a rattle of chains, blurring forward just as the group scattered at the alley’s mouth and dispersed into all directions, their screams trailing after them. Silence soon returned to the little alleyway, and Hog took up his place guarding the entry while his younger partner began picking through the offerings left behind.

 ***

“Order number 342! Passionfruit Sunset, oolong milk tea, berry matcha!”

Mei didn’t have time to worry about that pack of hoodlums. It was just before closing now, with only a lingering handful of people waiting for the last orders and she had been so distracted by trying to keep up that she’d nearly been able to forget that group of awful people… Almost. She just had to focus on this last stretch before closing. The kitchen was splattered with syrups and flavorings, loose pearls rolled about the ground or burst under her feet, and she was starting to forget which flavors went with which colors.

“Taro milk tea and a lychee with peach poppers!” She started the blenders for the hundredth time that day, only pausing to try and slide the visor back up her sweaty forehead and adjust her crooked glasses. Her feet were staring to ache and her smile was starting to fade, but her crew was counting on her to see them through and she wasn’t about to let everyone down. Maybe she could try to refill the tip jar with her own money today, too? She couldn’t let them down…

No matter how tired she was, she immediately stood to attention when a familiar voice joined the throng of customer conversation. It was just one Australian accent among many, but the screeching tone of it, followed by the sudden movement of everyone away from the door heralded Rat’s entrance. He limped in with the telltale k-thud k-thud of his peg, and immediately sashayed right to the front of the (suddenly dispersed) line and threw down his bag and leaned on the top of the counter in his most roguish pose.

“Hey, babe! Gimme your biggest bucket of half-sweet, and then you can give me a full sweet, right here!” He tapped his cheek and leaned down as if for a kiss. “And then, you can give me a—”

“J-Jamison! Hi!” She interrupted just as he was about to make a lewd gesture, waving both hands before lowering her voice. ”Oh no, is that blood on  your forehead? Please tell me you didn’t hurt anybody over a silly tip jar?”

He quickly wiped away the trickles of red that he’d missed earlier. “What do you take me for! Not to worry. Barely even a scratch, maybe a bruise or two. They’re lucky Roadie and I didn’t hook ‘em and cook ‘em. Nah, gave them a spook was all. Swear it.”

“Just so long as nobody got hurt, please?” She sighed, pushing her sweaty hair back once more. “Well, I guess scaring them is okay…they were being pretty awful. And the things they said! And stealing the tips from my team! Just awful, they were being total…Um.”

“Cunts?”

“No, no, I’m not saying that. What’s Australian, something kind of mean but nicer than that?”

“Galahs. Dipsticks. Drongos.”

“Yes! They were being real drongos!” she said with a little smile, before passing him his milk tea, half sweet, just how he liked.

“Thanks, darl. Well isn’t that fine service. Oi, ladies and gents, isn’t that just the finest boba service you ever did see?!” He turned upon the little crowd in the waiting area, and received a few hesitant agreements and nervous laughter. Nodding to himself, he ripped open his pack and reached both arms into it, rummaging about. “Best Honeydew Cha I been to all day, and I think that deserves a tip!”

He produced her stolen smiley-faced jar from the bag and began digging out entire handfuls of cash, credits, and random little jewels and metal bits, stuffing them inside. When that was filled past the brim, he began snatching at cups and cramming them full as well, pushing them across the counter to the stunned boba shop staff. Tucking the last few dollars into a sample cup while they tried to handle the sudden deluge of tip money, he placed both hands on his hips and watched the chaos in an extremely self-satisfied way.

“Oh. And they also send you their apologies for the things what they said to you, by the by. Hope this’ll cover it.”

“W-where did you even get—” Mei sputtered, then turned upon him with that uniquely accusatory smile. “You know something, I’m not even mad that you probably beat up those bullies. Maybe they’ll learn to be nicer. I’m giving you a pass this time. And you’ve really made my team happy so…” She lifted her voice again. “Okay, Honeydew Crew, thank you to Mr. Fawkes for feeling so generous today. And you all did such a great job today that I’m giving you all my share as a bonus…in exchange for you taking care of tonight’s clean-up.”

There was a chorus of agreement as she swung open the little door behind the counter, untying her apron as she looped her arm around his and passed him his favorite half-sweet tea. He grinned at her before giving her a squeeze, letting her guide him of the shop and down the boardwalk where Roadhog was waiting. For a moment, they walked together in silence as he busied himself with his tea…before he nearly spit it out all over the top of her head when he heard her sigh and grumble aloud.

“...I really wish I had gotten to punch them.”

“Ay?!”

“I know! I know it’s mean but…They were mean first,” she huffed, before giggling at his expression. “But, thank you for taking care of those no-good bullies. And for stealing everything back.”

“That’s cold! Oh, I like that from you! Uh, why don’t we leave Roadie to his lonesome and head back to the bungalow, maybe work out some of that aggression you got?” His arm wrapped about her, gripping at her side. “Whaddaya say?”

“I…think that’s a good idea, actually,” she said with a little smile. “But maybe in a little while. It’s still a nice night for a walk. Why don’t you and I go to the beach?”

#meihem #junkmei #meirat #junkrat #jamison fawkes #mei #mei-ling zhou #Honeydew Mei #boba mei #boba #bubble tea #writing #fiction #fanfiction #overwatch

[razorblade180]

Twin Snowflakes Pt13:A Guest part2

Today has been a long day for Summer. School, people, robots, and now an unexpected guest on the first floor who was probably still watching her get owned in stunning high definition. ‘Stupid Veronica. Why can’t you mind your own business for once? I’d be talking out loud if your hearing wasn’t so sharp.’

Summer ran her shower extra hot and waited for the bathroom to steam. Before she would jump in. Summer walked over to the mirror and gently rubbed her makeup off, frowning at the scar right under her chin. It was faded but the sight still upset her. To think today would have added more if not Shiva was unsettling to say the least.

“What’s your angle? You never do anything without a reason.” Summer mumbled quietly to herself as she stared at the sink faucets. If she wanted answers then now was probably the safest time. Summer turned the cold water on and ran her head under it. The cold sensation running across her scalp before she looked back in the mirror to see her reflection smirking at her.

Shiva:Hey there loser. You know I’m starting to think you actually like seeing me. We never talk this much. Willingly anyways. Steaming the room, bravo.

Summer:You know why we’re talking.

Shiva:Of course, I’m in your head. Not that anyone would need it to figure out your simple little thoughts. It’s almost as sad as you not knowing the answer automa-

Summer:I’m three seconds away from just jumping into that hot water. Get on with it.

Shiva:Touchy. Someone needs a nap. The reason I intervened was because you would be no good to me crippled. See? Simple. Can’t move a broken body.

Summer:....

Shiva:What? Expecting more? Honestly you should be thankful, or at least counting your lucky stars. For once, being afraid and helpless saved your life. You let your guard down; fear and adrenaline might be your undoing before the actual cold.

Summer:Don’t get any ideas.

Shiva:Why would I waste time planning when you’re bound to screw up. Fear, cold, sleep, even immense mental fatigue. I’ll just chip away at all of these different avenues that lead to your eventual demise. I’ll give credit where it’s due. You’ve learned a few tricks around the cold through trial and error. It’s not enough though.

Summer:I’ll get stronger.

Shiva:No you won’t. Not as fast you need to be. I mean just look at today. Can you imagine the look on dear Nicholas’s face if he had woken up to see you in a hospital bed? Comatose again just like before. That pain of realizing he put his sweet baby sister in danger again. Hmm, maybe I should’ve let you gotten h-

Summer had enough and went right into the shower; clothes and all. The heat brought relief as well did her oncoming tears as she curled up and wept. Today has been a long day.

xxxx

The day was dragging on a bit for Veronica as well. The girl sat at a dinner table with her Yang, Jaune, and Weiss. Nick walked in a few minutes later wearing gray sweatpants and a blue tank top. Veronica couldn’t help but noticed he seemed a bit more toned than before. Combat school is serving him well.

Weiss:Where’s your sister?

Nick:Still showering. I wouldn’t be surprised if she went straight to bed.

Jaune:Aww she likes pasta.

Veronica:Gotta admit, it’s still weird seeing you in comfy clothes.

Nick:Do I look like a fashion disaster?

Veronica:Please, knowing this place you’d probably be trendsetting. Speaking of which, did you happen to check your closet?

Nick:I saw a suit bag hanging there but I didn’t open it.

Yang:Not a curious bone in your body huh?

Nick:Not true. I knew someone probably wanted to talk about her work.

Veronica:Indeed I do. *clears throat* Ahem, in that suit bag is what might be my finest work. I rewatched old tournament footage and made an outfit for you that’s guaranteed to help you in this one.

Nick:Really?

Veronica:Yep! It was pretty simple really.

Yang:She spent weeks working day and night. Poor girl nearly passed out when she finished.

Veronica:*red* Don’t tell him that!

Yang:What? You put a ton of effort in to help. Nothing wrong with that.

Nick:She’s right. Thank you Vee.

Veronica:Well...thank me after you try it on. Adjustments might need to happen. My measurements could be a little off.

Weiss:Did you happen to make one for Summer? There is a duo leader board you know?

Veronica:Sigh, yes I made her one as well. I’m not that petty. Though making something for her was far more irritating. I actually need her to try it on and see if it’ll hold up well with whatever thermals she might wear. Last thing you need is an overheated teammate or the clothes getting deformed.

Nick:Wait, is that why-

Veronica:Recent footage is always the most beneficial when designing something for any individual.

Nick:(You could’ve told her that. Even I thought you were watching her get hit for no reason.)

Veronica:Let me guess, thought I was goofing off earlier?

Nick:Somewhat…

Veronica:Heh, I suppose I made that reputation for myself.

Summer walked into the room moments later, wearing a black compression shirt and regular pajama pants with snowflakes on it. Everyone was glad to see her. Well, mostly everyone. Veronica was busy examining the slight redness under her eyes.

Yang:Hey Tiny Weiss.

Summer:We’re like the same size. I might be taller.

Weiss:Don’t remind me.

Nick:Guess what? Veronica made us outfits to help bring out our full potential!

Veronica:Not my exact words but more or less so.

Summer:....How much does it cost?

Veronica:What?

Summer:Nothing, I just can’t imagine a world where you did something for free in regards to me.

Jaune:Hey…

Veronica:You can talk to me as little as possible. That would be priceless.

Yang:Hey!

Veronica:She started it.

Weiss:Both of you behave. I enjoy getting to the point in my life where dinners are calm. Let me keep that please?

“Yes ma’am.” They said in unison, which only annoyed them. Summer was too tired bickering anyways. She wasn’t sure why she tried starting an argument. A thank you might’ve been in order. But she chose to stay quiet about the subject.

Yang:So you two think you’re ready?

Nick:I’m actually a bit nervous about the whole thing.

Summer:Not only are we fighting but now we’re performing as well.

Jaune:That’s news to us.

Weiss:Yeah what spurred this idea on?

Summer:I met this little girl the other day. She’s an orphan named Ruth and lives down in Mantle. I promised her I’d help raise money to make it a nice place so uncle Whitley will help me set up a fundraiser. Between that and Nick begging me to perform I thought the tournament would be a good way to advertise or maybe get some donations right there.

Nick:Sadly her terms of agreement involved me singing as well.

Veronica’s eyes lit up like a christmas tree. Did she hear that right?

Veronica:You are singing together at the tournament and didn’t tell me!? Why?!!!

Nick:It….just….sort of-

Veronica:Now everything has to go perfectly! Presentation, lighting, the seating, what song are you singing?

Summer:That’s uh, to be determined. It’ll be good though. Depending on the song we might be able to do multiple.

Veronica:I can’t believe this. A concert...

Jaune:Is that sparking an idea?

Veronica:Is it!? I expected tons of people to show up but now it’s a guarantee. There’s no way fiery inspiration won’t strike! Oh, the crowd should do the lighter thing. You know, where they wave it!?

Weiss:Yang, what exactly is your daughter pumped about?

Yang:She’s hoping while she’s here that she will find inspiration to create a dress that deals with fire. Warm colors, that sort of thing.

….

Jaune:Can’t you just-

Yang:Apparently I’m not inspiring!

Veronica:Oh don’t pout about it. I’m sure you’ll inspire me another day. We should check out the venue tomorrow morning and-

Nick:Woah, aren’t you forgetting something? Unlike you, we have school.

Veronica:Ugh, school. The worst place in any city.

Summer:Funny, you look like the type to revel in the environment.

Veronica:Dealing with fake people and idiots is never fun. I’d rather be in a jail cell. At least those people have interesting stories.

Summer:(Well she isn’t exactly wrong about that.)

Nick:Looks like you and Summer have something in common after all. A loathing of chalk and blackboards. Getting Summer to attend class is a struggle.

Yang:Veronica is the same way. Especially since she can phase through things.

Summer and Veronica:We’re right here you know?

Nick:We know. I couldn’t imagine teachers dealing with you both at once. I don’t think even I can manage honestly.

Yang:Oh I’m sure you can handle it. After all, Veronica is going to be there tomorrow.

….

Nothing was said. Nick blinked twice while what he just heard started turning gears in his head. He looked at Summer who was also processing. No way they heard the same thing right? Then he turned to Veronica who had been staring at her Mother like she had just spoken a different language. This was bad. They all heard the same thing didn’t they?

Veronica:I’m sorry ma, both pairs of ears must be clogged. For a second I could’ve sworn you said-

Yang:You’ll be going to their school tomorrow. Already filled out the guest forum.

Veronica:WHY!?

Yang:You can’t stay in the mansion all day and I don’t like the idea of you roaming around the kingdom. This place isn’t like home. Since you’re helping out for the tournament it’s a good idea to do most of the work where you can get resources and ask questions. It isn’t like you���re actually taking classes.

Veronica couldn’t believe what she was hearing. No one informed her of this. Had this been the plan all along? It had to be. Her body tensed up and her jaw clenched. This was going to be exactly like home. Veronica stood up as calmly as she could manage and proceeded to walk away.

Veronica:Excuse me. I’m going to lay down.

Yang wanted to say something but the girl took the fastest way possible out of the room; right through the floor.

Yang:Verona- and she’s gone. Guess that one is on me. Maybe I should’ve told her on the boat instead of springing it on her.

Nick:Want me to talk to her?

Yang:I appreciate it but when she’s like this it’s best to let her simmer down. There is something I would like for you to do though; both of you actually. Can you please stick by her? Veronica’s hardheaded, and quick to anger. I couldn’t tell you if it’s because of the way her traits manifested, or if it’s the fact she’s a lot like me. Maybe a bit of both. Either way, she’s a good kid behind that exterior. Keep her line please?

Nick:No problem. I probably would’ve done that anyways. We’ll keep an eye out, right Summer?

Summer:Yeah I’m gonna hard pass on that.

Weiss:Now I know you two aren’t exactly… compatible, but I think you should at the very least make sure nothing terrible happens to her.

Summer:What could happen? It’s school.

Yang:Honestly I’m more concerned about other people’s safety. I teach her boxing. Not to brag but I’m a good teacher.

Jaune:Oh boy, Summer it would be bad to not prevent that.

Summer:How would I even? *mumbles* I can’t even beat her.

Nick:...Oh! Let’s compromise! You don’t have to help her. But if I ask for help and it happens to be about her…

Summer:What stunt are you trying to pull?

Nick:You know me, I’m not going to abuse the power.

Weiss:I’ve seen your credit card receipts.

Nick:Financial power is meant to be expressed once in a while. This is different. I have way more restraint and consideration!

Weiss and Jaune:(He just admitted he sucks at conversing money...)

Nick:So what do I say, my dear sister that loves supporting me?

Summer:Uggghhh, fine. But only three times a day max.

Nick:Deal! Let’s start right now!

Summer:What? But we aren’t-

Nick:Veronica is going to need a uniform tomorrow. Seeing how you skipped a day that means you should have a spare this week right? We’ll get uniforms for her by the end of tomorrow.

Summer:Fine. That’s not so tough.

Nick watched Summer get up from the table and leave. No doubt to get things over with. He decided to get up and call the day early.

Nick:I’m going to shower then call it day. Nice seeing Yang. I’m guessing I’ll see you tomorrow?

Yang:You know we’re staying here right? I’ll see you bright and early.

Nick:….What?

xxxx

Knock Knock Knock

Summer:You in there Veronica? (She didn’t say what spare room she’d be in. Geez, we have too many rooms to search one by one) V-

Veronica:I’m in your room Einstein.

Summer:WHAT!? Why are-

The answer hit Summer like a freight train. Summer quickly sprinted towards her room and ran right in to find Veronica holding a school uniform. It was just as Summer feared.

Summer:Gee, that really is some hearing you got. It must be really hard not to snoop.

Veronica:Only when I know someone is bad mouthing me.And you’re right, I don’t need someone like you watching over me. Not that it’ll do me any good.

Summer:(I deserve that one.) I’m sor-

Veronica:Why is this your uniform?

Summer:What? It’s just the standard made uni-

Veronica:I know that. But why is it yours?

Raising it upwards, Veronica aimed the garb against Summer’s frame. The skirt covered most of her shins, the shirt might as well have been drabs on her, and the entire thing must’ve looked like the outfit was eating her.

Veronica:Our body types aren’t the same yet even these clothes would be way too big for me. You have to be swimming in all this excessive fabric. It should be uncomfortable and a waste.

Summer:It’s not that baggy. Besides I think it’s pretty comfortable.

Veronica:A Schnee should care about their appearance. More so than even someone like me.

Summer:I really don’t need a lecture right now. Just take it and go.

Veronica:I can’t wear this tomorrow. You may not care about the way you look but my look. Maybe if I just tuck the skirt in a few inches with thread…

Summer:Don’t make modifications to my clothes!

Veronica:They are only temporary.

Summer:Makes no difference. Just wear it as is.

Veronica:Mmmm hah.

Summer:Ugh! Why are you so- what’s your problem!?

Veronica:My problem? I’m not the one going to school in bed sheets. Honestly, who willingly does something like this?

Summer: I-

Veronica:What, can’t be bothered to-

Summer:I HATE MY SCARS!

The outburst was unexpected; even for Summer who had no intention of getting hostile. Veronica was just a person she couldn’t stand to look small around. Summer was ready for another argument to begin but no words came flying her way.

Instead, Summer saw Veronica wince in pain as if she had pricked her finger. The faunus flashed a glare of irritation that made Summer consider leaving. ‘What’s gotten into-‘ her internal question was cut off by Noticing Veronica’s cat ears. She had folded them down and was currently rubbing them gently. ‘Did I really scream that loud?’ Years of singing did mean Summer knew how to hit a high note fast. Perhaps she had gotten swept up in her emotions and shouted louder than she thought. Summer slowly opened up her mouth and gave a slight pause before gently speaking.

Summer:Are you okay?

Veronica:If you’re going to yell then at least gradually get louder. Screaming out of nowhere like that, you’re definitely a singer alright.

Summer:I wouldn’t be screaming if you weren’t so….extra all the time.

Veronica:Says the girl who just hit a high note like it’s a normal thing. Extra is what you’re really. I’m surprised you’re not breaking some dress code; pulled some strings no doubt.

Summer:*red* You don’t know me.

Veronica:Sadly, I do.

That stung a bit. Summer looked at the floor. Her spirit was reaching another low point for today. “Jerk…” Summer mumbled. Veronica watched the girl slowly start to retreat into herself. Almost like if she was a turtle going into its shell. The sight was a bit depressing. ‘Damnit, I gave my word to Nick but it’s not like it was just going to make things change.”

Veronica reached out to Summer’s chin and tilted the girl’s head up until they were staring at each other. Summer tried to look tough and stern but the way her eyes shifted ever so slightly gave away the tears she was trying to fight back. Veronica gave a look that was more than a bit unimpressed. “Quick to scream and quick to cry. You’re a little spoiled little princess, you know that?”

“You’re one to talk. Always ready to fight and walking around like you own the place. You’re just as spoiled as I am.” Summer said while trying to keep a hushed toned.

“I’ll give ya that one.” Veronica looked Summer up and down multiple times before letting go. She walked over to closet where all of Summer’s uniforms were and took them; even the one she wore today.

Summer:What are-

Veronica:Voice…

Summer:What are you doing with my stuff?

Veronica:Something you should’ve thought of. You’ll get these back before school tomorrow. I’ll be two rooms down the hall.

Without allowing further questions, Veronica left; closing the door with her tail. Summer wanted to press the issue but knew it would be hopeless. It was going to be a long day tomorrow though if she woke up to miniskirts. Hopefully Veronica wasn’t that cruel. There were a lot of pitfalls Summer would say Veronica had but she couldn’t think of a single time the blonde had actually insulted her body or looks for that matter. Maybe it would’ve been too easy of a thing to go after. Veronica was gorgeous after all in both departments; gaining a majority of her looks equally from both parents. Including assets, which made Summer fairly jealous. Combine that with her taste in fashion and it was impossible to find a time Veronica didn’t look awe inspiring. No wonder she acts like she can own anything.

‘I’d be confident too I guess if I looked like that.’ Summer thought as she finally laid down on her bed and let sleep take her.

xxxx

Jaune:Veronica’s gotten taller since last time she was over. I think her and Nick are the same height now.

Yang:I’m surprised she’s growing at all with that lame diet I keep trying to knock her off of. It takes a month's worth of nagging just to get her to eat a hamburger sometimes. Suppressing those instincts of hers constantly like that does way more harm than good. I wish she could understand that. Eventually she’ll just get cranky and be more aggressive than usual.

Weiss:Surly there’s a balance?

Yang:Yeah, it’s called living normally and having restraint. I mean I was hotheaded for sure but I mellowed out around this time right?

Jaune:No…

Weiss:Didn’t you destroy a nightclub? Wait, you did that right before Beacon. You were older than what Veronica was now; hell no you weren’t mellow! People got hurt the moment they touched your hair.

Yang:People shouldn’t touch other people without permission. Plain and simple.

Jaune:How’s school over there for her? Has it gotten better?

Yang:Less fights for sure. Practically zero now that I’m thinking about it. Boxing really helped with that but I can tell she still isn’t happy. Can’t really tell you what goes through her head daily or how she feels. Blake’s typically the only one to get her to open up but even that’s not much these days. No doubt she still can’t stand a majority of people in school.

Weiss:Still hasn’t made friends.

Yang:Nope...kids are cruel.

Weiss:They don’t starry that way. It’s learned behind closed doors. I know that better than most. Hate to say it but not much will be different here. Even Summer has problems with people in school. Albeit, for different reasons.

Yang:Blake and I just want Veronica to get some distance from home and school. Let her be around a couple more people besides us and her grandparents that love her to bits. You two, the twins, Ruby, Oscar-

Jaune:Does that really count?

Yang:Nick certainly lightens her up. He’s a real charmer. In a few years team RWBY might actually be sharing every part of the family tree. Wouldn’t that be pretty cool Weiss? Think of the fun family reunions.

Weiss:Are you forgetting your sister is married to my brother, genius? We are already connected.

Yang:Yeah but this way would be cuter.

Jaune:I’m telling Ruby you said that.

Yang:Please don’t.

Weiss:I’m hoping one day Nick’s feelings for Valerie are reached. He tries so hard.

Jaune:I think he should phone it in. Poor guy isn’t getting far.

Weiss:You never gave up on me.

Jaune:I know but I sort of took a break and focused on me and tried not to die while saving the world. Honestly I’m still surprised you found your way into my arms.

Weiss:I’m not. They loved me and let me know I was safe with you. It was only a matter of time before I found my way to them.

Yang:Ugh, get a room you lovebirds.

Weiss:This is our house!

Jaune:Also you act like you and Blake haven’t flirted in front of people or with us.

Yang:Jaune the four of us did more than flirt. Speaking of….

Weiss:No.

Yang:Not even when Blake gets here *winks*

Weiss:*red* We are grownups with children. Children with very good hearing and know when something is up.

Yang:Hmm, we’ll revisit this conversation later. So, Summer isn’t holding up at school either.

Weiss:Sigh...not really, no. She’s grown rather distant from us lately. Even Nick feels like she’s been building walls. Just the other day Winter caught her grinding on the chains to Mantle with her snowboard.

Yang:That sounds awesome!

Weiss:....

Yang:*sweats* But completely dangerous and not safe in the slightest.

Jaune:Oscar says her therapy sessions have been pretty slow the past few months in terms of progress but that’s all he’ll really tell us for now. Penny’s check ups show physically that she’s normal. Well, for the state she’s in.

Yang:No Shiva outbursts or. Confrontations lately.

Weiss:Not that we know of. It’s frustrating really. All this money and power to get the best resources to learn about diamond dust but none of it is getting us closer to learning anything substantial. Maybe if we can find a bit more or something. Then I could help my daughter through this.

Jaune reached across the table and held her hand gently.

Jaune:We’ve gotten this far. Summer has gotten this far; I got a feeling that we can handle anything at this point. One step at a time right?

Weiss:*smiles* One step at a time.

Yang:Don’t forget, you haven’t used all your resources. Whatever hurdle pops up I’ll be one call away from helping you over it. Spare no expense. You have more than enough people on your contact list willing to lend a hand. Don’t let them go to waste; sometimes you gotta ring every last one of them!

Weiss:Hmph, pretty bold to speak for everyone like that. I hope you’ll take the flack if they disagree.

Yang:Then they can call me personally!

xxxx

Veronica:Okay…

She looked at Summer’s uniforms that she put on some manicans. Veronica reached down in her bag and pulled out a sewing kit. She pulled out a needle and twirled it in between her fingers while pulling out spools of thread and juggling them with her tail. Her free hand tied her hair into a bun.

Veronica:Five outfits, I’m tired, headache, still need to unpack, still have sea legs, Summer gave me a headache, and I have to go to an Atlas school of all places tomorrow. Oh, not to mention what time it is now and when I gotta wake up. *smiles* better get to it then.

Part 12

#rwby #rwby twin snowflakes #summer schnee #nicholas schnee #jaune arc #weiss schnee #yang xiao long #veronica belladonna #rwby whiteknight

[twinkletoes-rp]

Wolf’s Rain: Bloodied Chances Ch. 4 - A Flash in the Pan

(Can also read on FFN / AO3 / Previous / Next)

They’re on their feet and inside faster than they can blink.

True to Hige’s word, Toboe doesn’t look good. He’s sweating and shivering at the same time, and his skin is flushed and much hotter to the touch than it was before. Kiba tries to touch him, brush his bangs from his forehead to make him more comfortable, but he yanks his hand back almost immediately. “H-he’s hot! Really hot! Like he’s burning from the inside out!” Watching and listening closely, on bated breath, Toboe’s heartbeat and breathing are quicker and shallower, too. Like he told them before, Kiba doesn’t know much at all about this stuff, always letting the moonlight take care of anything physical, but right now, he wishes he did. “W-what is this? Is it his wound? Hige, is it infected?”

Hige shakes his head vehemently. “It—it can’t be! We just checked and re-bandaged it two hours  ago, it all looked and smelled fine!” Just in case, though, he does check it, and he breathes a sigh of relief. “His wound’s fine. No gross yellow-white stuff like before either. Should be a good sign, right?”

The others can’t really say. Kiba purses his lips. “Well, if it’s not an infection, do either of you know what else this could be?”

“M-…-maybe…” Hige answers, though he doesn’t look sure as he watches their youngest worriedly, “…but I’m not a doctor or expert either. It’s—I haven’t really seen anything like this up close…”

Tsume’s been quiet the whole time, watching Toboe with a beyond-worried expression mixed with barely-controlled rage brewing beneath the surface. He wishes this was something he could fight—something he could bite and claw and kill with his own fangs. But as much as he hates it, the fact of the matter is, he can’t, and Toboe needs him, so for now, he takes a deep breath and does his best to push that aside. He closes his eyes and thinks back. Something about this feels familiar…

Then, it hits him, and he lifts his head. “A fever,” he murmurs.

Kiba and Hige snap toward him, the younger’s eyes narrowed and head titled. “A wha—?”

“A fever,” Tsume repeats, louder this time in turning to them. “That’s what the humans called it in the old world, at least. One of my—the younger humans working for me got sick once after a fight gone wrong, and it was just like this.” He thinks for a moment, his eyes going far away. “If I remember right, they kept him warm with a lot of blankets and put cloths soaked in water on his forehead. They made sure he drank a lot of water and ate a little—soup, I think, some bread dipped in it when he was a little better.” At the incredulous looks he’s receiving, he stiffens, then glares a bit, hoping the dark hides his light blush. “What?” he growls.

Kiba keeps his gaze steady, but Hige looks away and holds up his hands innocently. “Nothing! You just seem to remember a lot for someone who ‘never paid attention!’”

There’s the smallest edge of teasing to his voice, and if he’s honest with himself, Tsume can’t say their confused curiosity is undeserved. It’s just… Looking away, his voice lowers. “It was a boy, not much older than Toboe was back in the old world.” Gehl. “He’s the one who…fell from the roof that night…the night I met you three… I tried to catch him, but…I bit him instead, and he…” He doesn’t need to explain any more. Things are making more sense now, a whole lot more. Why he was so quick to drop everything to save Toboe the night they escaped, why Toboe didn’t flinch from his saving bite-hold, why Tsume came with them in the end…

It really was all because of Toboe.

Kiba breaks the thoughtful silence that’s settled. “We understand. You don’t have to say any more.” He smiles gently, proudly. “Thanks, Tsume. You’re a lifesaver.” Looking toward Toboe, he asks, “You said soaked towels and blankets, right?”

“Yeah. That’s what I remember, anyway. It seemed to work for Gehl, but…he was human. I don’t…”

“It can’t hurt to try,” Kiba presses. “For now, Toboe looks human, and instinct be damned, he’d probably have a worse shot in our true forms, so I say we do it.”

Immediately shucking off his jacket, he drapes it over Toboe. Following his lead, Hige does the same, then grabs a spare clean cloth. They only have a little bit of water left, but not a single one of them minds sacrificing their shares for this. Placing it gently on his forehead after carefully moving his bangs out of the way, they’re all relieved to see that Toboe looks a little more comfortable. Thank Paradise.

Hige looks over. “We don’t have any blankets, and that was the last of our water. We’re gonna need something a little easier on his stomach than what we had for dinner, I’d guess. Maybe that, uh…‘soup’ and some bread like Tsume talked about?”

Tsume himself looks conflicted about leaving Toboe again, especially now that he’s like this. Kiba doesn’t think they’re going to be able to convince him this time. “I’ll go find what we need. You two stay with him.”

“Whoa, what? Kiba, come on! Even you can’t carry all that by yourself!” Hige tries to reason, Tsume staring hard at him, too. But they know that look on his face…

“Then I’ll make a few trips. Toboe needs you right now to make him feel safe, Tsume, and Hige, you’re our backup healer.” He flashes them a small smile, already backing up toward the opening to eliminate room for argument. “I’ll be back soon. Howl if you need me.”

In a turn of heel and flash of white, he’s gone. It’s getting a little late, when most people would be home by now, but the shops here stay open later than most other towns they’ve come across, so he shouldn’t have much to any trouble finding what they need. Before, Toboe told them the birds in this town said it’s because of some kind of old-days crop cycle the townspeople haven’t dropped yet. The wolves thought it was strange at the time, but they’re grateful as hell for it now. They don’t want to think about what they would’ve done otherwise.

Hige sighs, but there’s a good-natured grin on his face. “Well, there goes our stubborn leader. Again.” His gaze flicks to Tsume. “Don’t tell ‘im I said that, okay? Any time anyone calls him the leader, he looks like he’s constipated or plotting our deaths or something.” Attention drifting to Toboe again, his smile falls. Hating how he’s shivering and his clothes are damp with sweat, he moves to push aside their jackets and unbutton the boy’s shirt before hesitating. “You said he’s overheating and freezing at the same time, right? Should we…keep him covered or air him out?” he asks, turning to Tsume. He doesn’t want to do the wrong thing and accidentally make the kid worse.

Tsume, having settled on Toboe’s other side and taken his hand like it’s second nature, ignoring its clamminess, hates what he has to say next. He’s sure it shows on his face, too. “Keeping him warm is crucial. Something about…letting the fever burn itself or whatever it’s fighting out of his system, I think.”

Hige wrinkles his nose. “That sounds awful…” He wants to ask if there’s a better way, but he knows Tsume would have led with that if there were.

“It was,” the older wolf replies quietly. Hige glances at him, surprised by the guilt and grief in his voice, and Tsume looks far away again, eyes fixed on Toboe. He must be remembering that kid from the old world again. “He was just a kid. Part of me wanted to help, but…around him, there was something… I couldn’t control myself. I’d lose focus and show my true form if either of us touched each other.” He huffs a laugh, smirking a bit. “It pisses me off a little, but you know, the only time I actually held it together was when I punched him to save him from Kiba when we first met and the half-dead idiot was killing every human who came near him.” Taking the cloth from Toboe’s forehead for a moment to wipe the sweat from the kid’s face and neck before putting it back, Tsume sobers. “Maybe it’s because he was the youngest of us. Maybe it’s because he trusted me—” for the most part, anyway, until that last moment; Tsume tries not to think about that, “—reminds me a lot of the runt. But something...hurt in me, watching Gehl suffer like that. I guess, that one time, even if I didn’t realize it until now, I made an exception to my distance rules.”

A moment’s silence. Then, “Good.”

Tsume snaps up to look at Hige, eyes wide. He blinks. “Hmm?”

Hige just grins toothily and snickers. “What are ya, deaf? I said that’s good! That you broke your rules and paid attention, I mean. Otherwise, we might be in a lotta trouble right now with our runt.” He softens, just a bit, reaching out to sift comforting fingers through Toboe’s hair. “Seriously, you really helped us out. When I ran to get you guys, I was panicking, thinking maybe I totally screwed up and hurt the kid even worse...” He sighs heavily, and Tsume can see how much those thoughts really were weighing on him. It’s in his slumped shoulders, tired expression, haunted eyes. “But then you came up with the answer like a Lunar Flower from Paradise.” He smiles widely. “Thanks a lot, Tsume.”

Thank goodness it’s night or Tsume almost definitely wouldn’t be able to hide the rather bright blush he’s sporting. Huffing a laugh, he reaches over to ruffle Hige’s hair roughly (but not as roughly as he normally would have). “You’re just lucky my brain’s the size of your stomach, Porky.”

“Yeah, se—hey, wait a minute!”

Laughter.

Half an hour later, Kiba’s back with everything in one haul. Apparently, a nice older lady near the store saw him struggling a bit and offered a large knapsack she didn’t need anymore. He’d accepted it gratefully and even her help folding most of the blankets into compact sizes so he could fit as much in the bag as possible. He’d brought back enough water, soup, and bread to last at least a few days and enough blankets (with some spare cloths thrown in) to cover each of them a few times over.

Helping him unpack everything they’ll need right now, Tsume throws the two back their jackets and covers Toboe with three of the blankets up to his neck. The boy whimpers and tosses his head, trying to throw off the blankets, but Tsume carefully pins his arms to his chest. “I know, kid. I’m sorry,” he sympathizes softly. “But these blankets should help you feel better, so I need you to leave them, okay?” There’s still a little fight left in the boy’s struggling limbs, and Tsume fractionally tightens his grip, lowers his voice that much more. “Do it for me?”

Toboe pauses, seems to hesitate, and then it shifts into an obedient pout as the fight leaves him entirely. Tsume sighs in relief and releases him, covering him back up and rubbing his arms gently where he held them. A small, proud, ridiculously-fond smile, almost a fiendish smirk, comes to his face. “That’s my runt.”

He turns to the others once Toboe starts falling back to sleep a few moments later, but he stops short when he notices Hige trying not to grin behind his hand (so cute!) and the startlingly soft smile on Kiba’s face. Again, thank Paradise it’s night so they can’t see his bright blush. He merely glares (he definitely does not pout!), mostly at Hige, and then goes on. “You think that’s enough for now or should we add more?” While he was covering Toboe, he noticed the blankets were maybe a quarter-inch thick. “They’re not the thickest, after all.”

Kiba hums, looks over everything. He wishes he could have found something better, but…well, the world is ending (again)… “Maybe two more? If we need more, we can always add them, right? But if we start out short, we might as well not have put on any at all.”

Hige frowns a bit, shrugging. “I don’t know. You’re the ‘fever’ authority here, Tsume.” Moving around them, he sticks his hand under the blankets to feel how hot Toboe is now. He winces and takes it out, blowing on and shaking it out. “Sheesh! He’s hot, all right, but not much more than before. I vote we put on at least two more. Better safe than sorry.” Switching out Toboe’s now warm and almost dry towel on his forehead for a cold, almost-dripping one, he wipes down his neck and face first. Some of the discomfort lines on Toboe’s face smooth out, and Hige yawns. “That should hold him for a little bit.” Rubbing his eyes, he says, “If I fall asleep, wake me up to check his wound and redress it in a few hours. Don’t wanna take any chances.”

Tsume looks between his two friends silently. They’re tired from the stress and worry of the day. He doesn’t blame them. He feels it, too. Of course he does. But he wants to stay with Toboe more than he wants sleep, so he doesn’t mind staying up with him. “I’ll wake you up, Hige. I’ll stay with him. You two should get some sleep.”

Hige raises an eyebrow, frowning deeply. “All night? Tsume, even you can’t do that.”

Kiba sets a hand on his shoulder, a small smile playing while his steady gaze never leaves Tsume’s. “It’s Tsume’s decision, Hige. If he says he wants to keep watch, we’ll let him. He’ll be the best at watching over Toboe anyway.”

Hige gives him an uneasy look. “Well, yeah, that’s a given, but still…”

“I appreciate the concern, but I can handle it, Porky,” Tsume breaks in, arms crossed lazily over his jacket-less chest. Taking a breath when Hige still looks unsure, he exhales helplessly. “Look, I’ll stay awake long enough for you to check him, and then I’ll sleep, but I’m not leaving him. Happy?”

The second-youngest is unimpressed. “It’s a start.”

Tsume snorts, then Hige, and then Kiba, and soon, they’re all laughing. It’s almost perfect.

When they get Toboe back, it will be.

#Wolf's Rain #Wolf's Rain fanfiction #Toboe #Tsume #Quent Yaiden #Chapter title is a reference to Ghel and his short life (and most importantly his short time in Tsume's) in case anyone was wondering #Any feedback would be greatly appreciated

[leisurelypanda]

Here We Go Again chapter 4

http://archiveofourown.org/works/11776227/chapters/27061308

They managed to make an appointment with Michael’s ob-gyn, Dr. Whittaker for the following Thursday. In the next couple days, Craig was a bundle of excitement. He spent some time upstairs, trying to decide whether he should have the new child sleep in River’s room with her or whether they should convert the spare room into a second nursery. Michael thought that it was a bit early to be planning anything until they knew how far along he was, but he honestly loved how ecstatic the idea of having another child made his bro. He remembered his first interaction with Joseph and how he had joked that anyone with more than 2 kids had to be crazy. Now he worried whether he might be crazy himself. They had Amanda, who was in college. They had the twins, who were in elementary school. River would be 2 by the time he gave birth, she’d be starting to walk and talk and everything.

 He hoped that it was a boy, honestly. They had 4 girls already. And he loved all of them (especially Amanda, but who could blame him? He raised her himself), but he honestly was curious as to what it would be like to have a son (whether he was born that way or came out later in life). He could imagine Craig teaching him how to play sports the way he taught his daughters how to play softball (he only knew the basics about soccer, which was enough to kick the ball around with the girls). He saw himself and Amanda teaching him to be a rebellious rascal.

 They hadn’t told the kids yet. It was still too soon. That said, nearly everyone who saw Craig knew that he was even more happy and boisterous than he usually was. It was infectious, really. His personal apprehension at being pregnant again was mitigated somewhat by his bro’s enthusiasm. He honestly could not have asked for a better partner to have another child with. He knew, of course, that there were lots of people who had children later in life and were completely fine. But he had lived so long with the message that pregnancy was dangerous later in life that he couldn’t shake the feeling that something was going to go wrong. It was a huge help that Craig’s boundless optimism and enthusiasm for the situation was so predominant.

 By the time the day of the ob-gyn appointment arrived, Michael was a lot steadier and calmer than he had been when he first received the positive result. Craig went with him, of course. For moral support. The official test echoed the over-the-counter tests and Michael’s doctor, Dr. Whittaker, did a general health assessment to determine the risk of complication during the pregnancy. Michael, it turned out, was about 4 or 5 weeks pregnant.

 “You seem much healthier than the last time you scheduled a visit with us,” she remarked. “I’m generally optimistic about your prognosis.”

 “So there’s no risk?” Michael asked.

 “Well there’s always some risk,” she said. “but I would say that your risk is largely minimal.”

 “See, dude?” Craig beamed. “All that running and working out is paying off.”

 “Your workout regimen should be scaled back, however,” Dr. Whittaker said. “Don’t overdo it.”

 “How much are we talking, here?” Craig asked.

 “30 minutes of moderate exercise at least 4 days a week is ideal,” she said. “Avoid heavy lifting. Avoid overheating while working out and saunas, hot tubs, and the like. Yoga sessions for pregnant people would be an excellent option.”

 They asked some a few more questions, when around the baby would be born, when they could find out the sex, dieting suggestions to help ensure Michael’s health. When they were done, she handed them a schedule that had visits twice a month every month for the first 6 months and then every week for the last 3 months. As they left the office, Michael felt more optimistic about the situation than he had in days. He was actually a little excited to be pregnant again.

  2 weeks after the ob-gyn visit, Michael decided the worst part about being pregnant, aside from the whole throwing up every morning thing, was that he had to limit his intake of caffeine. Which was sort of okay so far, since he hadn’t started feeling tired all the time, but he really hated not being able to drink coffee when he woke up in the morning so he could go into the world without hating literally everyone. The first time Craig said early in the morning that water was better for you anyway, Michael glared groggy, sleepy daggers at him over a mug of said water.

 Pregnancy sucks, he thought, sitting at his work desk bitterly wishing he could go get some fucking coffee. He was just tired. All. The. Time. Amanda didn’t give me this much trouble, he tried to telepathically communicate to their little hybrid bro growing in his uterus. Please have mercy on me.

 When he was pregnant with Amanda he hadn’t actually been that tired for most of the pregnancy. Just the last month or so. Which was hell, but that was expected. These days, the only way he woke up was by running to the bathroom early in the morning.

 He sighed and got back to work. And by work, he meant thinking up baby names for the baby because it was a slow day at the firm and he had finished all the busy work he had for the day. On the sheet of paper in front of him he had a column for boy names and one for girl names. The list of boy names was longer. Bryce. Dakota. Jeremy. Jordan. Aiden. Liam. Julian. Samuel. Landon. Adrian. Brayden. Bryson. Easton. Nolan. Hayden. Leo. Jayce.  Chase (the potential for puns would be amazing). Elias. Evan. Asher. Malcolm. Simon. Cameron. Mark. Hunter. Mason. Grayson.

 I should really go to human services and tell them that I’m pregnant so no one will be surprised by my frequent need to pee or see my doctor, he thought. That’ll burn, like 30 minutes of my time if I’m lucky. He looked at the clock. 2:30. Maybe I can just leave early to pick up the kids and go home. Yeah, that sounds like a plan.

 Craig got home later that night to find no one home. There was evidence of the twins. Their backpacks were on the kitchen table, homework looked done. But they were nowhere to be found. Finally he heard laughing outside from the back yard and he went out to find his bro and tiny bros running around kicking a soccer ball in the dark with the porch lights on. Michael was carrying River around strapped to his chest, going a little more slowly than his girls so he wouldn’t exert himself. Craig just watched them play for a while. He could get used to seeing his bro and tiny bros running around together. It was a beautiful thing.

 Eventually one of them looked up and shouted, “Dad’s home!” They ran up to him and he knelt and grabbed them in one big hug, kissing their heads.

 “Hey tiny bros,” he said. “How was school, today?”

 “Briar ate a bug at recess,” Hazel said. “It was awesome!”

 “Nuh-uh!” she protested. “Hazel ate a bug and she’s trying to pin it on me!”

 “Hazel…” Craig said. “What have I told you about impersonating your sister?”

 “That it was impulsive and rude?” she asked.

 “Yes exactly,” Craig replied. “Except the exact phrase I used was, ‘don’t.”

 “I’m so proud of you,” Michael said. “Of your dad, not you Hazel. Don’t impersonate your sister.”

 Craig let them go and stood up to kiss his bro. “How are you feeling, bro? How was work?”

 Michael sighed into the kiss. “It was boring. I’m tired. I miss coffee. I looked up some baby names.”

 “Oh yeah, bro?” he asked, grinning. “Gimme a minute to change and get started on dinner. I wanna hear what you got.”

 Craig changed out of his business suit. Michael got out the paper with his list of names and read them aloud as he helped Craig cook dinner. And by help, he mostly just chopped vegetables to throw into the spaghetti. Craig listened and occasionally commented on ones he liked (not surprisingly, he liked any and all nature names). When he was done, Craig produced his list of names and they compared notes.

 “Craig, bro, babe, I’m not calling my child Forrest,” Michael insisted.

 “What’s wrong with Forrest?” Craig asked. “Forests are awesome!”

 “Until you get lost in one,” Michael countered, chopping some mushrooms.

 “Whatever, bro. Nature is cool. Nature names are cool,” Craig said. “And may I remind you of how we started dating in the first place?”

 “I’m not saying I disagree with you, just not with Forrest,” Michael replied. “And if you ask me, that’s all the more reason to not name our child that. Who wants to be named after the place where their parents first had sex? That would scar them.”

 “Bro, I think we need a third opinion.”

 “YOU’RE PREGNANT????” Amanda said calmly over the video chat thing. “Skype” the twins had called it. “POPS, I DEMAND TO KNOW WHY I WASN’T THE FIRST TO KNOW!!! Or, you know, at least the second. But why am I JUST NOW hearing about this?”

 “Well…” Michael said, “I was nervous about the whole thing so I didn’t want to tell you/make a general announcement until we were a few months along.”

 “I can respect that,” Amanda replied. “How far are you along, anyway?”

 “The doctor figures I’m about 6-7 weeks pregnant,” he said.

 Amanda nodded. “Yeah, I can see why you didn’t want to say anything. So what do you need my opinion on? I’m not giving up my room for the new kid.”

“No worries Manda Panda,” Michael said. “We already moved all your stuff back to the old house.”

 “Wait, really?” she said. “Then hell yeah the kid can have my room! I’ll have loud, obnoxious parties all summer and adopt, like 6 dogs!”

 “Nope, sorry kiddo,” Craig said. “We’re converting the spare room into another nursery. Briar and Hazel will room together.”

 “Well, as long as I get my own space, I’m happy,” she said. “What’s the question, now that we’ve gotten off topic?”

 “If the kid turns out to be a boy,” Michael said, “Craig wants to name him Forrest.”

 “No.” Amanda said. “My little brother will not be named Forrest.”

 “What do you two have against Forrest?” Craig demanded.

 “It’s kind of a boring name. No offense, Craig” Amanda said.

 “Thanks, Manda Panda,” Michael said.

 “We have to name him something nature themed,” Craig said. “I got a whole thing going with my kids.”

 “Craig, I hate to break it to you,” Michael said, “but most nature names are feminine names.”

 “So?”

 “So even though I’m all for breaking the gender binary,” he explained, “I also know what it’s like to be misgendered and I don’t want that for my kids, bro.”

 Craig thought for a moment. “I get where you’re coming from, bro,” he said. “I didn’t think about that.”

 Michael laid a hand on his. “We have plenty of time to figure out a name, bro,” he said. “We’ll figure it out.”

#craig cahn x dadsona #river cahn #hazel cahn #briar cahn #amanda ann #dream daddy #ddadds #Here We Go Again #fanfic

[silentsnowdrop]

Wouldn’t It Be Nice

Chapter Six: Bad Bathhouse Blues

Or, In Which Things Get Awkward.

As always, help from whatisthisnonsense

May 2011

Yosuke is really, really beginning to wish he could delete memories of his own accord. There is no reason why he shouldn’t be able to—maybe Souji could help. Because if not, he is going to have to get creative with a wall and a hammer to make this go away.

He did not want to see Kanji Tatsumi mostly naked shaking his thang ever again. If Kirijo would make it go away, he would gladly go back there and do whatever she wanted.

Unfortunately, it isn’t going away, and he has to call Yu. His voice is laden with resignation and no small amount of regret when their leader picks up and he can ask, “Hey, did you see that?”

“I did.”

“So then, you saw—“

“I saw it all. Want a copy?”

“Yeah, no.”

***

Yosuke had forgotten that Yukiko hadn’t gone into the TV World properly yet. He would like to watch her look around for a bit, but they have a slightly bigger problem with their Navibear.

“What? You’re really saying you have no idea where Kanji Tatsumi is?” Yosuke can’t keep the exasperation out of his voice, and subsequently has to duck a glare from Kaguya that he could feel trying to strip his skin off.

Fortunately, Souji, in his everlasting kindness, is a little better at working with Teddie, and crouches beside him. “Easy, Ted. Can you think of anything that might help?”

“I-I don’t know. I can only imagine this is because I have so much on my mind, like where do I come from? Who am I? These questions are tearing me up inside!”

“Weird, since your insides are filled with nothing but air.” This time, both Souji and Kaguya glare at him, and he ducks again. At least he looks sorry when he looks back up.

Kaguya steps up beside Teddie and takes his paw. “Deep breaths, bear cub.”

Souji nods at that. ”We promise we'll help you sort yourself out, but we really need your help, Ted.”

That’s when Yu gets a lightbulb, and one that Yosuke wishes he had thought of earlier. He’s supposed to be the supercomputer around here, isn’t he?

"Hey, we're tracking him by scent, right? What if we get something of his, or that he's had his mitts all over? Might make it easier for you.”

“That could work!” Teddie’s voice goes from upset and confused to ridiculously enthusiastic so fast it’s a wonder he doesn’t break something.

Yu doesn't smile—not that he ever does—but he looks satisfied and nods. "Well then, there's our plan, team."

Souji smiles for Yu, with some sympathy woven in for Teddie. "We'll be back real soon with something, Teddie, promise."

As they all file out, Kaguya hangs back with Teddie. Yukiko waits for them, and when Yosuke asks later what they were doing, she just shrugs.

“They were talking. They both looked a lot better after that.”

“Yeah…” Yosuke crosses his arms, then shakes his head. “Well, if the Boss and the teddy bear are getting along, who am I to complain? Not like I don’t want her to have friends.”

Still, it was…kind of weird. Cute, but weird. Something to keep an eye on, he supposed—after they had dealt with the nightmare fuel that was going to be Kanji’s dungeon.

***

Kanji’s mother is kind of a bust. She’s basically able to confirm that she loved her son for who he was, worried about him, and had alerted the police since not coming home after a day like this was, surprisingly, out of character. Oh, and that he had basically beaten up a bunch of bikers because they had been keeping his mom up at night.

That…was actually a pretty good reason, truth be told, but it gets them no closer to getting to Kanji. Fortunately, there’s a tiny kid outside to come to their rescue—and to ruin Kanji’s tough-guy image even more.

“Are you saying Kanji Tatsumi made a cute little bunny charm for you from scratch?” Yosuke found the biker gang odd but understandable, but this was just…insane. A delinquent that crochets?

He looks at the Narukamis for a little support, only to sigh as Souji cries, “Aww, it’s so cute!” Not that he can argue since it was adorable, but that is no more helpful than Yu’s approving nod or Kaguya’s muttering about the color. And Chie and Yukiko’s admiration is the final nail in the coffin for any hope of commiseration on his exasperation, making him sigh loudly and only barely resist throwing his hands up in the air.

“Because of everything the big guy did for me, Sana forgave me! So I wanted to stop by and tell him thank you.” The kid looks so hopeful that Yosuke hates to tell him that Kanji wasn’t here right now. Fortunately, Yukiko has things covered.

“Hey! Listen, can we ask you for a favor? We need to find Kanji too, and we think this will help us—we’ll give it back as soon as we can!”

“Uh…sure.” The kid blinks, then gave her a semi-serious look. “But I better get it back!”

***

They’re just walking into Junes when they spot the kid in blue that had been talking to Kanji. Yosuke shuts off the weird sensor ping that kept popping up around him (he really needed to have Souji look at that), then follows the triplets over to talk to him.

“So, our paths cross again.” The boy turns to look at them, and Yosuke did his best to look casual.

“Yeah, what a coincidence.” He tucks a hand into his pocket, then tilts his head slightly as the boy spoke.

“Did you hear? It looks as if Kanji is hiding out somewhere.”

“It looks as if he might be.” Yu’s calm voice helps Yosuke keep his relaxed facade up, even as Souji shoves Kaguya toward the nearest display. Why they were pretending to be so fascinated by fish tank supplies, Yosuke would never know, but if it works, it works. That done, Yosuke leans forward slightly, trying for friendly and getting slightly intimidating instead.

“Hey, by the way—what exactly was it that you and Kanji were talking about yesterday?”

Of all the reactions he was expecting, an awkward stutter is not one of them. “Ehm…why do you want to know that?”

“Uh…just curious. That’s all.” No need to make the kid too uncomfortable, after all—he seemed all right, if straight-laced.

“All right. Fair enough. And since your group seems to be in a hurry, I’ll be completely straight with you.” The kid recovers fast, and if Yosuke weren’t such a consummate actor, he’d look nervous. “When we met up, all I did was say hi and ask him what he’d been up to lately.”

“Really. It was just small talk?”

“Yep, pretty much.” The kid looks down thoughtfully. “But thinking back, he was acting strange and not really like himself the whole time.”

Well, that would be because he was having himself a good old-fashioned gay crisis. Yosuke gently bites his tongue to keep himself from spitting that out, then looks back at Yu as he asked, “He was?”

“Yeah, and it kept getting worse, so I decided to call him out on it. I said, ‘Why are you acting so weird?’ and then he got awkward and the color drained from his face.”

“That is weird.” Except it totally wasn’t, and Yosuke can totally understand while also being glad that he didn’t have blood to drain from his face anytime he gets nervous. “He doesn’t seem like the time who cares what people think about him.”

“You can’t judge a book by its cover. Maybe he’s struggling—it’s quite possible that Kanji has some issues that we don’t know about.” The kid seems downright worried about Kanji, so Yosuke does his best to give him a reassuring smile.

“Well, whatever they are, if we can help him, we will.” Even if that meant going into the bathhouse.

***

It’s another few minutes before they can actually get into the TV World, thanks to Souji and Kaguya actually buying a fish tank, what the hell. But Yosuke can stow it in the back room until they get done, so it’s not long before they’re standing in front of the dungeon.

Truth be told, Yosuke could have waited. And waited. Honestly, he could have waited his whole life for this and been happy, but here he is, fiddling with his knives and edging closer to Souji as if he can hide behind his partner. Said partner is leaning into him now, pale and already sweating from the heat, and Yosuke jumps to the side hastily so they don’t actually touch.

“Ugh, why's it so hot here? This is no place fur someone like me!” Teddie’s words distract Yosuke from his careful maneuvering as well as his fiddling with his knives, and it’s a moment of fumbling before he has them under control.

“Uh—yeah, and it’s not great for me either!” Yosuke’s laugh is high-pitched and nervous as he scratches his head. “What if water condenses on my internal electronics? Maybe we should just go—“

"No. We still need to save Kanji." Yu tilts his head, considering. "Might need to do something about overheating, though.”

"Way ahead of you." Kaguya's jacket and tie go flying, followed by her gloves. Yosuke just groans and shucks his own jacket, doing his level best to ignore the way everyone else was following suit.

“Souji, if I die from shorting out, it’s your job to make them feel bad.”

“W-will do.”

Before they can do much more than pile their extra clothes next to the doors, a loudspeaker comes on, playing what can only be described as sexual saxophone music underneath an announcer of some sort. “Well, hello there, pussycat. You have an amazing set of abs! There’s nothing to be afraid of. Just relax.”

Yosuke turns around, fully intending to leave and never come back. “I’m out! See you guys back at Junes—ghyyk!“

The hand that had grabbed his shirt seemed to be attached to Yu, because it is his flat, “No,” that accompanies hauling Yosuke back to the group.

Kaguya is the one to find amusement in all of this. "Hey maybe if one of you boys strip all the way down to your knickers, you'll distract him.”

And everyone else—including Yosuke—are the ones to screech, “ABSOLUTELY NOT!”

***

Yosuke can feel his circuitry beginning to fry as they walked the halls of the bathhouse. He’s mostly waterproof, and it’s not like a bad rain would knock him out, but something about the steam here—maybe some interaction with the Fog or something—is making it spark uncomfortably.

“Uh, hives—guys, I think I’m having some tissues—issues.” Yosuke grimaces. “Take—make that definitely.”

“I’ll say. Maybe you should…not talk for a bit?” Yosuke can hear the worry in Chie’s voice, and Yukiko echoes it with a nod. Souji, however, is the most outwardly worried, and it takes a lot of self control for Yosuke to not shove him away. Why had he taken off his shirt, too?

“Do you want me to walk you back and take a look?” Yosuke blinked at Souji, eyes quite firmly on his face, then shook his head.

“Nah, I’m pine—fine, for now. Just…yeah.”

“You sure?” Even Yu is getting in on the worry game—which was kind of unnerving actually—but Yosuke just shakes his head again.

“Just peep—keep an eye on me?” He tries to keep his voice up-beat, but Souji’s gentle, worried squeeze of his shoulders takes some of the steam out of that. “…I’ll be fine, partner. You’ll key—see. Damn it.”

They reach a large, open space fairly soon, and peer around a large red banner to find none other than Shadow Kanji, posing and thrusting and generally making Yosuke want to run far, far away from here.

“My, my, thank you for noticing me! I am Kanji.” Shadow Kanji sounds barely anything like Kanji in actuality, what with the affected lisp and the high-pitched voice, and if it weren’t for his face, Yosuke would think they were dealing with someone else’s Shadow entirely. It seems that Yosuke’s general sentiment of what the hell is shared by everyone else, from Yu’s resignation to the fact that this is happening, to Souji’s oddly accurate impression of a dying cat, to Kaguya covering Teddie’s eyes and the other two girls covering their own.

“I'm blind! What's happening?” Teddie’s squeaky voice makes Yosuke shake his head, but it’s Chie who answers.

“You really, really don’t want to know, Ted. Just let her cover your eyes.”

“Well, well, well. We’re airing live from the tropical paradise Suspicious!” Yosuke is becoming more and more tempted to cover his eyes, or Souji’s eyes, or something, because this is not safe for anyone to see. “All this steam is making my blood start to pump!”

“Yeah, well, it’s making my blood sneeze—freeze.”

"Can I be excused to go die in a corner?” Yosuke wholeheartedly seconds Souji’s notion, and when Yu’s flat voice forbids them, he can’t help an immature expression at Yu’s back. Fortunately for him, all Kaguya does is snort, even as she readjusts her grip to make sure Teddie can’t have his eyes any more sullied.

“All right, sweeties. Since everyone here is all hot and bothered—“ like hell we are, Yosuke can’t help thinking— “let’s go to our next segment!”

Somehow, a title card pops up in front of Shadow Kanji, and Yosuke cannot help the gormless stare he has on his face. Even Yu seems to be getting a bit flustered as he says, “This…could get a little awkward, in more ways than one.”

Chie, for her part, hunches into herself. “Aw, man, when we were trying to save Yukiko, it was just like this too.”

“No it wasn’t!” Yukiko’s freakout is immediate and extremely high pitched. “It wasn’t anything like this!”

“It kinda was.” Yosuke grimaces. “She was on a spud—stud hunt, for heaven’s sake.”

"I think she was on a something else hunt, frankly,” Kaguya intones, glancing at Chie.

Chie squawks. "What's that supposed to mean!"

Yu, apparently over his flustering, grumbles, “Focus, guys.”

“Kinda have to degree—agree with Yu here. And what’s parading—creating these weird-ass images, anyway? The guy who’s throwing them in here?”

Unfortunately, his question would go forever unanswered, because Shadow Kanji chose that moment to speak up again. “I really do love getting my groove on with you, but I must continue my search for the bump and grind!” Yosuke turned away as he threw up a little in his mouth, but not long enough to avoid the sight of Shadow Kanji’s ass as he ran through the door on the other side of the room. “Follow if you dare!”

“I’m not sure I really bear—dare, damn it!”

Yu just closes his eyes solemnly. "Well, guess I'm scarred for life now."

“Same.” Kaguya’s deadpan makes Yosuke groan, and apparently Souji shares his sentiment.

“Can we not be so calm about this?”

“Hey, I’m not calm at all, partner.” Yosuke squeezes Souji’s shoulder, steadfastly ignoring the way the motion drew his eyes to the other teen’s well-muscled arms, then looked up as an alert went off. “Guys, bin—incoming!”

***

Fortunately, while his vocal systems are slightly scrambled, the rest of his systems are working fine, and with Yukiko, they have plenty of fire to fry the enemies coming at them as they hurried through the bathhouse. Yosuke can occasionally hear Yukiko muttering under her breath as they ran, but decides to not comment—he might be fire resistant, but he isn’t fireproof by any stretch of the imagination.

Soon enough they reach a…rather colorful door, welcoming them to the tropical paradise. Yosuke stares up at it, honestly amazed, then glances over at Chie as she speaks. “…This is where he’s hiding out, isn’t he?”

“…Yeah. Gotta be.” Yosuke grimaces, then looks over at Yu. “Do we have to tow—go in there?”

“Yes.” Yu’s flat tone makes both Yosuke and Souji whimper, but they both straighten up and move closer to the other Narukamis, even as Kaguya reaches down to cover Teddie’s eyes again. Ignoring his squeaks of dismay, Yu reaches out and pushes the door open.

The sight of Kanji pinning his Shadow to the ground greets them, and Yosuke just stands in the door, staring.

Yu is the first to speak. “Well, add narcissism to the list.”

Out of the corner of his eye, Yosuke can see Souji elbow Yu, even as Chie says, “I don’t think that’s narcissism…”

“Don’t think what is narcissism?” Teddie is fighting to get out from behind Kaguya’s hands, but the girl is having none of it. “I can’t see!”

“That isn’t a bad thing, actually.” Yukiko sounds equal parts appalled and fascinated, and Yosuke can’t blame her.

“She’s bright—right, Teddie. Just let Kaguya protect your innocence.” Yosuke can’t tear his eyes away from the startled boy now staring at them as he straddles his Shadow, even as he leans closer to Souji. “Think you can wipe my image memory after this?”

Souji’s, “If only,” makes it clear that he wishes he could wipe it from his own memory, and Yosuke can’t blame him.

Kanji chooses this moment to reboot. “Wh-what are you guys doing here?”

“Well…we came…to pave—save you.”

“Well, you sure as hell don’t sound all that motivated!” Unfortunately for Kanji, his Shadow takes the opportunity to shove Kanji away and spring to its feet.

“Whoopsie daisy! I won’t let you interfere!” Yosuke blinks at the Shadow, then scrambles a few steps back as the baths overflow.

Chie, however, steps forward, and her foot slides out from under her. Yukiko tries to help, but only ends up getting pulled down too.

“Oh, it’s slimy. Ugh…this stuff is gross!” The girls try to get up, only to slip and faceplant again, and while part of Yosuke can’t help but find this…fascinating, the rest is eloquently summed up in his next words.

“Slimy? Why the hell is it limey—slimy?”

Kaguya picks Teddie up and carries him as far away from the ooze as she can, which isn’t all that far. Souji pales leans back, and Yosuke shoots a hand out to support him as Yu says, “Maybe we shouldn’t ask questions.”

“You know? Probably a good idea.”

“You bastard…” Kanji’s actual voice makes Yosuke refocus on the pair further in as Shadow Kanji stood over his normal counterpart.

“Honey, why don’t you just drop the charade.”

“Huh…?”

“Isn’t it time for you to tell people how you truly feel?” Shadow Kanji’s eyes seem to glow brighter as he stretches his arms over his head, and the husky drop in his voice makes Yosuke shudder unpleasantly. “I’m everything that you wish you could be.”

“You liar!”

“Shit—don’t listen to him!” Yosuke rocks forward, intending to tackle one of the pair if he has to. Then Souji’s hand closes around his wrist, and he jumps.

Forward.

Into the slime.

And into the girls.

While the four of them are flailing around (and Yosuke is trying very, very hard to look anywhere but at Souji) and Kaguya is snorting while still covering Teddie’s eyes, Yu just stares at them, then looks up at the first year and his Shadow. “...Right. Can we all calm down now? Because this is already embarrassing.”

The Shadow just smirks at him, then turns back to its owner, mock-thoughtful. “I really hate girls. They look at me and say, ‘You like to sew?’ or if I paint a pretty picture they laugh at it and say, ‘Wow, that’s weird for a guy.’”

Yosuke manages to prop himself up on his hands and squints at the pair as Kanji growls at his Shadow. Somehow, that seems to drain the rest of Kanji’s energy, because he slumps forward and grabs his shoulders. “You should be strong. You should be tough! You should be manly! But what’s that even mean? Girls can be so scary.”

Yosuke blinks. “Uh…is this…supposed to be a gay freak out? Because…somehow it doesn’t sound like one. Unless girls being mean can make you gay…”

Souji mumbles, “That’s not how it works,” and Yosuke sighs.

“Kinda thought so.”

“Girls aren’t scary—“

“Guys are much better.” Shadow Kanji speaks over Kanji like he’s not even there. “They never say those awful things! That’s why I like men!”

“That’s not true!”

“But it is. See, you are me, and I am so you.”

“Like hell you are.” Yu yells for Kanji to stop, but the punk ignores him. “There’s no freakin’ way you are a part of me!”

As the Shadow downright giggles, Yosuke finally regains his feet and hauls Souji up. “Great. Just great. Let’s get this over with.”

***

“He punched his Shadow.”

If Yosuke lives to be a hundred years old, he will not forget the image of Kanji Tatsumi punching his own Shadow in the face. Yu mutters something about that being more useful earlier, but Yosuke waves his words off.

“Dude, he punched his Shadow. How is that not awesome?”

That’s when Kaguya slapped him in the face with her too-sticky hair. He makes a face, then grumbles, “Point taken,” before staring off down the road after the direction Kanji had shuffled off. “So…he’s not gay. I guess.”

“Might be. Might be bi. Does it really matter?” Souji’s mumble kind of catches Yosuke off guard, and he blinks over at him.

“…I guess not, but it’s…kinda weird, I guess, with that boy? The one in the blue?”

“S'not weird.” Now Souji sounds a little hurt. Kaguya slaps Yosuke with her sticky hair again, harder, getting an irritated noise out of the robot.

“Not…I mean, it’s weird because that boy…just seems like a weird match. With him.”

Souji has fallen silent, so Yu gently puts his hand on his shoulder, and a much tighter hand on Yosuke’s. "Yosuke? Hush."

“…Uh…okay, but what did I say that time?”

"Yosuke."

“Yu.” There’s a lot of irritation in Yosuke’s voice now. “I can’t exactly learn from my mistakes if I don’t have a clue what they are.”

“And I will tell you later but now is not the time."

“…Fine.” Yosuke looks away, trying to keep the grumble out of his voice. “At least my circuits are working ben—hen—again!” Yosuke throws his hands up in the air. “Screw it! I’m going bone—home, and I had better wake up normal, you hear me, world?!”

***

He does wake up normal, thank God, and manages to get Yu alone to talk about what the hell was going with Souji yesterday.

That’s when he finds out that his best friend is a. gay and b. short on dates. Yosuke blinks at him for a long moment, then sighs.

“Right. Okay. So I won’t bring it up around him again.”

“Good man.”

“…Thanks.” He didn’t exactly feel like it, but if Yu thought he was good, then he’d let him.

Now to stop his perfect-memory brain from bringing up the image of Souji shirtless and covered in that slime, and he’d be fine.

#Wouldn't It Be Nice #Persona 4 #Triplet AU #Robot AU