#which is why they’re adamant on others not experiencing the same thing they went through. | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

atlafan · 3 years

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Sweet Tooth - One Shot

a/n: dentistrry is here!! I only researched a couple of things, so if you’re in the dentistry/medical field please don’t come for me if things are inaccurate, it’s just a fic, you know? This ia really cute, sweet, datey fic, so I hope you enjoy! Feedback and reblogs are super helpful! (not proofread) Consider buying me a coffee if you’re able!

Warnings: fluff and smut (the word molested is used, nothing bad happens or has happened to the main characters, it’s just mentioned during a conversation)

Pairing: Harry x OC

Words: 18K

“Dad, I can go by myself.” Abby groans to her father.

“I have to make sure everything gets billed correctly. Your dentist said only two are impacted, so only half is covered my medical and the other half is covered by dental.”

She huffs out a sigh, but nods her head as they enter Tufts Medical Center. Abby was finally getting a consult for her wisdom teeth. Perhaps at the age of twenty she felt a little late to the game for this, but her mouth had only started to hurt a little this past year. She was a little nervous about being knocked out for surgery, but she also just wanted her mouth to feel better. It was the summer before her junior year of college, so now was the perfect time to get it done. Abby and her dad make their way through the building, and get to the floor they need to be on.

“Abigail Simmons.” Her dad says to the receptionist and she nods.

“Someone will be out for her shortly. Did you have her most recent x-rays sent to us?”

“Yes.” Her dad says, and they both go to take a seat.

Abby’s leg was bouncing and she was chewing on her bottom lip. It was just a consult, there was really nothing to be worried about.

“Abigail?” Her eyes widen as she looks over at the person who just said her name. He had a toothy smile and was wearing a set of blue scrubs. She and her father both stand up. “Hi, I’m Harry, you can follow me.” He smiles to the two of them as he leads them to the consult rooms. He gets Abby situated in the dental chair. “Just so you both know, I am a student, but a competent one, which is why one of the other nurses isn’t here, but one of them will come by shortly, and so will the doctor.” He sits down on the stool and wheels over to Abby as he puts his gloves on. “Heard your mouth’s been sore, huh?”

“Y-yeah.”

“She called me at school in tears.” Her dad says and she glares at him.

“College student?” Harry raises an eyebrow and looks back at the computer to review her x-rays. “How old are you?”

“Twenty.” Abby says.

“Your teeth are, like, really straight. Did you have braces?”

“When she was in middle school. She stills wears her retainer.”

Harry and Abby both look at her father and blink. He was really starting to piss her off. She could answer for herself.

“Well, you’ve got a very good girl here, don’t you, Mr. Simmons? Listen, uh, this is going to take a few minutes. I need to look at all of her teeth and confirm the ones that are impacted and if the other two have room or not. There’s another waiting area right over there. I’ll call you back over once the doctor’s here. Would that be alright?”

“It’s just…Abby’s really nervous-“

“Dad, please, I’m fine.”

“Alright.” Her dad sighs. “I’ll be right over there.”

“Bit of a helicopter you have there.” Harry smirks at her.

“Thank you for getting rid of him. I bring myself to the doctor all the time, but for whatever reason he was adamant about coming to this.”

“It’s major surgery I don’t blame him.” Harry grabs a bib to put around Abby. “So, you go by Abby?”

“Mhm.” She blushes as he clips the bib in place and adjusts her hair.

“Is it true, are you nervous?”

“A little…mostly about the surgery, not so much about the rest. I’m not one of those people that’s afraid of the dentist.”

“No worries, love, you’ll be in good hands with us.” He smiles. “I’m gonna put the chair back now, alright?”

“Okay.”

The chair slowly goes back, and he situates a pair of sunglasses onto her before fixing the light over her eyes.

“Could you open up for me as much as you can? I’ll try to be as gentle as possible since I know you’re experiencing a lot of discomfort.”

She nods and opens up wide. She feels his pinkies enter her mouth and feel around her gums. She winces a few times when he brushes up against the back of her mouth. She hears him whisper sorry a few times. Abby tries to focus on anything else. She focuses on how green his eyes are, and how seemingly perfect his skin is. Her mind wanders to how people get skin like that. What’s his routine? How could she get skin as smooth? Does he see a dermatologist regularly?

“Okay, Abby, I’m gonna out the chair back upright, and go grab your dad and the doctor. Hope that didn’t hurt too much.”

“It was fine, thank you.”

Abby’s dad, two nurses, Harry, and the doctor all come over to her to discuss her teeth. She definitely needed all four removed. They settle on a date for her to come back and have the procedure done, and Harry gives her the rundown on how to prep for the surgery.

“We’ll see you in a couple of weeks, Abby.” Harry smiles.

“You’ll be here?”

“You bet.”

Even though she was nervous as fuck to go under, she was almost excited to see the handsome dental student again. At least it was something to look forward to.

Abby had an early morning surgery, and she had to stop eating the night before. So she was exhausted and starving, not to mention she was a ball of nerves. Her dad drove her in for the appointment, and assured her he’d be there afterwards.

“Abby?” Harry comes out all scrubbed up and ready to go. She stands up and waves back to her dad before going with him. He brings her over to a consult chair and types on the computer. “Alright, whatcha have for breakfast?”

“N-nothing, I haven’t eaten since dinner last night.”

“Good girl.” He says without looking at her. “And what about a midnight snack?”

“Harry, I haven’t eaten since dinner last night.”

“You remembered my name?” He asks as he turns to her, and she blushes.

“Sort of hard to forget the British guy that told my dad to go sit somewhere else.” She smirks, and it makes him laugh. “Will you be in the operating room?”

“Yup, I’ll be there the whole time. I’m the hand holder.”

“The hand holder?”

“Mhm, while they’re helping you get to sleep I’ll be holding your hand, making sure you’re alright. I also get to put the IV in your arm.”

“Lucky you.” She deadpans and it makes him laugh again.

“What are you in school for?”

“Psychology. I’d like to be the type of doctor that doesn’t have to deal with all this.” She gestures around the room.

“Helping people on a whole other level, I see.” He nods.

The doctor comes over, and she must have gotten asked about four more times if she had eaten breakfast. She gets settled in the chair in the new room where she’d be operated on. She watches as Harry gets the IV in her arm, and then he holds her hand, just like he said he was. He was wearing a mask now, but she could tell he was smiling.

“Don’t worry, Abby, the next time you wake up these nasty teeth will be gone.”

She nods at him and squeezes his hand as they get the oxygen hooked up to her nose. His thumb rubs the back of her hand as a nurse puts the mask over her mouth, and her eyes slowly start to droop. The last image she has is Harry’s hand in hers.

When Abby wakes up, her eyes immediately well up with tears as she looks around the room. She sees her dad sitting in a chair reading a magazine, and she sees the IV still hooked up to her arm. She makes a whining noise and her dad looks over at her.

“Hey, you’re awake.” He smiles. “Everything went really well, honey. You did great.”

After about ten minutes a nurse comes in and takes the IV out. In her daze she tried looking for Harry, but she couldn’t find him. She was so delirious she could barely walk, and her dad had to help her to the car. She just wanted to say thank you to Harry for holding her hand, but she never got the chance.

Several years later, Abby had finished her master’s degree in counseling, and just finished up her licensure program. She already had a few different job opportunities lined up. The one she wanted most was at a local university at a counseling center. Being a student in today’s age was tough, and Abby wanted to be someone they could open up to. She had done extremely well in her postgraduate internship, so she had impeccable recommendations. She just needed to narrow things down to what school she wanted to work for, and that ultimately came down to benefits. She ended up going with UMASS Boston. It was a school a lot of her friends attended, so she sort of knew the campus, it was easy enough to get to by train, and the benefits were great.

After getting the first semester under her belt, Abby was feeling confident in what she was doing. She was truly helping students. She’d even be able to go for her PhD for free after she had six months under her belt. With winter break underway, Abby was getting caught up on some self-care, which meant going in for her annual cleaning.

“Hello, this is MidCity General Denstistry, may I please speak with Abigail Simmons?”

“This is she.”

“Hi, Abigail, this is a call to remind you of your appointment this week.”

“Right, Wednesday at 3PM?”

“Correct, and I have to inform you that your usual dentist, Dr. Morgan, has recently retired.”

“Oh…I mean good for her, I just liked her a lot.” Abby chuckles.

“Don’t worry, our new doctor, Dr. Styles, is amazing and everyone’s really like him so far. He’s taking over all of Dr. Morgan’s patients.”

“Okay, that should be fine. See you Wednesday!” Abby hangs up the phone and puts an extra reminder on her phone so she wouldn’t forget.

On Wednesday, she checked in and was brought into the back by a nurse, Marie. She was the dental assistant that would be doing her cleaning, nothing out of the ordinary. Although, Abby was starting to get aggravated because Marie kept sticking the pick into the same tooth in the back of her mouth. She hears Marie sigh.

“Abby, it seems like you may have a cavity. Dr. Styles will be able to confirm it. Let me polish you up, and then I’ll go get him.”

Before Abby has a chance to respond, Marie was already polishing her teeth. She was left to lay back in the chair while Marie went to get Dr. Styles.

“Hello, Miss Simmons.” Abby’s eyes widen when she hears his voice. He sits on a stool and wheels over next to her. “I’m Dr. Styles, nice to meet you.” He extends his hand to her and she takes it. “Mind if I take a quick peak at everything else before I inspect this possible cavity?”

“N-no, go ahead.”

“Thank you, open wide for me.”

She does so, and he sticks his gloved fingers into her mouth, feeling around her gums, and making sure everything’s alright. Next he grabs the tools and does a quick inspection of her overall mouth before poking at the tooth that Marie said was the problem. Abby notices how he hum along to the music playing on the radio. It was almost soothing.

“Okay, I’m gonna hit the button so you can sit up.” He says to her. Marie moves the light, and Abby takes the sunglasses she was given off. Her eyes widen again when she gets a good look at him.

Abby had come into contact with a lot of people in her life since the time she was twenty. It would be odd to remember someone that helped with her oral surgery, but too much was adding up. A man with a British accent, the same green eyes, and he was in the dental profession. She was finally going to get a chance to thank him.

“You have a cavity.” He sighs.

“I’ve never had one in my life.” She shakes her head.

“Happens to the best of us.” Dr. Styles chuckles. “Are you eating a lot of sweets?”

“Um, well, I’m a counselor at UMASS Boston, and I tend to suck on jolly ranchers when I’m meeting with students. Helps remind me to just sit and listen and not interrupt.”

“Ah, that’s a pretty good trick. Maybe try sugar free gum?”

“No, gum gives me a headache.” She shakes her head. “I prefer to suck than to chew.”

“Right.” He swallows. “Maybe try sucking on some mints then?”

“Sure, I can try that.” She smiles at him.

“Good girl.” He smiles back at her. That just sealed the deal it was definitely him. “Marie here will help you set up an appointment so I can take care of this for you.”

“You’ll be doing the procedure?”

“Mhm, you’re stuck with me now…unless you want to switch to another doctor, which I hope you don’t. Hope you’re not missing Dr. Morgan too much.”

“Not as much as I thought, that’s for sure. Um…this may be a weird question, but did you happen to be a student at Tufts Medical Center?”

“I was! It’s where I went after I got my bachelor’s. I can perform oral surgery, but I much prefer doing stuff like this. Can fill a cavity in my sleep. How did you know I went there?”

“I…this is going to sound so weird, but, like, six years ago you…held my hand when I got my wisdom teeth out.” Harry’s eyes widen at that. “Normally I wouldn’t remember someone so well, but…it’s not every day I have a British doctor.”

“Oh, wow, you remember me doing that?”

“Yeah, and we left before I ever got a chance to say thank you for keeping me so calm. So…thanks.” She blushes.

“I wish…I wish I remembered that. They often had me as the hand holder. How nice for our paths to cross again, huh? Promise to be just as good a dentist as I was at holding your hand.”

“That’s all I could hope for.” She smirks, and it makes him chuckle. “Right, well, Marie, please help Miss Simmons set up her appointment with me so we can get this cavity filled.”

“Sure thing, Dr. Styles.” Marie says as she makes a few clicks on the computer.

Just like that he was gone. He had grown into quite the handsome man since she last saw him. Not that he wasn’t before, but he looked more adult now. She wondered how much older he was than her. More importantly, she wondered if he was single.

It was about a week later when Abby came in to have her cavity taken care of. Marie was the dental assistant again which brought Abby some comfort. Marie gets her prepped in the chair as they wait for Harry to come into the private room.

“Alright, good morning, Miss Simmons.” He says brightly.

“You can just call me Abby if you want…” She says shyly.

“Okay, Abby, it is. Let’s fill this cavity, yeah?” He sits on the stool and wheels over to her. “Gotta give you a spot of nova cane, but before I do that we have to numb the area a bit, so this little thing that looks like a lollypop is gonna go in.” Abby nods. “Open up for me.” She does so. “Good girl, thank you.” He places the numbing stick inside her mouth and she scrunches her face. “I know, it doesn’t taste very good, sorry.” He stands back up. “I’ll be back in about five minutes.”

True to his word, Harry comes back five minutes later, and takes the numbing stick out of Abby’s mouth. Next he has her open up so he can administer the nova cane. He tells her she might feel a slight pinch, and she accidentally grabs onto his thigh.

“S-sorry.” Abby says as she takes her hand off him. “I may not be afraid of the dentist, but I really don’t like needles.”

Harry and Marie share a glance, and then Harry looks at Abby.

“Marie, would you mind handling the nova cane so I can hold Abby’s hand?”

“Sure thing, Dr. Styles.”

Harry hands the needle to Marie, and then Harry grabs onto Abby’s hand. He smiles softly at her, and she’s able to focus on him and not the needle going into her gums. Marie says it’s all set, so Harry gets back into position with the drill.

“If it hurts, just let me know and we can numb you a bit more.” Harry says to her. “It’ll be over before you know it.”

Abby pinches her eyes closed the second the drill comes into contact with her tooth. Thank god Harry was wearing a mask because he couldn’t help but smile at how cute she looked. Luckily, Abby didn’t suffer too much. The procedure didn’t take too long, and she was sitting upright before she knew it.

“You did great.” Harry smiles at her. “So, that side of your mouth will be numb for a bit. Give it a few hours before you eat anything, avoid hot foods.” Abby just nods her head along, too embarrassed to speak because she knew she would sound stupid. “Have you made your appointment for your next cleaning?” She nods again. “Great, Marie, I’m just gonna go over another few things with Abby, feel free to go on your break.”

“Oh, alright. See you in six months, Abby.” Marie smiles, and leaves the room as Abby waves to her.

“I actually already went over everything with you. I…uh…just wanted her to step out.” Abby’s eyes widen at that. “I was actually wondering, um, if you’d like to go out for coffee sometime…you know, when you can have hot liquids again.” He blushes and so does she. She nods yes at him quickly. “You do? Great, um, can I have your number then?” Abby frantically reaches for the phone in her pocket, unlocks it, and then hands it to Harry so he can add his contact. “I’ll call you in a couple of days so we can set something up, yeah?”

She smiles and nods as she takes her phone back. Her heart was fluttering. She felt like she was in a dream or something. Coffee couldn’t come soon enough.

Harry called Abby a couple of days later, just like he said he would, and they agreed upon what coffee shop they should meet up at on Saturday. Her mouth was feeling much better, and she was really excited to see him. She was still in shock that he asked her out in the first place. She thought she’d have to wait another six months to see him again.

He got to the coffee shop first, and decided to wait outside for her. He smiles when he sees her and they step inside.

“It’s on me.” He says. “Get whatever you like.”

“Oh! That’s so nice of you.” Abby blushes. “Thanks.” They each order and grab a table to sit at. It was too cold outside to go for a walk.

“I just want to preface by saying I’ve never asked out a patient before.” Harry says to her.

“So…why ask me out then?”

“I just found it really endearing that you remembered me, and all you wanted to do was say thank you to me for doing something so simple.”

“Harry, I had just turned twenty, I was practically still a kid. I had never gone under or had a surgery before, I was petrified. My dad was just as nervous, you were the only thing that calmed me down.”

“So, that would make you roughly twenty-six now?”

“Yes it would.” She smiles as she takes a sip of her coffee. “How old are you?”

“I’ll be thirty-two next month.” It was an age difference both of them might have been against those years ago, but not now. They were both well into adulthood, had their careers, and had some life experience under their belts. “It’s killing me that I don’t remember you.”

“It’s really okay. You’ve probably seen so many patients. I’m sure years down the line I won’t remember every student I’ve met with.”

“Right, you said you’re a counselor at…?”

“UMASS Boston.”

“And how do you like doing that?”

“I love it, honestly. I feel so bad for these kids, they have so much on their plates, under all this pressure. It’s really brave of them to come ask for help, so I like giving them a safe space. Some meetings are more serious than others, so it’s never boring. I feel like I’m doing something worthwhile.”

“That’s amazing. Feel like I do better talking to people in small spurts, that’s what’s so great about being a dentist. People can’t strike up small talk when you’ve got your fingers in their mouth.” He laughs and so does Abby.

“How long have you been at MidCity for?”

“Like…six months, I think. I like it a lot, everyone’s really nice. Marie’s my favorite assistant, though, sometimes her kids come in and they’re really cute, and her wife bakes the best brownies.”

“She’s usually the one to do my cleanings, I like her a lot too.”

“Can I ask why you chose jolly ranchers to suck on? I mean, how many students are you meeting with? You must go through a ton.”

“I do.” She blushes in embarrassment. “I got them when they were on sale after Halloween…I’m definitely going to try the mints like you said.”

“Good, I’m glad.” He smiles as he takes a bite of his bagel.

“So, how does a doctor such as yourself not already have a girlfriend?”

“Getting right to it, huh?” He smirks and she nods. “Medical school takes up a lot of time, and then when I first started as an intern, I was constantly overworked. I was doing surgeries left and right, I was too exhausted to try and make anything serious work. Then I decided I’d rather be working at a practice. I still do a lot of teeth pulling, but not as much as I was. And now that things have slowed down a bit, I just haven’t met someone I’ve wanted to be serious with.” He shrugs. “What about you?”

“Same thing, sort of.” She giggles. “Grad school was a lot, and then interning was a lot. Now I’m just really settling into my job. I survived the first semester, now I feel like a pro.”

“That’s a good feeling to have. Is your commute long?”

“Not really, I just take the green line to the red and I’m there. Obviously the trains can be unpredictable, but it beats having to pay for a car and car insurance. What about you? Are you in the city, or out in the suburbs.”

“Oh, I’m in the city. I drive to work, though, I’ve got my own parking spot at the back of the building.”

“Well, we can’t all be so special.” She smirks.

“No, I suppose not.” He smirks back at her. “How’s your tooth feel, by the way?”

“Oh, it’s fine, thanks. You’re really good at your job. It was nice of you to hold my hand when Marie did the nova cane.”

“I felt so bad that you were scared.” He reaches across the table and places his hand over hers. “When you grabbed onto me I knew I had to do something.”

“God that was embarrassing. I would have felt so violated if someone did that to me.”

“It’s not like you grabbed my dick, Abby, it’s alright.” He gives her hand a squeeze.

“Right.” She lets out a nervous laugh. “So, do you work a standard Monday through Friday at MidCity, or how does all of that work?”

“Yup, pretty much.” He takes his hand away from hers. “I mean obviously if there’s an emergency we have to cancel appointments, but for the most part we leave spots open for surgeries so people are able to book those easy enough. I usually pop by the cleanings in between cavity fillings and other stuff.”

“What made you want to become a dentist?”

“Well, I knew I wanted to work in the medical field, but selfishly I didn’t want the long hours at hospitals. I don’t have to be on call, like, I don’t have to worry about emergencies in the middle of the night. Not often, anyways.”

“I feel like I would get grossed out looking at teeth all day.” Abby chuckles.

“It’s not as bad as you think. I try to separate the teeth from the person. Like, I was able to give all new teeth to this recovering meth addict. She had this incredible story, and I knew I had to help. She had been sober for five years, but no one would hire her because of her teeth. Now she’s working a corporate job doing great.”

“Oh, wow, that’s amazing.”

“You must have some great stories with your students.”

“Yeah, I’ve really bonded with a few of them. Sometimes they just need someone on their side, you know? A lot of them are first in their family to go to school, so they’re doing a lot on their own.”

“That’s a lot of pressure.”

“You have no idea.”

“Well, it’s good they have a nice person like you to help them.” Harry smiles warmly at her and she smiles back. “Would you, um, would you be interested in going out for dinner some time?”

“I…yeah, I’d love to.” She blinks a couple of times. “I’m free most nights right now because we’re on winter break.”

“You don’t have to go into your office at all?”

“I just answer emails from home.” Abby shrugs.

“Sweet deal.” Harry grins. “So, how would Thursday night work for you?”

“Thursday works great.” She smiles.

They both throw out all of their trash and step out of the coffee shop. They share a gentle hug, and go their separate ways. Harry said he’d call in a couple of days to let her know where he’d be taking her, and she was beyond excited.

Friday night, Harry picked Abby up in front of her building. When he saw her, he got out of the car to open the door for her and she giggled.

“That’s a nice coat.” He says to her.

“Thanks, I got it on sale at L.L. Bean back in August. Keeps me nice and warm.”

“Oh, I love shopping there! Once in a while I’ll take the drive up to New Hampshire to go to the actual store to get the really good stuff. The boots I got from there for the winter will last a life time.”

“Yeah, it’s just good quality stuff. I usually get a decent coupon in the mail or online.” She chews her bottom lip. Clearly Harry had a little more money than she did. “Where are we eating?”

“You’ll love it, it’s this nice Italian place at the North End. I remember you said Italian was something you liked when we spoke on the phone.”

Abby smiles at him and he looks at her briefly to smile back. He finds a place to park, somehow, and they walk towards the restaurants. She hadn’t been to the North End in a while since most of the places were expensive. Harry puts his hand on the small of her back as they walk in, and he tells the hostess he has a reservation. She leads them over to a table for two and he pulls out the chair for her.

“So, how’s your week been?” Abby asks him.

“Pretty good, fit this one person with a new tooth, did a couple of crowns. Same old, same old.” He shrugs. “How about you?”

“Good, I did some virtual sessions with some students who are having shitty winter breaks. I went into the office for a team retreat, and then I updated some spread sheets.” She chuckles.

“That’s nice of you to do virtual appointments.”

“It’s all part of the job.”

“Good evening, folks.” A waiter comes over with water and a basket of rolls. “I’m Parker, can I start you off with any drinks or appetizers?”

“Abby, would you care to get a bottle of white for the table?” Harry asks her.

“Oh, sure, that’s be great. Would Pinot Grigio be alright?”

“It’s perfect. A bottle of Piniot Grigio, please.” He looks down at the menu and furrows his brows at the appetizers. “Calamari?” He asks her and she nods. “Calamari, Parker.”

“Sounds great, I’ll be back in a moment with the wine and to take your dinner orders.”

“The calamari here is excellent, it’s lightly fried in peanut oil so it doesn’t feel heavy.”

“What do you recommend for an entrée?”

“Everything’s good. What are you in the mood for?”

Abby looks down at the menu and her eyebrows raise at the prices.

“Maybe just one of these pasta dishes.”

“Don’t do that.”

“What?”

“Don’t get the cheapest thing on the menu. Get whatever you like, it’s my treat.”

“Harry, this is gonna be really expensive.”

“I wouldn’t have brought you here if I couldn’t afford it, please don’t worry about it.”

“O-okay, then…maybe the steak tips with the pan seared peppers.”

“If that’s what you want then you should have it.” Harry smiles. Parker comes over with the bottle of wine, and pours the first two glasses for them. “I’m really glad we could do this tonight.” He grins. “I…found something when I was going through some old things the other day.”

“Oh?” She raises an eyebrow as she sips on her drink.

“It was killing me that I couldn’t remember you, but then it hit me.” He reaches into his back pocket and pulls out a card. “I’ve never been so thankful to be a packrat in my life.” He opens it and smiles. “Dear Harry, I never got a chance to say thank you when you held my hand before my surgery. I figured I’d drop this off when I came in to have my stitches removed. I hope this finds its way to you. You’re going to be a great doctor someday. Sincerely, Abby Simmons.” He smiles at her as he places the card back in his back pocket.

“You…you kept that?”

“It wasn’t often I got cards like that, so I kept it, and once in a while when I needed a pick me up I’d read it. As soon as I re-read it the other day I completely remembered you. I even remembered telling your dad to go sit in the other waiting room.”

“Oh my god.” Abby chuckles. “That was the greatest thing I had ever seen. Think that solidified the crush I had on you.”

“Telling your dad to basically leave you alone?”

“Yeah.” She smirks. “Super hot to see you be so sure of yourself and confident. Plus, he was really pissing me off, talking over me and answering for me.”

“Wow, so I guess I’m the one that away, huh?” He smirks.

“You certainly were. Although, I hadn’t thought about you in quite some time. It’s crazy that you ended up becoming my dentist.”

“Very crazy.” Parker comes over with the calamari and tells the two he’s going to put their orders in now. Harry watches as she sticks her fork into a piece and takes a bite. “You’re really cute, you know that?”

“I’ll take your word for it.” She smiles. “This is really good.”

“I’m glad you like it.”

The rest of the date goes really well. Abby and Harry continued to joke around and flirt. It wasn’t until the check came that she felt a little uncomfortable.

“How much is it?” She asks him nervously.

“Wouldn’t you like to know?” He smirks and slides his card into the slot, letting Parker take it. “Would you like to walk around for a bit, maybe get some dessert by the water?”

“That sounds great, but only if I can pay for dessert.”

“Deal.” He smiles.

Harry holds Abby’s hand as they walk through the little park by the water. Even though it was cold out, it was still a beautiful night. They duck into a gelato place for a little dessert. They decide to split something, which ends up being insanely romantic when Harry lifts his spoon to her lips. She makes a show of it as she takes a bite, licking her lips after and everything. He holds her hand during the drive, and lets her pick the radio station. He gets out and walks her up to the door once they get to her building.

“I had a lot of fun with you tonight.” She says to him.

“Me too.” He steps closer to her. “Do you see a third date in our future?”

“Definitely.” She nods. “Do you like bowling?”

“Love bowling. Are you, um, free Saturday night?”

“I can be.” She smiles. “Pick me up around seven?”

“It’s a date.” He smiles. The two stand there awkwardly for a moment, unsure if they should kiss or not, so instead Harry opens his arms for hug, and she wraps her arms around his neck. She kisses his cheek, and then he kisses hers. “I’ll see you Saturday, Abby.”

“See you Saturday, Harry.”

Harry was on cloud nine the next day at work. He couldn’t stop thinking about Abby, her smile, her laugh, the little beauty mark she has under right eye. He thought she was gorgeous, charming, and kind. Normally he’d never get involved with a patient, but he couldn’t help it with her. He thought it was so sweet that she remembered him after all this time, and he felt so relieved that he remembered her.

“You’ve had this dreamy look on your face all week, what’s with you?” Marie asks Harry while they’re eating lunch.

“I…sort of met someone, and we’ve been out a couple times…she’s great.”

“That’s great! Anyone I know?”

“Um…well, you know Abigail Simmons…”

“Of course I know Abby! Oh my god, is that why you asked me to step out of the room when you filled her cavity?!”

“I didn’t wanna ask her out in front of you.”

“Harry, since when do you date patients?” She whispers.

“Normally I wouldn’t, but it turns out I met her a long time ago. When I was a student at Tufts I assisted in removing her wisdom teeth.”

“Oh, wow, that’s incredible.” Marie blinks. “When are you seeing her again?”

“Tomorrow night. We’re going bowling, how fun is that?”

“Should be really fun.” Marie grins. “Look at you, putting yourself out there. Now Leigh and I can stop trying to set you up.”

“I’m excited about her. She’s got such a cool job too. I can’t wait to keep getting to know her.”

Since they were going bowling, they could easily just take the train, so Harry takes a cab to Abby’s building Saturday evening. He was wearing a nice pair of jeans and a sweater under his jacket. She comes down the stairs in her long coat, and a Patriots hat on top of her head.

“Hey.” He smiles at her, taking her in for a hug. “How are you?”

“Good.” She smiles up at him. “How are you?”

“Good, great, actually.” He takes her hand and they walk towards the nearest t-stop. They both swipe their Charlie Cards and hop onto the next train.

“I hope you’re okay with candle pins…I’m not good with the big balls.” Abby says to him as they hang onto the same pole of the crowded train.

“I love candle pinning.” He chuckles. “No worries.”

They get to the bowling alley, are given a lane, and get their shoes. Abby takes her hat off and fixes her hair, and then unzips her jacket. She had a pair of jeans on with a red turtleneck. Abby was a short, curvy thing, and Harry absolutely loved it. When Abby first met Harry back when she was twenty, she was a tiny size two, but now she was a comfortable size eight and was fully embracing it. She was healthy, and that was all that mattered.

“Do you want anything to drink? I could get us a pitcher of beer.” Harry says to her as they settle into their lane. “I could get us some pizza too.”

“That sounds great, thanks.” She smiles as she slips her shoes on.

“Be back in a tick.” Harry goes over to the snack bar and gets two slices of pizza and a pitcher of beer. “Here we are.” Harry fills two of the plastic cups up with the beer, and hands one to Abby. “Shall we?”

“Mhm, I already set up the score sheets.” She shows him the large sheet of paper. “Not that I care that much about the score…it’s just fun to keep track.”

Abby bowls first, knocking most of the pins down, and then gets the rest on her second throw. Harry couldn’t help but smile as he watched her to do a little jog and hop as she threw the ball down the lane. He goes up next and immediately gets a strike.

“Woohoo! Go, Harry!” Abby says as she takes a sip of her beer. “I don’t think I’ve ever gotten a strike before.”

“I could show you how if you want.”

“Isn’t it just luck?”

“Nope, it’s all physics.”

“And…you’re good with physics?”

“Had to take it during pre-med, I even tutored for it. Come on, I’ll show you.” Abby gets up and grabs one of the balls. Harry goes behind her, and puts his hand on one of her shoulders, moving her hair so he can speak closer to her ear. “Okay, so what you’re gonna want to do is walk a little closer to the line, swing the ball back, and let it fly.”

Abby turns slightly to look up at him. Her cheeks were flushed. She nods at him, and does exactly what he said to do, and she gets the strike.

“Oh my god!” She squeals and throws her arms around him. “I can’t believe that worked! You’re amazing!” She kisses his cheek.

“You did great! Nice to know you’re good at following directions.” He winks at her and grabs his next ball.

After three rounds of bowling, and two pitchers of beer, they both head out. They take the train back to the stop nearest to Abby’s apartment, and Harry walks her home.

“I had so much fun tonight, Harry.”

“Me too, I’m glad you suggested bowling.” They both stop in front of her steps. “Can I see you again next weekend?”

“I’d like that.”

“Maybe if it’s not too cold we could go ice skating at Frog Pond.”

“Oh, I’d love to do that! I have my own skates and everything.”

“Perfect.” He smiles and steps closer to her. She looks up at him with her big brown eyes. He didn’t think brown eyes as beautiful as hers existed. “Abby, can I kiss you?” He asks softly.

“Yes.” She nods and smiles up at him.

He cups her cheek and leans down to her. His lips press to hers, and he uses is other hand to cup her other cheek. It’s soft and gentle at first, it grows a little needier as she presses her body to his, but she stops him from walking up the stairs. She pulls away first and blushes.

“Um, well, goodnight.” She says to him.

“Yeah, goodnight.” He rubs the back of his neck. He was sorting of hoping she’d invite him up. It was the third date, after all. Maybe she was a fifth date kind of girl, which he had to respect. “I’ll call you at some point during the week. I’ve got a few different surgeries, though, so if you don’t hear from me a lot that’s why.”

“No worries.” She shrugs. “I’m getting ready for the students to return, and I have some meetings to go to, some seminars, so I’ll be busy myself. Wanna just plan for next Saturday?”

“Sounds good to me.” He leans again to kiss her again, and she happily kisses him back.

“Okay, goodnight for real.” She giggles and walks up her steps. She waves goodbye as she goes into her building and he sighs.

Abby sighs happily as she gets into her apartment and squeals. She immediately texts her best friend everything about her date with Harry. She was so excited about him, and couldn’t believe he was actually interested in her.

They texted here and there during the week. Abby got a little brave and sent him a mirror selfie of her dressed up for work, and he sent one back of himself in his scrubs ready to go in for surgery. Her jaw nearly dropped when she saw him. She had seen him in scrubs before, but it was ages ago. He filled them out so differently now. Plus, the thought of him being a doctor just did things to her insides that she couldn’t even describe. He thought she looked gorgeous in her pin striped slacks and blouse. He couldn’t but think about how lucky each student was that got to sit and talk with her.

Harry was exhausted by the end of the week. He must have extracted over a dozen teeth, filled a stupid amount of cavities, and put on ten different crowns. He couldn’t wait to see Abby Saturday. He asked her to go to the pond a little earlier in the evening so they could get dinner afterwards. The decided to just meet at the pond. She was easy enough to spot now that he knew what her long coat and Patriots hat looked like.

“Harry.” She smiles when she turns to see him. They hug and share a quick peck on the lips. “Did you catch up on some sleep?”

“I did.” He sighs as they find a bench to sit down on to put on their skates. “Been looking forward to seeing you all week. How’d your seminar go?”

“Oh, it was great! It ended up being more of a training, I have a new certification too.”

“That’s amazing, good for you. I’m constantly going to lectures and stuff to stay up to date. I’ve published a couple of things too to some medical journals.”

“That’s so cool! Once I’ve been at UMASS for six months I can start taking classes for free. I’m gonns go for my doctorate, so hopefully I can start publishing some work too.” They both stand up and make their way into the rink. Abby puts her hand out for Harry’s and he takes it as they start to glide on the ice.

“That’s great that they have a program like that for you.”

“I know! I was super happy when I saw that in the benefits package.”

They skate around the rink a few times, enjoying the music that was playing. Harry guides them over to the side for a little break. He presses her against it, his hands going onto the railing, caging her in. She looks up at him, and he leans in to kiss her. She tugs on his coat to pull him closer, and the kiss deepens slightly. Abby really liked kissing Harry. He always tasted like mint, probably because he was constantly chewing gum, and his lips were insanely soft. She starts smiling and so does he, and he presses his forehead to hers.

“Do you feel like going to eat now?” He says to her.

“Yeah.” She nods.

They end up going to a Mexican restaurant not too far from the pond. They each get margaritas and laugh a lot. Harry talks about what it’s like to extract teeth during a surgery, and Abby asks if people ever want to see their teeth afterwards. He asks Abby how she copes when she has to deal with a heavier situation at work, and she says her little Shih Tzu, Marvin, helps make her day a lot better.

“That’s nice your apartment allows pets.” He says to her.

“Yeah, he’s only, like, nine pounds, if that. He’s so cute, do you wanna see a picture?”

“Of course!” Abby pulls out her phone to show Harry a few pictures of Marvin, and even a selfie she took with him. “He’s so cute, and so are you.”

“Thanks.” She giggles.

“He looks like a little stuffed animal.”

“He really does.”

“Why a Shih Tzu?”

“They’re really smart. They’re tough to train because they’re so stubborn, but once they get a little older they start to listen, and they’re pretty self-sufficient alone during the day. Although, sometimes I sneak him into the office.”

“How old is he?”

“About two. Do you have any pets?”

“Nah, I’m not home enough to take care of anything else. But I love dogs, I think they’re great.”

“Well, maybe at some point you can meet little Marv.”

“I’d like that.”

They square up the tab and Harry walks Abby home once again. They kiss for a while outside her front door. He desperately wanted to feel her tongue on his, but she wouldn’t open her mouth up. His hands squeeze at her hips, and she tugs on his jacket like she had done earlier.

“Well, I better get up inside.” She says against his lips and he hums his response as he continues to kiss her. She giggles into him. “Harry.” She smiles and steps back from him.

“Sorry, I just really like kissing you.”

“I like kissing you too.”

“When can I see you again?”

She takes her phone out to check her calendar.

“Are you free on Friday?” She asks as she furrows her brows at her screen.

“I think so. We could go to dinner, if you like. There’s this really great Chinese place in China Town that I love going to if you’re interested.”

“That sounds great, Harry.” She smiles. “I’m looking forward to it.”

“Maybe…um, maybe we could meet up for lunch, or something at some point during the week.”

“Do you have time for something like that?”

“I’m sure I do. I can look at my calendar and let you know which day works best.”

“Okay.” She nods. “I’d love to meet up for lunch.”

“Great.” He leans in to kiss her again. “Hope you and Marvin have a good night.”

“Oh, we will. He’s probably antsy for me to get up there and give him all the cuddles I can. Text me when you know which day works for lunch.” She smiles and heads inside.

Harry couldn’t believe a little dog was going to be getting all of her cuddles tonight and not him. She was slowly killing him. He respected that she might want to take things slow, but to still not invite him up? He sighs and orders an uber back to his condo, hoping he’ll be able to fall asleep easily, and not stay up thinking about the girl who was slowly creeping her way into his heart.

Abby was able to meet up with Harry on Tuesday, but only for a quick walk, which she thought would be a great opportunity for Harry to meet Marvin. She gets his sweater and harness on, leashes him up, and out the door she goes. Harry was standing outside her building, in his scrubs, and a jacket, with two hot chocolates.

“Thank you.” She smiles and takes the warm drink from him. “Harry, this is Marvin.”

“Aw.” He pouts, and squats down to put his hand in front of Marvin’s nose before he pets him. “Nice to meet you little guy.” He looks up at Abby. “He’s even cuter in person.”

“Right? I’m really excited we could get out for a little bit today. He loves when I can take him for a good walk.” Harry stands back up straight and they all start walking. “Were you in surgery today?”

“Yeah, early this morning, and I’ve got another one later this afternoon. Didn’t make much sense for me to put my other clothes back on.”

“You look cute in your scrubs.” Abby says, a blush creeping onto her cheeks.

Harry nudges her and he looks down at Marvin.

“He’s pretty quiet, huh?”

“He was yappy when I first got him, but he’s calmed down a lot. First summer I had him I spent a lot of time training him. Pretty much taught him not to bark unless someone’s trying to break in.”

“You must be good with discipline then.”

“I try to be. Although, I’m more of a fan of positive reinforcement.” They pull to the side as Marvin takes a tinkle near a fire hydrant. “Good boy, Marvin.” She says and gives him a kibble as a treat. “Kibbles are great treats. Can’t get fat off what he normally eats.”

“That’s really smart. Have you, uh, been laying off the jolly ranchers?”

“Oh, I’m sorry, Dr. Styles, I didn’t realize we were in your office.”

“Abby…”

“I’ve been trying to, but I have a horrible sweet tooth. They’re the only candy I really eat. What’s the harm?”

“Your teeth rotting out?”

“Okay, good point. I mean, I haven’t had nearly as many since I’m not really meeting with students right now, and I’ve already gone out and bought a ton of mints for the next semester.”

“Good girl, that’s what I like to hear.”

“What do you say to your male patients?”

“Pardon?”

“It’s just…you say good girl a lot…do you do that with all your female patients, and if so…what do you say to your male patients? Also, I’m an adult woman. Do you say good girl to all adult women?”

“Abby.” Harry chuckles. “I think I’ve only ever said that to you.”

“Oh, fuck off, I bet you say it all the time.”

“I really don’t.”

“Then why me?”

“You’re cute, and I tend to be a flirt sometimes.”

“You consider calling me a good girl flirting?” She stops short and he turns to look at her.

“I do.” He nods, a smirk growing on his lips. “Do you want me to stop saying it to you?”

“N-no.”

“Alright then.” He grins and they continue walking until they get to Marvin’s turn around spot, and make their way back to Abby’s building. “I’m glad we got to meet up for a bit. Still on for Friday night?”

“Definitely.” She goes up on her tip toes to kiss him goodbye and inside she goes. Harry left her with butterflies in her stomach.

Harry was really hoping tonight would be the night something more happens between him and Abby. He just wanted to feel her body on his. He drives to her place around seven Friday night, and he waits outside the car for her.

“Hello, beautiful.” He says to her as she steps outside.

“Hey.” She smiles and kisses him. He opens the door for her and he jogs around the other side to get back in. He takes her hand in his as she drives towards China Town. “How was your day?”

“Good, really busy, but good. I tend to get a lot of kids on Fridays since it’s an easy day for them to miss school.”

“I bet the little kids love you.”

“They do, I like being goofy with them.” They get to the restaurant, and are seated. “Do you want to share a few things?”

“Sure, that sounds good.” She smiles. “I hardly ever come out here, how’d you find this place?”

“When I was at Tufts I used to come to China Town all the time since it’s close by. I got sick of eating at all of the same places, so I decided to come around here and branch out. This is obviously nicer, but I like it a lot.” They decide which dishes they want to share, and tell the waitress when she comes over. They both also order a couple of drinks. “The semester’s starting soon, right?”

“Yeah, on Monday, actually.”

“Oh, wow! Do you feel ready?”

“For the most part.” She nods. “The first week is usually quiet, and then I start to get booked out. That’s how it was last semester, anyways. I already have some of my regulars from last semester on my calendar for next week.”

“I bet they’re excited to see you, I know I would be.” He places his hand over hers and gives it a squeeze. “Abby, um, after dinner…I was wondering if you’d like to come back to my place for a bit.”

“Oh, that’s so sweet of you to offer, but I don’t want to leave Marvin for that long.” She takes a sip of her drink. “Another time, though.” She smiles and he nods at that.

A food runner brings their dishes over, and luckily nothing feels awkward, but Harry was sort of hoping that she’d offer to have him over after dinner instead. They both enjoy the food, and share a few laughs before heading back to Harry’s car. When he pulls up to her place they both linger for a moment.

“Thanks again for dinner, Harry, I had a great time.”

“Me too.” He looks at her. “Can I ask you something?” She nods yes at him. “Are you, uh, seeing anyone else? It’s okay if you are, we never said this was exclusive, I guess I’d just like to know.”

“No, I’m not seeing anyone else. I would have told you if I was dating around. Are you seeing anyone else?”

“No.”

“Okay.” She smiles. “Good to know.” She leans across the console to kiss him, and he kisses her back. He turns his body more so he can cup her jaw. “Are you busy tomorrow?”

“I…I don’t think so, I mean, just usual weekend errand type stuff. Might be grabbing drinks with some friends in the evening, why?”

“I was just thinking maybe, um, you could come over for dinner, but if you’re busy-“

“I can cancel. I can get drinks with them any time.”

“Don’t be silly.” She smiles. “We can do it another night. We’ll figure it out. I better get upstairs.” She pecks his lips. “Goodnight.” She gets out of the car, leaving him speechless. He wanted to rip his hair out at this point.

“Harry, how things going with that girl you’ve been seeing?” Greg asks him as they sit in a booth at the bar.

“Yeah, you still like her?” Lenny asks.

“Things are going well.” He nods. “But I can’t seem to figure her out. We’ve been out, like, six times and she still hasn’t invited me up to her place. I invited her back to mind last night, and she said she didn’t want to leave her dog alone for long.”

“Have you kissed?” Greg asks.

“Yeah, we’ve kissed plenty of times. We just haven’t done anything else. I mean, we don’t need to jump right into bed, but it’d be nice to do a little more.”

“I get what you’re saying, man.” Lenny says. “Maybe she’s just nervous.”

“I didn’t think I was giving her a reason to be.” Harry sighs. “She invited me over tonight, but I stupidly told her I had plans with you lot.”

“What are you doing with us then?! Go pick up some dessert, and go get your girl!” Greg says.

“I can’t just show up at her place…I’ll look like a stalker. What if she’s not even home?”

“So text her.” Lenny shrugs. “See if she’s around and ask if you can stop by. Tell her you’re at bar in the neighborhood.”

“But I’m not. She’ll know I’m lying.”

“Dude, just text her and see if she’s around.” Greg says.

Harry takes out his phone and types out a text. He hesitates before hitting send.

Harry: Hey, Abby! Are you home? I’m finishing up with my friends a bit earlier than I thought…maybe I could bring some dessert over?

Abby: Hey! Yeah, I’m home, snuggled up with Marv. I’d love it if you came by, especially if there’s dessert involved lol

Harry: Great! I can be by in about 30 minutes

Abby: sounds good! See you soon

“Alright, I’m gonna go up to the bar and get a lava cake to go. Thanks for being so cool about this guys.”

“No worries, H.” Lenny says. “Good luck.”

Harry races to Abby’s once he’s gotten the cake, and she buzzes him in. He knocks on her door, and she opens it for him.

“Hey.” She smiles and steps aside. “Come on in.”

“Thanks.” He pecks her cheek. “Hope you like chocolate lava cake.”

“Love it.” She takes it from him. “So…this is it. It’s just a studio.” She blushes. “But the kitchen is its own area, which is nice.”

“It’s great.” He smiles at her. “You’ve definitely utilized the space.”

There’s a large monitor mounted on the wall, a desk underneath it with Abby’s laptop, and an HDMI cord connecting both. There’s a small couch a few feet back, and then her bed is up against the opposite wall. Everything was neat and tidy.

“I use this wireless mouse as a remote, and I have a Fire Stick.” She says. Marvin comes trotting in from the kitchen. “Marv, you remember Harry. I’m just gonna stick this in the kitchen. Feel free to make yourself comfortable.” She walks into the kitchen as Harry sits down on the couch. Marvin jumps up to sit in his lap.

“Hey, little guy.” Harry pets his head and scratches behind his ears. Abby comes back out. She looks really cute tonight. She was wearing glasses, her hair tied to the side in a braid, leggings and an off the shoulder sweater. “Hope I’m not intruding on your cozy evening.”

“Not at all! I’m really glad you texted, actually. Did you have fun with your friends?”

“I did, yeah.”

“Are they dentists too?”

“Mhm, we lived together while we were in medical school. Lenny and Greg.”

“Where do they both work?”

“At other practices around the city. Greg’s actually an orthodontist. They’re both junior partners, though, I’m the first of the three of us to become a senior partner at a practice. Guess that was the one good thing about Dr. Morgan leaving MidCity.”

“You’re so successful.” She bites her bottom lip and looks down at Marvin in Harry’s lap. “Look at that, you’re here five minutes and he already liked you better than me.” She reaches and takes Marvin from Harry, snuggling him to her chest before putting him on the ground.

“I didn’t know you wore glasses.”

“Oh, I don’t. They’re just blue light blockers.” She takes them off and sets them on the side table next to the couch. “They help a lot when I’m on the computer for a while.”

“Ah.” He nods.

“What’s your place like?”

“I’ve got a condo, uh, it’s a three bedroom, but I use one as a home office.”

“Wow, good for you.”

“Don’t get me wrong, I didn’t always get to live so comfortably.”

“You’ve earned it, I bet you work really hard.” She smiles.

“I’m sure you work hard too.”

“True.” She nods. “But I’m paying off loans, and this is all I can really afford.”

“It’s a great place.” He assures her. “I wish the studio I had when I first started out was half as nice as this. I certainly didn’t keep things as neat as you.”

“Oh, I just rushed around to clean things up before you got here. It was a mess.” She laughs.

“I’m glad you were cool with me coming by.” He puts his hand over hers, rubbing his thumb along the back of her hand. “I’ve been having a great time with you this last month.”

“Me too.”

“My birthday’s next weekend, and…um, a ton of us are getting together at this pub…I’d love it if you could come.”

“Oh! Sure, would it be Saturday?”

“Yeah.”

“I’m there, I’d love to go. That’s so nice of you to invite me.” She leans in and kisses his cheek.

He looks at her, his eyes locking in on her lips. He leans in and presses his lips to hers. Her arms go around his neck to pull him closer, her fingers tangling with the curls on the nape of his neck. His arms wrap around her, hands splaying on her back to have her chest pressed to his. He lightly sucks on her bottom lip, and she opens up wider for him. He nearly groans as he licks into her, finally. She tugs on his hair as her tongue molds to his. One of his hands slides down her back and around to the front of her stomach. He just about reaches the band of her leggings when she grabs his hand, and moves it to her hip. He gives a squeeze and she whimpers into him. He plants kisses along her jaw to her earlobe, nibbling on it gently until he kisses on her neck. He mouths at her skin before sucking on her and she gasps.

“Don’t leave a mark.” She grunts, and she feels him nod against her skin. “H-Harry, is this the only reason you wanted to come see me tonight?” She blurts out and he stops to look at her.

“What? No.” He shakes his head. “I genuinely wanted to see you and split that cake. And…I mean…yeah, I’ve been wanting to do a little bit of this.” He runs a hand through his hair. “I like you a lot, Abby, I can’t help it.”

“I like you a lot too.” She gives him a soft smile. “We can keep kissing.”

“Are you sure?”

“Mhm.” She nods and brings her hand to the back of his neck to pull him back to her. This time she nibbles on his bottom lip and his hands go to her hips, squeezing and kneading. “Mm, but I don’t wanna go any further than this…not yet anyways. I hope that’s alright.”

“Of course it is.”

“I just…sort of wanna see where this is going before something so serious happens between us.”

“I get it.” He smiles. “I know you’ll be worth the wait.”

Harry: hope the first day of the semester has been treating you well!

Abby couldn’t help but smile at her phone. She knew Harry was extremely busy at work, so the fact that he took a moment to text her meant so much. The only thing was he texted her during a staff meeting, and her colleague Maya noticed her goofy smile.

“Abby, how was your break?” Maya asks her after the meeting.

“It was good! Um, I sort of started seeing someone.”

“Shut up! That’s amazing, who is it, how’d you meet?”

“His name is Harry…he’s, um, my dentist.”

“Oh, my, a doctor?”

“Yeah.” Abby nods. “We actually met years ago when he was still a student, and he just so happened to take over for my other dentist who apparently retired. It’s been a little over a month. He’s super nice, and funny…and he’s really fucking handsome.” She says the last part quietly.

“Good for you. Do you have a picture of him?”

“There’s one on the practice’s website. I haven’t, like, taken a selfie with yet. Although, I wish I had when he took me ice skating.” She pulls up MidCity’s website on her phone and shows Maya.

“Holy shit! He is handsome.”

“It’s going really well too. He’s met Marvin, and he invited me to his birthday party this weekend.”

“Wow, so you’re gonna get to meet his friends already?”

“I guess so.” She smiles. “The only thing is…do I get him a gift? And if so, what do I get him? I feel like it should be casual because everything’s so new still, but if it’s too casual he might think I’m not as into him as I am.”

“Shit, yeah, that’s a tough one.” Maya steps further into Abby’s office. The girls were close, so they were used to talking about personal things. “Have you slept with him yet? You could wear something for him to unwrap.”

“No, we haven’t.” Abby sighs. “I’m trying to take things slow with him because I really like him. We’ve made out a couple of times…”

“So…is that a no?”

“I don’t know, birthday sex as a gift? I feel like that’s so…cliché or something? Plus, I feel like he’ll be expecting it. I want it to feel more special than that.” She bites her bottom lip in thought.

“Oh! Have you been out to eat with him much?”

“Yeah, a ton, why?”

“Did you notice him order any specific types of alcohol?”

“Yeah! On our first real date he had this really nice bottle of white wine ordered to our table. It was delicious, and he loved it. I remember what it was, I could just get a bottle of that and a card, right?”

“I think that’s a totally acceptable gift. It’s sentimental, so it shows you put some thought into it, but also casual enough to show you’re not a psycho.”

“Exactly.”

Abby: you’re so sweet! It’s been a little busy with meetings and stuff, but other than that no fires to put out. Thanks so much for thinking of me, I hope you’re having a good day too! 😘

Harry didn’t want Abby to walk into the pub by herself, so he said he’d pick her up on his way. She insisted he didn’t need to, but he insisted that he did. She had a black dress on with black tights and blue heels. She zips up her long coat and runs her fingers through her hair. Her phone buzzes with a text from Harry that he’s downstairs with the uber. She takes a deep breath, grabs her gift, and heads downstairs.

“Happy birthday.” She smiles and gives him a peck on the cheek.

“Thanks, beautiful.” He opens the door for her and goes around to the other side. “Is that for me?” He points to the bag she’s settled into her lap.

“Maybe.” She shrugs a shoulder.

“You didn’t have to get me anything.” He places his hand on her thigh.

“I said maybe, so this could easily not be for you. I guess you’ll find out later.” She side eyes him and it makes him laugh.

“How was your first week back to campus?”

“Exhausting.” She sighs. “But I caught up on sleep this morning. Everyone was excited to see Marvin.” She chuckles. “And it was good to see my friends and students.”

“That’s good.” Harry smiles.

“What about you? How was your week?”

“Busy. I had four different surgeries, a ton of cavities, and a fuck ton of cleaning check ins. I think a lot of college kids were getting in their bi-annual visits before going back to school.”

“Ohhh, yup, I bet that’s what it was. Is there ever a time of year you’re super busy?”

“I would say summers I do a lot of wisdom teeth removals, so I get bogged down there. Everything’s pretty consistent, though.”

“So, who’s going to be at this party?”

“My friends Greg and Lenny, who are very excited to meet you.” Harry smiles and gives Abby’s thigh a squeeze. “Some people from work, you know Marie, and Dr. Morgan’s going to be there as well. Some other med school buddies will be there. I’m only thirty-two it’s not really a big deal.” He shrugs.

“I’m excited to meet your friends too.” She smiles. “And it’ll be good that I’ll know a couple of people so you won’t feel like you have to babysit me.”

“Aw, babe, I wouldn’t feel like that. I wouldn’t leave your side if that’s what you wanted, no worries.”

She nods and smiles nervously at him. He just called her ‘babe’ and it filled her tummy with butterflies. The driver pulls up in front of the pub, and Harry gets out first so he can open Abby’s door. She smiles at him as he puts his hand on the small of her back to lead her inside.

“There he is!” Greg exclaims. “Happy birthday, H!” The two hug.

“Thanks, mate, this is Abby. Abby, this is Greg.”

“It’s nice to meet you.” She says to him.

“Same to you, you’re even lovelier than Harry described.”

Abby giggles at that, and Harry leads her over to the coat room. It seems the whole pub had been rented out for his party. There was a small table for gifts, so she sets hers down.

“Wow, you look amazing.” Harry says, rubbing his hands up and down her arms.

“Thanks.” She smiles and leans in to peck his lips. “Wanna introduce me to some other people?”

“Yeah, come on.” He takes her hand and leads her back to everyone.

Abby gets introduced to Lenny, and some of Harry’s other doctor friends. She then gives Dr. Morgan a big hug, and she says hello to Marie and her wife. Harry gets Abby a glass of wine, and much to her surprise, he keeps his arm hooked around her waist for most of the evening. He clearly wanted her close by. His friends were kind, not at all arrogant, which was a tad unexpected since there were a lot of people with deep pockets in the room. Maybe doctors weren’t as snotty because they also had large student loan debts. They engaged her in conversation, asking about her work, and why the heck she wanted to spend her time with Harry, which made a lot of people laugh. Harry lit up when he was explaining how he and Abby actually met ears ago, and he talked about the card she had sent along to him, making her blush a bit. Everyone found the story to be quite endearing.

“Are you having a good time?” Harry asks Abby as they go up to the bar together.

“I am, your friends are great. Are you? It’s your birthday.”

“I’m having a wonderful time, even more so since you’re here.” He kisses her cheek and hands her a new glass of wine.

A tray of cupcakes is brought out, and everyone sings happy birthday to Harry. He blows out a few candles and thanks everyone for coming. The cupcakes were delicious, clearly from a nice bakery. Harry notices Abby getting a little bit of frosting on the corner of her mouth, and before she can grab a napkin, he’s catching it with his thumb and sucking it into his mouth. Her eyes widen as he winks at her.

“Th-thank you.” She says, clearing her throat.

“Don’t mention it.” He pecks her lips. “I was wondering something…”

“What is it?”

“Would you like to come home with me tonight? I thought it would be nice to spend some time alone after being so social.”

“Oh, um, yeah, I’d like that.” She nods.

“Will Marvin be alright without you?”

“Yeah, my, um, neighbor’s kid is actually watching him tonight. She’s a great pet sitter. I…I told her I may not be coming home tonight, so she’s fully prepared for a sleepover.”

Harry’s smile grows, and he kisses her again. After making the rounds to say goodbye to everyone, getting their coats, gathering all of the gifts, the two get into an uber to head to Harry’s condo. There’s a doorman that says hello to Harry and gives Abby a warm smile. She follows him through the lobby to the elevators. They step inside, and Harry hits a number on one of the higher floors. He leads her to his door, and he gets it open. She follows him into his living area, and they set his gifts down. He takes her coat for her, and hangs it up in his front closet.

“This is…a really nice place.” She says as she looks around.

“I’ll give you the full tour in a moment, I’ve been dying to open your gift all night.”

“Oh.” She blushes. “It’s really nothing special.”

He gives her an unconvinced look, and grabs the bag he remembers her bringing. They both sit down on the coach, and she watches him reach inside.

“A card, classic.” He smirks and sets it aside. He reaches back inside and pulls out the bottle of wine. “This is one of my favorites! How did you know?”

“I remember you ordering it when we went to that Italian place.” She smiles and he hugs her.

“Mind if I open it, or have you had enough for the night?”

“I’d love some.”

“Great! Just hang tight.”

Harry goes into the kitchen with the bottle. While she’s waiting patiently on the couch, Abby hears music come on. She sees a Bluetooth speaker light up, he must have turned it on from his phone. He comes out with two glasses of wine, and hands her one as he sits back down.

“Thank you.” She says as she takes a sip.

“No, thank you. This was really nice of you. You’ve got a great memory.” He takes a sip and sets the glass down on a coaster on his coffee table. She does the same. “My friends adored you, by the way. I’ve already got the texts to prove it.”

“I’m glad I made such a good first impression.” She inches closer to him.

He reaches to tuck some hair behind her ear, and he leans in to kiss her. She wraps her arms around his neck, and opens her mouth for him. One of his hands falls to her thigh as the other one cups her cheek. Her fingers work their way into his hair, and he squeezes her hip.

“Abby.” He breathes, and moves to kiss on her neck, just under her earlobe.

She lets her heels fall off as she pushes him back farther on the couch. She moves to straddle one of his thighs, and she brings her lips back to his. His hands move up and down her back until they reach just above her bum. She grabs his hands and moves them down to her ass. He groans into her as he squeezes, loving how plump she is. She kisses along his jaw and to his neck, and she rolls her hips down onto his thigh. He raises it to help press into her. She whimpers into his neck, and he cups her cheeks so she’ll at him.

“Do you wanna take this to the bedroom?” He asks softly.

“I don’t wanna go to sleep yet.”

“I didn’t think you did.” He smirks.

“No, I just…I mean, if we go in there…that’s all I’ll want to do.”

“Sleep?” She nods her head yes. “Oh.”

“Harry, I’m sorry.” She sighs. “I know it’s your birthday, and you were probably hoping for some…stuff to go down between us, but I think we should wait a little longer. Is that okay?”

“Abby, I wasn’t expecting us to do anything. I mean, if we had of course it would have been nice, but it’s okay.” He assures her. “I’m just happy you wanted to come back with me.”

She leans back in to kiss him, and they continue to grope each other as they kiss. Their tongues swirl around each other, and she continues to rock back and forth on his thigh. She lets him puts his hands on her breasts, and he kneads them through her dress. He moves her to lay down on the couch and he settles himself between her legs as he hovers over her. He kisses on the tops of her breasts that were now spilling out of her dress. He sucks and bites on the plushier areas, eliciting a moan from her.

“H-Harry, maybe we should cool it before you turn me into a leopard.”

He chuckles against her and pecks her lips before he sits up.

“Would you spend the night?”

“I’d love to.”

He helps her up off the couch and leads her to the bedroom. He flips the switch for the lights, and her eyes widen. His bedroom was neat, almost a little too neat. She raises a suspicious eyebrow at him.

“I…um, have a housekeeper.” He clears his throat. “Let me just grab a few things for you. I’m assuming you’ll want something to sleep in?”

“Please.” She chuckles, watching him move to his dresser for a tee shirt and pajama bottoms.

She follows him into his en suite as he opens the closet inside to look for a spare washcloth and toothbrush. He sets everything down on his double vanity and smiles at her.

“Use whatever you need, beautiful.” He kisses her cheek and steps out to give her some privacy.

Abby strips herself of her clothes, and then washes her face. She brushes her teeth, runs her fingers through her hair, and then puts on the clothes Harry set aside for her. They were so soft and smelled just like him. She sighs happily and makes her way back into his bedroom. He smiles at her and stands up from the bed.

“Get comfortable, I’m just gonna do my thing.” He tells her and she nods. “There’s a spare phone charger on that side of the bed if you need it.” He points to the right side and she smiles.

When he’s done in the bathroom he comes out in a pair of plaid bottoms, but he’s gotten rid of his shirt altogether. He was littered with tattoos which really surprised her. She thought he only had the one little cross on his hand.

“When did you get all of those?” She asks as he gets into bed with her.

“All of what? Oh! My tattoos? Years and years ago, when I was a stupid teenager.” He chuckles. “Haven’t added to the collection in a while.” He looks down at himself. “Do you, uh, not like tattoos?”

“No! I think they’re really cool.” She furrows her brows as she scans his chest. “They’re so interesting.”

“Thanks.” He smirks.

“Did they hurt?”

“Some more than others. You sort of get used to it after a while. I’m assuming you don’t have any?”

“No.” She shakes her head. “Just a few piercings.”

“Yeah?”

“Mhm.” She tucks some hair behind her ear. “Got my cartilage, and three holes in each lobe.”

“Noticed those, I love the earrings you wear.”

“And…” She pulls the blankets back a bit and pulls the shirt she’s wearing up slightly to reveal her belly button. “Got this done when I was twenty-two. I always wanted one and said fuck it.”

“It’s cute.” He smiles as he admire the jewel attached to her naval. “Now that had to have hurt.” He says as she puts her shirt back down.

“It honestly wasn’t as bad as I thought. It was just a little pinch, the guy took really good care of me. I was a little light headed after, and it was sore for a few days, but other than that it was fine.”

They stay up talking for a bit until they eventually fall asleep. Abby had moves to rest her head on Harry’s chest, and that’s how she fell asleep, to the smooth rhythm of his heartbeat. Harry couldn’t remember the last time someone spent the night in his bed and it didn’t involve sex, there was something sort of sweet about not doing anything and still be able to fall asleep together comfortably. Maybe there was something to this taking it slow thing.

The next morning, Abby woke up being spooned by Harry. His breath was fanning over the back of her neck, and he had a leg between hers. His arm was strung across her lower stomach lazily. She grabs her phone and sees that it’s about 8:30. She yawns and wiggles a bit to adjust herself. She feels his lips press a kiss into the back of her neck and his arm tightens around her stomach.

“You awake, darling?” He coos and it nearly makes her melt.

“Mhm.” It’s all she can manage to say.

“Good morning then.” He kisses the back of her neck again.

“Good morning.” She rolls over to her other side to look at him and he gives her a sleep smile. He leans into peck her nose, and he rubs at her side.

“Sleep alright?”

“Yeah, did you?”

“Mhm.” He nods. “I’m gonna wash up and then make us some breakfast, how does that sound?”

“Sounds amazing, Harry.”

He gets up and makes his way to the bathroom. When he comes out he’s thrown a shirt on, and Abby gets up to freshen up herself. She washes her face and brushes her teeth, putting her bra on under the shirt he had given her so she wasn’t putting on a show for him. She comes out to his kitchen and smells fresh coffee. She wanted to roll her eyes as she saw him using a French press.

“Hope you like hazelnut, it’s the only flavor I’ve got.”

“It’s perfect. Got any creamer?”

“Mhm, in the fridge.” He points to it and she opens it up, grabbing the creamer on the top shelf. It was pretty much full.

“I don’t use it myself, mostly keep it for guests.” He pours the coffee into two mugs.

“Ah, and do you have guests often?”

“None that I’d want to have a sleepover with, if that’s what you’re asking.” He kisses her cheek, and she pours the creamer into her coffee. “Now, what can I make you? What do you like for breakfast?”

“Oh, nothing fancy.” She shrugs. “Whatever you feel like making is fine.”

“Eggs and toast?”

“Works for me. Can I help?”

“You can help by just having a seat.”

Abby smiles and sits down on one of the stools at Harry’s kitchen island while he works to get the eggs out of the fridge. He ends up making scrambled eggs for the two of them to keep things quick. It was a pleasant breakfast. Abby thought it was cute that Harry genuinely read from the morning newspaper. She was resting her chin on her palm watching him.

“Anything interesting going on?” She asks him.

“Nah, it’s all negative.” He sighs as he flips a page.

“Could I have the funnies?”

“Sure!” Harry finds the chunk with the comics and slides it over to her.

“Thanks, I used to look forward to this every Sunday when my dad would pick up The Globe.”

“What was your favorite?”

“There was this one called Opus. There were all these different characters, and the story was pretty linear, which I thought was cool. I actually saved the last comic strip in a scrap book. The main characters, Opus the penguin, had gone missing or something and he was trying to find himself. It really tugged at my heartstrings.”

“Sometimes I forget not all of the funnies are just for kids.”

“I’m also partial to Family Circus, and I loved Zits.”

Harry smiles and goes back to reading the paper. He liked going over the sports and arts sections most. Abby helps him clean up the dishes and then she goes to get dressed.

“Do you want some sweat pants to wear so you don’t have to put all of that back on?”

“No, I’m okay. I’m just gonna put the dress on.”

“Won’t you be cold without the stockings?”

“I’ll be alright, but thanks.”

“Let me at list drive you home.”

“Okay.” She nods.

The ride was comfortably quiet as Harry kept his hand in Abby’s. He pulls over to the side to stop in front of her building, and they look at each other. Smiles grow on both of their faces.

“You already know what I’m going to ask.” He says to her.

“I know, but I wanna hear you say it.”

“Alright, when can I see you next?”

“Hmm…what about Tuesday night? We could go to a movie. Tickets are cheaper on Tuesdays so we can splurge on snacks.”

“I like the way you think. I’d love to go to a movie. You pick, and just tell me what time I need to meet you.”

“Sounds good.” She leans in to peck his lips. “Talk to you soon.” She gets out of the car and heads up to her apartment. Chrissy, the teenager watching Marvin, was sitting on her couch watching TV. “Hey, Chrissy. I already paid you on Venmo.”

“I saw! Thanks so much.” She stands up.

“Thanks for watching him all night.” Abby scoops up Marvin and cuddles him to her chest. “I hope he wasn’t too much trouble.”

“Not at all, he was great. He was my little study buddy.”

“Perfect. Well, enjoy your Sunday. Tell your parents thanks too.”

“I will, have a good day.” Chrissy heads out and Abby sets Marvin back down.

“Alright, Mumma’s gonna take a shower and then she’ll take you for a nice, long walk, sound good?” Marvin yips excitedly at her. “S’what I thought.”

Harry was fucked. He was running late and couldn’t get to a phone because he was in the middle of a surgery. Of course the one time there’s a few delays and complications he actually has somewhere to be. He was supposed to meet Abby at 6:45PM, it was already 6:30, there was no way in hell he was going to make it. He did his best to stay focused so he could do right by his patient. By the time he was done it was 7:45PM. He tried to call Abby, but her phone went right to voicemail.”

“Shit.” He says to himself.

“Dr. Styles.” Marie says. “You should change, you’re still scrubbed up and you have blood on you. Go home and shower, she’ll understand.”

“I just wish she’d turn her phone on…”

“Maybe she went to the movie alone.” Marie shrugs. “She could be one of those good people who actually turns their phone off.”

“Right, yeah. I’m gonna freshen up here, and then I’m gonna try to catch her outside the theater.”

Harry does just that, using the hospital locker room to have a quick shower. He rushes to the movie theater and waits outside. The movie they were supposed to see should be wrapping up any moment, so he goes into the lobby to watch for her. Hopefully she was actually there.

Abby throws out her trash and walks towards the main lobby. She was just turning her phone back on when she saw Harry standing there with a very apologetic look on his face. She sighs and walks over to him.

“I’m so sorry.” He starts. “I tried calling as soon as I could, but your phone went right to voicemail.”

“I turned it off when the previews started.” She chews on her bottom lip. “What happened?”

“My last surgery of the day got delayed, and then there were some complications…everything’s fine now, but it wasn’t an easy extraction. I had to really take my time, I’m so sorry. I swear this won’t happen a lot.” He looks down at his shoes and then back to her. “Was it a good movie at least?”

“It was alright.” She sighs. “Would have been better if I had someone to make comments to.” She nudges his shoulder.

“How can I make it up to you? Are you hungry? We could-“

“I already ate, it’s okay. I know you didn’t do anything on purpose. It’s getting late, so I’m just going to head home.”

“I feel terrible.”

“Don’t.” She smiles. “Shit happens.”

“Let me at least take you home, I drove here.”

“Sure.” She takes his hand in hers as they walk out of the theater. “Are you hungry?”

“Starved, actually, but I can just eat when I get home.”

“Don’t be silly, I have leftovers. You can come up and eat if you want.”

“I’d like that.”

Once they’re up in her apartment, Harry plays with Marvin while Abby heats up her leftover stir fry and rice. She hands Harry the warm bowl and they both sit down at the small table she has in her kitchen.

“Is it hot enough?” She asks him.

“It’s perfect, thank you.” He eats a little and then looks at her. “I really do feel terrible that you waited and had to sit alone…”

“It’s really okay. It’s not my first time going to the movies by myself.” She shrugs. “I’m pretty independent.”

“I just don’t want you thinking this is something that’s going to happen a lot. It’s so rare for a surgery like this to not be timely.”

“I’ll take your word for it.” She gives him a reassuring smile. “It’s really sweet you still showed up at the theater like you did. We’re together now, that’s all that really matters.”

Harry finishes eating and cleans up his bowl. He stands with his hands in his pockets by the door and she stands with her arms crossed. Neither were sure what to do. It was really too late to hang out any longer since they both needed to work the next day.

“Are you free Friday night?” He asks her. “We could go to dinner if you like.”

“Sure, that sounds nice. Wanna say seven?”

“Works for me. I’ll pick you up then.” He caresses her cheek and kisses her. They both linger for a moment before letting go. “Goodnight.”

“Goodnight.” She sighs after he leaves. It sucked being at the movies alone, but it meant the world to her that he still showed up at the end. It really showed his character, and for that she was grateful. She was still trying to gauge what kind of guy Harry was, and she had finally come to the conclusion that he was a good one.

“Two months and still nothing?” Greg asks Harry one Sunday evening as he and Lenny came over to watch the hockey game.

“Yeah.” Harry sighs as he sips on his beer. “I mean, don’t get me wrong, I love kissing her and, and she’s let me touch her over her clothes, but…I don’t know, she’s not as desperate and grabby as I am. What if she’s just not as into me?”

“I don’t think she’d be seeing you still if she wasn’t into you.” Lenny says. “How old is she again?”

“Twenty-six, why?”

“Well, maybe she’s hoping for things to be a little more official before she goes all the way with you.”

“Define official.” Harry mutters.

“Maybe she wants to know if you’re her boyfriend.” Lenny states.

“God, do you really think she’s hung up on some stupid label? We’re dating, we’re together, I think that’s pretty clear.”

“Remember when I dated that younger girl? She was, like, twenty-three?” Greg says and the guys both nod. “Well, she wanted to know what the status was after a few months. Obviously it didn’t work out because of the age difference, but these things matter to the younger women. They wanna know what to refer to you. Boyfriend is a lot easier to say than having to say the guy I’m seeing.”

“So, you have to ask yourself, do you want to be Abby’s boyfriend?” Lenny asks him. “If you don’t see things working out long term with her you should break it off.”

“I definitely don’t want to break it off. I really like her, and I like spending time with her.” He runs a hand through his hair. “I’m going to her place on Thursday for dinner, maybe we can talk about it then.”

“Yeah? She cooking for you again?” Greg asks.

“Mhm.” Harry smiles. “She really likes cooking for me, I don’t know why. I don’t mind it, she always makes something delicious.”

“Do you ever cook for her?” Lenny asks.

“Sure.” Harry shrugs. “We take turns.”

“That’s good, those things should definitely go both ways.” Greg says. “I bet you she just wants to make sure you’re not going to up and leave the second she lets you hit it.”

“I don’t know why she’d even think I’d do something like that…”

“Maybe she’s been burned in the past.” Lenny shrugs. “Have you had the ex talk?”

“No.” Harry shakes his head. “It doesn’t seem like something we’ve needed to talk about…but maybe we do.”

Thursday night Harry goes over to Abby’s with a bottle of wine and a box of chocolate chip cookies. He liked bringing dessert the times she made dinner for him.

“Hey.” She smiles and kisses him once he’s inside. She must’ve had a long day at work because she was still in her work clothes. Most times when Harry came over she had already changed into comfier clothes. “How was your day?”

“It was good, how about yours?” He hands her the wine and cookies and follows her into the kitchen.

“Long.” She sighs. “I had some heavier appointments today.” She blinks a few times. “I…I cried with a student today.” She looks at him, tearing up.

“Oh, baby, I’m so sorry, come here.” He opens his arms for her and she’s comforted by his embrace. He rests his chin on the top of her head. “Are you allowed to tell me what happened?”

“Yeah.” She sniffles and looks up at him. “This male student…he had a rough go of it in high school. A teacher…molested him, and it was this whole thing. He’s from a small town in Vermont so everyone knew. He came here to get away from it, you know? Make a fresh start? He’s started to see this girl that he really likes, and he’s petrified of her finding out, and he’s not sure if he should just tell her or if he should keep it to himself. But he’s afraid she might find out anyways somehow. I felt terrible. I mean, what kind of sick fuck uses their position of power over a kid like that, you know?”

“That’s…awful, beyond awful.” Harry frowns down at Abby.

“I just couldn’t keep it together, especially when he started crying, so I cried too. Then we both started laughing, and he was able to calm down and we talked about things more.” She steps back from Harry and wipes under eyes.

“I guess the upside is that you created such a welcoming environment that he felt safe enough to be so vulnerable with you.”

“Yeah.” She nods. “I suppose that’s a silver lining, thanks.” She smiles. “Anyways, we’re going to meet bi-weekly now just for little check ins.” She sighs and moves to stir the pot of pasta that’s on the stove. “I’m making pasta and meat sauce, hope that’s alright.”

“It’s great, Abby. Can I do anything?”

“No, everything’s just about done. Um, would you actually mind taking Marv out quickly for me? He just ate and I haven’t had a chance to take him out to do his business.”

“You got it.”

It wasn’t Harry’s first time taking Marvin out, so he really didn’t mind. He leashes him up and takes him down to the street. Marvin does his business, and Harry gets him back upstairs. By the time he comes back, Abby’s plated up dinner, and gotten the wine open and poured.

“Thank you.” She says to him, and leans down to pat Marvin’s head. “Ready to eat?”

“Mhm, thank you for cooking.”

“Oh, it was nothing.” She smiles. “I like when we get to have dinner together.”

“Me too, babe.” He takes a bite of food and moans. “This is amazing, Ab.”

“Thanks.” She blushes and takes a sip of her wine. “Harry, um, there’s something I…well…I’m just gonna come right out and say it.” She takes a deep breath as he looks at her. “Am I…am I your girlfriend?”

Harry’s concerned face softens into a smile.

“I’d like you to be.” He says to her. “I was actually going to bring this up tonight, guess you beat me to it.”

“Oh.” She says, a little surprised. “Well, good, okay.” She nods and takes a bite of food.

“I like you a lot, and I know it’s been a couple of months. I’m still having a great time with you.”

“Same here!” She assures him. “I just, you know, I don’t know what to tell my friends sometimes when they ask about you.”

“Well, now you can tell them about your boyfriend, yeah?” He smirks. “When do I get to meet these friends, hm? You’ve met all of mine.”

“That’s true.” She chews her bottom lip. “Well, I could arrange for a night out at a bar some weekend. We all love going out to dance and stuff…”

“Sounds like fun.”

“You’d be into something like that?”

“Sure, why not?”

“You just don’t exactly seem like the type of person who would enjoy going to a stuffy club with a ton of drunk people.”

“Hey, I know how to hang. Set it up and I’ll be there.”

“Great, I’ll text them.” She smiles, her body was buzzing with excitement. Harry stands up abruptly and comes over to her side of the table, cupping her jaw. He slots his lips over hers, sucking on her bottom lip and then letting her go before he sits back down. “Wh-what was that for?”

“Just wanted to give my girlfriend a kiss.” He shrugs, a smirk forming on his lips.

“Oh.” Her face had to be beat red at this point. They look at each other and smile. This time it’s Abby who decides to be bold. She gets up and sits on his lap side saddle. She grabs her phone and opens up SnapChat because it was better for taking selfies.

“What are you doing?”

“We hardly have any pictures together. Now that you’re my boyfriend that’s going to change. Smile.” She says to him, and he does as she says, taking a very cute picture.

“Send that to me?”

Abby presses her lips to his. Getting through dinner was going to take a little longer tonight.

Harry could, in fact, not hang. It was midnight and he was fighting to stay awake. He wished Abby had planned their big night out with her friends for a Saturday not Friday. It was a long week, and Harry just wanted to go to bed. He thought her friends were interesting. There was Billy, Abby’s absolute best friend. Billy happens to be trans, which Harry didn’t care about at all because Billy’s life was none of his business. Then there was Amy and Gina, Abby’s roommates from undergrad. They were all getting along fine, but the club was loud, packed, and sticky. Abby was having a good time, though, so what could he do?

“Another drink, Harry? Next round’s on me.” Billy says to him.

“Oh, no thank you. Think I’m gonna cool it.”

“Cool it?” Amy scoffs. “The night just started. Ab, hold old did you say he was again?”

“Don’t tease him.” Abby hooks an arm around Harry’s waist. “He’s thirty-two, a doctor, and he had a long week.” She looks up at him. “You’ve last two hours, go home if you want.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yeah, I’ll call you tomorrow.” She puckers her lips and he kisses her.

“It was really nice meeting all of you. We’ll have to do it again sometime…maybe on a night I didn’t have two different surgeries.” He kisses Abby again. “Text me when you get home so I know you got back safe?”

“Will do, bye, babe!” Harry heads out, and Abby looks back at her friends. “He’s cute, right?”

“Very.” Gina says. “He seemed like he was having fun at the beginning.”

“He’s just tired.” Abby sighs. “We should have waited until tomorrow. He really is a lot of fun.”

“I’m sure he is.” Billy says with a smile. “So, you really haven’t slept with him yet?”

“No.” Abby shakes her head.

“What’s the hold up?” Amy asks.

“I just haven’t felt ready.” Abby shrugs. “He’s a really good kisser, though, so I know I’m close to getting there with him.”

“You haven’t even sucked his dick?” Gina asks.

“No, but I’ve felt it. We grind on each other a lot. But I always have us stop before it gets to be too much.”

“I’ve literally never known you to not want to fuck a guy you’ve been seeing.” Billy says.

“I know…I just…it all just feels like a dream come true still, and I’m afraid that once we do it something will go wrong and we’ll stop seeing each other. I have no idea why I feel like that, but I do.” Abby says.

“He’d be an idiot to let you go.” Amy says. “Do it when you’re ready, but I think I speak for the three of us when I say we approve of him.”

“Thanks, that means a lot.” The four share a group hug and go back out to the dancefloor to enjoy the rest of their night.

It was a rainy Saturday at the beginning of April. Harry told Abby to bring Marvin over to his place so they could get cozy for a lazy day of watching movies and being cozy. She happily accepted. The two of them really needed a day to relax. Abby was booked solid at work right now, and Harry was starting to get booked out with more and more wisdom teeth appointments. Harry liked when Abby would bring Marvin over. He had gotten a little dog bed for him and some toys. Harry even got him a little food and water bowl.

Abby was really falling for Harry. He made her feel safe, and he was beyond considerate. She also couldn’t believe how patient he was being. They were together three months, just entering the fourth, and they still hadn’t had sex yet. She knew he wanted it, of course, and she really wanted it too.

They were curled up on the couch together while Marvin was snoozing on his little dig bed. Neither had ever watched The Mindy Project before so they were binging it. Abby couldn’t believe what she was about to do, but she couldn’t help from blurting it out.

“Harry?” She looks up at him.

“Yeah?” He looks down at her.

“I…I love you.” His eyes widen as he looks at her, his mouth falling open. “Oh my god, it’s too soon, right? I…I…I…” Before she can ramble on anymore, he’s kissing her, hard.

“Christ, Abby.” He presses his forehead to hers. “I love you too.” He kisses her again.

“Really?”

“Of course I do. You couldn’t tell? I’ve got your picture framed on my night table, and I’ve got all this stuff here for Marvin, and I keep your favorite snacks in the pantry…”

She moves to straddle him, pushing his shoulders back into the couch. She slots her mouth over his, and he holds her close to him. She sucks on his bottom lip, making him groan.

“Harry, bring me to your bedroom, now.”

“Y-you wanna go to sleep?” He looks at her confused.

“No, I want you to fuck me.” She looks at him with dark eyes.

“Really?”

“Yes!”

He doesn’t question her again. Instead, he lifts her up and quickly carries her down the hall to his bedroom. He gets her on the bed, hovers over her, and starts by getting her shirt off. His eyes widen when he sees the lace bra she was wearing. He furrows his brows as he gets her leggings off. He glares at her when he sees that her panties match her bra.

“What is it?” She asks innocently.

“There’s this old saying that goes along the lines of if the girl’s wearing matching underwear, then she’s the one who decided to have sex.” Abby blinks at him. “Were you planning for this tonight?”

“I was hoping.” She sits up on her elbows. “I…I’ve been fucked over before, and I really wanted to make sure I knew how we felt about each other before we did this. I’m sorry that I made us wait so long.”

“Don’t be sorry, baby.” He caresses her cheek. “I’ll admit I was a little frustrated in the beginning, but…I’m sort of glad we waited. It’ll be more special now.”

“Exactly!” She beams at him. “Can…can we get back to it now?”

He chuckles and takes his shirt off and pants off. He hovers over her and kisses on her neck and chest. He reaches behind her to unhook her bra, and tugs it away. His lips wrap around one of her nipples, and he licks around it. He sucks on her, and it makes her moan. He licks over to her other breast, and sucks on her other nipple. She pushes his head closer to her chest and tugs at his hair. He kisses and nips his way down her soft tummy. She lifts her hips as he tugs her panties off. He opens her legs and sucks a bruise into her thigh. She gasps at that and groans. He licks a flat stripe up her slit and to her clit. He does this a few times, just to get a good taste of her.

He looks up at her as his tongue flicks back and forth on her clit. He presses a hand on her pelvis and pushes up so he can see her better. He sucks on her clit and she moans out. His fingers work around her folds, feeling her wetness, and then he slides his middle finger in. He gets his ring finger in as well, and starts to pump in and out of her. He moans into her as his hips rut against the bed. She grabs at his hair as his fingers start to rub against her front wall. Abby starts panting and breathing heavier.

“Fuck, Harry, please don’t stop!”

He groans into her as his answer, and keeps doing everything exactly the same to help get her there. Her hips move along with his face, and her body starts to feel warm all over. She cries out as she comes to her release. He retracts his fingers, and he sucks on her wet center before sitting up. She catches her breath and smiles at him. He smiles at her and gets his boxers off. She whimpers when she looks at his hard dick. She crawls towards him and wraps her hand around him. She kisses his tip and wraps her lips around him.

“God, I’ve been dreaming about this.” He groans as his head rolls back while she starts to bob up and down on him. She goes down enough to choke on him, and then she pulls off. “Do you want me to use a condom?”

“No, I’m on the pill. I wanna feel you.”

He nods and gets back onto the bed with her. She opens her legs back up for him, and he rubs the head of his cock along her folds and clit. Her hips press up towards him in anticipation. He slowly presses into her, and her mouth falls open.

“Jesus, you’re so fucking tight.” He grunts as he bottoms out.

“Move.” She tells him. “Move, Harry.” She whines, and he starts to rock in and out of her. She clutches at his biceps and digs her nails in. “Oh my god.” She moans.

“Feels good?”

“Feels amazing.” She bites her bottom lip. “Go harder.”

“Yeah, want me to fuck you hard?”

“Fuck, yeah, really give it to me.”

He gives her a wicked grin, and then pulls out of her. He flips her onto her stomach and slides back in. He grips the back of her neck, and his other hand rests at the base of her spine. He takes a deep breath, pulls out almost all the way, and then snaps his hips back into her. She gasps, and he does it again. He smacks her ass, and continues to fuck into her hard. The hand at the base of her spine slides around to her clit and he rubs it. It doesn’t take her long to lose it again. He pulls out and sits up against his headboard. Abby sinks down on him as he grips her hips. They move in sync together as she rides him. She licks into his mouth and they both moan. His hands grab all over her body, unsure of where he liked squeezing the most. He fondles her breasts for a bit before deciding to stick with her ass.

“You’re so fucking beautiful like this, Abby.” He says as he kisses on her neck. “I want you to come for me again.” He snakes a hand between them so he can rub her clit again.

“Fuck, yes, oh my god, Harry!” She grinds faster on him. “I want you to come inside me.”

“Shit, fuck.” He moans out and they come at the same time. “Fuck, Abby.” He breathes and kisses her, sucking on her bottom lip. Her fingers tangle back into his hair.

“Was it, um, worth the wait?”

“Oh my god, of course it was. I wanna fuck you over and over.” He smirks at her and she giggles.

“I think that can be arranged.” She pecks his lips. “Would you ever want to, um, tie me to the bed?”

“Oh, baby, if I didn’t love you before.”

#sweet tooth #harry styles #harry styles one shot #harry styles imagine #harry styles x oc #harry styles smut #harry styles fluff #dentist!harry #dentistrry #harry styles oc #harry styles fic #harry styles fanfic

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uponrightful · 3 years

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I've been wanting to send this one in for a while. What was going through the Wolfpacks mind and how much did Wolffe hear?

“I’d heard about him a lot from your brothers, how angry he was and that they thought he could use someplace like here. Home. But I didn’t think that he would ever show up. And, after a couple times something happened. I don’t know who really even started it.” The girl took another steadying breath, before continuing on the now spilling thoughts and feelings she’d been bottling up for months now. Completely unaware of the three men’s attention being drawn out the window where a grey and blue painted trooper walked towards the front door.

“I think about him, all the time. I hear his voice when I wake up, and I constantly dream about him. It’s like I’m constantly in this fever dream where I’ve finally been given something that I can’t deny I want.” All of the confusion crashed down in a wave of crystal-clear realization. Audience of troopers aside, the girl hadn’t thought it all through so straight.

She was brought back to Rex, sitting there drinking his caf with a look of disappointment when she’d mentioned that there wasn’t anything she wanted out of life. Other than helping the troopers. It hadn’t been the first time he’d asked, and she hadn’t realized why until now. She had the ability to have what she wanted. Regulations didn’t affect her, and neither did anyone else who didn’t have her best interests at heart. Rex hadn’t meant love specifically, or anything of the like, but what she didn’t get was why it mattered. His constant reminders spoken to the fact that without knowing… she couldn’t possibly go about getting it. Whatever “it” is. The girl’s sudden epiphany was that she finally knew -for once in her life- that there was something she wanted more than anything.

And that was Wolffe.

Her awestruck reaction and frozen posture thawed to see not a single pair of eyes focused on her. Boost, Sinker and Comet were all watching high above her head into the kitchen at something positively damning. Behind her, the heavy sound of boots thumped against the floor echoing off the silent walls of the house. Her heart, already thrumming with personal-realization began working double-time as the steps got closer.

Commentary Track for Welcome Company

Copy 500 words -or more- of any of my fics and I’ll give my thoughts/rambles on what was going through my head -or the character’s- when I wrote it!

*Send one in here*

@taz-107 You and I have some of the best discussions on literally everything Clones, and I'm so happy you sent this one in! I kinda went all-in, because I know you don't mind my word vomit 😅

I love you dearly 🤍

***

Let's start with the Wolfpack shall we?

Comet and Sinker know Pup the best, obviously. They think she's sweet, and they've always had a sense of little-sister vibes from her. It's the way she always invites them in, and never let's them leave without being adamant that they come back again... Preferably leaving less time between visits. Her home is one that the Pack really doesn't get to spend much time in, but when they do get the chance it's like they never left. Habits are created very easily, so the same dinners are almost always on the menu and there's almost a bedtime ritual they both have which never goes abandoned. Comet and Sinker are men of habit, but they never miss out on Pup's willingness to oblige them basically anything they want.

For Boost, his normal happy-go-lucky (and troublemaker) attitude is absent. This is the first time he's meeting Pup, and like most troopers he's hesitant for a number of reasons. It's illegal what they're doing, and although this girl has been nothing but a god-send for his brothers, it's nerve-racking to be in an unusual situation like sitting in a living room and talking just for the enjoyment of it. In a matter of an evening though, he's already falling into that same trap of love and affection that everyone else does when they meet Pup. She's sweet, and overly worrisome about his boots not being comfortable. (Something Boost wasn't sure he'd ever thought about before.)

The Pack's decision to make a visit wasn't a difficult one to make. Each of them had seen the changes in Wolffe's personality, whether big or small, and right away they knew that it was because he'd finally went for his own visit. It wasn't until Chapter Five that they realize there's something more going on than just what Comet and Sinker are familiar with experiencing during their stays at Home. It's the way their Commander doesn't seem to respond to them quickly -like he's off somewhere else in his mind- and the many times they've caught him taking a nap during a mission, mumbling to himself with the occasional slip-up of her name crossing his lips. The entire Wolfpack -Plo Koon included- know that their Commander has it bad. And initially, they're a little bit confused as to why Pup would ever take a liking to someone as harsh as Wolffe.

Note: Until this point, no one has seen Wolffe interact with Pup, and I made this decision very carefully. It was crucial that Wolffe come to form some sense of habit and security with her before this moment happens. It's to better display the completely different way Wolffe acts as a Commander, versus when he's with Pup. Wolffe is extremely talented at prioritizing tasks, whatever they may be. Therefore, when he's a soldier that's the only thing he normally has the mental capacity for. But when he's with Pup, he takes that romantic role just as seriously as he would directing troops on the frontlines.

The Pack know Wolffe is the one coming in the door. They also realize that they'd incidentally forced Pup's hand, and now they had no way of stopping her from talking without making everything even more awkward than it's already becoming. With every second that passes between seeing him walk past the window, Pup just keeps talking and the collective hope of the 104th is that Wolffe's change in attitude isn't just a passing fancy for Pup, and that her proclamation of love is one that their brother will see as something significant. In the background of this apprehension for Wolffe's reaction, they're actually shocked to hear Pup admit what she does about Wolffe.

They've always known Wolffe to be a little on the stiff side of rules and decorum, and even the mention of him being the least bit romantic enough to capture her attention is just another blow to these men's (hopelessly misguided) ideas about their Commander. He's not the most gentle person, and Pup is nothing short of an angel... (That's literally Sinker's nickname for her.) They make for a strange pair, and there's a bit of all three of them that have the same worry that Rex does; Can she actually handle him?

Note: I've always thought of Wolffe as a tortured soul, that never deserved the copious punishments that was handed to him in his life. And in the fic, there was a huge motivation to really play up just how worried troopers get about their brothers who end up the way Wolffe is when we see him post-cybernetics. He's angry and vicious to an extent. Not that he was a really carefree guy to begin with, but it's such a contrast that all of the men who knew Wolffe closely can see a very scary change in the Commander once he's brought back for duty. (Fives and Rex's conversation in Chapter Five is where I tried to make that fear a little more palpable and realistic of what war has done to Wolffe through the eyes of men who've seen things similar...)

They hear her words, and they're all staring at Wolffe who's got the most impassive expression they've ever seen before. It's stiffer than when he's at a parade rest, and even his posture looks like it could fucking snap at any second. But the second Pup's pause of realization hits her, Wolffe suddenly decides to join them all. Every last one of the Pack are holding their breath for this; Literally none of them have any idea of what to expect. They're all making subconscious guesses, trying to read his movements, literally anything that might help try and relax this tension. But when Wolffe just sits himself down at Pup's feet; Stretching out his leg and visibly melting back against her chair...

It's utter shock.

Note: I chose Boost for the next POV because he fit the need perfectly. Not only does he know Wolffe extremely well, but he doesn't have this predetermined idea of what Pup is like. He knows on a surface level that she's very kind and a little shy. But I needed him for this moment because it's truly perception-bending to see Wolffe take such a submissive posture towards this girl. (Her admittance that she loves him aside.) Boost has never seen Wolffe carry himself like that, and I wanted you to see it through his eyes because that's Wolffe's constant personality. Pup is the only one who's seen Wolffe soft -so this isn't new to her- but for the Pack, this is unprecedented behavior.

Now for our sweet, sweet, Commander 🤍

Wolffe was very preoccupied with his conversation with Anakin from Chapter Six and the upset over being forced to come back so late in the evening. He wouldn't dare not return after promising that he would, but the idea of making her wait up so late didn't sit right with him in the slightest. Being so caught up in his own head, he doesn't notice the Wolfpack staring at him through the open window dressings, and he's completely unaware that they'd chosen to come and see her as well. (He tries not to worry himself too much about what they do on planet-leave, and this was just one of his weaker moments.) Not that Wolffe would ever admit to being constantly worried about his brother's getting into trouble, and him not being able to get them out of it.

But all of that changes the second he walks into the house and hears Pup talking. It's not what she's saying at first; But instead just hearing her voice is enough to make Wolffe pause and listen as he pulls his bucket off his head. She's so soft, but this time there's a different edge to it; And standing in the hallway is when Wolffe finally realizes that she's talking about him. It's a miracle he didn't drop his bucket in a loud clatter to the floor in that instant.

Pup is saying things that Wolffe couldn't have dreamt about even coming from her mouth. Admitting that he’s in her dreams like she constantly takes a place in his. Detailing just how surreal it is to have him around her, just like it feels in his own mind. Pup is speaking exactly what Wolffe has been feeling for months and it's all Wolffe can to do try and stay quiet, just so he doesn't miss another word. Every syllable is spoken like she read it right from his heart, and Wolffe is so speechless that he's on the verge of busting through the house to find her and really show her exactly what a fever-dream he could provide for her.

But the moment he sees his brothers, all staring at his shadowed figure in the kitchen he realizes that they knew he was listening, and that now there was no turning back. Wolffe is feeling really pressured at this moment. Not because he doesn't love Pup -because he really does- but it's hard to traverse the admission with his men watching him for a reaction. They know nothing about his relationship with Pup, and he's kept it that way for fear of someone thinking it was unprofessional, and attempting to do something about it that would not only risk himself and the other men who need her, but Pup herself for providing care and warmth to men who were considered GAR property. He doesn't suspect that his men would ever do something like that, but there's this sense of fear that makes Wolffe present himself so emotionlessly. That is, until he can collect his own emotions for hearing her, and try to play it off.

Note: Wolffe is very skittish. And that's all to do with the treatment he faced after his fight with Ventress. He thinks very lowly of himself personally, but has an unbreakable expectation that he do everything exactly as it should be done without failure. This makes him a wonderful leader, but god-awful at admitting he has feelings aside from diplomatic neutrality. He's struggling to do the right thing here, when there really isn't a textbook example of how to handle expressing the emotion of know the person you love, admitting to loving you back in front of a small crowd. Wolffe doesn't understand that anything he could've chosen to do would've been acceptable here. But in the end, Wolffe's diplomacy is what guided the plot. (Once again, I only write for the characters, I hardly ever get creative liberty when coming to the conclusion of what my non-OC characters do. Even then, my OC's are very diligent in reminding me that they have their own personalities and I can't just make them do anything.)

Wolffe chooses what feels comfortable to him in this moment. At this point, everyone -including Pup- is waiting for him. And when he walks into the living room, his first instinct is to go where he feels the safest. And that's with her. (It's important that he sits at her feet and I'll tell you why in a moment.) Wolffe wants to be with her as best he can in this moment. He still feels that emotional relief and warmth of hearing her say she had the same feelings for him, but the last thing he wants to do is put either of them on the spot in front of his brothers that are appearing very worried and utterly confused at the moment. So to tone down the tension he'd accidentally created, he just does what feels right; And that's to let Pup know he's happy to see her, and give the apology he'd been meaning to all along.

"Sorry m'late."

From there, his men -sharp as ever- realize that he has wants to do this one his own, and Comet takes the initiative to take conversation somewhere else for the time being. He's silently grateful for that, and although he never says anything to them about it, Wolffe is certain that they did so on his behalf and wouldn't expect a thank you for it.

The rest of the night is easy to get lost in. His boys -always needing to show off- take turns coming into themselves again, and decide that a competition of war-stories and funny -albeit stupid- stories are in order. It feels natural like this, and Wolffe hasn't ever felt so proud having all of his brothers and his precious lady all in the same room where they can just be normal for a little while. He's extremely attentive to Pup's attempts at touching him, and he has to bite back a smile when he feels her secretive touches against his back. She's doing it on purpose to avoid his brother's notice, but Wolffe realizes she's probably just as nervous to be outright about it as well. After all, he'd not made a single comment about what she'd said, but he was kriffing surprised that it didn't change her desire to be close to him.

Note: Wolffe sat on the floor for a reason. And it wasn't my decision in the slightest. The way the living room sits, Pup has the best view of the room. Her back is to a corner, and the couch and chair that Boost, Sinker, and Comet occupy and positioned to face in her direction. It's strategic -and instinctual- that Wolffe put himself at the center of attention. That is basically a requirement that he head his squad at all times, and naturally he doesn't distinguish this scenario apart from any other. It's simply the Commanding Officer in him. But to a -wonderfully complex- part of Wolffe's character, he's doing it because that puts Pup at his back where he knows she's safe. His brother's aren't harmful in the slightest, but Wolffe knows that should there be a threat, he'll see them coming, and they'd have to go through him to get to her first. Protecting Pup is one of Wolffe's greatest motives throughout the entire fic, and this was one moment I wanted to play that theme out silently. (I don't know if anyone really picked up on it.)

This choice to sit at her feet appears very submissive to the Pack, and to Pup for that matter. But really Wolffe is subconsciously staking claim and protective charge over Pup without even realizing that he's doing so. For example; he could've picked her up and sat down in the chair with her in his lap, he could've sat down next to one of his brothers instead, or even chose to stand somewhere. But all of those choices leave Pup undefended. Wolffe doesn't see that he's doing it, and neither does anyone else in a very direct way. But if you pay attention to the way I toned the scene, you'll notice that Wolffe doesn't ever lose control of the room. Focus and power is always on him even when no one thinks wiser. It's what makes Wolffe such a commander figure all of the time. He has a natural predisposition to hold command, so even when Wolffe isn't trying have dominance, it's always present in the subtle way he moves, speaks, and presents himself to those around him.

***

Thank you for sending this in my love ☺️ I hope it wasn't too long, and you covered everything well enough! If not, let me know what I missed and I'd be glad to fill in the blank spots!

Much Love, Rightful 🤍

#commentary track #welcome company #commander wolffe #wolffe #pup #boost #sinker #comet #uponrightful #uponrightfulwrites

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catherdrashepard · 3 years

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Darrow is Not Going to Die at the End of the Series Part 1 Probably (Definitely)

I don’t think Darrow is going to die at the end. I’m open to being proven wrong, but I am entirely convinced that Darrow is going to live and happily retire with his wife and son. The main reason is because the trope of a main character suffering and then dying is one I hate and it should go away.

BUT, in all serious, I have been thinking of some examples in other media that is better evidence for my point. Spoilers ahead for Dark Age, Hunger Games, Castlevania, Trollhunters: Rise of the Titans, Avengers Endgame, The Hobbit, Voltron, FMA, HttYD, Death Note, Madoka Magica, Merlin, Kipo and the Age of Wonderbeasts, HunterxHunter, Dragon Prince, He-Man (the new one), Yu Yu Hakusho, Persona 3. Mass Effect, The Hollow, Camp Cretaceous, and whatever else I can think of.

I’m so sorry for the potential length of this, @hyena-frog and I kept thinking of examples.

First, I want to give examples where the protagonist went through hell and then came out alive and why those were good decisions. For starters we have Katniss from the Hunger Games series. I felt like this was a good beginning point because these two series are often compared to each other. Katniss is forced to fight to the death for the amusement of a bunch of rich people. Darrow’s time in the Institute also seems to be for the entertainment of Golds even if it’s disguised as a test. They both also turn the tables on the people who run these tests and shift the system. This then results into dismantling of the previous hierarchy in favour of a more equal one. They’re both at the forefront of the movement but the main difference is that Katniss is more of a figurehead and she gets used by more experienced people while Darrow takes charge during Morning Star and keeps his leadership position throughout the rest of the books. I kind of attribute this to the size of the series (3 books vs 6 books) and the difference in genre (Young Adult vs. New Adult and then Adult).

At the end of Hunger Games Katniss was shown to have survived and built a family with Peeta. She COULD have died for the cause like some of the other characters; Finnick and Prim. But the difference with those two, in my opinion, is that Finnick’s death was his choice after being forced into prostitution after winning his year. Victors pretty much have their freedom taken away and I feel like Finnick’s death was symbolic of him finally having autonomy over his own body. Prim on the other hand, died because she went to help others who had hurt when a bomb went off only to fall victim to a secondary blast. I think part of it was meant to showcase that Gale and Katniss had grown apart and that their ideals were now different. There’s also similarities in what happens to Prim with what happens to Lysander when he tries to rescue the Reds from Atlas’ Dragon’s Teeth (I’m sorry, they just remind me so much of the Husk spikes in Mass Effect). Each situation, however, serves a different purpose. I feel like a lot of the things that happen to Lysander are chances at self reflection he is given. I’m going to avoid going into great detail about Lysander (right now) because god knows I could talk about him all day.

ANYWAY. The point is both Darrow and Katniss lose people they’re close to, the families they have built over shared trauma and on top of that, they’re trying to fix a societal structure that treats them and other like them as lesser. Katniss has already finished her journey and at the end she’s shown to be slowly recovering and becoming comfortable with bringing children into the world. Darrow already has a son, and his found family has children and, of course, his story isn’t finished yet. Something else I think that will differ in their stories is that, if I remember correctly, Katniss and Gale never really reconciled. I think there are some parallels to the rift between Darrow and Sevro, although I feel with Devro we’re supposed to understand both perspectives whereas with Katniss and Gale, Gale is very much going too far. But Darrow and Sevro separate because of seemingly differing priorities. Sevro wants to focus on his family and protecting them and, while Darrow is also considering his loved ones, his methods cause conflict between them. I can see where Sevro is coming from. On the surface, Darrow might seem like he doesn’t care or his only focus is on the war. Which isn’t....wrong, he DOES want to end the war as soon as possible. But, much like Katniss, his motivation for ending everything as quickly as possible is to ensure a safe future for his family. What I think a lot of readers forget, my self included, is that none of the characters have a full picture of what’s happening. (A topic I will bring up again in my Lyria study). We’re lucky enough to get several different perspectives so we understand things that other characters may not.

Imagine if Katniss died at the end of Hunger Games. It would feel like such a disservice to have her go through all of that trauma and when finally presented with the possibility of having a life she thought she could never have, she dies. I think it would be the same for Darrow. Giving all he has just for the possibility of a better life for his family and then just snatching away his ability to see the benefits of all his hard work would just be...unsatisfying.

The next piece of media I’d like to talk about is Castlevania, specifically the ending. During the final battle, Trevor is ready to sacrifice his life in order to save the world and everyone he loves from death (kind of like the protagonist of Persona 3); he succeeds and the audience assumes he died in the process. BUT, he doesn’t. I don’t remember if it was explained in detail but Trevor lived and he was able to live happily with his wife, his husband, and his son. You know who else has a wife, a son, and at least one husband??? DARROW.

Trevor was prepared to die so his story pretty much ended and his death wouldn’t have felt unreasonable...for HIS character. Alucard specifically was betrayed and abandoned by so many people that having Trevor come back to him felt like such a good thing. Trevor may have left him but then he returned so they all could live happily ever after. I think a bit of it was even though they all worked together, it still felt like everyone was on their own personal journey and if Trevor had stayed dead....while not unrealistic, something would have felt off. Like Alucard and Sypha wouldn’t be able to move on and have a peaceful life together. Trevor needed to come back to complete the trio.

I’m trying to separate each piece of media by the point they make so bear with me on the length of this. Yu Yu Hakusho is a really good anime series from the early 2000s. The main character, Yusuke, dies in the first few episodes but then he comes back to life. It’s very similar to the beginning of Red Rising when Darrow is recruited to the Sons of Ares. Yusuke also died during the Chapter Black arc when he was killed by Sensui. Because Yusuke has demon blood, he didn’t stay dead. It’s not quite the same as Darrow as he hasn’t died a second time. I’m not going to count the fake death when he was taken by Adrius as that did not happen during the Iron Gold trilogy. The reason that worked in Yu Yu Hakusho (and also worked in the beginning of Red Rising) is that there was still stuff to accomplish. This is a point I’ll be making again. A lot of this rides on what is going to happen in the 6th book but, as of now, Darrow’s death would leave too many things incomplete.

For the last thing I’m going to talk about in this particular part, the He-Man reboot is really good. Now, I never watched the original so my knowledge of lore is very limited. But they kill Adam off pretty quickly in the first season and we have an entirely different protagonist for most of it. Adam’s absence can be compared to having different POVs in IG and DA, where we essentially get to follow different protagonists. But the reason both Darrow and Adam come back is because their stories aren’t done yet. Completely removing them wouldn’t make sense based on what’s happening.

Of course, some of this implies that Darrow COULD die as long as it was at the end of the 6th book and every loose end was tied. But I don’t think that would work either but I think that’s a long train of thought I’ll have to save for the next part.

#dark age spoilers #darrow won't die #iron gold trilogy #long post

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songtoyou · 3 years

Text

Tempting Fate - Part Thirteen

Paring: Tommy Shelby x Reader

Warnings: Swearing.

Word Count: 3,019

Story Summary: Tommy is not a believer in fate or destiny. However, a new resident in Small Heath will question his beliefs and push his boundaries outside his comfort zone. Miss Young arrives in Small Heath looking for her soulmate and meets the Shelby clan along. At first, Tommy distrusts the newly hired barmaid but soon finds himself drawn to her and can't understand why.

Chapter Summary: Ada draped a blanket over you and put another log in the fire. She wanted to kill Tommy for standing you up. However, she knew her brother wouldn’t do it on purpose. Ada only hoped that Tommy was caught up in something that involved the business, and it wasn’t because he was in trouble or hurt.

A/N: Some sweet moments in this chapter, but of course, we always have to have drama. Thank you all for the amazing support this story has gotten. I only hope you all continue to enjoy reading it. Please continue to let me know what you think and if you would like to be added to the tag list.

Please do not post any of my fics to other sites without my permission.

Tag List: @owenniasstars @lovemissyhoneybee

The following day, you woke up before everyone else to sneak down into the kitchen to prepare breakfast. You looked around the kitchen to see what Ada had on hand, which was not much. Thankfully, there were ingredients to make pancakes. You sorted out the correct measurements and put them in a mixing bowl. It was not long until you could hear another pair of footsteps. You turned to see Ada walking in the kitchen. She still looked half asleep as she sat down at the table. You chuckled when she groaned and put her head on the table.

“Coffee or tea?” you asked her.

“I need another hour or two to sleep,” she replied and got up to get the kettle ready. She opened one of the cupboards and got out a frying pan for you to cook the pancakes in. “I’m surprised my brother is not up yet. Normally, Tommy is up at the crack of dawn.”

You stifled a laugh. Yes, you and Tommy had stayed up later than intended after Ada showed you both to one of the guest rooms. Hopefully, your late-night antics with Tommy went unheard by Ada, or heaven forbid, little Karl. You told Tommy that they needed to keep quiet and not disturb his sister and nephew, but the man was adamant that he needed you and didn’t care who heard.

Ada made you both a cup of coffee and went to retrieve the morning paper. As you continued to cook, she got Karl out of bed to eat breakfast. The three of you sat at the kitchen table eating and conversing with one another. You asked Karl about his school, and he told you about his favorite subjects. “I would have loved to have gone to a real school,” you shared with mother and son.

“You didn’t go to school?” Karl asked, confused, with a mouthful of pancakes.

“Karl, don’t talk with your mouthful,” Ada scolded her son.

“Sorry, mum.”

“No,” you answered him sadly. “My family moved around too much to go to school. My mom taught us how to read and write since she was the one in the family who went to school. But, it still would have been fun to go.”

“I would hate not being able to go to school,” spoke Karl, and you merely smiled at him.

You turned to Ada when she said your name. “How about we leave around eleven to go clothes shopping?” she suggested. “And Karl, speaking of school, you need to go upstairs and get ready. You don’t want to be late.”

“Yes, Mum.” Karl took one last bite of his pancake and got up to go back upstairs.

He passed his Uncle Tommy on the way, who ruffled his hair. “Hey, kiddo,” Tommy greeted his nephew.

“They’re in the kitchen,” Karl stated and headed to his room to get cleaned up and dressed.

Tommy slowly walked into the kitchen, where he caught sight of you and Ada laughing hysterically. “What are you two laughing about?” Tommy questioned, startling you and Ada.

“Jesus, Tommy!” you yelled, jumping in your seat. “I swear, he makes no noise when he walks.

I need to get him a bell,” you told Ada.

“He’s always been able to do that ever since we were kids. It was always how Tommy won hide and seek or tag. Never could find him or catch him.”

“You want some coffee, Tommy? I made pancakes for breakfast. I’ll make you a plate,” you told Tommy, getting up from the table. First, you kissed Tommy on the lips, which he reciprocated, and sat down next to Ada.

“Morning, big brother. I take you slept well,” teased Ada as she sipped the last of her coffee.

“Yes, I did, sister dear,” Tommy countered with a smirk and grabbed the newspaper from Ada. “The bed was comfy. Slept like a baby.”

“Yeah, I bet. Lots of commotion going on in there last night,” Ada mumbled into the teacup.

You turned to Tommy with a horrified look while he had a shit-eating grin on his face. “I better go check on Karl, make sure he is getting ready and not playing around. He gets distracted so easily, just like his father.” Ada got up and walked out of the kitchen, leaving you and Tommy alone.

“I told you we needed to be quiet,” you cautioned him.

Tommy only scoffed and continued to look through the newspaper. “Technically, this is my house. I can do what I want in it.”

“Eat your breakfast, dear,” you ordered and placed a plate of pancakes in front of him. He ate while you made him a cup of coffee and cleaned up. Again, the domesticity between the two of you came naturally. “Ada said she would take me shopping at eleven. Did you want to come along?”

“While I would love to watch you get undressed, I have other appointments today. Plus, I need to get the items you requested.”

Tommy figured he could get the molasses from Alfie Solomons. He had a meeting with the Jewish gangster where they needed to finalize their business transactions. Tommy figured a couple of liters of molasses was an easy task. Tommy was, after all, providing Alfie with soldiers to help him win the war with Sabini. Either way, he was getting you the molasses. He would always make you got what you needed.

You turned to leave the kitchen but stopped when Tommy grabbed your hand. He dragged you back to him so you could sit on his lap. Wrapping his arms around your waist, Tommy nuzzled your neck. You leaned into him when he began kissing along your neck and ear. His hands began to trail up your legs and thighs.

However, you stopped him when he got to your underwear. “Tommy, we can’t. Your sister and nephew are upstairs. We need to behave. Plus, we should get ready ourselves.”

You got up from Tommy’s lap, and you swear you caught the man pouting. He gulped the last of his coffee, which was now lukewarm, and got up from the table.

He once again wrapped his arms around you and kissed you on the lips this time. “Get yourself something spectacular for tonight. I’m taking my girl for a night out on the town.”

“Should I even bother with wearing anything underneath?”

“Surprise me,” Tommy responded and went in for another kiss. Before either of you could deepen the kiss, you could hear Ada and Karl coming down the stairs. You broke apart first and tried to compose yourself.

Tommy left for the living area to retrieve his cigarettes.

“All set for school?” you asked Karl. He looked cute in his school uniform.

“Ready. Here you go.” Karl surprised you with a piece of candy.

“What is this?” you wondered, confused.

“It’s ginger candy. I take when my tummy is upset,” Karl explained. “I figured you could use it since Mum said that the moaning coming from your room was you having an upset stomach.”

You felt your face heat up and must have turned five different shades of ready. “Well, thank you, sweetheart. That is very kind of you.”

Ada did her best to hold back her laughter and ushered her son out the door. You waved goodbye Karl and closed the front door.

“That’s it!” you shouted throughout the house, “We are going to a hotel!”

You never knew shopping for clothes could be so tiring. You were ready for a nap, and it wasn’t even two o’clock yet. Ada made you try everything, and half of the clothes you didn’t even end up buying. You honestly thought shopping for clothes would be a breeze since you didn’t feel you needed much.

Ada finally allowed for a break around three o’clock and took you for afternoon tea. “Ada, do I really need all of these clothes?”

“Of course you do. Tommy told me to go all out for you. And if Tommy wants to spoil you, then by golly, let the man spoil you,” Ada waved off your concerns. “You have to wear the dark green dress tonight. It looks stunning on you.”

You blushed and looked down at your plate of tea sandwiches. “I’m not used to this, having someone buy things for me, especially when money seems to be no object. I’ve told Tommy that I’m not with him for his money. I wouldn’t want you to get the wrong impression.”

“I would never think,” Ada began, “Aunt Polly told me about you. She told me that you were special and important to Tommy. I don’t know if you know this, but Aunt Polly has the gift of second sight. She sees things in her dreams. She must have seen you and Tommy in one of them. Saw that you were good for him. After last night and this morning, I can see it too. When Tommy is with you, it is almost like I have my brother back. Tommy wasn’t the same after he came home from the war. None of my brothers were, but the change was more noticeable in Tommy.”

You contemplated what Ada was sharing with you. Often, you wondered what Tommy was like before the war. However, you opted not to ask Polly, and you weren’t going to ask Ada. None of it would make any difference or change the way you felt about Tommy. Yes, he changed, but everyone who came back from the war was different. You experienced it with your family members. Tommy was Tommy, and he was the man you adored, possibly could end up loving one day.

You took a sip of your tea, raspberry flavor. It was pleasant on your throat. “I think with someone like Tommy,” you began to speak, and Ada perked up to listen, “I get the sense that he was a sensitive child. He is the type of person to do right by people. That Tommy didn’t like seeing people get mistreated. It is, sadly, what he experienced growing up. You know, like us gypsies, our community continues to be looked down on. I can tell Tommy has mixed feelings about the way he grew up. He wanted more. After the war and seeing so much death; that made him reevaluate his priorities. Tommy wants more for the Shelby name. He wants the name to mean something, have some sense of importance. And it isn’t just for him, but all of you.”

Ada sighed. She agreed with what you were saying; however, she still had reservations about how Tommy went about getting the things he wanted. “He’s going to get himself killed one day, I fear.”

Truthfully, that scared you too, but you had to tell yourself that Tommy would always make his way home; back to you safe and sound. “Tommy,” you spoke, “always thinks ahead. He is very good at strategizing. That is what will keep him alive.”

“I hope you are right,” said Ada sadly.

You hoped so as well.

After tea, Ada tried to get you to stop by one more clothing store, but you told her that you had more than enough clothes. At the last stop, you made sure to get a dress for Esme and a pair of fine leather gloves for Polly. You were done with clothes shopping. However, there was something you wanted to get, not for you, but for Arthur. While Ada continued to pursue the clothes on the racks, you told her you were heading out to another store, one that sold art supplies.

“Ada, I’ll be right back. I’m going to get something from across the street,” you told her and left.

When you made it to the art store, you began to look at all of the supplies. You were unsure where to start. Arthur shared with you that he liked to draw, particularly horses before he went off to war. It was one of his favorite hobbies, but he hadn’t picked up a pencil in a long while. You wanted to get him a set of drawing pencils and paper in hopes of getting him back in the habit. If Arthur got back to drawing, it would help him have a positive outlet, rather than drinking or fighting the pain away.

You asked the store clerk which drawing set was best. He tried to get you to pick the most expensive one that included way too many items. Instead, you opted for the twenty-piece pencil drawing set with a wooden case and sketchbook. The pencil kit included graphite and charcoal pencils, ink pens, and shading tools that Arthur could put to good use.

You spent the remainder of the money Tommy gave you on the drawing set and asked the store clerk to wrap it up. When you finished, you walked back to the clothing store where Ada was still perusing the racks. You looked in the bag of the wrapped drawing set and hoped Arthur would like his gift.

“Ada, I think we should be getting back to the house. It is almost five o’clock,” you reminded her.

“Oh shit! Yes, let’s get going. I didn’t realize the time.” Ada, albeit reluctantly, stepped away from the racks of clothes and picked up her bags, and followed you out onto the streets.

A taxi took you both back to the house, but first, Ada had the driver pick up Karl from the home of one of his friends. Greeting you both, Karl sat in between his mum and you. He pulled out a drawing from his knapsack and showed it to you.

“That’s me, Mum, Uncle Tommy, and you,” Karl pointed out. It was the four of you in front of a house with a bright yellow sun in the sky. It was adorable.

“This is lovely, Karl,” you beamed at the young boy.

“I drew it for you to take back to Birmingham. Mum already has many pictures I made for her.”

“Thank you, sweetheart,” you said and kissed him on the top of his head. “I will cherish this. I’ll tell you what, you sign your name at the bottom, and I’ll frame it. That way, when you become a famous artist, I’ll have the first-ever masterpiece by Karl Thorne.”

That made the young boy beam with pride. Ada smiled at the interaction with you and her son. It proved that she needed to head back to Small Heath more, especially for Karl. He deserved to have his extended family in his life.

When the driver pulled up in front of the house, Ada paid him and helped Karl out of the car. You both retrieved your shopping bags and walked up the steps.

Once inside, you plopped on the couch and took off your shoes. You wiggled your toes to get the blood circulating. Tommy mentioned earlier that he would be back by seven and for you to be ready.

It was already coming up on a quarter to six. You were exhausted, though, so you let yourself take a small fifteen-minute cat nap on the couch. The next you felt was someone shaking you away. You opened your eyes to see Ada standing above you.

“It is almost seven, and you aren’t dressed yet.”

“Shit,” you bolted up and rubbed the sleep from your eyes. “I can’t believe I overslept.”

You grabbed your bags and ran upstairs to the guest room. You proceeded to undress and clean yourself up. Luckily, one of the windows in the bedroom looked out onto the streets. You kept looking outside to see if Tommy pulled up. You probably spent more time checking to see if Tommy arrived than getting ready. The last time you checked, it already twenty minutes past seven o’clock. By a quarter to eight, your stopped getting prepared to go out. You weren’t disappointed, just now worried about where Tommy was and if he was okay. You washed your face free of makeup, put your hair up in a tight bun, and grabbed your robe before heading downstairs.

You saw Karl and Ada at the small dining table, eating dinner. “Why aren’t you dressed?” Ada questioned.

“He isn’t coming,” you told her and poured yourself a whiskey. You gulped it down and poured another one. You took a seat across from Karl and sipped your drink. “I’m too tired anyway. I’ll tell Tommy that we can go out another night.”

Ada gave you a small smile and got up to get you a plate of food. The three of them sat in comfortable silence while eating. You mostly pushed your food around the plate, listening for the sound of someone entering the front door. When dinner was finished, you tried to help Ada with the dishes. “Nonsense, you made breakfast and did the dishes then. It is my turn.”

Karl got your attention by calling your name. “Yes, sweetheart?” you asked him.

“Can I read to you? My teacher says it is important to practice reading out loud.”

“You should be heading to bed, Karl. It is late,” Ada piped in.

“Come on, Mum. Just one story, please,” Karl begged and put on the cutest puppy dog face. Ada could not resist.

“Fine, but only one book, and then it is up to bed. Got it.”

Karl grabbed your hand and dragged you to the living area. You looked at the clock on the wall, and it read nine o’clock. You tried to ease the anxiety boiling in the pit of your stomach and concentrated on Karl reading a story to you.

You felt yourself being lulled to sleep by the young child’s voice. Just as Karl finished reading, you drifted off to sleep.

Ada draped a blanket over you and put another log in the fire. She wanted to kill Tommy for standing you up. However, she knew her brother wouldn’t do it on purpose. Ada only hoped that Tommy was caught up in something that involved the business, and it wasn’t because he was in trouble or hurt.

#tommy shelby #thomas shelby #tommy shelby x reader #thomas shelby x reader #peaky blinders #peaky blinders fic

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razieltwelve · 3 years

Text

Late (Final Rose)

Yang said nothing as Ruby stumbled off to the side and emptied her stomach. Weiss staggered off to do the same, and Yang glanced at Blake. The Faunus nodded back and went off to hold the heiress’s hair, so she wouldn’t make too big a mess of herself. Yang, meanwhile, went to Ruby.

“Ruby...” Yang murmured. “Get up. We have to secure the area.”

Ruby shuddered, and Yang tried not to wince as her sister’s stomach convulsed again despite already being empty. Finally, Ruby got to her feet. Wordlessly, Yang handed her a bottle of water to wash her mouth out. Scrubbing furiously at her cheeks, Ruby pointedly looked at the ground.

“Yeah... yeah, I guess we do.”

“We also need to search for survivors.” Yang kept her voice gentle. Ruby was... well, not as experienced as her when it came to things like this. Before attending the Senior Academy, Yang had gone on quite a few missions with Averia, Claire, and some of the others in their age group. They weren’t always in the right place at the right time. “As well as secure a perimeter.”

Ruby swallowed thickly. “Yeah. You’re right.” She finally looked up, silver gaze wandering over the utter devastation around them. “What happened? This was supposed to be a weeding mission. There weren’t supposed to be any strong Grimm here.”

“Some Grimm are smarter than others,” Yang said. Bodies littered the area around them. They’d bury them if it was safe. Otherwise, they’d just have to retreat and wait until reinforcements arrived before seeing to the bodies. “Sometimes, what look like attacks by small groups of random Grimm are actually just probing moves by something stronger.” She nodded at the massive hole in the settlement’s walls. “I’m guessing that’s what happened here.”

Ruby sniffled. “Can... can you call it in? And... maybe... maybe we can have Blake use some of her clones to look around and stuff. I don’t think we should separate until we know what’s going on.”

“That’s a good plan.” Yang squeezed Ruby’s shoulder. “Chin up, sis. This is horrible, but we’ve got to stay sharp.”

“Right.” Ruby looked around. “I... I guess I can set up in that burnt out building over there. It still looks pretty sturdy, and it’s got a good view of everything. If anything tries to sneak up on us, I should be able to spot it.”

X X X

“First time seeing a ruined settlement?” Blake asked as she helped Weiss sit on the edge of the ruined fountain in the middle of the settlement. She’d seen far too many such settlements in her time with the White Fang. Life on the frontier was harsh, especially in the most recently settled areas where battles with Grimm were a constant fixture of life.

Weiss shivered. “Yes. Well, I mean, I’ve seen pictures and footage, but...”

“Seeing it... smelling it... yourself is different.” Blake shook her head. “I still remember the first time I saw one.”

“Oh?”

Blake’s lips twitched. “It was a little smaller than this, maybe forty or fifty people. We got there, and... well... there wasn’t anyone left alive. There might have been if we’d gotten there half an hour earlier, though.” It had been a Faunus settlement, just people trying to make a living away from the people who’d persecuted them. It was one of the only times she’d ever seen Adam cry. He might have been a bastard in many ways, but she’d cried right there next to him. Seeing the bodies all laid out like that - the children, especially - would have made anyone with a heart cry. “I still wonder if maybe we could have gotten there fast enough if we hadn’t stopped to deal with Grimm along the way.”

It was a logical move. Leaving Grimm at their rear was just begging to be ambushed. Besides, they hadn’t known anything was wrong. They’d simply been dropping by to see how the Faunus were doing. It was likely they’d been overrun before they could even call for help.

“What... what did you do after that?” Weiss asked.

“Killed every last Grimm I could find,” Blake said bluntly. “It didn’t make me feel any better, though.”

“Oh.”

Blake helped Weiss stand. “Come on. Ruby wants me to use clones to scout around, see if there are any survivors or Grimm.” She pointed. “She’ll be setting up in the building over there, so it would be good if you could use your Glyphs and lay down some traps, just in case we’re not alone here.”

X X X

“Well, shit.” Fang pursed her lips. Yang had called in bad news. “Scout the area, make sure that it’s safe and then sit tight. If whatever led the attack is out there, I don’t want you guys picking a fight on its turf. I know it’s going to be rough, but the settlement should still be safer than the forest.”

“Understood.” Yang took a deep breath. “Any idea of what we’re up against?”

Fang studied the footage Yang had sent her. “I’m going to guess it’s probably a hydra-type. See the damage on the walls? The edges of the hole are mostly smooth. That suggests something corroded the wall rather than just breaking through it. There are similar marks on some of the remaining buildings too, not to mention the damaged weapons Blake found.”

Blake had sent through images of weapons that appeared to be half-melted. Fang had fought enough hydra-types to distinguish between fire damage and the effect their acid, venom, or blood could have.

“How big?” Yang was calm, which was good. She was the most experienced member of the team when it came to fighting Grimm.

“Based on the footage...? I’d say maybe thirty feet.”

“Thirty feet?” Yang grimaced. “That’ll be tough, especially if it’s got friends.”

“Which is why you four are going to hole up in the settlement until reinforcements arrive. I’ve already contact a profession team. They’re about half a day out from your position. Do not engage unless you have to. Wait for them to get there. In the meantime, fortify your location.”

“Already doing it,” Yang said. “Weiss has laid down multiple traps, and we’ve rigged up some more traps using more Dust and the munitions we were able to salvage from the settlement. If the Grimm come back, we’ll be ready.”

“Remember, hydra-types are regenerators. Don’t waste your time with little stuff. You’re going to have to hit it hard enough to either keep it occupied with regeneration, or so hard that it stays down.”

“Yeah. I know.” Yang ran one hand through her hair. “Ruby and Weiss have been working on their combination attacks. Do you think a fire Dust augmented round amplified by some of Weiss’s Glyphs could do enough damage?”

“What sort of augmentation?” Fang asked.

“Multiple augmentations. Basically, Weiss triples the speed of the round and magnifies the effect of the Dust about three times over too. Ruby put together some special rounds too, armour piercing but with a impact-triggered detonation function, so they explode inside the target after piercing through the outside of it.”

“Payload?”

“Fire Dust, enough to slag a tank before you factor in what Weiss does.” Yang smiled faintly. “Ruby was so proud about getting the rounds to work since they were really finicky to make. She’s only got half dozen, but they pack a punch.”

“Hmm...” Fang did a quick mental calculation in her head. “Tell Ruby to put those rounds centre mass, and it will probably work. I doubt the first shot will kill it, but it should slow it down enough for Ruby to hit it with a few more. Put the rest of the shots in the same place. If you can burn out the torso badly enough, it won’t matter if it’s still got its heads. It’ll be so focused on regeneration that it won’t be able to fight back. Once you’ve got it slowed down, burn it or crush it. That’s the easiest way.”

“Will do.” Yang bit her lip. “Can you maybe talk to Ruby when we get back?”

“Don’t worry. I’ll talk to her, and I’ll let your parents know too, so they can call her later.”

“Thanks.”

X X X

Author’s Notes

Unfortunately, hunters don’t always get there in time. One of the other reasons that Yang suspects it’s a big Grimm is because the Grimm aren’t still there. The weaker, lesser Grimm tend to be a bit stupider than the older and stronger ones. The smarter ones have learned that hanging around afterward is pointless unless you’ve got something else in mind. Instead, it’s better to obliterate a settlement and then retreat. It makes it easier to ambush potential rescuers, and it makes it harder for the military or hunters to retaliate. Sadly, though, this is an experience that most students will go through.

Fortifying is also Team RWBY’s best bet. It is entirely possible that they will be ambushed if they try to leave. It’s better to secure their position and wait for reinforcements than to go wandering around in an area than Grimm know better than they do.

If you’re interested in my thoughts on writing and other topics, you can find those here.

I also write original fiction, which you can find on Amazon here or on Audible here.

#final rose #fanfiction #ruby rose #yang xiao long #weiss schnee #blake belladonna #team rwby #oerba yun fang

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turning-dreams-into-chaos · 4 years

Text

Love Potion

Request: can i request some angst for younger remus where it's a couple days after the full moon and he looks for the reader so they can cuddle (they're already dating) and he finds them kissing another guy, and he asks reader why and the readers like "i dont want you anymore, i love this guy, blah blah blah" and he's heart broken but later somehow reader's friend finds out the guy gave them a love potion and fixes it, and reader has to try to explain to Remus that it's what happened but he doesn't believe her, and it's all angsty because he's mad at her but in the end he understands or something like that, and i am SO sorry that this is so long, and i love love love your writing

Requested by: Anon

Paring: Remus Lupin x Reader

Word Count: 3.3K

~Master list-

Remus was exhausted. Another full moon a few days ago wore the boy down. His body ached and all he wanted to do was relax and stop moving and making his newest scars hurt more. Remus knew after a full moon as restless as the last one, there was only one thing that would make him feel better.

You.

You’ve been dating for a little over a year now and knew all about Remus’ lycanthropy. You wanted to help him any way you could, offering to become an Animagus just to protect Remus, but Remus refused to allow you to do that, not wanting you to even get the chance to be hurt, much less by him. So instead you settled on middle ground. Whenever Remus needed it, full moon or not, you were always down for cuddles. It didn’t really seem much like middle ground considering the fact how much you both loved cuddling with each other and just being in each other’s arms. You’d always run your fingers through Remus’ fluffy hair, gently scrapping your nails against his scalp as he held you close to his chest. There was no doubt in his mind that it was his favorite part of the day.

He packed up all his books and papers in the library, his work long forgotten since you had been on his mind for the last 20 minutes. His friends knew the look in his eyes as they watched him gather his things, bidding them goodbye before he was gone. His first stop was the Gryffindor common room, assuming you were probably with Lily.

“Evans!” Remus called out to the red head as she started to make her way upstairs. Lily turned around, sharing a smile with her friend. “Is Y/N up there?”

Lily shook her head at his question. “No? She ran out almost an hour ago, looking for too giddy for her normal self so I figured she was looking for you, ready for your cuddles.” She giggled softly, remembering the way you skipped out of the common room. Her giggles ceased when she realized Remus was your destination. “What she didn’t go to you?”

Remus furrowed his brows and put his hands on his hips. “No, I haven’t seen her since last lessons.”

“Want me to help look for her?” Lily offered but Remus turned her down.

“It’s fine, I’m sure she just went for a walk.” Remus hid a whimper as Lily patted his shoulder in good luck before she finished her voyage upstairs. As soon as she was gone, Remus went up to his room and threw his things on his bed, pulling out the map his friend and he enchanted and started looking for your name. It didn’t take long before he found you, your name floating in the astronomy tower next to some kid name Jordan Adams. “Jordan Adams?” Remus whispered to himself as he tried to think of who this kid was and why his girlfriend was so ‘giddy’ to see him.

Remus didn’t know much about him, knowing he was a Gryffindor in the same year as you and him and vaguely remember you complaining about being partners with him last year on a project in Transformation. A project Adams used as an opportunity to repeatedly ask you out. Sure, this was before you and Remus were dating, but what were you doing with him now?

Remus didn’t waste anytime to head to the top of the tower, the pathway thankfully secluded before he reached the top. But then he saw the last thing he ever wanted to see.

You and this Adams kid lip locked, no space between you as his arm was thrown around your waist.

“Y/N?” Remus’ shattered voice caused you and Jordan to separate, your head snapping around to look at Remus. Jordan’s eyes went wide, wiping your smeared lipstick off his lips which only made Remus more upset. “What the hell is this? You’re cheating on me?” He blurted out, watching you stand up and head his way. He didn’t want to look at you, your calm expression making him sick to his stomach. With everything you and Remus went through he never thought you’d cheat on him.

“Remus, I love him.”

And just like that the anger disappeared from Remus’ body, replaced with a numbness as he stared at you. “W-what?”

“I love him.” You repeated, looking back at Jordan with a smile once only reserved for Remus. You loved him? You loved him? You were the only person Remus ever said those words too, and for you it was the same. But now you just said those words about a completely different boy. “We’re over Remus. I don’t want you anymore. Jordan’s my boyfriend now.” You batted your eyelashes at Remus as if you hadn’t just ripped out his heart and stomped it into the ground.

“I-I don’t understand. What happened- Why are you”

You let out a loud annoyed groan, rolling your eyes at Remus before grabbing Jordan’s hand. “Don’t let this be harder than it has to be. I just realized Jordan’s perfect for me. I mean isn’t he just dreamy?” You clutched onto his arm, fawning over the boy before turning his head to land a sloppy kiss on his mouth.

Remus had seen enough. He ran out of the tower, right out of the school and straight into the forbidden forest. His eyes were prodding with tears he finally let fall as he dropped to the ground, slamming his fist onto the forest floor and screaming out his pain. He’s been in physical pain before during and after a transformation, emotional too, like experiencing his parent’s reactions after he was infected, but in this moment all he could feel was the way he couldn’t breathe. His throat closed up as he sobbed in the woods, his walls breaking as the image of you pulling Adams’ face to yours played on repeat in his brain.

His heart was broken, and he couldn’t handle it.

A first year Hufflepuff saw Remus run into the woods, the cries of the much older boy catching his attention before he disappeared in the tree line. He was the one who told James, Sirius, and Peter where the fourth member of their friend group was. The boys took off immediately to find Remus, unsure of what happened in the last hour since they watched him leave the library.

Remus was no longer crying when his friends found him a while later, deep in the forest and propped up against a tree. His cheeks were wet, and all emotion was drained from his face when the boys stopped. “Moony? Moony, mate, are you okay?” James whispered softly as he and Sirius squatted on both sides of him, sharing concerned looks when Remus showed no sign of a response.

“Remus?” Sirius tried this time, putting a hand on the boy’s shoulder. Remus’ head slowly turned to look at him, his eyes bloodshot and looking as if he just realized he had company. Sirius hesitated momentarily before standing up, grabbing Remus’ arm and gently pulling him to his feet. “Let’s get you out of here.” He spoke in a quiet tone, worried the raise in voice wouldn’t be good. Remus allowed the three of them to bring him to his room, trying to pass the common room as quickly as possible to hide Remus’ condition from the rest of the school.

They placed him on his bed, Remus curled into his covers and brought his pillow against his chest, holding it much like he would hold you. The boys didn’t leave him, each of them climbing onto the bed, making sure not to disturb Remus’ position. “Are we going to talk about it?” Sirius asked, unsure how to directly address this. James, the only other person in their foursome with a girlfriend, knew what ever was going on with Remus was related to you. No one break downs like this unless it was over someone they love.

“Take your time, Moony. We’re here when you need to talk.” James said as he patted Remus’ arm, feeling the boy stiffen under his touch before a quiet sob went through his body and his eyes clasped shut.

“She cheated on me.”

They were sure they misheard him. There was no way you, who they knew love Remus more than anyone else, would cheat on him. “Remus-“

“I caught her kissing Jordan Adams! She said she loved him!” He cried out, wetting the pillow when he held it against his face. He wasn’t embarrassed to cry in front them, they were practically his brothers. He was embarrassed that he imagined a future with you, you who just broke his heart and only made Remus believe more that no one could ever love a monster like him.

Remus cried for more hours than he’d like to admit, his friends staying by his side until he ran out of tears. Lily stopped by earlier as well, confused as to why she just saw her best friend with someone who most definitely wasn’t her boyfriend.

They took shifts once dinner started, Peter watching over Remus while Sirius and James got something to eat, hurrying up in order to get back to Remus. The first thing they saw when they entered the great hall though was you, clinging onto Adam’s arm much like you had when you were in front of Remus. If they didn’t believe Remus earlier, they definitely would’ve now. They shot you a glare as they walked by, choosing to sit at the other side of the Gryffindor table. They spoke in hushed voices, refusing to look at you as Lily rushed to the table.

“We have a problem.” She told the two boys, sitting in the spot next to her boyfriend.

“Yeah, Miss liar over there.” Sirius grumbled, nudging his head in your direction before stabbing the food on his plate.

“Exactly.” She placed a box of chocolate on the table, picking out a piece and holding it up. “James, take a good sniff and tell me what you smell.”

James raised a brow at her, confused what she was getting at as Lily shot him a look and he complied, taking a deep sniff of the chocolate in her hand. “I can’t smell anything, your perfume’s too strong. Are you wearing the whole bottle?” He asked, taking another whiff and mentally enjoying the smell of Lily wearing the perfume he bought her at Hogsmeade.

“I’m not wearing any perfume today! That’s my point!” She exclaimed, only making James jump before both boys waited for her to explain. “When I smell this, all I can smell is your shampoo.” James flushed red as Lily put the candy back in the box, wiping the slightly melted chocolate of her hand and onto her napkin.

“What are you getting at Lils?” Sirius asked, shoveling another bite of his food into his mouth.

“I found this box on Y/N’s bed this afternoon. She only ate a few pieces before leaving.”

“So?” James scoffed, annoyed at the mention of you.

“So? How daft are you?!” Neither boy said anything, still very confused as to what Lily was trying to point out. She groaned, throwing her hands into the air. “It’s a love potion! Adams gave Y/N a love potion!”

Both boys’ face dropped, pieces of the puzzle slowly falling together. “She’s under a spell?” Lily nodded slowly. “She’s not really in love with him?”

“Are you kidding? Look at them.” They looked down the table, seeing you grabbing onto Adams’ arm and staring adorningly at him, but Adams wouldn’t look at you. Instead he was completely focused on his friends, you were just arm candy, but didn’t seem to mind. “Does that look like love?”

Sirius shook his head in disbelief, thinking about Remus sitting in their room believing you no longer loved him. “Should we tell Remus?”

“No. Not until the potion’s worn off.” Lily shook her head at them.

“How long will that be?”

“A day? At least.” She muttered, trying to recall what she learned in Slughorn’s class. “It’s already been over half that.”

James scowled. “Moony is going to kill Adams.”

“Not unless Y/N does first.”

“What if Adams gives her a second dose before the first wears off?” Lily reminded them as they fell silent. If Adams gave you a second dose before the first wears off then it’s at least another day before you return to your old self.

“What if we get her away from him?” Sirius suggested and went over plans in his head.

“You mean kidnap her?”

“What? No!” Sirius denied James view as James shrugged. “I mean, what if Lily distracts her until she’s back, that way Adams can’t get his grubby hands on her.”

“That could work.” James agreed, turning to Lily. “Could you do that?”

“I think I’m more than capable of getting my best friend to spend time in her room.” The task was easier said than done.

By school rules, you had to sleep in your own bed and Lily thanked every star in the sky that Adams hadn’t pulled something with you being spelled and made you return to your room. You went on for a while talking nonstop about Jordan. It was infuriating for Lily to listen to. She usually didn’t mind hearing about your love life, both of you love sharing with each other before going to sleep, but that was when you were talking about Remus, not some boy who decided to sneak you a love potion.

“Y/N!” Lily groaned, slapping her hand against her pillow and looking over at you in the dark. “Just go to sleep!”

“But we always-“

“Not tonight. Let’s just go to sleep.” She didn’t hear any response from you, sighing in content as she figured you listened to her. She let her eyes close, thankful for the silence as she fell asleep.

She barely got a few hours of sleep before hearing you whisper her name. “Lily?” she grunted, rolling onto her back and rubbing her eyes.

“What?”

“I need to see him.”

She sighed deeply and pulled the blanket tighter against herself. “You can see Adams in the morning. Go back to sleep.”

“No Lily. I need see Remus.” Her eyes snap wide, realizing how your words echoed with tears. She was out of her bed quickly and lighting the room, seeing you perched on your bed with tears in your eyes.

“The potion wore off?” She ask as you nodded, hanging your head low. “Adams must’ve messed up somehow…” She mumbled, letting out a breath of relief before launching herself onto your bed, wrapping her arms around your neck. “Oh, I’m so glad you’re back.”

You hugged her back tight, burying your head into her neck. “Lily I messed up!”

“Why’d you eat the chocolate?!” She yelled at you, separating and pushing the hair out of your tears.

“I thought they were from Remus! They smelt just like him, I thought-“ you stopped yourself, realizing how stupid you were. Lily scrambled out of your bed, jotting something down on a paper. She handed it to your owl and let him out of his cage.

“Take this to Remus.” She told the owl before he flew away.

“He isn’t going to want to see me.” You tried to tell her, but she didn’t listen as she pulled you off your bed and dragged you down to the common room. Remus woke up to the sound of your owl on the window catching his attention, his sniffling filling the room as he wiped his eyes. He furrowed his brows, looking over his still sleeping friends before shuffling out of bed and opening the window. Your owl dropped the message in his hand. His eyes darted over Lily’s vague words.

Common Room. Now.

He didn’t want to go, but if Lily was telling him to, he knew better than to ignore her. He tossed the paper on his bedside, glancing into the mirror to see the mess he looked like before shaking off the vision and heading downstairs.

“Lily?” He called out as he finished the steps, looking around the room before his eyes landed on you, your gaze casted onto the fire as you sat curled up in front of it. “Y/N.” You turned to look at him, looking just as distraught as he did.

“Rem.” You whispered, fresh tears falling down your face at the sight of him. You stood up, taking a step towards Remus as he tried and fail to hide how much he was hurting as he started back up the stairs. “Remus wait!”

“Why?” He spat, his eyes glaring into yours with a fire you’ve never seen before. “I don’t want to hear it. Whatever you have to say, go tell Adams.”

“I don’t love Adams! I don’t even like him!”

“Oh, really? Cause it sure didn’t look that way earlier when your tongue was down his throat!

“I love you!” You screamed at him, sure that every Gryffindor, even the sleeping ones, could hear you. Remus didn’t say anything, watching as you closed your eyes, falling onto the couch behind you. Your voice was softer now, so scared of losing Remus as you looked at him from across the room. “I love you Remus. I’ve always loved you. Adams left chocolate on my bed, I thought they were from you. I didn’t know there was a love potion in them.”

Remus bit his tongue, watching you hug yourself tight shaking your head as your tears hit the carpet. “Why should I believe anything you’re saying right now?”

You shrugged, feeling so defeated. “Because I do love you Remus. It was a love potion; you must believe that. I don’t love anyone but you.” Your voice cracked as Remus broke, slowly making his way over to the couch with you. He didn’t look at you as he sat down and you nodded, reaching over to cup his cheek to get him to look at you. His watery eyes met yours, his breath caught in his throat as your fingers danced over his skin. “For as long as you’ll have me, I’m yours. I promise.” Remus stayed quiet, leaning his forehead against yours.

It was a love potion. He thought. It wasn’t her. She still loves me. She always loved me.

You were about to pull away and grant Remus the space he probably wanted. You knew how upset you’d be if the shoe was on the other foot, but Remus didn’t let you pull away. His lips connected with yours, a kiss much different than the ones Adams stole from you. More tears streamed down your cheeks, wiped away as Remus brought a hand up.

“I believe you.” he whispered, brushing his thumb back and forth across your cheek. You smiled, licking your lips as you fell into his embrace, your body fitting against his perfectly. Remus sighed, letting out a shaky breath when he held you into him. “I love you.” he whispered into your ear, feeling you say it back as your breath tickled his neck. You were both exhausted, the sun not coming up for another or so as Remus laid down on the couch, you still in his embrace laying next to him as you let your hand move into his hair, playing with his curls.

“I’m gonna kill Adams.” You mumbled as Remus raised a brow, nodding his head.

“I’ll help.” You chuckled at him, feeling his laugh rumble in his chest as he pulled you closer to him. It didn’t take long before both you and Remus fell asleep together, your tears long gone. Lily found you an hour later have come down to check on you before seeing you and Remus finally cuddled together. She smiled, leaving you and your boyfriend to get some much-needed rest, vowing to never let you eat random chocolate you find on your bed again. Even if it does smell like your boyfriend.

A/N: Thoughts? 😊 Hope this was what you were hoping for Anon!

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dialovers-translations · 3 years

Text

Diabolik Lovers GRAND EDITION for Switch ;; More, Blood ー Yuma Ecstasy [Prologue]

Monologue

By the time I was finally released from the punishment room,

I had made two more comrades,

aside from Kou.

One smart and dependable guy,

and another fellow who’s kinda creepy and always covered in scars,

but somehow I can’t bring myself to ignore him.

It felt somewhat different from my relationship with Boss and the others,

but strangely enough,

I genuinely thought of these dudes as my companions.

I’m sure it’s because we all had the same goal.

The four of us gathered together,

and came up with a plan to escape this Hell.

And one evening,

we finally made up our minds.

Bear: When are we putting this plan into action?

Ruki: Tomorrow evening. We won’t take any luggage with us. Leave everything behind. Understood?

Kou: Yeah!

Bear: Roger.

Azusa: If you guys…say so…

Bear: ( I don’t know if my luck is good or bad, but I survived till now. )

( Boss, I’ve made up my mind. I’ll take your dream upon me instead. )

( I’ll change this country, so please wait just a little longer. )

( ...To fulfill said dream, I’ll definitely escape this place. )

( Don’t worry. Right now, I have comrades who are just about as reliable as you guys were. )

( I’m sure...It’ll go well. )

*TIMESKIP*

Bear: ( ...In just a few more hours, the night will fall. )

( We can’t get our timing wrong. We won’t get a second chance if our plan is exposed. ...We only get one shot. )

( Right, I should prepare to set the fiーー )

Youngster: ...! Oi, you!

Bear: ( ...Che, did he find out!? )

Youngster: I knew it! Thank god, you survived!

Bear: ...? Who are you?

Orphan A: It’s me, Leo! I lived in the village next to yours! We often went fishing in the past, remember?

Bear: Leo...?

Orphan A: Well, we were still children, so I guess I can’t blame you for not remembering. We’ve both changed as well. I didn’t recognize you at first glance either.

But I was worried about you this whole time. After what happened to your village...Your home was burnt to the ground as well.

Bear: Burnt...?

( What’s this? It rings a bell... )

( ...Right! That dream! When Boss had only just picked me up, I would often have dreams about fires! )

( Don’t tell me, this is a guy I knew in the past I can’t recall...!? )

Say, Leo! There’s something I want to asーー!

*THUD*

Orphan A: Guah...!?

*Thud*

Bear: ...!? Oi!

Orphan A: ...Uu...

Bear: Fuck...What do you think you’re doing, bastard!?

Gang Boss: Excuse me? ...Isn’t that my line? Right, Bear?

Bear: ...Che, look who’s back. You’ve made your return earlier than I expected.

Gang Boss: Thanks to you, yeah. (1)

Bear: What do you want now? Have you come to get beaten to pulp?

Gang Boss: Yeah, exactly. Howeverーー

You are the one who’ll end up beaten and bruised!

Bear: ...You’ve gathered some comrades because you know you can’t win by yourself? Whether you bring nobody or a whole gang, the end result won’t change.

Gang Boss: ...Per usual, you know how to run your mouth.

Anyway, your prolonged life ends right here. It’s been quite a while since your Boss died, but time has finally come.

Bear: You piece of shit...Why today out of all days!? You’ve got shit timing.

Gang Boss: Enough talking! Your beloved Boss is waiting for you in the afterlife!

Bear: Che...!

Kou: ーー Bear!!

Bear: Kou!?

Ruki: We were wondering what was taking you so long, but what are you doing!?

Bear: Don’t blame me! They’re the ones who started this!

Kou: I’m pretty sure you take some blame too though.

Ruki: That doesn’t matter! Hurry up and finish your quarrel! If we let this chance slip by, we’re done for!

Bear: Oh, I’m well...aware!

*THUD*

Ruki: In that case, we’ll use this commotion to our advantage. Kou, you light the fire instead!

Kou: Roger!

Ruki: I’ll lure in the guards from one side. You guys make as much of a fuss as you can! However, make sure they don’t get the upper hand on you!

When I give you the signal, we’ll dash through the gate at once! Understood!?

Bear: Piece of cake!

Azusa: Can I be the one getting punched...?

Bear: That’s no option! We’re gonna be the ones doing the punching! ーー Let’s go!!

Monologue

ーー In the end, the plan we spent days setting up,

did not go as planned.

However, luck was on our side,

and we succeeded,

at making our escape from that Hellhole.

ーー Spread out in front of my eyes once outside,

was an almost transluscent blue sky.

Seems like it is sunny out today.

It has been a while since I gazed up at the sky.

Perhaps that is why, the usual blue sky and white clouds,

seemed extremely beautiful for some reason.

I couldn’t help but think,

that the world is beautiful.

We may have escaped prison,

but the world we would have to live in now,

is most definitely rotten.

I will change this country, change the world.

For that reason, I desperately kept on running.

Regardless, the clear blue skies,

were so beautiful, every time I raised my head,

I somehow grew emotional.

ー The flashback ends as the scene shifts to the living room

Ruki: How have things been going as of late?

Yuma: ...No change, really.

Ruki: You’ve been sucking her blood, no? Have you not been experiencing any signs? Of Adam?

Yuma: ...Don’t think so? Not sure tho.

Ruki: ...Yuma.

Yuma: Shut up, I know! Stop remindin’ me over and over, it’s annoyin’!

Ruki: ...Are you rushing?

Yuma: ...

Ruki: Rushing will not make you Adam. That is up to Eve’s blood to decide.

Yuma: ...I know that shit.

Ruki: Then don’t rush. Even if you are in a hurry, it will not benefit the situation.

However...I am sure you are aware that things cannot remain like this forever?

Our objective is not to become Adam. It is to return our favor to that man by doing so.

If you continue to not show any signs of awakening, then we’llーー

Yuma: Don’t say that!!

Ruki: ...Judging by your reaction, seems like you have realized as well. Yuma. ...That we are unable of becoming Adam.

*TIMESKIP*

Ruki: ...Either way, I’m glad you seem to understand at least. Either way, I am not asking you to act upon this right away.

However, as soon as we receive an order from that man, I will take action as well. Do not forget that.

ー Ruki steps away

Yuma: ...Givin’ her to those Sakamaki’s? Don’t be kiddin’ me.

...I will become Adam.

No way I’ll let those damn rich people steal Boss’ dream as well...!

ー The scene shifts to the kitchen

*Chop chop chop*

Yui: ( ...There we go. Now I just have to put all the ingredients inside and let it simmer. )

( Ah, right. I’ll add the cabbage we got from Yuma-kun’s garden the other daーー )

*Rustle*

ー The screen suddenly fades to black

Yui: Eh!?

( W-What!? Things suddenly went dark...Hold on, somebody is covering my eyes!? )

Yuma: Keep still.

Yui: That voice, Yuma-kuーーNn!

( He covered my mouth as well...! )

ー Yuma bites her

Yuma: Hah...Nn...

Yui: Ah, ow...!

( W-Why did he suddenly bite me...!? )

Yuma: Nn...Nn...!

Haah...This side’s up next...Don’t ya dare tense up.

Yui: ( N-No...What is he doing!? I can’t tell since I can’t see a thing!. ...I’m scared...! )

Nn, nnnn...!

Yuma: ...Che, you’re so noisy. But it’s no use. Stay like that.

A humans’ remainin’ senses grow more sensitive when one is lost, right?

So by taking yer vision like this, I’ll make ya focus on only my fangs.

I’d love to take yer hearing too but...Nn...

Yui: ...! Nn...!

Yuma: I’m pretty sure it’ll be more effective...If I let ya listen to the sound of me devourin’ ya, mixed in with yer own sounds.

*Rustle*

Yui: ...Hah...Hah...!

Yuma: There ya go. I’ll release yer mouth. ...Cry out all ya want.

Come on, concentrate. Focus on only yer ears and body.

My fangs are the only thing you’re allowed to feel.

If ya feel it with yer whole body, ya should figure out that I’m Adam already. Right...!?

*Thud*

Yui: ...Ah...!

Yuma: ...Hurry up...Hurry up and realize, Eve...!

Hurry up and make me Adam...!

Monologue

ーー Ever since that day,

Yuma-kun became more aggressive than ever.

His irritation continued visibly growing,

and all of said frustration was pointed directly,

at my skin.

The bite marks which increased with each passing day,

made me experience his impatience first hand.

ーー TO BE CONTINUED ーー

Translation notes

(1) おかげさま or ‘okage sama’ is usually used to thank someone for their help, but in this context, it is obviously meant in a sarcastic way.

→ LIKE MY TRANSLATIONS? SUPPORT ME ON KO-FI!

<- [ Maniac Epilogue ] [ Ecstasy 01 ] ->

#diabolik lovers #dialovers #yuma mukami #more blood #diabolik lovers translation #mbyumaecstasyprolog

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attack-on-neverland · 3 years

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1.2 The spectrum of good and evil

L: Reiner vs. Eren, R: Leuvis vs. Gracefield kids

One of my favorite things about both Attack on Titan and The Promised Neverland is its multiple point-of-view storytelling. It’s easy to empathize with characters even when they’re doing cruel things because we’ve been with them on their difficult journeys. However, it definitely is different when you watch how those actions affect the people from the other side. If there’s anything, AOT and TPN excel in ensuring that good and evil isn’t all black and white. We’re first shown the cruelties experienced by our protagonists, however, when they flip the script, we also found ourselves empathizing with the supposed ‘antagonists’. Instead of painting people to be good or evil, the writers of these series are able to show how people act based on context, experience, and desires rather than a hollow desire of just being a hero or a villain.

Reiner and Bertholdt's betrayal

In Attack on Titan, we’re first exposed to the gruesome realities that Eren and the Eldians face. Their loved ones are eaten, houses crushed, and live in fear that the walls would break. This makes Eren’s desire to exterminate all the titans a cause that us viewers would support. We’re made to see how the Colossal Titan (Bertholdt), the Armored Titan (Reiner), and the Female Titan (Annie) seemingly have no mercy as they break through the walls and cause the demise of thousands of civilians. It’s safe to assume that most viewers felt immense hate at the betrayal of these loved characters, and this is with good reason. After all, the very people empathizing with Eren and fighting to liberate humans were the same people who caused the destruction in the first place. In fact, if not for Bertholdt, Eren’s mother could still have been alive.

Bertholdt, Annie, and Reiner were really just child soldiers

However, in the latter episodes, we’re shown flashbacks of what actually went down with the Marley warriors before they reached the island of Paradis. It was revealed here how Bertholdt, Reiner, and Annie were really just children around 10/12 years old forced to do these cruelties to provide a good life for their families. In fact, Bertholdt and Annie wanted to retreat after Marcel was eaten by Ymir. We’re also shown how Bertholdt confesses that he still believes that they were comrades despite committing those atrocious acts. This just shows how they were all equally victims of the system as Eldians. The Eldians of Paradis are constantly being attacked by Marley by having Titan shifters destroy the walls, while the Eldians of Marley are treated discriminatively by Marleyans and are sacrificed as soldiers of their wars. It’s hard not to sympathize with the warriors despite their crimes because of their background. They were really just kids forced into the cruelties of war and the cycle of hate.

Mr. Braus stops Niccolo from harming Gabi as they found out that she was the one who shot Sasha and killed her

Another important moment is how despite feeling despair at the death of his daughter, Mr. Braus manages to keep a cool head when faced with Gabi. In fact, he rationalizes this as the natural cycle of life. Sasha has taken many lives to fight for freedom, and now the same thing has happened to her. Despite Gabi killing Sasha, she is also a victim of Marley’s brainwash propaganda and a witness to Eren’s unjustifiable war crime. As the series progresses, the point of view continues to shift between Eldia and Marley, showing how war is just a back-and-forth of unnecessary violence and cruelty, making everyone a victim as much as the other.

The hidden side of Mama Isabella

On the other hand, The Promised Neverland manages to show early on the cruelty of the demons and those who work on the farm, including the adults such as Mama Isabella and Sister Krone. While it was already a given for the children to hate the demons, they also felt the same hatred upon discovery of Mama’s betrayal. This is similar to the betrayal of the Marleyan warriors in AOT as well as the children would have never thought that their loving mother was raising them to be food. They could not stomach the fact that their beloved mother could go about her day smiling and doing her business knowing that she assisted in the death of their siblings. Instantly, the audience is also made to hate Isabella for seemingly enjoying the torture of her children as she broke Emma’s leg, shipped Norman out early, and locked Ray in a room so that they could not continue with the escape. However, our perception of Isabella changes when her childhood flashback is shown, and it is revealed that Isabelle was a product of the Gracefield farm as well.

Isabella and her friend Leslie in their youth

Like the current Gracefield kids, she lived a good life with her best friend Leslie until it was time for him to get “adopted”. On the day of Isabella’s adoption, however, she was given the option to become a Mama and live on instead of becoming demon feed. Isabella was told that there was no way out of this cycle, and choosing to be a Mama meant that she could give the next generation of Gracefield kids the best life that they can experience. Isabella took this to heart, which is why she was so adamant on stopping the children from escaping because she believed that there was no future beyond the farms and that there was no chance for them to escape alive. As she breaks Emma’s leg, Isabella whispers to her to stop struggling, and instead live out her remaining days in happiness like they used to. In her own twisted way, this was how Isabella showed her love for her children. Since she had tried to escape herself and knew that it was impossible, she made it her goal to make the best of what she can and love her children until the day of their harvest. Again, Isabella was a victim of the same dreadful cycle, and is such a beautifully written tragic character. This is proven when the children escape successfully as she smiles and wishes them luck. When the humans of the demon world were permitted to go to the human world, Isabella cries tears of happiness upon being given the chance to “love them normally” as a mother loves her children.

Isabella shields Emma and the other kids

One last sign of Isabella’s genuine love is seen when she sacrifices herself to save Emma by shielding her from the demon about to capture her. As she bleeds to her death, she apologizes to the children and hopes that they could forgive her. Again, characters are not merely good or evil, rather, they are products of their context and consequences.

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imalifegen89 · 3 years

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A Legacy Left Behind - Chapter - 5 - The Gemmond Incident

Part 2

P3X-422 - Planet Gemmond

John was glad that he'd activated the stealth mode on the Jumper the moment he entered the Gate. He was pretty sure that was what kept them from getting blown to hell by the nasty-looking craft that flew past right in front of them.

"Sheppard!"

Lorne shouted out a warning even as Sheppard jinked the Puddle Jumper violently to the left to avoid colliding with the other Dart that came swooping down from above. The pointy little flyers looked like they were made of biological - or maybe organic stuff - combined with metal alloys. They emitted a loud whine while flying and John felt that the name 'Dart' would suit them nicely, what with them being so pointy. The design of the exterior of the flyers reminded John of the exoskeleton-like layers on the Wraiths. The moment that thought crossed his mind, he knew they were facing the Wraith. He wondered briefly why he wasn't experiencing the change that overtook him when he was in the vicinity of the Wraith. Then he realized the link with the Puddle Jumper was acting as a buffer, maintaining a safe environment for the moment, preventing the embedded instinct from taking over.

He kept flying the Jumper in a series of left, right turns and corkscrews until he was clear of the angry, buzzing nest of Darts that were flying randomly around the Stargate. The inertial dampeners thankfully kept everyone inside the Jumper from truly experiencing the g-forces Sheppard was pulling while flying. The previously clear screen in the front of the Jumper had now transformed into a transparent Heads-Up-Display, with the gathered data scrolling down, as the little ship ran its scanners on their surroundings. Everyone in the cockpit and the back of the Jumper was focused on the screen, trying to get a feel of the situation they had just flown into.

Sheppard didn't really focus on the HUD. He had it all in his mind, therefore he was completely focused on flying.

He finally managed to get the Jumper into a higher altitude, turn it around, and then hover. The ship had finished the scan and was informing him what it had found.

'There are five Wraith Darts in the immediate vicinity,’

Clever, little shit had picked up on the name, John thought fondly. He could feel the Jumper preening in the back of his mind at the praise.

“They appear to be flying at random as they try to pinpoint our location. The sixth Dart that was on the ground maintaining the dial-in, has now joined the others to continue the search.'

John could see the dimensions of the Dart appear on the interactive HUD with neat little labels on weak points, weapons, hull compositions, etc. He watched Lorne minimize the window on the Dart and bring up the map of the area again. Lorne was tracking the six Darts now flying around looking almost panicked, vainly searching for whatever had just come through the Gate.

"These are Wraith Darts." Lorne inhaled sharply the moment he realized what everybody was now looking at.

John felt Steve squeezing his shoulder in response to the other Major's exclamation. John knew he was asking whether they could maintain control without Steve having to ask the question out loud.

"It's alright Steve. We're good. The Puddle Jumper is acting like some sort of a buffer. We're not directly engaging the Wraith at the moment, so the imperative isn't going to take over as long as we are inside the Jumper," he assured Steve and Lorne. Lorne had started to go pale, realizing that he was going to go through his first 'Online Experience' before the day was over.

"They know someone's here - they've probably informed the others in the swarm by now. So I'm going to take us on a flyby over the city to see what these things are doing here in Gemmond," Sheppard announced, as he turned the Jumper back from the gate and pointed the nose towards the city.

..........

It took about a minute to get right above the city. There were fifteen Darts circling the capital city of Gemmond and Sheppard maneuvered right through their ranks to get to a higher altitude. He held the Jumper stationary while scanning the city below. They were all focused intently on the HUD.

It was carnage. It was horrendous.

The natives were all in states of absolute fear and sheer panic as they were all running around trying to get away from the Darts. The Darts were behaving in a certain pattern - They'd circle around the city, then the moment they noticed a cluster of people, one of them would swoop down on the huddle, emit a transparent yet shimmering transporter beam, fly over the group, dematerializing them and sweeping them up into the Dart. Then it would fly away and another Dart would take its place to repeat the same actions.

"It looks like these things are collecting the humans and taking them away for storage as if a farmer would herd his sheep into a barn, or scoop his chickens and drop them in a coop," Adam Noshimuri commented quietly, greatly disturbed by what they were witnessing.

"Let's follow the next one and see where they’re taking them. They’re not killing them, so they must be still alive somewhere," said Sheppard. He felt the anger rising in him as he watched the horrific scene unfolding beneath them. What was obviously a once-thriving city, was now in a state of chaos. Its citizens running around and screaming in fear instead of celebrating the fruits of their hard labor. Some buildings and structures seemed to have blown up or set on fire. Sheppard figured the Darts must have fired at the buildings to get the people out in the open, making it easier to hunt them. He unclenched his fingers that had unknowingly tightened around the flight controls and took a deep steadying breath. He was going to destroy each and every one of these Wraith assholes, he made a promise to himself.

Then another Wraith Dart suddenly swooped down to sweep another group of Gemmondians into its belly and started on a direct course away from the city. Sheppard abandoned their observation post and directed the Jumper after the Dart. They flew for about five minutes, passing a few cities, a couple of farms, and then a jungle terrain. Just after the Dart cleared the jungle, they could all see its destination ahead.

There was a bigger ship that had landed on the ground. The Jumper scanned the ship and scrolled the data on the HUD. It was made of the same organic/metal combined composites just like the Darts. It was only two-thirds of an earth warship in size. The Jumper identified it as a 'Wraith Dart Carrier', a slightly smaller spaceship than a 'Wraith Cruiser'. It had the capacity to carry thirty-five Darts but had only fourteen Darts inside it at the moment. The rest were away busy collecting humans and guarding the Gate. There were fifteen 'Wraith Drones' inside the ship for security and they had over one hundred live humans in captivity. There were two male Wraiths controlling the entire operation.

Sheppard was starting to feel the change slowly beginning to take over, responding to the Wraith atrocity that was right in front of them. He could see Lorne was still himself, but he knew it was going to change the moment they closed the distance.

"Alright, here's what we’re going to do. I'm going to follow one of those things in and land us inside somewhere clear of the Drones. You guys are going to separate into two teams, one take left and the other right. You go after the prisoners and take them out. Then lead them out of the ship and get everyone as far away as you possibly can."

Then he concentrated. Two interior hidden compartments opened and two small rectangular PDAs came out. Sheppard took one out as Lorne took the other. Then he activated the PDA which was actually an LSD, a life-sign-detector, with a thought and programmed it. He handed it to Steve over his shoulder. The LSD stayed active with its screen blinking and emitting a soft blue, despite the fact that it was in the hand of a non-gene carrier. Then he did the same to the other detector and handed it to Danny.

"I’ve programmed it to stay active for three hours. It’ll show you any Wraith-related life sign in a red dot and humanoid in a blue dot. You can also see a map inside the ship here. It’ll orient automatically as you move along and show you scales and dimensions."

Both the SEALs studied the instruments intently.

Then Sheppard focused his attention on the data on the Jumper screen. He went through a few information windows at speed and got the information on the Wraith weapons to the front and center.

"Steve, if you can get your hands on a few of these Wraith stunners, you should be able to stun them quietly and then shoot them. According to this, the stunners work on them better than bullets since the stunner attacks the nervous system while bullets just bounce off their skin." Steve and the rest of the group went through the data Sheppard pointed out quickly.

"What will you two be doing?" Danny knew the answer but asked the question anyway. He didn't like the fact that the two zoomies were going to turn into out-of-control killing machines the moment they touched the ground inside the ship.

"You know we’re going to go after the Wraiths; it won't help any of us if they manage to get into your heads and turn us all against each other. We’ll close in and engage them directly, keeping them distracted while you carry out the prison break. Radio in the moment you clear the ship, we’ll finish them and get back to the Jumper. Once you're all clear from the blast area, I’ll blow this thing to hell." Sheppard laid out the plan.

They had all practiced war games on scenarios such as this and Sheppard had the tactical lead on this mission as it was Wraith-related. They were all well-versed in the comms codes they'd be using once they were on the ground, keeping chatter to a minimum. Sheppard only outlined the rough plan, knowing the SEALs, the Agents, and the Marines were all capable of taking care of smaller details on the go as they carried out the mission.

"Just saying, man, you two are the only ones who can fly this tin can and I don't want to walk all the way back - I've got a bad knee," replied Danny pointing at his right leg with the fake ailment, looking quite serious. Sheppard recognized the unvoiced message hidden inside: 'be safe and get back in one piece.’

He gave a smile and got ready to fly the jumper in, right on the tail of the Dart. It was just entering the ship through an entrance on the cargo bay which had slid open, recognizing the Dart that was closing in on it. Steve and the rest of the team quietly got ready, mentally preparing themselves for the task in front of them.

Inside the Wraith Dart Carrier

Planet Gemmond

Sheppard had followed the Dart inside the Carrier and then taken them closer to the bulkheads above to see what it was doing.

The Dart had entered the spacious cargo area and then carried out a low sweep, depositing its terrified cargo. The newly re-materialized, scared, and panicked group of Gemmondians were then herded further into the ship by the Drones that were waiting for them. They used the pointy ends of their stunners to poke and prod the prisoners until they moved along the path presumably leading to their cells.

The Jumper now had a detailed map of the interior and was showing them the cells area, cargo bays, the bridge, the living areas for the Wraith and the Drones. Sheppard slowly guided the Jumper further inside until they came to a secluded area. It was a food storage bay for their human cargo and was not under guard at the moment. It had enough space to land the Jumper.

Once they all got out, Sheppard locked the back door and turned to face the group. Everybody took a collective step back noticing the expression on his face.

Sheppard was different. His normally bright and hazel eyes had gone completely dark, pupils blown, almost swallowing up the entire sclera. His expressive face was blank, lips flattened in a tight line and his head cocked to the side slightly, as if he was listening to something far away. His demeanor was decidedly more alien and predatory than human.

Lorne wasn't much better. But he looked downright normal compared to John. His pupils were enlarged to a point to cover only his irises. Not the entire eye looking like a black hole like Sheppard's. And he looked somewhat pale and afraid which was much more easier to digest than Sheppard's visceral metamorphosis into a deadly, alien hunter.

"Go free the humans," said Sheppard. His voice was quite different from his usual lazy drawl and now had a deep and vicious quality to it. With that he turned and took off through a tunnel exit leading towards the middle of the ship, way faster than any of them could match, with Lorne following closely behind.

..........

"Fuck," said Danny softly. Steve felt that it was an apt description of what they had just witnessed. They had all known about this, but seeing it for the first time was an entirely different experience. He didn't know whether to be disturbed, happy, or scared. He had plenty of reasons for all those emotions. But he firmly pushed all those thoughts away to deal with later. For now, they all had a job to do. They were on a timer and they had to move fast to make the maximum use of the elements of stealth and surprise they had on their side at the moment. So he signaled everyone to separate into two teams and move.

..........

Steve cautiously led his group towards the left side of the Carrier. 'Spaceships are supposed to be cool. This one’s a nasty piece of crap.' He complained to himself. The interior was dark with a red hue, thanks to the membranous interior, with what looked like veins spread inside them. It gave off the feeling of being inside the belly of a beast instead of a spaceship. Steve thought that he saw the soft tissue-like areas of the bulkheads moving at random intervals as if the thing was breathing. It made a creepy sort of sense because according to the data on the LSD, these ships were grown out of bio-organic materials and then blended with metal alloys to make them space-worthy. It also had a strong, pungent, almost rotting smell that reminded him of a carcass of a dead animal. Steve suppressed the shudder at the thought of walking inside a cadaver.

Then the screen on his Detector flared for a brief moment, alerting him of the incoming three Drones only a few yards away from a corridor to their left. He had a few seconds to act before the Drones took the turn and came face-to-face with them.

He quickly signaled Adam to come over and give him a boost. Steve lightly stepped on his cupped palms and pushed himself up, hanging onto the narrow ledge that was protruding out of the wall. It ran horizontally along the wall about 7 ½, maybe, 8 feet above the ground. It seemed to be a part of an interior major vein/pipeline system and was sturdy enough to support his weight. At Steve's signal, Bates boosted Adam onto the ledge directly in front of Steve and then quickly retreated to hide in the small alcove they just walked past with Cadman.

Steve hauled himself onto the ledge and stood straight, plastering his torso against the wall, the narrow ledge barely supporting his footing. Adam positioned himself on the ledge on the opposite side of the narrow corridor and gave Steve a nod. Steve glanced at the LSD once more, started a mental countdown of seconds, and placed it inside his tac vest. Then he took his K-bar out and got ready to face the Wraith Drones.

Just when he reached six on his mental countdown, the three Wraiths took the turn and stepped into the corridor Steve and Adam were waiting. They were staring straight ahead as they walked, oblivious to the threat that was hanging above them. Just as the trio walked past them, Steve and Adam made their move.

Adam jumped onto the back of the Drone that walked closest to his position and landed on its shoulder. He wrapped his knees around the Drones’ upper body and drove his knife into its exposed throat twice in rapid succession. Then he switched hands and stabbed it again on the other side of the neck for good measure. The whole thing took about five seconds and the Drone slowly sank into its knees, the stab wound to the enzyme sack on its neck proving fatal.

He looked up to see Steve finishing up his Wraith Drone in the same manner. The third Drone was frozen in shock and it took a few seconds to move towards Steve, his stunner pointing at the SEAL team leader's face. But that few seconds’ delay proved to be a fatal mistake. Steve dropped to the ground and extended his leg, sweeping it in an arch along the floor, catching the Drone on the foot and toppling it over. The Drone landed on the floor on its butt and Adam didn't waste any time dragging his knife along the thing's neck, splitting it open and killing it where it lay.

Then they dragged the bodies to the side and propped them up against the wall. They collected the three stunners the drones had dropped and Steve tapped his comms to let the others know to join them. Now armed with more effective stunners, they continued towards the holding cells where the captive humans were held.

They reached the cells without running into more Drones. The six Drones that were standing near the cramped cell area were quickly dispatched with Stunner fire to their heads followed by quiet shots to the necks with suppressed MP7s. Bates made quick work on the cell door by shooting at the keypad-like thing with his suppressed handgun. The cell door retracted with a sickly noise.

"Hello people, we’re with the SGC, you need to move now and come with us, we’re going to get you guys out of this messy place," Cadman had a ready smile on her face while she talked to the scared and pale Gemmondians. Then they broke out of their frozen stupors, finally recognizing the uniforms of their allies, the Tau'ri, and they all started spilling out of the cell eagerly. Cadman managed to keep them quiet, celebrations at being rescued to a minimum, got them all out and paired them up efficiently. She signaled that they were ready to leave, and Steve, who was keeping watch, acknowledged. Then they all started moving towards the closest exit out of the ship with Steve and Adam in the front, the fifty or so Gemmondians in pairs in the middle along with Cadman, and Bates taking the rear keeping an eye on their six.

..........

Danny's team was having a bit of hard luck. They had been edging towards the right side of the ship and managed to dodge a few Wraiths by taking cover, thanks to the advance warning received from the LSD. Now they were facing a problem. They were all taking cover behind a small wall that was jutting out from the floor and peering over to observe the holding cell. They could see there were about fifty people crammed in the entirely too tiny cell and there were five Drones milling about in the area. They needed to distract the Drones and lure them away from the vicinity of the cell, so Kono and Vega could take the shots from their positions.

A quick rock, paper, scissor session elected Danny Williams for the bait. He sighed and started to crawl back from the safety of their cover to reach the corridor that ended at the cells. Then he stood up and walked back in the corridor about a ten-meter distance from the cell. Once positioned in the middle of the corridor now in plain view, he waved at the Drones with a grin on his face to get their attention.

"Oi you, fuck-face, where's the.." He didn't even get to finish the question as the Drones all reacted. They all adjusted their weapons to face Danny and came running towards him.

'Oh, you aren't very bright, are you?' Danny had a few seconds to shake his head in sympathy before they started firing their stunners. Kono and Vega, who were ready with their rifles primed, but couldn't risk the shots earlier because of the prisoners, now had clear lines of sight to fire. They dropped three Drones with shots to the necks before the Drones even had the chance to fire. One Drone got a shot off as Danny threw his knife at it. Then he dove off to the side to dodge the stunner fire. He only partially succeeded. Vega finished off the remaining Drone as Kono shot the Drone that was already on the ground writhing with Danny's knife buried in its neck, killing it. Higgins came running towards Danny to see whether he was okay.

"Ah man, I can't feel my shoulder, please tell me I still have a shoulder." Danny was concerned. He wasn't panicking at all, not really - just very very concerned about his shoulder which he really couldn't feel anymore.

“Yeah, man, you're good. It only grazed you. Not even a tear on the uniform to show for it. You'll get the feeling back soon.” Higgins was palpitating his shorter colleague's shoulder with a chuckle. Danny could be a downright diva when it came to field injuries.

Danny moved his own gun to the back with the help of Higgins and picked up a stunner with his left hand. His entire right arm was going to be out of commission for a while. They all armed themselves with a newly acquired stunner and moved towards the prisoners. They had to move quickly. They were not sure whether the dead Drones somehow managed to send out an alert that there were intruders on board.

Kono and Vega got busy getting the prisoners out of the cell to move. They quickly organized the now big group and started their trek towards their closest exit with Danny and Higgins in the front, and Kono and Vega taking the rear while keeping the newly rescued bunch of Gemmondians safely in the middle.

#fanfiction series #stargate atlantis #steve mcgarrett #john sheppard #ao3fic #cross over #hawaii five 0 #stargate #fiction #my writing #writers on tumblr #bamf!John Sheppard

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runesfactory · 3 years

Text

run cried the crawling | 04

summary: Tasokare Hotel is a place that exists between the real world and the afterlife. A residing place for spirits whose fate has yet been decided. To die or to live on. Aesop has yet to discover the truth behind his own near demise. It was until a stranger walked through the doors of the hotel with an owl head that the horrific truth began to unravel.

pairing: aesop carl x eli clark

genre: mystery, supernatural & gothic romance

word count: 5399

warnings: ��mature themes. descriptive writing of violence and blood. body horror. strong angst. equally strong romance. heavy pining. mild profanity. death. tasokare hotel spoilers.

chapters: 01 | 02 | 03 | 04

The initials of the name continue to echo in his head with every step he makes to Eli’s room. The memory replaying in his head continuously like a broken record but added with an overwhelming surge of emotions that he’s experiencing for the first time. But it all goes under the same umbrella: fear. He knows fear all too well. Fear looms over him like a shadow, constantly following him. There’s too much that he doesn’t quite understand, but one thing for certain and it’s the fear of uncertainty. His hands pounded against the wooden door, finally bringing his thoughts back to the present with the vibration of the surface on his hand.

The door opens. Eli stands with a knowing look. He sees it. Or something else, but something clicks the second they see each other’s face. Relief washed over him, for one. Aside from that, it’s the comfort that he might not be going through this alone. He’s not alone.

“I’m sorry for knocking at your door at this time, I,” Aesop pauses. How long has he been holding his breath? “May I come in?”

“Yeah, yeah, of course. Don’t be sorry. I was not going to sleep, anyway. I thought you were asleep already, I was going to go and see you first, but,” Eli shakes his head, finally opening the door, “Sorry, I’m rambling again. Come in!”

Aesop makes his way into the room with a slight nod directed at Eli. The room is almost in a similar state to which they left it last time. Almost as if nothing’s untouched, aside from minor things such as crumpled sheets, and wide opened books on the desk. Eli walks towards a desk where he has a half-empty cup of tea it seems, along with a kettle beside it. He pours some into another empty cup. “Ah,” He looks up at Aesop from the coffee table, “I hope you like tea?”

“I do,” Aesop replies quietly, sitting on the couch beside Eli though pressing himself near the armrest with both of his arms crossed over his chest, “Thank you. You didn’t have to.”

“I wanted to. There’s nothing to be worried about.”

Eli’s reassurances ease Aesop a little. His bare hands grabbed the freshly poured teacup, sighing at the warm feeling of the ceramic on his skin. He’d forgotten his gloves. Never realized he was in such a rush, but it matters not. Aesop takes small sips of the tea, letting the silence between them brew a little. Perhaps he should say something, to make things less awkward. The fact that he barged into the man’s room at an odd hour, demanding to enter his room already had his heart scattered all over the place, and his poor head absolutely fried. Whatever adrenaline rush he went through, that feeling must’ve dissipated and replaced with a dread that he’s come to be familiar with. He should explain himself. He should, he-

“I,” Eli starts. “I remembered something…today. It was a memory related to my life. A good one, actually.” He smiles between the words, but then his brows furrow, “I started to feel things that I never felt before, but somehow it made… sense. The feeling, the moment, everything. Like, suddenly, everything just clicks. The same thing that happened when I first got my name, but this one… This one’s different. It was just, so much? All at once. I can’t describe it any better than that.”

“Ah…sorry. I must’ve gone off-trail with my thoughts there. I hope the tea’s up to your taste.” Ah, the tea. Aesop looks down at the cup then smiles a little, replying, “It’s delicious. You brew them very well.”

“Thank you! Tea has been more up my alley, I’m not really a coffee guy unless I’m under a lot of pressure.” He tries to joke.

“Coffee’s not all bad,” Aesop shrugs. “Maybe too strong for me at times, personally. I don’t dislike them.”

“I don’t dislike them, either. We make quite the pair, you and I.” It was a light-hearted joke, and the two did let out a soft laugh. But then, quiet. Aesop should say something.

“I need to tell you about something.” Aesop lets out a deep breath, placing his cup back on the table when he feels his fingers trembling.

Eli’s eyes fixated on him. Aesop then speaks, “I’m starting to remember things, as well. The same way you do, feeling things that feel so alien, but familiar. As if I have felt them before, just in a place that’s out of my reach. I,” Unconsciously, his hands reached the back of his head, “I also happen to receive this letter.”

His other hand goes through his pocket, pulling out the piece of the letter and placing it on the table. Eli looks down, uncertain, giving Aesop a look. Aesop only nods, then Eli picks up the letter. His eyes go up and down, scanning the entire letter. His fingers graze over the writing. The bridge of his nose scrunches, and Aesop notices the heavyweight on Eli’s shoulders. His back eases with each breath, but each breath weighed by a transparent force. At least in Aesop’s eyes.

He reaches his hand out, wanting to give comfort with a hand on the man’s back. But when Eli abruptly gasps, looking at Aesop in the eyes. Aesop jolts, surprised. His hand now touching Eli’s back without the ease that he intended to do. He pulls his hand away, muttering under his breath, ‘Sorry, I’m sorry for that’ while his eyes avert away.

“Sorry, I was deep in thought it seems,” Eli laughs, but with a blank look on his face. “You said you received this letter? Did you know who sent it?”

Aesop nods his head. “I suppose, it’s one of those items that would appear when you make progress in recovering your memories. It happens to all of our guests.”

“Really? Items that aren’t already available in the room? How do they appear? Just out of nowhere, just like that?”

“Yes, and no. Some items are already here, to begin with, but they’re just things that form basic information about yourself. Other times, when we experience perhaps emotional distress, it may trigger other items to appear. For example,” Aesop gestures at the letter. “That, and along with the sudden appearance of my memory. I’ve come to notice that they only appear when we’re under some form of emotional pressure, or get an overwhelming feeling when seeing something familiar.”

“Wait,” Eli looks back at the letter. “When did you receive your letter?”

“Not too long ago, before I went here.” Aesop pauses, letting out a heavy breath, “That’s what I wanted to talk to you about.”

Eli listens closely.

“In my memory…I remember receiving the letter and feeling just so, afraid? I was so afraid of getting caught, I remember feeling paranoid because we were about to get caught by him and I-“

“Wait, we?” Eli cuts him off.

Ah. Aesop hasn’t explained to Eli yet, he remembers. “Yes, we...” He lets out another breath. “To tell you the truth, it has all started happening after your arrival. I wish I have answers as to why, but… I know only as much as you have.”

“I,” Aesop sighs, hands forming into fists, “The initials… on the letter. I just made a connection considering what happened before.” His eyes look down on the written EC initial on the paper. “I’m sorry, I’m making assumptions, I didn’t mean to just-“

“No! No, it’s okay. It’s reasonable. I was just,” Eli stares at him, “It was my fault for cutting you off like that. I didn’t mean to come off in an unfriendly way.”

Aesop shakes his head. “No, it wasn’t. I was just nervous. I don’t really talk this much about stuff of this nature.”

“That’s understandable, really.” Eli smiles at him. “As I said before, take your time.”

He takes a couple of deep breaths, trying to ease his nerves. He notices that he’s much more open to Eli, despite not knowing much about one another. There’s something about, he tells himself. And that’s what he comes to find out.

“I do think that you’re onto something, with us, with the initials,” The man adds after a moment of long pause. His eyes wander over to the surface of the coffee table, thinking over his own words it seems. “I’ve received a phone call, not too long after you got here.”

“A phone call?” Aesop’s eyes then wander around the room. Not a single phone insight.

Eli takes notice of his wandering eyes. “I thought so too.” Seems to read his mind. “It appeared out of nowhere when I came back to my room, and I started remembering something. A memory.”

Also, a memory?

“It was a phone call from someone. I couldn’t remember who it was, but,” There’s a look in Eli’s eyes. His fist tightening on his lap, and a certain gloom appears across his face. It speaks to a certain emotion. Fear. Aesop knows all too well.

He doesn’t speak for a good minute.

“Eli?” He reaches out to him, his hand resting on top of his. Eli shakes his head. “Ah, sorry. Just a little distracted. Something about what the person said didn’t sit right with me.”

“What did they say?”

“How they’ll find out about everything, how they know about me.” Now his eyes stare into Aesop’s with worry. “About you.”

To that, Aesop’s eyes widened a little. “Me? About me? What about me?”

His lips curl downward, eyes averting hesitating to answer the question. But Aesop’s grip on his hand remains. He gives the hand a gentle squeeze, like a silent plea.

“It was a threat.” Eli begins. “I think we must’ve had some sort of plan with each other, and they somehow found out about it. They told me about how you’ll be staying if I know what’s best for the two of us. The person was very adamant on keeping us apart.”

That solidifies plenty of Aesop’s fear. The two of them are connected. Their memories are tangled up with one another. They knew each other, in the real world, and with a cruel twist of fate, they ended up here.

I love you . The three words etched themselves in Aesop’s thoughts. Does Eli know?

“You mentioned a memory,” Aesop starts. “What memory?”

For a moment, Eli doesn’t speak. Aesop couldn’t quite decipher the look on his face. The furrow of his brow speaks one thing, then the softening look in his eyes says another. A whole contradicting set of emotions clashes on the surface of Eli’s face. He’s unsure.

“A memory about us.” He puts it simply. Aesop feels a tightening in his throat. “Just, how we were. What we were, more like.”

“I-“

“We-“

The two of them start simultaneously. Aesop gestures to Eli to start first, in return receive an apologetic look from Eli.

“I just wanted to say that you don’t have to face this by yourself anymore. We can work through our memories together. If things get too uncomfortable, we can always take things slow.” Eli tells him with one hand resting on top of Aesop’s. “I, I must be honest that it did give me quite the scare when you passed out that day. Knowing that my arrival is the reason for it,” Aesop could hear the way Eli’s breath hitch at the back of his throat. “I just want to make sure you’re not under any distress going through this. I want to make sure of that.

The warmth from his hands radiated to Aesop’s skin, comfort that spreads all over his body like tiny fireflies lighting the darkness of the night sky. It’s a comfort that he’s never felt before. Aesop realizes that he doesn’t have to go through this alone, suffer from his unrecovered memories all by himself.

“Thank you,” He tells Eli. “That means a lot to me.” And it does, genuinely. If recovering his memories could possibly help in any way, then Aesop would do it. The gap in his memories has left him devastated, borderline giving up entirely on ever thinking about recovering them in the first place. He hesitates, still. But at least now, he doesn’t have to go through it by himself, and that much, he appreciates.

“Were you going to say something?”

“Ah, uh, no,” Aesop shakes his head, “It’s getting late. I should really go back to my room. You must be tired as well.” He stands up far quicker than he intended. Rather than charging towards the exit, he waits for Eli to stand. The two make their way to the door.

“Thank you for listening. Hopefully, we can assist each other through this. You’re not alone, Aesop. Believe that.” Eli says to him with a wide smile. That damn smile.

And all he could do is smile back at him, just as soft, he hopes. “Good night, Eli.”

“Good night, Aesop.”

The morning after his meeting with Aesop, Eli isn’t sure what to do. Their conversation has left him wondering about his old life, not that he hasn’t been doing that. He has, but to what extent does he know himself, really? He didn’t tell Aesop about his memory. What it’s about, specifically. He should’ve. The man deserves to know. Why did he hold back? He doesn’t know why.

They’re working through this together, that part gives Eli reassurance. Even if he doesn’t show it, he has his own worries about not being able to recover his memories. What would happen then? Would he be trapped here in this place as a spirit? Would that be too bad? Perhaps not, but there’s just too much he wants to know. About who he was, about Aesop, how they were connected to one another. This all has its meaning. He believes that.

A life with meaning…

The kiss. The memory. The feeling of that very moment. Well, feelings.

‘Why didn’t I tell him… why didn’t I tell him… ’ He keeps on screaming internally.

It feels all too real. He could feel the softness of Aesop’s lips on his, his warm breath tingling on his cheeks. His arms around Aesop’s waist, holding him tightly against him. It’s all too real, way too real. Just minutes before Aesop himself arrives in his room, he’s left in a flustered state. Thank heavens to his neutral expression he was able to contain his emotions and maintained them throughout the conversation.

He wanders around his own room, looking at potential clues that may have appeared similar to the phone before. Nothing out of the ordinary. If anything, now his room’s much messier than before. He’s made the conscious effort to only make a mess of one spot, but now that effort’s all for naught. Oh, well. Guess he’ll have to take the time to organize everything again. At some point… Later… Maybe.

For now, he’ll have to look around the hotel again. The building itself is quite out of the ordinary. Aside from the obvious being its location, the décor and structure of it speak to a time that has ceased to exist. At least from what he recalled. None of those peeling wallpaper or specks of dust that’d cover some surfaces of tables. None of that. Not even a sign of flickering lights. It’s amazing, he thought, for that number of staff to be able to maintain the hotel in such a state.

Eli makes his first stop at the lobby, seeing a couple of familiar faces bickering it seems at the receptionist desk. All while groups of people gathered around the counter. Their voices echo even to the top of the stairs. He’d never seen such a crowd in this hotel.

“I’m going to kill him,” Vera hisses with her hands rolled into fists.

“Ah, Ms. Nair. There’s no need to be violent. We have our guests here!” says Emma far too cheerfully to a seething Vera. But the woman lets out a heavy sigh, pinching the bridge of her nose. “If I wasn’t a non-human, I would pop my head right this instance! How many times do I have to tell that horrible excuse of a manager to take care of this place?! I need a holiday.” She continues to scream out of anger, seething through a piece of cigarette that hangs between her fingers. The smoke seems to thicken itself amidst her rampages.

Maybe this isn’t the good time to say, “Good morning?”

The two turn their heads. Emma smiles. “Ah! Eli! Good morning!”

“Mr. Clark! Just the man I wanted to see!”

“Eh?”

“I’ve changed my mind about that holiday of yours. Are you still interested in lending a helping hand right now? Or are you busy?”

“Well, I’m not too busy right no-“

“Perfect! Then you can assist Ms. Woods with our guests here because I have places to be. Cheers!” Vera slams her hands on the table, causing the people around to jump. She walks away almost immediately. Disappearing before Eli could even finish his sentence. By the clattering sound of her heels, it seems like she’s in a hurry.

“Well,” Eli turns to Emma for guidance. She replies with a knowing smile. “Welcome to the crew! You’re here just in time, we’re a little bit short on hands, right now.”

Isn’t this quite the turn? He feels very out of place now that he'd placed behind the counter. He scans the room to see the people around, thinking about how they must be feeling being in this strange place in the middle of nowhere.

“I’ve never seen this many people,” He comments to Emma. When he turns to look at her, there’s a gloomy expression written across it. Something he’d never expect to see on Emma’s face, one that is usually full of smiles. But in a matter of seconds, she tries to tug a smile on her face but it barely reaches across her face. “Yeah,” Her voice comes out unusually quiet, “Me neither.”

The morning is quite hectic, to say the least.

Both Eli and Emma were able to handle the guests and assist them to their rooms accordingly. He never thought he’d ever be thrown into the wolves in such a way, but he’d come to appreciate the staff more after it. It’s a bit odd for him to help them with a smile, knowing very well that they were all barely living after all. Even himself, he finds it difficult to stomach through. He looks back to Emma. The past couple of hours, she’d been putting up a façade to the guests. Consistently smiling at them, welcoming them with open arms. He could only tell it was a façade simply because of the tone she uses. It doesn’t sound the same as the one he heard when he first arrived at the hotel.

“You done daydreaming?” She asks, waving a hand in front of him playfully. They both return back to the lobby, waiting.

“Yeah,” He just smiles. Eli tries to think of the right word in his head. He keeps on thinking about it, trying to find a way on how to say it best. “Were they all here because of…?”

“Something big must’ve happened. Some sort of natural disaster that took more lives than usual, I’m guessing. That has happened before, those times are the busiest this place has ever been.” Emma replies. Something that Eli didn’t want to say nor believe. The only conclusion he could come to after seeing that amount of people entering this world. It’s hard to ignore the cloud that looms over the hotel.

“It’s not the first,” She picks up again, “It gets overwhelming at first, same for me. You just see this many people, then you realize where you are, why you’re here, and you just don’t know how to feel about it. Even after several times, I still don’t know how to respond in these situations, so don’t feel bad about not being able to process.”

She takes notice of Eli’s growing concern. He doesn’t hide his expressions, though he likes to maintain a calm appearance under any circumstances. Having Emma looking through him makes him feel like he’d been put on the spot. He doesn’t reply. Emma just smiles at him.

“This is a little dark turn for a conversation, but I came to this place in the same way.” She continues, “There was a fire at an orphanage that I grew up in. And, well, as you know by now, I’m not so lucky after all.”

Ah. “Emma, I’m sorry, I didn’t know-“

She shakes her head at him. “It’s okay, don’t be sorry. It was a long time ago, yet I still remember it clear as day!”

“You’ve recovered your memories?”

There’s a pause to her response. Her gaze lingers on a blank wall. “Hmm, not quite,” She hums. “I guess you can say my 'fate' is undecided. I don’t know, I haven’t thought about myself that much. Got lost into working at this hotel that I just… forgot.”

An undecided fate. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to bring up old wounds.”

“Oh, don’t worry too much about it! I haven’t thought about my own mortality for, who knows how long really! Besides, I’m glad I can help guide people here, especially those who feel a little lost.” She tries to brush it off, but Eli couldn’t help but feel her expression says otherwise.

“I wouldn’t want others to end up like me, Eli. As long as I am here, I want to help people as much as I can. Guide them as best as I can.” There it is. Emma’s determination. The fiery spirit that he’s come to know about her comes backfilling the blank look in her eyes. She’s always been very friendly and kind to him ever since his arrival, and to be frank, one of the few things that made this whole experience somewhat less terrifying.

This world just gives him more things to think about. So, memories are not the only thing that decides your fate. Even with all the struggle he’d gone through with Aesop with recovering their own, it’s still not enough. So, what can be enough?

“Well, Eli! Thank you so much for your assistance today. I’d be super lost without your help!” She grins.

“Don’t think about it. I was happy to be around and help. I wouldn’t have anything to do otherwise.”

“Oh? I thought you’ve talked to Vera about the job already.”

“Well, I did, but uh… Without going to Norton first. I wasn’t able to find him anywhere, so I went to Ms. Nair right away,” Eli rubs the back of his head, giving a weak smile. “And she said I’m too stressed for someone who’s barely alive and that I should enjoy my time while it lasts.”

“She’s got a point!” Emma laughs. “I’m sure she’ll probably need some hands around. She’ll budge in at some point.” She elbows the side of his arm. “Norton’s a bit difficult to find. He’s just always around, sometimes not. Sometimes he just straight up disappears! No wonder we barely get any workers around.”

“He’s not here sometimes? I thought he works here?”

“He does! Well, he’s not an official employee, I should say. He works by mostly his own rules, his own schedule, and stuff. So it makes it difficult to keep track of him.”

“Oh really?” He tilts his head to the side. “What does he do?”

The question put an abrupt stop to Emma’s movement. He’s a little caught off guard by it, closely analyzing her. She’s not facing him, her hands continue to stack the papers but much slower compared to her previous pace. But he doesn’t sense any tension from her shoulders.

“Have no clue, hehe!” She turns her head to him with a toothy smile. Just with that, she’s back to her usual appearance. Today’s a little strange. If nothing’s enough of an alarm, this would be it. Emma tries to joke, “Didn’t think this world would have something like a freelancer! Kind of funny if you think about it!”

Eli only smiles at that. He tries to ignore the unease, thinking he might’ve been overthinking a little bit, but he can’t help it. He can’t help but think perhaps comfort is a mere illusion in this place. As if he doesn’t have a wall blocking his path further, a new elusive wall of glass appears before him. He can somewhat see the path going beyond, but unable to reach through.

He doesn’t ask further questions after, but he knows for certain that there’s more to it than what she’s telling him. The rest of the day continues quietly for him.

Aesop gathers the crumpled sheet with his scrunching nose. It’s soaked with spills of alcohol, which is a smell that has taken over the entirety of Demi’s room. He’d taken the time to collect every empty bottle he can collect. After his last visit, he’s determined to take the time and throw everything out as much as he can. If he couldn’t reach Demi verbally, then he’ll have to do it in other ways that he can.

“Don’t move my shit around!” Demi roars. “I was gonna use those bottles again!”

“Miss Bourbon, you’ve drunk far too much. I need to clean the room.”

“Weren’t you listening to last time? I don’t need your help. Hell, I don’t even want your help.”

“I won’t help you with your memories,” Aesop states blatantly, “I don’t see any point in helping someone who doesn’t want help to begin with.” He puts the sentence in a nonchalant manner without giving her a glance. A cold tone, maybe. He doesn’t know what kind of expression he should be putting on, quite frankly. But it needs to be said. “Please just allow me to do my job and clean the rest of your room.” And he ends it at that.

The silence between them was almost as thick as the smell of alcohol overwhelms the atmosphere of the room. Only sounds of his footsteps against the carpeted floor and squeaking sound of the glass surface of a desk he’s cleaning. Aesop focuses on it perhaps far too much than he should, but there’s no other way. Does she not consume anything else? The smell of alcohol is beginning to smell like the one at the hospital. Not the greatest reminder.

“Can you answer some questions for me?”

He’s quite surprised hearing Demi. She’s clearly talking to him. Who else is in the room?

“Of course,” He replies shortly.

He could almost hear her gulping down her saliva. It’s quiet then she speaks, “So, are we,” She pauses, “Are we actually dead , dead?”

Well, that’s unexpected. He turns to look at her, and he sees the way her brow furrows and the tight line on her lip. It reminds him a little of himself, somehow.

“Yes and no,” Aesop looks down at his hand. “From what I understand so far, plenty of the people here are very much dead in the real world, waiting for our fate to be decided after we recover our memories of what happened. Then there are those who linger.”

“What about those who, uh, linger?”

“You mean those who are barely alive in the real world?” She nods at that. “Well, they’d have to go through the same process of recovering memories. It’s more difficult for them to do so. Because they’re essentially like lost souls, wandering aimlessly, forgotten and fading.”

“That’s fucking depressing.” And he agrees. A part of himself is convinced that that was the case for him, the reason why he’d still be here even after all this time. He doesn’t like to think otherwise. He wouldn’t want to.

“What happens after we do recover our memories?”

“Your fate gets decided.”

“Yeah, but what does that mean?”

That made him pause. He turns to face her now, with her eyes looking at his. The two sit still on their spot in silence. Aesop’s gaze falters a little, not knowing how to answer to that.

“To return or to move one.” The same words the Manager had told him when he first arrived here.

“Return as in, return back to your body?”

“Or return as a soul in a new body.”

Her eyes are wide at that. “Reincarnation?” And he nods quietly. Demi doesn’t say anything after that, seems to be deep in her own thoughts about the revelation. “How the hell does someone curate all these dead souls whether they should move on to hell, heaven, whatever, or be reincarnated?”

Aesop shakes his head. Reincarnation. He’s not quite sure how the deciding process of which souls deserve which fate goes.

“People are so complicated. They’ve lived their whole lives fucking up, then doing better, then fucking up even more.” Demi raises her tone throughout her rant. She’s furious, he can tell, but her fury is understandable. He questions that as well, but there isn't much they could do to change whatever celestial forces are doing all this soul organizing work.

“How are they, non-humans, gonna measure who deserves to live more than who? That’s kinda dumb! Who thought of this bullshit system?”

“Uh, God?” He adds, nonchalantly. That earns a chuckle from Demi. A genuine one.

“And here I thought you’re stiff as a rock.”

To that, he smiles a little. He begins to somehow understand Demi. Despite certain reckless behavior, she’s frustrated. That he understands more than anything. To be here without a recollection of who you are, where you came from, what happened, and told that you’re in the afterlife. He beyond understands what it feels like.

He realizes he’s been sitting on the floor with his back against the bed for the last few minutes of their conversation when Demi decides to sit right beside him. “Hey, if you don’t mind me asking,” She starts again, now her eyes closer to his than ever, “How did you end up here?”

Oh, how he’d love to know. He didn’t realize he’d scoff as a response, and he tries to brush it off with a low mumble of ‘sorry’. Aesop can’t even begin how to answer that.

“I’ll be frank,” He begins, “I don’t know. All I know is that something bad must’ve happened to me, and now I’m trying all my best to figure things out yet I’m so terrified, for whatever reason. Truth is terrifying. Frankly, I don’t want to-“ He couldn’t stop, “I kind of don’t…want to know.”

Great, he’d just opened up to a complete stranger. Aesop could feel the narrowing space in his chest, he tries his best to hide the fact that he’s panicking right now. He buried his face between his legs, hugged them close to his chest, wanting this to be over. Hoping the sudden silence was enough to cue for her to just not push him further.

“Someone else relies on my memories to be recovered,” He heaves a heavy sigh, “If going through this painful process is the one thing I can do to help them, then I’ll do just that.”

Yet… he could only feel a hand on his shoulder. Warm hand rubbing itself gently. All in silence. Even with the quietness, it spoke to him. He doesn’t even realize the tears breaking through the barriers of his glassy eyes, soaking itself to the skin of his cheeks. How long had he been holding back? Her hand rests itself, stopping itself from rubbing. Aesop doesn’t realize the softening look in Demi’s eyes.

The two just sit there on the cold floor, quietly, basking in this moment of mutual confusion and distress.

“I’d do too,” She tells him, quietly. A contrast to her roaring voice from before. And he hears it, the sound of a person who’s lost. The tremble in her breath. He hears it all. He looks up, possibly with swollen eyes now, and looking at Demi’s appearance, he almost sees a reflection of himself. But he doesn’t say anything.

Rather, they just laugh seeing each other’s faces.

“Maybe I should’ve bought alcohol,” He says with an exasperated smile. She scoffs lightly. “Nah, I’ll be even more of a wreck if you did. You did both of us a favor by not bringing one.”

“Now I’m even more intrigued.”

“Okay, mister, don’t get too comfortable with the idea of pure entertainment of my destruction. I should be the only person to enjoy my own self-destruction!”

Aesop finds himself loosening up. How long has it been since he shared a laugh like that with anyone? The two find comfort through baring themselves openly to their emotional toils.

“We got off on the wrong foot the other day,” Demi tells him, “Sorry about that. I was… fucked in the head, to put it simply.”

“It’s fine.” He doesn’t know what else to say. It’s not like it made him angry, if anything he understood why she reacted that way. “As I said before, I’ll be here when you need me to. It’s part of my job.”

Aesop’s clueless as to how to respond in moments like these. Not too long ago, he’d just cried his eyes out to her barely knowing her at all. He tries not to think too much about it, but he holds back the urge to let thousands of thoughts burst through his head. They’d both given comfort to one another despite being complete strangers. Suppose that’s what being trapped in limbo does to people, he thinks.

“Still,” Demi continues, “I can’t believe you even offer yourself to work here. Even after death.”

“It feels harder not to,” He admits. Aesop finds it incredibly hard to just… not do anything. He’s too anxious to not be doing anything. It must have been sad for her to think that even in death he’d work himself to exhaustion.

“A workaholic in life?” She asks. He nods. He’s meticulous and cares deeply of his work. It’s strange to not be in a cold room, faced with the same metallic table that he’d greet on a daily basis. It took some time to get used to not having a mask covering his face. Frankly, he still feels bare. Too bare for the world to see. Unconsciously, he covers his mouth from time to time.

“You sound exactly like her.”

“Who?”

“My wife.” Demi throws her head back, letting it hide against the mattress pressed against her back. “She’s a worker alright, wouldn’t miss a day without telling me some random fun facts about her work. Pretty sure she hangs out with her bees more often than me.”

“She sounds very dedicated.”

“The most dedicated, passionate person I’ve ever met. Never met someone as passionate about insects as her, and hell, that’s one of the most attractive things about her.” There’s a hint of spark in Demi’s eyes as they continue to talk about her wife. It warms him up inside, causing him to smile. “Maybe that’s why I hang out too much with Emma.” Demi laughs, “Her whole thing with gardening. It just… reminds me of home.”

“I miss her. Funny how the only thing I remembered when coming here was my own name and her, but that’s not surprising. If you can’t tell already, I’m a sap,” She laughs breathlessly at that.

Her voice falters, Aesop notices. Looking closely at the woman beside him, he notices she doesn’t hold the same unkempt, reckless and intimidating demeanor that she gave off the first time they met. He notices the darkening circles under her eye, the knots in her hair, redness on her nose. If anything, the way her arms wrap around her body is as if she’s trying to protect herself. He’d never seen her this vulnerable. He wants to reach out, but a part of him hesitates. Another part of him curses at himself.

“Are you still, uh, open on doing that recovering memories thing?”

And she opens. He stares at her, a little surprised, but not wanting to overwhelm, he nods.

“I’m always here to help,” Aesop tells her, “As I told you before, I’ll only help if you want me to.” It’s him reaching out. He never wants to force people into doing things they don’t want to. He knows more than anyone how terrifying these things can be. He doesn’t want any of the people to have gone through what he did, and if he could help in any way to prevent that, he would.

She smiles at that, sniffing a little. Turning her head away from him, but he notices her wiping her eyes with the sleeve of her shirt. “Thanks, Aesop, I appreciate that.”

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whispersafterdusk · 3 years

Text

Lost in Time - ch 14

It'd been four days since their tussle with the spy; they hadn't heard or seen any hint of them, and so far the only injury that had turned up at Xu's clinic had been a woman who had fallen on a bit of wood. Asher had gone into town long enough to get his broken tooth pulled (front right tooth on the top...he looked like a doofus when he smiled now) and had immediately returned to camp to hunker down and wait out the spy's next visit while the Civil Corps members had gone on a manhunt across the marsh and into the neighboring desert area.

So far, nothing.

They'd briefly discussed the suits again; Eli couldn't make up her mind on whether this Access suit thing was an original (less worrying) or if Duvos had figured out how to piece one together (really worrying). Asher shared her worries -- the thought of Duvos mass producing those things for their soldiers, even if they weren't working like they did in Eli's time, would still pose a huge problem if the continent ever went to war again. ((Continued below cut))

He did know she'd given up on the trail cameras for now but she was still working on something out in the tent; it used a lot of the same pieces that she'd set aside for the cameras but also several new, different ones that she'd sent Petra and Selene after. The centerpiece of these new additions was a detached screen that she'd marked out dimensions on - she was either cutting it down to size and needed the middle-most section or she was dividing it into a rectangle and eight smaller squares that were all roughly the same size. She hadn't done anything with the screen yet aside from measuring and marking out those squares but there were small piles of nigh identical looking chips, boards, and wires that were already assembled and sitting in a neat little line on the rubberized canvas under her cot that he assumed had to be put together first before the screens could be attached to them.

It had been a fascinating sight to watch her work with such tiny components; he hadn't had a chance yet to ask her what those things were (interrupting her while she was working on them seemed like a poor idea since it looked so...fragile, in a way) but he was looking forward to seeing the finished product, learning what the gadgets were for, and why she needed so many of them. It also piqued his curiosity about Old World tech in general; so much of it seemed purposely designed to work with pretty much anything else. Maybe Old World technology didn't so much depend on the parts as it did the programs to run it...which in turn made him wonder, assuming they ever got to a point where they knew how to read and create new programs, if all the old relics could be made to work again like they did back then rather than being pieced together with spotty knowledge and prayers.

Behind him Adam, Arlo, and Eli were all asleep inside the tent with the front flaps pulled closed to block out as much of the unusually plentiful sunlight as possible - there wasn't a cloud in the sky and it was considerably warmer today than it had been lately; he appreciated the warmth and imagined his sleeping companions probably did as well but found himself going back and forth on whether he was truly grateful for the "sunny" part of this sunny day. On the one hand, that suit made the spy near-invisible but not intangible so they should still cast a shadow so if the spy was dumb enough to try sneaking in close in broad daylight Asher was hopeful he would spot that before they got close enough to be a danger. On the other hand he doubted they would actually be that stupid. The constant prickle at the back of his neck - the feeling of being watched - wasn't a sensation Asher enjoyed, and it also wasn't something he was used to experiencing for such a prolonged period of time; he had no proof though that he WAS being watched, and that was probably bothering him more than the prickling was.

The grumpy sigh he huffed out whistled a bit as it exited through the gap his missing tooth had left behind; that annoyed him to no end too. Asher didn't consider himself an overly vain person but damn it he'd liked how he looked; it had taken a couple years to be at peace with the sunken in scar across his nose but at least that made him look...adventurous. Dashing. Daring. A missing tooth made him look like a drunkard, and it would be a long trip to Seesai to get a replacement that wouldn't prematurely discolor. Adam was right in that he could easily get a tooth closer to home but, again, discoloration was a problem -- whatever that woman in Seesai did to keep the false teeth from coloring was a closely guarded secret...no one knew what she did or what recipe she used, not even her family if they were to be believed.

He supposed it was a question of if he wanted to look stupid with his tooth gap or look stupid with a yellowed tooth in a few years. Neither thought was especially attractive and brought with it a sort of helpless frustration that, coupled with the prickling feeling of having eyes on him, made him want to get up and move around to burn off the pent up energy and emotion.

His thoughts were interrupted by the sound of rustling grass; before he could truly react to the sound Eli came into view and he relaxed slightly.

"You're up - uh, early. Or however you want to consider it."

She shrugged as she sat down on one of the rocks ringing the firepit. "Eh, it happens. Sometimes you just don't sleep."

"Any new ideas?"

For a time she didn't respond; silently Asher surveyed their surroundings - everything still seemed to be as it ought to be. He still felt twitchy though...he was ready for action, or for anything that wasn't sitting here keeping watch. Maybe with Eli awake he could exercise or something.

"Not really," Eli finally responded. "I can think of twelve different ways to disable that suit but they all require tech that doesn't exist anymore. And it's not something I could put together from stuff that's left here."

Asher nodded, then glanced back toward the tent; when she'd come out she'd left the tent flaps open and he could barely detect movement inside -- Arlo shouldn't be up for awhile yet but it was looking like Adam was waking up. "So what's all that stuff you've been working on then?"

"Hi-Defs."

"I've no idea what those are."

"They're wrist-mounted computers. A lot of their functionality isn't going to work right in this day and age but back in mine they were onboard guidance systems with maps of all the regions, could make and receive calls, they kept track of addresses and your appointments and bank accounts and whatever else you wanted to track, they could project 3D images, take pictures... They could do a lot of things depending on the model you had."

He blinked at her; only half of that had sunk in as he'd gotten a bit hung up on the concept of a wrist-mounted computer. "Really? Why those then? If they're not going to work right, I mean. What will they even be able to do?"

"I want them mostly for communication and maps of this region. I'd need signal transmitters in some strategic areas but once I get it all tethered to the facility they should work. It's going to take a lot of footwork to get maps updated since it'll have to be manual scanning rather than satellite surveillance...or, hmm. Maybe some satellites survived." She paused for a moment, then shook her head. "Nah, shouldn't rely on that. Arlo mentioned there's a space station segment out in the wastes but even if there's enough left there to scavenge I doubt I could get a link going with anything that might be left up there, and even if I managed it I still wouldn't have a way to issue orders or anything like that." There was another pause and a sigh, and a wistful glance toward the sky before she returned her attention to him. "Mine will be the sort of central control for them all outside of whatever computer station I decide to run them off of. My aim is to give them to anyone involved with the security of this facility."

"Huh." Him with a high tech device...not something he'd considered before. The idea was...kind of exciting, to be honest. "So maps and talking to one another. Is that all we can hope for?"

"Communication and map display is, bare minimum, what I'm aiming for, with maybe a basic calendar and clock function. I'll have a look at what I can immediately do once I've server-flashed Pauline and get at least one transmitter up for testing."

"...and you've lost me. What's a server-flash?"

She laughed quietly. "-right. It's hard to determine what terms survived the years and what didn't - with Petra and Merlin it's at least a 50% shot that I don't have to define something for them. So! Server-flashing. I take the main operational files for an AI and do a sort of...quick copy of their foundation. Pauline's an AI but not a living AI so I don't need to worry about her personality or anything, just the uh...the semi-intelligent framework she runs on."

"Yeah, going to need that taken down a few degrees still. Pauline seems just as smart as Stewart but she doesn't have personality?"

"Nope. She's just a regular assistant AI -- a sort of input-output response machine with just enough programmed intelligence to appear sentient but she can't learn or grow as a...uh...well, not as a "person" exactly but she -- she won't ever change. She just is what she is. AIs like her you could make infinite copies of and they'll never, ever stop being identical copies unless something on the outside alters them. Stewart on the other hand, if I were to make a copy of him, that copy would develop its own personality if given enough time to learn and live and the same would happen with a regular living AI."

That...sort of made sense. At least, it was simple enough that he could grasp it without her needing to explain it more in-depth. "And you're going to use her to run the Hi-Defs."

"After some minor reprogramming yes."

He nodded slowly; having a little, easily accessed map right on his wrist would be neat, even if it was just of Portia. And if it worked well here maybe it could be expanded out into the other cities and nations too...and, oh man, would that make mapping the Peripheries way easier too if all they had to do was walk through it with the Hi-Def recording or whatever it did to create the maps -- suddenly he could think of all sorts of possibilities and perks to having one of the things. "What would be the range on these things? How would they figure out and store maps?"

"Range depends on what kind of signal strength I can get. Hi-Defs have their own localized signals so they'll all be able to 'talk' to one another within a certain range, and also interface with the signals coming from the transmitters at a much wider range. I'm pretty sure I'd only need sixteen or so at some key points to cover all of Portia and a bit of the outlying areas. As for updating or creating maps it'll have to be manual scanning -- someone is going to have to start from an already mapped point and then let the Hi-Def scan the territory as you travel through it. It'll take awhile but the program that runs a Hi-Def is robust enough to piece it all together without too much extra work needed. And they have their own onboard storage to hold it all."

"Neat...and amazing." As a more comfortable silence fell Asher tossed a few thick branches onto the fire and nudged them into place with a blackened, straight branch he'd purposely kept as a sort of log poker. If Adam was stirring too then he should probably get the fire's heat evened out so he could start cooking. "Did you end up camping a lot as a ranger?"

"Yeah. I went camping for fun too."

He carefully poked at the fire for a moment. "...do you miss doing that?"

There was a long pause before she answered. "I miss a lot of things."

Asher winced a bit. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have asked that."

She shook her head and flashed him a strained smile. "Nah, don't be afraid to ask things. The funny thing with pain is the more you experience it, the easier it is to tolerate."

"I don't think it works that way with this kind of...you know."

With a shrug she turned to pick up the cooking kit (which was in a large leather satchel that had seen better days) that was off to the side of the firepit. "Works well enough for now. I don't want you guys walking on eggshells around me, and I can't hide from it forever. Hell, I can't hide from it even if I wanted to."

Asher was quiet as she handed the satchel over; he pulled the kettle out and stood to go fill it from the water barrel they'd installed just inside the tent flaps, then came back and sat it among the coals to start boiling. A feeling of guilt had settled like a rock in his stomach -- that had been such a stupid thing to ask her. "If you ever want to...talk, or something. I'll listen."

The smile she gave him this time was less strained. "I know. It's appreciated."

As he bent to re-arrange a few half-burned logs she got up and walked out of his immediate line of sight; behind him somewhere he heard Adam's low voice and then the man's plodding footsteps as he came over and took Eli's place on the rock. Asher just managed to catch the sight of Eli disappearing into the tent as he glanced back but she quickly came back into view a moment later.

"I'll be back in a bit - I need to grab a few things from town." She had her pack slung over a shoulder but it hung limp and empty. "Don't bother cooking for me."

"All right. If you're sure," Asher replied.

"I am." With that she began to jog toward the path that, eventually, led back into Portia.

Asher watched her go and then sighed heavily, looking over to Adam. "You ever feel like a massive idiot sometimes?"

"Sure," Adam grunted. "Then I remember I'm not you and feel better."

Asher rolled his eyes and resisted the urge to whack the man with the fire poker stick; when he didn't rise to the man's banter Adam gave him a strange look.

"What did you do?"

"Nothing. I think. How do you want your eggs this time?"

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Dr. Xu had acquired a wooden chair with a really comfortable cushion and a small wooden table for Harrison to work at; it sat in the corner near the front doors so it would be out of the way of everything else in the clinic but its position did mean that usually, when someone walked inside, Harrison was the first thing they saw. Already several tourists looking for headache or muscle ache cures had approached him at the table to ask after the medications, even when Dr. Xu was clearly within view at his desk further in the room.

He kept telling himself to find humor in the situation but it was starting to get a little annoying - especially after someone actually moved a stack of books out of the way to "speak to him" with Xu staring on in surprised confusion.

It was enough to have him dreading the sound of the doors opening, and so today when they slid open he actually flinched and carefully peered over the top of the book he had propped up in front of him.

To his surprise it was that girl from days ago - the one who had fallen on the driftwood and gotten it through her arm. She looked bright eyed and chipper, with no other obvious injuries, and he inwardly groaned as she looked around, spotted him, and came right over.

"Hey there!"

"Hello. How's the arm healing up?"

She smiled and slipped her coat off, then pulled her sleeve up to show the bandage there. "It's all fine and dandy - itchy, but doesn't seem infected or anything."

"Well, that's good." He went silent as she pulled her sleeve back down and got her coat back on, then cleared his throat awkwardly. "So...what did you need then?"

"Ah, hello there -- how is the arm?"

Harrison sat up a bit straighter as Xu came over; the girl gave the doctor a smile.

"It's all good. A bit itchy but seems to be healing."

Xu nodded. "Excellent to hear. Now, what brings you back to the clinic?"

The girl's smile faltered a bit and Harrison swore he saw a tinge of pink appear in her cheeks. "Ah...well, uh, I came to um. Talk to him, actually-"

She pointed shyly to Harrison, and he blinked at her in confusion. Talk to him? Why?

Xu seemed just as confused as he was. "Oh?"

"Yeah...um, private matter."

"Huh?" Harrison blurted out.

She turned her attention back to him and rubbed at her injured arm awkwardly. "Um. If you have the time, anyway."

"S-sure, I guess."

He stood up and came out from behind the table; the girl took a few timid steps toward the door and when he followed along she headed outside into a much brighter day than Harrison had been expecting.

He raised a hand to shield his eyes and looked over to her. "What did you need to talk to me about? Did I do something wrong with your injury?"

She shook her head, hard; it was hard enough to dislodge a few wisps of hair from the messy bun on top of her head. "No no nonono, nothing like that. I was just um, wondering if you'd...like to go get coffee or lunch sometime?"

With that the woman stood there, lightly scraping the toe of her shoe into the mud; Harrison felt like someone had abruptly switched off all the lights inside his brain. She wanted to go get coffee, with HIM?

"Uh..."

"It's ok if you don't want to," she went on in a rush. "I don't mind. You're probably busy. I shouldn't have asked."

"N-no, no, it's-" Harrison interrupted. "Ah - no one has ever asked that before. I think my brain shut off." He offered her a weak, slightly sheepish smile, and to his surprise she returned it. "But...why me?"

"I...dunno. You're from Lucien, like me. I don't meet a lot of Lucien natives when I travel around. And, you're. Um. You know...cute, so I thought, why not?"

Now it felt like his ears were on fire. "A-ah," was all he could say.

An awkward silence fell and it went on entirely too long for Harrison's liking; he was hoping she would say something...he wasn't sure WHAT, but he wanted to hear SOMETHING, anything, that would take the burden of this conversation off him until his brain caught up.

"So..."

"Ah, uh, yeah, um, sure," he said finally. "I-I mean, if you're sure."

The girl's face brightened and she bounced on the balls of her feet for a moment. "Hee! Yay! Ok, so when are you next free?"

"Later this evening?" he offered.

She nodded. "All right then - later this evening. Down at that restaurant in the square? The knight one?"

Harrison nodded, feeling lightheaded; he completely missed what she said as she waved and then headed off down the hill. Too late he returned the wave, and then leaned against the clinic doors behind him.

"What...just happened..." he muttered, rubbing at his forehead.

He, Harrison, had a date tonight.

...wait, did she ever even give her name?

"Oh boy..."

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

"Haven't seen you in a bit," Django said as Eli walked through the door.

With all the afterimages swimming around (it was REALLY bright outside today) Eli could barely see him, and somewhat stumbled her way toward the counter. "Been helping the Pigs out at the facility."

"Ah, that'd be it."

She managed to find a stool and sat down. "I had to come back for some supplies and I'd like to take some treats out to the them as a surprise."

Django nodded. "I see, hmm. I just pulled an apple pie out of the oven, and I've got some Black Forest cake made just this morning. Won't take long to whip anything else up either," he said as he flipped open a menu to the dessert section and slid it over to her.

"Thanks." She picked it up and held it in front of her; with the afterimages it'd probably be another minute or two before she could clearly read it. "Do you know if they've established any favorites?"

"I know Arlo doesn't really like sweets in general. I haven't talked to Asher or Adam enough to know about those two."

Eli frowned; good thing she'd asked. "All right, no sweets for Arlo then. I know he likes spicy things at least. How about...an order of vanilla pudding, some of that apple pie, and that spicy spaghetti stuff?"

"Sounds good."

As Django headed off toward the kitchen Eli folded the menu properly and returned it to the pile, then leaned forward to brace her elbows on the counter and put her forehead in her hands.

Every idea she'd had so far to disable that suit all required things that weren't around anymore; the easiest would be a localized EMP to overload the projector circuits and force it into a reboot cycle where it wouldn't be able to disguise its user until it fully restarted itself. A sliver shot would do similar in that it would disrupt the projectors by confusing its sensors with a quick burst of hard light mirror shards. Or she could use a taser overload, or a bolt drainer, or a sys-dis (a system disabler - it would scramble all the circuit signals), or even a battery overcharger. So many things she COULD do, if she was in her own time period...

But she wasn't, and simple ideas like trying to use water or some sort of paint or even dirt to try and short out or otherwise mark their target probably wouldn't work -- Access Suits had built in miniature shield generators evenly interspersed among the projector sensors that pulled double duty at repelling water as well as dirt, dust, or mud-like materials. She couldn't safely rely on the hope that those generators were as damaged as the faulty projectors; if they were working correctly they might get two seconds, tops, of visual assistance if they were to try and douse the spy in something...two seconds could seem like forever in a fight but since there was no telling what else that spy might be armed with by now Eli was not about to risk anyone around her with so many unknown variables (it was as much for the spy's safety as well as their own that they be able to clearly see what they were doing the next time they clashed - she'd hated firing blindly at the spy and it'd be a really simple matter for someone to accidentally kill someone else).

"Something the matter?"

Eli jumped at the sound of Django's voice just over her shoulder. "You walk really quietly when you want to."

Django chuckled as he moved back behind the counter; he had a few containers in hand that he neatly lined up on the counter in front of her. "Old habits I guess, haha. It'll be a few minutes on the spaghetti."

She slid her pack off her back and pulled a cloth bag out of one of the front pockets, then sat it on the counter; before she could say anything Django picked it up and began to slide the containers inside.

"It was an honest question though - something on your mind?"

Eli paused, then huffed out a sigh. "Just trying to figure out how to hunt down a ghost, is all."

Django's eyebrows raised a bit. "Wasn't aware we had a ghost problem outside of our haunted cave."

"Not a literal ghost," she replied, laughing quietly. "More like someone pretending to be one."

"I see. Not exactly your run of the mill problem to have."

With another sigh Eli rested her forehead on her hands again. "I'm not exactly a run of the mill person."

Django nodded slowly, rubbing at his chin. "...you know, how about we have a quick dart game while we wait on your spaghetti?"

There was something...odd, about his tone. Eli eyed him but couldn't detect anything other than his usual smiling demeanor -- he sounded off but looked fine.

"...all right," she answered, standing up and aside as he shuffled out from behind the counter and led the way toward the back game room.

There were a few others in the restaurant; Eli found herself waving at folks as she went and narrowly dodging Toby who was waving a report card at her (she made a mental note that there were only two more months for Toby to prove he'd kept his grades up enough for training) and then she was in the game room with Django already retrieving the darts from a drawer in the prize counter.

He didn't say anything at first as he handed her the three green darts while he kept the red ones. "So. Looking for a person pretending to be a ghost, you said?" Django lined up a dart and then tossed it a breath later; it landed right on the border between a bullseye and the next ring out.

Eli huffed then laughed quietly. "I feel like I'm about to lose. Terribly."

Django tossed another one and it landed squarely inside the bullseye. "I've had a lot of practice. Where's this ghost person lurking? Out at the facility?"

"...yeah," she answered after a pause. "We have an uninvited visitor out there."

The third dart he threw, to Eli's surprise, flew well off to the left and embedded itself into the thick safety backboard that the dartboard was mounted on. "When did this ghost show up?"

"Recently."

She watched silently as he went over and slowly took the darts down; when he was out of the way she took her first throw and it barely stayed within the board, embedding itself into a bottom right section that wasn't worth any points at all.

"Humor me. Was it someone you think is on the smaller, lighter side?"

"I...guess. Couldn't really get a good look at them, obviously." Rather than taking her second throw she turned around to face him; he'd moved over to lean against the prize counter's front, arms crossed over his chest and a somewhat brooding look on his face -- seeing something other than his usual cheerful expression immediately made her forget all about the dart game. "All right, spill: what are you getting at?"

Django inhaled and exhaled slowly. "Did Arlo tell you about that Rogue Knight we had, not too long ago?"

"Yeah, I've heard about it. He said you were the one who was able to drive them off too. You think this knight guy came back?"

He shook his head. "No, I don't think your visitor is the same Rogue Knight I fought that day. But you mentioning a ghost brought back some memories, from when I was younger. Of a different, more dangerous knight, in her own way."

Eli walked over and dropped her remaining darts onto the counter. "Are knights just a common thing now?"

"Not anymore. In the older days - meaning, the older days of our current era, between the Calamity and when humanity was finally recovering - folks took up the title of knight as they fought to protect their homes and people from both man and monster alike. Humanity didn't have much left back then...just a lot of old stories and memories of how things once were, but the legends that were even older than the Old World still managed to survive. Such stories helped keep the survivors alive, and while it's a tradition that's been mostly overwritten by the Civil Corps and other law enforcement nowadays, there's still a fair few of us who stick to those old stories and the honor that comes with claiming the title of knight."

Eli watched him as he spoke; the brooding look had given away to something more resembling a thoughtfulness - a softer, more introspective look, and as he talked his chin was slowly dipping down so his gaze ended up on the floor just in front of his feet.

"So..." she said quietly into the pause that followed. "Why did me mentioning a ghost make you think of another knight?"

Django finally lifted his gaze and flashed her a grim smile. "I drove that Rogue Knight off with the belief that he wouldn't dare step foot here again. I still believe that, in fact. But I've been on my guard for any hints of other troublesome knights that might show up to try and finish the job he left undone. It just so happens that I know of a woman who called herself the Ghost Knight -- I knew her when I was a younger man. We even fought together a few times to clear out monster nests or drive off bandits."

Eli's eyes widened. "You're kidding."

"I wish I were. You mentioning you were looking for someone pretending to be a ghost brought her to mind."

"Who is she? What's she look like? Why would she be here?"

"I don't know. I never learned her real name, and she never learned mine. I never even saw her face - only the strange suit of armor she wore. As for why she's here-"

"Is she a mercenary for hire?" Eli interrupted. "What - how did - how do knights function?" At his mildly surprised look she slumped her shoulders a bit. "Sorry - didn't mean to interrupt you."

Django chuckled and pushed off from the counter, moving to line up to throw his darts again. "Not a problem. I can only guess at why she'd be here -- same reason the Rogue Knight was, I wager. I wouldn't call her a mercenary...that's not what we did. But, it's been over a decade since I last spoke with her, and people can change."

Eli shifted and leaned against the counter almost in the same spot he'd just vacated, putting him and the dartboard at her back as she stared a hole into the wood in front of her; if this person was this Ghost Knight that Django had known years ago then that meant it was a good chance that this spy's having an Access Suit was just...a one-off. One person who got their hands on something that actually still worked. That was one fear off the list, at least.

"Django... How did this woman fight? What did she do as the Ghost Knight?"

"Scouting," came his answer, quicker than she'd expected. There was the sound of the dart thunking into the board before he continued. "No one was better at it than her. And in a battle she was the best flanking attacker you could hope to have on your side."

"Flanking... Does that mean she didn't take people on in a direct manner?"

"She avoided that as much as possible but she was still capable of defending herself if she had to." Another thunk of a dart. "Can I ask you a favor?"

"Sure."

She turned around from the counter in time to see Django turning as well, flicking his wrist and sending the dart at the board without looking or aiming; the dart stuck into the bullseye.

"If you find this person, and manage to capture them, I would like to speak to her."

"I... I mean, I'M willing to let that happen, but I'm not a Civil Corps person. That's not likely up to me."

Django nodded, slipping his hands into the pockets of his colorful coat. "If you can make that happen, I'd be indebted to you... Excuse me, I should go check the spaghetti. It ought to be done by now."

"Yeah, sure thing. I'll head back up to the counter."

He disappeared through a small door into the kitchen and, as she said, Eli walked out of the game room and back to the counter where the rest of her order was sitting packed neatly into the cloth sack.

She looked over a shoulder at the restaurant's patrons; there were considerably more people here now than had been when she'd first walked in, and Django had purposely wanted to talk to her about it away from others. She really, really wanted to ask him more about how this Ghost Knight woman fought, or where she'd come from, or--

'I'll come back when it's not busy, or maybe I can catch him at home.'

That he'd admitted he'd been on the lookout for any other trouble-making knights worried her...maybe she should also split her history lesson time between Isaac and Django.

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

"Bye, see you tomorrow!"

Django gave Sonia a small wave and a smile as she headed out the front door; there were a few spots left to sweep and then he could put out the lights and head home himself.

Normally he enjoyed the absolute silence of the restaurant late at night - it gave him time to daydream, or plan for the next day's operations. Tonight though... He couldn't help but think of that Ghost Knight. Everything he could recall about her had come flooding back in a rush when Eli had mentioned someone pretending to be a ghost; any other time he would have dismissed it as silly old memories but now...

He bent and swept up dirt into the dustpan, and then moved to carry it over to the waste bin.

Ever since he'd driven that rogue knight off he'd been constantly vigilant for any hint, no matter how small, that someone else had arrived to plunge Portia into chaos. He imagined most people would think he was being paranoid without reason and so had kept such worries to himself...maybe he shouldn't have done that. Portia's residents had been panicked at first and demanding more protections from the Civil Corps folks after the knight incident but, as time wore on, they'd fallen back into their lives without fear of outside threats; would anything be different now if Django had shared his worries with Gale?

"Too late for that," he muttered to himself.

He swept up the last little dust pile and dumped it into the bin, then went to put the dustpan and broom away.

Once everything but a single lamp was powered down he dipped behind the front counter; for the most part he stored napkins, silverware, and small dessert plates behind here but after that Rogue Knight had left he'd started stashing a small box out of sight behind the formal cloth napkins that were only used during holidays.

The box was about the length of his hand from fingertips to the heel of his palm, and was just barely shy of being perfectly square. Django popped the latch open and lifted the lid to reveal a delicate-looking pair of gloves made of silvery wires, each with a single wire that was much longer than the others that ended in a tiny plug; they were very hard to see among the loose cloth that padded the inside of the box, and he knew from experience that even when worn they were difficult to spot.

As he looked the gloves over he had his usual mixed feelings about them; hidden beneath his shirt and jacket were a pair of matching armbands hugging his biceps that had very small charge generators on it -- wearing the gloves with the lead wire plugged in allowed him to charge up and release a controlled shock that went off with a bang, a bright flash of light, and repelled anything he hit along with delivering a strong sting to his target.

Much like the memories of the Ghost Knight now all his memories of having found these relics came rushing back; he'd once been a young, stupid man, with lofty ideals about what it meant to be a knight without truly understanding anything about knighthood. He'd thought that finding these gloves had been the ultimate stroke of luck -- something to make him an unstoppable force of good in the world. He'd been hilariously proven wrong, over and over, until he began to treat them as tools to compliment his own skill, rather than relying entirely on them.

When he finally understood what the gloves true purpose ought to be he began to win more often and eventually they had earned him the title of Storm Knight; when he'd realized that his dependence on them had basically shaped his reputation he had almost thrown them away. The fear that someone else would make the same mistakes he did (or worse - that someone would use them to harm others) had made him keep them, and steadily he relied on them less and less over the years until he'd mothballed them five years before he retired. The Rogue Knight had been threat enough that Django had felt the need to take the gloves out of storage and thankfully with them - and with his reputation - that had been enough to scare the knight off.

The problem with this Ghost Knight was Django knew reputation alone wouldn't drive her away. She had fallen into the same pitfalls he had: thinking that Old World technology made her invincible, or at the very least better than everyone else. Rather than learning and improving she had stagnated...and he'd watched it happen.

"You could have been one of the best..." he sighed, closing the box and tucking it under an arm.

She really could have been...maybe he should have fought her harder on her reliance on that suit. Maybe she would have listened if he'd fully explained his own mistakes with the gloves. Maybe he could have trained with her to show her there was a more honorable way of living. But then again, maybe there wasn't some magical combination of words that would have swayed her to his side and stopped her from getting mad and literally stabbing him in the back.

As he headed to the front door he reached his free hand around to rub at a spot on his lower back. That old scar ached and itched when it was cold or wet outside but it was an old wound he'd learned to ignore; tonight it was a dull throbbing pain - probably exacerbated by the sweeping, or so he told himself before pausing to really examine that thought.

There used to be an old wives tale about how an injury caused by a mortal enemy would burn and ache when that enemy was nearby. The Ghost Knight had been his companion once...he didn't think for a moment that they could be friends again but he could spare a bit of hope that the old tale was true and that he would know exactly when he was needed if it was truly her in the region.

#Lost in Time #lit #Lost in Time - ch 14 #Dr. Xu #Django #My Time at Portia

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