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brokenmimir · 4 years

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Huntress Mark IV: White Rose

White Rose Week 2020, Day 8: Free Day

Faced with the unbeatable Grimm, humanity adapted, developing a new weapon capable of dealing with the giant monsters.

https://archiveofourown.org/works/24773473

“I would kill for a cheeseburger,” Ruby sighed.

Weiss ignored her, even though she knew that doing so would only make her dolt of a partner worse. Sure enough she sighed again, louder, and, when that didn't work, she actually said 'sigh' out loud. Finally Weiss bowed to the inevitable. “What?”

“I said, I'd kill for a cheeseburger.”

“Well, unless you intend to try human meat I'm not sure what you expect me to do about it,” Weiss said.

“I don't want you to do anything,” Ruby pouted. “I just wanted to complain.”

“Oh, I see,” Weiss hummed. “Well, if we're complaining about things that we know won't get fixed by talking about it, I'm stuck with a dolt of a partner who won't let me focus on the sensors when we're waiting to ambush a pack of Grimm.”

“Jeez, that does sound annoying,” Ruby said blithely. “Hey, if you could eat anything, what would you eat? Like, right now? Usually I'd say strawberries, or cookies, but I really want a big ol' juicy cheeseburger. What about you?”

“Some silence maybe,” Weiss said. “I would love some silence.”

“Silly Weiss, you can't eat silence.”

Weiss just closed her eyes, slowly counting to ten in her head. It wouldn't look good if she strangled her partner while on the job. Or ever, probably, although she'd likely get a special dispensation from people that knew Ruby if it didn't interfere with her field work.

A beeping sound attracted her attention, and she stiffened, focusing completely on the many screens in front of her. Even Ruby became quiet, recognizing when Weiss was in the middle of something that truly demanded all of her attention.

“I'm picking up Grimm,” Weiss said. “I'm reading a pack of Beowolves. One of them might be an Alpha, but he's staying in the middle of the pack so it's hard to get a reading on him.”

“ETA?” Ruby asked.

“Five minutes,” Weiss said.

“Alright!” Ruby cheered. “Let's get this finished! We take care of this pack and we can head back to Vale and celebrate.”

“That sounds nice,” Weiss said with a smile as she began to work her way through her part of the checklist as the two of them prepared for combat. “We should go to that new sushi place that just opened up.”

“What- no! Cheeseburger Weiss! Cheeseburger!”

“But you said celebrate,” Weiss said innocently. Despite the amount of wear and tear they'd put on it over the past few years, their vehicle came up smoothly, the work by the mechanics, as well as their own care, keeping it ready despite everything. “Sushi would make for a nice celebration.”

“Bleh. Raw fish. That's not food. Where's the grease? Where's the meat. Where's the beef!”

“But Blake would come along if we go for sushi,” Weiss said. “Checklist clear. Ready?”

“Checklist clear, ready,” Ruby agreed as she flicked the last few switches. “Condition green, everything normal. And if I ask Yang she'd go for burgers, and then Blake would come with her.”

“Not if I mention sushi to Blake first,” Weiss said smugly. “You know there's no way Yang would disappoint Blake by not giving her fish when she asks for it.”

“Noooo!” Ruby cried. “Not if I get to them first!”

“Who's running the comms, Ruby,” Weiss said. “I just need to type a quick message…”

“No fair! Please! I really, really want a cheeseburger. Greasy beef, gooey cheese, greasy and gooey bread from the beef and the cheese… and all those crispy, greasy fries!”

Weiss made a face. “Ugh. Are you trying to convince me to send Blake that message?”

Ruby sighed. “What do you want?”

“Want?” Weiss asked, an expression of false innocence on her face so fake even Penny would've seen through it. “Whatever do you mean?”

Ruby crossed her arms and gave her a look. After a moment Weiss smirked. “Well, there was that new ballet opening this weekend.”

Ruby looked torn, her face pained as she struggled with the difficult choice, before finally her shoulders slumped. “Fine. We can go to the stupid ballet.”

Weiss leaned over and gave her a quick kiss. “Now see, was that so bad?”

“Yes,” Ruby pouted.

“Well, why don't you work out some aggression on those Grimm,” Weiss said. “They'll be here right about… now.”

With that Ruby flicked the last switches, grabbing both sticks and working the pedals. Their combat mech, a Huntress Mark IV, stood from cover, the plants they'd affixed to it falling away to reveal its custom white and red paint job. It resembled a human knight without a head, but standing twenty feet tall, and was exceptionally bulky and broad in the chest. Bight spotlights on either side of the torso lit up the dense woods at the press of a button by Weiss, and the arms lifted, revealing the pair of heavy gauss gatling cannons mounted on the underside of each.

Even inside of the protected cockpit the sound of both cannons firing was loud. They spat forty millimeter ferrous slugs at five times the speed of sound, at a rate of two hundred slugs per second. Anyone outside of the combat mech would've been instantly deafened, and even nearby Grimm howled in pain at the assault on their eardrums.

Trees between them and the Grimm pack were instantly cut down, and the Grimm faired little better. As Ruby scythed the arms across the battlefield Grimm were cut cleanly in half, the giant monsters, which rivaled the height of the Huntress mech, were no match for so much firepower at such close range.

Weiss kept a close eye on the sensors, calling out warnings whenever one of the Beowolves tried to flank them. Ruby would respond by running the mech backwards, or, if that failed to buy sufficient distance, she would fire off the jump jets, sending them flying through the air until they were away from the rampaging Grimm.

“I see the alpha!” Ruby shouted.

“On it,” Weiss said, quickly preparing a firing solution. Once she had it ready she glanced at the main view screen, where the gargantuan Grimm, half again as tall as their mech, loped towards them, its thick white bone armor repelling even the devastating gauss cannon, as Ruby kept one firing at it while the other continued mopping up the smaller Beowolves. “Ready!”

“Light 'em up!” Ruby shouted.

Weiss flipped up the cover on the button, and then pressed it. The shoulders of the mech lifted up, revealing four small missile launchers on each side, which then began to spew forth dozens of missiles from each tube. The screens dimmed, replacing the normal picture with a composite from the high resolution radar system and other sensors, as the explosions from hundreds of plasma missiles fired at point blank range made sight impossible. Their own mech rocked on its stabilizers, before the barrage cut off.

“It's too close, pull back or get out the scythe,” Weiss said.

“Hmm, it'll regen too fast if we pull back,” Ruby said. “Looks like the missiles peeled its armor off, so I'll go hand to hand.”

Weiss looked up at the main screen, which had finally reverted to normal vision. The Alpha Beowolf was missing its armor and skin, with black smoke rising from all over its body. Despite that the creature kept pressing forward, somehow moving even faster as it kept the ruined, now eyeless face pointed at the mech. All around the beast was a vast, oblong wasteland of glass, as the plasma missiles had utterly vaporized everything within twenty meters of the Grimm as it moved, the heat so intense that the surrounding trees turned directly into ash without starting a forest fire.

With a whoop of excitement Ruby launched the mech towards the Alpha, pulling a long pole from its back as she did so. The pole served as a barrel for the long sniper rail gun, which fired hypervelocity rounds capable of destroying a normal Grimm to the very edge of radar range, but it also served as the body of the mech's melee weapon. With the press of a button a blade of pure plasma emerged from the end of the pole, creating a massive, incredibly lethal scythe, which Ruby quickly put to use.

As much as she enjoyed watching Ruby fight at close range, Weiss returned her attention to the sensors, providing quick warnings whenever one of the few surviving Beowolves tried to ambush them. Dealing with the minor threats slowed them down, but they were swiftly dispatched with a single swing of the scythe or a burst of gauss cannon fire. It was still enough to keep the Alpha in the fight, with even the terrible injuries already inflicted rapidly regenerating, the plasma wounds barely slowing it down. Finally, when the last of the small Grimm had sacrificed themselves, Weiss gave the all clear, and Ruby set to work.

The Alpha Beowolf didn't last much longer after that.

“And that's a wrap!” Ruby crowed once Weiss had verified the all clear one last time with her sensors.

“I suppose so,” Weiss said, before pressing a few buttons on her comm controls. “White Rose to Beacon Actual. Dogs put down, returning to base. Over.”

“Was that worth a kiss?” Ruby asked hopefully when she finished.

“Hmm… I don't know,” Weiss said. “You took a long time dealing with that Alpha. Losing your touch?”

“No way!” Ruby shouted. “Did you see how old it was! Besides, I got it in the end.”

“Fine,” Weiss sighed, before leaning over and giving Ruby a long, toe curling kiss. “Sushi time?”

“No! Weiss! Cheeseburgers!”

#white rose week #white rose #rwby #ruby rose #weiss schnee #fanfic

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unikornu · 4 years

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Page 13, Reassurance,

Early morning at Nuka Town gives impression that its still asleep but it never is. Raider patrols are always on their watch to make sure traders do not slack and prepare their stations, just without excessive shouting due to early hours and half of them being hangover. Neither asleep was Gage and Lucy. They were heading relaxed towards the south exit, wind blowing rather strong today, raising the dust particles and paper scraps in the air.

-You look rather…uhmm professional today, Boss. Gage pointed out looking at the white sturdy vest with a high collar around the neck. It was striking Institute right in the face but it had more combat aspect to it rather than the appearance of the usual lab coat especially that she still kept her spiked bracers on. With a tight pants and sleeves combined with some additional reinforcements into the grey fabric it almost looked like a field agent suit. He wasn’t complaining one bit about it, once he took a good look at her back and dropped his eye lower.

- Ekhem. Lucy grunted under her nose pulling her hair into a ponytail and directing his attention back up to her. - Since Lizzie managed to burn holes in my usual clothes after last trip i had to find a temporary replacement. Institute provided me with it as i agreed to be their agent on the ground before i came here.

- Institute shitheads…i really hope they won’t interfere with our plan Boss. I know they are involved in some shady stuff out there but, shit… you have been there, ya know better, i hope. Gage looked at her raising his eyebrow. He knew the eggheads were the only ones Lucy didn’t turn away so far, hell, she’s been even sending them occasional reports on her situation and to his surprise after each one sent there would a package awaiting for them under the famous corpse “decorated’ tree that was burning each night spreading the smoke and stench of fresh victims that didn’t escape the gangs thirst for caps and blood.

- I think they just want to survive and reach their own goals, pushing their plans, no matter the cost even if its humanity…not so different than us, don’t ya think? We, here, just lack uhm, some control and manners i guess? And we don’t run around in clean lab coats. She ended her thought with a shrug looking for a small confirmation back from the raider.

-Maybe….i dunno Boss..but still, lots of folks out there never dare to raise their fucking nose higher out of their stupid little lives to see all of this deeper like us, so we will have to deal with their opinion the usual way, my favorite one. He smiled with a corner of his mouth at the thought.

They passed the station and decided to take the first stop at the remains of the small town nearby.

----- -So who are those Hubologists that we are about to visit? Never heard of them. Are they any threat to us?

-Threat? - Gage laughed. -No…but they sure are weird as fuck. I pointed a gun at one of them once and the shithead still asked me if i’m truly happy. And then he just walked away like nothing happened. I guess we find out more today, Boss.

They strolled slowly through the ruins with their weapons prepared for any surprise awaiting in the shady, crumbling corners. Instead they heard some voices deeper into the town and sounds of a brawl. They nodded at each other and rushed towards the noise. Peeking from behind the wall they noticed a troubled caravan trying to fend off a group of hungry oversized crickets.

-Cmon Gage, lets help them first and ask questions later. She ordered but Gage hesitated a bit as he wasn’t always feeling like giving a helping hand to a strangers but eventually listened and went after her, growling under the nose. After a short struggle with nasty jumpy invaders traders turned towards the duo pointing their guns at them. There were five of them, three men dressed as an escort and two women.

- Easy there. Lucy backed off a step, raising her knife in the air. - We just saw you were in trouble and felt like jumping in.

- Right…i’m sorry. We just prefer to be sure you are not raiders trying to steal from us. Eh, its ok men. Just put the gun down. The woman with short dark blond hair stepped out and ordered.

- Are you a trader? And how did you end up here? It’s not very….common road. Lucy punched Gage with an elbow to put his rifle down as well.

- Yes, we are merchants. I’m Cora. After our village didn’t survive the attack of the super mutants we decided to move on and we heard about Diamond City. We are just on our way there. Are you from…? She looked down at her suit squinting her eyes in suspicion.

-Institute? Oh no no…i’m just a field scientist, Lucy, helping some folks in Nuka Town with local…flora and getting some materials for my work. She lied and smiled at her. - And this is my lovely mercenary Porter that i hired to protect me out there. Lot of nasty bugs. She patted him on the shoulder like a good pup. Gage was about to punch her in the arm but noticed what she was stirring there and decided to leave it for later. - You mentioned Diamond City? Its still a long road. Why don’t you just stop by the Nuka Town?

- We actually never heard of it. Everyone were saying that Diamond City is the best stopping big point right now and very safe for traders.

- Of course, because they have never been in Nuka Town. It is as safe as Diamond City and i can guarantee you that can get really good deals there. And as a scientist i do have quite high standards. You should really check it out first, with your group you can get there in around two hours. Look i can show you in this tiny little device. She approached Cora and showed her a location of Nuka Town on her map. With her looks and some basic science babble on how she got a working pipboy she managed to convince them to stop by Nuka Town.

-Dayum Boss…i was not expecting you doing that. He whispered to her as they were waving back at the Cora in the distance.

-Doing what? Lying to them…partly? They sat in the patio chairs in the camp left by traders to catch on a snack and drink before moving to Hubologists.

- You know what’s gonna happen. You might see them in a few days..just they won’t be that grateful this time but..screw em. You just pushed yourself to the next level Boss. Gage grinned proudly but Lucy got stirred for a moment in her thought process on what she just did. It all happened so natural and fast, no doubt stopped her at any second of it. Was she becoming truly evil, heartless? Or just stepping up in a survival ladder and shaping every occasion to benefit her community.

- Hey Boss…heyyyyy. He shook her by the shoulder.

-Ugh sorry i got caught again in some..thoughts. She raised her hand and brushed the inner corners of her eyes. Gage wasn’t very much for a talk but he at least wanted to show at least a little bit of interest beyond the usual routine from time to time.

-Um..something troubling you Boss? He asked and offered her a cigarette.

- Did you ever lie so much in your life that you actually felt bad for it at some point? She snatched a smoke out of the pack.

- I don’t think so Boss….as i started my fucked up “career” quite early. I kind of lied to my parents promising them to take care of everything as i grow up, be a good man or some shit. I ended up just taking care of myself but i accepted the facts and moved on pretty fast. He lighted one for himself and stuffed the pack back into his pocket in ugly fashion.

- I lied to my partner before, our whole time actually but i loved him at the same time. The longer it was going the easier was lying but at the end of the day i felt more and more like shit for hiding what i was doing, with my boss and the gangs. And he truly loved me back and believed everything to the very end. It wasn’t fair for him. She left out a deep sigh along with the smoke.

-Look..Boss. That is gone and none of it matter here anymore. I don’t care who you were before. What is fucking important is if what ya do feels right for ya and if it keeps your head on your shoulders. Sometimes you might need to dirty your hands up to get there but…yeh. Gage stood up and threw a smoke to the ground.

-So far you didn’t have to lie to yourself, neither to me as you came here so i guess….you’re good eh? He looked down at her, with reassuring smile and offered her a hand. He usually failed at offering any kind of support other than the one related to bullets but he was quite convinced he managed to deliver some of it this time.

- Ye…i think you are right, okay, enough of this. Lets go. She grabbed his palm and pulled herself up focusing her mind back to their daily task. He was right, she even told him back at cappy cafe that she can finally openly express how partly wicked she is and the only consequence is a bullet in her or someone's else head.

Upon entering a a Hubologists camp Lucy immediately rolled her eyes towards the huge fire hydrant. She was about to say how fucked up of an idea it is but then again it was Nuka World so this was still falling into almost normal category along with museum of shovels.

-Welcome stranger! I’m Dara. A woman with grey short hair wearing something that looked like a spacesuit…more of a costume than a spacesuit came right up to them. Her overwarm welcoming already felt strange.

-Uhmm hello? You are the leader of hubologist? Lucy asked.

-So you heard of us? Fantastic! I was hoping you would finally join us on this great path that Star Father has guided us towards! Dara started explaining the greatness of her “cult” and Lucy slowly started to get the idea of what they are, as along with Gage her face was twisting into a confusion and she abruptly stopped Dara from talking any further, raising the palm of her hand in front of the woman.

- Dara…ye? No offense but..you guys are fucked up in the head quite…much, not sure on what drugs are you but even i wouldn’t dare to try, so..i will pass on further..cosmic story. Gage hold his chuckle to himself as Lucy pointed out with total seriousness in her voice.

- It’s a shame then that you think that but… i might have something else for you then. Dara face also turned into serious expression, losing her crazy vibe in that moment. - I need more spacesuits from the Galaxy Zone you look quite…for a task.

- Oh, really? Spacesuits? What the hell you need spacesuits for? Lucy looked at Gage but he only gave her a shrug back.

- Its none of your business right now. Get them first and then maybe we will talk further as we will be preparing for our journey out of this shithole. Lucy was about to turn her down but the idea of some extra caps wasn’t that bad and they were headed to the Galaxy Park next anyway. And if they were planning to get out anyway why not help them.

- How much you pay? She asked.

- Enough to convince you to take up on a task and leave right now. Dara looked at the man in a hood nearby, pointing at the laser rifle in his hands.

- Fine, we will meet later. She turned away and pulled the Gage after her, leaving their camp.

-----

Lucy decided to head back to Fizztop. Further preparations had to be done before giving a hit to the last park. From the description of it on a colorful pamphlet they indeed needed some pulse grenades to deal with robotics that might still be in there.

-Boss, i know they don’t cause any issues and they are fucked up crazy but we will have to get rid of them at some point, one way or another. Gage pointed out as they were crossing the town.

-We will Gage, don’t worry. I still have to stop by Lizzie to check how she’s doing on those grenades. We will meet later at Fizztop. Lucy took a sharp turn towards Parlor, leaving troubled raider to himself.

As the afternoon passed and it turned into late evening Gage decided to take a break from tinkering with his weaponry and leaving some notes on the terminal, that now changed its purpose along with the new Overboss. He heard a silent guitar notes coming from the radio, striking in the air to the hall. Gage walked towards the patio stretching his arms and neck on the way.

-Hey Boss, what ya doin? Been pretty silent here since you came back from Parlor. He approached her sitting at the bar with a bottle of wine and two empty glasses.

-Was waiting for you actually. She poured a bit of wine into both glasses and stood up from the the bar stool.

-Huh..me, why? Gage asked nervously and his eye opened more widely, noticing what she was wearing. It looked almost like a cocktail dress from a parlor ripped poster, black and glittery -Something specific on your mind Boss?

-Just a small occasional toast, for a job well done so far. We are going down to the last park very soon. She stretched her hand offering him a drink.

-Ye, i guess that can’t hurt. He took it gently and smelled the booze inside before clinking the glasses with her. - Also, where did you get all of…. that? He scanned her from head to toes leaning to the side against the bar.

-Oh..a recompense from Lizzie on turning my last one into a swiss cheese. She found it somewhere deep into the storage room and snatched it before Mags threw it away by mistake. - You like it…? She gave a fast spin and noticed him trying to resist the smile growing to the sides of his face.

-Well, your ass always looks great but…that is something..else. He brushed the back of his neck and pushed himself away from the bar preparing slowly to leave before she would catch him and convince to do more unprofessional business.

-Gage listen, i know you hate these kind of chit chats but…

She took his hand and pulled him close to her. - I just wanted to tell you that i feel good so far…where i am and what we do together, to get this place back for us. She bit her lips nervously and slowly looked up in his eye.

-I thought it would be the end of my fucked life…that the gauntlet would take my sorry ass or you right after it. She joked trying not to scare him too much with her words. - But look, i was lost when everything blew up and went to shit and i finally feel like i found my place in this garbage and also...there is you, protecting and covering up for my dumb mistakes and i just...appreciate it, i guess. Her eyes rolled nervously around before looking at him again.

-Uhm…shit…Boss i…i am glad you think so.. really..i do. And you are not that dumb..i mean just…impulsive. His brain was storming to find literally anything better to say at this moment as she started to gaze at him. - Look, i know we are kinda busy, deep in work and shit and its been some time but…i am happy it was you who showed up here...and that i didn’t have to kill ya. He managed to joke back at her and calmed down a bit as the smile showed up at her face in a response.

He almost took a step back as she put her hands around his neck trying not to blush like some kind of soft fucker. But on the other side he felt a pinch of pride mixed with surprise, that she was saying all of these words to him, only. That she was standing there looking like from some damn magazine, for him. He almost felt like he didn’t deserve all of this trust and sweet talk at this moment but he wouldn’t dare to throw it away either.

-Just stay, tonight. I won’t torture you further with my shitty talk. She whispered as she leaned herself on his chest. He wrapped his arm firmly around her waist. That was indeed something else, more meaningful, not just joking around and some occasional corner teasing and kissing.

-Hey..when i shouted in your face that i care about you i did fucking mean it. I’m not good at these talks..and stuff but maybe that will do…. He placed his both hands at her waist almost tempted to drop them even lower on her ass and started slowly swinging with her to the sides in the tune of the radio.

-Gage..but you hate….

-But you like it so…shut up. He interrupted her and endured another round of slow dancing.

Lucy tried to turn her head to hide the wide grin but got caught in a surprise kiss from the raider. There was nothing else to be said. Just them, swinging slowly, being reassured in their future plan and each other. Only the swinging didn’t last so long as the kiss and temptation led them both pretty fast to a nearby couch for the rest of the evening.

#fallout 4 #fo4 #nuka world #lucy's diary #lucy feit #porter gage #screenshot #thrax's action poses #pose it mod

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fan-dumb-trash · 5 years

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For your consideration: Remile Friends-to-Lovers featuring highschool theater shenanigans and self growth

Part Two Sis Part Three Part Four

Remy and Emile are friends, best friends in fact, but fate has a couple tricks up her sleeve to tear them apart, only to bring them back again.

This got longer than expected but theres more to the story after this oh yes indeed so buckle up cause part two is gonna be typed tomorrow when it isnt one in the morning so HERE YA GO @happiness-is-regret

Warnings: Divorce, parents fighting, mild panic attack, self depreciation, if there's more let me know!

So its seventh grade aka awkward central because puberty and acne and awkwardness and it's just awful all around and theres lil Remy who is NOT confident at all by anyone's standards

His parents argue a lot and he learned staying quiet is the best way not to get involved or yelled at in the crossfire so yeah

And then you got Emilie who kinda knows what's goin on but not really. He wears tie dye shirts and aviator glasses sometimes until he had to get actual frames over the summer but it was no big cause he was used to glasses anyways

But Emilie is wiser than the other kids and thinks cliques are stupid and he just loves cartoons and english okay stop teasing him for being a lil bit awkward okay STOp

But yeah he doesn't get friends easy and he tries to squirm in other friend groups but it doesn't feel right. Until Remy. Who is incredibly shy believe it or not! They have no classes together but somehow Remy mustered the courage to compliment Emilies pink hair and BOOM FRIENDSHIP

They eat lunch together. Some days it's in comfortable silence and other times its complaining about teachers or PE miles or this brat kid who vandalized a bathroom stall

And Remy starts warming up and realizing maybe the whole world isn't against him. Just because his home is a literal war zone doesn't mean being friends with Emile is doomed.

At the end of seventh grade the duos lunchtime friendship is going great! Emile is starting to get into cartoons and their convos are “OMG OKAY SO VOLTRON SEASON 2 IS OUT AND IM SCARED REMY I WANT TO CRY FOR MY SPACE CHILDREN ZARKON CAN YEET HIMSELF OFF A CLIFF AND-” “Woah their Em, slow it down sis”

As Remy gets more comfortable there is more teasing and nicknames and laughing but they dont hug and Emile isn't super affectionate but hugs are a thing for friends right???

One day on a weekend it's pretty bad for Remy at home. His parents are yelling and its loud and his breathings picking up and his eyes are shut and he's crying because is it his fault??? Why can't they stop stop stop STOP!

And he has to get out because he cant take it hearing they two people who he loves most fight with each other when they are supposed to love each other and his little brother Janus is sleeping thank god but he needs OUT right fucking now

So he hops out his window and runs. Two houses down and around the corner there's an open field that should probably have a house or a park but low income neighborhoods be like that sometimes ya know?

He runs in the field but then there's trees and a little path but wheres the end and the sun is setting now so he sits and looks at the sky and cries

Emile likes his peace and quiet. Hes and only child but his house gets cluttered with his parents (DOT AND LARRY FITE ME) and their thespian friends on the weekends especially around showtime and tec week so he walks in the field.

So when he comes across Remy he screeches and cusses and they're both apologizing and it's a mess but wait was Remy crying?!?!

So Emile is concerned and sits him back down and they talk. Remy says his parents are probably going to get a divorce and how they've been fighting and all that and Emile starts to understand why he's so sheltered

Remy's crying again so Emile asks “Hey, You can say no but can i hug you?” And Remy nods so they hug and they melt right into itm and they stay there for a while and watch the sunset.

From then on they are attached to the hip. Nothing can separate them. Emile invites Remy over for dinner and out to see his parents shows at the community theater and its fun! Remy kinda gets to be a kid and he has sas now! He sees its okay to be a bit absurd with Larry and how jokes are fine with Dot.

The boys are in the field again after dinner and Emile is talking about Dot and Larry, and Remy cant help but be envious. They're all so happy and perfect and he’ll never get that. He goes home and the glitter fades and he sleeps with music to drown out the shouting but its still there.

Remy says “I wish my parents were like yours. I wish I had that. It's not fucking fair Em”

Emile says “I wish I knew how to help… but I can't. All I can do is offer you a slice of normal and hope you aren't allergic” To which they both laugh. But the insecurity sticks. Remy wonders if he's just going to mess things up later or if him and Emile stop being friends what will happen

And it haunts him. Its summer and his parents get a divorce, but the yelling in person is replaced with battles in court and over text. He has to go to mediation a couple times and Emile is there the next day with icecream and steven universe

Emile starts to notice things. The way Remy's eyes are filled with fire as he banters with Larry or when he rants about things he's passionate about. The way he runs so fast in field like nothing can catch him not even the wind itself. The way his whole face glows when he laughs or how when it's silent with them and the sky, he closes his eyes and hums a song he doesn't know.

And he realizes he's in love and he's so scared because Remy doesn't need romance he needs stability. His world is crumbling and he needs his best friend. And Emilie hides it and surprises himself. Remy doesn't notice the way Emiles hugs last longer or the way he sighs as he walks away. He doesn't notice the stars. His mind is on other things. Remy doesn't have time to feel the same or explore feelings so he doesn't.

Eighth grade things go as normal. Emile is still hopelessly in love. Some nights he cries and some nights he thinks his feelings are finally gone. Some nights Remy sleeps over and they sneak into his moms room and but on stage makeup.

Emile almost kissed him when Remy made him a Jake and Finn card for his birthday. And it was hella cute and cheesy and had “love u babe” on the inside and “happy birthday, bitch” on it and it was classic.

But yeah he totally wasn't disappointed it wasn't Bubbline on the card what???

But then things just… stopped.

Remy stopped going to the field on weekends. He was busy when Emilie wanted to hang out. Em was worried at first that something was wrong at home and that he was lying until he saw Remy around at school with other kids. He was growing his hair out and had a leather jacket and when Emile said hi Remy smiled tight, nodded, and continued to talk to his new friends.

Then he noticed how they were the kids who liked sports or girls or always laughed loud in the cafeteria. He noticed how Remy's sass grew into straight up ego and how his confidence wasn't just with Emile it was with EVERYONE

People waved to him as he walked by. Everyone was “babe” “hun” “sweetie” and “sister” and Emilie felt less special.

And not Eighth Grade was nearly over and Emilie had lost his best friend to the rest of the world. Yes he was happy that Remy was confident and Yes he was happy he made new friends.

But back when Remy needed him, back when they dazzling smile was meant for him, back when the problems were so big you needed two people not just yourself- Emilie could hang on to Remy

But now that Remy didn't need him, he was left for trash. Emilie was heartbroken. He swore to himself he wouldn't let another boy break his heart to the point where cartoons couldn't even cheer him up. He cried when Ruby and Sapphire got married and when Bubbline kicked ass and he prayed for the day when he would have that.

Summer was torture and he never saw Remy in the field. Little did he know Remy was there, just in the trees or wandering at nights when his mom came home yelling and cussing. Emile thought the pain of the divorce was over when Remy was going to court once every 6 months and to family counseling weekly but did it help? No.

Highschool came and Remy climbed to social ladder. He hid the bags under his eyes with sunglasses and kept his pep and sass with starbucks coffee. Combat boots to make him taller.

And Emilie was still alone until Patton came along with Roman. They sat together and then Logan and Virgil joined. Sloane and Corbin who are juniors swung on by. Kai and Elliot would join them the next year and together they became the theatre troupe.

Emilie felt whole with this diverse group of many passions and interests and he couldn't help but smile more. He didn't feel so alone. But part of him still longed for that old friendship he has lost- but there was enough going on to forget it.

Emilie didn't notice Remy staring at him with his fiery eyes when his own friend group were so loud they didn't pay him mind. Remy started to see how the tie die pink haired boy grew up and moved his children with dignity and didn't take their tomfoolery. He saw how he would catch conflicts and mediate them. He saw his goofiness shine through all his actions. And he started to care for this new Emile, but also remember when it was just the two of them. New thoughts lead Remy to think it was him holding Emile back from this all along.

He began to think Emilie was better off without him dragging him down with his million problems. So he too began to embrace to noise and forget.

Next it was Sophomore year when the universe threw them back at each other...

#remy sanders #emilie picani #cartoon therapy #thomas sanders #ts virgil #virgil sanders #ts remy #sleep sanders #ts shorts #ts patton #patton sanders #remyxemile #sander sides #sander sides fic #cartoon therapy fic #remile bullet point fic #My writing #ray writes

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welllpthisishappening · 5 years

Text

[Always] A Boast or Brag

Alright, it’s Fourth of July. Hockey players are consistently absurd in the offseason. And @stealing-vengence sent me an ask earlier today suggesting that something from this post of the aforementioned hockey players being absurd would help inspire some words. So, uh, I spent 30 minutes typing before getting absolutely wrecked at mini-golf and here we are.

Set the summer after Matt is born, so this is actually July 4, 2019 here. It’s like, only, two thousand words! A drabble!

I hope you guys all have/had/will continue to have a good Fourth, but also, like, America is kind of a disaster, so if you’ve got a few extra bucks maybe send ‘em here so you can help other people. Let’s be good people.

------

It really was a dumb idea.

A stupid idea.

An idiotic idea.

A vaguely patriotic idea

Emma wasn’t even sure if that last one made sense, but Mrs. Vankald had outdone herself and they were in Colorado and it was probably…something about the sun. Or the holiday. Or how stupid it was that Emma was still so incredibly, possibly irrationally, attracted to her own husband.

Particularly when he kept splashing in a pool with their son.

That was just unfair.

So, really, she could not be held accountable for whatever happened next.

Because what happened next might have been the dumbest thing she’d ever done.

“I’m telling you, the logistics of it are possible,” Liam said, and Emma knew it wasn’t the first time he’d used those words in that exact order, but she’d admittedly only kind of been paying attention.

Will shook his head slowly, slumped against the stairs at the other end. “Have you lost your mind?”

“You don’t think so?”

“I think you’re drunk and you’re insane.”

“No, no, no—“

“—That’s totally what it is,” Robin interrupted. He hadn’t gotten in the pool once, more than content to spend most of the afternoon on a chair next to Regina while both of their kids did their best to get as much water on the deck as possible.

Mrs. Vankald must have bulk-ordered American flag bathing suits.

“Do you have any idea what he’s talking about?” Emma murmured, bumping her arm against Elsa’s. She couldn’t actually see her roll her eyes, what with the sunglasses and the absolute refusal to change into flag-branded despite the uproar of the peanut gallery and their announcements that she should have been the most patriotic of all, but Emma could feel it. She knew it.

The muscles in her face were starting to ache from all the smiling.

“Scarlet is right, it’s definitely an alcohol thing,” she muttered, drawing an indignant sound out of Liam and a laugh out of Killian. It made Matt splash even more. “But, yes, I do.”

“And you want to share with the class, or…”

“Leader thinks we should be playing chicken,” Will explained. “But like—“

“—Ultimate chicken,” Liam amended, and Emma’s eyes couldn’t flicker to Killian’s quickly enough. He was wearing flag-branded sunglasses. That was also kind of distracting.

It was the mostly the kid thing, though.

“And what,” Emma started, “is ultimate chicken, exactly?”

Liam actually stood up a bit straighter. It wasn’t all that easy, one of the twins hanging off his side while the other appeared especially insulted that Roland could get more splash on his cannonball, but he certainly made an effort and Emma had to bite her lip to stop from laughing.

It was an idiotic idea.

“Ultimate chicken,” Liam said, “is, as its name implies, the ultimate form of physical—“

“—Oh my God, say combat,” Regina muttered, not taking her eyes off the magazine in her hand.

Liam’s shoulders slumped. “It’s not combat, Your Highness. It’s…well, it’s chicken. Like pool chicken, you know?”

“He’s only doing this because it’s the one thing we didn’t have when we were kids,” Anna laughed. She dropped on Emma’s other side, Lizzie clinging to the straps of her bathing suit top and her eye roll was really more a full body roll.

“No pool,” Elsa added.

Emma nodded, a soft ahh and another glance Killian’s direction. He grinned. “He’s a giant whiner is really what’s going on,” Killian said, hauling Matt in his arms and the splashes were even larger when they were more like kicks.

Her heart felt like it was going to explode.

Like a firework.

So, at least she was on brand.

“Do not act like you guys were not disappointed about the pool thing,” Liam shouted, but that only led to more laughter and Emma was a little worried Will was going to drown. He kept sliding further down the steps.

“No one was disappointed about a pool. Water was supposed to be frozen, not swum in. Swam in? What’s the right tense there?”

“Didn’t go to college,” Regina muttered.

Killian stuck his tongue out at her. And then immediately started blowing raspberries on Matt’s stomach.

“You realize that I’m still waiting on an explanation for ultimate chicken,” Emma pointed out, and Will was absolutely going to drown.

Liam slung Charlie over his back, leveling Emma with a very specific type of stare that she was starting to believe was, in fact, genetic. She didn’t blink. “You’re familiar with chicken?”

“Didn’t grow up with a pool either.”

“Ok, don’t be difficult.” She splashed him, reveling a bit in the way he sputtered against the water. Killian was openly smirking at her now. “Jeez,” Liam grumbled. “See if I ask you to be on my team.”

“Was he always this bad at getting to the point?” Robin asked. “Why did we ever let him be in charge of anything?”

“It’s three-person chicken! God,” Liam groaned, not able tot how his head back like Emma knew he wanted to. That was probably also genetic. “So it’s two people on top, instead of one and then we—“

“—Do combat,” Regina finished.

“I hate all of you.”

“God bless, us everyone,” Anna said, Killian shaking his head.

“Wrong holiday.”

“Your sunglasses are stupid.”

“Don’t tell your mom that.”

“She’s watching 1776.”

“Of course she is.”

“Is no one going to agree to ultimate chicken?” Liam asked, but every word was a bit more petulant than the last and Elsa wasn’t even trying to mask her laugh. Will had started floating at some point.

“You’re going to kill all of us, if we do that,” Robin said.

“Where is your adventurous spirit?”

“Stuck in my rookie season.”

“He’s old, you see,” Killian drawled. Robin threw a towel at him. “Hey, c’mon, I’m not throwing things at your kids!”

“Yeah, my kids are throwing themselves, so that threat doesn’t hold any—“

“—Water,” Elsa and Anna shouted at the same time, identical laughs and wide smiles and Emma was fairly certain the warm flutter of feeling under her skin didn’t have anything to do with the sun.

Killian glanced at her again.

She shrugged.

She’d never played chicken before.

And it was the dumbest, stupidest idea in the history of the world.

“Liam, you’re going to have to be some kind of super strong base,” Emma said, pulling her legs out of the water so she could get back in the water. It was a very round-about way of doing things, but then, she supposed, ultimate chicken was also kind of strange and Liam looked a little overjoyed. “Because I’m not sitting on anyone’s shoulders except Killian’s.”

“Tough break,” Killian quipped, a smile practically dripping with sarcasm now.

“Are you guys kidding me?”

Emma shook her head. “I don’t think we’re going to be able to stand up, if I’m being honest, but you deserve to live your dream, Liam Jones, so…”

“You’re making fun.”

“Yes. Obviously.”

Elsa snickered, sliding into the pool as well. “Which is what you deserve, babe,” she said, a quick kiss to his cheek. “Scarlet, are we doing this, then?”

“Yeah, of course we are.”

Liam gaped at them. “You guys are kidding.”

“This is what you wanted, Liam,” Killian reasoned. “You two need a third, though. Otherwise we’re killing ourselves for nothing.”

“If any of you die, I’m going to be very frustrated,” Regina said.

“Noted. I’m serious, El, find another third person or—“

“—Obviously I’m going to do it,” Anna announced, sounding more than a little annoyed that they hadn’t realized. “I’ve just got to…” She glanced around, like one of the Vankalds would appear suddenly to take over child-watching duties and this entire family was a joke and a fairy tale and goddamn wonderful because Mrs. Vankald did, in fact, appear, phone in one hand and “Sit Down, John” humming in the air around her. Anna handed Lizzie over.

And got water everywhere when she jumped in the pool.

Liam groaned and Killian laughed and Matt sounded overjoyed, so many people and moving water and Regina finally put her magazine down to mutter give me that kid before retreating back to her chair almost immediately.

Which was, probably, for the best because the whole thing was as absurd as Emma thought it would be.

Liam had to crouch in the middle of the pool, just shallow enough that he wasn’t treading water, Killian clamoring onto his shoulders and there were more than a few god, skate more, you weigh six tons, exchanged before Emma felt like she could even attempt to get on.

That was a very strange sentence.

That was probably a metaphor for America.

“This is not going to work,” she muttered, but both Jones brothers shook their head. She was not surprised Killian was already determined to win. Over-competitive idiot.

“It is, Swan. Look, look, we’ve got logistics and—“

Liam let out a triumphant noise. “I knew you’d come around eventually, little brother.”

“My foot is very close to your face, you want to try that again?”

“Jeez,” Anna sighed. “It’s like time has not passed at all.”

Emma took a deep breath, trying not to think of all the ways this was going to completely blow up in her face. That was another fireworks joke. “Ok,” she said. “Liam, you’ve got to get lower, you are severely overestimating my climbing ability.” Killian snickered. “Oh, do not,” she warned, slinging a leg halfway up Killian’s arm.

“Something about a tree, right, love?”

“I will kick you.”

“You’re not that flexible.”

She nipped at the shell of his ear, making him laugh and wobble and Liam cursed loudly. “Alright, alright,” Emma chanted, a poor attempt to psych herself up. Her right leg had gotten over Killian’s shoulder, but her left foot was still on the ground, a shaky base and the out-of-practice thigh muscles of Liam Jones and—“I’m just gonna…”

The rest of the words got caught in her throat, any sense of the English language quickly mutating into a scream and a shout and something far closer to a shriek. The water was cold. And everywhere.

It shot into Emma’s mouth and up her nose, trying to breathe despite the distinct lack of oxygen and she flailed like she’d just been thrown over the side of a ship instead of falling off her husband’s shoulders while playing the world’s most ridiculous pool game.

She sputtered as soon as she crested back up, breathing heavily and…Killian smiled at her. Broadly. His hair was everywhere, strands stuck to his forehead and, somehow, below his right eyebrow, drops of water falling from his jaw line and the tip of his nose.

There was the start of a bruise on his arm.

“Did I do that?” Emma asked, reaching out and that might have been her biggest mistake, because it only made it easier for him to pull her flush against his chest. And kiss her. While he was still smiling.

She could briefly make out Anna’s grumbled idiots.

Killian nosed at her cheek, a nip to her lower lip and another kiss that threatened to make Emma’s knees wobble. More. They’d somehow, migrated to the deeper end of the pool.

“Liam’s got absolutely no control of his limbs,” Killian mumbled, and she didn’t remember moving her arms around his neck.

She wasn’t really treading water.

That was nice.

“Yeah, so, we’re not doing that,” Will announced. “I refuse to reach this level of Jones insanity.”

Emma hummed, letting her forehead rest against Killian’s. “That’s fair. You ok, though?”

“Better,” Killian promised. “Gina, give me back my kid.”

Regina didn’t need to be told twice, moving Matt back into Killian’s arms and those kicks weren’t quite as strong as Liam’s, but it was something else about genetics and happiness and, probably, the overall state of the summer. The pool was nice. And the sun was warm.

And 1776 was, it appeared, a very good way to get their kid to fall asleep, Emma curled against Killian’s side hours later with Matt’s eyes closed and John Adams singing in the background.

#cs ff #blue line one shots #seriously if you ever think wow i should send this to laura but i don't know if she'll actually write it #lemme tell you #i'll write it #hockey family feelings are my favorite kind of feelings #also i'm getting crazy close to a pretty major follower milestone and i think we may do another prompt a thon #so #also now i've got grand old flag stuck in my head

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aryashi · 6 years

Text

Time Flies

-screeches into door literally last minute

It’S STILL TECHNICALLY THE 26TH AND ALSO I’M SORRY

@justabookworm39 you wanted some pastry train, and so I bring to you pastry train fluff! Hope you like it!

By far the single worst feature in the long, long list of useless nonsense installed in the buggy, bulky, and utterly unflattering armor Donut had to wear everyday was (without question!) the clock in the upper right corner of its HUD.

1756

The numbers glared at him. They were an unappealing mud color, which only yesterday Donut had seen as a lovely chocolate mousse. He’d changed the color of the settings no less than two dozen times, but no matter what amazing shade of chartreuse or lilac or light-ish red Donut chose, it only took a day or two for him to never want to see that color again. That made Donut loathe the clock more than anything else; it ruined colors! Only the most heinous of things could ruin a color.

1757

The way it ruined colors was pretty terrible, too. Having a clock in front of your eyes all hours of every day meant that every spare second Donut wasn’t doing something, his eyes would be drawn to those darn numbers. Time would slow to an unbearable crawl and sap the positive thinking and energy right out of him. He’d had to up his skin care routine from once a day to twice a day already, just to combat the stress lines!

1758

He had tried to get rid of it, of course, Donut wasn’t stupid! But tape didn’t stick to the inside of his visor (especially after long hot days filling his armor up with body fluids) and asking it nicely didn’t do anything either. The obvious next step had been to ask his team for help, but that hadn’t really panned out. Sarge went on a long speech about the importance of knowing the exact time of “your glorious victories, for record keepin’ and/or scrapbookin’!”, and Simmons was always busy talking with Grif. Donut wasn’t especially confident either of them could fix it anyway, computers were so complicated!

1759

As soon as the clock ticked over from 58 to 59, Donut’s train of thought lost its steam. Hard to stay mad about time with less than 60 seconds left to go! He pondered exactly how many were left, watching the numbers instead of the flat dry canyon he was technically supposed to be keeping an eye on. Not like anything subtle ever happened here. Even the sneak attacks featured grenades.

1800

“Finally!” Donut said, abandoning his post like a cat out of a bag. Fuzzy happy energy bubbled inside him, and trying to keep it from all coming out at once took some pretty hard concentration. Skipping helped.

“Bye guys, going on afternoon patrol!” Donut called out towards the living area everyone gravitated to this time of day. He didn’t wait around for a response, but it was probably something like “Be safe Donut!” or “You look fabulous, as always, knock em dead!”

Out the door and into the canyon proper, skipping at top speed along his route and not paying a square inch of it any mind. The scenery never changed, always dry alien dirt and hardy alien grass in a dull rocky bowl. Not a scene Donut would put on a motivational poster.

But it wasn’t getting to Donut now, because the path to the cliff paths was right in front of him, and in just a few short minutes his day would be infinitely better.

Donut couldn’t skip properly on the rocky and uneven cliff path, but there was a noticeable spring in his step as he climbed upwards, towards a ledge just out of view of both bases. It got some pretty nice shade this time of day, and on top of almost being cool, there was-

“Caboose!” Donut said, “You’re early!”

Caboose had been sat on the cliff edge, kicking his feet and looking down towards the ground, but as soon as Donut called out he perked right up and waved. Caboose was always thoughtful that way, giving as good as he got right back!

“Captain McMuffin! Hello! I decided I wanted to be far away from the base early today. For no reason! Especially not anything like making Church mad, because Tucker was the one that broke the microwave.”

“That Tucker!” Donut settled in on the ledge next to Caboose. “Is there anything he can’t break?”

“I don’t know. Probably not. He is very dumb.” Caboose said, nodding seriously.

It had started with an accident, because what in this canyon didn’t start with one kind of mistake or another? Even the happy accidents like Donut’s discovery of the moisturizing properties of Grif’s hidden imported drinks were still accidents. Running face first into someone who was supposed to be ‘the enemy’ sure qualified.

But Caboose had helped him up, and he’d been nothing but hospitable while Donut was a Blue team prisoner, so they got to talking. And then they kept talking, for hours, the entire time both of them were supposed to be circling the canyon. Circling the canyon and keeping an eye out for enemies to shoot. Donut didn’t want to shoot Caboose, and Caboose didn’t want to shoot Donut, so they weren’t enemies. Simple as that!

They settled into the routine pretty quickly. It helped that rookies on both teams got more patrol shifts than anyone else, and even at the same times. If Donut was a more suspicious guy, he’d almost think it was weird how both teams had identical schedules.

“- and that’s how many guns we have in the armory! Pretty boring day staring at them all, nevermind counting all the bullets.”

“That is a lot of counting.”

Donut shrugged. “Less than you’d think. We’re actually pretty low on rounds these days. Guess that’s what happens when you blow your load on every little thing.”

“Ah! That’s just like us and gas. Poor Sheila…. she is so thirsty, but the next plane present isn’t for a whole two weekends!” Caboose slumped over, the picture of sadness.

“Sheila is the tank?” Donut asked, scooting in closer and offering a comforting hand. Caboose took it in his own without hesitation.

“Yeah… she can’t move around much right now. It is making her… antsy. I wanted to make a cookie to cheer her up, but then the microwave broke and it was Tucker’s fault.”

“I wish I could help! Red base is soooo understocked! Not even any flour in the whole thing, and Simmons locked up all the baking soda after I used it for scrubbing out my codpiece.”

“They do get very stinky.”

“Right?!”

Caboose and Donut often found themselves holding hands during their conversations. Who initiated it changed every time, but neither of them were ever keen to let go. So they didn’t. They’d hold hands for hours, relaxed and comforting pressure, even through kevlar gloves.

Occasionally, on days like this, things… escalated.

It started with the heat, of course. Blood Gulch’s heat snuck into everything, even lovely conversations in the shade with a good friend. Donut was quickly getting too hot to function, and time like this was too precious to waste dazed out on heat!

So Donut took off his helmet. Like it was a thing he casually did in the middle of the canyon. Going forward with confidence was step one of every successful thing Donut had ever done, and he wasn’t about to stop now.

Even if Caboose was a blue, and was still armed, and they were in the middle of what was supposed to be No Man’s Land. Confidence.

And besides, his helmet was already off. Too late to go back, that would be rude.

“Oh.” Caboose said. “I…” He squirmed a little and looked down and suddenly the threat of death seemed like a distant problem, compared to this.

Oh, Donut thought quietly, Does he not like-

“I. Ah. I did not know you were so pretty Admirable Cinnamon Bun.” Caboose said, glancing away, scratching at his helmet, and still holding Donut’s hand.

Donut’s dread melted into pure warm fuzzies in an instant. “Awww, thank you Caboose! That’s very sweet.”

Caboose beamed, obvious even through his helmet, and for a bit that was that. Donut liked to fill a silence with chatter as much as the next guy, but everyone once in a while just sitting with Caboose and listening to the thing wind in the canyon was more than enough.

Then Caboose said “… oh my god you took off your helmet!”

Donut blinked at Caboose. “… yes?”

“That means I can take off my armor now!” Caboose crowed, already frantically shucking pieces like they were suddenly made of spiders and last season’s fashions.

“… well, when in Rome!” Donut said, taking off his gloves first.

Caboose was down to his survival suit significantly faster than Donut, but soon enough both of them were much more comfortable, in the shade and out of the worst and stuffiest parts of their armor.

“Sure is nice to let everything down there breathe for a change!”

“Yeah, my legs get cramped up too,” Caboose said.

“Whoever designed these things obviously didn’t account for my calves.”

“Cows are hard to account, because they look a lot like each other and keep moving around,” Caboose said, nodding.

“Not as bad as sheep. There’re faster and don’t have spots.”

Caboose pondered, and then nodded. “That is true. We didn’t have sheep, but Mr. Fallben next door yelled at his a lot.”

The amiable quiet came back, slow and welcome as the tide rolling in. Donut and Caboose leaned into each other, fighting the sticky warmth of the canyon with the soft, welcome warmth of another body pressed against theirs. Like with the holding hands, it just felt natural to tangle up in each other’s grip and just be for a while.

Donut had migrated all the way into Caboose’s lap and Caboose’s head was perched on Donut’s own when they both heard their helmets making alerts.

“Aw, already?” Donut sighed. “I can’t believe how fast two hours passes up here.”

“My mom always said time flies when it is having fun. It must have been having a really good sandwich today. That makes time go fastest.”

Both of them put their armor on, said and waved their goodbyes, and took off back to base. All the way there, Donut couldn’t help but stare at the clock.

2030

2031

2032….

#red vs blue #rvb secret santa #red vs blue secret santa #pastry train #justabookworm39 #aryashi original

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corvid-knight · 6 years

Text

Demon Eyes - chapter 19

https://archiveofourown.org/works/13740258/chapters/33178092

Eventually, you tune back into things that're happening around you. Karkat can tell exactly when you do that, too; he stops in the middle of a sentence, wrapping his mind around yours and checking you pretty fucking thoroughly for mental injuries.

I'm fine, man, c'mon, you tell him, and immediately undermine that statement by flinching at the sound of a lighter being flicked. It's just D, you ascertain by the simple method of looking up at him, but holy shit the combination of that noise and the faint scent of tobacco catching...

Karkat growls, deep and rough, and pushes a wave of calming safety into your mind. "Put it out," he says sharply. "Now."

"What—" D gives him a purely confused look, then seems to remember the existence of the cigarette he just lit. "This?"

"No, fuck-for-brains, the dim fucking bulb you call your intellect—of course that!" The demon huffs and pulls you closer, glaring up at D. "My brother would be giving you a lecture on triggers and shit right now, but I'm fucking not him, so all I've got to say is that you're going to get rid of that, right fucking now, because if Dave has another panic attack I'll be taking it out of your hide—"

I don't have panic attacks, he's not trying to hurt me, and you need to chill, you think at Karkat in an attempt to get him to quit antagonizing the other hunter. It's okay, babe, I'm okay, you know I'm okay—

"Oh, shit," D mutters as he actually processes what Karkat's telling him, tossing the cig down and grinding his heel on it. You can almost feel the dismay pouring out of him as he fishes the pack out of his pocket and tosses it down to you. "Fuck, Dave, I didn't even think about that—he's the one who gave me the fucking habit in the first place, of course you'd have issues with it—"

"God, you need to chill too, you didn't do anything wrong..." You shake your head, fumbling with the half-full pack of cigarettes for a moment. I really don't want these...

I got 'em. Karkat nods, taking the pack and stuffing it in his pocket. "You're destined to never have anybody be chill around you, and you know it. Not me, not him, not anybody. It's your job to call us out on it now, right?"

"Oh, I can definitely do that." You grin back at him, pulling away so you can get to your feet—and taking the hand D offers, when he sees what you're doing. Karkat himself just rolls up with that insanely enviable grace he seems to show every so often, stepping close enough to wrap an arm around your waist. You

...huh. You kind of really like the implications of that gesture. This is probably called overthinking. Or maybe reading too much into things.

Jesus Christ on a motorcycle, you do know that you're right when you assume I'm being possessive on purpose, right? Karkat points out. Then, directed at D, "Are you going back in there?"

D makes a face, but nods. "Yeah, dude, probably have to; even if I blow off the rest of this, go 'hey I showed my face, cool, I'm done,' I still need to go tell Rose at least that I'm out, maybe say hi to Dirk and his crew—"

"Rose is here?" You have to cut him off and get confirmation on that, and when he nods again you can't stop a stupid grin from spreading across your whole damn face. Holy shit—you get to see your sister. She's probably no more than a hundred feet away from you. Holy shit. "Hell yes."

"You," Karkat states, very firmly, "are not going back in. D's telling Dirk where you went, and we're going home."

Home. Shit. Home, to Dirk and Jake and John's house, except now it's kind of your house, as least as far as you live there.

"Give me ten minutes and I'll drive you," D offers while you're still getting over the whole shock value of having an actual fucking semipermanent residence again.

"We're fine with waiting." Karkat shrugs and leans back against the wall, glancing at you again. We are okay with waiting, right?

"Yes, Karkat, I can handle hanging around out here. I'm not fucking dying, asshole; do you see brains leaking out my ears? Huh? Do you? Does it look like I'm—holy shit!"

Even as your hands come up to clutch at your head in instinctive response to the shock of the fucking huge surge of magic you just felt, you see several things happen at once. Karkat goes stiff and changes, eyes burning brighter and horns flickering into existence again; D drops into a combat stance, his attention obvious flickering between you and everything else, looking for a threat as two knives seem to just appear from nowhere in his hands; and a really fucking big, pure white dog skids around the corner of the building and almost crashes into you, swerving just in time and giving you barely a glance before it comes to a stop and starts barking at D.

"What the fuck—" Karkat starts, but D just waves a hand at him, slipping one knife back up into his sleeve and securing it in the forearm holster before bending down to hold his hand in front of the dog's mouth.

As soon as he does, it drops a very-wet but amazingly unchewed piece of paper in it.

That's weird as fuck, you think, forcing yourself to unwind your hands from your hair. "D, what—"

"Goddamnit, not again," he groans before you can finish your question, shoving the paper down in his pocket and leaning down to look the dog in its bright green eyes. "Do me a favor and stay with these two, Jade? Demons ain't exactly your shit anyway, not in these circumstances."

"Wait, Jade?" Okay, what the actual fuck. You look down at the dog as D heads for the door, and she looks back up at you.

Damn. The eyes are the right color. And you don't know much about dogs, but you're pretty sure that they're not supposed to look this much like they're smiling.

Jade barks again and jumps up on her hind feet, her front paws propped up on your shoulders so she can lick at your face. There is absolutely no way you can avoid this affection. Even though it's getting you hella slimy, you're not sure you want to. She's so fucking happy, holy shit?

Karkat is trying to get your attention. He's backed down from the full combat readiness he was at a second ago, but he's still agitated as fuck, so you reluctantly push Jade off you and turn to him.

"Stay here," the demon says, before you can even ask him what's wrong.

"No fucking chance, if you're going in there." And he's planning on it; he's already moving in the same direction D went, taking long quick strides that have you almost running to keep up with him, and Jade trotting beside you both. "Why exactly are you about to walk into a building full of hunters, again? Like, I'm with you every step of the way, but maybe—"

"Dave, I love you, but stop talking." He puts a soft growl in the last two words, and slips through the door.

You follow, and get really fucking overwhelmed as soon as you're in the room, to the point where you have to close your eyes and let your mind adjust. Shit, you thought it was bad when everybody was feeling approximately the same set of emotions? This is ridiculous—you can catch anger, confusion, a couple spikes of absolute delight, fear, rage—

Okay, okay, I can feel shit; how the hell do I stop feeling it?

That's the question, and Karkat is apparently too distracted to answer it. Okay. That's okay. You can handle this. As long as you don't panic, you can totally handle this.

You're fine.

You try thinking of everyone else's emotions the same way you'd think of your own, in any situation where Bro was watching you: they're there, and there's nothing you can do about that, but if you hold yourself in and don't think about them, don't let your attention get caught up, you can make them not exist for a minute at least. And it kinda works. Makes the dizzying press of emotion recede a little, enough for you to take a deep breath and open your eyes.

And then you have to take another minute to process what the hell you're seeing. Everyone's drawn back from the center of the room, other than Rose (Rose! Holy shit she got really fucking pretty and also really fucking scary) and a pale girl you don't know, at least until she hisses at the other two individuals in the middle of the room and you see her sharp fangs. That's gotta be the vampire, Rose's girlfriend, Kanaya.

The two in the middle really give you pause, though. They're demons. Like, really demons, at least the one in the shimmering warding circle is; the other one you're not totally sure about. The latter, a short and mostly-humanish lady (your mind insists she's a Lady, even if she looks like she picked her clothes out of a dumpster full of rejected neon-grunge fashion and gave herself a haircut with a not-too-sharp knife) seems mostly focused on either the summoning circle or the pissed-off demon inside.

D is over by Rose, asking her questions too quietly for you to hear and receiving mostly head-shake yes's and no's. After a second of hesitation, you head across the room to join them, with Jade right by your side.

"Stop," Rose hisses without taking her eyes off the demon, as you step up next to D. "You're going to make me drop the barrier—"

"Why the fucking christ would you summon a demon? Why here?" D doesn't even sound worried. Just really fucking exasperated, like this is something that's happened before. Your sister is absolutely terrifying. "This is a fucking funeral, Rose—"

"This is a memorial, not a funeral, and I summoned a Balancekeeper, the demon just—sort of came along, I don't know!" She shakes her head, short hair flying everywhere, and spares you a quick glance. "Hello, Dave."

"Hey, Rose." That's literally the only thing you can come up with. To buy time, you glance back at the demons in the middle of the room, and instantly regret it because the one inside the circle seems to be shapeshifting into a really bigspider. Jesus. "Are you gonna, uh...maybe send it back?"

"I didn't summon her in the first place!" This time Rose's voice briefly rises above the hissing whisper she's been keeping it at, to a level that can almost carry a tone of panic, before she gets herself under control again. "I can't exactly banish what I didn't call—fuck, now there's two—"

Even though you don't want to see the damn spider again, you turn around anyway. Rose is right; there's definitely two demons there now, plus the neon grunge whatever-she-is—but one is Karkat, who's approached the warding circle and is standing there with his arms crossed and a scowl on his face. Thankfully, the other demon's gone back to mostly-human form, not that you can see her that clearly through the shimmering barrier—just an impression of a lot of denim and long messy dark hair. Better than the spider.

As you watch, Karkat meets your eyes for just a second, sending you a burst of reassurance that immediately makes you suspicious as hell as to what he's about to do that makes him think you need that.

And you're right to be suspicious—he takes a step back from the barrier, then lets out a low growl that you can still hear across the room and changes, going from human to full demon in half a heartbeat and spreading his inky-red wings wide.

Rose yelps, Kanaya hisses again, and you're guessing that weapons come out, but you're not gonna scan the room to check. No, you're more interested in getting to Karkat as fast as possible, get behind him and guard his back from the attack you know will come because even if you can't keep him safe you can damn well make sure you go down fighting for him—

In the couple seconds it takes you to reach Karkat and fall into a defensive stance behind him, he's humanish again and the barrier holding the demon in is gone. Rose apparently lost her concentration when Karkat shifted. So now you have to fucking decide, what's the bigger threat: hunters or spider demon?

Karkat seems to have the latter handled, although that might be because she hasn't actually done anything beyond huffing irritably and flipping her hair back. The other one, Miss Fashion Disaster, makes a satisfied sound and steps up next to her.

"Karkat," the spider demon says, drawing his name out in a way that trips both your Instinctive Jealousy and Fearful Irritation switches at once. "What's a tough guy like you doing in a place like this?"

"I was fucking invited." Okay, why does he sound this calm. Annoyed yes, but calm. "Unlike you, Vriska."

"I was invited!" Fashion Disaster points out cheerfully. Now that you actually look at her up close, you realize that there's something fucked up about her eyes; they're red, almost the same color as Karkat's but devoid of pupil or iris, with scars marking the skin around them. Makes sense; she definitely dresses like she's blind. "Well, summoned, but who gives a fuck? Nothing says I can't bring a plus-one."

"Oh my fucking god." Karkat sighs and rubs his forehead. "You can't bring a fucking plus-one to a funeral."

Rose says, quietly but firmly, "Memorial."

The blind neon fashion disaster laughs at that. Really loudly. Vriska the weird spider demon just snickers.

You're really confused right now and kind of wish that this whole clusterfuck was a thing that wasn't happening.

"Can all y'all please leave?" D says. He sounds like this was the last thing he wanted to deal with today, and you sympathize with that sentiment. "You ladies gotta know everyone here is armed and ready to handle threats, but we'd all rather keep the bloodshed to a minimum. No need to get set for another memorial when we're not done with the one we got now, right?"

Vriska grins at him, a smile full of too many sharp teeth. "I mean, I bet we could make a deal for us to leave..."

"Oh fuck no—" Karkat grabs her arm as she takes a step towards D, hauling her backwards and growling back as she snarls at him. "No fucking deals! This isn't a crossroad—"

"It's a metaphorical one!"

"I don't give a flying fuck! I'm not handling the aftermath of your stupid shit today—"

Fashion Disaster laughs again, a gleeful cackle that has everybody looking at her again. (Well, everyone besides the two demons, who're more focused on each other.) When you look at her, she seems to be interested in you.

Shit.

"So you're the one on trial here, huh?" Yeah, fuck, there's no one else she could be talking to. Fuck. Fuck. "Kinda weird, that your blood kin is the one to summon me when she pretty obviously thinks you're innocent."

"Leave him be, Balancekeeper," Rose warns, stepping up next to you. "You haven't heard the issue to be judged—"

"Do I need to, when I can taste how much guilt he's carrying and how many people want to jump up and accuse him?" Goddamnit, why the fuck does she have to grin like that?

...and there's people here who want to accuse me of something? No, not of an undefined "something." You know what you did. They know too, huh? They all know I had Bro killed, fuck—

Yeah. Here comes the panic again. You can feel Karkat trying to curl around your thoughts and get you to listen to him even as he argues with the spider demon, but since you've got your mind mostly closed to keep out everything else, it's not working all that well.

"Hey," the Balancekeeper says. When you don't immediately focus on her, she reaches up and grabs your chin, blunt nails digging in slightly as she pulls you down to look in her eyes. They're red, and they're blank, and holy shit they're so fucking bright it's like looking in the sun. "Let's get this over with."

"Get the fuck off me!"

She does let you twist free of her grip pretty easily, but when you stagger away from her you realize that you're not where you were before. There's no one here, for one thing, and instead of the room you were in, this place is just...featureless. White walls, white floor, white ceiling some unmeasurable distance away from you. What the fuck?

"Karkat?" Karkat! You shout the demon's name and call for him in your mind, and get no response either way. No. Fuck. Please no.

"Calm down, cool dude," the Balancekeeper says. When you turn back to her she's seated on a white platform that's too featureless to be called a chair—which wasn't there a second ago—watching you with a thoughtful look. "You only stay in the courtroom until the judge—that's me—reaches a decision."

"Yeah, well, I'm pretty sure you didn't go through due process, bitch, so—"

"Shush." She shakes her head and crosses her arms, nodding to the second platform just behind you that also wasn't there a second ago. "Sit down, shades off, if you call me a bitch without providing due reason I'll find you in contempt of court."

"The due reason of you being a bitch is that you dragged me here without asking me." You do what she says, though, carefully folding your shades and turning them over and over in your hands as you glare at her. "Or fucking telling me what you're accusing me of." Not that you don't know.

And she knows you know, because she gives you another disturbingly wide grin. "See, we have two courses of action here—one, you tell me what you've been accused of, or two, I scry your past and see for myself."

"Like you could see anything."

"Right, make fun of the blind girl, very mature. If you weren't about ready to have a meltdown I'd find you in contempt of court—"

"Would that get me out of this shit?"

"No. But since you're obviously having issues today, I'll let it slide." She shrugs, sitting up a little straighter. "State your name for the record."

"What record?"

"My record, wiseguy, and also because I'd like something to call you other than 'cool dude' or 'Mr. Black Licorice Guilt.'"

"Mister what now?"

"You taste like you're just waiting for somebody to jump on you and call you out on something; I bet even humans can see it." She shrugs, resettling herself on the white chair, and frowns thoughtfully. "You're also stubborn and that tastes disgusting. Stop it."

"Make me." Why the actual fuck am I antagonizing a demon, exactly? "You know what? You tell me yours, I'll tell you mine."

That earns you another cackle, and she nods without even hesitating. "Cool andsmart! You can have this point, Mr. Licorice—presiding over today's trial is Terezi Pyrope, summoned to arbitrate a dispute. Hopefully this one, because that's what I'm doing." Terezi pauses, raising her eyebrows in your general direction. "And the accused is..."

Shit. You guess you agreed to this information, if nothing else. "Dave Strider."

"Do you know what you stand accused of?" When you don't answer, Terezi huffs irritably. "C'mon, now, we both know you do. Do I really need to slap a geas on you to get you to talk?"

"Go ahead and try." You resist the urge to reach up and touch the scarred tattoo at the back of your neck. "I'm a fucking hunter. We ward against that."

"Point one: I'm a Balancekeeper, and this is a courtroom—wards against truthtelling spells aren't going to work here. Point two: your warding mark's broken to the point of uselessness." Terezi's mouth twists in distaste, the tip of her tongue poking out for just a second. "That fact is entered into the evidence as Exhibit A."

"You can't have evidence when you haven't fucking accused me of anything!"

"It's evidence in your favor, idiot, and it's not my fault you won't state what you're accused of." She shakes her head, and even though her eyes are just blank scarlet you're pretty sure she's rolling them at you. "So let's try this again. Do you know what you're on trial for, Mister Dave Strider? And if you don't answer, I willmake you answer."

Goddamnit. You don't want her working magic on you, especially now that you're certain that the way Bro scarred your neck rendered the protection rune there useless. Did he know that? Did he fucking care?

"Dave?"

"Yeah."

"Hm. I guess I set myself up for that, huh? State what you're here to defend yourself for."

Damn. That tactic didn't buy you much time to think about what you're going to say. At least she seems amused instead of annoyed, although if you don't do what she wants that's probably going to change.

So say it. Quit being a fucking coward and say it.

"I had a hunter killed. My Bro." Shit. You shouldn't be admitting it. This could get you killed, you and Karkat both, and while you can handle the former you don't want to even think about the latter—

"True!" Terezi snaps her fingers to get your attention, her wide grin replaced by a surprisingly serious expression. "The accused does not deny that he had a hand in the deceased's death—of course he doesn't! Mr. Strider knows better than to lie to a Balancekeeper!"

"You do know we're the only ones here, right? Like, I realize you're blind—"

"The defendant is ordered to shut up. The issue at hand is not whether or not the deceased is deceased, or how said death happened, or who did it. The only thing I'm interested in is justice!"

There's no way Terezi can see you flinch at that, but she still stops talking and frowns at you. "Does the defendant need a minute to stop freaking out?"

"...no." You just want her to get this over with. Whatever "this" is.

"Oh, good. The purpose of this trial is to determine whether the motives behind the death of the deceased were righteous or flawed. In other words, we can boil this all down to a nice yes-or-no question: did he deserve to die?"

You answer without thinking, give her the response your gut goes to every time you ask yourself that question. "No."

Terezi shakes her head and waves a hand, and the wall behind her shimmers and changes, images appearing on it. The first is a picture of the scarred and broken protection rune on the back of your neck. The second is just the word "REMORSE," written in blue-green capital letters. "Exhibits A and B: defendant has been obviously harmed by the deceased, and defendant nonetheless regrets the deceased's death. He's also scared out of his mind; it tastes awful."

"Shut up." She's right, but that doesn't mean you want to hear it.

"Nope. The judge will ignore that remark because of aforementioned reasons. Hmmm...does the defendant have any more evidence to put on display?"

"I—"

You stop almost immediately, because her blind eyes are fixed on you again, and you can feel something sifting carefully through your mind. Before you can tell her to fucking quit it, Karkat's voice speaks out of the air between you and the Balancekeeper.

"He'll kill you. Or he'll keep you like some kind of fucking beast, just so he can keep getting off on having you hurt and scared."

And it's your voice that answers, so raw and hurt that you cringe down in your seat and close your eyes. "So I fucking hope for the former and expect the latter."

"Defendant," Terezi says quietly, "believed he had cause to fear for his life."

"Get the fuck out of my head—"

She's still digging, but she stops and tilts her head thoughtfully, snapping her fingers again. The wall behind her shimmers again, this time displaying a long list of names. You recognize very few of them—the ones that you do know seem to jump out at you, the teal that they're printed in darkening to almost black. Most of them are names of hunters that you only met one or two times, or of people who were known to have information on demons.

"The deceased had killed before, both with reason—" she snaps her fingers again, and maybe a third of the two hundred or so names go bright, accusing red— "and without." The rest darken to black, with just a few wavering uneasily between the two colors.

Wait. That's what that list is? People Bro killed? "That...can't be right."

"Don't doubt a Balancekeeper, Dave."

"But—" It couldn't be that many. Yeah, there were a lot of jobs, a lot of demons, but that many? And there are hunters' names there—he wouldn't kill hunters, why—

You know why.

He told you he'd kill you if you ever crossed him. You've heard him threaten people who disagreed with his tactics—hell, that was a normal thing, to the point that you fielded texts from other hunters as often as you could, anything to avoid a confrontation that'd end with Bro angry and you left to try and dodge the fallout.

With someone like him, there isn't much space between threatening and acting.

"Fuck." You hear the word come out of your mouth, and hope that Terezi isn't going to threaten you with contempt of court again. You're not even sure what that is or what kind of punishment it'd carry.

"The judge would like to go on record as agreeing with that sentiment." Another wave of her hand, and the list of names shrinks to leave room for her first three pieces of evidence. "I'm not really sure if we're using the old laws or the ones humans have set down and use now, but if we accept any judiciary code which allows the death penalty, the deceased would have earned it twenty times over." She gives you a stern frown, and adds, "Which doesn't mean you have the right to pass judgement, just so you know."

"That's not what—"

"The judge is very aware that the main motive for the deceased's death was self-defense on the part of the defendant, even if the defendant was technically not in danger of being killed at that exact point in time. Exhibits A and E—"

"Uh, there isn't an Exhibit E."

"Damn." Terezi snaps her fingers again, and more images appear below the ones already present: pictures of scars on pale skin. You can place every one of them to where they're traded on your skin. "Sorry, Dave—you're Exhibit E; I forgot to add you into evidence."

" ...can we maybe not look at those right now. Please."

She just nods, and the images darken into obscurity. "Exhibits A and E show undeniable proof of long-term abuse perpetrated by the deceased—"

"He didn't—"

"The judge is going to remember that the defendant does to some extent believe that what he's trying to say is true, which means he's not really lying to a Balancekeeper, because the consequences of that would be really bad."

"Sorry."

"Don't worry, I already struck it from the record. Karkat would kill me if I jacked you up just because I could." Terezi shrugs, standing up; you instinctively do the same. "In conclusion: judge rules that the death of Derrick Strider was justified, self-defense on the part of Dave Strider, who was not able to access any other means of helping himself due to machinations of aforementioned Derrick Strider. Dave Strider is not to be held accountable for Derrick's death, or punished for it, now or at any time in the future. C'mere."

"Wait, what—" But she's already grabbed the collar of your shirt, pulling you down enough that she's able to...lick you.

Eugh.

Terezi's more slobbery than Jade was, and Jade's currently a dog. You pull out of her grip as soon as you can, taking a step back and wiping your sleeve across your face to clear the spot out of your eyes.

"Dave!" Karkat yelps.

Okay, well, you're back in the room where you started. Nobody seems to really notice your and the Balancekeeper's disappearance and reappearance, other than Karkat, who's currently inside a new binding circle with Vriska. Going by the fact that he's got her right arm twisted behind her and his other arm hooked around her neck, you're going to guess that they're not getting along too well.

"Here you go," Terezi says cheerfully, stepping over to Rose and shoving a folder into her hands. (The barrier holding Karkat and Vriska dissolves as Rose gets distracted, but the two demons are still occupied with trying to beat the shit out of each other.) "The ruling and full transcripts of the trial, with known laws that were referenced cited."

"But—" Rose starts. Terezi cuts her off with another cackle.

"You guys are really obsessed with asses here, huh? Vris, c'mon, playtime's over!" The Balancekeeper brushes past you, grabbing the spider demon's shirt as she tries to lunge at Karkat again. "Seriously, give it a rest."

"Fuck you!" But Vriska doesn't fight for more than a second, calming almost immediately and slinging an arm around Terezi's shoulders. "Ugh. Fine. Later, losers."

Rose has her mouth open to protest, but the two of them are already gone.

For a second, nobody in the room moves except D, who's shifting his weight from foot to foot, scanning the room for any new threats. Amazingly, you're the one who actually acts first.

"Holy shit, 'kat." You step over to the demon, trying to ignore everybody else looking at you, and reach up to push his red hair back from the new scratches on his forehead. "She clawed you up, huh? You okay?"

He winces and nods at the same time, catching your hands and wrapping an arm around your shoulder to steer you towards the door. "Isn't that what I should be asking you? Terezi has problems with personal space when she's fulfilling her duty..."

"Well, that is what Balancekeepers are meant to do," Hal points out, falling into step next to you. "Although the question still stands."

"I'm okay." For now at least. Later, you're going to have to get that folder from Rose, go over the list of names—

"There's absolutely no way you're doing that," Karkat growls. "Hal, are you going back to the house?"

The shikigami nods. "We all are, once Dirk and Jake get John to quit trying to fight some idiot. Rose and the others might actually get there before we do, at this rate—you should ride with them."

"Uh..." Damn, now I have to make decisions.

No, Dave, you really don't, don't worry. Karkat shakes his head and reaches over to grab D's arm, pulling him along towards the exit. "You're the driver, right?"

"Yep." D shakes the demon off after a second, offering you a quick smile. "Sorry. That might've been more than ten minutes."

"I mean, I was the one who held shit up, so..." You shrug. "We're going home now. It's all good."

And despite the fact that you have no real reason to, you feel just a little less shitty about having your Bro killed. Maybe it's because the Balancekeeper promised that you won't be punished for it, now or ever.

Stupid, but you feel safer.

It's good.

#demon eyes

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