#//ahh this is really not good for my family goddamnit

[k1ng-sp0t]

The World Will Know; Chapter 1 (Not full thing, just beginning)

Four years ago, Senior High School year for Race and Spot

Spot sat in the meeting, bored out of their mind. Spot was new here, he barely knew anyone, hell, even where to go. He sat on the floor eying a guy up ahead, laughing with some friends. As he gets up, they walked in their direction, eyes on the ground, scared to make eye contact. Suddenly, he feels a hand grab his shoulder. “Hey, I really likes yer hair!” The hypnotic voice urges Spot to turn around, awestruck by this guys face. “Uh.. Thanks! Yer hair is really nice!” Spot manages to get out. “My name’s Anthony, by the way! Everyone calls me Race though, and it definitely ain’t because my family forgot me at the horse race once!” Race chuckled. Goddamnit, either kill me or kiss me. “Spot. I’ll see you around?” “Definitely!” Race says. Man, those eyes. Those lips, goddamn, that voice. Spot walked to class, unable to get that face out of his mind. 

Spot looks at his phone, unsure if this is the right place. Seems like a theatre, yeah, ya know, that’s what the sign says, but what if there are multiple. Then he hears that fucking voice. “Spot!!” Spot turns around, with no surprise to see Race there. Of course he’s a goddamn theatre kid. “Hey Race. How ya doin’?” “God, I had the worst math class right before this. I ain’t able to stand another word about division.  But what about ya?” “Eh. English, ya know?” Spot has this specific look of disdain on his face. “So, I’m in the right place?” “Yup!” Race chirped, “C’mon!” Race grabbed Spots arm and dragged him in. A light blush spread across Spots face before entering the dark room. A familiar warmth enveloped him, the joy of past shows, even in a new place and with new people, echoed within him. “Hey! Hey! Medda! I gots us a new one!” Race waves over the teacher. “Ah, Spot!” Spot nodded. “Race… Medda is my homeroom teacher.” Race flushed, absolutely upset. “Sorry Spot, thought I could be helpful…” Man, this boy, I just want to kiss him. “Hey hey, it’s alright Race! Ain’t the first time someone’s done something like this!” Spot smiled at Race, and Race looked back at him, smiling slightly. 

Modern Day, Junior year college

Spot woke up, next to Race. Spot smiled, still thinking about his dream, and how much he and Race have grown since then. Not even just as people, but with each other. Four years ago Spot couldn’t have said the word gay without whispering, and now the two of them have a gay pride flag above their bed. Four years ago, if he told someone they were trans, fae would have a panic attack about the intensity of Pompeii (Oh god, that dreams bringing him back to high school history). He looked down at Race again. Race was all sprawled out on the bed, dreaming away peacefully, mumbling occasionally. Spot picked up his phone and gasped before covering his mouth. “Oh my lord. How could I forget?” He mumbled under his breath. He gave Race a little peck on the forehead before heading to the kitchen. It was Race’s birthday. Fae had baked a cake last night before going to bed, and took it out of the fridge. The words “Happy Birthday Racer, my love” were messily put on the cake. God, why do I have to be so bad at icing… Spot thought before pouring a glass of orange juice, and preparing coffee just the way Race liked it. A latte with vanilla syrup and three spoons of sugar. Spot smiled, Hey, at least his coffee is as sweet as him. Of course Spot would never let Race know what he thought about him in as much detail as he knew, but it was good to let it show once at a time. He trimmed the flowers in the window, grabbing the roses and some lavender for Race. Race dealt with so much stress, so Spot started growing some lavender to make him tea, oils, and baked goods. He put the cake, coffee, and orange juice on a platter. He went back into the bedroom and gave Race some kisses on his forehead. “Hey Doll, why dont’cha wake up?” Race groaned, “Ahh, but warmth…” “Yea, but what about coffee?” Race snapped up. “Coffee? AND CAKE?” Spot chuckled. “Of course darlin’, I ain’t gonna do nothin for yer birthday!” Race blinked. “My birthday?” Spot laughed, “Yea, yer birthday!” “God, why is my birthday on a weekday, I don’t want to go to school…” Race whined. “Exactly love, that’s why I got plans for us today.” Race hugged Spot, “You’re amazin’ doll, I could never ask for better boyfriend!” 

Later that day, at the Betsy Head Park

Spot had a picnic planned that day for Race, and got a bee blanket, PB and J’s, as well as some more flowers and of course, coffee. “Spottie, how come I got such an amazin’ boyfriend?” Race asked. Spot chuckled, covering his face. “I don’t know… Hmmmm… it ain’t because a handsome boy came up to me one day and said he liked my hair, and I became absolutely obsessed and he helped me in a new school and then now he pretends like he’s absolute garbage.” “Hey, I ain’t absolute garbage… I’m absolute trash!” Race chuckled. “Oh Racey, you ain’t trash, or garbage! Yer so pretty, and I absolute adore you.” Spot held Race’s face, and gave him a kiss. Race chuckled and said “Hey, just like our first kiss! Ya bout to say ‘Whoa!’ again?” Spot laughed, “Racey, ya know that ya literally held mistletoe up and then kissed me? Of course I’d say ‘Whoa’, look at ya!” Spots phone started ringing, and Race picked it up. “Hey, it’s Jack!” Race answered, “Jackie boy!” Davey appeared on the screen, “Hey, only I can call him that!” Jack chuckled, and gave Davey a kiss. “Happy birthday Race! Can’t believe it, yer so old! 21… Jeez, when do you go to a retirement home again?” Race frowned, “Hey, yer 21 too!” Davey laughed and said “Haha! Spot’s still the youngest!” Spot gasped “Hey dumbass, ain’t my fault!! I wish I came out when I was supposed to!” Race gave him a kiss and said “I know doll, I know…”  “Davey, ya know Spot’s sensitive that he’s small! And yer only 9 days younger than them!” Jack said. “Thank ya Jack. See Davey, not everyone is mean about me being tiny!” Jack laughed, “Anyway, I won’t interrupt yer date no more, happy birthday Race, I got ya some cigars when I see ya next. They’s Coronas!” Race gasped “Oh my god, why didn’t I get with you?” Everyone chuckled. “Okay, see ya tomorrow you two!” Spot said. They hung up, and Race lay down. Spot lay down next to him. “Good birthday so far?” “Any day with you is a good day.”

9 pm, back at the apartment

Race heard a knock at the door, and got it as Spot was in the shower. “Makin’ me walk on my birthday… Shame on him…” Race joked. They opened the door to see Crutchie and Elmer. “Crutchie! Elms! How are yers?” “We’re good! Happy birthday Race!” Elmer said. “Come on in! Spot’s in the shower but should be out soon.” The rush of water stopped right after they said that. Spot walked out, towel around waist. “Crutch! Elmer! So sorry, lemme at least get pants on!” Spot laughed. He went into the bedroom and changed. Race turned back to the two and sighed, “God, I love my boyfriend, he’s so hot.” Elmer laughed, “It’s very true, but so’s Finch…” Crutchie laughed “Elms, ya gotta either get him, or get over him.” “I know, but I get all stuttery and I switch back to Polish when I see him and-” Crutchie hugged Elmer. “I know, it’ll be okay!” Spot came back in. “How ‘bout some dinner? We have some left over Pad Thai!” Elmer gaped, “Oh my god, yes! Lord, if only Specs were here, he’d go feral!” Spot and Race laughed, and Race said “There’s a reason we only make this when Specs ain’t here, otherwise there’s none for anyone else!”

11 pm, in Spot and Race’s bedroom

Spot cuddled up into Race and looked at him. “Good birthday?” “Absolutely doll. You make it great every year, just wait till yours!” Spot gasped “Oh, god please no, just get me a fun rock.” They chuckled, and settled down as they fell asleep.

[dramaqueeenamby]

A Day with the Udakus'

A/N: I know we’re all hurting, but I just wanted to maybe try to lighten the mood. I don’t really expect most of you to read this, or anyone, but for me, writing was therapeutic. I love you all, and we will get through this. 

Words: 3K

Warnings: NO ANGST. Just shenanigans

Summary: Reader is granted an exclusive interview with the Udaku family, but Y/N quickly realizes there’s more to the Wakandans than she could have ever realized. 

You clicked the pen three times. 

Once to ensure that it was unsheathed, another to close it again, and the last time for purposeful use. It was a habit you’d developed way back in middle school. You were always the irksome “pen clicker” who elevated everyone’s anxiety while taking an exam. However, for you, it was calming.

And to a certain extent, it still was.

You turned your head to the window only to remember that the coverings were unmovable, an intentional move, you were sure, to keep you from seeing too much.

You didn’t take it personal, though. You were just thankful to have this assignment, an assignment that could make or break your career depending on the outcome.

No one, in the history of your country, had been welcomed to Wakanda. The borders were solid as cement. No outsiders.

Yet, here you were, and to spend a day interviewing the royal family.

You began your pen clicking process all over again.

You meant to document how long the flight was, but nerves ate at your ability to keep time. If you had to guess, though, at least twelve hours transpired prior to your arrival.

And what an arrival it was. As soon as you stepped off the plane, you were immediately in awe. Flying machines similar to cars but much smaller than 747’s flew over, the monolithic buildings seemed to eclipse the clouds themselves, and the design of everything, the specific details, it all seemed too ethereal to be real.

But it was.

This was Wakanda.

You frowned.

Where in the hell did everyone get the notion that this country was among the poorest in Africa? From what she could see, it was easily the richest in the continent.

If not the world.

“You’re here!”

You directed your attention to a beaming girl who made a beeline in your direction. She looked no older than 18 and wore her hair in small box braids. Her attire was unlike any you’d seen. You made a mental note of that, as well as the exterior of the nation.

“Welcome….” You supplied your name, allowing her to include it in her greeting before she started bobbing on the back of her heels. “I’m so excited to meet you. I’ve never actually done a real interview before.”

You smiled and pushed a passion twist behind your ear. During one of your naps on the plane, your bun must have loosened. “It’s an honor to be here…..”

Her eyes widened. “Shuri. You can call me Shuri.”

Your eyes too widened. Shuri? “As in Princess Shuri?”

The teenager scowled. “Please, Shuri will do fine.” She moved closer and placed a hand on your shoulder. “Come. I will show you to your room.”

All you could do was awkwardly nod. This was the freaking princess of this majestic place, and she was enthusiastic as a kid at Disney. For you.

Your own parents weren’t even that excited when you told them you’d landed your dream job.

As Shuri walked you from the hangar bay to the inside of the palace, you took note of everything around you, the people you passed. The strong women who wore red, the men who wore shades of blue, black, and gray. They all exuded strength and power. Shuri explained the women were called the Dora Milaje, Wakanda’s all-female sect of the military. However, their first and foremost priority? Protecting the king and royal family.

The uniforms, the staffs, the power. Hell, you were damn near about to start spazzing.  

“Ahh, Erik!” Shuri stopped and gestured to a couple walking in your direction. “Come meet-”

“Goddamnit, woman, I told you I wasn’t looking at her!”

“Don’t call me a woman!”

“You a female, ain’t you? You got a pussy, don’t you?”

“You make me sick!”

“Naw, I make you gag, remember?” The man with short locs cursed as the woman he was arguing with grabbed at his hair, giving a good yank. “The fuck!”

“I want you to admit you were looking at her!”

“She was our waitress! Of course, I was looking at her! You asked me to order, damnit!”

“Nigga, don’t play with me, you know what I mean!” The woman paused. “You think she’s prettier than me, don’t you?”

“I don’t even know the bitch!”

“Don’t use that word around me!”

“Fuck this. You are really crazy, you know that?”

She suddenly started to whimper as the man’s shoulders dropped.

“You don’t love me anymore.”

As the woman began to sob, loudly and theatrically, he placed his arms around her and pulled her into his chest.

All you could do was stare in awe at the scene before you.

Shuri must have noticed your surprise. She waved her hand. “That is my cousin, Erik, and his wife--”

“Wife?” You interrupted, looking back and forth between the teen and the couple. “They’re married?”

Shuri nodded happily. “They’ve been together since primary.”

And they fight like that?

You also made a mental note to discuss the interesting dynamic of marriages in Wakanda in your writeup.

“You said it wasn’t big!” Erik’s wife was still crying and now punching on his chest as she angrily jabbed her finger in his shoulder. “You—you liar!”

Before Shuri could introduce you, the upset woman sauntered past and between you two, knocking you to the side.

“It isn’t, baby! You just got a lot on your mind!” Erik called after her, hands up in defeat. “A lot of thoughts!” He sighed and jogged toward you two, grabbing Shuri by the back of her neck and kissing her forehead. “I’ll catch you later, cuz.” He then looked your way, and you prayed he could not see the nervous swallow that coursed down your throat. He was so tall and handsome.

And married.

“Stranger.”

You opened your mouth, but he was already gone.

You sighed. It was better than being ignored.

Shuri shook her head and motioned for you two to continue walking. “We’ll try again at dinner. Come, let me finish showing you around.”

All you could do was quietly agree as she pointed things out, things you probably should have paid more attention to, but you were stuck not only on the volatile argument but just the wonders that surrounded you.

You expected poverty, dire conditions, solemn conversations. You were experiencing the complete opposite.

“Now this is—”

“Die, traitor! Die!”

“Wakanda Forever!”

“Surrender!”

“Never!

Multiple voices filled your ears as you turned the corner of a hallway, only to be knocked flat on your ass seconds later, your purse emptying, the recently purchased bottle of hand sanitizer rolling away from your body.

“Asha!” Shuri shouted with her arms crossed. “You come back here and apologize!”

The little girl with white locs that cascaded down her back, turned her head to look back. You caught her bright blue eyes and gasped. You’d never seen such a beautiful contrast of color. Her milky chocolate complexion, those ocean eyes, the icy white hair. She was easily the most beautiful little girl you’d ever seen.

“I cannot, Aunt Shuri! I must escape!”

“Asha...” Shuri’s voice transitioned into one of unequivocal sternness as she helped you stand up. “Now.”

Asha groaned and stomped over, pouting, she muttered a quiet sorry.

“You know better—”

“Now, Azari and N’Yami are going to win without me.”

“Another game of capture, eh?” Shuri chuckled and pulled the child into her, kissing the top of her head. “Y/N, this is my niece, Princess Asha.”

This time, you were able to watch your facial expressions. The only thing you did was curtsy. “Your highness.”

When you looked up, you saw Asha and Shuri sharing confused expressions. You faltered with your next statement, only for Asha to interrupt.

“What are you doing?”

“We don’t do that here,” Shuri explained with a small smile.

You were thankful for your deep complexion. Had you been caucasian, your embarrassment would have given you away.

You awkwardly looked down. “I’m sorry.” 

“You’re weird.”

“Asha!”

Shuri pinched her arm. The little princess scowled and grabbed the assaulted area. “Sorry.”

“Come, little one! We are off for another round.”

A new voice announced as three heads turned to the end of the hall where a group of kids stood amongst a giant. Wide, tall, and with muscles wrapping around bands of muscles, you swallowed again. You didn’t have to be close to see how attractive this man was.

Was every man in Wakanda sinfully handsome?

“Coming, Uncle M’Baku!” She looked up. “May I go now, Aunt Shuri?”

Shuri playfully sighed and motioned toward the other kids. “Go on.”

Without another word, she sprinted off, joining her friends before the group disappeared.

“Everyone is so busy today,” Shuri spoke with disappointment and crossed arms. “I planned to introduce you to the rest of the kids.”

You couldn’t help your interruption. “How many kids does the king have?”

“Four. Asha, N’Yami, and Azari, and Azzuri. Asha is the oldest. The other three are triplets.”

“My God,” you mumbled, then remembering that there were certainly more than three kids at the end of the hall. “And the others?”

“M’Baku’s kids. He was the tall man with them. He’s the leader of the Jabari tribe here. He and his wife Hawla have twelve children.”

Every segment of that sentence sent your eyebrows up in surprise. Yet, you retained more questions, especially after Shuri further explained how the tribes worked. She also mentioned introducing you to the leaders of this Jabari tribe.

It was a lot considering you hadn’t even been there for a whole hour.

“Come on, brother and sister should be in the training room.”

It wasn’t hard to figure that by brother, she meant King T’Challa, and by sister, Queen Ororo.

Where was that damn pen when you needed it?

“Are you sure? I wouldn’t want to disturb them.”

“Nonsense, they’re probably just training.”

“Training?”

“You’ll see.”

Shuri’s coyness didn’t help your nerves. While she seemed to enjoy the madness of the palace, it spiked your discomfort. You’d mentally prepared for almost everything except the madhouse that you were being introduced to.

“Do not let brother intimidate you. His bark is much worse than his bite.”

You found that very hard to believe. King T’Challa, also the Black Panther, had single handedly defeated every member of the Avengers on their own turf, yet you were supposed to believe that he was amenable?

“Really?”

Shuri snorted. “No, he’s an ass.” You gulped. “Sister has helped calm him down, though, that much, I can’t deny.”

You said nothing else as she brought you to double doors that opened without her moving. That’d happened more than a couple of times, yet you could never detect any sign of motion sensors. Another note was made.

You walked into a room where a wall of windows exposed a large area that resembled a training type arena.

“There they—”

“My wife controls the weather itself, while I am just a man.” You weren’t even paying attention to the words coming out of his mouth. All you could focus on was him. He was in the suit, muscles stretching against the fabric. He walked while he spoke, his gait that of a predator, a hunter, a king. “A man who has studied every fighting style in the world.”

Across the room, she rose into the sky, floating high above the ground. The winds whipped around her, her arms raised. Her eyes were completely white, her matching white hair floating from the mass of winds.

Storm

“If I have learned anything, it is that every punch can be blocked.” Seconds later, the queen flew toward him, aiming for a punch, but falling short as he easily moved to the side. “Every weapon can be countered.”

You saw his lips move, but whatever was said was not audible.

His next statement, however, was not.

“Right this moment, above our head, an unmanned drone sprays the cloud with a super-absorbent powdered polymer.” As he spoke, large bolts of lightning were directed toward him. Some hit his suit, but he dodged most of them. “Out on the Indian Ocean, a swarm of nanotech phytoplankton eat the heat from a burgeoning storm.” You noticed how the winds started to lessen in intensity and depth. “Microwaves shoot down from Wakandan satellites, reducing an onrushing snowstorm to a slightly cooling breeze.”

Storm’s brows furrowed as she looked at her hands. The white hues of her eyes were returning to normal, revealing the same blue eyes you’d seen in Asha.

“The winds? What just—”

“I’m sorry, my love,” King T’Challa interrupted. She looked over at him, lowering to the ground. “I just blocked your punch.”

“You….” Her jaw drop and speech faltered. “All this time, you’ve had a plan for how to defeat your own wife.”

The king spoke in a bored voice. “Please remember, my dear,  I did not start this fight.”

“Neither will you finish it, my dear!”

Before he could reply, Storm struck him, sending him flying and landing on his ass. What started as a battle of abilities was now reduced to hand to hand combat. You watched in awe as these two incomparably powerful human beings battled each other. The fact that they were husband and wife, king and queen, mattered not even in the slightest. 

They looked like two gladiators dueling to the death.

“Do—do they do this often?”

“Train?” Shuri looked at you. “All the time.”

You almost fainted. “This is how they train?”

“You bastard!” The strength of the thunder that emanated from Storm caused the entire building to shake while the lightning causes the lights to flicker.

Shuri sighed and shook her head. “I suppose you’ll have to meet them at dinner.”

“Dinner?” You coughed. “I couldn’t—I don’t want to impose.”

“Nonsense. We’d love to have you.” Shuri’s smile widened. “Then you can meet the whole family at once.”

You suddenly wondered how hard it was to get a flight out of Wakanda.

xXx

The room you’d been given, so beautiful and magnanimous, was now a disaster. Clothes were thrown about while shoes clustered the floor. Underneath your makeup, your face was red and patchy from the two looks you tried, hated, and scrubbed before settling on a simple smoky eye and blood red lip.

Every outfit you tried on seemed either too fancy or too casual. Then again, you’d never had dinner with a royal family, let alone a family of heroes.  

You so badly wanted to find a way out of it, but Shuri, the seemingly only normal member of this family was hellbent on introducing you. You also had to factor in that you’d have to communicate with them at some point. You were there to interview them for god’s sake.

Two guards knocked on your door to escort you to the dining hall. You were a bit saddened at the fact that Shuri hadn’t come to bring you. You felt comfortable with her.

Imagine that. I need a teenager to walk me. What is this place doing to me?

As you walked down the hall, you sent up a quick prayer. The voices that were initially faint grew into loud and lucid. The double doors opened and revealed you to the room full of royals. You stood still as a statue.

“Y/N!” Shuri jumped from the table and jogged over. This dining room envied that of one on a college campus. “Welcome.” She smiled while standing in front of you. “You look wonderful.”

“Thank you.” You wanted to compliment her, but you could only focus on the pairs of eyes on you. Almost everyone was staring, but that wasn’t even what stood out the most. It was how they were looking.

Welcoming

“Y/N.” The queen was the first to speak, her smile wide and warm. You’d never seen such a beautiful person. Her white dress had a long split up the right side of her leg and the neckline dipped low, revealing her full breast. It was almost strange to think this was the same woman who viciously attacked her husband just a few hours ago. “It is a pleasure to have you here. We welcome you.”

“T-t-t-thank you, your highness.”

“Man, if you don’t call her RoRo,” Erik interjected. His wife, who stood next to him, slapped his arm.

“Ignore him. I’m Nareema.”

“My woman.” Erik’s hand sunk down to her ass, where he gave a soft slap.

“We welcome you to our home.” The tallest man stood, but not before helping the woman who sat next to him up. She rubbed her round stomach. “I am M’Baku, and this is my wife, Hawla.”

Ororo’s beauty was undeniable, but so were Hawla and Nareema. And the men…..

I wonder if everyone in Wakanda is as—

“Y/N.”

When he spoke, heads turned and ears tuned. He just commanded authority. Hands together and behind his back, he stared directly at you. His gaze nor tone of voice was as friendly as his wife, but you didn’t expect him to be welcoming you with open arms. You could only imagine what it took to even allow him to be willing to have you in his home. Around his family.

“I hope you are finding your visit well.”

“I-I am.” She quickly answered and then added, “your highness.”

“Oh please, don’t call him that,” Shuri corrected. “Brother’s ego is already big enough.”

“That is true,” Ororo chimed with a sly smile, looking at him out the corner of her eye. King T’Challa moved his hand to his wife’s and gave a soft squeeze and wink.

You retained a smile as they welcomed you to the table. When you asked about the kids, a chorus of groans erupted.

“They eat by themselves. We need our time away from those demons.”

“My children are warriors.”

“Your kids are bad as hell.”

“Erik!”

“I don’t know you talking, sis. Your kids even badder.”

“Mind your tongue, N’Jadaka.”

“Spark Jr. Sparky the Third, Sparky Spark, and Sparkle are all savages. I said what I said.” You brought the napkin to your mouth to hide your amused smile. “How the hell all four of they asses end up inheriting both ya’ll’s powers anyway? What kind of fucking ya’ll be doing?”

“Erik, must you be so vulgar?” Hawla complained.

“Aye, the little man speaks truth. How rare it is for all four to inherit such power.”

“Who the hell you calling little man, Mark Henry? This little man will beat the ruff ruff’s right out ya atomic dog ass.”

“N’Jadaka, please!”

“I told you he needed a muzzle.”

“That’s funny, cause I told cuz not to marry you.”

“Speak that way to my wife, again, N’Jadaka, and we shall see how well you can speak with your larynx severed.”

The calm delivery of King T’Challa’s threat sent chills down your spine, but they didn’t last.

“You wasn’t saying that when you was chillin at my crib last week talking about you were sick of her mood swings.”

If looks could kill, Erik and T’Challa would be on life support.

“You said what?”

“What was Ororo doing at our house? Where was I? Why did you not tell me this?”

“We will discuss this later.”

“No, we will discuss it now.”

“I do not answer to you, Ororo.”

“Oh, really?” She tilted her head to the side, staring at him, T’Challa kept their stare for a few more seconds when he grabbed at his throat. His fist banged on the table, causing the dishes to tremble from the intensity. You gasped. She was choking him.

“Here we go again,” Shuri mumbled, stabbing her fork into the plate. You looked around, Erik and Nareema were still arguing. She looked ready to cry. M’Baku and Hawla spoke quietly amongst themselves. You were flabbergasted. No one seemed the least bit concerned that the queen was trying to kill the king.

Again

“Damnit, Ororo!” King T’Challa finally spoke after quick, hearty coughs. “Damn you!”

“Would you like to tell me again you don’t answer to me?”

“This is what I am referring to. You are always so quick to anger!”

“Perhaps if my husband would not do things to make me angry, I would not be angry. Did that ever cross your miserable, self-centered brain?”

“You do hate me! I knew it!”

“Nareema, I don’t hate you!”

“Could we get another round of bread, please?”

“So, what is your family like?” Shuri suddenly asked in a bored tone. All you could do was look around. So much arguing, so many strange interactions, yet you were the only one who seemed bothered. And perhaps that was for a reason.

A good reason.

This was their norm, and despite how dysfunctional it appeared on the outside, it worked for them. And that was more than enough for you.

You’d just have to accept that this was just another day with the Udakus.’

[ihyperfixatedtoohard]

We had an AI write fanfiction for us.

TW: Bodily functions (Ie: expelling a certain thing from your ass), referring to Geralt somewhat femininely I guess???, Sexual content, Jaskier is referred to as Geralt's grandmother... so suede incest????? WAIT! I JUST WENT BACK AND READ IT AND JASKIER IS ACTUALLY RELATED TO HIM! HE'S HIS AUNT AND GRANDMA!

The Witcher : The Secret of the pillow

by Serenity Darkmoon Raven

A/N: All my story's take place in a alternate reality where the characters act this way.

---

A little Later, White Wolf was taking a shit.

He was having trouble though.

It felt like days passed and still no sign of release.

"Help..Errrr... ahhhh! Christ! when is this epic poo gonna pass!?" The Butcher of Blavikan exclaimed, His face wincing with effort.

He made every effort in his little boy body to expel this demon thing from his womanly back side.

Just as The Butcher of Blavikan was going in for another push..

Without warning the bathroom door suddenly burst open unexpectedly. Ahhhh!

"Well hello...White Wolf" a seductive noise whispered from the doorway.

A shadowy person stood leaning against the door frame. His deep, sensual voice which The Witcher knew immediately. His mind began racing and a nervous sweat began pouring from his face and groinal area.

"The Human... is that you? wha- what are you still doing awake...?"

He appeared in nothing but a towel, seemingly ready to take a steamy shower.

However He couldn't with Geralt of Rivia near by....they were like family now.The Human was like His grandma.

Any sane person would never allow their own grandma to see them in the nude. Right? RIGHT!!?! SHIT!"

"Oh I felt dirty from masturbating all day...ya ever feel dirty Geralt of Rivia?"

"Y-Yes, I mean NO! NO! NO! Never" Geralt of Rivia shrieked, He became so immensely worked up he cleaned his colon clear of the demon feces that had been clogging it. His voice also cracked like he was 13 again, but in comparison to the loud flatulence he just unleashed, who cares? The Bard heard though, and giggled like a adorable baby girl laugh. It sent tingles all up The Butcher of Blavikan's spine.

"Oh you've always been the shy one in the family, The Butcher of Blavikan..."

Geralt was not shy, at all. He defeated The Wild Hunt and blew up Her evil machines for Christ's sake! and now he suddenly found himself speechless. Was He going to see his metaphorical grandma literally naked? Little did he know, that was merely a choclate source on the banana split of love that was to come.

"..the shy and excitable one." said The Bardling finishing the sentence with a sly smile.

"Wh-what the..." and before White Wolf could send the third word out of His mouth..

..The Bard's towel dropped to the floor,setting his swingy bits free into the mist of the shower.

Geralt of Rivia noticed everything on him instantly. His soft butt,his magically gravity-defying middle leg and the tiny thingy colored birth mark on his butt, which made Him feel funny...as He had one there too.

Still, the sight of his near perfect body caused White Wolf's penis to become very hard. It stood erect and proud, pointing straight towards the mighty heavens.

"hehe oh my Geralt of Rivia...you're more impressive than I thought."

"uh... ye-yeah, th-thaaanks Jaskier, you're cute too." THIS IS SO WRONG! It raced through his head at lightning speed. But the beautiful, wet, soapy body that stood before him spoke otherwise. Him shapely body was everything Geralt of Rivia could want in something to wank to. Yet did family like relationship matter?..

...

...

NAAAAAH!!

But just as The Butcher of Blavikan was commiting. Commiting to a path that they couldn't go back from.

Geralt burst into the toilet!

"What are you too upto?"

"Err..nothing" said Geralt as he causally slipped his pants back on.

The Bard, who The Witcher didnt notice, picked up his towel and backed out slowly.

"Really?"

"I was just having a shit...see?" Geralt of Rivia gestured to his shit.

"Oh, thats a shit all right! One hell of a shit!

Ok, if your done we better go"

So White Wolf put his other pants on and left. He had a serious case of blue balls, but at least his anus didnt feel so bad now.

As he walked out The Human whispered one word. A word fall of hope.

"Later"

The Witcher Giggled.

Fortunately, their traveling companion was as oblivious as ever, and didn't notice.

---

A long long time ago, the legendary Ciri was forged....

Jaskier winked at The Butcher of Blavikan when no one else was looking.

"Later" he mouthed at him silently so no one could hear.

---

This is a story about how Jaskier, and Triss all first met. It takes place in Rivia Highschool before all the events, incidents and happenings happened..

In this story is a jock, Geralt of Rivia is a dork and Yennefer is the school pet.

We join our bros as they first check their school timetables.

"Who are you guys anyway?"

"Yo yo yo I am " said , pretending to be cool.

"Yo yo yo I am The Wild Hunt" said The Wild Hunt, who was actually really cool!

"Our next class is next" said The Raven haired Witch.

"I noticed. We should go together." said Geralt of Rivia.

So they did.

When they got to class they went in and went to their chairs.

The chairs were hard and made from wood. Probably hard wood.

They sat down on their chairs (different ones).

At that moment The Wild Hunt came into the class room.

"omg! look its The Wild Hunt " said Yennefer.

"Welcome class" said the teacher.The teacher was sexy, btw. All the teachers were sexy.

"Your first class, ever, is design and technology. So open your books to page 86 and start learning."

Geralt started learning intensely. His mind was filled with Design And Technology.

was actually trying to learn stuff, but failing because they sucked hard.

The Wild Hunt looked like they were studying, but Geralt knew they was clearly just faking it. Probably cheating. Yes, her was cheating at learning.

"Stop cheating!" said Geralt

"Screw you!" said The Wild Hunt

Teacher turned around sexily.

"Who said that?"

"Geralt and The Wild Hunt did!" said , who was keen to grass people up. Because sucks.

"This is my final warning you two!" said Teacher.

Geralt went back to his business studies book to continue learning.

The Wild Hunt, however, had other evil plans.

From her desk she got out a plastic straw. She winked evily at The Witcher....

....and then blew a rolled up bit of paper at the teacher!

"ahh!" said the Teacher.

"Ok, thats it! The Wild Hunt and The Butcher of Blavikan goto the principles office right now!"

"but..."

"Now"

The Wild Hunt cackled as she went out the room. Geralt of Rivia followed depressively.

"Its not fair, you did it"

"life's not fair you pipsqueak"

After a unpleasant walk, they arrived at the principles principle office.

---

Later, The Witcher and The Bardling were alone again.

"Its Later" said The Bard, pulling Geralt of Rivia towards the bathroom.

"But what about the others?"

"I'll just tell them you are helping me shower. They wont suspect a thing"

"True. They are all idiots"

Then, suddenly, The Bard was naked. White Wolf wondered how He did that. He must have been nearly naked this whole time!

The shower turned on...

..The Witcher was already.

Jaskier lathered up good and fine. The soap dripped off His body at a seductively slow pace. Geralt could not contain the powerful urge of excitement that raced through His veins.

The alluring look of his nudie comrade became too much for him to fathom and his erect penis launched a mighty wad of semen directly onto Geralt of Rivia's eye.

There The Witcher sat, His pink panties pulled quickly down at his ankles, on a toilet full of poop with His bodly fluids on full display, eyes bulging from His face.

The Bard giggled as Geralt of Rivia's dignity shriveled and died, but Geralt of Rivia had always enjoyed that delightful snicker, even after He found out He was His own flesh and blood.

"Well...wh-what do we do now?" The Witcher said, desperately trying to sound suave.

"It. We do it."

"it?"

"yes. it"

"we do it?"

"yes"

"oh"

...and with that The Human jumped on The Butcher of Blavikan. What little remained of their clothes plopped of quickly. Some fell in the toilet.

"um... lets g-get you outta my toil-dreams and into my bed." White Wolf stuttered, desperately trying to be slick, yet he knew it was hopeless to be suave on the shitter.

The Human hopped gleefully out of the shower, the soap continued pouring from His shapely body.Geralt of Rivia stood up from the toilet, His naughty bits proudly waving about and His pants still down around His ankles. He hurried to chase His shapely body down.

He fell in the door way, tripping over His pants. He pulled His face up from the floor and gazed at The Bard, DANCING ON THE KITCHEN TABLE

The night wreaked of eroticisms...and White Wolf could see that it was going to be a all you can eat porkfest.

And it was!

The Bard was soon ridding Geralt like a pogo stick.

"Poke me! DEEPER! DEEPER! GODDAMNIT!"

"Oh God I'm going to hell!" Geralt of Rivia screamed.

Geralt still had his Hawaiian shirt on and The Human was dripping soapy water all over the bed.

His perky penis swung around, like a happy child on a moon bounce. UP UP DOWN DOWN LEFT RIGHT LEFT RIGHT!, Geralt of Rivia liked it. It was a big, beautiful thing that ached to be sucked on.

Geralt especially liked that from this angle He could not see the awkward birth mark on His ass cheek. Which was a relief. White Wolf wanted to be hard and strong where it counts for the person He had always thought of as His aunty.

"Oh Geralt!" He breathed heavily, deep and cavernous "is what we're doing wrong!?!?"

"OH GOD YES!!" He yelled back at His naked aunty.

"GOOD! YES! YES! YES! YES AUNTY!!!" The Bard screamed.

When it was over they cleaned themselves, the room and the nearby hut down.

It took awhile - fortunately they finished before any of their friends got back. So their little secret was safe...for now.

---

"Sit down" said the Principle.

They did so. Geralt wondered what would happen. There was plenty of witness's to what The Wild Hunt did. But would they dare tell?

"So, The Wild Hunt, I heard you did something rather naughty to Teacher"

"yes sir"

The Butcher of Blavikan breathed a sigh of relief. Good! The principle knows! The Wild Hunt must be going to get expelled! Wait...why did she admit it though?

"I had too Sir. You see.....Teacher was a spy!"

Geralt of Rivia and the Principle looked shocked.

"what?"

"yes sir, a spy"

The principle couldn't punish The Wild Hunt if he did that too a spy. That makes him a school hero! And no one could prove Teacher wasn't a spy!

"Ok The Wild Hunt you can go. "

Noooo! thought Geralt. She got away with it!

"You, The Witcher,however will have to have some detections. You have no excuse for what you did!"

Geralt was depressed. He lost this round it seems. But he knew for future reference that The Wild Hunt was evil. He knew they would fight again, and next time he would have to win!

-The Start

[claudiasjeancregg]

I hope this helps with the stress at least just a little bit <3 and I do understand wanting to write but not being able to, so if you want, write as much as you want with (specially 12!). So. Here we go! 14, 13, 12, 10, 1!

hey ariel thank you so much this literally made my entire day, i wrote a fucking essay so here goes.

1. favorite episode

EVIDENCE OF THINGS NOT SEEN, institutional memory, the supremes, drought conditions, holy night, the inauguration episodes, the midterms, noël... all of them. just. ALL OF THEM

10. something you wish had happened

oh my god SO MANY THINGS!!! cj/toby kissing in the 7.21 scene would have saved my entire soul, or really just a kiss at any point. i just wanted them to ADDRESS THE CHEMISTRY IS THAT TOO MUCH TO ASK?? just confirmation that they dated at one point, or hooked up occasionally... god. ANYTHING! more canon specific, i really wanted a scene of donna in therapy or talking to josh about the ptsd / trauma she undoubtedly faced after gaza. when they F I N A L L Y got together, i wish they had more of a conversation about why she quit! because she HAD GOOD REASON to do it, and i wish had talked about how he had treated her after gaza. also, seeing how cj and toby had dealt with rosslyn, and more conversations about cj getting the COS role over josh and how he forgave her for that. just. MORE FOUND FAMILY CONTENT GODDAMNIT i could watch entire episodes of the senior staff + donna just hanging out, i love them to death. LAST ONE I PROMISE- CJ HAVING FEMALE FRIENDSHIPS. or friendships, period. god, i would have died for some amy + cj content swapping stories and making sarcastic jokes, cj helping amy to adapt to the white house after being in a different environment her whole career. CJ AND ANDY! i mean i ship the ot3 and cjandy to death, but even as friends! donna and cj!! the assistants all being friends! just. let these tired women have friends, that’s all i want.

12. headcanon(s)

yeah, i’ve... basically covered these BUT i always have more!!

first off- BISEXUAL CJ. bi cj!!!! it’s canon in my heart. this next one is less of a headcanon and more of a dream, but the ot3! cj/toby/andy is my favorite thing in the world and i love the three of them.

i think cj and josh were a lot closer than we see, and i have many feelings about them sort of being siblings.

also, hc that cj and toby ended up together after the show BECAUSE I NEED IT.

um, donna went to therapy! i feel like the show largely ignored the fact that she was the only one in the car who survived!! and so did josh, especially after he realized a part of the way he treated her after gaza was bc of his guilt about sending her there in the first place, and then donna almost dying.

okay let’s see... 50% of my brain is thinking of tww headcanons at any given moment so-

huck and molly grow up with auntie cj, who wishes she could be more of a parent but is so, so, so thankful for what she gets. i didn't really think cj wanted to get pregnant and have kids, especially with danny, but the show really threw that in there at the last moment lol. the reason for this is NOT “she’s too focused on her career,” trust me. i actually think cj’s mom died from breast cancer when she was pretty young, about 13. it’s heartbreaking, and miserable, and cj doesn’t smile for a month after. her dad was at a complete loss as to how to help her, since he was still dealing with it too. so for about half a year they co-existed in the same house, barely speaking. cj’s passion for politics and journalism eventually led her to come out of her shell more, about a year later, but she didn’t come back to the joyful person she used to be until college. she’s deathly afraid of passing the cancer gene onto her kids, which is why in my brain, the ot3 always had plans for kids but andy was going to get pregnant. (i talk about cj’s thoughts on actual canon andy’s pregnancy so much in my fic, so i should probably shut up now.) also i really think cj works herself to the bone after becoming COS, especially after toby leaves. he was the only thing keeping her from self-destructing, making her sleep and eat and remember to function. i can’t get over allison janney’s acting, the way you FEEL cj’s exhaustion. she has... no self- preservational instincts when it comes to doing her job as well as she can, and that really hurts her mental health, and like. SANITY. charlie and margaret know this and this duo practically running the white house might be my favorite thing about season 7.  also HOW DID THIS TURN INTO ONLY CJ HEADCANONS i have so many other ones!)

QUEER ELLIE BARTLET how could i forget? my random desire for ellie/mallory has no canon basis but i’m obsessed with them. tbh, i’m obsessed with all f/f west wing ships.

josh definitely has anxiety, that’s kind of canon. donna helps him manage it but after she leaves, his panic attacks become a lot more frequent and he forgets to take care of himself. also, i think cj has anxiety too.

WAIT WAIT WAIT IS THIS A PLACE FOR ME TO TALK ABOUT DONNA AND TOBY?!! aleena has a soapbox and she can’t stop, i’m sorry. okay so donna and toby are my favorite unlikely tww friendship, and i’m going to limit this to a few sentences but i will talk about this whenever anyone gives me an opportunity to. BASICALLY donna is the only person who doesn’t take any of toby’s bullshit, (who isn’t in love with him) and he underestimates her at first, yeah, but he is one of the first people to realize donna’s potential. and they have some very good, very small moments where he really sees her strength and she sees that he’s more than the stubborn grump he pretends to be.

i have so many headcanons about josh and toby, and cj and toby, and josh and donna, and cj and donna, and TOBY AND DONNA. josh teasing toby about cj. toby making fun of donna for being in love with josh because he says she’s too good for him but he loves josh like a brother despite what he says. HE SHOWS HER BABY PICTURES AND SHE GUSHES OVER THEM i don't make the rules!!!! anyways that’s NOT all of my headcanons, i just don't want to make you guys read any more lmao. thank you so much for indulging me, i would be thrilled to talk about more of these or to hear more of your headcanons! (this goes for anyone btw) THAT WAS SO LONG AHH.

13. character you wish you could be / aspire to be

cj cregg

14. on-screen crush

yeah, i’m a simple bisexual. cj cregg.

THAT WAS INSANELY LONG BUT SO FUN FOR ME, THANK YOU!!!

[mirkwoodshewolf]

You’re still the smartest girl I know; John Deacon x daughter teen reader

*Author’s note*

Hey guys wow my final crunch time at college has kept me REALLY busy with all these final projects that I need to do, so my thanksgiving break is gonna be INSANE with doing all this work that I need to do BUT the good news is is that I had this request done in my downtime that I had, so to the anon who requested this awhile back, I’m SOOO SORRY for getting it to you so late but I hope you love it either way.

I also have updates on a few of my series so I may end up making a post about my writing updates and what all I plan to work on to try and get more organized with all that I have to do. So I’ve got two updates for you guys so I hope you all like this fic.

Warnings: school, mild angst, failing school, FLUFF, Dad!Deacy (cause let’s face it its a warning because he’s FREAKIN ADORABLE!!!) and my unknown knowledge of how Catholic schools work, so if I’m wrong about something, PLEASE send me a comment or an inbox to correct it. 

Taglist:

@plethora-of-things​

@psychosupernatural​

@ixchel-9275​

@waddles03​

@queendeakyy​

@platawnic​

@kairosfreddie​

___________________________________________________________

I just don’t get it.  My dad graduated with 8 GCE O level and 3 A level in electronics, he’s designed his own amp, and helps with not only the family finances but the band finances too. He’s the smartest guy I know and I share half of his genius, or at least I should.  

I needed to sustain at least a 3.50 average to stay in my current Catholic secondary school but with my failing classes I’m barely at a 2.50.  It’s not that I don’t try to do the work I do the homework and attend the lectures, it’s just that some of my classes like Geometry and Ancient religions, the teachers make the assignments so confusing.

Even when I would write the papers, they always found something to pick at and I end up with either C’s or even D’s on my papers, even when I would stay up all night skimming through book after book to get the required aspects they ask for. Also their quizzes and exams are so unfair, they would tell us this or that would be on the test, but by the time the test came around, absolutely NONE of the stuff they said would be on it, is on it. Hell they’ve put things down that we haven’t even learned yet.

It was currently Fall break and I spending some time with my family for the holiday trying to get my mind off of school.  I was watching over my brothers rough house in the backyard.  God they were so lucky they don’t have to deal with the harsh school life just yet.

“So (y/n) how’s school going love?” I heard my mum say.  I quickly looked up at her and said quickly.

“School’s fine.” She looked at me skeptically.

“Are you sure?” she asked.

“Yeah mum, everything’s fine.” Then fortunately saved by the bell, the doorbell rang and I immediately shot up and said. “I’ll get it!” I quickly raced to the front door and cracked it open.  And there at the door was the mail carrier.  He took out of his bag our mail for the day and he said.

“Here’s your mail ma’am.”

“Thanks Gardner, have a good day.” I said.  He nodded and walked off the curb and continued down the road with his route. I closed the door and skimmed through the mail.  Most of it was bills, some Queen stuff for dad to sign and look over, but then there was a letter from the school sent to me.  At this point my heart was racing.

“Who was that?” Oh shit dad.  I turned around to see him coming down the stairs holding my baby sister who had probably just woken up from her nap.

“Oh just the mail. Mostly bills this time, but then again what else is new. And there’s some Queen stuff for you to look over dad.” I handed him most of the mail but kept the letter from London University for me.

“Well what’s that?”

“What? Oh this oh it’s just junk mail. Something about 20% interest rate on life insurance from a different company. Damn things are just scams anyway. I’ll shred it dad.” I walked up and kissed his cheek then my baby sister before racing upstairs.

As soon as I reached my room, I closed the door and locked it and leaned against it in a panic.  Nervously I opened up the envelope and it read the worst thing I could imagine.

To Miss (Y/n) (M/n) Deacon,

It has come to our attention of your low grades. It is required that your parents come in for a meeting with the Headmaster in regards to your low grades.

At that point my mind went blank as I ignored all that the letter said.  Tears formed in my eyes.  Goddamnit why did they send this letter? Cause first comes the letter, then the phone calls will follow.  I’ve tried so hard to keep my struggles in school away from my parents because I didn’t want them to get involved, that all I needed to do was try better since that’s all teachers seem to push onto me, if not then I’ll make it up in summer school.  

I just wanted to prove that I was as smart as my dad is.

So I hide the letter in the folds of my diary knowing that my parents don’t go snooping around it and putting it in the secret place where I know my snoopy brothers can’t get to it (thank god I change places every week) and tried to forget about it.  It was then a knock was heard at my door.

“(Y/n)? Poppet is everything okay in there?”

“Uhh—yeah dad everything’s fine.”

“Then why is your door locked?”

“I’m changing clothes dad, I’m meeting Stacy and Courtney for a movie later tonight.” There was a brief moment of silence before he said.

“Alright but at least unlock it. We’ve talked about this before, plus your brothers think girls are gross so I doubt they’d pop in on their sister changing.”

“Okay dad sorry.” Thank god he bought it.  I then went over to my phone and tried to make my lie seem real as I called both Stacy and Courtney to meet me at the theater in 15min.

Thankfully since it was the weekend, my parents let me go out later than usual so long as I was back before ten.  My dad gave me some money for the tickets and food and we kissed each other goodbye and I drove off to the theater.

I soon met my two best friends and we decided to just walk around the mall instead going to see a movie.  It was there I told the girls everything.  As they were trying on new stuff from a new store called The Gap, I said to them.

“What am I gonna do girls?”

“Well you know me girl, if I were you I’d just come clean.” Said Courtney.

“Are you crazy?! No way can she tell them about this. Okay chick this is what you do. You answer any calls the school makes and come up with any and every excuse you’ve got.” Stacy said as she peeked over her changing room into Courtney’s.

“Stace, no offense but your parents may buy into that but I’ve met her mum and dad and they aren’t stupid like yours are.”

“Yeah you got a point. Hell I could go to prison for murder and my parents wouldn’t care.”

“Guys hello! Back to me.” I begged.

“Sorry. Well looks like your screwed chickadee.”

“Oh gee thanks Stace.”

“Look (y/n). All I can tell you is that you won’t be able to hide this forever. Just—show them the note and tell them the truth. I’m sure they’ll understand if you explain it to them. And I can back you up about Mr. Crowley. Guy’s a right up arsehole if you ask me. Gave me -20 points because I used the wrong citation for the Bibliography page. And it was only one source that was labeled wrong” Said Courtney.

“Yeah and our Geometry teacher Miss. Ringo, I can barely understand what she’s saying with that thick Dutch accent of hers. Gave me a 30% on our last exam.”

“That’s because all you did was doodle and call her an old bat.” I said bluntly.

“Oh yeah. But oh man you should’ve seen the look on her face on the last homework assignment we had.”

“I don’t even wanna know.” Said Courtney.

“Trust me you don’t.” I vouched.

“Hey come on, let’s forget about school, get you to try on some clothes. We’ll go to the food court and get your mind off of things. Sound good?” Stacy said as she came out wearing a new jean jacket with suspenders underneath.  I nodded and said with a smile.

“Thanks guys, you’re the best friends I could ask for.”

“Hey divas in diapers remember? The three musketeers. The triple threat angelz.”

“With a Z because…..”

“We’re bad bitches!” we all exclaimed as we held our right hands out in a fist touching each other’s in a triangle shape.  And so that’s how it was, the girls helped me get my mind off of the letter and the stress of school with a good Girl’s day out.

A couple days later I was back in school in my Ancient Religions class. Mr. Crowley of course barely allowed any time for me to fully write down what he had on the board because he immediately went to the next thing.  He never once asked if anyone had any questions and if someone stopped him, he’d slam the ruler down on the student’s desk and either ask them to meet him after class, or just give them detention.

“Alright students; I’m going to give you your final assignment for the semester for you to do just before winter break.” Everyone groaned.  He had just give us a 10 page paper on how Christianity as a whole effected the Global conquest, and now he’s giving us another essay to do. “Hey, hey, hey, hey! No complaints you miscreants!”

But just before he could continue, the intercom beeped above us.

“Mr. Crowley?”

“Yes?” he said annoyedly.

“Will you please send Miss. Deacon into the office.”

“She’s on her way.”

“Thank you.”

“(Y/n) Deacon.” At that point everyone but Courtney all made the ‘oooo busted’ vocals. I flipped them off as Mr. Crowley made me my hall pass so that I wouldn’t get caught by a teacher patrolling the halls.  I grabbed my bag and left the classroom.

I walked down the second floor staircase, down to the main level and turned towards the entrance where the main office was.  I walked in and I said.

“I’m (Y/n) Deacon. I was told to come here from Mr. Crowley’s class.” The receptionist said.

“Ahh yes Miss. Deacon. The Headmaster would like to speak with you.” Oh shit. This is probably about that letter.  I swallowed nervously and hung my bag further up my shoulder and walked down the corridor towards the Headmaster’s office.  It felt like the walkway was getting longer as I walked towards that dreaded office room, that was until finally I arrived at it.

Slowly I reached up and knocked on it.  There was a brief period of silence before a low voice said.

“Come in.” I opened the door and there standing at the grand desk was Headmaster Byron.  He was a fairly older man (if I had to make a guess I’d say currently around Miami’s age). He was a bit—you now stout shape wise. He was going bald and he wore glasses over his hazel eyes. “Ahh Miss. Deacon please sit down.” I walked in and nervously sat down at the chair in front of me.

“You—wanted to see me sir?”

“Yes. I’ve called you down here regarding a letter I had sent over the fall break. I expected to hear a call from your parents but I hadn’t heard anything back from them. Is there a problem?” Oh god what do I say to him?

“Well I—I guess the mail service was just a little slow. Because we haven’t received the letter just yet.”

“Hmm well that’s unusual. Usually the mail service is properly on time. I mean at least we’re more organized than the American system at least to my knowledge.”

“Yeah guess they must’ve lost it.” I said nervously fiddling with my fingers, anxiously picking at my nails.

“In that case; I can send you with another copy of the letter. But if I don’t hear anything within 24hours expect the first phone call.” I nodded as he handed me the same letter that I had gotten in the mail over the break.  I thanked him and quickly headed out of the office. On my way back to class I ripped the letter up into as many pieces as I could before discarding it into the nearest bin and returned to class like nothing happened.

After school I was in my room trying to make sense of the math homework I had to deal with and that’s when a knock was heard at my open door.  I looked up and there stood my mum.

“Hey love. So you’re dad’s working late tonight with the band so I’m ordering a pizza for dinner. What would you like on yours?”

“Get me a full cheese and my toppings are sausage and pepperoni.”

“You got it. Doing homework?” I nodded solemnly. “Which class is it for?”

“Geometry.”

“Oh yeah, I remember taking that class. Hardest thing I ever knew. In fact all math was difficult for me. Thank god for your dad though, he was always better at finances than I was. That’s how we met as a matter of fact, I was struggling with my Algebra homework and he offered to help me since we were in the same class together.” Lucky her that she at least had dad to help her, meanwhile I on the other hand had absolutely no one to help me.

Everyone was in it for themselves, not even the teacher was willing to give us tutoring sessions if we didn’t get any of the stuff taught in class. He just expected us to memorize and do everything correctly.

“Say, speaking of geometry did you get the midterm results back yet?” Oh god that’s right. Dad actually skipped out on Queen rehearsals to help tutor me for the upcoming fall midterm exam.

Unfortunately for all that hard work, nothing we had practiced was on the midterm, half the stuff was gibberish to me so I just wrote random answers that I could and I ended up with an F.

“He uhh—he got super busy grading our other stuff that he didn’t have time to look over the midterms. But he said hopefully in the next week or two he’ll get to it.”

“Are you sure?” I nodded and she looked at me skeptically.

“Okay, if you say so. I’ll call you when dinner arrives okay?”

“Sounds good mum. Love you.”

“Love you too.” She kissed the top of my head and left my room.  I turned away and tossed my books and homework off my bed and buried my face into my bedsheets and softly began to cry.

Why? Why does this have to happen to me?! Why can’t I just get the damn work? Why do I have to be such a fucking idiot!?!?

Days passed and I still didn’t have the heart to tell my parents that I was failing school.  And when the phone started ringing I tried to make an effort to try and answer it before they did, fearing that it was the school.

Some calls it was to which I would make excuses for the school and then tell my mum and dad that it was just boring telemarketers trying to sell us stuff. Other times it’d be Uncle Freddie or uncle Roger calling for Deacy about some Queen business stuff (and of course I chatted with them, I’ve known them ever since I was a baby, plus Freddie was my godfather—or I should say fairy godmother).

But it wasn’t until one day when I came home from an afterschool football game Stacy and Courtney invited me to, that I would pay dearly for the lie that I had been trying to keep.

“Yeah I know and when Bobby finally scored the winning goal I swear it was a one and a million shot he got that!” Stacy exclaimed as we got out of her car and walked up my driveway before stopping at the gate.

“I tell you you’ve got one lucky man right there Stace. Your boy’s gonna go far in football.” Said Courtney.

“All I know is that for the first time in decades our school is finally in the playoffs and that we might have a shot of winning the district championship since 1971.” I said.

“Well we definitely have the best team to get us there. Not to mention the cutest.” Courtney said before snickering towards the end.

“I’ll drink to that.” I said taking a shot of my water.

“(Y/n). Can you come in here please?” I looked up to see my dad standing there by the door.  His arms crossed over his chest and I could tell something was wrong.

“Yeah dad I’ll be right there. See you girls Monday then?”

“We’ll save you a seat at the cafeteria before homeroom.” The girls then walked back to the car and they drove off.  I opened the gate and trotted up the stairs before standing in front of him.

“Is something wrong dad?”

“Come in the house and let’s talk.” He placed a hand on my shoulder and guided me inside.  As we walked through the house towards the kitchen, I could feel the tension in the air. It was so thick, you could cut it with a knife.  My mum sat there at the kitchen table looking distraught almost. “Have a seat.” Okay now I was getting a little freaked out.

I sat down and that’s when dad stood behind mum placing his hands on her shoulders.

“(Y/n), has something been going on at school that you’re not telling us?” asked my mum concerned.

“No—why do you ask?”

“Well we caught Robert and Michael reading your diary and—”

“They what!? MICHAEL! ROBERT GET YOUR ARSES DOWN HERE RIGHT NOW YOU LITTLE BUGGERS!!!”

“Hey! Hey! Hey! Language and lower that tone in your voice!” dad snapped at me. “We handled the boys, but it was then we found this.” He took something out of his pocket before unfolding it and placing it down right in front of me on the table.  My heart sunk and my throat grew dry.

It was the first letter sent in by my school.

“So we called the school and they said they’ve been trying to get in touch with us. And that you said we didn’t receive any letter the first time around so the Headmaster gave you a second letter.” Mum stated more in an interrogating tone than the concerned tone she had earlier.

“Have you really been failing your classes? And this time don’t. Lie. To us.”

“No!” I exclaimed.

“They said you’re barely holding a 2.50 GPA.”

“Well I—I just….I don’t mean to I-I-I-I….the teachers they’re…..” I kept rambling as I felt tears in my eyes and my throat clenched. “I don’t get why I’m being target.”

“The better question is why did you lie to us!? You’ve known about your grades for what weeks? And you lied to us every time a grade was mentioned! Do you have any idea the level of betrayal you’ve given to me and your mother!?” my dad’s voice slowly raised up in anger.

I tucked away in fear at his intimidating voice.  He rarely and I say this with a big emphasis that my dad rarely gets mad, but when he does—oh god help us all.  I didn’t answer.  Couldn’t answer him.

“(Y/n) (m/n) Deacon answer me when I’m talking to you!” he snapped.  I looked up fearfully and ashamed and I did the only thing that was running through my mind.

Run.

I got up and as quick as I could I raced out of the house and down the street.  I fucked up. I know, but at this point it was too late. Just seeing my dad get angry with me, I knew he hated me now.

I ran all the way down the street and turned left and ran towards old widow Johannsson’s back garden.  I opened the gate that stood around her AC vent and locked the door so that no one could open it.  I leaned against the corner of the gate and just sobbed as hard as I could.

All of my fears and sorrow came out as I wept hysterically and choked on my sobs, that’s when I heard my dad’s voice calling out my name.  I held my hand over my mouth to try and keep quiet as his voice got louder and louder.  I soon saw him through the cracks in the fence as he looked around.  Unfortunately a sniffle just had to come out and soon dad turned towards the fence.

“(Y/n)?”

“Please just go away and let me cry in peace.” I choked out.

“That’s not going to happen, now c’mon open the gate.”

“No you—you already hate me.” He scoffed out a sigh.

“Wha—what makes you think I hate you?” he asked in disbelief.

“You only yell when you hate someone. And now you hate me. You hate me that I lied to you. You hate me for keeping secrets. And you hate me because I’m stupid.”

“Hello? What—what is going on out here?” widow Johansson came out on top of her deck and looked down towards us.

“I’m sorry Valarie but—could you give us a few minutes?” she must’ve looked down and saw me because that’s when she slowly backed off and allowed my dad to talk to me again. “(Y/n), love I—I don’t hate you. Yeah I’m upset because you lied to your mum and I but I could never, ever hate you.”

“But you do dad don’t deny it. I kept this from you and you’ll never forgive me. You’ll never love me again because I’m a stupid bitch who can’t understand anything!”

“First of all you are not a stupid bitch. You are a brilliant, smart, beautiful young girl. And I will always love you no matter what.”

“Stop saying that. Please just go away please…..” I trailed off before pleading out one last time. “Please.” With that I didn’t hear another response from him as I continued to softly weep.  I could hear footsteps walking up widow Johansson’s back deck and then the back door closed.  I looked up and saw my dad as well as widow Johansson gone.  I wiped my tears and just curled myself into a ball.

I don’t know how much time passed but I knew it wasn’t long, maybe 5-7 minutes because the next thing I hear are footsteps walking back down the deck and my dad sitting himself down against the gate.  It was then I heard a guitar being strummed before a familiar tune was being played.

It was strange to hear it on guitar instead of an electric piano like it was on the record but the tune was easily recognizable, especially when my dad softly began singing the lyrics.  And sure he didn’t have as good a voice as my uncles did but—he still made the song count.

Oh, you're the best friend that I ever had I've been with you such a long time You're my sunshine and I want you to know That my feelings are true I really love you Oh, you're my best friend

While it is true that my dad wrote this song for my mum back when a Night at the Opera came out, he also written it for me as well.  Because when he first played it for us, he said he wanted a song dedicated to his favorite girls.  

So taking the electric piano he practiced and practiced till he knew how to play the tune and since then the song’s been like a comforting lullaby to me.  And he’s played and sung it to me ever since.

Ooh, you make me live Whenever this world is cruel to me I got you to help me forgive Ooh, you make me live now honey Ooh, you make me live

You're the first one When things turn out bad You know I'll never be lonely You're my only one And I love the things I really love the things that you do Oh, you're my best friend

Ooh, you make me live

I'm happy at home You're my best friend

He stopped playing and slightly turned towards me.  I wiped away my tears and just like it always did, it made me stop crying.

“Guess I still got it huh?”

“Shut up.” I muttered which made him softly chuckle.

“Can you please open the gate love? Let me see my best friend.” He asked.  I slowly scooted towards the gate and slowly reached for the handle.  I held onto it for a while and I pulled one side down which caused the other side to lift up.  The gate slowly opened and there sitting a few feet away from me was my dad.  “There she is.”

I sniffled and wiped away the tearstains but I was still afraid to look him in the eye for more than a second.  I felt his hand cup the side of my face wiping away the tears.

“Do you think you can talk to me now?” I nodded. “Okay. Now (y/n) please explain to me why you lied to us about your grades?”

“Because I—I wanted to prove myself.”

“Prove yourself about what?”

“That I could be as smart as you. You’re the smartest man I know and you never seem to get stumped about anything. You graduates college with the highest in your major, you’ve built your own amps from old junk, and you handle both our finances as well as the bands. But—the schoolwork I’m given is so beyond hard. I tried my best dad it’s not that I don’t do the homework because I do. I really do, it’s just that…..”

“Hey, hey poppet. Shh, it’s okay. It’s okay.” I sniffled and harshly wiped my tears away but my dad stopped me and replaced my thick sleeve with his gentle but calloused fingers.  “I know you do the homework. I’ve seen you do it and so has your mum.”

“But the teachers make it so unfair to learn. They say this or that will be on the test but then something we haven’t even learned yet is what ends up as majority of the questions. Or they’re not consistent with what they want on the papers before giving us a bigger paper the next day after the previous one. Dad I—I’m a failure. And I didn’t want you to be ashamed of having a stupid daughter like me.”

“Oh (y/n),” he scooted closer to me and cupped both sides of my face forcing me to look up at him with teary eyes. “I am in no way, nor will I ever be ashamed to have you as my daughter. You’re my first baby girl and I love you soo much. You don’t have to be a genius like me to be my daughter, because you are smart in your own clever way.”

“But I—I’m failing my classes, how can I be smart when I’m failing?”

“You’re still trying, are you not?” I shrugged.

“I guess.”

“Then that proves your smart. Oh my sweet girl I wish you had come to me about this sooner instead of feeling like you had to hide this from me.”

“I’m sorry daddy.” I softly choked out.

“It’s okay love. Now come here, you deserve cuddles and kisses right now.” I immediately fell into his arms and buried myself into his shoulder.  He rubbed my back in soothing circles and stroked through my hair. “We’ll get this sorted out okay? But promise me that you’ll never lie to us about school again, okay?”

“I promise…..never again.”

“I love you.”

“I love you too.”

And they did just that.  I showed my parents everything regarding exams, homework and showed just how unfair the work was for me.  I showed them my notes and told them what my teachers were really like.

The next day they scheduled a meeting with the headmaster and they talked about how the teachers are treating me and my fellow classmates unfairly with too much work and not unfair teachings of not asking for help.

Now one would think after telling you this I got off scot-free right? Wrong. I was grounded for the same amount of time that I had lied to my parents about school, so that meant over a week and a half of no TV, no after school activities and no phone privileges.

But after getting the teachers fired and currently dealing with substitutes for the rest of the year, whenever dad wasn’t busy with Queen; he made a promise to sit down with me and if there was anything I was stuck on, he’d help me with it. No matter how long it took.

[sheeple]

The intern | 3: ‘First’ blind dates

GIFS NOT MINE. THIS IS ALL FICTION. Genre(s): intern!au / fluff / mild angst Group(s): NCT / Red Velvet Pairing(s): Moon Taeil x fem!reader Summary: The new Elysion Publishings intern is the youngest they ever had. It’s not a problem until she grabs the attention of the IT guy. Warning(s): Age-gap of five years [Masterlist] [Mini masterlist]

“Ahhh”, I groan, smelling my hands in disgust, “my hands still reek like onions. I washed them more than twenty times the past three days.” 

As punishment for running away and hiding from Wendy, I had to peel forty unions to help her make some dish she had to make for a family gathering. The worst part is that I couldn’t even eat it.

Wendy scoffs. “That’s for smart-mouthing me. Don’t forget hiding from me! How did you even get from the roof back to your desk without me noticing.”

I shrug with a slight smile. “A question for you, knowledge for me.”

Wendy scoffs again and hits me on the head. I yelp and almost fall of my chair. 

“Stop it! I already said that I’m sorry over a thousand times, what more do I have to do to earn your forgiveness?”

She spins around and leans closer to me with a sly smirk. “Go out with my cousin.”

My eyes grow wide and I choke on air. “I.. what?! Your cousin?”

Wendy nods while grabbing her phone. “Yeah. His name’s Mark, a good kid. He only games and hangs around his friends. It’s driving my aunt crazy.”

She shoves her phone under my nose with an Instagram account displayed on it. 

“‘mork_thedork’? That’s cute. He’s cute too, though.”

“I know right!”, beams Wendy as I send his Insta to my dm. “Shall I text him to tell he has a date?”

I hum while giving Wendy’s phone back. “Yeah okay. Tell him that he can choose where to go.”

She nods as she turns back towards her desk. Her knee bumps against it and a pen fall off the edge, landing right under my desk. I groan and slide off my chair, reaching my pen.

“Fan of hiding under desks, I see”, jokes a voice and I yelp, letting out a loud ‘oof’ as I hit my head on the desk. 

I get away under the table while rubbing my head and see the IT guy standing there with an amused grin on his face. 

“Jezus Christ, you scared me to death”, I pout as I get back on my chair. 

He laughs, leaning casually on my desk. “Well, you seem fine.”

I roll my eyes. “Har har. What even are you doing here? Shouldn’t you be knees deep in some digital problem?”

“Well, I should, but I was called down to fix the copy machine. And to grab a cup coffee but it seems like that machine is also broken.”

Taeyong lets out a relieved ‘finally!’, and throws his hands up in the air, earning a high five from Johnny

I hum as I ignore the dweebs on front of me, resting my head on my hands and going through my finder to open an InDesign document. “Isn’t fixing copy machines the job of the janitor?”

He nods. “Yup”, he says, popping the p, “but he’s home with a broken foot. Someone dropped an old copy machine from the 90′s on him.” 

I giggle. “How suitable.”

As the IT guy wants to say something, his telephone rings and he picks up. He nods and hums, giving multiple yesses before he hangs up. 

“I have to go. Promise me we will grab a cup of coffee soon.” He holds up his pinky. 

I laugh and link our pinkies. “Promise. Now go.” I shoo him away and wave before he steps into the elevator. 

“He was totally flirting with you”, says Wendy while jabbing in my side. 

“Was not”, I roll my eyes as I turn back to my laptop screen and push her hand away. 

“He was”, say Taeyong and Johnny together in union as they peek over the wall dividers. “From the way the smiled, leaned closer, and not forget the linking of pinkies.” Johnny flutters his lashes dramatically while clasping his hands together.

I snort and push his face away. “Whatever, dweeps.” 

“Does he even know that you're a literal child?”, asks Wendy. 

I clap my hands together and breath deeply in and out, convincing myself that it is not okay to hit old people. Can’t have a case of elder abuse on my criminal record. 

“No”, I say calmly. “I don’t even know his name, how would he know my age?”

“Moon Taeil”, says Taeyong as he picks up a card from the floor, “born June fourteenth in ‘94.” 

“He old”, I joke, what earns me a hit on the head from three different sides. 

With a pout, I rub my head while grabbing the keycard out of Taeyong’s hands. “I’ll return it during my break.”

“Which is now”, says Johnny after he checks his watch. 

“Go to your loverboy.” Taeyong waves me off as I grab my lunch. 

“You know, from all the people, I had the most trust in you, Taeyong.” I shake my head in faux disappointment. 

And as I walk away, I hear: “call me Oppa, goddamnit!” I imagine him dramatically shaking his fist in the air as he stares at me with drama in his eyes.

I press the button on the twenty-fifth floor and smile at the other people inside the elevator as I get off. 

I knock on the door with a slight smile before I walk into the IT room and lean against the desk. 

“Well, when I said ‘soon’, I didn’t imagine it being this soon.” The IT guy, now known as Taeil, shows me a charming smile.

It makes my heart flutter, but I quickly dismiss it. I’m not here to find a significant other. I’m here to learn and that’s the only thing I will do. 

“Neither did I. But you dropped this on the ground and I thought that you wanted this back.” I lay the keycard on the desk and slide it to him. 

“Did I lose it then?”, he questions and I raise my eyebrows.  

“Yes. It’s not like Taeyong sneakily grabbed it from your back pocket or so.” 

Taeil shakes his head as he puts his keycard back into his pocket. “Thanks, though. You saved me from a lot of unnecessary expenses.”

I cock my head to the side. “How so?”

He folds his arms in front of his chest while leaning onto the desk. “Well, the company doesn’t like it when we lose stuff that is essentially theirs. Such a little keycard can cost up to one-hundred-thousand Won.”

My eyes bulge out. That’s like 75 euros for such a small thing! 

“Better not lose mine then”, I chuckle as I grab my lunch. “Well, I will be off to lunch. Bye-bye!” I wave Taeil goodbye and turn around.

“Wait!”, he calls and I stop dead in my tracks. He walks up to me with his hands in his pockets and with a smile, he asks: “have you already eaten up on the roof?”

I shake sadly my head. “Wendy says it’s too cold, even though it’s mid-September. And the guys won’t join because they're just boring.”

Taeil shakes his head smiling. “Shall we go to the roof, together?”

My eyes grow wide. “W... we? Like you and me?” 

He licks his lips. “I mean, only if you want to! I’m not forcing anything. If you rather go to your friends, I completely understand.” Taeil turns away with slumped shoulders and I quickly grab his wrist. 

“Dude, chill okay? I would really like for us two to eat our lunch on the roof. Lemme text my friend and then we can go.”

“Okay, let’s go”, I say with a bright smile as I send Taeyong a quick text and we walk to the elevator.

After a short ride with the elevator, we arrive at the rooftop and I look in awe around me. 

The rooftop is divided in two floors; the first one with bushes and benches where you can lounge around. There’s also a rooftop bar where you can order lunch or just sit around. Above the bar is another garden where you also can sit and eat.

“Wanna sit inside or outside”, questions Taeil and I look around. 

Inside is pretty full and the temperature is pleasant since it’s halfway through September. 

“Let’s sit outside if that’s okay with you?” I turn towards him and he nods. 

We grab a plate of food and settle outside in one of the tables surrounded by bushes and trees.

“So”, I smile, “tell me something about yourself.” 

Taeil looks weirdly at me and I cock my head. Did I say something wrong?

“Ahh well... I like to sing? I have a really annoying neighbour.”

“Oh, drama! Tell me about them.” I stuff my face with whatever kind of food is on my plate and munch on it as I look expectantly at him.

Taeil chuckles. “You love your gossips, don’t you? But my neighbour is this old man with twenty cats. He always complains when I have my friends over that the hallway gets dirty and disturbs his cats.”

I scrunch my nose. “That’s nonsense.”

“Right? But I can’t do anything since he’s the uncle of the landlord.” Taeil rolls his eyes as he takes a sip from his coffee. “Just a bunch of favouritism.”

After we chat some more I get a text from Wendy that there’s a team meeting in fifteen minutes. So Taeil and I finish up and get into the elevator to go down.

“See you around?”, I turn around to Taeil and he nods with a smile.

“Definitely.”

I walk out the elevator and give one small wave before I turn around, not seeing his lingering look on me before the doors close.

It’s Saturday, the day of my ‘date’ with Mark. And I am panicking. We’ve agreed to meet at three in a cafe not far from my apartment. But it’s already two-fifty-five and I just left the comfort of my home. 

I just couldn’t decide what to wear. First impressions are the most important, so wearing something cute is a must. The weather is also working against me. It’s too cold for just a t-shirt but too warm for a sweater. So I just decided to go with a cute blouse, denim jeans and jacket, and just a small bag to put my keys and phone in. 

As I rush into the cafe, my eyes scan around the place. I see a hand shoot up and wave at me as a smile grows on my face.

I walk towards the table where Mark sits and take a seat in front of him. 

We’ve texted before so I have a general idea what he looks like because he sent me a snap of his face. But still, a snap is only a couple seconds and he’s cute as fuck.

What is it with Korean people and being fine as fuck? 

“He-hi!”, he stutters nervously as he shows me a small smile. “I’m Mark Lee. But you already knew that since you saw my Instagram and Snapchat. You probably also heard it from Wendy and... I’m babbling...” Mark awkwardly scratches the back of his neck, looking away embarrassed. 

“It’s okay”, I smile adoringly. “Being nervous is okay. To be honest, I’m quite nervous too.” I lean a bit forward as I whisper the last part. 

Mark snorts. “Yeah, as if. Just... look at you.” He points at me and I look down, searching if there is something wrong.

“You’re so beautiful and probably perfect. You should have done this plenty of times.”

My cheeks heat up and I feel the blood rush to my ears. “I have... I─ erhm... Oh my God, I am speechless. Thank you... for the compliment” I bite my lip and run a hand through my hair, ruffling it slightly. 

“But I have actually never done this, to be honest. I am always so focused on school that going on dates or even dating never really seemed a thing for me.”

Mark shakes his head. “You should, tho. I bet you have guys falling at your feet back home.”

Now it’s my turn to snort. “As if”, I chuckle while roll my eyes. “I don’t really fit the standard girlfriend-mould most guys my age have.”

He scoffs. “Stupid.”

I smile and turn away, trying to control my blushing cheeks.

“Hi! What can I get you both?”, chimes a girl, taking a notepad out of her apron with a big smile.

“Erm... An iced Americano for me.” Mark folds his hands together.

“An iced Americano noted. And for you?”

I lick my lips, glancing over the menu. “Just a frapé caramel.”

The girl nods while noting our orders and turns around.

“So, your a frapé kind of girl”, laughs Mark while leaning back in his chair.

I shrug and laugh. “Oh well, you know, just being a basic white girl.” 

Mark laughs loudly at my statement as if it’s the funniest thing he’s ever heard.

Our drinks come shortly after since there are only a few people in the cafe and I sip it.

“Are you also one of those anti-reusable straw supporters?” Mark grins while sipping his Americano.

“As if. Back home the whole save-the-turtles-thing”, while saying, I spread my hands and shake them, doing way too enthusiastic jazz hands, “is not really big.”

Mark raises his eyebrows while letting out a gasp. “You brutes! Your home country sounds like a weird place, no offence”, he jokes.

“None taken.”

“But, how are you nineteen and already in your graduation year of college?”

I lick my lips and inhale deeply. “Are you ready for a long and complex explanation of the school system?”, I ask while looking him deeply in the eye, leaning towards him.

Mark does the same and nods.

“Okay, so. Children start primary school when their four. They continue it for eight years and then they go to high school. But here’s the catch; we get divided into different levels depending on how smart you are.”

Mark nods slowly, processing the information he just received. “So, you’re like twelve years old when you enter high school.”

I nod while taking a big gulp of my frapé. “Indeed. The lowest level ─ let’s call it pre-vocational for now ─ is four years. You’re sixteen when you graduate. The next level is called ─ and I kid you not ─ higher pre-vocational. That is five years and you will be seventeen while graduating.”

“Every level higher is a year more?”, he asks unsure and I nod.

“Yup. There is another level that is six years but that’s for the really smart people. They’re eighteen when done.”

Mark exclaims in wonder while nodding slowly. “Let me guess, you did the highest?”

I laugh loudly. “As if. I did pre-vocational and then got to do a study graphic design at vocational level. But there’s a catch.”

“There’s always a catch. What did you do? Murder someone?”

“I wish”, I laugh, “but no. I was actually three and a half when I started primary school so I actually need to be a year lower. The kindergarten group at my school what chock full so they said children born between September 27th until October 27th can go to first grade.”

Mark’s mouth falls open as he looks at me shocked. “So you shouldn’t even be here?”

I exclaim and give him a shove against his shoulder. “I so do!”

“You so totally murdered someone. This is too wild to be true. You can’t be smarter than me.”

I roll my eyes. “Now, tell about yourself! We’ve only talked about me and it gets boring.”

“Thank God you finally noticed”, he jokes and I kick him under the table, making him choke on his coffee.

“Well... I just graduated high school and just started college. I major in music.”

“Oooh, that sounds like so much fun! What instruments can you play? Can you also sing?”

My bombardment of questions makes him blush and he looks away. “I mean, I think I am pretty solid at singing. If you want to hear, you can check my Soundcloud, I post there some of my own works. My friends also join me sometimes.”

I hum. “I saw the link on your Insta. I’ve yet to check it out. I promise though.”

“Yo-you do?”

I nod and hold up my pinky. “Once you pinky promise, you can’t back out.”

We link your pinkies and I swear, I never saw a happier smile on anyone’s face than Mark’s at that moment.

[the-knees-of-the-bees]

Sync [Chapter 2] - Ignis Scientia x FemReader

Oh lordt, its been 4 months since I last updated this fic. I applaud all you fic writers out there than can hammer out quality content so quickly. I’ve been in a writing rut these last few weeks which is why it’s taking me so long to update. There’s only one chapter left of this little fic so hopefully it won’t take me another 4 months to update @,@

[EDIT] - AAND once again mobile app completely destroys the formating, so all the section breaks disappear and everything is just mashed together.  So honestly this is better to read either on PC or on AO3.

Warnings/Themes - fluff, angst, anxiety, language, slight Gladioxreader?, non-canon storyline Word Count - 5,591 AO3 Link - “Begin At The Beginning” Screen shot - @dizzymoogle​

Could anything else possibly go wrong in your life?  Work, family, friends, your relationship; everything was pushing you to your limits.  You desperately needed a change of scenery but when a weekend of self-care suddenly goes awry, you wonder if your new found situation is not so bad after all…

“Begin at the beginning," the King said, very gravely, "and go on till you come to the end: then stop.”

It was a savory scent that stirred you awake.  The sizzle of a frying pan hissed from the kitchen of your apartment as you listened to the indistinct crackle beyond your bedroom door.  You groaned, wondering how long you had slept in this Sunday morning.  But the delicious aroma was already triggering your stomach, a deep growl rumbled inside of your abdomen causing you to roll over onto your side.  You were briefly irritated with yourself; you had set a goal to wake up early and get a few errands done by this weekend, but here you were again, plastered to your bed.  A long drawn out sigh exhaled out of your mouth.

Wait.  I… live alone.

Your eyes shot open.  The trailer’s generator hummed quietly as rays of sunlight spilled through the small set of blinds over the sink.  You pushed yourself up, shock hitting you again just like it did when you had first awoken in this world.  A muffled conversation could be heard just outside the trailer door.  You kicked your legs out from under the blanket, looking down to see Ignis’ clothes twisted around your body.  You looked around the interior of the trailer as you gripped his shirt, your brain now convinced of the tangibility of this fabricated place.  You threw your legs over the edge of the bed and quietly padded over to the door, kneeling down to hear them.  

Gladio’s deep voice was the easiest to distinguish, “Do you think she has amnesia?  She seemed really confused where she was.”

“I wonder if it’s safe to take her along,” Noct said.

Prompto set a stack of plates down on the table, “She looks harmless.  Not to mention she’s actually pretty cute.”

Oh my god, that really IS Prompto.  Your heart skipped when you heard Ignis reply, “It would be irresponsible of us to leave someone in distress alone in an unfamiliar locale.  As soon as she recalls where she is, we should take her back home at once.”

Ignis was truly a considerate man.  You pulled the collar of his shirt to your face, savoring its fresh linen smell one last time before having to inevitably surrender it.   They shuffled closer to the trailer door.  You frantically bounced back into bed, shoving yourself beneath the blanket.

The trailer door squeaked and gentle footsteps tapped along the floorboards.  Ignis cleared his throat, speaking softly, “[Y/N]… if you are able to eat, breakfast is ready.”

You pretended to stir awake, pushing yourself up slowly with your arms, “Thank you.  I’ll be out there in a minute,” you sleepily moaned as convincingly as you could.

He smiled and turned to exit when you stopped him.  

“Hey.   Umm, thanks for saving me yesterday.  I mean, all of you.  I’m sorry for how I was acting last night.  I’m just… not sure what’s going on.”

“That’s quite alright.  I promise we will do what we can to help you with your situation.”

You smiled at him, ducking your head when you realized a warmth was growing on your cheeks.

“I hope that you won’t be offended but…” he headed down the narrow hallway and pulled a slim garment closet open, “I laundered your dress for you.  I thought it might be a good start to the day if you were a bit more refreshed,” he held the dress on a hanger, perfectly clean and pressed.

The blush was now clearly evident on your face, “I… oh, wow… thank you.  You really didn’t have to do that.”

He placed it back into the closet, “It’s not a problem at all.  We’ll be outside whenever you are ready.”

You bobbed your head, “Okay, thanks so much again.”

He smiled in return and headed out the door.

The palms of your hands immediately slammed into your face, the heat radiating off of your skin as if it had ignited into flames.   Keep it together, keep it together.  You shifted back out of bed, ambling over to the closet and pulled out your dress.  The fresh smell was reminiscent of Ignis’ shirt causing the heat from your face to engulf the rest of your body.  You laid it carefully on the bed, smoothing out the fabric to prevent any wrinkles.  You hurried over to the sink and splashed your face with water before dressing yourself and heading outside.

The blinding sunlight smacked you in the face; you squinted your eyes and saw the boys sitting around a plastic lawn table.  Noct waved his hand up at you, beckoning you to join them.  You walked over as Prompto pulled a seat out to his left, patting the armrest for you to sit.  The table was filled with an amazing variety of breakfast food and drinks.  The growl in your stomach swiftly returned, announcing its demands to the world.

Noct chuckled, “Well at least you haven’t lost your appetite, sit down with us and eat.”

You slid into the chair.  Realization struck you again that you were sitting next to the boys.  THE FFXV BOYS.  

Ignis noticed your reluctance, “Please help yourself, there’s plenty to go around.”

You reached for a plate and began placing a few of your favorite items on it.  If I can taste it, then this is real, and it's really not a dream.  You bit down onto the tasty morsel on your fork.   Fuck, it’s real… and amazing.  Goddamnit Ignis.

Prompto was quick to make conversation, “So I don’t think we ever got to introduce ourselves yesterday.  I’m Prompto.” He threw his right arm across his chest to shake your hand.

If they only knew… You shook his hand, “Nice to meet you.”

“I’m Gladiolus, but these jokers just call me Gladio.”

You gave him a weak smile and nodded.

“I’m Noctis… but you can just call me Noct.”

You gulped when you turned your attention to the advisor.  “My apologies for not properly introducing myself last night.  My name is Ignis.”

You could feel yourself sweating, “It’s nice to meet you all.  And thank you for saving me yesterday.”

“Eh no problem, it's the least we could do for— almost killing you,“  Prompto squeaked.

You huffed a laugh, “I was in the middle of the road, it's understandable.”

The four men resumed eating.  You pushed another forkful of food into your  mouth, stealing glances at each of the boys, still trying to verify everything you were witnessing.  

Prompto muffled a question through his stuffed mouth, “Soh werr are yoo frm?”

You nearly choked, “Umm… well.  I’m from [City].”

“I don’t think I’ve ever heard of that place here in Lucis,” Noct stated, shoveling a mouthful of eggs into his mouth.

“Indeed, it's certainly a city that I’m unfamiliar with, what nation are you from?” Ignis asked.

Shit, I didn’t think this one through.  There’s no way in hell I can tell them.  They’ll really think I’m crazy.  Your fingers began to tremble as you set your fork down, shoving your now vacant hand into your lap, “Ahh… you know.  I'm not sure now.  My head is still… kinda fuzzy from yesterday.  I’m not sure if I’m recalling anything correctly.”

Noct nodded, “That’s okay, we’re going to head back to Insomnia.  We’ll figure it out there.”

You froze, what point of the game are we in right now??  They continued dining, you had to be tactful in your line of inquiry.  If there was any hint as to knowing what you knew, it would be a turn for the worse.  “I think I’ve heard of Insomnia before, where were you all heading before you found me?”

Prompto answered after gulping down a mouth full of pastry, “A place called Galdin Quay.  We’re trying to hitch a ride to Altissia.”

Your heart was pounding now.  Oh shit, are we at the beginning of the game?!  We can’t go back to Insomnia, its about to be attacked!  “Alt-eesha?”

“Yeah, the capital of Accordo.  We’re meeting with Lady Lunafreya,” he replied.

Gladio jumped in, “We’ll have to check the ferry schedule later.  We’ll drop you off first at the Citadel and take off afterwards.”

“NO!!” 

They froze as a silence washed over you all.  They each bore their eyes into you with a look of shock and confusion.  Now you had given yourself away… if not made yourself up to be some sort of spy.

Ignis raised his brow at you, “Is there a reason why not?”

Sweat began to collect along your back as you felt the blood drain from your face, “I… I just… don’t like big cities.  Insomnia… it's a big city, right?  I just know that they make me nervous for some reason.”

They exchanged questioning glances with one another.  Noct chimed in, “Uhh, well, I guess we can see if there’s an outpost with a medical station.”

You put your hands up in front of you, “N-no, that’s okay.  Honestly I’ll be fine if you leave me here.  Just head down to Galdin Quay.  I’ll just see if someone can come get me at the diner.”

Gladio narrowed his eyes at you, “You should come with us, our best bet to finding out your identity is at the Citadel.”

“R-really, I don’t want to be a burden.  I’m not hurt, I’ll find my bearings here once I call my family.”  You could sense their heightened level of caution towards you.  It was only a matter of time before they truly saw through your facade, even as obscure and equally mysterious to you as it appeared.  There were only two options before you: quickly downplay your identity or bail out, FAST.  

They quietly resumed eating, the clinking of their utensils pushed you further to the edge of a panic attack.  You could feel their eyes lingering on you in your periphery; you kept your gaze down at your plate, forcing the food down now to avoid any further detection in your odd behavior.

“I’m just gonna go grab anything I left in the trailer and I’ll be out of your guys’ hair.  Thanks again,” you nervously laughed as you stood up and cleared your plate.  You shuffled into the trailer, wildly searching the bed and counters.  Fuck, what am I doing, I didn’t even have anything on me when I got here.  You turned to head out of the trailer when you heard the door slam shut.

Gladio stood before you, his brows cross with a look of suspicion.  He strolled up to you slowly, “Forgot something?”

You gulped, looking around your immediate area as if you were sincerely hunting for a lost item of yours, “I— I guess I didn’t have my phone on me.  So I’ll have to use the one in the diner.”

He was closer now, his large frame towering over you.  

“I’ll just be going now,” you aimed to escape through the small space between the wall and him.

He slammed his palm against the wall, instantly cutting you off from your retreat.  You jumped at the sudden action.  He leaned over, placing his other palm along the opposite side of your head, caging you in.  “You’re coming with us, there’s no say in that.”

The heat from his body was creating a sauna between the two of in the intimate space, “I’m fine.  Seriously, I—I’ll be okay.”

He leaned his face in towards your own, his breath nearly grazing your skin, “No.  You’re not understanding this.  You’re coming with us until we figure out just who you are.”

Oh FUCK.

You were wedged snuggly between the Shield and Prompto in the back of the Regalia, an awkward silence occupying the small area between you all.  You kept your attention facing forward, too afraid to make eye contact with any of them.  Prompto nervously cleared his throat; you could tell he was debating about being the first to say something.  But Ignis beat him to it.

“Once we arrive at the Citadel, a member of the Kingsglaive will escort you to the hospital.  Afterwards… we’ll begin the investigation on your identity,” he eyed you through the rear view window.

You inhaled a shaky breath, “Y-yes, sir.”

He raised a brow at your proper address, “If there’s anything you can remember, it would be in your best interest to relay that information to us.” Gladio shifted in his seat.  A large blue sign was coming up on your right.  

[  I N S O M N I A  ]

  Your heart began to pound.  What were you going to do?  They absolutely could not go back to the city; Noct is the chosen king, you couldn’t jeopardize his fate and the return of light.  You had no choice, you had to make them turn around.

“I… I know you guys are not very trusting of me right now.  But please listen to me when I say this.  We cannot go to the city.”

Gladio twisted his body to face you, “Really now?  And why would that be?”  His voice was laced with irritation.

You gulped, averting your eyes from his, “It’s a bad idea… please, just turn the car around.”

Noct turned around in the passenger seat to look at you, “Tell us why we shouldn’t go back.  You definitely know something that we don’t.”

Oh god, what the hell do I do?!  “It’s… it’s not safe.”

Ignis prodded, “Are you referring to the treaty signing?”

“Yes, just… just turn around and I can explain.”

Gladio asserted, “Keep going Iggy.  She needs to be taken to the Citadel.”

“Hey, guys, maybe we should just listen to her first.  She might actually know something,” Prompto suggested, his brows knit with concern.

“There’s no discussing this, we’re heading back.  If something is going to happen, we need to be there to protect the city,” the Shield growled.

“If Prompto’s right, you need to tell us now before we head into the city,” Noct countered.

“I can’t believe you are actually debating this!” Gladio shouted back.

Their squabbling went on back and forth until a group of Imperial soldiers came into view.  You leaned forward as the Regalia closed on their proximity.  Your heart began to beat out of your chest; you had to think quick before they spotted you.

Ignis cut through the fight, “We will let the court decide what to do.  For now we will leave her in their custody.  We need to retain our scheduled meeting with Lady Lunafreya.”

Their bickering resumed once more when you noticed a single soldier turn its head towards the oncoming vehicle.  You had to act now.

You lunged over the center console, landing both of your hands on the steering wheel and yanking it to the right.  The Regalia swerved to the shoulder causing your bodies to slam against the interior panels.  The vehicle spun around as sand and rock scraped beneath the tires, kicking up a giant cloud of dust before coming to a halt. 

You groaned from the dull ache in your ribs, discovering that you had landed halfway onto Noctis and your ass nearly in the air.  The others moaned and grunted, stunned by the turn of events.  You slowly lifted your head, your hair tossled over your face as you looked around you.  A firm grasp suddenly wrapped around your waist as your body was hoisted up into the air.  You heard the door thrown open and your body carried with it.  You were set down on your feet as the others exited the car.  

“Who ARE you!” Gladio shouted.

You jumped at his verbal demand.  “Look, please, you just— you just have to believe me.  We have to get out of here,” you pleaded.

Ignis stepped towards you, “You need to be honest with us right now or there will be consequences.”

You slowly stepped backwards, “I want to tell you… but you won’t believe me.” Tears began to well up in your eyes.

Noct scrambled up to you, grabbing you by the shoulder, “What is going on in Insomnia, my father is there.  You need to tell me!”

The dewy buds began to stream down your cheeks, “It’s not safe… you’re not safe.  And we have to leave,” you begged the Prince.  

He calmed his voice a bit, “Look—”

A loud ring buzzed in his pocket.  He released an annoyed grumble and pulled his phone out.  He turned away with the phone to his ear.  Gladio raised his hand to point at you, “Don’t.  Move.”

“We’re just outside of Insomnia, why?” Noct said into the phone.  The others glanced at one another.  “But—” he was silenced for another minute before nodding, “Okay, call me back as soon as you hear something.  Please check on my father too.”  He hung up the call.

“Was that the Marshal?” Ignis asked.

Noctis sighed, “Yeah, he said to make sure we’re heading down to Galdin Quay.  He received a tip from a glaive that the Imperial forces are up to something.  He said get out of sight.”

The boys exchanged concerned looks.  A dull hum began to echo in the valley becoming more thunderous by the second.

“Imperials!” Prompto exclaimed.  A massive airship hovered above the scorching desert, its massive engines roaring aloud as it headed directly your way.

“Let’s get out of here then,” Gladio stated with an annoyed tone.

You quickly loaded back into the Regalia.  Ignis threw the car into drive and sped off towards Galdin Quay.

The sun began to set over the horizon, painting a brilliant watercolor wash of pinks and oranges across the wide canvas of sky.  The drive to the seaside resort was as expected, awkward and quiet.  You wondered what they were currently thinking of you.  Were you an Imperial spy?  An assassin?  Who knows what was going through their heads right now.  You shifted uneasily in your seat, trying your best not to disturb Gladio as he leaned against the door with his eyes buried in his book, a disgruntled look spread on his face.  

The salty scent of the ocean filled the air as the Regalia made its way down the winding road.  In any other scenario you would be elated to see the bustling tourist attraction but the dread of your fate was constantly lingering on your mind.  The car came to a stop in a parking spot, Ignis switched off the engine and you briefly sat in silence.  Gladio made the first move and shifted out of his seat, followed by the rest.  You took a single step away from the vehicle when a firm hand landed on your shoulder.

“Don’t even think about trying to escape.”  Gladio’s forbidding voice caused your body to lock up.  

Prompto tapped his fingertips together, “So what now?”

“I need to get a hold of Cor,” Noct pulled out his phone and scrolled through his contacts.  He paced around as he pressed the phone to his ear.  After a few seconds he groaned, dropping the phone from his temple and dialed the marshal’s number again.  

You looked around the area, the darkness of the night descended on the resort as flecks of stars slowly became more visible.  One by one the street lights flickered on, illuminating the dreamy getaway.

“Damnit.  He’s not answering,” Noct sighed, shoving his phone back in his pocket.

“We should head back,” Gladio started, “If the city’s in trouble we need to be there.”

Ignis interjected, “No.  The marshal gave us clear instructions to remain out of sight.  We will leave the safety of Insomnia in the hands of the Kingsglaive.  When the marshal is ready, we will rendezvouz.”

A blanket of anxiety began to cloak each of you.  Prompto looked over at Noctis, “What do you think?”

The prince nodded, “Iggy’s right, let’s stay put until we hear from Cor.”

Gladio shook his head, planting his hands on his hips, “This is ridiculous.”

“I’m just as worried as you, Gladio.  My dad is there signing the treaty.  Your dad is there too.  But Cor said to stay here, let’s just wait it out and see,” Noct snapped.  

The group became silent as they mulled over the decision.  Noct added, “Let’s just make camp, its been a long ass day already.”

Gladio rocked his head backward with a vexed sigh and threw the trunk open, sifting through the camping equipment.  Prompto quickly joined him at his side to collect the supplies.  Once they had gathered everything, the group began heading to the camp site along the beach.

You felt your arm suddenly tugged from behind.  You whipped your head around to see Ignis’ grasp around you, holding you back from continuing on.  Noct turned his body when he noticed the two of you had stopped.  Ignis shot him a knowing look.  Noct glanced at you then back to his advisor and nodded  before trudging through the sand towards the camp site with the other two men.

“You will accompany me for the time being.  There are several questions I have for you.”

You gulped, acquiescing to his order with a dip of your head.  He led the way towards the direction of the restaurant.  You both began crossing the boardwalk as the wooden planks creaked below your footsteps.  The silence was urking you badly, you internally debated about making a run for it, but you knew Ignis, you wouldn’t get far.  You would be cut down before you even made it to the parking lot.  The lights were dim over the walkway, most of the tourists had retreated to their hotel rooms for the night, allowing a tranquil silence to accompany the gentle crashing of the waves.  When you finally made it midway up the boardwalk, Ignis cleared his throat to stop you.

You turned to face him, your body beginning to tremble.  He folded his arms across his chest, staring down at you with a stern face as if he was waiting for you to spill your confession in one go.

Finally you spoke, raising your hands before you, “Ignis, look I—”

“Before you say anything, I need only one thing from you...”

You paused, caught off guard by his request.

“…the absolute truth.”

The blood drained from your face.   How is he going to believe me?  How do I even start explaining this?  That, what, he’s not real?  He’s just a CGI character created for entertainment?  You lowered your hands in defeat.  “I could tell you everything about me… and you wold NEVER believe me,” you choked out.

He furrowed his brow at you, remaining silent.

“You would lock me up in some prison or mental hospital where I’d rot to death…” your voice began to break.

“I would never do such a thing.”

“But if I’m a threat to Noctis then you would.”

“Are you?” he asked callously.

“No.  I never was,” you collected yourself as best you could, “I will tell you everything.  But it’s up to you to decide what to make of it.  Because, in all seriousness, I don’t know what’s happening.”

He uncrossed his arms, “Agreed, proceed then.”

You began outlining your life to him: where you were from, what you did for a living, your family, and your day to day musings.  You detailed the events of the previous night, how you had fallen asleep in your apartment and awoken on a desert highway.  You noticed midway through the explanation his expression had shifted to a look of bewilderment.  Until finally… you began describing your exact knowledge of them. 

“I don’t know why I’m here or how I ended up here.  Believe me, if there’s a reason…” you began tearing up again, “I would tell you.  But I don’t know what it is.”  You had finally let the tears spill, hunching over as you hugged your waist from the sharp pain of your sob.

You couldn’t recall how many minutes had passed but eventually a pair of hands were placed delicately on your shoulders.  “I believe you, as far-fetched as your story may seem.  We will find your answers.”

You instinctively leaned into his chest, gripping his shirt as you painted his top with your tears.   

“Perhaps your ability for foresight in this given situation may be advantageous.”

You craned your neck up at him, a look of confusion on your face.  “What do you mean?”

“You may be of great assistance if you are capable of seeing how our future unfolds.”

You thought about his suggestion before your eyes widened.  Altissia.  

“Ignis… you…”

He furrowed his brow, “What is it?”

“Altissia, you—”

“Hey guys?” a soft voice cut you off from behind.

“Prompto, what’s wrong?  Is Noct alright?” Ignis sharply inquired. 

“Yeah, he’s okay.  He wanted me to come get you, he got a  hold of Cor.”

“And what did the marshal say?”

“Um, well, you might want to hear it from Noct…” motioning for you both to follow him back to camp.  He turned his back and began jogging towards shore.

Ignis turned to follow when you grasped him by the shirt.  You looked at him with a pained expression, “Ignis… there’s so much… there’s so much that’s going to happen.”

He paused and stared at you for a moment, “Then stay with us.”

That night the events of Insomnia’s demise transpired just as you remembered in the film; only, Cor had relayed Insomnia’s attack to the group as it occurred throughout the evening.  Ignis didn’t read it on a newspaper tabloid and Noct was not delivered the news of his father’s death the next morning, he received it several minutes after it happened.  The night felt heavy as sorrow filled the hearts of the young men.  You were beginning to realize your presence here was already altering their storyline.  

In the late hours of the evening, a heavy rain swept through the beach, tearing up a portion of the camp site.  Ignis concluded that it was safe enough to rent a hotel considering the rumors of Noctis’ death had already made its rounds amongst the towns of Lucis, the fear of recognition was still minimal at this point.  Unfortunately the popular resort had already booked up the majority of its rooms due to the peak season for tourism but Ignis’ influence and persuasion managed to secure two rooms for the night.  

As you walked down the hallway towards your rooms, you grabbed Ignis by the sleeve.  “I don’t think Gladio is totally convinced of me being around Noctis.”

He pondered the thought, “I believe you’re right.  We’ll have you stay in the other room.”

As the other three men approached one of the vacant room doors, Ignis addressed the group, “I will keep watch on her in the other room.  It would be in our best interest to stay separated in the event someone were to spot us with an outsider.”

“Make sure she doesn’t leave your sight,” Gladio demanded.

“You need not worry.  We will see you all in the morning.”

Somewhere in the deep recesses of your mind you had once fantasized about staying in such a lavish resort like this one day.  Galdin Quay was notorious for its luxurious rooms and opulent dining, sparing no expense in catering to those who could afford it.  The room you now occupied was a prime example of this high class lifestyle; silk sheets, porcelain washroom, exotic liquors, all the bells and whistles an upscale resort could provide.  But here you were, curled up into a ball on the lone king size bed, staring at the intricate pattern of the designer pillowcase.  

You closed your eyes, inhaling deeply, trying to make sense of things.  You wrestled with the idea of telling them what was destined in their immediate future.  But you knew the ramifications would be too great; you’d practically change the fate of Lucis in a matter of minutes.  You grimaced at the thought of Gladio hating you even more.

Ignis sat on the edge of the bed across from you, “You should get some rest, tomorrow will be quite a taxing day.  We have yet to hear of the outcome of tonight’s attack.”

You frowned at his statement, you already knew, Insomnia would be in ruins.  “I’m scared, Ignis.”

“Scared of what?”

“I’m afraid of what’s going to happen the longer I stay here.”

He contemplated your words for a moment, “There’s an infinite amount of paths that can be paved for anyone, we cannot let ourselves dwell on choosing the right one each time.”

“But… I know everything that will happen to you all.  And now that I’m here, I can change that.  I’m already doing it right now as we speak.  And I’m terrified that it will make things much worse.”

“But that is something you cannot foresee, can you?”

You shook your head.

“Then we won’t know until then, so for now, just get some rest.”

You leaned your face into the pillow, your face pinching with worry.  You pulled your legs in tighter to your body, leaving crescent indentations along your skin where you had dug your nails.  He noticed your distressed body language and placed his hand on top of yours, the gesture causing your eyes to shoot open.  

“Thanks Iggy, I’m so sorry for everything.”

“It’s not your fault, we’ll figure it out one way or another.”

A comfortable silence fleetingly filled the room before Ignis cleared his throat with a sense of uneasiness, “I apologize I was not able to acquire a double bed room, I can sleep on the couch tonight.”

“Don’t do that, this is a king bed, we can both fit on here,” you didn’t want to come off too pushy, “But I understand if you still don’t trust me… I wouldn’t trust myself if I were you,” you chuckled, trying to dispel the nervousness that had befallen the two of you.

“I will be fine on the sofa.”

“Oh-kaaay then, guess I’ll have to enjoy this super comfy and expensive bed all by myself,” you jabbed.

He hesitated, finally giving in as he twisted his body around to lay along side you.  You curled up next to him, gazing over his profile allowing you to appreciate the beautiful features of his face.  You looked away when he glanced at you from the corner of his eye.  He was the only sense of comfort you had in this world; it had been less than twenty four hours since you arrived here and you already felt like an enemy of the state.  But from the moment he had grabbed your wrist and insisted that he would help you, you knew you could rely on him to keep you safe.  

But your mind quickly lingered to the fact that you were actively affecting their future.  Ignis would go blind, but if you are here, could you change that?   Would Prompto find out his origins the way he did?  Would Noct sacrifice himself in the end?  Anxiety was beginning to grip you as you felt a wave of paranoia wash over.  You stifled back the impending rush of panic beginning to take hold, but the thought of every scenario kept swarming your mind like wildfire.  He noticed your disposition had suddenly changed.

He turned his head to look at you, “Are you alright?”

“Y-yeah… I’m fine.”  NO I’m not.  

You never felt so trapped like you did right now in this very moment.  You wanted answers, you wanted something or someone to tell you it was going to be okay.  Some way to know that your presence was not a curse for these men.  Until an idea hit you… 

An instant tingling sensation shot up your entire body, causing your face to flush.  You covered your embarrassed appearance with your hand.  But the seed was already planted, at this point what else could you do?  Fuck it, I’ve got nothing else to lose.

You raised a shaky hand and placed it on top of his, “Iggy, can I… can I cuddle with you?”  Your heart threatened to beat out of your chest.  You anxiously awaited, not completely surprised if he ended up shooting you down.

You peaked up at him to see his cheeks had turned a rosy pink, pursing his lips in contemplation.  After several awkward seconds, you quickly withdrew your hand, embarrassed now that you were so brazen to ask.

“I’m—I’m sorry… that was stupid of me to—”

He grabbed your hand, “It’s… it’s quite alright.  You’ve been through a lot today.  You must be feeling quite lonely.”

Your stomach tightened at his comment as a thin film of tears began to glaze over your eyes, “I’m not even sure if anyone knows that I’m gone… or even cares.”

“I am positive every one is searching for you as we speak.  Rest assured, I will not leave you alone in our world.”

For the first time since you arrived you felt at ease, “Thanks Iggy.”  You scooted your body closer to his, wrapping both of your hands around his tone bicep.  You buried your face into the top of his shoulder, releasing an exhaustive sigh, as your eyes fluttered shut.  He smelled wonderful, the clean linen scent from earlier had still lingered along the fabric of his shirt with a slight musk that made your skin tingle.

You could hear the rapid beat of his heart more clearly now.  He gulped, “If you’re… uncomfortable, please let me know.”

You hummed with a content smile, “It’s okay.  This is perfect.”

NOTES:

* Cor is referencing the events of the Kingsglaive movie and Nyx

* Quote at the very beginning is from Lewis Carol’s Alice in Wonderland

* THERE WAS ONLY ONE BED

[esseastri]

Megan Reads Oathbringer (part 10)

Hi, fronds.

I meant to keep going, I really did, but then That Thing happened and I was really upset and also a LOT of real life things happened, most good, but all busy, so. Bear with me. We’ll get through this monster eventually.

Part 10 encompasses pages 753-828 (previous parts)

I’m still super upset about the Rift, y’all. Like. Ultimate #yikes.

ANYWAY, MOVING ON

“That would give privacy to talk” Okay, but you are still in a public space with a bunch of other people, you maaayybe shouldn’t be, like...just using the king’s name casually like you’re besties?

Since this is supposed to be a stealth mission, isn’t it?

OKAY BUT ADOLIN JUST, UNPROMPTED OUT OF NO WHERE ASKING TO SEE KALADIN’S SWORD

SHALLAN PLS “It’s a little small” GURL PLS

“Kaladin liked them both...just not together.” I’m just waiting for someone to yell at them to get a room. Kaladin is the most likely candidate and I’m going to die laughing when it happens.

honestly, polyamory is the real solution here

Two Unmade.

which means we need two radiants to go fight them so Adolin WHEN ARE YOU MANIFESTING, MY BOY?

literally every time anyone mentions seeing a cremling--especially a weird-shaped cremling--I JUST GET REALLY UNCOMFORTABLE. WHAT IF IT’S 200-CREMLINGS-IN-A-TRENCH-COAT???

“But Adolin had been raised by a mother with a fondness for hugs” I’M SCREAMING THIS IS FINE I’M FINE. HE MUST MISS HER SO MUCH. HELP

wait, but don’t we know for sure that shardblades can be stuff that’s not swords? Like, didn’t Syl turn into a spear at the end of WoR? So maybe the Radiants DID make other tools for their followers--maybe they did have shardhammers for building and shardbows for hunting and shardshovels for digging latrines, but after the Recreance, the spren died, so they lost the ability to change shape?

Worth thinking about, anyway.

“Thank you for being you, Adolin.” “Everyone else was taken already.” BUDDYYYY. I LOVE HIM. HE’S SO GOOD AND WONDERFUL AND AAHH

OOHH, Shallan gets SQUIRES??? Somehow I didn’t really think that the Lightweavers would be one of the orders that had squires.. they seem a solitary bunch.

Kaladin just...scooting down to sit next to the highmarshal without an invitation is. listen, he’s always been brave, but this is a different sort of bravery--doing something that might get you in trouble with social codes is different from running headlong across a not-set bridge into battle--and I know he’s done shit like this before, often, but not...not really in context of military superiors? I don’T KNOW THIS FEELS SLIGHTLY DIFFERENT AND I’M EXCITED FOR HIM.

I find it ironic that the COVERED walkway from the Oathgate platform to the palace is called the SUNwalk, but that’s fine.

Kishi is a really good name, dangit brandon stop taking all the really good names

Azure’s sword is a her?

YOU CAN’T JUST SAY THAT, KALADIN!! “How did you get here?” “I flew.” YOU CAn’T JUST. KAL, PLS

I’m

loev

hem

“I’ve given answers. If they aren’t the ones you want, perhaps the questions aren’t very good.” HELLO, I LOVE THIS BOY VERY MJUCH I DON’T KNWO IF YOU KNOW THIS ABOUT ME

wait come here chasing her

OH JESUS FUCK SHE’S VIVENNA ISN’T SHE

She’s from Somewhere Else and she’s got a weird sword and her name’s a color and Vivenna was SUPPOSED to show up in this book GODDAMNIT THERE SHE IS

heheheheheh gosh that’s fun

...............pleasant.

I suppose it is the HEART of the revel, after all...

I really, really didn’t sign up for a horror novel, idk why this keeps happening SIGH

You know you’ve watched too many shitty action movies when the first thing you can think of when a guy gets thrown off the city wall isn’t “oh god he got THROWN off a WALL” and is, instead, “I bet tehy’d have used a Wilhelm Scream there heh”

Listen, Kaladin, I know you CAN fight without flying, but you are currently fighting flying enemies, and you should absolutely go have an aerial battle with them, please, I just want you to be in more cinematic, badass fights pls.

OKAY, BUT MAYBE LAUNCHING YOURSELF OUT A WINDOW AT THIS FUSED GUY ISN’T THE BEST? WAY TO HAVE THE AERIAL BATTLE?

okay, I asked for this, but I rescind my request, BE CAREFUL BABE, PLS.

YES THE HEART

GO FOR THE HEART

YES

Y E S

“my red life” yah, ok, that’s definitely Vivenna NICE

hnnnngggg, every time Kaladin summons the sylbade and, like, does the thing where he rests her on his shoulder all casual and intimidating I just melt, I’m so

he’s so

and so

hnnnnnnnngggggg

mrrrghhh, OF COURSE There’s a gang that steals the food from Shallan’s informants and KILLS THEM EVEN THOUGH THEY’RE KIDS, uggghhh. Should have known.

Continues the trend of Shallan not really knowing anything about how life on the streets work, huh?

OK this lady with vine patterns in her skin who’s Soulcasting for Azure? Actual Soulcaster suffering the effects to way too many years Soulcasting? OR........Radiant?

Honestly, I suspect literally everyone of being a radiant at this point.

pffffffffffffffffffffffttt HOID

of course.

but why did he help? Why is he helping? What’s his game?

“She hadn’t lived on the streets and she didn’t know how to help people.” NICE YOU TO FINALLY REALIZE.

“The only way to live without failure is to be of no use to anyone. Trust me, I’ve practiced.” COOL, NOW I’M SAD ABOUT HOID. Listen, I know his books are sooo far off, but the more things he says, the more I want to KNOW about him. Argh.

“Many people have suffered more, and they got along fine.” Oooohhh, Shallan, honey. No one ever taught you that the fact that other people have it worse does not negate your suffering.

Also, like. most people have not, in fact, had it worse than you, really. In the grand scheme of things, having to kill both your parents when they tried to kill you sucks a LOT, despite your privilege making the rest of everything better for you...

GOD BLESS ADOLIN KHOLIN, WHO, WHEN CONFRONTED WITH HIS FIANCEE IN PANTS, REACTS ONLY BY COMPLIMENTING HER COLOR COORDINATION AND RECOMMENDING HER COAT BE TAILORED A HAIR BETTER.

BLESS THIS GOLDEN SUNLIGHT BOY.

“You’ve been wanting an army to attack your palace, Your Majesty... well, we’re ready.”

YOU MIGHT BE READY, BUT I’M NOT

DO NOT JUST GO INVADE THE PALACE WITH AN ARMY

GOD, HOW MANY OF YOU ARE GOING TO DIE

hi, Adolin talking to his sword still makes my heart swell, every time, he’s JUST SO GOOD AND PURE AND WONDERFUL

SUNSHINE BOY

HE PUT ON HIS UNIFORM

I’M

I lov hiiiiimm

it’s not Shallan that needs to drive this one back.

I’m still so enamored of this theory, I’m sticking with it even if it’s wrong, I don’t care. One Unmade per Radiant Order. It’s gotta be one of the boys this time. The Heart... Kaladin is nothing but heart, it’s gotta be the windrunner Unmade.

No one tell me I’m wrong, I will be SO DISAPPOINTED if it doesn’t go down this way.

OH SHIT

OOOHH SHIIIT

OOOHHHH SHIIIIIIIT

IT’S THE THING FROM THE COVER THE WHATSITCALLED THE ROCK MONSTER

OH SHIIIIIITTT WE ALL GON DIE

THUNDERCLAST, THAT’s the word phew glad I remembered

listen, Kaladin letting himself get smashed by a giant boulder just so he could Lash it away HURTS MY HEART

DON’T HURT KALADIN, 2K18

yuuuppppp it’s not a shardblade. Blergh, I didn’t finish Warbreaker, is there some wacky shenanigans with Vivenna’s sword? Does it pull the Breath from people or smthn? ...Do people on Roshar have Breath?

Adolin is SUCH ! A GOOD! COMMANDER!

.........I’m very glad that some of the palace guard aren’t evil, but. why did time move weird for them, apparently?

Is this the second Unmade? Is this one something to do with warping time??

I’m confuuuused.

oh

fuck

that’s

hot

GLOWING KALADIN WITH A TWELVE FOOT LONG SYLSPEAR, FLYING THROUGH THE THROWN-OPEN DOUBLE DOORS??? YEAH I’M F I N E, T H I S I S F I N E

nooo don’t split up

never split up

I don’t want this

Adolin giving Kaladin the Bridge Four salute. I’m cry.

oooooooooohh, Shallan summoned Pattern!! And she’s not panicking! I’m so proud of her ahh!!

Skar and Drehey just. continuing to save Adolin. Best bodyguards. Best friends. I love them so much.

mmmmmmmmmmm

I don’t

want this, this is intense this is A LOT

aaaaahhh fuck Kaladin’s wall squad came with. They are SO Going to Die, and I WI LL C RY

she’s singing? So... she’s... hm. What happened to the queen?

I STILL DON’T THINK SHALLAN CAN DEFEAT THIS UNMADE

ohnohecallshissonGav

I’m

ohnohecallshiswifeDearOne

I’m

Elhokar, please

you are so small, just. Be brave.

KALADIN, YOU MADE SYL KILL A SPREN??? I don’t care that it was an evil spren, that’s. You can’t.. Syl. Don’t make Syl kill her family, pls, I’m suffering.

oh no

what ancient spren, WHICH ONE, AESUDAN.

AND HOW

HOW DID YOU BIND VOIDSPREN TO PEOPLE

I’m assuming that’s what it is

I’M CONCERNED

Yelig-nar and Ashertmarn. 1. both of those are terrible star wars names, Brandon, you usually do better. 2. Are those BOTH Unmade? Or is Yelig-nar Aesudan’s...voidspren?

stormspren?

Ancient Parshendi Ancestor of Evil spren?

“I have taken the gemstone into me.” WELL, THAT’S A STEAMING PILE OF # Y I K E S

mmm yeah, no, she didn’t do it. Shallan didn’t defeat it, it retreated. Or was called away or something. We’re deeeefinitely going to have to deal with that again.

oh shit is this the other one?

this is the other one

Yelid-nar is Aseudan’s Parshendi Ancestor’s name. Sja-anat is the other Unmade.

I’m scared.

ON THE STAIRWELL? GoDDAMNIT THAT’S A TERRIBLE, TERRIBLE PLACE FOR A FIGHT

 no

n

o

don’t

make kaladin

kill his parshendi friends

please

oh fuck, Moash is with Kaladin’s parshendi friends, isn’t he?

damn, I AM NOT READY FOR THIS

yeah, no SHIT The heart fled. I TOLD you Shallan couldn’t defeat that one.

but why is THIS one helping her? OR IS SHE

WHAT IS HAPPENING

GOOD DON’T KILL EACH OTHER PLEASE.

oh Kaladin

“He’s always been able to trick himself into seeing a battle as us against them. Protect those you love. Kill everyone else. But...but they didn’t deserve death. None of them did.” HI THIS IS MY GHOST TYPING, I AM DEAD NOW. Kaladin has come so far, from scraping along, doing everything he could to breathe, let alone survive, and now--look at him. Look at him realizing that everyone, everyone is doing the same thing he is. They are all of them fighting to survive, they are all of them fighting to protect what they love.

Everyone is the hero of their own story, even if they are a villain to you.

God, this book is so literary, it’s so strong. Be better. Do better than those who have wronged you. See yourself in those around you, even your enemy, and do better. Take responsibility for who you are and what you do and who you fight.  God, THIS BOOK.

Also, Kaladin trying to stop the fighting, I’m crying.

THEY ARE ALL DYING. I TOLD YOU THEY WOULD AND I TOLD YOU I WOULD CRY AND HERE I AM. SOBBING.

noooo

no no nono

I’ don’t

want this

put it

back

I’m

Elhokar waS SO CLOSE OH M Y GOD HE

ONE MORE WORD OF THE IDEAL GOD DAMNIT

Moash

of course

he always wanted to kill the king

fuck

I knew this was coming because I got fucking spoiled but it still hurt like a punch to the gut

FUCK, HE KNEW KALADIN WAS THERE AND HE DID IT ANYWAY

god

f u ck

I’m

he knew. he saluted. he didn’t even pause.

DAMMNIT, MOASH, YOU’RE BETTER THAN THIS.

god, Kaladin screamed, I’m

not okay

So much for Kholinar, god

“If we engage the device, we’ll be caught in a disaster.” AREN’T YOU ALREADY

...sapphire is windrunners, right? so why is the epitaph.........it’s a sapphire recording. A windrunner. “Am I not supposed to want to help people?” Does that mean...what is the Fourth Ideal of the Windrunners? The order of people who help people. Why...would their Fourth Ideal...not? be about helping people?

UGH, the radiant recordings make me SO NERVOUS ALL THE TIME.

1. I hate Taravangian. A Lot.

2. Here’s a thing: Navani spent a whole book and a half thinking her eldest child was dead, but holding out hope she was alive, and getting to have that vindication when Jasnah showed up. How...how long is she going to hold out hope that Elhokar somehow made it out alive only to have that shattered when the rest of them show up and he doesn’t?

ALSO FUN FACTS, DALINAR PROBABLY NOW THINKS ADOLIN, ELHOKAR, AND KALADIN--THREE OF HIS FOUR SONS--ARE DEAD, PROBABLY, SO THAT’S FINE, I’M FINE.

EVERYTHING’S FINE.

OH FUCK IT TOOK THEM TO SHADESMAR

WHY

OH MY GOD

WHERE’S JASNAH WHEN YOU NEED HER, SHE CAN NAVIGATE THIS SHIT

also !!!! PATTERN AND SYL AND ?????? ???? ?? ADOLIN’S?? SPREN????? PLEASE SAY IT’S ADOLIN’S SPREN. HIS BLADE. WHATEVER. PLEASE.

LET ADOLIN HAVE A SPREN 2K18

god, Vivenna: HARD SAME, GIRL

also, I forgot that she would have had to have come through the Cognitive Realm to get from Nalthis to Roshar, but heeeeheheheh yeah. She knows what she’s doing here, or at the very least has an idea. Excellent.

but FUCK

SHADESMAR

AND EVERYONE THINKS THEY’RE DEAD

and dear fucking god, Moash, you’re better than this, why must you continue to make REALLY BAD DECISIONS.

these are my priorities

leave me alone.

[abdicatedarchive]

truly tied || rose and marina

𝐖𝐇𝐄𝐍: marina’s dorm room // spring 2021.

𝐅𝐄𝐀𝐓𝐔𝐑𝐈𝐍𝐆: rose x marina.

𝐓𝐑𝐈𝐆𝐆𝐄𝐑𝐒: none.

𝐃𝐄𝐓𝐀𝐈𝐋𝐒: rose and marina end their several month long bet from who can hold out on romantic interests the longest.

Rose walked into Marina's room without knocking, as per usual. To a certain extent it was like they still lived at home. She was nervous to admit her defeat, it wasn't every day that Rosemary Hollingsworth conceded to Marina Hollingsworth. She was shocked the bet had lasted this long at all. "Okay so I have some news" she said with a big sigh as she flopped down onto her sister's bed. "And you're totally not allowed to happy dance for you, you're only allowed to happy dance for me. Sisters honor. Because I totally could have lied to you" Rosemary rambled before she got to the news.

Marina was almost finished with her journaling when Rose walked in. She was planning on going to her sister's room after she was finished to give the unfortunate news of her loss, but it seemed like this was happening sooner than expected. "One, if you lied, I would definitely find out." she said to lighten the mood a bit. "But two, I also have news for you. You go first though, mine is not happy news." Marina said before tilting her head to the side. "Well, bad for me, not so much for you."

Rose faked shock and hurt, "Ummmm, you most definitely would not!!!" she joked. Rose would have caved and immediately told her regardless, which is exactly what she was doing right now. "bad news second? Okay, your funeral" said Rosemary with a little bit of judgment. What had Marina done? What was the bad news? "OoooOOoh, bad for you! Well I think we are in the same boat then sister dearest. It's gonna come down to the finish line" Rose said, a glint of hope in her eyes that she had not lost the bet. Oh sweet sweet victory come home to Rosie!!!!! "It was Taylor, and oh my GOD. I don't know if it's because I haven't had sex in months or what?! But it was AMAZING, I thought he was a total softie and inexperienced but WHOA" said Rose, blushing just talking about it.

Marina perked up a bit once Rose mentioned they were in the same boat. Of course after all this time, they would both give in. Maybe Marina didn't lose after all, things were starting to look up. Winning never seemed so sweet. But they could talk about that after they share who they hooked up with. That was vital information, and they deserved a little time of hyping each other up, even though she wasn't sure how her sister would take her news. Saoirse wasn't exactly the best girl for Marina. "Ooooh! He's so cute!" she squealed in excitement. "Taylor news now, bet talk after." Marina had seen Taylor around and he seemed like a pretty shy guy. Super harmless, probably very sweet. "So what's gonna happen now with you two? Was it just a one time thing, or are you trying to see him more?"

Rose was blushing, "It sounds like we're going to see each other again tomorrow. So that's looking up. He can't get enough of this!" she squealed. Ahh, being interested in someone so great set Rose's brain on fire. Finally a good thing going for her. No more shitty guys or shitty girls. Just Rose and someone who cares. "Wait, hold on a second. You have not said the name of your person. Are you ashamed?" Rose squinted her eyes and tried to get a good read on her sister. "Was it ... Chase? Jonah? A friend moment you cannot return from? Nerd sex? Why aren't you telling me. But now don't tell me I'm going to figure it out" she said, accepting the challenge for herself. "Nerd sex is a hot commodity, I feel like you wouldn't do that unless you were prepped and had the perfect outfit and location, so it has to be like emotionally embarrassing. Hmmmm" she said, thinking harder and not smarter. "Emotionally embarrassing. An ex?" she said as the lightbulb went off over her head, "Saorise?!" she said, her eyes going wide with that doe like shock.

Marina smiled wide at Rose, she just wanted the best for her sister, and that included people she would potentially date. She was always quick to defend the people she loved, but she knew she couldn't be overprotective either. She quickly pulled her sister in for a quick hug, "Even though I'm hoping you didn't win, I'm happy for you." she paused to pull away. "But you know if any sus behavior starts to occur, you can tell me. I promise I won't lash out." Marina wanted to remind Rose to always put herself first, but she didn't want to come across like she was implying something. They both had gone through quite a bit of problems separately, and a lot had resulted from it. She listened to her sister think out loud, and knew where this was going. It wouldn't take long for her to figure it out. Marina groaned when Saoirse's name was brought up and she immediately buried her face in the palm of her hands. "Maybe." she mumbled through her hands before picking her head up. "But it was just a one time thing. Really. I think it was the lack of sex that had me acting up."

Rosemary knew better than to let herself get hurt again, but something about Taylor had her putting down her guard so easily. Maybe it's how long he took to make a move, how she felt like she was always making moves. She gave Marina a mildly dissapointed face, "I mean hey. The body wants what the body wants. Whether or not the head and the heart agree" said Rose. She couldn't exactly judge her sister for double dipping with someone she shouldn't. Rose was all up on her high school ex every waking minute after their break up. It was tragic. "Yeah as long as you have that boundary I feel like its no harm" she reasoned. Doing her best to be supportive. If this is what Marina wanted, and knew herself then she had absolutely no reason to worry. "Was it as good as you remembered it? Before we compare time stamps" said Rose, still thinking mildly about their little bet.

Marina could see the disappointment on Rose's face, but she wasn't going to keep driving it in that it was just a one time thing. That would make it look like she was lying ... and she wasn't lying. Marina had gained some self control since her and Saoirse first ended things. She was a very impulsive person, but she was getting better. Really. "Yeah, exactly, and now that the bet's off. I could just hook up with anyone, maybe go on a few dates. She won't even be in my thoughts." she said, convincingly enough. She was convincing herself in this moment, and that was enough for her. "But yeah. It was actually better than I remember. Like a lot better ... but I mean, whatever." she shrugged casually. "But enough of that, let's talk times. I have mine on my phone." she said proudly before going into her notes app. Did that sound silly? Maybe. But it wasn't to the Hollingsworth girls.

Rose was happy with Marina's answer. She knew her sister would probably sleep with Saorise again, but we all learn lessons in our own time. God knows Marina had to watch Rose learn some hard lessons in high school, and Rose had to watch Marina too. It's hard to not be able to protect the people that you love. "Yes. Times" said Rose as she pulled up her own notes app. "Okay, I had sex around 9pm last night" said the girl. She had a more exact time, but she didn't want to be weird about it. If they needed to get into specifics she was more than ready.

Marina looked up from her phone and stayed silent for minute. Not this shit... She also had the time down at 9 pm last night, but luckily, she had more specific details for the time. But she wasn't expecting to get into that. There was absolutely no way that they were on the same time, right? "Uh... around 9? Or 9? Or like 9:30?" she asked. "Cause we seem to be cutting it real close right now."

Down to the wire between the Hollingsworth girls. Who was going to take the victory? It was too close to tell. "closer to 9:15. What about you?" she asked, hoping that it was too close to call. Even if she did loose she could always call bullshit on the fact that it was super close. It wouldn't be a satisfying win for either of the girls. And after all this time. Goddamnit.

"I hate us." Marina whined as she showed her sister the time that was typed out on her phone. All these months, all this restraint ... for a tie. How does that even happen? "Is this the downfall of having a twin? Because neither of us signed up for that." she sighed dramatically. "Can't we just say we both technically won? There's no actual loser soooo." It wasn't a real win, but she was officially over it.

Rosemary hated not winning. But she did have a plan, "Well ... we can just assume that Paola and Max both lost way before us. So we are the family champions" she said, even though the bet hadn't been a complete waste of time. She had become a lot better about who she was spending time with and being more selective with people. Rose also learned how many people were in her life just to sleep with her or to hook up at parties. That had been frustrating. But she guessed on some level she knew it all along.

"Yeaaah ... yeah! Let's go with that." Marina nodded her head and pointed at Rose. She was glad the bet was over, but she just hoped that she didn't fall back into old habits. She found herself always being some kind of rebound to others, someone temporary. It wasn't something she liked to think too hard on though, it only made her feel worse about herself. "Well since we are the family champions, we deserve a treat. Smoothie time?" she suggested.

"Smoothie time" she responded, thinking about how happy she was with Taylor. How it finally felt like someone wasn't using her for something. Freshman year was looking up as it came to a close, "Did you see the email that we're assigned to the same cabin? We are so going to crush cabin olympics" said the girl as she picked her bag up and they headed out the door. "I know Magnolia and Kaia are going to give us a run for our money, but we can manipulate them into arguing" said Rose as she arched her eyebrow and smiled. "It'll be too easy" she added.

"There's pretty much no competition for us, we got this." Marina said all excited before she grabbed her bag and locked the door as they left. When one competition was finished, another started, but this time, her and Rose were a team. They were practically unstoppable. "I don't even think we need to manipulate them, they argue all on their own. Buuuut that still is a fun idea." she added in with a small smirk. "Magnolia trying to act all sweet in front of the kids, Kaia trying to not kick her ass in the process. Oh how I miss summer camp!"

"And who knows, maybe you'll have a summer love" encouraged Rosemary, "you know what they say. What happens at camp stays at camp". Rose knew she wasn't going to be doing any of that. It was going to be all late night phone calls and quick weekend getaways to get to see Taylor, "I already have mine. So consider me on Marina wingwoman duty effective immediately" she said, her smile shining bright. Anything to distract her from Saorise. "Plus we can definitely pull some very creative pranks on Jonah and Chase. Maybe even Wren" said the girl with a wicked smile. //END

[sippin-on-red-wine]

High Tide | Chapter 7: Please

Title: High Tide, Chapter 7 | Please Author: @sippin-on-red-wine Rating: NO SMUTS IN THIS CHAPTER SORRRYYYYY Characters: Ed Sheeran x Kendra (original female character) Word Count:  3,225 Author’s Note: Sorry in advance again?

I refused to cry, blinking back the hot tears as the taxi pulled away from the curb. I knew I shouldn't, but I looked back at Ed, standing there on the sidewalk, looking broken.

I'm the one that should look broken.

“Where to, miss?”

Shit. I don't know, Mr. Taxi Driver, can't you tell I've just been burned by my international superstar boyfriend and I'm in a country that's not my own and I have nowhere and no one to run to?

“Do you have any hotel recommendations?”

“Sure, plenty. Are you looking for something reasonable, or ritzy?”

“Ritzy, please.”

“Right away then, miss.”

My brain kicked into logistical-detail mode.

Okay, first step, check into a hotel. I have literally nothing with me apart from my little purse which thankfully has my wallet. No fucking way am I going back to Ed’s just to get a suitcase of clothing. I'll just buy some things to tide me over….. tide me over til when? Should I fly home?

The thought of leaving London like this made me shudder. The last few days had been crazy wonderful. How did it all fall to pieces so quickly? Stop.

My phone was vibrating in my little purse. I flipped it over to check -- Lauren was calling. I hit ignore. She called again - ignore. After rejecting her third call, I felt a bit guilty, she probably was worried. I tapped out a quick response:

*Lo, I'm OK, I just need some space. Please.

My phone immediately started buzzing again, and I just got pissed and turned the damn thing off.

I pushed all the worries and questions down, focusing on getting a room somewhere and checking in.

The driver pulled up to a large high-rise building and I handed him a bank note from my purse before spilling out in front of the hotel's main entrance.

I approached the reception desk, suddenly very aware that my dress was probably too tight and short for a place like this.

“Hello, how may I assist you?” The man was young, and dressed in a black suit.

“Do you have any rooms available tonight, please?”

“Sure ma’am. Will one bed suffice?”

I nodded my head. He went to work, clicking and typing in the hotel’s computer system.

“Ahh, we've got a lovely King-sized room with a view of the city. Would you like to reserve it?”

“Yes, please.” City view sounds nice. I mean, I'm in London for the first time, may as well wallow in my self pity in style -- “Wait. Do you have anything larger….. like a suite?”

It turns out, he did. Several options, actually. He pulled out a brochure that included a few photos and highlighted the amenities of each. Oh, and the price per night, which made my eyes bulge out of my head a bit.

I handed over my AmEx card, silently glossing over the dollar figure he had given me for the week’s stay. It didn't matter, really, but it was much more than I was used to paying. Fuck it.

And so he handed me a key card, and I walked unsteadily in my heels over to the Elevator, where they had an actual attendant stationed. He was dressed in a full bell-hop type uniform, an older gentleman with kind eyes.

“Hello, what floor, please?” He asked, ushering me into the lift.

“Penthouse, please.”

I handed him the special key I had gotten at reception, the attendant inserted it in the wall panel and I watched as the “P” button lit up, and we were on our way.

“My name is Thomas, I'm happy to assist you with any needs you may have during your stay.”

His laugh lines were deep-set in his face. I found myself picturing him at home, smiling and adoring his family, maybe bouncing a grandchild on his lap.

I felt my eyes welling up again. Lock it up, K.

“Is there anything I can help you with, miss?”

“Um… actually, yes? Maybe? I wasn't really anticipating my stay, and so I don't have any of my things… is there, by chance, someone who could run out and pick up a few necessities for me?”

“Oh, yes, miss. We've got a concierge service who can handle just about any request you could throw their way. Just give the front desk a ring and they will be happy to assist.”

I sighed a breath of relief. I desperately wanted some leggings and a soft t-shirt, and hadn't been looking forward to going out shopping, bright and early tomorrow morning, dressed in my club clothes.

“Thomas, thank you so much.”

The elevator Ping!'d and Thomas turned the key once more before removing and returning it to me.

“My pleasure, miss. Please do not hesitate to ask, should you be needing anything else. Have a lovely evening.”

I walked out of the elevator into the foyer of my new suite. It was… stunning. Opulent. Beautiful. I was at a loss for words.

It was a large and sprawling suite, with a full kitchen, living room, a balcony, and at least two bedrooms. There was a beautiful wrought iron spiral staircase over in the corner of the lounge area. I kicked off my stupid shoes and dropped my purse on the dining room table, below an ornate glass chandelier. My toes sunk into the cream colored carpeting as I wandered around the suite, peeking in doors. The master bedroom was grand, all done up in beiges and golds and rich accent colors. There was a desk in the master, with a phone that I used to ring the concierge as Thomas had suggested.

I requested a pair of black leggings, a black tee shirt, white sneakers, and a long trench-style lined coat, as well as a toothbrush and a charger cable for my cell phone. The nice lady on the phone assured me they could get all that to me very soon, and that the charges would just be added to my room. I thanked her and almost said goodbye before deciding to order three bottles of champagne, too.

I sighed as I placed the phone back into it's little receiver cradle. Now what.

I strode over to the En Suite, finding a rather plush bathrobe hung on the wall for the taking. I shucked out of my ensemble and slipped into the rich navy blue robe, feeling a bit more at ease. I washed the makeup from my face, wishing I had a hair tie handy. Should make a list of things to pick up tomorrow.

Or maybe you should just go home tomorrow.

The elevator rung out, alerting me that someone was arriving. The doors opened and a younger-looking girl stepped out with a shiny silver cart, with a large ice bucket holding the booze I had requested. I thanked her and she was gone just as quickly as she had came.

Need alcohol. I cut the foil and popped the cork on one of the bottles, plucking one of the flutes from the tray, the second glass staying put. 

I crept over to the large brocade sofa and plunked down right in the center reaching for the television remote. It was official, I was out of things to do. Which is precisely when my brain thought it would be a good idea to re-live the past couple of hours.

My eyes were hot and stinging with tears, but I pushed them back. I am not going to cry. I am fine. I am a grown ass woman. I'll be okay.

But goddamnit, why? I had found my station in life, content with being alone as long as that meant I would never be deceived by a loved one. And then, him.

I should have known. He had only recently broken up with her when he turned up next door. I thought back to the day that I had driven his friends to the airport, going over to Ed's the next afternoon to find him drinking and chain-smoking himself into oblivion. He was broken. And it wasn't your job to fix him so why did you even try?

Just then, I remembered that I had turned my phone off. I was sure there were texts or voicemails waiting for me, and so I gulped down the rest of my champagne and retrieved my cell from my little purse, powering it on.

The messages came in one after the next after the next. A whole slew of texts and missed calls from Lauren popped up:

- Missed Call

*Kendra, where are you??

- Missed Call - Missed Call - Missed Call

*Please answer

- Missed Call Voice Message (1:03) - Missed Call

*Ed is having a fit, Kenn, please, just hear him out

- Missed Call - Voice Message (1:16)

*Okay, I get it. Will you please call me tomorrow? I'm worried about you xx

I clicked on the first voice message, setting it to speakerphone. It was Lauren, rambling about what a “fucking idiot” Ed was and how “bloody worried” she was and offering her guest bed up for me and “PLEASE pick up, Kendra.” It was loud in the background, like she was still at the club, or standing right outside of it, the bass thumping through the phone.

The next voicemail had less chaos going on in the background. “Kendra -- please,” Lauren's voice was pleading on the other end. And then, the sound of Ed’s voice “Lauren, let me --” garble garble garble.

“Kenny, I fucked up, I’m so--”

His voice rang out through the speaker like a shot straight to my heart. I quickly ended the message, not wanting to hear him anymore. Hearing that silly nickname that was just for him and no one else, it was.. unbearable.

Just then my phone rang yet again - a number I didn’t have stored this time. I turned off the t.v., shut off my cell, and went and climbed in the huge bed, feeling utterly alone, and waited for sleep to take me.

Ed…….

I watched her, in the back of the cab, drive away. It was almost like an out-of-body experience. Every nerve, every CELL in my being told me to run after her, to scream, to fight, to not take ‘No’ for an answer. But I was just… stuck. Frozen. I couldn’t move, couldn’t breathe, couldn’t think.

I kept my eyes trained on the taillights of that cab until it was impossible to see anymore. I heard my name, over and over again, but it sounded distant - like I was underwater and they were shouting from up on the diving board.

Lauren. It was Lauren. She was shaking my shoulders, trying to get me to snap to it. “Ed! Come ON, we have to get you back inside! Paps…”

Whothefuckcares--

But she gave me one good yank and I followed her back inside the club, all the blood rushing back to my head.

“Christ, Ed, why didn’t you tell her Poppy was going to be here?”

“Call her.” It wasn't a question.

“What?”

“Call her!” I was practically shouting. I winced, realizing how I sounded. “Please, Lauren. Call her. I don't know where she's gone.”

Lauren pulled out her phone and scrolled through her contacts, til she found her name. She set it to speaker, we could barely hear over all the commotion in the club but when it went to voicemail, I wasn't surprised that she didn't answer.

Lauren tapped away furiously at her phone screen, texting her.

“Jesus fuck, Ed, what happened?”

“I fucked up, Lauren. Can you please ring her again?”

Lauren called her three more times. I kept willing her to pick up on the other end, but she didn't.

“She texted--” Lauren threw her phone to me and I quickly scrambled to open the message.

*Lo, I'm OK, I just need some space. Please.

The tears were back, hot and spilling out from my eyelids despite my valiant effort to keep them in. I clicked into the text, bringing up her Contact info and with it, a silly picture of her and Lauren from the day Kendra had taken us out whale watching. It had been the very end of Summer, then. Her skin was tanned, her face sprinkled with freckles. She was wearing a white linen top, and my aviators -- I offered them to her when her shades had fallen and been stepped on. That had been one of the best days I had had in weeks, months maybe.

Seeing her face in the photo, silly, with her tongue sticking out and a peace symbol thrown up next to her head -- it absolutely gutted me.

What have you done?

I clicked the little telephone icon, ringing her again. Straight to voicemail this time.

My stomach was hot and sour as I raced to type out a message to her: Please answer.

“Ed, she said she's okay. Why don't I take you home, c’mon, there's nothing you can do from here.” I couldn't meet her eyes, but I nodded and handed the phone back to her.

Lauren grabbed me by the hand and dragged me back through the club, toward the back exit where Kendra and I had come in. She pushed the doors open and the cool night air flooded my lungs.

I felt numb. My mind racing, where is she? Will she come back? Is she safe?

I thought back to the night when she had told me about her past, how she had just up & left everything, not even saying goodbye. Will she do that again?

I braced myself on the stone exterior wall of the club, both hands out as I retched onto the ground between my feet.

“Christ, Ed.” Lauren was there, patting my back as I emptied the contents of my stomach, which was mostly booze.

A few moments passed while I collected myself, and Lauren pulled me into the car that was waiting there for me.

The ride home felt like an eternity. Lauren sat in silence beside me, her hand resting lightly on my knee. The lamplights blurred together, the whir of London at night dulled by the knot in my chest.

“Ed,” she spoke softly. “You gotta clue me in here, what the hell happened?”

“I… she didn't know Poppy was going to be there.”

“And?” She pushed.

“I was stupid, I wanted to look… good, in front of her.”

“Okay, well that seems pretty normal?”

“I… didn't tell her that Poppy would likely be at the party. And I… kind of, got a little handsy with Kendra after I noticed she had gotten there. And her fucking dress, I pushed that dress on her even though she didn't seem comfortable in it, it just looked so goddamn good on her and…”

“Oh, Ed.”

“I came out of the bathroom and I just saw her from the back, stalking down the stairs like a bat out of hell. Did Poppy say something to her? Did you see?”

“No, no, I don't think so. I had just gotten there and your lovely Ex was staring daggers at Kendra, and I, um, mentioned her…. She was definitely taken aback.”

“She's going to hate me.”

“Ed, I'm sure it will be OK.”

“You didn't hear the things she said to me outside. I used her, Lauren, I'm fucking selfish and childish and I fucked it up.”

“Hey. Take a breath. We’ll get her, alright?”

“Will you call her again?”

She granted my request, though we both knew it was hopeless at this point. Her voicemail message rang out of the speaker phone as Lauren inhaled, mentally preparing some new desperate plea designed to get Kendra to pick up the phone.

Kendra -- please,” She started, but I just couldn't listen to her ask, no, beg, on my behalf again.

“Lauren, let me --” I reached out for the phone, pulling it up to my face. “Kenny, I fucked up, I’m so sorry. I don't deserve it but please, please, just call me. I can't.. I didn't..” I struggled for the right words. “This is real, US, everything - it's all real, it's not… you must think… fuck, just, PLEASE, answer? I need to know you're okay.”

Kendra……

I woke the next day, feeling surprised that I had slept so soundly. I wouldn't say well.

I hadn't had any actual dreams, per se, but I just had this haunting feeling like I had re-lived the previous night over and over, unable to wake, stuck in that reality.

I yawned and stretched out in the massive bed, safe under the cover of the fluffy white comforter.

But the safety of the comforter couldn't protect against my own thoughts.

Alright, Kendra. Time to get up and figure out what you're doing.

I threw the covers back and got up out of bed, re-tying the knot in my robe. That reminds me….

I walked out into the main living space of my Penthouse Fucking Suite and saw a neat little stack of packages near the door. It felt a little… odd, picturing a young concierge clerk running out to the shops and choosing the things from my list. But I was more than appreciative to not have to get back in my dress and heels.

I grabbed up the boxes and bags, setting them on the chic metal & glass dining table, extracting all the things I had asked for. I unraveled the cord of the cell phone charger and plugged my phone in to charge up. I pulled the tags off of the few basic clothing items, then dressed myself in the tight black leggings and v-neck tee.

I powered up my cellphone and watched another slew of missed calls register on the screen, the last one had been a little past 4AM, from the number I didn't have saved in my contacts.

And a single text from that same number.

*K, you deserve so much better than me. But I can't let you go. Please x

And suddenly, those tears I had been battling all broke loose, rushing fast and hot down the front of my cheeks.

Did I overreact? Okay, so he wanted to make his ex jealous, I'd be lying if I said I'd never tried especially hard to look good in front of an Ex.

I shrugged off the bathrobe and tugged on the tight black leggings. They were the size I asked for, but European sizes must be a bit less… generous, because man those suckers were tight. I struggled to pull them up over my ass… which only reminded me of Ed being grabby the night before. He was very affectionate, but this had been different. And now that I knew his Ex had been sat there, ten feet away and facing right toward us, all you could see was the smug smile on his face which I had, at the time, interpreted to be happiness or horniness or tipsiness. But now I knew, it wasn’t any of those. It was Look What I Got.

The tears dried up and I buckled down on my resolve. Be honest with yourself. This, plus him wanting to sell his gorgeous fucking house, because it reminds him of her?

He's not over her.

It was time to go home.

Thank you for reading !!!!!!! And not killing me !!!!!!!!!

[trbl-will-find-me]

Every Exit, An Entrance (22/?)

There are two (and only two) possibilities: either she led XCOM to victory and they are now engaged in a clean up operation of alien forces, or XCOM was overrun, clearing the way for an alien-controlled puppet government to seize control of the planet.

She’d really like to figure out which it is, but asking hardly seems the prudent option.

New Year’s is quiet. They watch old Twilight Zone episodes on her laptop and pop a bottle of sparkling cider when the clock reads 00:00:01 1 1 2016. It is not grand, and it is not fancy, but as her lips meet his, Elizabeth Regan is happy.

“Any resolutions?” He asks.

She tips her head against his shoulder. “Hmm, all the usual ones seem sort of blasé now. Who gives a shit if my paperwork’s late? Aliens invaded the Earth. We fought them off. We won. I’d like to say it’s to develop a more regular sleep schedule again, but somehow, that seems about as likely as learning to understand football. I know,” she says, after a moment. “How about finding bigger sleeping arrangements? That sounds good.

“You’re saying you don’t think two adults are mean to fit on the same twin XL mattress? I’m shocked.”

“Much as I loved undergrad, I could do without reliving that particular aspect.”

She feels his chuckle deep in his chest. “Don’t know why.”

She shrugs. “I’m just funny like that. Traveling spoiled me.”

“Lizzie, I hate to break it to you, but the bunk’s a lot bigger than an airplane seat.”

She laughs. “That’s not what I meant! We stayed in some fairly nice places. They had real beds. Beds big enough to share.”

“We only tested that, what? Two? Three times?”

“Three,” she says, wiggling closer. “The spiders. Zurich. Berlin.”

“Ahh, the spiders.” He kisses the top of her head. “How could I forget?”

“How could you forget? I woke you up at two in the morning.”

“You woke me up in your bathrobe.”

She laughs. “I thought it would be quick! I didn’t think you’d be offended. I still had underwear on!”

“I would go with distracted over offended.”

She presses a kiss to his jaw. “Sorry.”

“It was nothing compared to the villa. You know, the one with the pool?”

“I’m not sorry about that.”

“Tease.”

“I was hot! It wasn’t air conditioned!”

“You were in a bra and panties. They were floral.”

“You do remember!”

“I don’t think I could forget if I tried. Not that I’d want to,” he adds.

“Would it really have been better if I’d been in a bathing suit?”

“You were standing there in your underwear. It wasn’t a far jump to other places you could be standing in your underwear.“

“But is it really worse than a bikini?”

“You own a bikini?”

“God, no.”

“Exactly.”

“You were so surprised that they matched. I don’t know what you were expecting, but it apparently wasn’t that.”

“I was so surprised you were standing there in them.”

“I was wearing a silk blouse and a linen skirt. I couldn’t jump in a pool in those. The dry cleaning bill would have been even worse than it already was for that trip. Though,” she says, trailing off. “If you’re really so baffled by the sight of matching lingerie, maybe I should just keep the uniform on after all.”

He sets the laptop aside and catches her in a kiss, pinning her to the bed.

“I think I’ll adapt.”

–

She lingers the in the archway, watching Central help Sally fit her armor. He steps back to look at the girl, then brushes a stray bit of hair behind her ear. He reaches into a pocket and presses something into her hand, but whatever he says is too quiet to carry. She slips it around her neck and under her shirt, then throws her arms around Central’s neck. The gesture seems less foreign to him, and he pulls her in closer for a moment before releasing her.

Sometime later, the whole of Menace One Five stands assembled in the armory, split into fireteams: Sally and Kelly on one, with Zaytsev and Wallace on the other.

“For better or worse,” she begins. “This isn’t a standard op. You’ll be escorting two hostile parties to a rendezvous point that you’ll receive once you’re on the ground. Kelly, Royston: you’ll be with the Reaper. Wallace, Zaytsev: you’ll escort the Skirmisher.“

“We’re operating in the dark, people. We know little to nothing about conditions on the ground, or what you’ll be facing. Both the Skirmishers and the Reapers have agreed to a ceasefire for the duration, but I don’t know to what extent either side intends to honor those terms.”

She draws in a deep breath, and her demeanor softens. “My point is: be careful. We could be facing anything out there, and the nature of negotiations is volatile. Stay alert, watch each other’s backs, and don’t take any risks you don’t have to. If this goes well, we stand to gain two very powerful allies. Good luck, team. You’re on the clock.”

Menace salutes her and piles onto the Skyranger, stowing their gear for transport. She heads back towards the bridge as the craft rises towards the open air. Central gives them the go for takeoff, and they are on their way.

Forty five minutes til drop and she stands on the balcony overlooking the ship’s heart, a bottle of water in her hand. Central is next to her, hands braced on the railing.

“Sal looked like her mom, all kitted out like that,” she offers. “It’s gonna be like having a ghost on the field.”

He nods. “Steph would kill me if she knew.”

“Didn’t want Sally following her into the family business?”

“Think she knew that was inevitable. Just wanted to put it off for as long as she could. I promised her eighteen.”

“But?”

“But Volk must’ve had a reason for asking. If he really thinks a friendly face might help defuse some tension…” He shrugs. “She’s a good shot. She’s got good instincts on the field. She ever gets a better hold on that Gift, and she’s gonna be something else. Besides,” he shakes his head. “I know her. She would’ve found a way to go no matter what I said. Least this way, I get to feel like I gave her my blessing, instead of having her sneakin’ around behind my back.”

“You trying to convince me or yourself?” She asks, softly.

“Little bit of both.”

“It’s just one op.”

“And then another, and another. She’s an XCOM operative now. Not much I can do about it.”

“You said it yourself: was probably inevitable.”

His shoulders droop. “Regan, I never should have been a parent. Half the time, I didn’t know what the fuck I was doing, and the other half, I knew it was the wrong thing. But I tried to keep her safe. I didn’t always succeed, but I tried. Now, there’s not a hell of a lot I can do, but watch and hope. Just hits harder than I thought it would.“

–

What surprises her most is the normalcy. For all his concerns in the wake of Berlin, there is no discernible change in their professional relationship. Everything flows as it should. If the men suspect anything, they do not show it — a near guarantee that all appears as it was.

It occurs to her that it is because they have been together, in some way or another, for a long time already; always in one another’s orbit, always able to parse the other’s meaning with a minimum of explanation. It is what makes them such a good team, what has always made them such an effective team.

She could laugh.

Or kiss him, but she’ll have to wait til later for a shot at that.

“Commander,” her comm sounds. “When you have a moment, please stop by the labs.”

“Of course, Doctor. I’m on my way.” She catches Central’s eye across the room. “You’re in charge. I’ll be with Vahlen in the labs if anything comes up.”

“Understood.”

She breezes through the empty Common Room on her way and stops to pause a moment, trying to envision the space decorated for a wedding. She believes in Molchetti and Hershel, no doubt, but she still can’t wrap her head around it. Still, Steph had seemed grateful they’d taken such an interest in it; she and Edouard still seemed to have their hands full managing their families.

She realizes she will not have to wonder for much longer: the twentieth is rapidly approaching.

Vahlen pulls her into the labs’ small conference room almost immediately upon her arrival.  Shen sits in the dim light, apparently waiting.

“Should I call Central?” She asks, suddenly wary.

“No. Someone needs to monitor the energy spikes,” the Chief Engineer says, shifting uncomfortably.

“What’s going on, you two?”

“In the wake of the energy spike in the base,” Vahlen begins. “We noticed a change in the blood samples we had previously tested. The nanomachines, which we had previously observed in a dormant state, activated.”

“And?”

Vahlen reaches into her coat pocket and hands her a vial of dark green liquid.  “This was our sample with the highest concentration. While it still carries some DNA markers, it has been mutated beyond a state one could reasonably call human.”

“This was blood? Human blood?”

“Indeed.”

She passes the sample back to the scientist. “Goddamnit.”

“While correlation is by no means causation,” Shen offers. “I am reasonably confident that the Fog Pods serve as a kind of control mechanism for these nanomachines. The energy spikes we have previously observed must be instructions to remain dormant. The spike from within the base was likely an activation. If it was able to take out our monitoring tech, such a pulse would like be catastrophic to civilian communication devices.”

Her mouth runs dry. “So, it’s a time bomb. What do you suggest?”

Shen and Vahlen lock gazes for a moment. “A dual pronged approach,” Vahlen says. “My team will work to understand the machines’ effect on human physiology.”

“And mine will work to disable the Pods.”

The Commander nods. “Do what you can to start investigating countermeasures for those already … infected.” She rubs at her temples. “Brief Central, then get to work. Let’s not cause a panic, but we’re working against a clock we can’t track.”

She rises from the table. “Anything else?”

The question is met with shaking heads.

“Good. Dismissed.”

–

She does not think she is hallucinating, but she does not entirely believe what she sees is real, either.

Zombie movies were always something of a joke among her cohort. How could anyone be so bad at responding to a biothreat to let it escalate the way it always seemed to? What idiot allowed that to happen?

ADVENT, apparently.

The hoard, things that might have once been called human but might now only be called humanoid at her most charitable, advances down the alley, blocking Dragunova, Kelly, and Sally’s only exit path.

There is seemingly no end to their numbers, a whole city mutated beyond recognition. With each wave they shoot down, more appear. It feels like a video game with an unmerciful AI; she tries not to focus on the comparison. Her sense of reality is impaired as it is. There’s no reason to exacerbate the problem.

She tries to focus on the positives. Contact with the Reapers went well. Dragunova seems comfortable operating in the ruins. She’s a strong third member of the fireteam and already seems to have a decent rapport with Sally, who in turn, works in uncanny synchronicity with Kelly. For his part, Central has barely touched his flask, a fact she notes with no small amount of surprise.

The creatures continue their approach, unphased by the gunshots thinning their numbers.

“Out!” Kelly calls.

“I’m spent,” Dragunova echoes.

“I got this,” Sally chirps, scrambling on top of an automobile carcass, and onto a nearby fire escape.

“Sally, what are you —“

“Trust me, Commander.”

Gunshots ring out, and the Lost begin to fall in quick succession. Kelly and Dragunova reload and make quick work of the remainder.

She does not believe in ghosts — not really, at least. They are things of myth ad fairy tale, scary stories used to coerce little children in from the dark. The dead are the dead. Their memories roam the halls, yes, but the cause remains the grief of the living.

She believes in an afterlife, though. For her own sake, she has to. She has to believe that there is a chance, however small, that the lost are not gone forever, that reunions are not a pitiful dream.

She believes that, wherever Stephanie Royston is, she would be proud of her daughter.

Central’s grip on the railing is tight, but when she looks, there’s pride in his eyes. “That’s my girl.”

[fates-end-does-vns]

Nogi Wakaba is a Hero: 2/2

Wͪ͂̃h̀̇ͬa͌ͣ̽t̒͒̔ ͑ͬͧt͑͡͝h͋̔̌ę̷ͤ ͛͌ͩfͩ̉̚uͭ̏̂c͗̇͌k̓̔ͬ?ͪͫ̑ ?̨͚͢?̙̻̹?̺͜͜?̵̧҉̜̭͖?̵̥͡?̘̜͠

>She then silently placed her hands together while ruminating over the contents of the diary-- oh we really are going deeper

>A fight seems to break out among the underground mall dwellers just about every day. Oh, did they end up killing each other rather than the vertex?

>Since food is limited, some ruffians try to use violence to hoard it all to themselves. """ruffians"""???

>The corpses of the dead are gathered in a designated area. Leaving them where they died would be both a hygienic and mental nightmare, after all. Ahh, it's like I'm writing about corpses as inhuman objects, huh. Maybe my senses have started going crazy too. it's really starting to look like this, huh.

>An adult got irritated at her crying and told me to kill her or put her outside. yikes

>The people advocating leaving to the surface unilaterally destroyed a barricade. It's the same pattern as before. Nothing more can be done. I wasn't entirely right, but I was close.

>The area around the station and beyond was covered with countless giant egg-shaped objects. So the Vertexes are... breeding? Are we sure they aren't just aliens?

>Despite Tamako's in-the-moment personality, she too knew full well the risk of using trump cards. Looks like Tamako might be where they got that data on fairy possession from.

>What came out was... a hoe. And a folded letter. Another apocalyptic log, huh?

>--Shikoku was at risk of a crisis once more. oh boy my favorite

chapter 11 end

Oh, is this some sort of sidestory about dead girl?

>As Utano continued to work hard without ever losing hope, one by one, the residents began helping her. Some cultivated the fields with her. Others provided boats so they could fish in Lake Suwa.

something something Varda Rhaplanca.

>The guardian god of Suwa was a god of war, a princely god of the earth. It was said that this god once used a wisteria vine as a weapon in a battle against another god. Imbued with divine might, his wisteria vine was powerful enough to crush the opposing god's weapon of iron. oh hey it's kanako

>The whip that served as Utano's weapon was imbued with the same spiritual power as that god of war's wisteria vine. 

hmm...

Well, I guess they're both player 2...

>However, even heroes had their limits, and the waves of Vertexes kept growing in size. In response to the intensifying attacks, the local god had scaled the barrier down in size to scale it up in strength. Now in 2018, the harumiya and akimiya had already been destroyed and only the area to the southeast of Lake Suwa remained protected by the barrier. froggod is getting tired, I guess.

>At times like these, Mito felt a feeling she couldn't quite describe. Her heart would stir, and she couldn't calm it.

man, they're not even trying to hide it anymore, huh.

>Both Utano and Mito could tell that the power of Suwa's local god was weakening.

>So Suwa was a decoy to let Shikoku prepare for battle. Utano and Mito had vaguely noticed that fact, so it was no surprise. Sacrifices, sacrifices, sacrifices. It's all about sacrifices, isn't it?

>"... The world? You mean the whole el mundo?!" >"Excelente!" why

end

>Thanks to the investigation of the heroes and miko, the Suwa area was confirmed to be safe. propaganda, propaganda, propaganda.

the problem with lying so hard about everything is that eventually people are going to figure out the truth and it's going to be worse than if you'd just been honest.

>It's just... ever since I used the fairy's power during the expedition, I guess? My body's been feeling kind of funny... looks like I was right

>Despite having that discussion, since the battle royale would be for practice, they obtained permission from the teachers and the event was settled. I guess this might turn out interesting?

>Hinata looked at the smartphone she held in her hand. On the screen was a picture of Wakaba doing combat training during lessons yesterday. Normally during hero training sessions, Hinata would undergo miko training in another room, and thus she had no opportunities to take pictures of Wakaba training... ah, bribery.

>Instead, it slammed into Tamako's forehead. I was wondering how the two of them were going to settle it.

>"W-Wakaba-kun... I'm sorry, but there's someone else that Tama likes..." oh no she's FiW twilight

>Wakaba and Yuuna were wearing male uniforms. you know what I would actually like to see this.

good. not as good as I imagined, but good.

>"No, your movements were clearly weaker compared to when you fight against Vertexes." yuuna's protagonist power still shines through

>The next Vertex invasion had yet to happen. in anything else that line would be ominous but you've ended at least like four fucking chapters with "oh no big vertex invasion incoming".

chapter 12 end.

despair? grief? lactic acid?

>Supernatural phenomena like seances and spirit possession have existed in human culture from time immemorial. Shamans. Blind spirit mediums. Animists. Polytheists. Such practitioners would evoke the inhuman into their own bodies. >Polytheists. 

 excuse me? 

 >In the classroom the next day, Tamako and Anzu discussed holding a flower viewing party with the others. 

does this book actually have a plot

>"Okay, then once our next Vertex battle's over, let's go flower viewing to celebrate! I suddenly feel pumped up!" tempting fate.

>For flowers' lives were short. tempting fate.

>If any evolved Vertexes were to appear, Tamako would surely use the power of the fairies to fight it. I like that she's thinking this stuff through. Too bad it won't help.

>"I think it's more like a scorpion... Takashima-san..." Scorpio?

>At that signal, the other girls began activating trump cards one by one. welp

>In other words, this scorpion-type Vertex had more stamina than all of the heroes currently had the power to combat. Huh. That's unexpected. What else can they do, blossom?

>The needle then skewered Anzu behind her as well. They're just both going to die then? Or are they going to pull something out at the last minute? They were really telegraphing Tamako being the first person to show the symptoms of possession.

>What came out of Tamako's mouth the next moment wasn't a voice, but copious volumes of blood. And not just from her mouth, but from her eyes, ears, and nose. Blood spilled. Perhaps due to the poison, she experienced bizarre symptoms that could not be explained by the stab wound alone. that went from realistically dark to silly in two seconds flat.

>A fairy particularly feared by the Taisha, and thus a fairy the heroes were strictly ordered never to use-- Yuuna would now unleash that fairy's power. of course yuuna would

chaper 13 end.

another blank chapter start. joy.

she punchch

>After sweeping way the Vertexes, Yuuna had lost consciousness and even now had yet to recover. sounds familiar

eyyyy it's leo

>But Yuuna's face twisted in agony. The smooth transformation that normally came with using a trump card was nowhere to be seen. this is a reaaaaly bad idea

>Wakaba and Chikage were unable to do any damage to the giant Vertex, and Yuuna, the only one with any means of effective attack was out of commission. for the first time, they're on the retreat.

>Within Chikage's eyes ignited the dark light of hatred. I mean, she wasn't exactly stable to begin with, but I don't think the fairy thing helped.

chapter 14 end.

Is it all just whiteout now?

So it looks a lot like she's crazy and on the side of the vertexes here.

>However-- voices of anxiety cried up throughout the population. Crime and suicides rose. Public order was collapsing. Wouldn't be as bad if you guys had been honest in the first place.

>Chikage suddenly heard a voice by her ear. She looked up in surprise. That the fairy?

>After leaving her house, Chikage unsheathed her scythe and walked down the road. there we go

>So why must they criticise us...?! If this is what it all comes down to... then there's no point in fighting, no point in protecting people...! None at all! how very Live-a-Live

>To be suspended and have her hero system revoked. So now there's only two heroes left and only one of them can fight, huh?

Chapter 15 end.

>"In about a month and a half, we will reach the fourth anniversary of the tragic 7/30 disaster." A big speech, huh?

>Wakaba had been popular with the people of Shikoku, almost to the point of worship. The crowd listened so intently, they forgot to blink. Well, they haven't lost their faith in her, at least.

>Wakaba wrote a rough draft for the speech, but the content was entirely rewritten by the Taisha. Figured.

>The Koori family was granted a house in Marugame where Chikage lived with her mother and father. That sounds like an awful idea.

>"...I've lost... everything... Everything... was stolen from me..." This is all really uncomfortable to read.

>Chikage took out her phone and began typing out a message to the Taisha: If they believe this, they're idiots.

>The Taisha had fast-tracked Chikage's reinstatement due to the danger of having Wakaba fight alone. ugh.

>And the next moment, seven Chikages appeared, surrounding Wakaba. yeesh. I can't really see a way for this novel to end that isn't awful. This is a really hopeless story/

>But immediately, her hero outfit itself disappeared, leaving Chikage standing in the Jukai in her school uniform. Divine intervention?

>In Wakaba's place, Chikage became Vertex food. Yikes. I guess that's one way to clean up a loose end.

>Chikage smiled and closed her eyes as if to sleep. Okay, this one kind of got me, not gonna lie. Chikage's situation was awful from start to end.

Chapter 16 end

>She could hear Yuuna sobbing from across the other side. welcome to the suffering show

>The Taisha would not tell them when the funeral service was to be held, nor what sort of service it was to be, leaving the others unable to even mourn for her. trust the government to be bastards.

>"Those ones have pictures of all of us." oh goddamnit it's one of these :(

>"Wh-what?! What on earth is this majesty?! It's a tamashock! This flavour is a 30 kilotamashock!'" fucking udon

>"...It's the diploma we all gave Gun-chan together..." fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck

>"Koori Chikage was a genuine hero!!" fuuuuuck it took a while for this story to move me but god damn it

>Only two heroes remained. and there's the traditional "things are gonna get bad" marker.

end of chapter 17.

Descended from humans?

>But according to the Taisha, as long as humanity could overcome this next attack, they would be able to prepare two countermeasures to keep the enemy invasion in check. Which of these countermeasures involves murder?

>The will of the Shinju-sama aside, I would prefer that forced cancellation not occur. I implore you to put your trust in us.-- Her request was accepted and the hero system was updated. Guess that's why Tougou was able to do what she did.

>It was Yuuna. She took one look at Wakaba and Hinata and froze for just a second before beginning to gently close the door. Wawawa wasuremono~

>Wakaba wore a baseball cap and jeans, accessorised with oversized sunglasses covering her eyes, a large surgical mask enveloping her mouth, and her sword in hand. where's that picture with sonoko

>Yuuna smiled and spoke somewhat nervously, as if introducing herself for the first time. You know I think this is the first time we've seen Yuuna really talk about herself. In any time.

>Her vision grew dark. I guess that goes to show just how much weaker they are than the modern heroes, that that was all it took.

>She had only lost consciousness for a fleeting moment. Yuuna isn't like the others, after all.

>(Shinju... sama...? Am I... going inside... the Shinju-sama...?) I'm guessing that's why she's still around, somehow.

Chapter 18 end.

divine era, huh.

>But I'm sure the three of us can go there someday. now, though, there's only two.

>"Huh... n-no... no... Everyone... died...? No heroes survived... except... for me..." bring on the despair.

>In addition to the colossal Vertex, there were also several developing large Vertexes scattered around here and there. Large Vertexes identical in appearance to ones defeated in the past were reemerging as well. welp.

>Wakaba and Hinata couldn't tell what it was, but there was something inside those hollow shells... oh right, the, whatchamacallit, the souls.

>The heavens-- were falling-- guess that's the world ending right there.

>"Any possibility of a comeback for humanity... has been crushed, hasn't it..." yeah basically. say what you will about madoka, but this permanent status quo might be even less hopefull than it.

>"This was our first attempt, but it was a success. We have named this divine ritual the offering fire festival." oh wait is hinata going to be one of the girls sacrificed?

>"The Taisha held a festival. Outside the wall... They spoke to the heavens and prayed, asking for amnesty from invasions on the condition that we no longer leave this land." so is the reason the Vertexes started attacking again in the present because someone broke the deal?

>"But I played my cards right and excluded myself from the selection. I didn't want to die. I'm such an unfair, cruel woman." oh. well, at least wakaba won't be alone.

>If we remain in these lands and abandon our hero powers, we will no longer be attacked." or maybe that's the part of the deal that was broken. there's still the fact of the people who were divinely empowered to do terrorism, though...

>"Indeed. Despite how I might look, I am angry. Let's make sure we recover. Once we lose the Shinju-sama, we lose Shikoku as well, but the Shinju-sama should have a lifetime of hundreds of years. Let's use that time to find a counter strategy." so how's it still around and fine after 700 years?

>Lost lives do not come back. they do when they're yuuna, apparently.

>"First, we will rename the Taisha from 'grand shrine' to 'amnesty' as a self-conscious reminder that we have been granted amnesty and live modestly as human beings." so it is the same organization.

>We'll just bide time and wait until then. apparently you didn't wait long enough.

>The last survivor of the Vertex invasion dies of old age. That's... not very old.

>reverse clapping ?????

>are given the name "Yuuna" by the Taisha in reverence to the legendary hero Takashima Yuuna. Yeah, I'm not buying that. This Yuuna and that Yuuna are waaaaaay too similar. And the weird way Yuuna's been acting? Nah, they're the same person.

Chapter 19 end.

>And I'm not just talking about simple firepower enhancements here. I'm talking about adding mental health support systems, too. I don't think it's that easy.

>"That's right. But if we used artificial... that is, pseudo-fairies, there'd be no harm done, don't you think?" How would that even work?

>Hinata felt as if she could still hear voices like that. gah don't do that

>"Yeah. We'll be together forever. Even after we graduate. Even after we grow up. Even after we're old ladies, we'll be together." gaaay~

>"I've lost so many precious friends myself. So please, don't make your precious ones go through the same thing I did. Swear to me-- swear to them-- that you'll make it back--" arrrgh not a gain this story is so depressing

>"That Hero Record was censored in black, but there were also red censors, too. So it was probably censored twice. And the second round of censorship... erased almost all of it." graaah so they probably don't know most of the stuff in the story

>But nothing lasted forever. As generations begot generations, as time passed by, change happened. and ultimately, their attempts to keep the Taisha free from corruption were in vain, huh.

epilogue? end.

oh hey.

chikage's name's censored everywhere it appears...

yuuna's eager to use the fairy she's been explicitly told not to use.

and anything written by chikage's gone too...

:(

And this was completely wiped away...

Nogi Wakaba is a Hero: End.

[pizzcboy]

..