#{once I am all caught up I will toss out another starter call!

[amplifyingtrace]

{Sorry for being extra quiet here ;w; work has been making me tired lately along with being super distracted with Gen.shin (I am hoping my girl dehy.a comes soon on a banner I need her ;A; ) and working on revamping my Au Izu.ku bean

[zaunrising]

A daughter, anxious.

Starter for @saviourofzaun

On her way to Silco’s office, Jinx was high above the dance crowd of The Last Drop, moving along ceiling rafters with the only hint of her presence a flash of blue hair or shimmer-fueled eyes. A hand on a beam that would let her climb even higher to move to the rafters above the office properly, Jinx paused looking towards the door of Silco’s office, only to find yet another wave of irritation suddenly washing through her as who should she see leaving except a fucking Piltie? The hextech wonder boy himself, Jayce Talis, leaving Silco’s office looking disheveled and quite obviously being allowed to come and go. New people, new hurts, new lies be it by omission or otherwise, and all of it pushing her nerves to the breaking point. For a second, her magenta eyes started to flare while fingers dug into a rafter threatening to break something off of it, before Jinx took a long deep breath and simply left, heading towards Silco’s house, a house she too called home even now.

In no mood to care what Silco might think, Jinx started flipping off every light she came across as she moved into the house. It wasn’t as though she needed much light anymore after the shimmer “treatment”, and stalking past the living room to the kitchen, Jinx grabbed a drink before going to find a spot to sit down and think. For once, instead of running off to her workshop or her bedroom, Jinx sat herself down in Silco’s favorite chair in their living room. By the time he got home, Jinx’s head was hanging over one armrest with a leg dangling downward, swaying back and forth next to an empty glass on the floor with her other leg stretched out across the other armrest. Despite the chair being large and comfortable for the man, who was noticeably taller than she was, Jinx still managed to take up all of the space available. One hand swung downward next to her leg, but her other hand steadily bounced a chomper up into the air over and over again.

The only light on was one to her side, shining just right to let shadows drift across her instead of leaving her in complete darkness and allowing her eyes to gleam with their own strange glimmer. A near constant soft muttering sound came from the young woman as she complained to herself half under her breath.

“We’re all we have Jinx. Everyone else betrays us Jinx. I need you Jinx. You have to complete the weapon Jinx! Blah blah blah. Maybe next time I’ll just tell him to have his precious fucking Piltie, or his river crossing whatever Vik is to handle it… he probably would anyways, probably thinks I’m weak. Couldn’t even beat Ekko. Course not like he’s doing anything about Ekko. Not Mr. Gives me to a mad sadistic whatever Singed is cause he's not a doctor. Lets Singed do whatever he wants, and doesn’t say anything. Doesn’t say, or do anything about Ekko either. I thought… thought he cared more... Yes I know he’s a monster, shut up, I’m not listening to you right now. Doesn’t matter anyways because so am I. We’re both monsters, but we’re supposed to be monsters together, no, no he’s not, he wont, shut up, I’m still not…”

The muttering suddenly stopped as her head turned the moment Silco fully entered the room. The chomper getting tossed once more into the air before being caught and held in her hand while her gleaming eyes stared at him unblinking. Suddenly an entirely too friendly smile hit her face as she raised up one hand offering a lazy wave. “Hiya Silly! I’ve been thinking that we really should have a talk. Catch up on things you know. After all we’ve both been just soooo busy lately. Where to start though… Oh I know, what’s the deal with tall, broad, and disheveled leaving your office?” Despite her friendly smile, and cheerful sounding words there was very much a bite behind them as well as a glint to her eyes that was quite intense and focused entirely on Silco.

[ledenews]

Joe Myers: Living Life with a Love for the Subtle Things

It might be the most fatal filtering system in place in high school baseball. There have been Hollywood films about it. Men have made millions throwing it and others have lost careers because of it. It’s mysterious with its bite and impossible when its bottom falls out. Some call it, “The Kid Killer,” and others know it as the “ole bender.” IT is the curveball, a breaking pitch most fathers and coaches disallow for players in the younger leagues, but once it’s introduced the “deuce” immediately creates a contest between the cans and the can’ts. And Joe Myers couldn’t. The curveball was his Kryptonite. Swing and a miss most times.

Myers has learned a lot from his mentors in life, and that includes Dr. Carl Anderson. The Bishop Donahue first baseman was slick at the bag and he played through high school, but that was it. For playing, that is. By the time his younger brother Mike was putting up Hall of Fame careers at John Marshall High and the University of Charleston, Joe had become a local sportswriter and – that’s right – baseball was his beat. A dedicated husband, father, grandfather, AND community member, Myers was called into coaching, too, and he’s evolved into one of the most dedicated sandlot instructors in Marshall County. Joe has a scout’s eye, so he sees those rare and raw talents most kids don’t even know they have, and he helps those players develop into prospects with legit dreams. The vast majority of kids on his teams, though, will never be big leaguers let alone college athletes, and many of them come to the ballfield only to escape the troubles that exist outside the foul lines. And that’s just fine and dandy with Coach Joe because he believes every kid should get the chance to take their swings, even when life is slinging those curveballs.

A young player named Landis Dean recently reminded Myers how beautiful the game of baseball can be.

Why, in your opinion, is baseball the greatest game?

I am sure that baseball is the greatest game for me. I could ramble on about its parallels with life itself: Following the rules, working well with others, dealing with failure, etc.  Instead, I'll share a story: I still help coach Little Leaguers, and last summer I helped develop pitchers on a team of 9 and 10-year-olds. Mustang League limits pitchers to two innings per game, so you need three guys. But I like to use more than that.  So, I started working with a youngster named Landis Dean, who was extremely raw but willing to learn. He worked hard and at long last got a chance to pitch in our eighth game. My starter had lost the plate, walked two guys, so Landis was debuting with runners and first and second, nobody out in a tight game.  "Go get em, kid," indeed.  The first batter worked the count full before looping one off the end of the bat into no-man's land between the mound, first and second base. In Mustang League we call that a single, unless somebody kicks it -- then we call it a double. The two runners were off to the races. This one time, though, my second baseman raced in, dove and caught the ball. We threw it smartly around and, sure enough, turned a triple play!  I'll not forget the look of joy on Landis' face when he came running to the bench. I doubt he'd ever heard the term triple play before that day, but all of a sudden, we had another pitcher.  There's just a subtle magic to baseball that I don't find anywhere else.

If you could suggest one thing for a young player to do daily to become an above-average ball player, what would it be and why?

Catch the ball. If you can catch the ball you'll be in the lineup of any rec league team. Find a buddy to toss with, or just bounce a ball off a cinder-block wall. Have the ball in your hand at night while watching the Pirates and smack it into your glove. Feel the ball, be the ball.

Joe had the chance as a sportswriter to cover his younger brother, Mike, when he played for John Marshall and the University of Charleston.

Should Barry Bonds be in baseball’s Hall of Fame in Cooperstown? Why or why not?

I wouldn't vote for him. He's actually represented in Cooperstown with various artifacts -- record-breaking baseballs and bats -- but he knew the score when he decided to use performance-enhancing drugs. Bonds basically eliminated himself from induction.

What is your favorite sports movie and why?

Bull Durham. Funny and spot-on from a baseball standpoint, and a love story thrown in for the ladies. The mound visit scene was classic.

Family, of course, always comes first with Joe, and they do love to root for the Mountaineers together.

What’s the best thing about being a grandfather?

Grandparents have it made. It's our reward for raising kids that somehow lived to adulthood. My grandson Emmett is the best part of our world right now, and I can't wait to see what the future holds. May he be a pitcher? If only ...

The Myers family, including his wife, daughter Angela and son Joe Jr., enjoy a lot of functions around the Upper Ohio Valley. Read the full article

[arcandoria]

'if you called just to get off to my voice...' with dante/panam 👁👁

subtle smut sentence starters - AO3 link tags: phone sex; masturbation - 862 words

It always seemed to hit her when she could not do anything about it. At least not in an effectively satisfactory way.

Not many hours of driving separated her from the Aldecaldos’ camp, but Carol had insisted they wait until dawn. ‘We're not in a hurry.’ — well, she was not in a hurry. Panam, on the other hand, was very much so in a hurry.

When tossing and turning on the bedroll got too frustrating to bear, she sought seclusion inside the Thorton and hoped that some stupid minigame in the phone would diverge her attention somewhere else, but even as the frantic tapping of her nails against the screen filled the silence, her mind would wander, thighs pressing and rubbing against one another, seeking stimuli on the friction of the jeans.

Panam had no idea what time it was, and did not bother to check when she pulled up the contact list between frustrated muttering and called. It just took a moment that felt like an eternity, but soon enough the response came on the speaker, sounding relatively awake at that.

“Panam, everything alright?”

No. It was not fucking alright. “Everything is fine, V.” She reassured him, slumping down on the car seat. “I am just— restless.” The time for tip-toeing had been long gone, left back in Night City, and thank God for it – she would be going insane right now otherwise.

The voice on the other side of the line mellowed. “Ah, I see.” He paused, and the background noise began to fade as he likely stepped away to somewhere secluded. “Can’t sleep huh?”

“No.” Panam rested a hand over the stomach, and her exposed skin at the sides of the bodysuit felt feverish.

“Somethin’ on your mind? Maybe our R&R last night?”

Well, she had a lot of things on her mind, but that was kindling to the fire. After a whole day of stressing around - making sure things remained functioning in her absence, checking the cargo with Carol before the trip – Dante dragged her away to their tent despite her protesting about the things yet to be done. And that gentle reminder was enough to playback the night in great detail in her head.

“Maybe.” She swallowed, breath quickening as her fingers dexterously tugged the button of the pants loose. “What did happen again?” Panam tried to feign disinterest, to keep their little game going, but even keeping the act was difficult.

“Dunno, a lot happened. I had to tie you for it, you kinda wanted to run away.” He chuckled. “Legs looked spectacular in that harness, though.”

Panam closed her eyes, and did not bother to answer right away, head flooded with fresh memories. His smile when he threatened to tie her up, the spark in his eyes when she dared him to do it, and how the straps of the harness bit into her skin when he undressed her of everything else then tightened the belts.

Her fingers reached the innermost of her legs under the leotard and over the underwear, tips running against hot, wet fabric. She rubbed once, lightly, and a moan caught in her throat. “Hmm, I remember that. Then w-what?” She strained.

“Then we tested out how tight those buckles were.”

That damned gruff was there again. Soft around the edges, but there. The same way he whispers in her ear when he wants to tease her. The way he was whispering the night before when his hand strained to slide between her tied thighs, before his fingers reached their target and rubbed gently between her folds, palm teasing at her clit.

She mimicked the action from memory, a not-so-satisfactory placebo that still got her heart racing as Panam struggled to keep quiet.

“I think I used my mouth, too. Might not be remembering that right.” Dante continued on the speaker.

He did use his mouth. Bent her on the bed in a way all she could do was hold helplessly onto it. The sensation of his stubble on the back of her thighs while his tongue pressed to reach inside her from behind was still imprinted on the spot and in her memory, each lick struggling in delicious torture to find space between her legs locked together.

Her hand kept working, more insistently, frustratingly inaccurate to the images, but she moaned quietly while seeking a relief that felt impossible to reach now.

“But y’know… if you called just to get off to my voice, I’m hanging up.”

What.

“Dante, you are a dead man if you do that.”

The laughter in his response almost made her want to punch him, but… “Really? Even if I hang up and drive down there to ya?”

But that gave her pause.

“Are you nuts? That is 5 hours of driving.” Panam did not really sound opposed. The responsible side of her wanted to, but those were desperate times.

“Not really. I don’t have any cargo, and it’s not like I have to stay on the road.”

There was tingling between her legs. That still meant at least 3 or 4 hours of waiting…

She swallowed. “Please come.”

[burdenedchaos]

✨ Closed Starter for @shieldagentnatasharomanoff

If there was one thing that Loki admired about Midgardians, it would have to be their sense of absolute wonderment. The way their eyes would light up. The small gape of a mouth hanging open before a quiet ‘wow’ slipped out--or an unstoppable grin that would stretch from ear to ear.  Always so captivated by anything that crept outside of their ordinary day-to-day lives. Even in this day and age.

It was a welcome change from Asgard, that was certain. Most things, he’d come to find in his time on Midgard, were a welcome change from Asgard. 

There had never been any amusement at his tricks; instead they had always been met with contempt and scorn. Distrustful God of Mischief as he. Sneers and jeers from Thor’s little band of warriors. 

If only they could see him now.

The Trickster had managed to gather quite a crowd today; groups of joggers who’d been taking laps around the massive trail that encompassed the park. Parents with their young strapped in strollers. Dogwalkers with their loyal little mutts in various leashes and harnesses.

All eyes trained on him, enraptured by his performance. ‘Oo’ing and ‘Aah’ing when expected as material items vanished from plain sight, only to reappear moments later with a flourish of green wisps. Floral arrangements pulled from a hat--that one was always rather popular, especially when he was bold enough to offer a stem towards the nearest observer with a charismatic wink as he did today. Cards appearing and disappearing. Shuffled between hands, tossed upwards and scattered like confetti to the wind before being caught in green flames and disappearing once more before they could touch any of the crowd. 

 There were several rules when he did these performances. The utmost was to keep a low profile; while his magic was real--it wouldn’t do to attract the wrong attention for it. He always made certain to keep things believable. Copying those Midgardians who flaunted such talents on the popular YouTube videos. He never returned to the same location twice, giving people less of a chance to sense a pattern. To connect dots and pin the fact that something just wasn’t right about Loki. 

No one had managed to do so yet, but he wasn’t comfortable calling anyone’s bluff, should they ever piece together the outliers. 

He also never showed his own personal face--a glamor taking care of the biggest points. Tinting or lightening hair colours as the season demanded. Shifting his nose here or tweaking the structure of his cheekbones there. Concealer covered the scars along his lips; unable to ever be touched by his own magic. There was an air of anonymity about it; a fact that he certainly appreciated, given his desire to keep a low profile.

 As he hopped up onto the edge of the fountain he’d pilfered for his stage, lips stretched into a wide grin and he gave a graceful little bow before straightening once more. 

“Now please, if you’ve enjoyed my marvelous little tricks on this lovely afternoon, don’t be afraid to drop something in the box. Yes yes. Thank you! You’ve my gratitude.” Hands gestured downward, bringing more attention to the designated container. “If you’d like to stay and watch more--you are more than welcome! But I am providing those who require an out, an out. Return to your jog!” An amused laugh left him and he waved, fingers twisting a thread of green between them as some of the crowd chuckled and dissipated, taking the excuse to return to their days. Some stayed--and for that he rewarded them with another flourish, causing a shower of sparkling light to erupt overhead and sprinkle down, disappearing as soon as they touched a surface. 

Harmless as could be. 

“Are there any requests from the audience? Hm? Anything you’re just absolutely itching to see?” 

[yeenybeanies]

how about number 40 with the Bad Batch?

send prompts!

40. “ i didn’t know they were actually afraid of me… ” yes this is the story that i designed this lil dude for :’>

star wars | the bad batch & a tiny alien ( oc )

1,703 words

very light blood warning

thanks for sending!

Oh, they are afraid. They’re terrified! Why the hell wouldn’t they be afraid of not just one giant being, but four? One of whom is significantly more giant than the other three! 

“ Of course it’s afraid, ”  one of the giants says, echoing their thoughts.  “ You can’t just grab at it, Wrecker. ”  That giant gestures to them, making them raise all four of their arms defensively. His voice is surprisingly soft, clashing with the scary-looking tattoos on his face.

They want to climb, run, crawl––do anything. They just want to get away. But they’re cornered, with four giants staring down at them.

“ I just wanted to see what it was, ”  the biggest one protests.  “ Look at ‘em! They’re so small, and they’ve got lots of arms! “  

“ All very fascinating, ”  another of the four speaks up,  “ but it’s still not wise to try to pick up creatures we know nothing about. It could be dangerous. ”  He flips his glasses down and leans in. The little being turns their defensive posture towards him, arms raised, tail lashing.

“ How dangerous could it be? It barely reaches my ankle, ”  the last giant says skeptically. He isn’t crowding quite as much as the other three, but his presence is still plenty unnerving.

The spectacled man takes a step closer.  “ Well, for starters, see that cybernetic arm it has? ”  All eyes fall to the little one’s lower left arm.  “ There’s a blade on the ulnar side that appears quite sharp. ” 

Now feeling even more self conscious, the little being tries to tuck their prosthetic arm out of view. They keep their three organic arms raised defensively, and flare their crests up, trying to make up for their diminutive size.

“ It understands us, ”  the tattooed man says, his eyes narrowing.

“ Fascinating. ”  says the spectacled one.  “ You can understand us? Do you speak? “  

“ Ooh! Ooh! Let me talk to it! ”  The big one shouts, making the little being flinch and flatten their ears back––all six of them. As if the volume wasn’t offensive enough, though, the big man shoves his way to the front of the crowd, trying to get closer. This, understandably, scares the kriff outta the little one. They shriek in fear. Knowing full well there is no escape in front of them, they instead whip around, take quick stock of the corner they’re backed into, and start climbing the wall. They’re fast, much to the astonishment of the giants. There’s commotion behind them, but they don’t look back. They can’t. They feel like their hearts are going to burst from their chest.

“ Crosshair, don’t––! ” 

The little one doesn’t have time to cringe at the shouting; a blaster bolt sears the wall just a few inches above them, its impact rattling them, concussing them, dislodging them. Their grip fails. They fall. Everything goes black.

Did . . . did they just die? 

Does death feel stuffy and cramped? 

Voices, though muffled, ring around them.

“ ––can’t just shoot it! ”

“ What? Tech said it might be dangerous. ”  

“ It’s just scared. ”

“ Is it dead? ” 

This is not death. The little being squirms, feeling their way around the tight space. The walls are covered in fabric, and feel squishy. They’re warm to the touch.

“ No, it’s still moving. ” 

A horrible thought slams into the little one’s mind. With a soft click, the blade in their arm flicks out, and they slash at the soft roof of their confinement. The walls flinch and bevel away, but don’t open up. The little one slashes again. A sharp grunt sounds around them.

“ Ow––kriff––! ”  Very suddenly, the roof of their containment lifts, leaving the little one momentarily blinded. They cover their head with their top two arms, while their lower too remain defensive.  “ Hey. ”  The voice––that soft voice of the tattooed man, now not so soft––shakes them to their core.  “ Enough with the cutting. ”

Once their eyes adjust, the little one realizes that, to their terror, they’d guessed correctly: they’re in a giant hand. The gloved fingers curl behind them like an oncoming wave, threatening to crash over them at any moment. Without thinking, they spring to their feet and jump––

––and abruptly stop mid-air, upside down. The little one chitters in alarm and looks down––er, up?––to see their tail caught between a giant forefinger and thumb. It doesn’t hurt at all, what with it being prehensile, but it still scares them plenty.

“ You got a death wish, tiny? ”  The man asks. He lifts them to his eye level and stares them down, making them feel even smaller than they already are.  “ Relax. I’m not going to hurt you. ”  He glances back at the other three, all of whom are staring at him and his detainee.  “ Heh. If anything, I’m the one that’s least likely to hurt you. ” 

“ Hey! ”  the big one and the spectacled one say in unison.

The tattooed man shakes his head and turns his attention down to his free hand. The little one follows his gaze. Across his palm, there are two slashes in the fabric and the skin beneath. The cuts are shallow, but they still seep blood. They feel another jolt of panic. Is he mad? Is he going to retaliate? He just said he wouldn’t hurt them! They start to shake. The tip of their tail instinctively curls around his fingers.

“ I know you can understand us, ”  he says, letting his cut hand fall. The little one watches it for a moment, then looks back up at him, confused. So he’s . . . not mad?  “ My name’s Hunter. Back there, the big one’s Wrecker, the one with the glasses is Tech, and the one that almost shot you is Crosshair. ” 

The little one looks between all four faces, their gaze lingering a bit longer on the one called Crosshair. He stares right back at them, cold, remorseless. It makes them curl in on themself a bit more.

“ Normally, we don’t take too kindly to stowaways, ”  Hunter continues, drawing their attention back to him,  “ but I can’t imagine you take up too much space and resources. You can ride with us until we hit the next outpost. We won’t toss you out of the airlock like we would anyone else. ” 

Well. That’s both alarming and relieving to hear.

“ However––– ”  Dank farrik.  “ There are some ground rules, okay? ”  He stares at them expectantly. Slowly they nod. The corner of Hunter’s lip quirks up, a ghost of a smirk.  “ We don’t need you getting squashed underfoot. Certainly not with Wrecker stomping around. ”  The big man makes a noise of protest, but Hunter ignores him.  “ So try to stay off of the floor. You’ve already shown that you’re a good climber. Stick to walls and tabletops. Or have one of us carry you. ”  

Though the idea of being carried makes them uneasy, the little one nods again. Hunter looks satisfied. He steps nearer to a table and lowers them down to it, his fingers releasing their tail. Once they’re on their feet, they pull it closer to themself and stare back up at him.

“ Is . . . is that it? ”  They ask meekly.

None of the men had taken their eyes off of them, but, upon hearing their voice, all four focus in even more. Tech flips his goggles up, brows raised.

“ It does speak . . . ”  he muses.

“ Yeah, that’s it, ”  Hunter says with a shrug.  “ Other than the obvious  ‘ don’t sabotage my ship, ’  and  ‘ don’t hurt my men. ’  But I figured I didn’t need to say that. ” 

The little one blinks and glances between the four faces again. Hunter, Wrecker, Tech, Crosshair . . .. They all look similar, like they’re related.

“ Tech can set you up a place to sleep. He’s also probably the best one to talk to about anything else you’d need. ”  Said man straightens and steps up next to Hunter. The little one shifts uneasily, but doesn’t scramble back, despite every instinct telling them to do so.

“ Yes––you should tell me anything important right now, ”  Tech says.  “ What sort of atmospheric composition is best for you? What are your dietary needs? You’re carbon-based, correct? Does your arm require any external power sources? ”  

Uh . . ..  The little one stares up at him blankly. Their fins flatten against their neck, showing their unease.  Hunter glances between them and Tech, one brow raised.

“ Maybe start with easier questions, ”  he suggests.

“ Carbon-based––yes, ”  the little one answers, much to the surprise of both Hunter and Tech.  “ Er . . . there is less oxygen here than I am used to, but I can acclimate. And I eat . . . anything I can catch. ”  They pause, again feeling a little self-conscious about their prosthesis. They ignore the final question and tuck their arm behind their back.

“ You’re carnivorous? ”  Tech asks. The little one doesn’t care for how he’s ogling. They try to ignore it. 

“ Yes, ”  they affirm with a nod.  “ Ckaatrans––my kind––we hunt. ”  

“ Fascinating . . .. ” 

A loud groan sounds behind the two clones, making the little one jump. All eyes turn to the big man––Wrecker.  “ All this nonsense talk is so boring. C’mon, let me show the li’l guy around the ship! ”  His booming voice shakes the little one down to the bones. They press their ears down as hard as they can, trying to protect their sensitive hearing from the offending noise.

“ Wrecker . . . ”  Hunter starts, warning in his tone.  “ We’ve already established that you scare it. You’re gonna have to give it some space while it get used to you. ” 

Eugh. How patronizing. True, but patronizing. The little one grimaces. And they keep calling them an it.

“ Tawl, ”  they say, raising their voice in the barest show of indignation.  “ I am––er, my name is Tawl. ”  

There’s a snort further back. Crosshairs shakes his head.  “ Not a very fitting name, tiny. ” 

Tawl’s fins bristle for a moment, but they force them to settle. They can already tell that they’re going to have to get used to comments on their size while they’re stuck here.

“ And I’m not an  ‘ it. ’  ” 

“ Then tell us more, ”  Tech says. He pulls up a chair and sits himself down in front of Tawl, fingers laced in front of him. The proximity makes them nervous, has them taking a couple of steps backwards.

This is going to be a long journey to the next outpost, they can already tell.

[thebmatt]

FFXIV Write Day 2

Aberrant - departing from an accepted standard OR diverging from the normal type.

CONTENT WARNING: asshole parents denigrating their child with sexually charged language

"Master? A letter arrived for you."

Ahldblaet Fyrilberksyn looked up from the stack of documents with an irritated expression at the servant who'd interrupted him, a hyuran male of fair skin and hair.  "Well, boy? Who is it from then? Twelve save you if this isn't worth interrupting my very important work!"

The man went even paler. "I....I don't know, master. The envelope was not signed. The post markings indicate that it originated in Eorzea, but otherwise the only marking is that of a small green axe. I don't know..."

Ahldblaet's eyes, normally perpetually narrowed due to being deep set in his face, widened in shock. "Give that here!" he shouted. "And be gone with you!"

The servant scurried over to Ahldblaet's massive desk and practically dropped the envelope on the nearest corner before fleeing with all haste, as though for his life. Ahldblaet immediately snatched it from the stack of parchment it had fallen on and inspected the markings that the servant had mentioned.

"Husband?" a voice called from the side door that led from his office further into the home.  Said door opened and a shorter Roegadyn woman stepped through, her ash-colored skin in marked contrast to the sea-blue dress she wore. Her dark grey hair framed a face that wore an annoyed expression. "What is all this bellowing about? You are disturbing my guests. It is...unseemly."

Ahldblaet turned his severe gaze upon the new entrant. He was tall and exceptionally broad, a picture of strength in his youth, but his body had taken on a measure of fat in his older age and more sedentary work. Despite this, and his balding head of hair, his steely eyed expression still cowed many of the people he dealt with on a day to day basis. "It would seem, wife, that the enormous investment we have paid into those mercenaries we dispatched to Eorzea may have finally borne fruit. This is a missive their leader sent me. After our last communication I told him, in no uncertain terms, not to contact me until he had something of note to report. Unless he has foolishly ignored my orders, this would mean he has something."

The woman was not cowed, having long becoming immune to her husband's glares. Impatiently she gestured to the envelope. "Well, open it then, you great oaf!  Maybe we will finally learn where our daughter vanished to!"

Ahldblaet tore the envelope and removed the missive inside. He began to read aloud, knowing from prior experience if he did not, his wife would snatch the paper from his hands mid-sentence. She was not a patient one.

"Masters Ahldblaet Fyrilberksyn and Lady Usynwyda Holaszirnwyn,

I am please to report that after much time and hard work on the part of the Emerald Marauders, we have located your wayward daughter. Furthermore, we have determined the reasoning as to why she evaded both us and every previous mercenary company your lordship sent to retrieve her

First, your daughter is no longer using her given name of Syhrwyda Ahldblaetwyn. Asking after that name yielded no results, aside from the merchants who recognized it only as pertaining to you. By sheer luck, we eventually stumbled across a Roegadyn language scholar who knew the translation of her first name and directed us to an adventurer known as 'Fearless Willow', one of the Warriors of Light.

I am hoping the story of the Warriors of Light does not require an explanation for your lordship, but I will remind you that these people are slayers of godlike beings who regularly enslave the minds of mortals around them, have engaged massive numbers of Garlean soldiers and magitek armor, defeated Imperial Legatuses in single combat (including the Crown Prince), and decisively ended a thousand-year war between a dragon horde and the nation of Ishgard.

From there, we set out to determine if this woman and your daughter are one and the same. It is well known that one of the Warriors of Light is in fact a Roegadyn woman, but we needed to be certain. Adventurers are often well traveled and thanks to the Aetheryte network, difficult to track. Your descriptions were also primarily of the physical sort, which did not help, as appearances are easy enough to change.

We caught a break in speaking to one of the mercenary crews you'd previously hired. Many of them had been either entirely wiped or or reduced in numbers to the degree that they'd disbanded. What few remained refused to speak with us once it became clear who we were tracking. One particular mercenary of an Ala Mhigan band (known as the Graybear Den, which if you recall abruptly returned your payment and refused the contract) however, let slip some valuable information after our agents plied him with enough drink. Once he realized who we were speaking of, he grew agitated and swore he would never help us find 'the Warrior o' Light". It would seem the Graybears believe they owed a measure of loyalty to the Warriors of LIght for their instrumental parts in liberating their homeland.

It was, however, enough. Once we determined that your daughter and this Warrior of Light were in fact one and the same, we began looking for ways to isolate her and take her prisoner. Unfortunately this has proven extremely difficult. As they are involved in affairs that affect the entirety of the star, the Warriors of Light are often on the move, moreso than normal adventurers. Furthermore, as I have mentioned, they are peerless warriors, often in each other's company or those of their fellow Scions of the Seventh Dawn. If you don't know the order, suffice to say they are Warriors and Scholars both who labor on behalf of all peoples to defend the world against tyranny and false gods. They are exceptionally successful in this regard. The Scions often meet and collaborate with the leaders of various powers on this continent, who are often accompanied by their own soldiers or bodyguards.

We have remained patient however, and managed to catch a glimpse of her. As I mentioned was likely, she has extensively changed her appearance. Her hair is now of a longer cut and nearly all black, with only highlights of the teal you had mentioned remaining. She has also taken to wearing dark makeup.

We have also determined that unlike her fellow Warriors of Light, she does not dwell in the Scion's headquarters. Instead, she has taken to living in the Hingashi port city of Kugane, where she has a modest home in the district of the city reserved for foreigners.

Finally, and you may wish to brace her ladyship for this part, she does not live there alone. Our spies have reported that her home is occupied by two other women, and their observations of them interacting within the city indicates that the three of them are lovers

We believe that this is our best shot at capturing her, but the price for her return to you has just doubled.

You are doubtless shaking with rage, but you hired us to retrieve a woman that you led us to believe would provide minimal resistance. Even isolated from the other Scions in Kugane, we believe we will face extreme resistance in this job. For starters, your daughter has mastered several forms of combat, including the ways of the Hingashi samurai, the axe-masters of Abalathia's Spine, and the art of thaumaturgy. She is also known to wield the Sharlayan art of Astrology, and has mastered a form of dance from Radz-at-Han that wields circular blades with deadly precision.

Furthermore, Fearless Willow is a known and loved name within the borders of Kugane, despite being a foreigner in a city that remains neutral to all concerns beyond their borders. She was instrumental in aiding their geomancers in repelling an attack from a fox-like beast known as 'Kinko' and she also trained alongside the Sekiseigumi (the samurai order that enforces the laws of the city, brutally so) and helped them put down a rebellion from within their own ranks. One of her lovers is a high ranking member of the Sekiseigumi. The other is a member of her dance troupe who is on an extended tour in the city. She is every bit as deadly in the art as Fearless is.

The point is that, even isolated from the other Scions, many people will rush to her aid. We expect heavy resistance and significant losses. The original reward will not suffice to cover this.

We will not move forward with this operation until we have your confirmation of acceptance of the new price. And we suggest you hurry, as events brewing suggest your daughter will soon be called back to the fight, at which point it is impossible to tell when we will have another opportunity

Cmdr Guji Pokiji Chief Executive, Emerald Marauders  

Ahldblaet set the letter on his desk, shaking with rage as he looked to his wife."How DARE that miniscule INSECT think to extort us?? A Warrior of Light, indeed. As if our useless fool of a daughter has the brains to take on even one sort of combat discipline, much less five! How gullible does he THINK us to be?"

Usynwyda nodded, a disgusted sneer on her face. "The NERVE of her, to merely toss aside the name we chose for her, only to refer to herself in the....ugh...common tongue! Still, the name cannot be a coincidence. Whatever other lies that little gnat undoubtedly told, this is the best lead we have had on Syhrwyda since she ran away."

"It is. And if they are not all lies, then it is all the more imperative we retrieve her before word of any of this gets out among our enemies. The very idea that she would toss aside the husband we painstakingly chose for her after careful selection and delicate negotiation in favor of laying with another woman, much less two! I worried she would do stupid things, but this level of degeneracy, of abberance? It is unconscionable!"

Usynwyda shuddered. "We cannot let this get out. I can never face any of the ladies if they should learn my daughter has become no better than some...common whore. We must marry her off to the Greinmyrgan boy with all haste before she does any further damage to us, to the company."

Ahldblaet scribbled furiously. "I am already writing orders to have our ship made ready and for our elite guards to prepare for a journey. We will find her and we end this nonsense."

Far away, in Kugane, the Warrior of Light known as Fearless Willow shuddered as she prepared to fall asleep. She had no ping from the Echo, no signal from her finely honed danger sense to explain it, but she definitely felt as if trouble was heading her way, and no idea what it might be.

[all1e23]

Honey & Whiskey [Pt.1]

Pairings: Alpha!Billy Russo x Omega! Reader

Summary:   Falling was sweeter than honey and warm as whiskey.

Warnings: None for this chapter. Typical A/B/O dynamics.

A/N:  I know I am your dealer for soft Bucky but I’m trying out some new product. Soft Billy Russo. Just take a little taste. I promise It’s worth it. This is largely a self-indulgent fic and also for my beautiful beta @moonbeambucky​​. If you like it write me a book report, sing me a song or come scream at me.

***My fics are not to be saved or posted on any other sites without my written permission. Reblogs are my jam, though! Thanks!****

You heard his car in the driveway before you caught the sound of the front door. This probably wasn’t the way to handle something like this. Prominent families didn’t behave like this. They didn’t cause a scene, and they certainly didn’t question a match this good. It was hard enough to find an Alpha that came from a good family, but one who wasn’t a complete knothead and genuinely cared for you? That was next to impossible. You managed to find that one in a million, and here you were pulling a stunt like this.

When you were a little girl, you read stories about the princess finding her prince, being saved from the tower, and living happily ever after in a big castle. So, you waited for your very own to come. You waited and waited by your window, but your prince never showed. You stayed locked in your tower with no sign of a savior. As you became older, you realized you didn’t want to be rescued, taken from one dungeon, and moved to another. You could take care of yourself without an Alpha there to defend your heart and fight the evil queen on your behalf.

Turned out you could handle her on all on your own.

Then you met James one evening at a friend’s wedding. He was sweet. Dark hair, blue eyes, and a charming crooked smile. He offered to buy you a drink and didn’t flinch when you reciprocated with the second. It was easy with James right from the start, and your parents were thrilled. They were simply over the moon. He came from a long line of senators, and his family were members at the club where your father plays golf. Everything was perfect. It was all working out the way it was supposed to, and in one short week, you would be married and bonded to James.

In the two years you’ve spent together, James has done everything he could to make you happy, not once has he abused his authority over you or made you feel as if you were less than him as his Omega. James has never given you a reason to fear him. Everything on the surface was perfect, but if you looked close, the cracks were easy to spot. Your heart had never had cause to race when he was near, and you never did learn what it would feel like to go weak from his touch.

It was doubtful you would ever know what it would be like to tremble from the brush of your Alpha’s fingertips. The odds you would find that love in this lifetime were slim, but if you stayed where you were, there would be no chance.

“Uh, Y/n…’ James stopped in the doorway to your shared bedroom and looked fairly amused, albeit confused by your attire. “What’s going on? Isn’t this bad luck?”

You glanced down at your wedding dress and grimaced. It wasn’t that the dress wasn’t beautiful, it was. It wasn’t you, though. It was huge for starters. Your mother had insisted this was the one from the moment it graced your frame. The skirt was so large you weren’t sure you would make it into the limo Saturday morning, and the bodice and lace sleeves were covered in so many crystals it felt like you were carrying an extra thirty pounds of glitter. This wasn’t the dress you pictured when you spent your days playing princesses in your bedroom, and all of this felt wrong.

You looked back up at your fiance, who was by your side in an instant when he saw fresh tears falling down your cheeks. James quickly wiped them away with only his thumbs. No tender kisses brushed them away, his touch was gentle but not in a way that soothed the restlessness in your soul.

“Do you feel something seeing me in this? I mean, really feel something? Because I don’t feel anything when I put it on. I’ve been trying so hard to feel something, anything but... I don't."

James tossed his keys on the dresser and stuffed his hands in his pockets now that he realized what this was. It wasn’t a simple case of cold feet or some cute moment you were going to bring up at the rehearsal for a quick laugh during toasts. He didn’t look mad, he was disconcerted, and you couldn’t blame him for that.

You didn’t fully understand why yourself, so you couldn’t expect him to.

“Okay. What is this, baby? What’s going on?”

As good and kind as James was, it wasn’t there.

“I’m not in love, and I don’t think you are either.”

The confirmation you needed flashed in his eyes. He didn’t feel it either. You stepped forward and held your hands out for his. James placed his hands in your hands without any hesitation, his fingers tightened around yours the longer the silence stretched between you. He closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and when his eyes opened again, there was something different about them. They were filled with acceptance and a little bit of relief you knew he wouldn’t want you to see.

“I do love you, and I would take care of you,” James offered as if he was giving you one last opportunity to change your mind. One more chance to do the right thing.

You kissed his cheek and pulled your hand back from his hold, leaving the three-carat oval cut diamond resting in his palm. People lived that lie every day. Your parents, James’s parents, and you wouldn’t be surprised to find out it was the foundation on which most of the marriages you knew were born. Its prevalence among your social status was hefty and typical, but that wouldn’t be fair to either of you.

It wasn't a lie you could spend the rest of your life telling.

“I know, but I want more than that. I want to feel it.”

-----------

“Okay, May. I am out of here,” You chirped. It had been a long, exhausting day. You worked a double shift after one of the other waitresses, an Omega, called out claiming she was in heat, but this was her third heat in four months. It was entirely possible that she was being truthful and not using her designation to get extra days off so she could play house with that Beta she’s been dating since Halloween. Maybe she was a medical marvel, and her heats really did come three times as often as every other Omega on the planet.

All you knew for certain? Your bed was calling your name, and you could not wait to get out of this diner.

“The rush seems to have died down, and I am dead on my feet, so I’m leaving before we get the late dinner crowd, and you beg me to stay.”

“Yeah, yeah. Always complaining,” May teased with a grin and a motherly gleam in her eye. “Take your cut from the tips, and then I want you to eat and get some sleep. You can come in for the dinner shift tomorrow.”

“You gonna clear that with Roger?”

May rolled her eyes at the mention of your boss; Alpha and every bit the knothead prick.

“I’ll deal with him. Don’t you worry about it.”

"Hey, Y/n.” You glanced at Karen, who had a taunting smirk making her pale cheeks flush, she was pointing to the far back of the diner with her order pad, and she mocked with a teasing grin, “Look who it is! Your boy arrived just in time to see you off."

Your eyes followed her bright purple pen, and your knees went weak the moment you laid eyes on him. You didn’t know he was coming tonight. It’s been four days since you last saw his pretty face (not that you were counting or anything!), and you hadn’t realized how much you missed him until that moment. The handsome, dark-haired Alpha was sitting at one of your usual tables and looked uneasy, his leg was bouncing up and down at a vigorous pace, his dark blue hoodie pulled up over his head, and he was wringing his hands together as he scanned the small diner for you -- what you hoped was for you anyway.

"Don't get any ideas about that, Alpha." May Parker huffed.

The older Omega was a little cynical from the cards life had dealt her, and from the second you showed up looking for a job, she took it upon herself to look after you the way a mother would. It wasn't as if your mother had any interest in your life at the moment, not after you embarrassed her and left a black smear on your family’s name. A mark didn’t suffice for the choices you made. Your actions affected everyone in the family, bled onto the very fabric your ancestors stitched together, and made a tear that thread and needle could never mend. Apparently, you should have married even though you weren’t in love and simply found a way to fall in love with James after vows and rings were exchanged.

At least May understood your choice, and you couldn’t blame her for the fire in her eyes and the ice in her touch when it comes to Alphas; life had not been kind to her. Despite losing her true mate at a young age, only to end up with a sad stand-in for the man she lost. He abused his designation and using it to control her and her son. It took years to rid herself of him, but she built a nice life without him. She obtained assistance from an Omega Shelter, went through therapy to break their bond, and even bought a place of her own. Even after all the good that has come over the last seven years, the clouded memories have left her jaded and wary.

"You need to find someone that will take care of you, and he's not it. You stay away from Billy Russo, you hear me? He's not a good Alpha. I’ve known him longer than you have.”

That was true. You’ve only been in the city for eight months and working at Sunrise Diner for seven. Billy was a customer long before you came around, but according to Karen, he would pick up an order to go, barely spoke to anyone, and never tried to get a table. May didn’t know him any better than you did. It wasn’t as if they had some long-standing relationship or history. You were grateful for the advice, but you could make your own judgments.

You’ve let someone else be your eyes and voice for far too long, and you weren’t about to allow yourself to repeat past mistakes.

Billy finally found you standing behind the counter, and the second your eyes locked his own lit up, his legs settled, and the smile on his face just about knocked you over. Your smile widened as you stared at each other for what felt like ages.

"Y/n, are you listening to me?” May snapped her fingers in front of your face, forcing your eyes to focus on her.  “He's trouble. Ex-marine with more issues than one person can handle."

You tossed your apron under the register in the black bin that held all the dirty smocks for the night. You glanced at your reflection in the silver napkin holder, resting in the order window and swore under your breath. Your hair’s frayed and sticking out every which way, and your lip gloss faded the first hour into your shift. It was too late to do anything about that now. Not with May watching your every move and Billy sitting so close, his eyes trained on you now that he found you.

Having Billy watch you fix your lipstick because he came in would be an embarrassment you wouldn’t survive.

"That's why he should have someone he can lean on. We are friends. I have a feeling he needs someone that won’t judge him for a past he can’t change.”

"Trouble,” May huffed. “You're asking for trouble."

You practically skipped over to the table Billy sat at. Same one as always. The booth at the far back of the bright restaurant where he had a view of the bathrooms and the front door. He always sat with his back against the wall, and every few minutes, his eyes wandered over to the exit door on his right. You didn’t know what happened, but you knew it was enough to keep him on edge at all times.

"Hey, Stranger."

Billy's near-black eyes looked brighter now that you’re near, and he gave you that toothy grin that made your stomach flip.

"Hey, sunshine.”

Sunshine.

Billy has called you that from the moment you met, you weren’t sure why, but it made your heart race every time it rolled off his tongue. You have to admit you didn’t hate the feeling.

"You haven't been in for a few days. I was starting to think the mac and cheese scared you off."

That wasn’t really true. Though, you did question the state of the mac and cheese on a regular basis. The way the noodles all stuck together in that round ball wasn’t natural. This was more about you than sticky elbow pasta goop. You were slightly worried that he may have started seeing an Omega and would no longer be coming by for these late-night visits. Not that it was any of your business. It’s not as if you’re bonded or even potential mates. You haven’t spent a moment with  Billy outside this diner. You had not an ounce of claim on him, and you certainly didn’t have a say in who he spent his days with -- or his nights.

Billy let his hood fall back, and he ran a hand over his buzzed hair. His scars were no longer as angry and red as they were when he first came in on that rainy Tuesday afternoon seven months ago. You can still recite every word he said to you that day like some silly school girl daydreaming about the cute boy in study hall. Some nights you did just that, on evenings when he didn’t come by or stayed far too late and left your heart aching for another ten minutes.

Scars or no, he was still the most handsome Alpha you had ever seen.  

"Yeah, I'm sorry about that. I, uh, it's been a tough few days is all, and I haven't had a second to come in."

You eyed him for a long minute, and you realized what he meant by a tough few days. More like it smacked you right in the face -- rut.

Did he share his rut with someone?

No. No, probably not.

Billy didn’t seem to give his trust freely, so you doubted he called a Service Center to help him through his rut. That didn't mean he didn't have an Omega in his life, one he trusted enough to share it with. It shouldn’t matter if he did, so why did you want to know so badly? It would be easier if you could simply scent him to find out. That’s what you wanted to do. You were aching to scent him right there in the middle of the damn diner in front of Karen, May, and anyone else that wanted to stare. You wanted to be sure there wasn’t a hint of another Omega anywhere near him, maybe leave a little bit of you on him.

What the hell was wrong with you?

You’ve never been this possessive before. Even with James, you never cared if he came home smelling like another Omega. Hell, you never gave it a thought. Billy wasn’t yours, and you needed to remember that.

"I’m glad you’re back. I missed you."

Billy tried to fight off his grin. He tried hard, but it still showed up brightly enough to make you simper. He must have liked that because his scent sweetened, and it was so thick it had your knees shaking. You stood up as straight as you could and locked your knees. Letting your legs give out over some handsome Alpha like a stereotypical Omega would be a shame you could never come back from.

"Is that right?" Billy drawled, smirking as he took in the tremble in your knees and the honey sugaring your scent.

"Yeah, you're my favorite customer,” you answered with a slight shrug. Billy chuckled and ducked his head to hide the pink spreading from his cheeks down his neck, but you caught the rosy hue regardless.

"Favorite." He recited the word as if he didn't like the way it tasted on his tongue like he was confused as to why you would use that word in association with him.

"Without question,” you assured him.

The hesitation in his eyes and confusion had your heart breaking. Someone along the way, recently or long ago, made him feel as though he wasn’t worthy of being someone’s favorite, of being that important to someone. The thought made your gut clench in the worst way. Billy was more than deserving of that title.

"So, I'm about to get off. My shift actually ended about ten minutes ago. Well, technically, my shift ended at two, not eight, but one of the girls is out making medical history, so here I am."

"Oh,” Billy murmured. He was disappointed, that was plain to see. The light in Billy’s eyes instantly faded, and he began to slide out of the booth. You had a feeling if he left now, he would end up picking tacos off the dollar menu at some fast-food chain, eating all alone back at his place. You couldn’t have that now, could you? Besides, friends have dinner together all the time. Isn’t that what Karen told you every time she had dinner with Frank?

Yes, friends could have dinner together, and it didn’t have to mean more than noodles and cheese.

”I can- I'll go eat somewhere else. I don’t want to keep you if you’re going home.”  

You rested your hand on his shoulder to keep him from sliding out past you and shook your head, still smiling down at him. "Oh, no, you don’t. Unless you want to leave, of course. Food here isn't great."

Billy looked up at you, and his eyes have gone dark again, but it wasn’t in the way you liked. He was struggling to figure out what he wanted to say. You could see the moment Billy gave in to whatever it was, he was wrestling with and confessed, “I don't come here for the food.”

Your heart was pounding so hard you swore you could hear it in your ears. No doubt, Billy could pick it up in your scent. You never considered buying suppressants until you met Billy Russo. Then again, there were a lot of things you never considered until you met him. You blew out a shaky breath, and your words came out in as a stuttering mess, "Then… w-why do you come h-here?"

Billy held your gaze but didn’t elaborate further. It was probably for the best. If he had said what you thought could be the reason you might have melted right there at his feet and would have been forced to quit your job citing irremediable humiliation.

"Okay, um, well, I maybe thought I could eat with you? I haven't eaten since this morning, and I've been working all day, so I’m starving."

Billy frowned at that, and he quickly pressed for more, "You haven't eaten all day? So, that means you worked all day without taking a break?”

"Yeah, it happens. Some days it's really busy, and I don't get a second. Roger, our boss, he’s not great at following labor laws. If things get busy like they were today, there is no way he’s letting me take a break.”

If it was possible, Billy’s eyes blackened, and his normal candied scent turned sour. It was a subtle change to the whiskey and brown sugar scent you’ve come to know. He wasn’t on blockers, nor were you, it made his feelings easy to read. You weren’t sure he liked that fact at the moment. The scrunch of his nose and the wrinkle in his brow said he was trying to control his feelings to keep them hidden from you, or maybe he was attempting to understand whatever feeling was jumbled in his head.

“I don’t-- I don’t like that. You should be getting breaks so you can eat. You have to eat.”

You didn’t like it either, but there was little you could do. You had no way to prove that Roger refused to let you take breaks, and it wasn’t like he said he would fire you if you went on break. It only was heavily implied, and he knew when to use an Alpha command, with the tiniest drop in his voice, he had Omegas scampering to do as he wished. Thankfully, you have yet to be on the receiving end, and you had no intention of experiencing it. You needed this job whether or not Billy approved of your break schedule. You couldn’t do anything about Roger or your schedule, but you might be able to fix Billy’s spoiled mood and catch another glimpse of his pretty smile.

"How about you feed me then?" You suggested with a grin.

Billy’s frown quickly faded into a crooked smirk, a gentle chuckle followed, and everything turned sweeter. Whenever Billy was smiling, there was a little more sugar and a little less whiskey floating nearby, and it often left your head spinning for days after. You’ve never been one to fall for a sugar rush over a whiskey high -- until now.

"Okay, Sunshine. I can do that. Do you want to eat here or somewhere else?"

"Where are you most comfortable?"

"Where am I most comfortable…” Billy repeated the question, brows furrowed in thought, and he responded without thinking, “I’m most comfortable when I’m with you."

Billy quickly realized that was not what you meant when he looked up to see your eyes widen.  He cleared his throat and sat up straighter as he tacked on an addendum, hoping you would ignore his first admission. "Nowhere that’s loud. Or, um, crowded. I’m not great in large rowdy groups. I need a place I can sit like this. My back against the wall and know my exits."

You knew that already and now you were mad at yourself for making him admit it out loud, but you had to confess not all of his revelation sounded so bad.

"I'll tell you what I live right around the corner. How about you come over, and I'll make you dinner?"

Inviting an Alpha you barely knew back to your place wasn’t the smartest thing you’ve done. Everyone knows, Omegas at least, you never tell an Alpha your address until you’re courting, and you know what kind you’re dealing with. You couldn’t explain why but your heart and your head were telling you to trust him and when they agree on something you listen.

“You want me to come back to your apartment?”

Billy seemed to be questioning your judgment, but nothing felt wrong about having Billy in your home.

“Only if it will make you feel more comfortable. If not, I know a pizza place a few blocks away, but we will have to catch a cab.”

You truly didn’t mind either way as long as Billy was comfortable. He took a few thoughtful seconds before he nodded. “Your place is okay. If you’re sure, you want me to know where you live.”

You grinned and stepped back so he could stand. “Let me grab my purse, and I’ll meet you by the door, okay?”

Billy didn’t have a chance to answer because you were bounding off towards the counter and the group of nosy Omegas watching you both with interest. Billy stuffed his hands in the pockets of his hoodie, watching you share a few hushed whispers with the older woman behind the register.

“You’re leaving together? Y/n, this is not a good idea. Why can’t you stay here together where we keep an eye on you? It would be safer that way.”

“I said I’m fine. I don’t need you to look after me just because I’m an Omega. I can handle myself, and I can handle Billy.”

“He’s not what you think. I only want you to be careful.”  

You jerked your jacket out from under the counter and slipped your arms into the black puffy arms. You were already done with this. She didn’t know Billy any better than you did. Maybe she saw some things, or he came off like a typical asshole Alpha once when they first met, but the only conversation they have had revolved around grilled cheese sandwiches and you. You stopped in front of May, and you couldn’t keep the ice out of your voice even if you had wanted to. “Did you ever stop to think that maybe he’s not what you think? I’ll see you tomorrow. Have a good night, May.”

Billy glanced over your shoulder and back at you as you approached. “Everything alright over there?”

“Oh, you know.” You shrugged as you stepped out the door Billy was holding open for you. “Co-worker drama.”

There were tiny bits of moonlight shining down on the sidewalk next to you. It was awkward at first. This wasn’t your normal dynamic. Billy came in and ordered the same grilled cheese and fries every night; not that you could blame him for that, it was probably the only edible thing on the menu. You would make some cute comment about melted cheese and Billy would give you that smile that set skin on fire, he left a tip that was always triple the cost of the tiny sandwich and promised to see you real soon. You knew the risks that came with what you were doing. You are breaking the first rule they teach you in Orientation class, but you didn’t care, and it didn’t scare you.

Billy didn’t scare you.

“You know you really shouldn’t invite Alphas you don’t know back to your apartment. It’s not safe. I could be anyone. I could be some asshole Alpha using that sweetness in your heart to take advantage of you.”

Maybe that was the thing that should scare you -- your blind trust for an Alpha you barely knew.

“No, you’re not, Billy.”

“Yeah? How do you know that, Sunshine?”

Billy was teasing you, the mile-wide grin on his face told you so. You shook your head and matched his smile. The answer was pretty simple, really. It was the one thing missing with James. You felt the tension in your shoulders lift, and you told him the only thing about tonight that mattered.  

“I can feel it.”

Masterlist // Part 2

[commander-rahrah]

RESIDENCY: SECOND CHANCES (AN OPEN HEART FIC): PART FOUR

Pairing: MC (Jordynne Holland) X Ethan Ramsey X Bryce Lahela; MC X Bryce; MC X Ethan. Please note that both pairings are present in this fan fiction — off & on, at the same times, and the relationships do ebb & flow. Please keep this in mind. Thank you.

Masterlist: Click Here

Chapter Rating: T

Word Count: 3940+

Description:  Everybody’s first day back at Edenbrook. Is this second year everything they will need it to be?

Disclaimer: Characters, storyline, and parts of the dialogue are taken from Pixelberry’s Choices. They fully own the characters, dialogue, backgrounds, etc. MC Jordynne’s background is my own creation, based loosely off of MC in-game’s personality and provided with more details.

Author’s Note: Ha. Soooo, its been a while. A long while. Many factors went into delaying updating this fic. First of all -- the pandemic. I am an essential worker. I am tired, and stressed. Yes, still. I am tired. I wake up, drive, work, drive, home, eat, sleep. That’s it. My freetime, creativity. mental health, etc. has been at an all time low. Second of all -- life. Soooo much has happened for my little family. My partner and I bought our first home and rescued our absolutely gorgeous puppy from a rescue shelter. It can be a bit hard to find time to write between putting your entire life into boxes, not having any furniture for 3 months and chasing after a puppy. Third -- I honestly felt like I lost my touch with my characters after reading Open Heart 2. The hiatus was understandable but long. There were chapters that were amazing, and heartbreaking and made me feel like I was soooo excited to write them. And then... by the end of Book 2... I felt lost? My favorite characters voices seem muffled. And I wasn’t sure how I was going to keep going. Do I ignore scenes/rewrite them? Would that compromise the premise of my fic? Being a fic that is in addition to the original PB story? I’m still a little lost if I am completely honest. Fourth -- general posting anxiety. Which I try so hard to avoid, and not think of. But comparison games, lack of notes and activity can get to you when you open yourself creatively online. 

But messages of encouragement and inquiries into the next update helped! And I thank everyone who checked in on the fic and on me to see what was going on ♡♡♡ Honestly, I felt like I had no time to write, and even if I did I wasn’t motivated or inspired enough to do it. Tonight, I felt good. The news of OH3 was a bit of a kick starter for me I won’t lie. But I want to get back into these character’s heads -- I want to figure out the god damn mess that Jordynne has made for herself with Ethan and Bryce!! 

As always any likes, reblogs and comments are very appreciated. If you would like to be added/removed from the tag list please just let me know! It has been a long time since the fic updated so please let me know if you no longer want to be tagged or want to be tagged. 

Taglist: @drakewalkerfantasy​ @owleyes-374​ @lahelable​ @mayah-mahdy @paisleylovergirl​ @nicquix​ @emilymay100​ @octobereighth​ @llamasgrl​ @timmagicktoad​ @lilyofchoices @msjpuddleduck​ @mfackenthal​ @paulfwesley​ @ccolz88-blog​ @mindlessdreaminxo @jooous​ @lapisreviewsstuff​ @choicesarehard​ @themingdynasty​ @omgjasminesimone​ @hopelessly-shipper​ @binny1985​ @perriewinklenerdie​ @jens-diamondchoices​ @indiacater​ @chasingrobbie​ @writingsbymissy @dimitriwife​ @tacohead13​ @amy-choices @mrsmatsuo @checkurwindow​ @imrookieramsey​ @bitchloveskcbaseball​ @mrs-ramsey​

Previous Updates: Residency — Part One Part Two Part Three Part Four Part Five Part Six Part Seven Part Eight Part Nine Part Ten Part Eleven Part Twelve Part Thirteen Part Fourteen Part Fifteen Part Sixteen Part Seventeen Part Eighteen Part Nineteen

Residency: Second Chances – Part One Part Two Part Three

Bryce stood near the entrance to Edenbrook — shuffling from one foot to another. Both hands were wrapped around paper coffee cups — one of which he took a careful sip of. 

So he had stopped to get her a latte from her favorite café. He knew she would probably be in a huge rush to get to work early and wouldn’t stop to get one. He wanted her day to start off right. At least he hadn’t shown up to the apartment.

Well, the thought had crossed his mind but he had quickly pushed it away. This was about being her friend. He just wanted Jordynne to have a good first day.

His dark eyes kept flicking towards the subway stairs, waiting patiently for that familiar blonde head to come bobbing up. Placing one of the cups on top of the other, he balanced them carefully as he dug into his jeans pocket for his phone. Maybe she had texted — 

“Oh Bryce — hey!” His ears perked up at the voice, and was met with a warm smile. The smile that occupied his waking dreams. He liked being the reason for that smile. 

“Hey Jordy!” God, why did he sound so breathless.

“Happy first day as a resident!” He shoved his phone back into his pocket, before grabbing onto her latte and extending it out, “I thought you should be extra caffeinated for your day, so I got you...” But his voice trailed off as he realized she was already clutching a travel mug to her chest. “Oh you already got one.”

“Uh, yeah,” Her smile turned sheepish, “I had the exact same thought process as you actually.” 

“Heh—,” he chuckled, “I guess I know you pretty well.” 

Her green eyes flashed with a look he couldn’t quite read, “Guess you do.” “Well, do you want it still...?” He held out the lukewarm latte again, unsure what to do with it. 

“Hey, I’m still Jordynne Holland. When have I ever denied extra caffeine?” Bryce’s white teeth bit his lip as they stretched into a smile. He handed her the cup — their fingers grazing slightly. 

“Thanks.” 

They fell into step behind the other roommates, trailing into the hospital. As they walked together, Bryce suddenly struggled to find what to say. He had never been one to stay quiet — usually he was the outspoken one. But now he just watched her grasp onto her two coffee cups tightly, her eyes low as she walked into Edenbrook. 

Once they made there way into the staff locker room, they separated to their own lockers. He watched out of the corner of his eye as she carefully sat her two drinks down, before grabbing her white coat. She slipped it on effortlessly, before wrapping her stethoscope around her neck. Flipping her blonde ponytail out, she turned to speak with Sienna — her voice to low for him to hear.

Jordynne looked amazing — her lean legs and hips wrapped in a deep green skirt that showed off just enough that it was both sexy and tasteful. Her high necked pale blouse brought out her olive skin. She could be the woman on the front of the pamphlets they hand out to pre-med undergrads. She already was the doctor she was aspiring to be — and he knew she would fit in well with the Diagnostics team. He thought of Ramsey — his pressed trousers, and leather dress shoes. His watch that probably cost more then Bryce’s car. Grinding his molars, he looked down at the wrinkles trousers and Nikes in his hands. Peeling his shirt off he tossed it gently into his locker, letting out a sigh.

But he quickly masked it as Jordynne went to leave the locker room. “Hey,” He caught her attention before she went to leave, “You’re gonna kill it, Holland.” 

“Thanks Lahela,” She gave him that smile again. The one that made everything flutter. 

“I’ll save you a seat at lunch?”

“Oh—“ Her eyebrows furrowed slightly in the middle, “I’m not sure how my day will look with the team... I’ll play it by ear?” She offered, looking a little guilty. 

“Yeah— yeah of course...” His voice sounded a little strained. “We’ll catch you later.” 

She nodded at him, pushing her hands into her pockets, “Okay, yeah. See you guys in the atrium,” She called out over her shoulder, her blonde ponytail swinging as she walked away. 

Bryce’s brown eyes flickered over to the rest of her roommates, who were all watching with slightly worried looks. It was starting to settle in. Maybe this second year, this second chance — was the beginning of everything changing. ________________________________________________________________ He had originally come up here to get accustomed to his new surroundings. Get a lay of the land. The board had spared no expense with the new wing expansion — and the Diagnostic team’s new office was no joke. 

Ethan was standing across the hall from the room — staring into the room through the glass walls. Everything inside was sleek, shiny and new. His hands were bunched up fists in the pockets of his trousers, and the tie around his neck felt a little tight. Had he forgotten what all of this was like while he was away?  

Thirty minutes he had stood there. 

Thirty. 

Standing there and imagining where he would sit at the table — discussing with the team, leading them to the right diagnosis. Researching at the desk, pouring over the hundred books that was supplied for them in there. 

But the picture in his head was fuzzy. Even in his imagination Ethan felt like something didn’t feel right. What was it? 

The team? No. Mirani and Hirata always did excellent work. He could rely on them.

Was it that Naveen was missing? So many of his biggest successes with the team was with Naveen. And he definitely felt his absence this past year. He had also never really adjusted to the idea of being the team lead for the department. It was thrust upon him, not once but twice. And both times he had been unprepared. Being a leader wasn’t exactly what he had always hoped for in his career.

Ethan’s thick brows were furrowed as he thought, the gears in his mind whirling. Why had he been staring at the office for thirty minutes? What was stopping him from going inside and just doing his damn work? That’s what he came back for — so what was his trepidation? 

The light flickering on in the diagnostic teams office brought him back to reality. The room was illuminated, the white light shining through the glass walls and spilling into the hall. 

There she was. 

Jordynne stood at the entrance of the office, her back facing him as she took it all in. She hadn’t notice him from across the large hallway. Ethan stepped back into the shadows — hoping she wouldn’t see him capturing the moment. A silent laugh escaped him as he watched her set not one, but two coffee cups down onto the table. His lips remained upturned as he watched her wander deeper into the room, running her fingers over the smooth surface of the whiteboard. She had a soft smile on her face as she looked around her. 

“Good morning Dr. Ramsey!”

Ethan almost hissed at the sound of the cheerful voice next time. Looking over he saw Dr. Baz Mirani standing next to him with a wide smile spread across his face. 

“Morning,” He grumbled, looking back to his view of the diagnostics office where Jordynne had started to settle in. 

“That’s Dr. Holland right?” Baz followed his line of sight, and watching her for a moment. “Are you going to head in?” The young doctor questioned, pushing his glasses further up the bridge of his nose. 

He cleared his throat, before shaking his head, “You go ahead.”

The young man didn’t think anything of it, and marched over into the office. Ethan could hear their muffled voices through the glass as they introduced each other.

He noticed the next person that came up to him — Dr. Hirata. She gave him a nod, before pausing for a moment and staring at him in the dark side of the corridor. He could tell she was calculating, attempting to deduce what was keeping him out of their new office. But her face remained neutral and she turned on her heel and headed into the room. 

Maybe there were too many variables for her to figure it out too. 

His blue eyes watched as the three colleagues got familiar with each other, shaking hands and pleasantries. Maybe this would be a perfect time to go in. He had missed the awkward introductions — the worst part was over. He just had to go into the room. 

Running his hands over his white coat, Ethan crossed the hall and stepped into the brand new office. 

“Introductions done?” He asked, his thick brows raised. He glanced over them quickly, not long enough to make any eye contact. “Great. We’ve got work to do.” The glass door behind him gently hissed as it closed — leaving them all in the office together. 

Ok. First step done.

“We have an incoming patient from Manhattan Presbyterian.” The trio slid apart to make room for him as he marched to the board, pining up an abdominal CT scan. 

Jordynne, June and Baz grabbed a spot at the circular wooden table in the middle of the room. 

“Can you describe the patient?”

“Male, aged 45. Asian American.” He watched as Jordynne took out her trusty little black notebook, and started jotting down notes. 

“Symptoms?” 

“He presented with a fever, vomiting and diarrhea, and was treated for the flu. He returned several days later with enlarged lymph nodes, abdominal pain, and a rash on his shoulder.” Grabbing onto a black marker, he started to write the known symptoms down on the white board. With his back turned to the group for a moment, he let the corners of his lips turn up for a split second. This felt good. “What did his former doctors think it was?” 

“Hodgkin lymphoma.” He made sure he kept his face neutral -- to not give any answers away. 

June scoffed, “Amateurs. And his blood?” 

He almost laughed.

As the conversation started to amp up, Ethan slipped back into his role on the diagnostics team easier then he had imagined. Bouncing off of each other during the differential — he had missed this. 

Then he realized Jordynne hadn’t said anything. She was sitting in her chair, looking slightly awestruck. But she was still writing notes diligently and observing them going back and forth. 

“Six months ago, however, he was admitted for flu-like symptoms and a rash on his arm.” Ethan continued, drawing his eyes away from her and focusing back on the conversation. 

“That could be the key. Did they biopsy it?” Baz asked, eyebrows raised and face hopeful. 

He pursed his lips, “They didn’t.”

“Any history of dermatitis?” 

“Was he on any medication prior to being admitted?” 

June and Baz asked one after the other, going through their mental lists. “No and no.” 

“It could be cutaneous Kikuchi disease.” Hirata suggested. But she didn't do suggestions -- she diagnosed. 

Interesting.  

June had gotten there first. But she was always like that. It was a race for her.  

“The symptoms do add up.” Dr. Mirani nodded, giving his colleague a look of approval. 

“I agree.” 

There was a knock on the door, and they looked up to see Danny on the other side of the glass. Ethan waved him in where he announced the patient's arrival at Edenbrook.

“Excellent. Dr. Holland,” He spoke directly to her for the first time that morning —holding his breath as he waited for her reaction. But her face remained neutral, looking up at him through her lashes as she waited for him to finish, “Run a biopsy on the patient’s rash. If we’re correct, we’ll begin the patient on a treatment of nonsteroidal anti-inflammatories and prednisone.” 

He noticed her swallow for a moment, listening to her instructions. “And if we’re wrong?” 

“We’ll re-evaluate.” 

“But we won’t need to,” June said confidently, leaning across the table at Jordynne with a wink. 

“Team dismissed. I’ll page you if I need you again today.” He turned around, going back to the white board to add their final notes and treatment plan. 

Out of his peripheral vision he saw Baz put a gentle hand on Jordynne’s shoulder. He lowered his head to speak in her softly, “I made the same face my first few days on the team. You’ll get used to it.”  

Ethan crossed over to his desk to find the patient's file. Rummaging in his pockets, he found his glasses and slid them on. Without looking up from his file, he spoke to Jordynne who had remained in the room, “After you’re done with our patient, you can see Ines and Zaid for further assignments. You’ll be balancing your work here with your usual resident duties. Now that you’re in your second year, that will include rotations at the free clinic.” 

“Yes, Dr. Ramsey.” Her voice was so professional, so trained. He had never heard her sound like that. It was like she had practiced.

He heard the sound of her crossing the room, and stepping towards the door. But then she hesitated. “Will we always diagnose a patient without seeing them?” She asked. 

“No, but we’re often asked for help by other hospitals all over the country, so it’s a good habit to keep our blind diagnosis skills sharp.” He finally looked up from his file, using his finger as a bookmark in it. But when he looked over to, his stomach flipped slightly as he found that her green eyes already staring at him.

He could see her hesitation, and maybe some nerves. She had just been thrown into the deep end -- and it seemed she was struggling to stay afloat. 

“Is everything alright, Jordynne?” 

He couldn’t help himself. Plus, it was his responsibility to ensure her success on the team now. It was apart of his job to check in on her.

“Actually...,” She made sure the glass door closed, before stepping further into the room, “Could we talk?” Her fingers were knotted together in front of her -- she looked nervous, and vulnerable. 

Ethan studied her for a moment, chewing the inside of his cheek, “About the job? Or about us?” 

Her eyebrows furrowed for a moment, like she was in pain. But it was for just for the smallest moment -- he had barely even caught it. “The job.”

Placing the file down, he pulled a chair from the center table out for her where they sat down together. He adjusted his glasses on the crook of his nose, before settling into his chair. “I’m all yours,” He said, folding his hands carefully on top of each other on the table as he waited for her to speak up.

“Dr. Ramsey...," A flicker of doubt crossed her face, before she opened her mouth, "How are you sure you made the right diagnosis?"

Grabbing the file in front of him, he pulled out the patient's previous charts and placed them in front of them. “In medicine, the most logical answer is usually the correct one. In this case, the most obvious answer was Hodgkin lymphoma.”

“But the other hospital had already eliminated Hodgkin lymphoma.” She finished for him. 

“Correct. Which allowed us to take it off the board and considered the next most logical answer.” He pointed back over his shoulder to the symptoms he had written on the board in his chicken scratch, “The patient had a persistent rash. Paired with the symptoms present, the most logical answer is Kikuchi disease." He met her eye easily across the table, before matching her vulnerability, "But as to how I’m so sure, I’m not. Which is why you’ll be running a biopsy. We need to trust in our diagnostic instincts, but the second we let arrogance overrule the results, we fail as doctors.” 

“So I should use logic... and be humble?” Her eyebrows were tugging in the middle as she processed his advice.  

“And read journals. I want you to turn yourself into a walking disease encyclopedia. You can’t diagnose the patient if you don’t study up. If the patients we saw had more common diseases... they’d never have been referred to us in the first place.” 

“Got it.” She nodded -- eyeing the bookshelves behind them that were filled with textbooks.

“So what did you think of the team?" He asked curiously, "It was the three of us under Naveen last year, until he put himself out to pasture.” 

A soft chuckle escaped her, “You mean became Chief of Medicine?”

He smiled at the sound, “Precisely.” 

“Well, we just met but I think I liked Baz.” Jordynne offered, pursing her lips.  

“He’s hard to dislike. Walking proof that genetics aren’t everything.” 

“When did he join the team?”

“A couple years ago, when Zaid began his residency. He sought a position here to be closer to his brother.” 

Her eyebrows raised in surprise, “Can’t believe Zaid would be okay with that.” 

“Supposedly, the old chief cleared it with Zaid before he approved the transfer. But I heard a rumor that it was Baz, dressed up pretending to be Zaid.” 

Her mouth fell open, “He wouldn’t!” 

He shrugged, a cheeky smile spreading across his face. “I don’t pay any mind to rumors.” 

She smirked back at him -- and he could feel the nervousness and ice melting between them. They could do this. 

Two colleagues conversing normally. This was fine. 

“So if I want to get on Baz’s good side, how do I go about that?” She leaned in a bit more towards him, putting her elbow on the table and resting her chin on her fist. 

Ethan thought for a moment before replying, “Baz is earnest to a fault. He respects authenticity more than anything so... as much as I despise saying anything so incredibly banal, my advice would be... “be yourself”,” He grimaced as the words left his mouth. 

“Oof—“ She chuckled, “That must have hurt to say aloud.” She knew him well. “That’s why you’ll never hear it again.” 

She let out another laugh, but this one sounded more sad. Then a sigh escaped her, and she started picking at her lip, “I thought I was so ready for this year. How do I feel like a clueless intern all over again?”

“Because you are clueless, relatively speaking.” 

She frowned, “Gee, thanks.”

His stomach dropped -- that's not what he meant. “It wasn't an insult," He scrambled to get out, "You get to spend the second year of your residency in a small room with over three decades of collective medical knowledge and experience. Learn from it. Be inspired to become a better doctor from it.” He looked up, and found her already looking at him again. His thick brows furrowed, “What is it?” 

“Oh uh... your glasses...," Her words trailed off as she looked at him, "They make you look smart.” She sounded a little breathless. 

He did his best to ignore how that made him feel, the blush that might have been creeping up on his cheeks. So he hid between cheek and tongue. “You’ve caught me. The illusion behind my status. Without these I’m a simpering moron.”

The pair was quiet for a beat, before bursting out laughing. As they laughed, she casually tapped his hand with hers. “Thank you,” She spoke again, but this time her voice was quiet. 

Her fingers had lingered on his hand, so she gave it a squeeze. They were cold on his warm skin.

Ethan's jaw set as he felt those familiar sparks. Jordynne...” His voice was a warning. It was only the first hour of their first day. 

“I know.” She said carefully, but she looked down at the table. 

“We’ll be okay. We’ll make it work.” 

He wasn’t sure who he was trying to convince. 

“Yeah,” She breathed out. 

He moved his thumb gently across her fingers, daring to give her just that smallest bit of comfort. But the sound of the glass door whooshing open caused him to rip his hand away. 

“Whoops! Forgot my pager! That could have been very bad!” Baz strolled back into the office -- oblivious to what he had just walked in on. 

Both Ethan and Jordynne bolted out of their chairs, stepping away from each other. 

“Hmm. Yes. It’s right over there on the table.” Ethan pointed before shoving his guilty hands into his lab coat.

“I’ll get those tests run.” Jordynne had moved to the door, her arms crossed over her chest and face flushing red with embarrassment. 

“Excellent. Thank you.” He said with a nod, watching as she turned on her heel and marched down the hallway. 

Why was nothing ever easy with Jordynne Holland? 

Would this year be any different? 

_______________________________________________________________

"Cholecystitis." Jordynne said as she finished adding it to the whiteboard in the diagnostics room. Her perfect block letters standing out drastically against Dr. Ramsey's messy scratch. "Inflamed gull bladder which explains the abdominal pain after eating. Which is entirely separate from Kikuchi disease."

She turned around, capping the pen with a confident smile. Esme was standing near the door, watching the scene unfurl with crossed arms. 

"I have to say, I'm not sure I would have spotted that." June spoke first -- looking mildly impressed. 

"Nice catch, Jordynne." Baz gave her a big smile. 

"Indeed. Especially since we had been diagnosing based on reports, not our own face-to-face interviews. Dr. Holland's specialty has always been listening to her patients. Well done." He gave her a nod, a smile threatening to show on his face. 

"It wasn't just me. Dr. Ortega assisted." She nodded to her intern at the door. She knew that drove Ethan crazy -- passing along credit to her colleagues. But Esme deserved it. 

"Hey," Esme nodded her head at the trio from the corner of the room, attempting a smile.

"So this is your intern?" Ramsey stepped forward, eyebrows raised. "Well, Dr. Ortega...," He sized her up for a moment, before moving his steely eyes over to Jordynne. "Dr. Holland's one of our best. Consider yourself lucky."

Jordynne felt warmth spread in her chest -- feeling proud of herself. High praise from Dr. Ramsey -- everything between them aside. 

"I do, Dr. Ramsey." 

"Keep me updated on his treatment." Ethan asked politely, before filing out of the room with the rest of the diagnostics team. 

"So I guess you're pretty good at this." Her intern looked at her with a little smirk. "You saw for yourself, I learned from the best. Edenbrook has some of the best doctors in America, and you'll learn from them all. And not just the attendings, but your fellow interns too. I wouldn't have made it through without my friends."

"You telling me to what... be more social?" Esme looked up at her -- her face filled with doubt.

She shrugged, the corners of her lips tugging up, "It can't hurt."

"It definitely can."

"Donahue's from the other night? That's where everyone goes. But first, let's get you back to your patients." Jordynne started to shuffle out of the office, but Esme's voice stopped her. 

"Right... Hey, Dr. Holland? Thanks for not bailing on me. Gotta say, that's a new one." She sounded genuine.

"Sure thing, Ortega. I got your back." 

This year could be different.

[pokeexehasstoppedworking]

Love Doesn’t Do Encores Ch4 The First Battle

You were alseep. Deeply fast asleep. Which is why when something violently shook you awake you snorted and sort of panicked sitting up as whoever was still shaking you kept going. For a moment you were back home. Back with your mother shaking you violently awake to get ready for school so you got up before she could scold you- but those conclusions were dashed out the window when the normal sight of Gloria came into your view. Your sobble had been spooked with a squeal and clambered onto the back of the couch in front from the rude awakening Gloria gave you both.

"Y/N!! WAKE UP!! Today's the big day!," she shouted in your ear which made you wake fully and blink at her.

"Gloria??....Wha-"

"Leon's supervising my first pokemon battle today! C'mon!! You don't want to miss it do you!?"

...OH! Right. The memories of last night came flooding back to you as you yawned and stretched out your body tiredly. So you were still here. Food smells wafted in from the kitchen and you were encouraged to get up more from that alone.

"Gloria!" The teen stopped and looked up towards the kitchen where the voice came from. You guessed Gloria's Mum must've been cooking breakfast for the two of you. "Now don't you go shaking her around like a ragdoll. If you want to do something, come in here and feed Munchy and your new pokemon. They're making a racket in here begging to be fed."

Gloria blinked. "Oh! Right!" Before running off towards the kitchen and it gave you time to wake up. Tiredly, you gathered your old bag and clothes and shuffled towards the bathroom. Sprucing yourself up and coming out in the clothes Gloria's mother had given you previously much more awake, but now with the added weight of the pokeball in your overalls' pocket. Must've been for your Sobble. Once you got back to sit back to the coach and sat down a plate of two pancakes covered in syurp and Gloria already eating a plate of the same thing was waiting for you. At her feet was your sobble and her scorbunny already eating more of that kibble stuff from their bowls. She waved a fork at you as you sat back down. "Hey! Mum left you breakfast. She wanted us to eat before we left anyways."

"Oh. That was nice of her." You smiled as you took the food from the small coffee table. "Where is she now?"

She pointed over her shoulder towards a door. "In the back garden with Munchlax. She wanted to finish planting some more lettace and try to see if she could catch the Bedew that likes to hang out around there."

Your mind went back to the bedew you saw when you first left Gloria's house and wondered if they were the same one for a moment. As you ate Gloria and the pokemon finished long before you did and by the time you did finish, the three were ready to go. And you guessed you were too considering you had a feeling Gloria was going to drag you along with her whether you like it or not. And she did. Rushing you out of the house and down the steps towards the road towards Hop's home again. And guess who was already waiting for you two outside. Hop seemed excited to see Gloria again and waved hi to her and Leon seemed Surprised but happy to see you too with her, but greeted you none the less when you approuched.

"Hey Glory! Y/n! What a nice surprise seeing you too."

"Uh, thanks! Good morning," You replied watching as the two teens and their pokemon chatted a bit.

"And I see your new friend is settling in nicely," he replied pointing to your shoulder where the tiny sobble chittered at him.

"Oh!" You hadn't even noticed he had climbed on you before the two of you left the house. But nodded. "Yeah. He seems to be well behaved thanks."

He nodded. "Well it's nice to you see you two getting along well." He turned back to the two children in front of him next and they instantly perked up as he placed his hands on his hips and gave a 'im going to win this' smile. "Now then. Down to business. You spent the whole night with that new partner of yours, right, Hop? You two getting on all right? Understanding one another? Maybe even built up a bit of love?"

"Course I have, Lee!," Hop confirmed proudly, "Gloria's made fast friends with her scorbunny, too!"

"Naturally I would!"

"Then listen up, new Trainers! Believe in yourself and your pokemon! If you trust in one another and carry on battling side by side long enough, then someday you might even become worthy rivals for me, the undefeatable Champion!" His bright gold eyes turned to Gloria looking her over for a moment and Hop caught on quick.

"What're you looking at her for, Lee?," Hop asked raising a brow, "I'm the one who'll be coming to challenge you!" But a soon reaization came over him before he snapped a challenging smile to Gloria. "If you think Gloria might be able to challenge you, then I guess she's my first rival!" Gloria blinked in surprise at her friend. "But I'm not planning to lose to her and miss out on my chance to beat the unbeatable champion!"

"NO WAY!! SO I DO GET A RIVAL BEFORE MY JOURNEY TOO!! SWEET!!" She cheered with an equally challenging smile before pointing at Hop. "But don't get your head too big yet Hoppy. You may have more pokemon but that doesn't mean I can't catch up to you!" Scorbunny let out a squeak agreeing with it's master.

"Heh. Just having a pokemon with you doesn't make you a real trainer, you know. Proper trainers raise their pokemon up to be First-rate in battle, too!"

"Oh, and you think you're worthy of calling yourself a 'proper trainer' already, Hop?," Leon hummed and Hop froze under his older brother's smile, losing that challenging smile he had earlier. "Guess I'll be the judge of that. Let's see how you handle a battle against your friend, if she's up for it." He turned back to Gloria. "What do you say? Willing and ready to take Hop on in the first ever Pokemon battle of your life?"

"HECK YEAH I AM!!" Gloria confirmed loudly and holding her fists high.

"So am I! Don't think I'll back cuz you're a 'pretty girl'!"

"HA! The only thing that Im pretty at is pretty good at kicking your butt!!"

"Then it's settled!" Leon pointed to the battle area a few yards away from them. "Everyone to the field! Believe in your partner pokemon! And care for them, too, with all your heart! Do those two things and I'm certain you'll learn to chose the moves that suit your pokemon. And most importantly...to have a champion time battling with them!'' The two kids, with Hop getting his challenging spirit back took off towards the trainer area and you couldn't help but chuckle and Leon turned back to you. "Oh hey, Y/N. Did you want to try and battle too? Might come in handy with that Sobble of yours."

You waved a hand. "Nah. I'd much rather just watch. That's what Im here to do anyways, besides I think those two don't need me stealing their thunder today."

Leon smiled and chuckled. "Alright. But the offer still stands if you change your mind." He turned cape waving behind him, "In the mean time I better be the ref for those two. You might want to stand back by the grill as you watch in case of any misfires with their pokemon. This is they're first battle after all."

"Noted."

You walked back towards the grill and watched as Leon made his way over to the two already stationed there with the scorbunny and grookey and also watching as the Champion went right over and stopped midway between them. "RIGHT! Looks like everyone's on board, pokemon and trainers alike? Then's let's do this!" His hands went back to his hips.

"I've watched every match that Lee's ever had! I've read every book and magazine he left behind at home, too!," Hop bragged challengly at Gloria doing his famous stance that looked very similar to Raihan's but had both his fists up, "I know exactly what to do in order to win!"

"Heh! We'll see about that!"

"This will be a one on one battle!'' Leon shouted. "The first one to make their opponent faint or knocked out of bounds wins! Let's begin you two!"

Scorbunny hopped flames at it's feet in challenge waiting for the grookey to- Hop pumped a fist at Gloria. "A pokemon battle it is, then! I've got two partners with me!" The same hand pulled back and tossed a pokeball to the arena to your surprise. "LET'S WIN WOOLOO!!" In a flash of light the sheep pokemon appeared before you all and baaed in challenge towards the scorbunny. You guess he wasn't starting with his Grookey like you thought.

"By now your pokemon should only know one or two moves at best being starter pokemon before your journies! So let's see how creative you two can be!" Leon pointed up. "BATTLE BEGIN!!''

You couldn't keep your eyes off them as you sat down nearly tripping over one of the green chairs before sitting down in one.

"SCORBUNNY!! USE GROWL TO PULL THE WOOL OVER THEIR EYES!!," Gloria yelled and pointed at their target as soon as those words left Leon's mouth. With lightning speed the scorbunny obeyed the command given to it and with a loud squeak it sent the move out in a flash of white and loud echo making Hop and his wooloo flinch from the sudden attack. He must've not expected the first move of Gloria's to be that quick you thought.

But he recovered quick with a scowl, pointing back. "WOOLOO USE TACKLE ON THE ENEMY!!" With a baa towards Scorbunny the wooloo curled into a ball and-

"REV YOUR FEET ON THE GROUND AND COUNTER THAT WITH TACKLE TOO USING YOUR FEET TO HIT IT!!," Gloria demanded in the middle of the command from Hop. And the scorbunny made a scowl and some kind of squeaky growl. You watched wide eyed as it stamped it's feet on the ground as fast as it could causing flames to rise from it. Leon hummed and rose a brow surprised and both you and Hop could only watch wide eyed as it generated enough flames by stomping to completely cover it's feet so when it squealed a battle cry and charged, it's feet were completely covered in flames.

"WOOLOO WAIT!! DODGE IT INSTEAD!!", he desperately shouted but by then it was too late to stop the on coming attack. With a squeal Scorbunny jumped at the very last second and used the force of the tackle to counter the force from it's opponents- Flames instantly engulfed the wooloo's wool as it was knocked back a few feet onto it's legs. ...Well it seemed to notice the flames on itself real quick. It baaed loudly in panic and began to run itself in a fennzy back and forth with the flames on itself. Hop seeming to panic too seeing the flames on his poor friend. All the while Leon watching calmly. "WOOLO-"

"SCORBUNNY USE GROWL AGAIN!! INTIMIDATE YOUR FOE!!" Another loud squeal noise came from the fire pokemon which only seemed to put the wooloo in an even crazier frenzy.

Hop gritted his teeth scowling and growl. "Rrrr!! Wooloo!! Stop, drop, and use tackle on them to put out the flames!!" Despite being in a panicked frenzy, you had to give credit when the baaing pokemon rolled instelf into a ball and finally managed to deliver a successful hit to his opponent. But because of it's defense being lowered by two growls, all it did to the Scorbunny was harmlessly knock it back a few feet unharmed. But it did sucessfully put out any flames on the wooloo's wool leaving only teeny tiny black markings where they once were calming it down. "That was a cheap trick, Glory!"

Gloria flipped her hair in victory. "What was so cheap about it? We came up with a unique way to use the fire generated from Scorbunny's feet to our advantage! The lesser the moves, the more creative you have to get-"

"WOOLOO TACKLE!!" Scorbunny squeaked in surprised and was actually sent head over heels a few feet away from a finally full on attack from the wooloo. Hop taking the moment in Gloria's talking to make a move. And though surprised at first she also scowled back at Hop's smiling face. "What? You said it yourself. The lesser the moves, the more creative you have to get."

"Tch. Yeah well jokes on you cuz Scorbunny knows a third move!!" She pointed. "SCORBUNNY USE EMBER!!"

"YOU CAN ALREADY USE THAT?!" Hop looked wide eyed and scared as the scorbunny took a breath and released it-...only for a puff of smoke to fall out and Gloria froze jaw dropped......."USE TACKLE!!" Scorbunny squeaked again as it was again hit with the brunt of another spinning wooloo and Hop chuckled. "Don't you remember that a beginner's pokemon only learns that move after a lot of practice?"

"RRR!! Good thing Leon got us the best starter pokemon then, because Scorbunny does know how to use Ember! He just needs practice- AH!!" She flinched as her pokemon as tackled for a third time, hop smiling and ordering one last tackle! but with fire in her own eyes she pointed at the wooloo! "EMBER AGAIN!! GIVE IT YOUR STRENGTH THIS TIME!!" The scorbunny sucked in enough breath to bloat out it's chest and cheeks. Holding it in as the wooloo approuched, before releasing a bright orange-red blur from the inside of it's mouth and hit the wooloo straight on! It let out a loud 'BAA!!' as it as engulfed by smoke left behind from the attack and Hop reached a hand out towards his companion with a worried look.

"WOOLOO!!" As the smoke cleared he saw the wooloo laid upon the ground. Spirals for it's eyes as it lay unconcious on the concrete battle area. And Leon held up a hand. "UH!?"

"Scorbunny and Gloria win the first match!," he smiled over Gloria's way. "Nice job you two. Gotta say, that trick you did with the flames and tackle took me off guard for your first battle. And perfecting Ember too? Not bad."

Gloria stood proud hand on her hips and Scorbunny mimicked her pose. "Well I got the idea from your move with Charizard! You once made charizard to a flip in mid air and light a flame to one of your opponents unexpectedly using the flames from it's tail! I simply just used the same method in a slightly different way."

Even you were a little impressed at that the fast, even though Hop claimed to use Leon's battling ways for fighting, it was in fact Gloria who'd end up beating him....Well you knew this would happen. the player usually won against both Hop's wooloo and other pokemon in their first battle in this game. And since Gloria was the living persona of her alternate game self, it came as no surprise she would win the first round. But who knows? Maybe Hop would have better luck this next round. But you still felt a little sorry for him, watching as he held his pokeball out as wooloo returned inside.

Hop gave it a sad look for a moment before closing his eyes and seeming to collect himself before he inhaled and smiled again. Steeling Gloria with another look. "Nice job! But it's not over yet! I've added another trusty ally to my team! GET IN THERE GROOKEY!!" Hop pointed and you were surprised when Leon didn't stop the two from having a second match, but from his calm smile towards his little brother you guessed he wanted to give Hop another chance. Not that you minded either. So far the story was progressing just how it did in game with Gloria(or Victor) battling Hop a second time and if the game goes as correctly as you remembered, minus a few minor differences. If you remembered right, and hopefully so, she should win. "Time to see what opposite pokemon types can do!"

"You're on! Use growl again-"

"Grookey jump over them and use scratch!" Hop ordered and you all watched as the grass pokemon dodged the growl attack by completely jumping over it and with a fast swipe of it's hand, delivered a hard scratch across the scorbunny's face! The poor fire type squealed out from surprise and the pain from the scratch across it's face and you cringed. Having had an outside cat, you knew that it felt to leave scratches on you.

"EMBER!!", Gloria countered and using the advantage that the grookey was within close range from jumping at them, Scorbunny managed to shoot out a ball of orange-red energy from it's mouth and hit the poor grass type directly head on. Grookey chittered in pain and rolled head over heels backwards away from the firetype, but by some miracle managed to land back up onto it's feet giving a scowl. But noticable black marks were left from it's opponents attack.

Hop seemed a little impresses tho. "Did you already know about type advantages?!"

"EMBER!!" That's all it took. another fast inhale and shoot of fire towards the grookey and in a puff of smoke, it was over. The grookey gave a loud chitter as the force collided with it and sent it skidding along the pavement and past Hop who followed it with his head.

"GROOKEY!!" The pokemon stopped half way between you and where Hop was, spiraled eyed landing on it's stomach in the same state Wooloo was it.

"Grookey is unable to battle and out of bounds!" With a flutter of his cape Leon pointed to Gloria and Scorbunny standing tall and determined. "Gloria wins the match!"

You smiled and clapped your hands for Gloria who squealed in delight and ran towards her scorbunny. The pokemon chittering as the girl brough him up into her hands and twirled him around! "OMG!! YOU WERE SO TOTALLY AMAZING AND COOL!! YOU TOTALLY GOT WHAT IT TAKES TO BE CHAMPION POKEMON!!" She turned towards you and waved. "Y/N! DID YOU SEE THAT!? I WON MY FIRST TWO MATCHES!!"

You gave her a thumbs up and smile. "Great job! I knew you could do it!"

Hop had returned the down grookey to his pokeball before reaching a hand to his head and looking at Gloria. "You beat my two pokemon with your one?! You and that scorbunny are too much!" he slumped down and frowned. "Well that was a shock. Guess I know now why Lee thought he should give you a pokemon, too."

"Hop." Gloria came walking over and reached out to grab his shoulder making the boy look back up at her in surprise when she smiled at him. "You shouldn't feel bad. This was just our first battle after all and you still managed to get some good hits on us." The Scorbunny held in Gloria's other arm squeaked in agreement at Hop who blinked. "If you're going to be my rival, then as your rival and best friend it's my job to make sure you grow strong together with me. I'm not going to leave you hanging like that. Ok?"

Hop stared at her a moment before looking away with a small pink hue to his cheeks nodding and you rose a brow at it. Wait a second. Was Hop...being shy? You didn't really have a chance to answer before Leon interrupted the two smiling.

"You and your pokemon all fought hard," he nodded towards them complimenting them, "Made me almost want to let out Charizard and join in on all the fun! Good effort out there, Scorbunny!" Gloria smiled as the pokemon in her arms chittered in approval. "Why don't I get you all sorted?" Reaching into his back pocket, he pulled out a small candy like object and handed it to Gloria. "Here. Have him eat this. It should help the aching muscles from the battle. And, Gloria, you've got real promise!" Gloria stopped and blinked up at Leon in the middle of handing her pokemon the small candy. To which the scorbunny grabbed it from her and popped it into his mouth. "In fact, I've got a favor to ask you. Be a real rival to Hop, would you?" Both teens seemed to be surprised he would say that, but with memory coming back, you smiled and nodded. Knowing this would happen. "Push him, and make both of you stronger!"

...Gloria smiled. "Trust me. I'm WAY ahead of you."

"I already want to get stronger and stronger!," Hop pleaded quickly catching his brother's attention, "You've seen me battle now, Lee, so come on! You've gotta let me take on the Pokemon Gyms!"

"You? Join the Gym Challenge?," he asked arms crossed and brow raised tho the smile remained, "You think you're ready for the single greatest competition in the Galar Region? Not putting the cat before the Rapidash there, Little Brother?" Hop paused for a moment. "If that's what you really want to do, you two have a whole lot you need to learn about pokemon." He turned to Gloria for a moment. "Especially your friend, Gloria. Before you think about getting Gym Badges, Best to think about getting a Pokedex. A trainer's pokedex helps them learn lots of things about all the pokemon out there, including their strenghs." Leon explained to the two children. "But it's more than just a collection of data, you know. It's a record of a trainer's love and passion for pokemon training."

"Right, Right. We get it.," Hop waved a hand, "Pokedexes then! We're on it! Looks like it's off to the Pokemon Research Lab for you and me, Gloria!"

Leon smiled and nodded at his brother. "That's the kind of enthusiasm a trainer needs! I'll let the professor know to expect you."

"I'm going to be the next Champion, so completeing a simple pokedex will be nothing! Just another page in the tale of my legend!" Hop turned to Gloria for a moment. "You'd probably go tell your mum that we're heading out, though."

A shocked face suddenly came over her. "....OMG!! I forgot to tell her I even left for our battle!!" She looked over at you. "Y/n! I gotta go run over and tell Mum where I we are before she worries! Meet us there ok!" You opened your mouth to speak- She snapped back to Hop. "Go tell your mum and then meet me in front of my house, k!?" Hop quickly nodded and you watched as both children turned and skidaddled off. Hop towards his home and a door slamming indicating he rushed inside and Gloria rushing off down the path towards her own house. Leaving you standing there next to Leon.

After a few seconds he chuckled, and shook his head turning to you who blinked up at him. "Well, it looks like the both of us are stuck meeting those two at the research lab. Since we're heading the same way how's about you be my traveling buddy for a bit. I doubt I these two would be happy if I suddenly go missing in the middle of them receiving their first pokedex." He gestured a hand behind him towards the road.

The professor- OH RIGHT!! After the player managed to defeat Hop in both battles the player then would get a pokedex from the Professor and the Professor's granddaughter! Although you couldn't exactly remember her name. You guess it'd be the best thing to do considering the kids would be heading there anyways after they told their parents, so you nodded smiling and he smiled back.

"Great!" He nodded towards the road. "It's the building with the purple roof by the train station. I haven't seen Sonia yet since I arrived here anyways, so she should be surprised to see me too!"

SONIA!! Of course! That was her name! The granddaughter of the town's professor was Sonia! You wracked your brain as he turned and you followed him. You felt like you were forgetting something, but you couldn't put your finger on it even as the two of you went walking down the road and towards the hill towards the train station you first met him at. By the time you two were half way down the hill you had shrugged it off and continued to walk with him towards the train station. Must've have been that important if you forgot anyways. Probably just a random battle or gameplay thing. You could already see the research lab right next to someone's assumed home and you smiled. Well, in this town it must've been convienyet to just have everything within walking distance.

"So, how do you know Sonia?,'' you asked to keep up conversation as you two walked over the bridge leading to the train station.

He was happy to answer. "Oh me and her go way back. Actually she was my rival when I first started my journey to become the Champion I am today. I think you'll like her actually. She's really smart and a great cook to boot! Not to shame my mom's cooking, but if I had to chose between her's and Sonia's dishes, I think I'd have to go with Sonia's." He chuckled smiling widely and reaching a hand up to rub the back of his neck.

You chuckled along as you both turned right at the train station and kept walking towards the research lab. Walking past you heard and noticed a lot of people stopping to stare at Leon as he passed with you pointing, and he just smiled and waved to them. A few women swooning and giggling like fangirls as he walked past with you.

"Heh. You must be pretty popular with the ladies," you teased and you were surprised when he got a bashful look over his face.

"Yeah..Well I don't really have much time for really thinking about dating or anything. Being the Champion means more responsibility for me to handle. I'm lucky the Chairman gave me a few days off to sponsor the kids. Now a days you need a sponsorship by one of the main benefactors to compete in the Gym Challenge, and I wanted to help those two when I had the chance." You blinked vaugely remembering Gloria mentioning that and in the game some of the trainers were sponsored. But you supposed you shouldn't interfere with the game's progression if you wanted it to go accordingly so you should get back, so you nodded reaching a hand up to scratch the happily chittering sobble on your shoulder- before you bumped into Leon from not watching where you were going. But he seemed to dismiss it as he pointed up in front of the building. "AH! Here we go! Looks like I remembered the right way after all!" You blinked and looked up to the building in front of you. A pokeball was painted above the doorway and it looked like a fancy old cottage home with a purple roof, and a few leafy plants hanging off of it. OH! The Lab! You must've not been paying attention while thinking, Leon grabbed the door without hesitation and smiled. "Let's head on in then."

Before you could protest, he had already walked into the home and left the door wide open for you to follow. You looked at your sobble for a brief moment and it made an unsure face. Ultimately you decided to follow him in since after all you had been there before in game, so it couldn't have been much different in person right? On instinct, you closed the door behind you with your foot and ended up finding Leon standing a few feet away looking around at the place. So you looked around too and slowly got a sense of the area. Next to the door was a small kitchen like area with a sink, table with chairs, coffee pot, and a tea set sitting on said table. The walls and floors was a simple white, with a few table and desks covered in books, equipment, and what you guessed was whatever 'research' they were doing here with all the books on the shelves. Literally. There was a LOT of books with a staircase leading up to even more, and of course a few houseplants here and there. A lot more like a library than a lab to you really. You looked back to Leon as he whistled.

"I've got to give it to Professor Magnolia. Everything in here looks fascinating."

You had to agree. It didn't look like much, but it was a cozy place you could calmly read in. Maybe chill and listen to your favorite movies. You went to walk to stand beside Leon until you jumped back with a yelp as a yellow blue jumped out from right in front of you and barked like a dog. The sobble on your shoulder also let out a chirp in surprise ducking itself behind your head startled by the-.....Yellow dog??? What looked like a small yellow yorkie dog stood before you two panting happily and barking again at you excitedly.

"Hey there lil buddy!," Leon exclaimed kneeling down and reaching out to pet the small pokemon who gladly accepted his affection with a couple yips. "It's Sonia's Yapper. Which means she's in here somewhere."

And close she was. "What is it today, Leon?" You both looked up at the voice and the small Yapper turned around and barked happily seeing it's master. You blinked at the sight of an orange haired blue eyed woman standing above you on the upstairs level. Her orange hair was mostly tied in a side ponytail with a few heart clippies in it, a tan jacket, and aquamarine-lightblue clothes, and a pair of glasses sitting on her forehead. And a black bag around one of her shoulders. Hands on her hips looking down at you two. "Looking for info on another never-before-seen, superstrong pokemon? I wish you'd stop with these outlandish requests."

He opened his mouth to say something- "ACK!!" He turned his head away as the yamper jumped up and licked his cheek like a dog, causing Leon to laugh and stand back up shaking his head. "Good to see you, too, Yamper!" He turned his head as the orange haired lady came walking down the steps. "Yamper here is a real champ when it comes to helping you find your way around." He pointed to the pokemon who barked. "He came to my rescue plenty of times back in the day, when I got lost on the road. Oh yeah, and that's his trainer, Sonia!" He pointed to the lady who by now was at the bottom of the stairs and walking towards you two. The small pokemon barking and running over to her feet. "What can I say about Sonia? Well I like the way she cooks. She makes food you can gobble down in a flash."

"Tsk." He turned back to the woman with a smile as she suddenly stood before him arms crossed. "What kind of an introduction is that? Did you forget we were rivals during our Gym Challenge? It wasn't just Yamper helping you out. I did, too! "

He chuckled and reached a hand up to sheepishly rub his neck. "Yeah. Can't forget how many times you had to drag me to the right gyms for my battles?"

She rolled her eyes. "I still for the life of me how you end up in the most random of places. Seriously. The only place you never get lost to is the kitchen for a snack."

"Oh come on, Sonia. You don't have to be so mean." he pointed to you. "I even brought a friend to wait while we get the pokedexes."

Sonia looked over at you and the Sobble on your shoulder peeking out from it's last spook. "Are you one of the trainers Leon's sponsoring?"

"Wha- Oh no! This is Y/n. She's actually going to be traveling with one of the trainers I'm sponsoring. She just tagged along to wait for them...aaand to make sure I didn't get lost on the way here. Ahehe."

"Oh I see." ...A smile came back onto her face. "Anyway, nice to meet you!" She pointed a hand at herself. "Name's Sonia. I'm the professor's assisstant. It's very nice to meet you."

You smiled and waved a hand. "Hello. It's nice to meet you too." Your head did another look around the place ultimately landing on the glassed off area with plants. "This is an interesting lab you've got here.." You pointed at the area. "What's that?"

"Oh that?" She glanced to it quick before looking back to you. "That's the terrarium my grandmother and I sometimes conduct small environmental study tests with although it's not being used for anything at the moment." She pointed back to your Sobble. "Oh what a little cutie. It reminds me of the starter Sobble Leon was given by my grandmother for the trainers he's sponsoring."

The sobble chirped and Leon gave her a nervous chuckle. "Actually that IS the same Sobble Professor Magnolia gave me."

Sonia blinked to him faster than lightning and he gave an even nervous smile holding up his hands. "WHAT?! Lee! What's it doing back here then? Grandmother made sure you had the starter pokemon for three trainers!"

"Take it easy, Sonia. I'm not returning it." He held up a finger. "I-It's actually a pretty funny story."

She hummed. "Uh huh. I'm going to LOVE hearing about this." She started walking and you stepped aside as she passed one hand reaching up to rub her temples as the other one motioned for you to follow her Yamper at her heels. "Come on. I'll make you two some tea." You watched her go before looking to Leon who shrugged with that nervous grin and turned to begin walking towards where Sonia went, you following. "So. Mind telling me why the sobble we gave you is back here?" She asked grabbing the coffee pot and placing it on the small oven by the sink and reaching over to click it on as Leon and you came over.

"Well you see." He gave that nervous smile as she turned around to him brow raised. "Those three kids I told you about was reduced to two when one decided to go on a seperate journey instead of doing the Gym Challenge with the others. So Sobble was kind of an extra." He took a seat across from her as she went to sit down, and pointed to you and the sobble. "But luckily Y/n here was in need of one too so it kinda worked out for the best."

The sobble chirped happily as you took a seat opposite of both of them and shrugged. "I mean...It's better to have one now just in case right? Still kinda getting used to it."

"Oh that's right. Hop mentioned you never had a pokemon before like Gloria."

Sonia rose a brow to you. "You've seriously never had a pokemon before?"

You quickly shrugged and used the same lie as before as an excuse. "I had more interest in traveling really. New to the region."

Sonia hummed but nodded. "Well I think you'll find the pokemon here very interesting. Especially the dynamaxing battles?"

"......Dynamaxing?," you asked confused. That did sound familar tho. "What's that?"

"You DON'T know what dynamaxing is?," Sonia asked eyes wide.

"Oh boy. Here comes the professional speech," Leon smiled good naturedly and leaned back in his seat. Arms and legs crossed. You looked to him and was about to ask what he meant...only to get interrupted by a speech of intel by Sonia.

"It's known as the Dynamax Phenomenon. This phenomenon, in which pokemon take on gigantic forms, has only been obserbed in the Galar Region. Moreover, it only seems to occur in specific locations and under set conditions." You opened your mouth- "On the gigantification of pokemon, while the general principal holds that pokemon grow stronger and larger by evolving, it is also true that simply making oneself appear larger is another survival strategy with merit." You raised a hand- "But regarding the changes pokemon can ungergo. Pokemon do not only change in appearance when they level up. They can also do so through the use of certain items or under the influence of the area they live in, in some cases. It is hypothesized that some factor within the pokemon itself is what allows for these changes to their form and biology, but thus far, conclusive evidence of such a factor has not been found by researchers."

She finished with a smile content with her eyes closed and arms crossed, her Yamper not understanding but barking in total agreement anyways as you just....stared. Leon seemed to be the only one to make a noise as he chuckled in amusement at himself for Sonia seeming to break you for a long moment of silence.

".....So basically dynamax-whatchamacallit stuff is just pokemon Super evolving for a hot minute?..Cool," you finally replied seeming to make some kind of sense of what she just spewed out to you. Sonia stopped and stared at you. Leon however snorted and quickly covered his mouth, turning away to shake as snickers escaped his body as you blinked. "Was it something I said?"

Sonia gave her laughing friend an annoyed frown before clearing her throat professionally and looking back calmly to you. "Oh no. But trust me when I say that Dynamaxing in the Galar Region is more than just pokemon with super evolving. We're the only region in the world who's pokemon is able to do so. We still don't know why, but it's one reason why our pokemon battles are so popular around the world."

"So you guys like to brag about your region of super hero pokemon evolving into bigger super hero pokemon to gain viewers??"

"PFFFT!! AHAHAHAHAHA!!!" Leon couldn't contain himself anymore. Arms coming to hug his middle as he half leaned over the table laughing his lungs out. Sonia back to glaring at him annoyed and you raising a brow. What was so funny? Isn't this basically what is was?...Well from you're point of veiw yes, but now that you're seeing these two, maybe it's just that serious to Sonia. "I-I-..." He wheezed. "I-I-I'm so-o-orry! Ahahaha! I've just never heard anyone say something like that especially to Sonia! M-Most d-d-don't even question what she says. Hahaha!" He coughed a few times covering his mouth as he started to come down from his laughing high Sonia still scowling.

"OH!" You held up your hands catching Sonia's attention. "I'm sorry. I wasn't trying to make you feel bad I swear."

Sonia huffed but shook her head. " Nevermind. It's fine. Some people." She side eyed Leon with the stink eye as he wiped his eyes coming back from laughing. "Just don't get how scientific research is."

"So what is it exactly that you two do here?," you asked trying to lighten the tension. Luckily it seemed to work as Sonia smiled back towards you.

"Oh. Leon's a right amazing Champion, and I'm basically just an assistant. I'm not even Gran's official assistant, either." She looked down to the table with an almost sad look, "I've just been calling myself one. Somehow, it makes me feel a little restless. ...But to really answer your question." She pointed back towards the desks and tables covered in books, papers, etc. "We do research on ancient history of the pokemon and dynamaxing phemnonenon. We also supply starting trainers in this town with their first starter pokemon, although this is the first time Lee's delivering them personally. I just hope that whoever he decided to give them too aren't reckless. No offense."

"None taken," you replied, "But don't worry. I think they'll be in good hands with the new trainers." You smiled.

"Speaking of those two, where are they?" Leon hummed and gave the door a curious look as if Hop and Gloria would burst through it any moment, before looking behind him at the clock on the wall. ".....It's been almost a whole hour. Telling Mum can't take that long, and surely they couldn't have gotten lost. That's my thing."

Yeah...That was kinda strange now that you noticed it. You mirrored Leon's expression with a raised brow and nearly jumped out of your chair when the teapot whistled. Making Sonia excuse herself to stand up and get it for the three of you. Hm. They SHOULDN'T have been taking this long to get here. Gloria was too excited, and Hop didn't have the patience to wait this long to get here....Something wasn't right. A heavy feeling settled on your guts as you thought long and hard. After the battle with Leon, the player and Hop were to receive their pokedexes from the Professor's granddaughter which was obviously Sonia but...you're mind went blank. There was something ...missing. Something you were forgetting. There was something that happened between these two events-...You're mind went back to the other day. A wooloo using tackle on the fence over and over- Your chair made a scrape sound startling Leon and Sonia as you shot up to your feet making the table shake a bit. Sobble chirping in surprise and clinging to your shoulder. Oh NO!! How could you have forgotten!? In the game the wooloo manages to break open the fence and then the player and Hop would venture into the Slumbering Weild to try and retrieve it, also encountering their first Lengendary Pokemon sighting of the game!!! But luckily Leon ends up finding them and escorting them back home but-..Your startled eyes cut to Leon who was confused looking at your panicked f/c eyes. Leon didn't know they were in there right now! This major difference in events right now could change the game and your chances to get back home and worse! THOSE KIDS WERE IN DANGER!!

Your hands slammed on the table and you desperately looked at Leon. "WE HAVE TO GO! THE KIDS ARE IN THE SLUMBERING WEILD!!"

"WHAT!?" Leon asked eyes wider than dinner plates as if you were far away and he didn't hear you.

You nodded. "They went there after this wooloo knocked over the fence leading to it by Gloria's house! We have to leave right now or else they could get seriously hurt!"

Leon didn't have to be told twice at the mention of his baby brother being in potential danger, only a panicked look in his eyes and he adbruptly stood and even you blinked as he raced to the door. Startling you into freezing for a few seconds before adreneline kicked in and you were right behind him. The door was already thrown open by the time you got to it, so you just followed he purple haired blur of Leon as he raced away from the house with you not so far behind. Sonia shouted something after you both but neither of you two noticed. How could you be so dumb enough to forget such a crucial detail!? Because of you those two could get lost or hurt in there! If a flock of giant bird pokemon wasn't bad enough then there was the gigantic legendary pokemon!!! You couldn't even remember what it was just that it was a legendary one! Dummy!! Sweat began to pour from your forehead as you raced after him away from Sonia's lab, past the train station, over the bridge, and up the path back towards the two kids' homes right after Leon who was must faster than you so of course no surprise the scared older brother would get there before you did. The sobble chirped and chittered in protest into your ears as it young onto you going past. Some people gave you both confused looks as you passed them but you didn't care. You just had to get to them and making sure they didn't get hurt. In fact you were so focused on running you hadn't even noticed Leon stopped until you nearly ran into him when he stopped by where the paths split up between the paths to both kids' houses. Instead you stumbled from the sudden stop and nearly collasped to your hands and knees. Panting, worried, heart beating against your ribcage, and looking up from your leaned over form to Leon who stood there and stared in stunned silence. What? Why had he stopped!? You looked towards where he was looking and froze upon realizing what he was looking at. I mean...you knew it was there and you knew it would happen, but you still froze seeing the open fence there. Leading down into a grassy field which lead into a fogging wooded area. More intimidating than the sunny fields behind you where the wooloos grazed.

"No.." It came out so quietly you weren't sure if Leon even spoke but you looked to him regardless. A look of horror, panic, and absolute FEAR on his face. "No...NONONONO!!" He suddenly darted forward again and stopped right at the fence entrance darting his hands up to cup his mouth. "HOP!! GLORIA!!"

His only answer back was the echoes of his own voice which eerily and spookily echoed back to him slowly fading out into the woods before them and even tho breathing heavily for breath you forced yourself to walk up next to him and in an urgent voice said. "We HAVE to go after them! They could be hurt!"

"NO!" He turned to you a determined scowl on his face. "I'm going after them! I need you to stay here in case they come back before I get out or in case I get lost and can't find them! I can't risk you coming with me and getting lost too! And if they come back and notice Im gone they might just come right back in looking for me!"

"WHAT?!," you blurted out, "But won't two of us searching make it easier to find them!?"

"I CANT RISK THEIR LIVES OR YOURS, Y/N!" He gave you a desperately look and you paused. In the game Leon's able to find both the missing children and runaway wooloo. Since everything thus far has been going accordingly then this should work out fine too, but if you go along and interfere-...They could all be in danger. So..it was safer for all of you if you stayed out of this. As much as it pained you, you nodded to him and he nodded. "Don't worry about me! I'll get charizard to fly me out if I need to! If none of us are back within an hour I NEED you to run back to Sonia and tell her what happened! She knows where to get the proper help!"

One finally nod was what he gave you before facing back towards the fence and darting off in a speed you thought no human could have. You only stood there and watched. As the thudding of his footsteps faded, and the figure of his body running away, soon being swallowed up by the fog of the Slumbering Weild. And you could only stand there and watch...How could've you had forgotten this? I mean, yeah you were pretty sure they WERE supposed to go in there and yes you WERE sure Leon was supposed to go after them in order for the game to be set on the right path-...But still, you probably would've liked to give Leon a head's up for this. In the game you had never seen him sport such a look of...fear. The champion in the game, even when he found the kids in there, always wore the 'Champion's Smile' because that's what he was programmed to do. Heck. In the game you never even saw how Leon discovered the two kids went into the Slumbering Wield. To you it wasn't a big deal because at the end of the day it was just a game you were following the story too...You never thought...you'd ever see the confident happy-go-lucky jokster older brother so wracked with fear. Fear you might have prevented. You weren't sure when you did it. But you ended up sitting on the ground, back leaned against the fence post with your eyes closed just-....sitting there for the longest time. Your sobble had long since gotten off your shoulders and chittered at you in question. Moving around the area but staying close to where you were sitting.

At one point it made a very OUD chirp and jumped onto your lap. "OOF!?" You opened your eyes to the blue pokemon and slowly blinked. "Hey! What was that for? Wasn't very nice of you!" It chirped again loudly and pointed past you and the gate glancing at something. Raising a brow tiredly, you slowly turned your head to see what in the world it was pointing a- Your sobble chirped a loud squabble when it tumbled out of your lap as you jumped up eyes wide and overwhelming relief washing over you. "LEON!"

Yep! It was the champion alright. His face a mixture of slight annoyance and extreme exhaustion. In front of him was Hop and Gloria to your surprise and relief. Both were avoiding eye contact looking extremely embarrassed, and....a wooloo trotting along with them. To think that all this commotion was started by one runaway wooloo. You shook your head, glancing to the chirping Sobble starting to clambor up your leg and towards your shoulder for a moment, before glancing back towards the Champion who sighed tiredly at you. Making your relief even more validated.

"What were you two thinking!?," was the first thing out of your mouth once the two children were close enough. I mean yeah this was supposed to happen, but it was still incredibly wreckless of them! Both children winced from your question and you were stopped when Leon held up a hand calmly.

"Now, now, Y/n. *sigh*" He sighed and reached a hand up to rub his face. "Everything's fine now. These two are safely back. The lost wooloo is found. And they know better than to go in there again." He rose a brow down at them, "right you two?" They instantly nodded mumbling some form of sorry as he nodded. "You both had your hearts in the right place, but the best thing to do was to come tell someone. If Y/n hadn't figured out where you two went, who knows what might've happened?" The two teens(mostly Hop) looked ashamed of themselves. "I'm not angry at you two." Both(again mostly Hop) blinked up surprised at Leon but he folded his arms with a frown. "But that doesn't mean I wasn't nearly scared half to death knowing two kids were running around a highly dangerous area by themselves. Now you two promise to never EVER go back in there again especially without telling someone again, no matter what reason."

"We promise, Lee!" "Yeah. I'm real sorry." The two agreed.

After continuing to stare at them with the frown for a moment, he sighed again and shook his head. "It's fine. As long as it doesn't happen again." Holding his arms out, he herded the two kids and wooloo out past the fence and looked to you. "I'm going to make sure these two get to Sonia. There's a limited amount of time they have for earning my endoursment and they still need their pokedexes...besides." he looked back to the wooloo who baaed at him. "Someone has to make sure this little guy gets returned to farmer Harry down town. Hopefully he'll keep this one from causing anymore trouble. In the meantime, could you close the fence?" He asked looking to you. "I can talk to professor Magnolia into issuing a stronger lock and chain for the gate."

You nodded thinking that was best. "Sounds good. I'll meet you guys there."

Smiling, Leon nodded and turned back to the kids placing one arm on each their shoulders before pushing them forward. "Come on you two. Let's drop this little troublemaker off and then get two a pokedex. The day's still early so you should have plenty of time to change my mind." As they began walking off he shook his head. "Boy Sonia's not going to believe this."

The kids didn't protest when Leon shuffled them away and you sighed. A hand coming to your chest, as you completely calmed. That could've gone a lot worse, but thankfully it all went according to plan and game. Sobble chirped having clambored back onto your shoulder and you reached up a hand to scratch it's head, to which it smiled and chirped happily at the affection. Now..for the fence. From the rush of adreneline eariler, you just decided to take your sweet time in grunting and pulling the heavy fence gate closed. That wooloo must've been stronger than Hop's if it was able to use tackle enough times to make this heavy wooded fence open all the way. The lock or whatever it was last used to keep it closed was no where to be found, so what you did was take a decently big rock and roll it towards the fence, it took all the strength you had to lift the fence up enough to shove the rock under the gate and lodge it enough to make sure it wouldn't move before letting go and observing your handy work. It...wasn't the best. If someone pushed hard enough or rammed their body against it, it would open, but at least it should stay closed for now until Leon could get the Professor to fix it again. Satisfied, you turned around and slowly began making your way slowly back towards the lab. Sobble on your shoulder as it lazily yawned. Whelp. Good to know someone was having a relaxed time at least. The walk all the way back there wasn't too bad. It was actually kinda peaceful listening to the wind and passing by field of wooloo baaing like sheep, and the streams of the two bridges you walked over to get to the lab. A few people gave you a curious or confused look as you passed but you paid them no mind, and wouldn't you know it, Leon was standing their waiting for you.

He smiled upon noticing you and when you got close enough waved. "Well done! You reached the goal and managed to find the Pokemon Research Lab! You did a far sight better than I did my first time. I'm hopeless with directions. I know I'm sure glad I got Charizard with me...to keep me from getting lost all the time."

You chuckled but stopped in front of him raising a brow. "I think I figured that out by now." You looked back towards the lab. "Are they inside?"

He figured you meant the two kids and shook his head. "Nah. They went up the road to Professor Magnolia's house. I just decided to wait for you so you'd know where to go...and so I wouldn't get lost either. ehehe...heh."

You blinked as he gestured with a hand and started walking and you followed beside him. OH YEAH! It was starting to come back to you. The player and Hop raced towards the Professor's home, catching a few new pokemon and battling one last time to convince Leon to sponsor them before the opening ceremony for the Gym Challenge! So far so good. "How was Sonia after you explained what happened?"

He groaned leaning his head back and crossing his arms, giving a closed eyed grimace as you two walked. "Not too good. She yelled at me about how rude it was to just run out like that without giving her a heads up, and then she got even more annoyed she's going to have to fix that fence. Hopefully no other wooloos get the idea to enter Slumbering Weild...." His eyes popped open for a moment before he turned to you with a look. "Speaking of which, how'd you know they went in there?"

"Um..." Your face was frozen. Great. Now you have to think of even MORE excuses. You shrugged. "Well like you said. I saw the wooloo earlier with the other two when it was trying to bust down the fence yesterday, and your little brother must really love wooloos by how much he talks about them....So it was just a lucky guess based off..wooloos??" Good gosh that was the lamest excuse ever-

"I see..." He smiled. "Well that was a pretty good guess. I can't say how grateful I am for helping Hop and his friend."

He waved a hand with a bashful smile. "Think nothing of it. I'm just glad I could help...So do you think they'll catch any pokemon on the way there?" You asked changing the subject. Thank goodness that was good enough to work.

"Probably. Lots of wild pokemon live near Route 2 in this town. They'll probably have to end up putting a few of them in Rotomi boxes."

".....Rotomi..boxes?"

"Oh right. I guess they don't have those over in the Kalos Region huh? Rotomi boxes are a sort of storage system for your pokemon when you can't carry them all around, "Leon explained, "You can find them in any pokemon Center. In fact you can find one in the center in town here. You recieve your pokemon from your boxes at any Rotomi you visit, too!"

"Oh. I guess that's how Pokemon storage works around here," you mumbled to yourself but Leon nodded with a hum.

"Yep! It was developed a long time ago when Professer Magnolia was just starting out as this town's professor. She's been a genius from the very beginning, Sonia's a lot like her."

"Oh wow. She sounds smart."

"heh. You're not wrong. It's going to be nice to see her again after so long."

Yo two walked peacefully down the cobblestone road, passing by lots of people who waved or took photos of Leon as he smiled and waved to them, and you guys had to stop a few times for a few little kids who either wanted a picture or autograph from the famous celeberty. Sheesh. It was sweet but you didn't think you'd be able to stand all the attention after a bit. You always much rather jam out to music or play video games....that was until your mother kept shoving studying and schoolwork into your face and most of that joy was replaced with visits to the lirbrary or studying quietly at home...Oh well. That was the reality of it of life, And you wanted to help pay your mum back for all the hard work she put into raising you without- You jumped when Leon suddenly pointed ahead of you and you silently nodded to his directions as he lead you. Hopefully he wouldn't be getting the both of you lost. You two were just coming over another bridge when you saw and heard the two teens again. Right next to the tall Route 2 sign. Both didn't notice you and had their backs towards you, so they didn't notice the two of you walking up from behind them.

"Over here, Gloria!," Hop suddenly pointed to the tall patch of grass in front of them on the road excitedly and Gloria looked just as excited seeing the small blurs running around in it. "All right, Glory! It's time to fill our teams a bit!"

"And I'm here to teach you how!," Leon exclaimed loudly from right behind the two. Both kids yelped and whipped behind them startled from you two walking up to them, "You'll need to catch pokemon if you've got any hope of filling in that pokedex."

"Lee!? Where'd you come from!?," Hop asked calming down upon realizing who it was.

Leon smiled wider as you smiled. "Well I thought I'd might as well meet you two at the Professor's while you two try catching some wild pokemon of your own, and wait for Y/n. It would've been unfair if she was left behind to bear the brunt of Sonia's anger." Leon then looked over at Gloria and as if reading her mind asked. "Only...look at you, Little Glory! You've already caught some on your own!" Hop's eyes widened and turned to Gloria who smiled proudly and nodded asking 'You did?!' "Your mum gave you those poke balls, did she?" She nodded again and Leon hummed....Before reaching behind him under his cape where you couldn't see. "I'll give you two some more poke balls. In return, I'll only ask that you catch plenty of pokemon."

''REALLY!?" Hop's eyes widened when Leon pulled out three pokeballs in each hand and held them out to the wide eyed teens who obviously took them. As soon as the smooth metal catching pokemon devices were in Hop's hands, his smile widened and began starry eyed at his brother. "THANKS! YOU'RE THE BEST LEE!!"

You couldn't help but smile at the sweet exchange between the three of them, and Leon chuckled before looking at the tall grass. "The pokemon around here seem easy to catch. Almost like they're itching to join some Trainer's team, wouldn't you say? But don't forget. Pokemon and Trainers alike gain experience from battling. Like how Gloria's Scorbunny learnt to improve it's Ember Move after your first battle. So this should be good practice for the two of you. Your teams will keep on changing and growing as you get stronger together, no doubt. But even I don't know exactly yet."

"WE WONT LET YOU DOWN, LEE!," Gloria exclaimed thrusting a pokeball into the air, "You're going to flip seeing what I caught on the way there!"

"Not unless I catch more than you, Glor."

Gloria gave Hop a challenging smile to rival his own. "Oh? Hm. Ill accept that challenge then dear rival!"

Leon chuckled again before waving a hand to catch their attention. "Well make sure you make it to the Professor's house before nightfall. " He jabbed a thumb behind him at you. "Ill just take Y/N here with me and meet the both of you there. Show your Champion something good, all right?"

"Sure, Lee!" "Aright!"

Both children agreed immediately before turning back to the tall grassy area in front of them and Hop pointed off towards the tall grassy area a few yards away from them. Gloria eagerly nodding before she took off after Hop when he ran for it pokeballs in hand. You couldn't help but smile. This was good. Gloria and Hop would have the chance to collect some more pokemon on the way to the professor's house like in the game and in turn you can relax now that you know they probably won't get in trouble from catching a few wild pokemon for themselves. You jumped when Leon cleared his throat and you looked to his smiling face as he gestured down the pathway as if questioning for your permission and you nodded at him. Matching Leon's pace as he set off down the path towards the Professor's home.

"Sorry if I ruined the chance for you to tag along with 'em,'' he apologized to you with an apologetic look to match, "But I really want to see how they can do on their own without any distractions or anyone holding them back. No offense."

You waved him off. "None taken. It's fine actually." In truth you didn't mind that at all. "You were happy to wait for them to capture pokemon instead of walking around after them all the way there after you were nearly scared half to death by the Slumbering Weild incident. And you didn't mind just waiting to see what they would catch. "In fact I'm interested in seeing the Professor. I don't think I met a Professor before."

He chuckled. "Then you're in for a treat! Follow me. If we don't end up lost, then it should be just down this road."

You chuckled and continued to follow him down the dirt path. Passing taller grassy areas and a few more trees showing the Professor's house was a little more far back into the wild life than the town. Must be a hassle to go to and from the Lab all the time you thought, even if it was within walking distance. At one point you were watching a small squirel pokemon with massive chuuby cheeks skittering past when your attention was once again caught by Leon. You looked towards him in question and he pointed ahead of him. Yo looked down the path and blinked. There was a small bridge with a white fence running along it over a river, a concrete battle area like the one at Hop's house was standing before the house which was also by a decent sized lake. The house itself was pretty lovely looking. It was a dark purple all over with green vines all over itself. You followed Leon all the way to the door of the home as it's shadow loomed over you. Without any hesitation Leon knocked rather loudly on the door and waited. A few seconds went by before there was finally an answer.

"Whoever it is come on in!," it sounded like an older lady's voice, like the kind you'd expect a grandmother to have, "The door's open!"

Without missing a beat Leon opened the door with a creak and threw a smile over his shoulder nodded towards the inside. "Follow me. You're going to really like Ms. Magnolia! She's a super nice woman!" You nodded and went ahead and walked inside. You followed right after him into a small space. Coats and shoes were placed by the door, with a stairway in front and a couple houseplants. "HELLO!" leon called as you slowly closed the door behind you. "Professor Magnolia! Are you in here?"

"Leon! Is that you, you old troublemaker?,'' came the elderly woman's voice happily from the left and you two turned your gazes past what looked like a kitchen area into a different doorway which lead to a blue room.

"Yeah! And I brought a friend if you don't mind!" He started walking towards the blue room and after a few seconds you slowly followed.

"Oh no. Not at all, dear,'' the old voice said as you two entered into the kitchen area and made your way closer and closer to the voice, "Any friend of yours is welcome, Young Lee." Yo continued to Follow Leon until he stopped in the doorway to the blue room and you stopped beside him blinking inside. The room was rather homey. The walls, ceiling, carpet, and some of the furniture was a blue. White cabinets lined the walls and they all either had some plants or some other decorative object set upon it. A few paintings hung off the walls, and against the far wall was a brick fireplace. And on one of the blue couches sat an elderly woman who could've been old enough to be your granny, calmly looking back at the two of you. She had grey hair held back by a purple-grey band, gold earrings, a gold necklace with a purple pendant, white lab coat and shoes, and a plain really light yellow dress. She held a cane that had some carved creature on the end you gripped, glasses, and green eyes. "Well if my glasses don't decieve me, I'd say that the Champion himself was standing in my living room."

"Professor Magnolia!,'' Leon greeted coming right in and over to her, she didn't even have to get up and reached a hand out for him to shake, which he did happily. "I haven't seen you in ages! HAHA!!" He let go of her hand and plopped down in the blue couch in front of her. "So have you unraveled all the secrets of the Dynamax Phenomenon yet?"

"Oh goodness no. The whole thing is still full of questions." the professor chuckled and sat back into her comfy couch. "And I'm very close to retiring too. So, so close. I'd hoped that my granddaughter would take over my research but..." She trailed off and looked away- "Hm?" And noticed you still standing awkwardly in the doorway. "Oh my goodness! Dear me, I'm sorry. I didn't even notice my guests! Please come in and have a seat young lady." She smiled gesturing to the spot next to Leon on the couch and you smiled politely taking her up on her offer. Walking in slowly and going next to Leon who scooted over to allow you some room. "My name is Magnolia." She greeted you with a smile that made you think of a grandmotherly vibe. "Welcome, young trainer."

"Thank you," you smiled politely. "My name's Y/N. Nice to meet ya!...But I'm not a trainer." You explained with a sheepish smile as your Sobble chittered and moved to plop inself ontop of your own head. "I'm more of a....traveler."

She hummed still smiling. "I see. We'll I'm sure you'll find lots of interesting things around here if you look hard enough. That's why I love my job so much." She chuckled. "Never know what you're going to find among the rest of the dust."

You chuckled too. "So what kind of work do you do? Leon told me Sonia and you work at the lab in town."

She shrugged. "Oh the usual. Pokemon anthropology and development. Medical research a bit. But I've mostly looked into dynamaxing."

"Oh yeah!" You jumped at Leon's loud voice startling the Sobble on your head enough for it to tumble off your head and into your lap with a loud squabble of protest. He didn't seem to notice as turned brightly smiling to you. "You must already know about Dynamaxing right, Y/n?" You nodded. " The Champion nodded towards the smiling woman. "Professor Magnolia's been doing research into the Dynamax Phenomenon for years and years. And it takes proper understanding of the thing if you plan to use dynamaxing to the fullest!"

Magnolia chuckled and shook her head at Leon. "There you go again, Leon, always talking about pokemon. There are other things that are worth knowing about, too, you know. Like how many different types of teas there are. "

"Ha! Says the Pokemon Professor?," he teased back.

She gave a sly smile. "Hmhmhm. Touche, Champion. But there are other things you enjoy too besides pokemon, aren't there?"

He let out a hum. "Yeah. Sonia's cooking."

"Well they say the fastest way to a man's heart is through his stomach." She teased. "Getting a crush are we, boy?"

"Hey! C'mon, Professor! Any one likes a good dish!" He paused when his stomach let out a small rumble. "....Heh. Sorry." His smile became bashful. "Guess running around all day all over the place made me forget about lunch and dinner."

"You, Lee? Forget about food? My. How shocking." She chuckled at his grumbling pouting face before she grabbed the couch and, with the help of her cane, stood right up. "Well then. I guess we can get some tea to help pass the time."

"Oh wait!" You held out your hand as she started walking past you. "You don't have to do that, Professor. I'm fine really." You threw a look back over your shoulder as Leon gently grabbed you. "I've learnt that Ms. Magnolia is even more stubborn than Sonia. If she wants to do something, not even a million Dynamaxed pokemon working together could stop her! It's best we let her."

You went to argue-....But sighed and sat back down. Leon was right. You didn't know this woman outside the game you played as a teenager which was a long time ago, so it was best to let things be for now.

KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK!!

All three of you turned your head towards the door as loud fast knocks pounded from the other side of it making the professor hum. "Oh? More guests? I wonder they could be?" She started towards the door but you knew who it was already.

The Trainers had arrived.

[sunnywritesstuff34]

Working

hello! It is time for more Boruto AU, with Sasuke this time! @ghostjellyfishheart was excited for this, so enjoy lmao. I apologize in advance for this. Just. Disregard the choppy transitions. Tune in next whenever for Boruto being incredibly confused by Sasuke and trying to figure out how to adjust to living in his house. It’s incredibly awkward. Can’t wait. 

(TW and CW for: unconsciousness, coma, critical injuries, tired Sasuke Uchiha, angry Boruto, probably ooc Kakashi and like six other ooc people, death, parental death, possible parental death, cursing, the Uchiha Massacre, one night stands, Sasuke is trying very hard okay he’s doing his best, both of them are good dads because I wanted them to be okay?)

Sasuke Uchiha was angry. No, scratch that, he wasn't angry, he was pissed. He was furious. He was beyond angry, he had reached the peak of anger and transcended to another plane, and that was something he didn't even think possible. For starters, it's not like his day was going well to begin with. Kakashi had stuck him with way too much to do, endless goddamn paper work. Apparently sharingan was mostly for battle, because it really didn't do shit when it came to focusing. And it's not like his paperwork wasn't important, it was. He had to review a series of reports from high profile shinobi on their teams and the work of their teammates, so and so and so and so, it was always something. 

In all honesty, he had signed up for this. Well, okay, he didn't sign up for it, but he agreed to it. After Naruto’s disappearance Sasuke was just about ready to throw himself into as many dangerous situations as far from Konoha as possible, but no. He didn't know whose idea it was, maybe Tsunade’s, maybe Sakura’s, maybe Kakashi came up with it all on his own, whatever. Now he was working as Kakashi’s right hand man (and shadow in a lot of ways) and, in his own word’s, the Hokage’s “Don't Be Stupid And Callous And Hurt People For The Greater Good Because It Really Didn't Go Well Last Time” reminder. He really was doing good work, he caught multiple oversights and made sure to hold Kakashi to his word about the decline of execution, especially for missing-nin. He nearly punched Ibiki in the nose about sixteen times for being ridiculous, but what the hell did he expect? Changing things on a fundamental level and rebuilding at the same time were hard, it was pretty tempting to fall back on old methods. It was largely Sasuke’s job to prevent that from happening, and he was really good at doing it without murdering anyone, surprisingly (though he came close a couple of times.) The destruction of the Foundation was extensive and incredibly difficult, and it was surprising to pretty much everybody except for Sasuke just how deeply corrupted the village was. They were also changing up Anbu, though that was still an ongoing process. Sai helped quite a bit in the destruction of the Foundation, and helped develop some sort of rehabilitation for people indoctrinated into it like him. He was very passionate about it, something that Sasuke totally understood. It was personal. 

All things considered, there were two reasons that Sasuke didn't cut and run as soon as Naruto wasn't around to keep him anchored any more. The opportunity for bettering Konoha and the shinobi world as a whole and… well… Sarada. Sasuke and Sakura had Sarada around the same time that Naruto had Boruto with Hinata (say that ten times fast) albeit in a less… graceful manner. Naruto and Hinata had a child after getting married due to mutual affection, and Sasuke and Sakura had a child because of… well, a one night stand. 

In hindsight, though it hadn't worked out with Sakura, he was grateful to have Sarada. She was a sort of anchor that kept him from running yet again, especially seeing as Sakura was busy running the hospital/teaching the next generation of medical nin/finding new techniques for medical advancement and health/going on a mission every once in a while. She was also, you know, his daugther, and he loved her. Sakura’s parents had a fit when they found out, and they had an even bigger fit when they realized that the two of them weren't getting married any time soon. If Sakura had decided that a marriage was best, Sasuke likely would have gone along with that. What else was he supposed to do? It wouldn't be fair to her, especially in the eyes of traditional families and clans. Sakura, of course, was having none of that, and Sasuke was incredibly relieved. Sasuke had raised his daughter for the most part, and he loved her more than anything, but it was clear to anyone with eyes that Sasuke Uchiha wasn't necessarily the image of “perfect father.” At first, he thought of Sarada as an ambiguously important responsibility, as cold as that sounded. But then she was born, and she had legs and arms and a brain and feelings, so of course he became attached. Actually, she was sixteen at that point, and she had become an excellent kunoichi. In fact, she was taking the jounin exams soon, which Ashina might be too if Naruto had stayed. Speaking of Naruto…

Sasuke had no idea why he was surprised. It seemed that no matter where Naruto was or how many years it had been since they'd seen each other, he would always, always be a pain in the ass. That would never change. Of course Naruto would show up with his children in the Forest of Death. Of course he would do it while Sasuke was swamped with work and trying to help his daughter prepare for the exams. Of course, of course, of course. Not that he was complaining (he was), at least not in the long run. It was better that Naruto come back eventually, but twelve entire years? That was a long time. A very long time, with no explanation. Just to show how thoroughly Sasuke was swamped, he heard the news in the middle of an incredibly important meeting with the daimyo and Kakashi. That didn't stop him from rushing to the hospital anyway, but it was inconvenient. Whatever, Kakashi (the damn slacker) would probably survive without him. Ino arrived distressed and covered in blood, only to deliver the message of a lifetime. Kakashi pretended not to care, especially since he was in the middle of a meeting and Naruto was technically a missing-nin. But he did care, obviously, he was just very good at compartmentalizing. Sasuke was too, but Naruto and Sarada seemed to be the only exceptions to this rule. So, he took off without explanation and rushed like hell to the hospital, because Ino said that Naruto had been in critical condition. The idiot always managed to get hurt somehow, but if he died before Sasuke got to chew him out for vanishing, he would resurrect the bastard so he could pound him into the dirt. Or hug him and never let go. It was a toss up, either one. Sasuke’s chakra was flashing dangerously, and it made everyone around him nervous, but at this point he could care less. The Uchiha opened the doors to the hospital and rushed to the front desk, but he was intercepted by an exhausted looking Ino.

“Where is he?” Sasuke blurted, and she glared at him momentarily.

“I'll tell you where, but it's not that simple Sasuke, you can't just rush in there-”

“Tell me where he is,” Sasuke growled. 

“Sasuke-”

“Ino why can't you just-”

“Sasuke Uchiha!” she shouted in a way that sounded suspiciously like the few memories he had of his mother. He blinked. “Would you listen to someone for once in your entire goddamn life? God, you're just as frustrating as Sakura said you were. Naruto is stable for now, but he’s in comatose. Hopefully he’ll survive. But his kids are sitting in the room with him, and if you storm in there all furious, you'll scare the shit out of them. If you have to go in there, do it slowly and calmly. And Shikamaru says they go by Boruto and Himawari, not Ashina and Natsu. They must have changed their names at some point. Either way, you need to calm down.” Sasuke paused, because (damn her) Ino was right. He had to calm down. He was pretty threatening on his own, but to these kids, who were already worried about their father? He collected himself briefly as Ino sighed. “He’s asleep in room 306. Please be careful.” 

“Thanks, Ino,” he managed before practically launching himself past her. Just before he turned down the hall, he paused. “And Ino,” he called over his shoulder. “If Neji comes by… tell him to go to hell.” With that he was off. The room wasn't hard to find, and he threw the door open. It was a private room, no other beds except the one where Naruto lay. He sucked in a breath when he saw him, because it had been so long and frankly the man looked terrible. His breathing was shallow and he was way too pale, but he was alive. God, he was alive, at least he was alive. Sasuke could hardly believe it. Naruto was alive, and he was here. He was so caught up in his own head that he didn't notice the two children sitting by the door until he turned around to face them. He froze in place as an awkward silence settled, and the first thing he could think was oh my god, he looks just like him. Ashina- no, Boruto, looked just like Naruto used to, he was nearly identical except for Boruto’s eyes being a slightly lighter shade of blue. There was a girl sitting next to him that looked alarmingly like Hinata, and she was watching him with more curiosity than defensive aggression like her brother. 

“And who the hell are you?” Boruto demanded. Sasuke blinked. 

“I um. I am an old friend of Naruto’s. I- I had to see him. My name’s Sasuke Uchiha.” 

“Boruto- Boruto Namikaze,” the kid explained begrudgingly. Sasuke sat down in one of the chairs against the wall, a few away from Boruto and Himawari so that Boruto could watch him from a safe distance. He’d picked up a thing or two about skittish children in his time, and he figured the best course of action was to remain passive until Boruto let down his guard. Like an unruly cat that hisses whenever you get too close to it. 

“What… what happened?” Sasuke asked, trying to start a conversation in a totally subtle way. Boruto winced and hesitated, almost looking… guilty.

“We got ambushed. That's all. He tried to keep us safe and it didn't… It's complicated.”

“Ah,” Sasuke muttered. “Right. Naruto is my friend, I've known him since we were kids. He’s always one for reckless endeavors.”

“Sometimes,” Boruto conceded. “I guess. He’ll… he’ll be okay. He has to be.”

“He will,” Sasuke assured him before he could stop himself. “He’s strong. Sakura Haruno is one of our top medical nin, she's not here right now, but she should be back from her mission soon, and she especially will be when she knows that Naruto is here. He's very important to us.” Boruto glanced over at him, tearing his eyes from his father. 

“How did you know him?” he asked tentatively. Sasuke smiled without realizing it. 

“He's my best friend. We went to the academy together, we fought in the Fourth Shinobi War. He was always there. He’s important to all of us, before he… before he left.” Boruto looked away nervously. 

“Right,” he muttered. “Of course, that makes… that makes so much sense. I mean, I always wondered how he learned ninjutsu, I guess- I guess it makes sense for him to be from a Hidden Village. I just never…” Sasuke stared at him for a moment.

“He never told you?” Boruto shook his head and traded a glance with Himawari. 

“No. He never talked about anything from before we were born. I never asked because it just… made him sad, I guess. I didn't like making him think about it.” Sasuke nodded numbly. Did he regret it, he wondered silently. Did he regret leaving? Did he ever think about coming back? The door opened just then and Boruto tensed again, whipping his head to the door. Kakashi stood in the doorway with Sai behind him. 

“Hello. It seems Sasuke made it here first.” Boruto eyed him warily, moving closer to his sister. Kakashi took one look at the bed and then looked away, trying to not think about it for the time being. He turned his attention to Boruto instead.

“Well Boruto Namikaze, it looks like we have a lot to talk about. But it's been a long day for you two, and I think we’d best keep the hard conversations for tomorrow, hm?” Boruto must have read that as a threat because he bristled at the words, and Sasuke silently wondered how, despite years and years and years of experience, Kakashi never got any better at learning how to speak to children. Sai watched pensively, like an owl, tilting his head. Sasuke could understand Boruto’s nerves, especially considering the company he was in. Sasuke silently cursed Sakura for leaving at the worst time possible, but he knew it wasn't her fault. 

“You should try and get some sleep tonight, we’ll probably have more information on Naruto’s condition in the morning. Don't worry, Sasuke’s house is comfortable.” Sasuke shot to his feet.

“What?” he demanded. Kakashi looked at him lazily.

“Oh yeah, sorry about that. I think it'd be best for the two of them to stay with you for the time being. You have a child of your own, and lord knows I wouldn't trust anybody else to do it. Sorry Sasuke, I promise i'll pay you overtime. I can have somebody else handle your paperwork for a few weeks.” Sasuke blinked as the children looked between the man and his teacher. Finally, the Uchiha gritted his teeth.

“Of course, Hokage-sama,” he growled. “It would be an honor.” Kakashi nodded.

“See? It's not that complicated. I have business to attend to, I'll have a conversation with you tomorrow, Sasuke.” With that he was gone, and Sasuke found himself alone with two children. Two. he had his hands full with one, and now he would have to take care of three. And they were Naruto’s children, lord only knows what they would get up to. 

“Um,” Sasuke started. “I… I suppose… we should go… home.” Boruto hesitated before standing, tossing one glance over his shoulder at his father before walking out the door. Please wake up soon, Naruto Sasuke thought silently. But there were a few things Sasuke didn't realize at the time, and wouldn't for weeks. Naruto wouldn't be waking up, at least, not at first. 

Kyuubi would. 

[niqhtlord01]

Humans are weird: Bar fight

“When you said you were taking me to a place of your culture, I was expecting someplace more.....refined”  Morgal stepped out of the cab after his human friend and gazed at the establishment in front of him. The outer walls were covered in decaying wood planks that looked like they could catch fire any second. The noise coming past the saloon doorway was overflowing with laughter and music and as Morgal watched a human stumbled out, threw up on the pavement, then proceeded to pass out on the ground. He made sure to step extra carefully around the pile of vile as he followed his friend to the entrance.  “I’m guessing you were expecting an opera theater or art gallery?” Jack asked as he wrapped an arm around Morgal’s shoulder and ushered him to the door. “That’s high society bullshit, the smallest of the small of human culture. You want to find the beating heart of mankind, this is where you come to.”  Morgal looked once more at the shady establishment and then back at his friend before sighing, letting himself be carried along by Jack’s arm. When he moved to this new world Morgal could not help but feel like he was always being watched by the humans and judged. His species carried three extra sets of arms across his body which must have intimidated them. Jack had been his first human friend since migrating to the human homeworld and he had not felt the same gloomy cloud of judgement when they were together. They both worked in office positions side by side and had developed a friendship over the previous months. Jack had gone out of his way to help him understand human customs and had not once asked for anything in return saying “Friends don’t bargain.” Tonight he asked Morgal after work if he’d want to join him for some “human culture” and he felt accompanying him would in some small measure pay him back for his kindness.  Jack pushed open the doors and Morgal finally got a look inside. Unlike the decrepit exterior, the inside of the “saloon”, as Jack had called it, was vibrant with color and life.  Rows of round tables were filled with various humans laughing, drinking, eating, and playing various games. Uniformed human females walked between the tables delivering goods and taking orders.  One side of the saloon had a large stand with countless bottles of strange liquid, each one held in a different glass bottle of color and shape. Morgal noticed with amazement how the humans behind the stand listen to orders made and somehow slide over to the exact bottle and perform a vivid acrobatic display of pouring the drink for them before accepting payment.  Morgal was so transfixed by the skill that he hardly noticed Jack pulling him over to a nearby vacant table. The two swept off a pile of crumbs from the previous occupants and sat down at the table. “So, what do you think so far?” Jack was nearly shouting to be heard over the roar of the gathered crowd. “It is..” Morgal began as his eyes made another pass around the room, “not what I expected.....” As his eyes wandered they laid sight upon a human female walking past him carrying several large beverage containers, more than Morgal thought possible for a species with only two arms.  As she skillfully avoided a patron who suddenly fell in her way her eyes met his. For a moment Morgal realized he had been rude by staring at her and remembered that Jack said some human females don’t like it when they are stared at. Before he could look away he noticed the uniformed female smile and wink at him as she passed by. Morgal felt something he was unsure of for the first time that made him feel lighter than normal and he attempted his practiced human smile back at her before she vanished into the throng of patrons.  Morgal looked back at Jack who was now staring at him with his head cradled in his hands.“I think I am enjoying it much more now.” Morgal admitted as he slacked back into his chair while Jack drew a mischievous grin and raised his arm up. Morgal was curious for the meaning when suddenly the female he had been staring at was beside them.  “What’s your poison?” she said as she pulled out a pad of paper. The smile at seeing her again rapidly left his face at her words. Did I offend her!? I knew I shouldn’t have stared! Why did I stare!??!!?  Morgal’s head was racing with ideas, each worse than the last. “She means what drinks are we ordering Morg, not literal poison.”  As Morgal let out a sigh of relief Jack continued speaking with the uniformed woman. “I’ll have a glass of whisky with three shots of tequila.” The uniformed female nodded and then looked at Morgal. “And for you hun?” Morgal paused to consider his options, he was still unfamiliar with human drinks so figured he should play it safe.  “Do you have anything fruity?” he queried. She nodded, “We have a strawberry daiquiri that’s nice and fruity; though I’d have picked you for something a bit more sweet.” She made a movement with her lips and eyes and Morgal cursed himself for not learning what human facial gestures meant. Thankfully Jack came in to save him before his mind began racing again. “He’s a sweet heart alright, basically a giant teddy bear with all those arms. He’s still getting used to our drinks so we’ll start with those daiquiri’s and see how the night goes.”  She wrote down something and then left the table back to the stand at the far end for the drinks. Morgal was content to watch her go when Jack motioned his attention. “Think she’s into you man.” “But I am not a man Jack, we’ve been over this.” Jack shook his head. “No, I mean I think she’s got you on her radar. Play your cards right and you might get some digits tonight.” “Why would I need more digits? I already have 45.” “I mean her phone number digits.” “Your phones have digits?!”  Jack’s hands covered his face for a moment and dragged down across his face. “I think she likes you and wants to know you.” Morgal felt that light feeling again at that and stared back at her. “Why didn’t you say so?” “Remind me to get you a book on human sayings. You are in desperate need of one.”  Before Morgal could ask further he felt something grab hold of his right shoulder. He turned his head and saw a rather bulky man behind him, his massive hand firmly clenching his shoulder.  “Can I help you?” “Yeah, by leaving.” the man replied. Looking past the man Morgal could see two other men standing behind him, one cracking their finger knuckles while the other drinking from a glass bottle.  “I do not understand.” Morgal was unsure if this was another human custom or not, but he felt the hand on his shoulder tighten further.  “Don’t care what a alien freak like you gets or not, so long as it’s getting your sorry ass out of this place. Now.” The expression on the bulky man’s face was one he had often seen in human motion pictures, “Anger” he thought it was called.  “Who you calling freak?” Morgal turned to see Jack stand up and walk over to them. “You look like the shit I scrape off my shoe when I get home at night.”  “Buzz off limp dick.” one of the men standing behind the bulky man said. “Yeah, this is between us and the alien.” the other chimed in, finally finishing their drink. “His name is Morgal, and he’s my friend.” “Gay friend” the knuckle man chuckled.  The uniformed female returned to the table and set down the tray. “Here’s your drinks fellas.” She began putting them out on the table but then stopped when seeing the situation. “If you’re going to fight take it outside.”  The bulky man let go for Morgal’s shoulder and looked at the female. “Don’t worry hun, they were just leaving.” He glared at Jack with daggers in his eyes to emphasize the point, but Jack just shook his head and reached for his drink. “We’re not going anywhere till we’ve had our drinks.” he said as he brought his whisky up to his mouth.   “Then let me help you finish them.” In an instant the bulky man’s hand lashed out and slapped the glass out of Jack’s hand. The liquid spilled across the table as it flew towards the uniformed female. She started to raise her arms but the glass was too fast and was about to smash into her face when a hand sprung out and caught it.  Morgal calmly set the glass down on the table and stood up to face the Bulky man. “That...was rude.” The words came through clenched teeth as Morgal began feeling angry himself for once. He could handle name calling for himself, but this Bulky human had nearly hurt the female human who had made him feel light, and that upset him.  The Bulky man smirked and brought his fists up. “Yeah? What’re you going to do about it?”  Jack’s fist smashed into the man’s face and sent him sprawling back into the two men behind him. “How about that for starters?” Jack quipped.   One of the men holding the Bulky figure dropped him and lunged at Jack. Morgal grabbed him with his arms and casually tossed him in a different direction. They landed on a nearby table and sent the collection of cards and drinks scattering to the floor, much to the displeasure of the table’s occupants who then stood up and advanced on Jack and Morgal.  “Thanks for that, but could you’ve aimed for someplace else?” Jack said as he slowly began backing up. Morgal shrugged. “It was either that or the other option.” “What other option?” Jack asked as a fist came hammering into his gut.  “That. That was the other option.” One of the new comers grabbed hold of a chair and swung it at Morgal. He brought his arms up just in time and the chair shattered into pieces on impact. A chair leg went flying into the glass of another patron and shattered it, dousing them in cold brew. Letting out a roar of anguish the doused human rushed the chair wielding human and began savagely beating him with his fists.  More and more patrons began getting drawn in as the constant shoving, punching, and flying debris hit bystanders sending them into a drunk filled rage. Morgal quickly found himself having to constantly defend himself from all sides.  Through the chaos he saw the human female he had been speaking to before grabbed by another male human, he could see she was struggling to get free of his grip. He began moving towards her, throwing away battling patrons that blocked his way as if they were twigs.  As he reached her he grabbed the man’s arm with three of his own and squeezed. The man let out a yelp and let go of her as he turned to face Morgal. Still holding the man’s arm he lifted him into the air and began punching him with his remaining five arms in rapid succession before swinging him like a rag doll over his shoulder into a nearby table.  He turned around to the human female and saw her looking at him again. The anger suddenly was sapped from him, replaced with an almost sheepishly demeanor. He did not know what to say, so he just bubbled the first thing that came to mind.  “Sorry about the table.” She shrugged and rubbed her wrist where the man had grabbed her. “Place needed a makeover anyway. Thanks for the help.” Morgal was about to say something else when he saw her reach for a glass bottle beside her and fling it at Morgal. He brought his hands up to block but the bottle instead flung past him and hit the man that had grabbed her straight in the face sending him back sprawling to the floor once more.         He was grateful that she had saved him when he remembered what jack had said earlier. Reaching into his pocket he pulled out a business card and held it out to her as she ducked another flying bottle. “Thank you for saving me, here is my phone number. Feel free to call me.”  She took the card out of sheer surprise then ducked back down as Jack came flying back between them. Morgal excitedly knelt down to Jack. “I did it! I gave her my digits!” “That’s great pal.” Jack coughed as Morgal helped him to his feet. “Can tell me all about it later, but kinda need your help for a second.”  They turned to see the Bulky man from before now back on his feet. He picked up an entire round table and flung it at the both of them.  Despite the swirling chaos around them, Morgal was surprisingly happy that he had decided to join his friend tonight. Maybe they would do it again soon. 

[weheirsofdurin]

Lets go for another fluff piece. (Pre-hobbit around the same time as the starter I did)

Five times Dwarvish Courting went over an elf’s head, one time it didn’t

Filirubbed at the smooth rock in his hand, the pad of his thumb catching on the only thing marking it’s surface. THe dwarven runes inlaid expertly caused his heart to pound heavily. Glancing down at the golden colored stone, the blue ruins a stark contrast.

His fond smile caught another’s attention and before he knew it, the elf named after the hero Glorfindel, stood before him. “What have you got there Master Dwarf?”

Looking up Fili hid the stone in his fist before wincing, it had been a startled reaction and nothing against his elven friend. “A gift.” He said simply then reaching out took Glorfindel’s hand and placed the stone within it. “There is lore that if you write on a stone and gift it to another, that it will come true.”

Turning on his heel the dwarf stormed off, back to his forge. Poor Glorfindel was left with the stone in his hand and dwarvish runes he did not understand glared up at him. “What was your wish, my little lion?” He wondered aloud in elvish before pocketing the stone.

Dwarves had such odd traditions at times.

.~:*:~.

Glorfindel entered the forge silently, as elves were known to do, and Fili never noticed the other man. Not at first. As he worked he hummed, mumbling words in a language Glorfindel had never thought to learn until now. He sang as he worked which the elf found endearing. When Fili turned and spotted him there was a hesitation in his movements and the song cut off.

“Lord elf, it is common courtesy to announce yourself upon entry to ones forge.” It was courtesy to announce oneself anywhere but Fili would not nit pick that for now.

“Ah, yes.” Glorfindel at least looked abashed at the slight chastisement. “You were singing so nicely though that I did not wish to interrupt.” This time it was Fili’s turn to turn a bright red on his nose and ears. “What iis it that you are making?”

“A gift.” Fili said and he set what looked to be the beginnings of a dagger onto a hot stone. His gloved hand held the prongs tight and his other hand reached for a hammer and he began to bang away. Immediately he began to sing again, the thrumm of the the song matching with the hammering and Fin found himself enthralled once again. This was how dwarves worked, how they kept pace, how their forges and weapons were so perfect. They sang to keep track and upon hitting certain points knew instinctively it was time to shift.

“Perhaps we can meet for dinner tomorrow eve, Lord Elf.” Fili spoke to Glorfindel as the metal blade was put back into the forge to heat back up.

Knowing a dismissal for what it was Glorfindel bowed. “Of course, Master Dwarf, I look forward to our meeting.”

WHen they did meet the following eve Fili and him only made it part way through their meal before a dwarf raced up to the blacksmith. “Fili, there’s a problem and we need you urgently.” Without hesitation Fili stood and there was an air of authority about him. Fin knew that Fili was in charge while the real leader was away so it made sense, but at the same time there was a regalness about this authority.

“Forgive me, Glorfindel, but I must go. I wished to properly give you this but please accept it even so,” REaching out Fili held a small dagger for Glorfindel, the leather that would wrap around his thigh looked old and worn, probably made from scraps previously. Accepting it he watched Fili run off and he pulled the blade from it’s sheathe. His breath caught.

This was a dwarven blade but its inlay was far more elven. The smooth curving lines which he realized were vines wrapped around the flat plane. Small thorns adorned it making the delicate lines sharp and threatening, the green pain practically glowed in the sun and along the hilt golden flowers were encrusted. Did Fili know of who he was to put this there? No he couldn’t. Fin had never told the dwarf who he was. Someone must have mentioned something though.

Wait- was this the blade Fili had been making yesterday?!

.~:*:~.

“Bugs?” Fili held a doubtful expression as he looked at his brother. He just could not believe it. Really. Elves thought bugs were appropriate for courting? That sounded too far-fetched.

“Aye, I heard it from Gimli who heard it from Gloin! Gloin said that he had met elves back in erebor and they were always giving each other bugs upon courting.” Kili insisted, his expression serious and Fili was struggling to figure out if he was being honest or playing him a fool. “Fine, dont believe me. It’s not like your stone gift or blade gift made him realize.”

“Ah- wait! Kili, come back. I just- I need to know more. Was it just worms or was it a specific bug or-?” Fili did not look forward to digging up worms to give to Glorfindel.

“I don’t know, but worms are abundant. Come on, I’ll help you collect them.”

Fili and Kili only returned a few hours later dirty and both looking smug, for vastly different reasons. Fili because he had just given his courting gift to Glorfindel, Kili because he made his idiot of a brother actually believe him about bugs.

Glorfindel, was just confused. With all these worms… did Fili wish to go fishing?

.~:*:~.

The bugs, Fili learned, turned out to be a lie. He had to explain to Glorfindel that Kili had insisted that elves liked bugs and that he should give some to the commander. Only to later learn from his mother that Kili had lied. Thankfully as soon as Glorfindel learned it was a prank on FIli by Kili, he understood and got a solid laugh out of it. The elf really had been utterly confused but it all made sense now.

Now, Glorfindel was searching for his friend in the hopes they might share a meal together and talk further. He had come to learn the dwarf knew very little of Glorfindel’s name other than there was a hero who had died that had the same name. The silly dwarf did not make the connection he <i>was</i> one and the same. Fin was Glorfindel, the bolrog slayer. An epiphat that he had never wished for but had taken it without remorse.

It had stung when Fili snorted at the story, how the Bolrog killed him by grabbing his hair and pulling him into the abyss. But at the same time he had understood, it was ironic - as the Dwarf had put it - that Glorfindel had fought in a war, had managed to defeat hundreds of enemies, even taken down a Bolrog, but the vanity all elves had which made them leave their hair fairly loose upon the battle field, was what had done him in.

Glorfindel had not thought of it before but it was true. Had he not let his hair be free it would not have been grabbed, he would have survived. Even now he never pulled it back truly, only was far mor conscious of it and the braids he used to keep the front out of his face. “Fili,” Glorfindel smiled at the dwarf and bowed in greeting.

“Fin.” His reply was terse but not uncaring. It seemed once again he was irritated by others looking to him without refused to what he was currently doing. Fili had once confided in Glorfindel that he didn’t even mind the stupid requests, it was when they were pressed upon him as he was doing something important that he minded.

“Would you like to come eat with me for the midday meal?” THe request barely left the elf’s lips, but FIli was already shoving all of his paperwork into Kili’s arms - the poor younger brother scowling - and making his way to Glorfindel’s side.

“Aye, Kili will be doing my duties for me while we go eat, part of his punishment for his cruel joke.”

“I said I was sorry,” Kili whined, but he knew his mother sided with Fili on this. Counting was not some trivial matter the be joked around with.

AFter the two had their meal, and Fili looking remorse knowing he had to go back, Glorfindel brought up what had been on his mind earlier. “Fili, I must go hunting soon, a pack of orcs were sighted nearby, by my scouts. We will be ridding the land of the pests and making sure none get close to the village.”

“Orca? Ye are sure they were sighted near?” When Glorfindel nodded Fili cursed. “I will gather a group of dwarves to hunt with ye-“

“No, Fili. This is how we elves shall repay you for the kindness you have allowed. Staying on your land may be mutually beneficial but few dwarves would offer this kindness up. I just request that you help me this even before I leave. It has come to my attention that my hair is a disadvantage in battle. WHile I am versed in putting it up for elven ceremonies, those styles are not fit for battle.”

Without thinking about it, Glorfindel reached out and touched a braid that surrounded Fili’s lips. “What are ye asking of me, Glorfindel? Do ye know?”

“I’m asking you to braid my hair, my friend. So that should an enemy grasp at it, I will not be felled again from some cliff.”

Fili looked infuriated as he tossed his mane of hair back, and tugged his braid free of the loose finger. “Fine.” His word was spat venomously and he stood, “I will be at your tent after the evening meal.”

Glorfindel did not know it, how could he when it was not part of his custom, but asking a dwarf to touch his hair was as intimate to the small men as sexual relations. His words stung and dishonored Fili. Calling him a <i>friend</i> as he touched a braid and asked for it in return, was saying he was no better than an easy fuck.

Fili was far too in love to say no though, so he took the insult and dishonor to his name. Showing up at the elf’s tent in a foul mood but still showing up because he did care. His fingers were rough but not unkind as he touched the long golden hair, he’d never seen hair this long as any dwarf with hair this length had long since put it up.Fili put in multiple braids, intertwining them at points to create a patter which would secure what was not put up before pulling all the hair together and tying it off with a leather strip.

What was left down was still one but would not flow far from his body and any grasp on it would be easy enough to remove. Glorfindel knew he could never recreate such an intricate style on his own, and was thankful for the dwarf’s help. But something about Fili looked <i>off</i> after and Glorfindel let the dwarf storm off without a word uttered.

There was no time to deal with this now and would have to wait until his return. PErhaps he had said something or asked something of Fili that was rude. But he had seen Fili braiding and pulling Kili’s hair back before, along with a female Dwarf’s. Thinking of this was just like riding in circles, getting him nowhere. Instead of worrying much further over it he heaved a sigh and left with his men.

“Lord Glorfindel…” One of his men rode closer and leaned over. “Did a dwarf do that for you?” He spoke lowly and GLorfindel narrowed his eyes, to speak so meant he knew something and hoped the others would not hear. So without a word Glorfindel nodded and noticed the grimace. “Was it a whore?”

Pulling on his reigns the horse reared before getting back under control and GLorfindel scowled. “You offer much dishonor to the one that did this for my by asking that.”

“Yes, but no more than you did by asking it of him.” THe elf had leaned away when the horse had reared and Glorfindel looked confused. “Dwarven culture states that hair is sacred in the sense of one another. Only family or one intimate may touch it. Even when they die none of their kind except their priests or family will bind their hair.”

Shocked by the revelation - now now understanding FIli’s fury - he reached back and touched the binding in his hair.

“Do not take it out.” The elf hissed quickly and urged his mount close once more. “You would dishonor him further. Think about it, if you had put flowers upon his head because he asked it of you, and then he removed it not long after…”

Glorfindel tore his hand away from the strap and nodded. Flowers were more sacred to his house than others so he understood deeply. Putting a crown of them upon FIli who thought of him differently, would be similar to what the dwarf had done for him. And if Fili returned later without the flowers he would be shamed like that of a petty bar whore.

“But I <i>do</i> think of him in such a way. I would be honored if he were to become my betrothed.”

The elf snorted and shook his head. “Would you sex a lady before offering to wed her?”

“I will fix this upon our return, thank you for bringing it to my attention.” Glorfindel urged his horse ahead and the elf fell behind, letting their leader think freely.

.~:*:~.

Glorfindel had not had the chance to meet with Fili since returning, but the looks dwarves gave him told him that the elf a fortnight ago was right. He had shamed FIli deeply. Finding the dwarf on the sparring field he made eye contact. Fili was about to start a bout and hesitated, only pausing long enough to remove his tunic much to the surprise of those around. Eyes fell upon Glorfindel once more and some sneered.

WAs this another dwarven culture problem? Did they remove tunics to spar? If so why had the other dwarf not? Why was it only FIli? Could this be because of his shame? As he watched FIli spar, noting every droplet of sweat that trailed down the dwarf’s frame, a woman came up to him.

Or he assumed it was as she- they, has chain jewelry going from their nose to multiple ear piercings. Their beard was kept short and the sideburns neat. Did that mean something? Considering how important hair was he thought so.

“Ye still wear his braids.” Her tone was not harsh, but curt. She was not pleased. “Ye should have removed them before returning. His shame would not be for all to see then.”

“You dishonor both him and I.” Glorfindel replied in a similar tone. He felt as if the repitition would never end. “I wear them still because I care. Do not mistake this as flagging him for something that was not intended. Elves are more lax about their hair than you dwarves and had I known, I would have started something with him first.”

She looked up at him in surprise. “Started something? Ye mean to ask my boy to be betrothed? AN elf and a dwarf, what insanity has this family been cursed with. Watch him carefully as he battles and congratulate him loudly, for all to hear. Win or lose, if ye do not, there will be no saving his honor.” The woman turned on her heel and left after that.

Glorfindel listened to her advice and when Fili bested his opponent he saw his untold queue, Blue dwarven eyes had flicked to him from where the owner stood, dripping sweat, in the middle of the field. “That was amazing FIli,” Glorfindel’s voice rang out and everyone looked at him once more. He might as well go all the way with this. “I’ve rarely seen such power as you displayed. A true master you must be. Come, let us eat and talk about what has been missed in my absence.”

Fili looked grateful and grabbed his tunic from the ground before going to catch up with the elf. Glorfindel supposed a proper talk could wait for tomorrow and for now a chat about what had happened in both of their absences was more paramount.

.~:*:~.

Fili sought out an elf after his meeting with Glorfindel and finally decided he needed to go to the source to do it right. His eyes had sought out a familiar face and upon finding it, he made his way to the tall elf that he figured was Glorfindel’s second in command. “Lord Elf,” He greeted and the elf bowed to him, knowing that FIli was in charge here and deserved respect for now.

“Master Dwarf.” The greeting returned could ahve been seen as rude but Fili was not so naive as to let the lack of names be anything more than simple unfamiliarity.

“I have a question for ye about yer customs, would you spare a few moments of time?”

“It seems to ahve taken you long enough to seek me out for this, a few moments will be of no concern.” When the elf stood up from the bow there was a cocky smirk upon his lips.

“I see one of ye are versed in my idiocy.”

…

Glorfindel sat in the open field, legs stretched before him but crossed at the ankles, just backing in the scent of flowers before him. Something light touched his head and was placed upon his brow. Carefully reaching up his fingers touched flowers and he blushed knowing it was a crown of them.

Looking over to the Dwarf he saw FIli smiling down at him and it dawned on him with this gift, what everything had been. “You have been courting me.” It was not voiced as a question and as such Fili did not reply. “Now you ask for my hand in marriage?”

“Aye, for it seems that my previous betrothal gifts while accepted were not understood.” Taking the crown from his head he looked it over, smiling at the arrangement before putting it back where it belong.

“Other gifts? More than just the hair?”

Fili looked surprised and blushed. “The hair was not a courting gift, it was cruel of me to accept and I did so in anger and hurt. I touched yer hair and put it on display for all to see that we were intimate but to ahve ye go out and about with it meant we were shameful.

“Nay, I meant the stone with Love inscribed, the hand crafted betrothal blade, ...the bugs Kili had told me were an elven courting gesture,” Glorfindel snorted at that, it made even more sense now why Kili was taking a harsh punishment for his actions, “and proving myself afore ye in the spar last eve. Had you not accepted that, there would be no hope now.”

“FIli, you should have just said something.”

“Tis not how courting goes.” The dwarf grumbled but stopped as Fin reached up to put a hand on his cheek and smile at him.

“Here, let me show you how we elves accept a crown of flowers.” Their lips met in their first, and not nearly last, kiss.

[ledenews]

Joe Myers: Living Life with a Love for the Subtle Things

It might be the most fatal filtering system in place in high school baseball. There have been Hollywood films about it. Men have made millions throwing it and others have lost careers because of it. It’s mysterious with its bite and impossible when its bottom falls out. Some call it, “The Kid Killer,” and others know it as the “ole bender.” IT is the curveball, a breaking pitch most fathers and coaches disallow for players in the younger leagues, but once it’s introduced the “deuce” immediately creates a contest between the cans and the can’ts. And Joe Myers couldn’t. The curveball was his Kryptonite. Swing and a miss most times.

Myers has learned a lot from his mentors in life, and that includes Dr. Carl Anderson. The Bishop Donahue first baseman was slick at the bag and he played through high school, but that was it. For playing, that is. By the time his younger brother Mike was putting up Hall of Fame careers at John Marshall High and the University of Charleston, Joe had become a local sportswriter and – that’s right – baseball was his beat. A dedicated husband, father, grandfather, AND community member, Myers was called into coaching, too, and he’s evolved into one of the most dedicated sandlot instructors in Marshall County. Joe has a scout’s eye, so he sees those rare and raw talents most kids don’t even know they have, and he helps those players develop into prospects with legit dreams. The vast majority of kids on his teams, though, will never be big leaguers let alone college athletes, and many of them come to the ballfield only to escape the troubles that exist outside the foul lines. And that’s just fine and dandy with Coach Joe because he believes every kid should get the chance to take their swings, even when life is slinging those curveballs.

A young player named Landis Dean recently reminded Myers how beautiful the game of baseball can be.

Why, in your opinion, is baseball the greatest game?

I am sure that baseball is the greatest game for me. I could ramble on about its parallels with life itself: Following the rules, working well with others, dealing with failure, etc.  Instead, I'll share a story: I still help coach Little Leaguers, and last summer I helped develop pitchers on a team of 9 and 10-year-olds. Mustang League limits pitchers to two innings per game, so you need three guys. But I like to use more than that.  So, I started working with a youngster named Landis Dean, who was extremely raw but willing to learn. He worked hard and at long last got a chance to pitch in our eighth game. My starter had lost the plate, walked two guys, so Landis was debuting with runners and first and second, nobody out in a tight game.  "Go get em, kid," indeed.  The first batter worked the count full before looping one off the end of the bat into no-man's land between the mound, first and second base. In Mustang League we call that a single, unless somebody kicks it -- then we call it a double. The two runners were off to the races. This one time, though, my second baseman raced in, dove and caught the ball. We threw it smartly around and, sure enough, turned a triple play!  I'll not forget the look of joy on Landis' face when he came running to the bench. I doubt he'd ever heard the term triple play before that day, but all of a sudden, we had another pitcher.  There's just a subtle magic to baseball that I don't find anywhere else.

If you could suggest one thing for a young player to do daily to become an above-average ball player, what would it be and why?

Catch the ball. If you can catch the ball you'll be in the lineup of any rec league team. Find a buddy to toss with, or just bounce a ball off a cinder-block wall. Have the ball in your hand at night while watching the Pirates and smack it into your glove. Feel the ball, be the ball.

Joe had the chance as a sportswriter to cover his younger brother, Mike, when he played for John Marshall and the University of Charleston.

Should Barry Bonds be in baseball’s Hall of Fame in Cooperstown? Why or why not?

I wouldn't vote for him. He's actually represented in Cooperstown with various artifacts -- record-breaking baseballs and bats -- but he knew the score when he decided to use performance-enhancing drugs. Bonds basically eliminated himself from induction.

What is your favorite sports movie and why?

Bull Durham. Funny and spot-on from a baseball standpoint, and a love story thrown in for the ladies. The mound visit scene was classic.

Family, of course, always comes first with Joe, and they do love to root for the Mountaineers together.

What’s the best thing about being a grandfather?

Grandparents have it made. It's our reward for raising kids that somehow lived to adulthood. My grandson Emmett is the best part of our world right now, and I can't wait to see what the future holds. May he be a pitcher? If only ...

The Myers family, including his wife, daughter Angela and son Joe Jr., enjoy a lot of functions around the Upper Ohio Valley. Read the full article

[voidlitmoon]

Familiar Faces, Connected Stories

So.... I am very late to posting it here XD sorry sorry, I kept forgetting, but its here! Finally we get to see the stinky trash man and slimey boi! Or at least partially

See with this part taking so long this part is going to be split into two CHAPTERS! Dont worry I made sure it left off at somewhere where it would make sense. Anyways @sugarglider9603, on with the show!

Ao3 link

Ao3 series link

Part 4 Part 5 (chapter 2)

Master Post

Words: 2,070

Summery: ' Virgil leaned back and stared curiously at his teammates, instinctively sliding a paw in front of his brothers, surprising the two. From their past prospective, Virgil always stayed back, uncomfortable with any form of pokemon battles. Yet here the youngest was, defending the two against pokemon he seemed to trust. Trust? Did he not?

The two Eevees shared a glace, one thing running in both their minds

was it possible to get their brother back? '

 

It's time we brought our good ol trash rat and slimey boi into the story

Well trash Eevee and.. ok Deceit is still a slimey boi but they're also here!

Chapter 1

Thomas stirred the boiling pot beneath a slowly darkening sky, making sure to watch the food so nothing burned. He wasn't the best at cooking, but he'd learned enough to make some food when stuck in the woods, and having a Logan helped quite a bit. 

"Hey!" He stumbled a bit as Roman crashed into his leg, the Eevee chasing Patton around. Roman shook his head, chirped up a sorry before going back to the chase. Thomas shook his head fondly, returning his gaze to the cooking stand "be careful guys, Virgil keep an eye on them" Patton and Roman cried out at Thomas' distrust,  but continued playing anyways as Virgil watched laying by the table.

After some time, Virgil occasionally snapping at Roman, Thomas was nearing down with the stew when crashing and yelps caught his attention. He whipped his head up just to see Roman and Virgil tangled together, the table fallen onto its side and the finished berry skewers astray across the ground. Patton ran over, sniffing as the two untangled themselves from each other. Thomas groaned.

"That's it! Patton, you're going to stay right next to me, Virgil and Roman, you're going out and getting us more berries" all three cried out as Logan shook his head from Thomas' shoulders.

"You two, don't even try. Virgil, I need you to keep an eye on Roman so he doesn't run off. And don't try me, I remember that giant pile of Oran berries you brought us" Virgil grumbled, hissing a bit at Roman before leading the way out of the clearing circle. Patton walked over, glumly laying down over Thomas feet. Thomas sighed, he could pick the table up later he supposed, focusing on the pot once again.

Not noticing the two pairs of eyes watching.

Eevee flicked his tail, the uniquely marked pokemon correctly predicting and stifling his brother's angry huff once again. Even with this action, he could understand his partner.

Because he was right there, right there! Their Eevee brother was walking away with another Eevee, telling the brown furred pokemon ('Roman' he believed) off for getting him mixed up in the other's mess. And then there was the trainer.

Eevee glared at the smiling human, stirring a large delicious smelling pot, two more Eevees laying on him. If it wasn't for their brother always being around the human or the other pokemon, they couldn't have gotten him back a while ago. Yet, they had learned their lesson after the chase, the marked Eevee stifling his own growl at the light gray Eevee laying at the trainer feet. If it wasn't for him especially, he remembered the day they almost got their smallest back.

"Please" his brother whined quietly "he's alone with just one of the Eevees, if he saw us he would help! Can't we just go get him now?" He shot a sympathetic look at the other Eevee, understanding his pain. The trash covered pokemon always had a bit of a stronger connection, not much but something more, as he was the one to find the small one in a dumpster. The other shuffled closer and he rapped a tail around his non blooded brother, keeping him close.

"No, you remember how strong, what was he called? Patton was, and you see how often they train. We wouldn't stand a chance" the other's ears lowered.

"I.. I just want him back" the other murmured, ducking his head into his fur, the cleaner of the pair giving a reassuring lick back.

The two jolted as they were brought back to reality, only realizing too late how loud they began to speak as a gray head poked through the bush they were hiding within.

The three Eevees stared at each other for only a moment before the marked Eevee leapt up, standing defensively between his friend and the pet, letting out a low growl. Its eyes merely blinked behind glasses before brightening.

"Oh! It's you!" Patton exclaimed, from the sound of it his tail swishing back and forth rapidly "whatcha doing here?" The tail swishing suddenly stopped as the shiny glared "you aren't here to try and steal Virgil away again, are you?"

The protective Eevee pushed the other behind him a bit, signaling to run, but the trash loving Eevee didn't budge. He sent a look back at the other, only to see the pokemon completely petrified. Oh right, last time they came in contact with Patton he knocked him out nearly immediately.

The shiny seemed to notice, blinking away the anger from his eyes "are you hungry? We wouldn't mind you joining us for dinner, if you wanted!" 

And now the marked Eevee froze, yet in confusion. Did.. he just offer food to them? With a trainer no less? He was about to protest when his stomach betrayed him.

Patton perked as the marked Eevee used his tail to bring his brother forward, keeping him close ".. I guess free food would be a stupid thing to pass up" Patton giggled before his head dissapeared as he ran back to the trainer.

"Wait" the trashy Eevee stopped him, "What are you doing? We, we can't-" "I know, but" the smaller yet protective Eevee hesitated "we, we might be able to see him again" the other looked down. This could be their only safe chance, heck the moment they see him the trainer might run them off. The realization they may not be able to be with their youngest brother again hit both hard, but at least seeing him, whether forced to stay with the trainer or (somehow) happy with his place, at least they would know.

The non blooded brothers looked at each other one last time before nodding, making their way through the bush.

Thomas kept a half an eye on Patton as he turned off the camping stove set MJ gave him, walking over with Logan still laying over his shoulders and picking up the knocked over mini foldable table. He went to pick up the dirty berry skewers when a chirp behind him caught his attention.

"So, what were you looking at Pat-" Thomas stood and turned around, only for Logan to let out a deep grown from his shoulders and surprise from himself.

"So" Thomas smiled, crossing his arms "we meet again" the two Eevees moved cautiously into view, Patton leading. He remembered these Eevees from a couple of months ago, yet he didn't think he'd be followed.

Patton chirped happily, running up to Thomas and nodded to the skewers. Thomas raised an eyebrow "you.. want then to join us for dinner?" Pattom chirped again, rising up onto his hind legs and pawing up in an honestly adorable manner. Thomas smiled, petting Logan's head to calm his fur.

"Alright, if they help us clean this up, they can join" The two Eevees seemed surprised by the news, but after Thomas explained where to put them, they rushed forwards to help.

With their help everything finished up quite quickly, Thomas starting a fire once again for when Roman and Virgil returned back. Virgil.

The trainer was now sitting in a camping chair, Logan still giving him a look of 'how dare you let these hooligans near my son and husband again', but Thomas blatantly ignored him, instead focusing on poking at the fire as Patton and the dirt covered Eevee rolled around, they one with marks around it's eye lazily watched the fire a few feet away from Thomas. He stole some glances at the strangers but inevitably realized they would commit no harm.

Though something, something was bugging him.

He sighed, dropping the stick some inches from the fires edge and leaning back in his chair, all the Eevees halting in their action and looking to the trainer as he huffed.

"Sometimes, I hate language barriers" he muttered, causing four heads to tilt, making the trainer chuckle.

"Well, I know you two tried to steal Virgil from us, you probably know him from somewhere" he waved at the wild Eevees "the only thing I don't know is, well, why" Patton and Logan perked in interest, as if realizing they never thought to think of that.

At that moment, the bushes started to shake.

______________________________

 

Virgil slightly winced as he picked up a falling Pecha berry, placing the berry back onto the pile. Originally the two were pulling the giant leaf topped of berries together, but berries kept rolling off, and with Roman really being the one punished, Virgil got the easy job.

 

Roman stopped for breathing break, panting slightly "c'mon Bluk Berry, please switch?" In response Virgil grabbed a Bluk berry and tossed it at Roman's face when he wasn't looking, getting a sad and insulted hiss back "nope, you got me into this, you get to do the labor Princey" Roman dropped his ears glumly "calm down you Drama Vespiquen, we're literally almost back" the idiot he called his boyfriend perked up at that, grabbing the leaf's strong stem and pulling backwards.

 

Not long afterwards they reached their final obstacle, Virgil making his way to the front and pulled the branches off to the side to make a clear path. As Roman dragged it through the same damn Pecha berry was knocked off the top, bouncing down to the ground. The dark furred Eevee huffed at it, letting the starter pass through before paddling forward and picking it up. No way he was going to leave a Pecha behind again.

 

He sighed, turning around and ducking his head, his slightly longer ears straight (or as straight as possible) back as he pushed through the bush. Seriously, why did they pick this way to come back as well, they could have moved anywhere and they came back the difficult route. He pushed his way through, his body escaping the bush only to bump right into the berry pile. Honestly it was a miracle nothing fell.

 

He placed the Pecha berry down, making his way around the pile "Roman, what the fu-" he stopped dead.

 

Roman stood in a defensive position, low growls escaping his throat. Patton perked up by a newly set fire, Logan glancing over from Thomas' lap. And then..

It

It couldn't be

He brushed against Roman, eyes wide as two pokemon he thought he would never see again stared back. Puzzle pieces he accidentally lost, ones he looked for for so long before accepting defeat.

 

One stepped forward, the stink from his fur not pleasant, but it wasn't horrible. It felt familiar in fact. The Eevee took a deep breath, before

 

"hey Little Trash" the Eevee smiled, surprisingly still in one place "did you miss us?"

 

The answer was given with Virgil tackling said sticky Eevee, purrs rolling out like a thunderstorm "its you!"

 

His brother laughed, quickly switching back to his chaotic playful nature and snapped up at the smaller, rolling them around.

 

"Hey! What about me?" The two tumbled apart, Virgil nearly bouncing up and, without noticing the completely confused gazes coming from Thomas, Logan, Roman, and Patton, bolted strait into the strangely marked Eevee, cuddling deep into the parental and brotherly figure, breathing in the long lost familiar scent. The trashy Eevee crashed into the pair, thankfully not knocking them over, joining the three Eevees into a long lost family hug.

 

It was something Virgil missed, the two scents were like a comfortable blanket, rapping around himself leaving all his worries outside. He didn't want to confront Thomas or the other, he didn't want to know if they would stay or not, Virgil just wanted to be here with them, and unbelievable, he was. He finally found half of his family he lost, he wouldn't lose them again.

 

Unfortunately though, time still existed, a attention grabbing cough came from Thomas crashing reality back down on the trio, the crackling of fire, the wind blowing through the trees

and the low growls coming from two of the other Eevees.

 

Virgil leaned back and stared curiously at his teammates, instinctively sliding a paw in front of his brothers, surprising the two. From their past prospective, Virgil always stayed back, uncomfortable with any form of pokemon battles. Yet here the youngest was, defending the two against pokemon he seemed to trust. Trust? Did he not?

 

The two Eevees shared a glace, one thing running in both their minds

was it possible to get their brother back?

[thefairefolk-rp]

Welcome to TFF, Bri! Your application for Orla Fang has been accepted!

OOC INFORMATION:

Name/Nickname:

Bri

Age:

22

Pronouns:

She/hers

Timezone:

EST

Activity and Availability (Please answer in words as well as rating your availability from 1-10):

I am a relatively slow writer and I work full-time, but I’ve been looking for a way to write in community. This will definitely be a priority for me! So I’d say my availability will be at least 6/10. I’m totally new to rps and tumblr, so it might take me a while to get up to speed on … literally everything. But I’ll get there!

IC INFORMATION:

Desired Character:

Orla Fang

Second Choice Character:

Ingrid Faolan

What made you choose this character?:

Orla caught my interest because of her many contradictions. I really love the idea of a character who is so set on a goal, but has increasing doubts about it. Who is she when the goal is done? If the goal is never accomplished? Right now, in the middle of striving for it? She allows herself so little, but that’s unsustainable (even if she’s been at it her whole life). That’s great ground for a growth arc.

She’s definitely going to be haunted by a lot of her father’s behavior, and have some unprocessed feelings about whether his torment was self-inflicted, or even merited. Due to her father’s disgrace, she has lived 600 years in a place she was taught not to call home, while her “real” home remains out of reach. Now, she’s in a Clan where family means very little, but it’s her driving value! I’m also excited to write all the little clashes and complements that come out of her taste for the fancy things of nobility and her more rugged, battle-ready life in the Wildlands.

Her goal might be to return to the Seelie court in favor, but her loyalty is not to the Seelie court — it’s to her family, and her late father. Add in the recent rocky reputation of good Queen Mab and the fact that the Wolf Clan allied with the Unseelie in the war, and Orla could really ally with anyone.

I also love the slight parallel between her and Luna Crow, made all the better for the blackmail dynamic between them. Both are pretending to be someone they’re not, and living in realities they only tentatively accept. I saw that Luna isn’t taken right now, but that’s still an exciting direction for the future!

Her aesthetic also really interested me. In keeping with some of the advice I read in a blitz of rp-101 articles, I’ve started a pinterest board and playlist for inspiration. Links here :)

Pinterest board: https://www.pinterest.com/brialikescheese/orla/

Playlist: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/5ralXJE5Uyo3D1YbfbxwgI?si=Z8btNQVVSDyIPIBFKIUXXw

Are there any changes you would like to make?:

Nope!

Questions/Comments:

Do you have any more resources available or examples of gif chatting?

What if I can’t find a lot of gifs/images of my face claim?

Do you recommend looking through other characters’ blogs to get a sense of how people start and continue plot threads? That seems really intimidating to me! Also, I don’t exactly know the ins and outs of reblogging and replying. But I’ll get there.

If I say something in my para that isn’t true (contradicted by earlier things) or not super convenient to future storytelling, will somebody tell me, and will I be able to edit it?

If my application is accepted, should I wait until the current event is over to kind of leap in? Starting cold intimidates me too. Are there any guidelines, recommendations, or examples for a starter?

Is it common practice for people in this rp to plot or worldbuild together?  I guess I’m trying to gauge the degree to which people prefer to plan out a detail or respond to it directly in the text. I’m sure it depends on personal preference, timing, and the importance of the detail too.

Is it okay to create random NPC characters to facilitate scenes in (self)paras? I’ve seen people mention unnamed guards etc., but what about recurring minor named characters?

I’ve seen xkit around a lot. Do you recommend that?

Writing Sample (Must be 300 words or more, third person limited, in the character you’re auditioning for’s point of view):

Orla ran a hand over the braids coiled at her neck, fingers catching on jeweled pins. One came loose. She turned it over in her palm — a silver branch twined around sapphires and diamonds. In the dim light of the carriage, its glittering gems seemed to laugh at her misfortune. Once again, she’d left the Seelie court with little more than petty gossip to show for it. No matter. She would return.

The carriage pitched on the cobblestones, growing uneven as they left Wisteria behind. Orla watched the gold arches and shimmering lanterns give way to thorn thickets and thin creeks at the edge of the Wildlands. Soon, these too would vanish, replaced by mountains, rolling mist, and ever-taller pines.

Until then, Orla was left to dwell on the city she was promised.

Orla passed the silver pin wordlessly to Sionnach, who sprawled beside her in comfortable silence. Sionnach slipped the pin into a leather pouch. She would know its proper place in Orla’s room, and see that it returned there.

“I will be late to the fires tonight,” Orla said.

“Of course,” Sionnach replied, but raised a brow. “I hope not too late. Your sparring partners need to keep their skills sharp.”

“Not too late,” Orla agreed.

“Good. You promised me a spar, remember.” Sionnach grinned. “And it will get less and less friendly the more you keep me waiting.”

Orla pressed her lips to avoid smiling.

“I’ll be there when you’re warmed up. You’ll need it.”

In the Wildlands, Orla disembarked from the carriage. If she were a mortal, or simply less attuned to the subtle cues exchanged between a warrior’s body and environment, the slim points of her shoes might have sunk into the earth, unbalancing her. Instead, she allowed a moment to savor the way the ground met her weight — with just enough give to ensure it could push back.

Sionnach followed. She tossed a handful of honey-braised carrots to the harnessed elk at the carriage head. She laughed as they nosed the matted grass and pine needles, and patted their necks. In Wisteria, Orla had pretended not to notice Sionnach pocketing food from the feast table while the nobles tittered and scoffed away. Gossip and carrots. Those were her spoils.

Within the round walls of her tent, Orla exchanged her court garb for sparring leathers and sat at her desk. Her eyes fell on the stack of books in its center. The spines were mismatched: one of green leather and another of brushed grey suede; still others wrapped in birchbark, woven reeds, and the stretched, pebbled skin of an unknown reptile. The casual looker would never guess they were all penned by the same author, which suited their purpose. Their one unifying mark had long since faded, but if Orla touched the spines, her fingers could still find the depressions of the name. In the right light — one candle, lit across the room, or the moon as it set — tiny flecks told of a time when the name was written in full gold leaf.

Azriel Black.

A name she hadn’t spoken aloud in quite some time.

That wouldn’t change today. She pulled out the journal bound in grey suede and thumbed the pages, skimming for the names of the nobles she had seen at court. Though the script itself was neat, reading it was no small act. Text filled a page and even turned the corner to fill it crosswise. Arrows arched between names and fell on diagrams and symbols. It got worse as the text went on. Some of the last  journals, Orla could barely stand to touch. She hated the ache in her chest they produced.

There. The names she was looking for. In the margins Orla wrote down all the details she remembered, even the most frustrating and inane. Lord so-and-so wore a waistcoat with abalone buttons, possibly sourced from that contentious new colony. Lady such-and-such laughed at a tasteless joke and stood guard by the pomegranate puff pastries all night.

She wrote until she ran out of white space. Just as well. Orla closed the book, and then her eyes. These fae were welcomed to city life, taking the parties and pastries as facts of life — things that were owed to them, by name, birth, and the guilelessness that kept them from ever hearing whispers of treason, let alone mustering the will to whisper it themselves.

She slipped the book between its neighbors and went in search of a weapon to suit her mood. Something heavy, tonight. Blunt. Court had soured her appetite for delicacy and grace.

One day, these journals and parties would amount to something. Everything would change.

Until then, the fires were lit, and Sionnach was waiting.