#1 week down of the 3 week trip and i've been out every single day up to things!!!!

[earlysunshines]

moonlight serenade

kindergarden teacher!sana x fem!reader. (pt. 3)

summary: sana finds you even cuter after seeing you in shark pj's, you two are hopeless lesbians, you drive sana home and it's more romantic than it should be – oh my god you're not a mother?

wc: 5.3k

warnings: mentions of food, i think that's it ; reader has tattoos ; u two are hopeless romantics ; lesbians being lesbians

pt 1. pt2. pt4.

a/n: I love jazz. I've been listening to jazz in a bakery/cafe while writing each part actually. pls listen to moonlight serenade by ella fitzgerald, it's a work of art and one of my all time favorites :-D

(are lyrics in fics corny? I have no idea. I just love jazz and thought this song was perfect for this part.)

trying to write as much before I move! enjoy ;-]

-

“Are you actually serious?” Jihyo says, placing her cup of coffee down. Sana pinches the bridge of her nose and lets out a small breath,

“Jihyo, I don’t know what to do,” Sana says defeatedly.

Two months have passed by and that means two months of seeing you every now and then. Johnny, your brother, has returned from his business trip, so he ended up being the one to take Hana to school in the morning and the one to pick her up in the afternoon. You, however, were not going to miss the chance to see this lovely woman named Sana. 5'4 inches of pure beauty and charm. So, you convinced him to let you take Hana to school once or twice a week just to see who you think is the woman blessed by Aphrodite. 

I mean, the temperature is dropping, and the warmth that spreads through your body when you see Sana is definitely something you need for this weather.

Every week Sana would see you in the morning once or twice. You two would exchange your friendly greetings before Hana goes off to chat with her new best friend Jiyeong, you’d stare at each other all lovingly (you two are oblivious, it’s sick), and then part ways. Rinse and repeat, reuse, reduce, recycle, etc, this went on for two damn months. 

Sana would never say anything more, she wouldn’t flirt, she wouldn’t ask you out, and she wouldn’t do anything but be friendly. She still believed that you were literally her student’s mother, and there was a guilt that got heavier every time her heart did a flip from seeing you.

Each interaction sparked a small flame in your hearts, and just before it grew bigger, you’d wave goodbye; the flame would die again, never growing large enough to really warm you two the way you both needed.

“Sana… I honestly have no clue what to say,” Jihyo starts, and she looks at the young teacher in front of her, practically losing her mind, “I mean, you’re sure she’s her mom?”

“Yes, I mean, the girl’s dad and her take turns dropping her off and whatnot. I'm not going to be more delusional than I already am trying to find anything that makes her seem less like a mother, I mean, it's clear that she is the mother of that girl.” Sana explains, and her heart sinks a little, “I guess her dad is nice, though, and tall, I don’t know.” Sana groans. 

Jihyo watches Sana stick out her signature little pout and swirl the coffee in her cup, 

“Well… There are always others, no?”

“I don’t know, it’s just something about her Jihyo,” and Jihyo listens with interest, “I just, ever since we met, I feel like, there was some kind of… god this is so embarrassing…” Sana trails off, putting a hand on her forehead and pinching her eyes shut from slight embarrassment. Sana reminisces the way you’d joke about Hana making your wrinkles appear if she kept it up with her little antics, how you’d make her laugh at your little comments, and the way your eyes scan the room for her in the mornings and -

“You’ve been a hopeless romantic since we were roommates, I’ve probably heard worse.” Jihyo sighs, and she reminisces about the days when Sana and she had to share a small single-bedroom dorm, and how she would gush about anything and romanticize everything. 

“Look, she’s just so pretty… Maybe we could just be friends? She’s sweet.” Sana suggests, and Jihyo laughs in disbelief.

“You want to be friends with someone’s mother that you also, or, might have a crush on?”

“Maybe.” 

-

You let yourself in through the front door with your spare keys, hanging your jacket on the coat hanger and sliding your shoes off, setting them on the shoe rack. 

There’s a faint melody of a slow, soft song playing, and there’s a low voice that hums along to the old tune. It fits the atmosphere of the quiet house on a Thursday night.

You creep through the hall quietly to see your brother in the dimmed kitchen washing a few plates. He’s in a navy long-sleeved shirt with its sleeves rolled up so water doesn't temporarily shade his apparel, and loose shorts that go down to just above his knees. His hair is a bit messy, and he looks nerdy with his circular black glasses on. You laugh at the sight of him in his pajamas and slides, he jumps a little and turns his head in surprise after hearing you.

“My god, at least text me.” He sighs, and you chuckle at him. You make your way over to the area where he is and sit across from him at the kitchen island, he directs his attention back to the dirty plate in his hand, “Did you need something?”

“Kinda.”

“You know where everything is, just grab it if you need it. Also, be quiet, Hana just fell asleep.” Johnny responds, turning off the sink and placing the white dish in the dishwasher. 

“It’s not a physical thing, I just… maybe some advice, or at least your thoughts.”

“...On?”

“There’s this girl,”

"Oh," He mumbles quietly, “You’re ready to date again?”

“I think so,” You begin, “She’s different you know. Not like that girl in high school. She’s actually the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen, and she’s sweet and nice and caring and-”

“How long have you known her?”

“Two months...”

“So it is Ms. Minatozaki.” Johnny scoffs, though, not in an insulting way, more of an ‘I fucking knew it’ way. He picks up a rag and starts to wipe it on the countertop.

You look at your taller brother in surprise, “How did you know?”

“Hana tells me all about you two y’know? Why else would you willingly wake up earlier than you should to drop off my daughter at school? And, she tells me that you ask about her teacher?” He laughs, “You’re not good at hiding things, never have been.”

“Hey!” You say defensively, and a little too loud as it makes him put a finger to his lips,

“Lower your voice.” 

“Sorry.” You mumble, laying your head on your palm. Johnny turns his body to face you instead of the counter connected to the sink that he had previously been wiping,

“Soooo, what are you going to do?”

“I don’t know Johnny.”

“You think she likes you?” He asks, genuinely curious about your new interest. Johnny grabs two glasses of water and places them on the counter, then sits down to the right of you, making sure to give his full attention to you. 

Johnny has always been a good brother, and you two had your necessary brother-sister moments where you were at each other's throats; in fact, you’d bicker all the damn time and it even went on into high school. However, you two always had each other’s backs. Even when you hated each other there would be moments where you two were the only ones who understood each other, and sometimes time seemed to stop when you’d talk about the deeper topics and anything bothering you two. 

And so, time slows down as Johnny listens to your rant.

“We’re friendly, I mean, what am I thinking? I feel slightly delusional I won’t even lie,” You sigh, “She’s so pretty and sweet and I just, I really want to get to know her. Like ever since I met her I felt like… It’s so corny but I swear the world literally paused for a moment.” You add, shifting your look away from your older brother.

How are you supposed to tell your brother that this woman that you’ve known for two months is making you lose some sleep, and, by the way, you haven’t even had a full conversation with her either. You think of the woman that you go out of your way to run into and see for ten minutes a day total, twice a week. You think of her radiant smile that rivals the sun's rays, the voice that’s more soothing than any song on your playlist, and the way her eyes light up when she sees you, and -

“You’re head over heels, huh,” Johnny says, amused.

“Don’t be ridiculous, I barely know her.” you lie,

“Well, you could.”

“And how am I supposed to do that? ‘Oh hey I think of you day and night just because I think you’re cute and nice and I think I almost overfilled a cup of cold brew while daydreaming about you, uh maybe we could go out sometime?’”

“Maybe don’t say that much, dumbass.” Your older brother says playfully, “Just start with a compliment or something, you seriously suck at this romance stuff.”

“Thanks,” You mutter, rolling your eyes, “But what if she thinks that’s weird? I’m literally her student’s aunt.”

“Maybe,” Johnny sighs and finishes the water in his cup, “Maybe you should get some rest, y/n. If you lose sleep over this woman who you’ve never had a full conversation with, imagine how much sleep you’ll lose when you finally do.” He stands up and makes his way over back to the sink to rinse the glass cup you had gotten him for his last birthday, “So, maybe you should catch up on rest now and rant to me when you finally have the balls to actually make a conversation with her, then I could actually give you some decent advice."

“You suck.”

“I want to give you my feedback and advice, but this is literally all I can say right now: ask her out and come back to me.”

“This is too much.”

“You’re a loser, y/n.” Johnny jokes, and he takes the cup that you hadn’t touched away and then rinses it.

-

You don’t even get to plan anything or prepare yourself for your next interaction with Sana, and you look stupid when you run into her too.

You’re at the nearest convenience store in an oversized t-shirt that was your brothers’, the gray shirt with a shark graphic on it that was too comfy to not steal. Paired with that tee were plaid shorts and white socks with more sharks on them that you had gotten from Hana last Christmas, along with grayish-green clogs on your feet. 

You were dressed like a college student that was on a budget, and of course, you had to run into the woman of your dreams at a convenience store at 12:24 am on a Friday night while looking stupid.

Sana had run into you while you scanned the drinks section. You didn’t notice her calling out your name while there was pop music playing in your earbuds, and when you turned to see who had tapped on your shoulder your eyes widened.

Sana held a small basket in her hand, and she wore a purple sweatshirt along with gray sweatpants, much more presentable than what you were wearing. Your face goes red as you realize that she’s caught you looking ridiculous, all while she looks perfect.

Her hair is clipped up and some strands fall over her face, and she looks so unbelievably adorable just standing there smiling at you.

“Hi.” She says, looking you up and down. 

She scans your whole look and gets a little flustered by how precious you look. Your hair is messed up and disheveled at the roots, as if you’d just gotten out of bed and ran a hand through it. The oversized t-shirt drowned your figure in comfort, and your inked, toned forearms were revealed. The t-shirt you wore had a cute shark graphic on it, Sana had guessed that your daughter had something to do with why you had that shirt. She smiles at the sight of you in such comfy clothing, looking lovely as ever while you stare back at her. 

“Hey.” You respond, taking out an earbud,

“It’s surprising to see you here y/n,” Sana giggles, “Thirsty?” She questions, and she’s peeking at the vitamin water in one of your hands.

“I guess so.” You mumble, biting the inside of your cheek and putting a hand in your pocket, “It’s pretty surprising to see you here too.” You add. Surprising, but wow, definitely lucky. When would you ever see her looking so comfy and out of her workplace looking so cute? 

Sana giggles and you feel like a huge gust of wind has hit you so suddenly, about to hit you off your feet. You smile brightly. 

“I couldn’t sleep, I wanted something to snack on,” Sana shrugs. You glance at her basket and see some spicy turtle chips in the basket,

“Eating something spicy at this time is new to me, most people would have something warm, no?”

“Maybe.” Sana mutters, “I like your outfit, by the way.” 

Your ears turn red again and you look down at your clothing, “Yeah… It’s a shirt from Hana’s dad, haha, that’s why it’s so big.”

Sana’s heart sinks a bit at the mention of Hana’s dad. 

Sana and Johnny had met other times, and Sana thought he was nice, sweet, and she can't lie he does has a nice smile, but not as nice as yours. He treated Hana with care; Sana could tell he loved her dearly, as much as you did. 

“I see, I like it. The two of them must love sharks, she always draws them during class.”

“She and her dad are very similar, lots of shark things in the house. I prefer koalas.” You reply. You wonder why the hell you’re mentioning koalas at this time, at this moment in this place, but it doesn’t matter because it seems to spark some kind of conversation with the woman in front of you, and Sana thinks it’s cute, actually. 

“Koalas?” She questions amusingly, "They’re cute. I think hamsters are cuter, though.” 

“hamsters?”

“Mhm.” 

You chuckle at her response and wonder, how does she get cuter every time? Sana turns her head to eye at the drinks, then makes her way to the refrigerator door to grab one for herself, she grabs a canned iced americano and turns her body to face you again, 

“Do you live near? I feel like I would’ve run into you sooner if you did.” Sana says, looking at the can in her right hand. 

“Uh - no. The nearest convenience store closes at 12, so I just drove around until I found one open.” You answer, “Do you live near?” You ask. You wonder if the question is too weird or creepy to ask, I mean, this is a woman you don’t know too well, and would it be weird to ask a person you find so attractive where they live?

“Kind of. It’s a fifteen-minute walk, maybe less, give or take. The one right next to my place is closed too.”

“You walked? At this time?” You question her. Worry takes over your whole body because she walked alone? In the dark? At this hour? 

Sana just hums in response, “Yeah, the neighborhood is really quiet and not too bad.”

“Still, you should’ve driven or something.”

“I don’t drive.” She simply states. You furrow your brows. She just stares back at you with those big brown eyes, it almost makes you forget about worrying.

She walks past you and heads to the self-checkout, you follow. There's a sudden idea that pops up in your mind, and you usually wouldn't be so bold to suggest or ask anything so direct, but it's twelve in the morning and your mind is too scrambled to make or think of any decent decisions.

“Sana,” You murmur, voice just barely above a whisper as you find the confidence for what you’re about to say, “Uh- this might be a little weird to ask, but, um…” You stutter, why the hell are you stuttering? She’s staring at you with those large espresso-colored eyes that remind you of your job at the moment, and the longer she stares back at you the more your mind races. This woman has your heart doing flips and pounding through your chest, you can barely manage your thoughts and words,

“Yes?”

“Uh, could I take you home?” You finally say, barely managing to make eye contact with her and it’s a humbling experience as your usually leveled (at least you think) demeanor crumbles under the presence of this woman.

“You don’t have to. It’s late and I don’t want to cause you too much trouble, y/n.” 

“I’d be much more troubled if I knew you were walking home alone at this time, I insist.”

“Alright then. Let me pay first.”

You pause for a moment and Sana just turns back around, scanning the chips and canned coffee she had in her basket. It’s almost 12:30 now, and a pretty girl is letting you take her home. This wonder of the world is letting your disheveled self take her home.

-

“You have a nice car,” Sana says. She's never had a thing for cars or really knew too much about them. She's only paid attention to Jihyo’s five-seat white Lexus and the black, modified BMW that belonged to her childhood friend Momo. Other cars don't really matter or stand out to her, but Sana’s interest in you grows when she first sees the green Mercedes. Five-seated car looks nice and neat from the outside, for some reason, it really catches her attention. When she sits in the passenger seat she’s hit with the smell of coconut and vanilla. There are two things hung from the internal rearview mirror: One, a small keychain of a koala, and two, a picture of you and Johnny.

Sana can’t help but smile at the picture of you two, you two look happy.

You start the engine and put on your seatbelt before putting the drink you bought in the cup holder. You press on the screen in your car and a slow jazz melody plays. Of course, it had to be a love song. 

“I’ve never seen your tattoos up close, they’re really pretty.” Sana suddenly says as you start to move out of where you were parked. Her eyes scan from your upper forearm, where the tattoo started, and down to where it ended just below your wrist, “I only saw a bit of them when you had dropped Hana off the first day.” Sana added.

She wanted to add on about how she also noticed the tattoo just under your knuckles too, and how she found the ink on your skin so endearing. She wanted to tell you all about the things she found attractive about you. From the noticeable things like your bold features to the little things she’s noted in her mind from every meeting. The way you’d always run a hand through your beautiful hair once or twice, the eye contact you couldn’t hold with her, the way you bit the inside of your cheek when you were quiet, the way your fingers often tugged at the beaded bracelet on your hand, how cute it was to watch you say bye to your daughter, and various other little details. Sana wanted to tell you all about those things, but that would be incredibly weird, right?

“Oh, yeah, thank you. I got the tattoo on my forearm a couple of years ago. Hana picked out the butterfly on my hand last year, actually.” You say, looking at the screen of your car as you back up a bit, making sure you don’t hit anything. 

“Oh, also, you can type the address on my phone. Here.” You add, handing her the device. Sana types in her address quickly and it pops up on the screen. It’s a quick 4-minute drive, and you both wished it were a bit longer.

The music continues to play softly while you two sit in silence, and it somehow makes the mood a bit more intimate whilst the faint sound of Ella Fitzgerald's voice echoes,

I stand and I wait 

For the touch of your hand in the June night 

The roses are sighing 

A moonlight serenade

Your breath hitches, “Um, you can change the song if you want…” You say embarrassed. Sana shakes her head and mumbles, 

“It’s alright. I like it, It’s cute.” She admits, making you blush a bit. You grip the wheel a little tighter as you stop at the red light. The heartfelt lyrics fill the air with a romantic hum, and only the tender melody is heard as you sit together in silence.

The stars are aglow

 And tonight how their light sets me dreaming 

My love, do you know 

That your eyes are like stars brightly beaming?

Sana’s heartbeat skips a little knowing that you listen to such romantic melodies, and she wonders if you love as romantically as such songs. Her mind wanders to the thought of you serenading her in the moonlight, or serenading her in a more domestic setting. The sudden thought of you humming along to these tunes while you cooked or cleaned allowed made her cheeks flush a bit. Jihyo was right: Sana is a hopeless romantic. She’s too far in to get out of the hole of these feelings, and her heart aches a little, the guilt piles up.

You on the other hand are freaking out.

Sana likes your lovey-dovey taste in music, and she seems content (Sana's having a crisis). Maybe you do have a chance with this woman, I mean, she’s already in your car and letting you take her home. Maybe you can do this again, maybe you can listen to songs like this together in a more intimate setting rather than your car, and maybe you can do more than just listen to Ella Fitzgerald together. All the maybe’s in your head are cut short as you reach her place and park in front of her apartment complex. 

“We’re here.” You mutter, and you wish you weren’t.

Sana nods and reaches for the eco-friendly bag she had set down, unbuckles her seatbelt, then turns so that her eyes stare into yours with a new intensity. She puts her left hand on your right hand that had been gripping the gear shift ever so gently, your jaw tenses a bit and your left hand that had been on the wheel tightens its hold once more. She looks from your eyes to your lips, then back to your eyes again. Your heart is suddenly an acrobat the way it's doing so many flips.

“Thank you again, I appreciate it.” She says, and her other hand is on the handle of the door, ready to get out, but she doesn’t.

“Anytime, I didn’t want you to be out alone at this time.” you wonder how that sentence leaves your mouth so calmly because your heart is beating at least two hundred times per minute. 

Sana’s lips curve into a smile again and you relax a bit,

“Well,” Sana starts, and she opens the door, “I’ll see you soon?”

“I’m picking up Hana on Monday.”

“Great. See you then, y/n.” She finally says, turning away and getting out of the car. You two look at each other again and your eye contact lingers a bit before she finally closes the door, waves, and turns to head inside the apartment complex. 

The music continues to play, and your heart longs for her once again.

I stand at your gate

And I sing you a song in the moonlight 

A love song, my darling 

A moonlight serenade

-

A week passes after this encounter, and Sana is currently giving the kids an announcement that might have them jumping off the walls.

“Alright everyone in your seats please.” She says kindly. The students listen to her and shuffle to their seats, some chatter being shared as they do so. Sana claps her hands in a pattern to bring the students’ attention to her, and they clap their hands the same way that she had, quieting down in the process.

“Alright everyone, before I make this announcement, I need everyone to behave and not get too rowdy, okay?”

“Yes Ms. Minatozaki!” The class answers enthusiastically. Sana nods and smiles at them,

“Alright. So, there’s a special trip that is planned for you all next week.” She begins. The kids' faces start to light up after hearing the words “special trip” and almost all of them are itching to get more details on it. Sana’s face seems to light up with theirs from just looking at the excitement on their faces, so she continues,

“Next Wednesday we will be spending the day at the art museum downtown. There are going to be multiple people guiding you throughout the museum, and you’ll be able to learn about the art.” Sana explains, “And, at the end of the trip we’ll all meet back at a special room where you can paint along with an instructor.”

The kids’ smiles grow even wider, some are whispering to each other while others continue to keep their attention on the young teacher. 

“Now, I also wanted to add that we will be needing some chaperones to help look after the class. I have some papers that I’ll give to you, make sure you show them to your mom, dad, or guardian. If they’d like to tag along to help out that would be great, and highly encouraged.” Sana says, pulling out a pile of papers from her desk, she begins to pass around said forms.

-

An hour passes and it’s free choice time. Hana walks up to the young teacher with the form that Sana had previously handed out. Sana smiles at the young girl and tilts her head,

“What is it, Hana? Is everything okay?” The young teacher questions,

“Um, Ms… What does guardian mean? You said mom, dad, and guardian earlier. Does that mean grown up?” Hana asks, and she looks at the paper as if her five-year-old self can read the whole thing with ease, 

“I guess so. It’s an adult who takes care of you.” Sana explains to the girl. The girl hums to herself and furrows her brows,

“Does that mean y/n can come?”

“Of course, she’s your mom isn’t she?” Sana asks, and she’s confused as to why the girl looks up at her in surprise,

“My mom?” 

“Yes… She’s your mom, no?”

“Ms. Minatozaki, Y/n is my aunt.” 

Sana’s whole world stops for a moment. Y/n is her aunt? 

“So your dad and her are…?”

“Y/n is my papa’s younger sister, she always jokes about him being so old,” Hana says, laughing to herself.

Sana genuinely stops functioning as she processes this new information: You’re not taken. Fireworks set off in her heart and confetti seems to pop: you’re not her mom. All the guilt that had been on her shoulders from thinking she was infatuated with a taken mother is gone, and it all makes sense now. Sana wonders how stupid she could’ve been, I mean, you and Hana’s dad had similar features, face shape, hair texture, and color. The young teacher had also realized that Hana only called you by your name, and not “mommy” or “mom” or anything like that; how could she have been so stupid?

“Ms. Minatozaki?”

“Oh, yeah, yes Hana. Y/n can come, of course, she can.” Sana says, and she really hopes you do come. Hana smiles and looks back at her paper before talking to her teacher again,

“You know, my aunt, she asks about you a lot.” 

“She does?” Sana says, her heart skips a beat. Hana nods and looks back up at the teacher,

“She always asks about how school was, but she always ends up asking more about you and how you were during the day.” Sana’s eyes widen and she looks at the young girl in front of her, exposing you for being so interested in her. 

The flame in her heart grows bigger, and it seems that the flame has no intention of dying down now that she knows you’re not Hana’s mother. Hana turns around and makes her way back to her desk to color after seeing that Sana wasn’t capable of responding again, and Sana doesn't even notice. Hana sits down unbothered, not knowing that she just turned Sana’s whole mood around, not knowing that this new piece of information will have her daydreaming the rest of the day – no, the rest of the week – maybe the rest of the month.

-

The school day comes to an end and the usual routine occurs: bell rings, kids scream, talk, and practically leap out of their seats to get in line to go to the entrance of the building. Sana waits with her usual group of eight, which includes Hana, and she hopes that today would be the day that you decided to pick her up. You had already picked Hana up on Monday, but now it’s Wednesday and those are the days that Hana’s dad would usually pick the little girl up, great.

-

Forty minutes pass and Sana sits down at the main office with Hana, no one had come to pick her up yet. Hana seems to be unbothered by this as she colors and draws on the sheet of paper that Sana had given her to cure her boredom, but she worries slightly since Jihyo still waits for her in the front. 

Sana texts Jihyo a string of apologies and explanations and before she reads the instant reply, the sound of heavy breaths are heard as a familiar face enters the room, looking around all worried until her body relaxes when she sees her niece.

Y/n lets out a sigh of relief seeing Hana sitting down, coloring as if there wasn’t a single problem in the world. Her look shifts over to Sana, who is already looking at her. Their eyes meet and it makes the two women smile at one another.

“Hana,” your voice makes the little girl turn her head. She smiles and runs up to hug you, leaving her art on the desk,

“Aunt y/n!” And this is the first time Sana hears the little girl actually call you her aunt, she wishes that she would’ve called you aunt earlier (it would've saved her sleepless nights of wondering what the hell to do with her feelings, but at least she knows now). 

You hug the little girl back and swipe away the strands of hair on her face, “Hi little one. Your dad had something come up at work, I rushed over as soon as my shift ended.” You explain. You turn back to share eye contact with the young teacher, eyes narrowing and lips curving upwards as you smile at her, “Thank you for watching her, I’m sorry for being so late.”

“It’s all right, really.” It’s more than all right, Sana thinks. 

You grin again and turn your attention back to your niece, “Ready to go?”

“Yup!” 

“Okay little one, come on.” and you crouch down to let her wrap around your shoulders, letting her piggyback ride you. You grab the art that your niece had made on the table and finally stand in front of Sana, thanking her.

“I’m sorry again, thank you so much.”

“It’s no problem, it’s nice to see you again,” Sana admits, a bit shyly too. The grin that’s already present on your lips grows and you wave to the shorter woman,

“I’ll see you.” You finally say, waving with your free hand and turning your head to the little one, “Let’s get going, your dad will be back by dinner.” You mutter, and Hana hums tiredly in response before you head out the main office doors, taking a quick glance at Sana, smiling again.

…

Jihyo’s going to lose her mind when I tell her all of this, Sana thinks to herself.

[swampstew]

1-800-GRANDLINEBLING ♥ Call Me On My Shell Phone

To celebrate 1K+ followers, I opened up phone lines to the crews! Part 3 of 3 ~ X reader with Franky, Brook, Zoro, and X2 Law for @lil-skelly-bones @starblazer124 @sunshinegat0r @strawheart-pirate @writing-yarn-goblin Part 1 | Part 2

You are now being connected to...

Purururu purururu puru—

Franky: What's cookin' good lookin'? My crew is going to be making port in a few days and I wanted to know if you want to hang out. I mean, only if you enjoy going to shows and concerts and stuff. You know me, I always bring the party. Stop playing, you know you love hanging out with me. Heh is that so? Alright, I can do that. I look forward to seeing you. We're gonna have a SUPER Great Time!

Maybe the best thing I've ever done was wait. I made an art form out of endurance. You were worth every single moment - Tyler Knott Gregson

Brook: Yo-ho-ho! Hello my dear, I deeply apologize for the lag in communications recently. The lines were dead, just like me! :D Thankfully, we'll be reaching land in a days time and I was hoping you'd have some freedom in your schedule to pencil me in! You do? Wonderful! I'll be there posthaste. I've brought you some more trinkets and oddities I think you'll enjoy, and as always, I'm the oddest! YOHOHOHO

A friend is someone who knows all about you and still loves you ― Elbert Hubbard

Zoro: Hey, how have you been? Good, listen um I'll be in your area and I was wondering if you wanted to hang out. I know you like going to the botanical gardens and I know there are some you've been wanting to go to, I can take you if--oh? Yeah no sure, that sounds good. Alright, I'll see you in two days. Yeah yeah I missed you too...

You weren't surprised when you got a follow up call to pick Zoro up. Allegedly, there had been an issue with his transportation and when you pulled up to the scene, you were very confused about the minivan full of yarn and wool that Zoro was resting on.

"Hey! This was my ride until it broke down. I replaced the tires but I don't know shit about engines so we called roadside assistance. As thanks for the tire replacement, these ladies will give you as many spools of fiber you want. Go nuts."

With an excited squeal, you picked a conservative number of spools before throwing your arms around the Marimo who blushed profusely. He helped carry them to your car and the two of you began your trek to the botanical gardens.

The first stop - and to Zoro's horror - an outdoor garden with a hedge maze.

After getting lost and hitting your sixth dead end, he let out a frustrated sigh, " You're supposed to be the one with directional skills."

"I wanted to see how bad with directions you really are," you teased him back.

"Heh, well now you know I'm unreliable," he gave you a sheepish smile. "Speaking of, I know you said you had some accrued vacation time. I was wondering if you'd like to come with us on our next voyage. We ship out next week. I could use really use the help to not get lost...if that's something you're into..."

You didn't waste a second, "Yes! I mean, if you really want me to come with."

Zoro gave you a surprised look, "TCH of course I want that, why do you think I asked? It sucks being away from my---," he looked at you with wide eyes, "My...my..." he trailed off.

"Your what?" you asked with big does eyes.

"From...us...you..." he finally drawled out. The seconds dragged before Zoro put on a brave face and tentatively kissed you for the first time. "So if you want to like...be with me or whatever...you should travel with me."

Law: Hey honey, I hope you've been well. Listen, I'll be coming ashore sooner than expected so don't make any plans alright? I want to take you out and spend all my shore time with you before the next trip. I'm looking forward to cuddling in bed and trying out those new restaurants you told me about. I also picked up an indie game from the last island I visited, I know you're going to love it. I'll see you soon!

There is something about falling in love with a beautiful mind that makes me crave their skin. As if gripping onto the back of his shoulders whilst my body is pressed beneath his is all I've left to save me from drowning - Cindy Cherie

Law: Buenas tardes, amorsita. Did you eat lunch already? Good, good. No, I'm not doctoring you - I'm just making sure my girl is doing well. Can't help it. Heh - you're always spicy, mami. I'll be visiting in a few days, can I take you out? Really, I can stay with you? You're so sweet. Ok, can't wait to spoil you when I see you. Vegan donuts? Say less, I'm there! See you soon.

"Here, I know it's not that cold out, but you'll need it for later," Law smirked at you as he handed you an oversized bag. Opening it, you found a magenta colored fur coat - not all the different from his own blue coat.

"Oh? What's going on later?"

"Nope, you're not allowed to ask questions. Go pack a bag and I'll set up lunch. I also got you this cute headset for when we game together," he said with a shy smirk.

You knew Law was a romantic, deep down, and it was so cute seeing himself open up like that to you, so early in your new relationship too.

"Let's just say, I'm going to sweep you off your feet tonight, and every night we spend together."

[highways-are-liminal-spaces]

are there really that many bears in Alaska? asking bc you often include a very cute bear in your photo sets

It depends what part of Alaska you're in!

Juneau is absolutely overrun with Black Bears. They move around a bit, so sometimes you won't see any for days at a time, but also if you live there long enough, you're basically guaranteed to encounter a few "trash bears" just poking around garbage cans right in the downtown area. They're the hardest to see when they first start waking up because they can be anywhere, but then they get much more consistent with certain food sources. Driving past the dump, you often see them rolling around in the adjacent fields. Throughout late spring, they like to graze on the wildflowers along the roadsides, and you can often see the really little cubs with them. When the salmon run starts later in the summer, there are a few spots you can go where bears are basically a guarantee. Throughout the first 2 weeks of August and then again in the first week of September (i.e. the chum and then the pink runs), I could think to myself "I want to go see the bears today" and go see the bears. On my best day last summer, I had a total of 12-13 (with one that might have been the same bear twice).

We don't really get Brown Bears in Juneau—they show up every so often, but mostly if you want to see them in the area (and you should, because they're the really cool giant ABC Islands Bears, which are almost as big as Kodiak Bears), you need to head out to one of the islands like Admiralty, which has the world's highest bear: human population ratio (3:1!).

When I lived in Anchorage over a summer, I saw no bears around the city (though people often do!) and had to drive down the Kenai to see any Black Bears that whole year. They get Brown Bears down toward Seward and Homer too, but pretty rarely, and I've never seen one around there. On the other hand, I've never been to Denali and not seen multiple Brown Bears. And then any location you would go on trips specifically to see bears because of a seasonal food source like a salmon run (e.g. Katmai, Pack Creek by Juneau, Fish Creek in Hyder, Kodiak, Lake Clark, etc. (though I haven't done those last two yet)) will have dozens of bears around during the season.

And then there are some parts of the state (Interior and Far North) where bears are common but there is just so much space for them that you're less likely to encounter them. I have been hiking around Fairbanks a decent amount and, while you definitely have to take serious bear country precautions, I've never actually seen a bear around there. I've driven the whole Dalton Highway twice, where Brown Bears are very common, and I've only seen one over the course of a total of 8 days and almost 2000 miles covered. The Alcan route I drive on the other hand, which crosses Interior into Yukon, usually has bears—over the course of driving it three times, I've seen 5 Brown Bears and 3 Black Bears, and I've been told I had "pretty bad bear luck" on those trips (my friend Alex once had a single trip count of 9 Brown Bears and 7 Black Bears!).

I was trying to estimate the number of bears I have seen in Alaska, but it is essentially completely impossible. Definitely over 100 individuals of each species! Single days that stand out to me are that one 12 bear day in Juneau (that was at the Shrine during the end of the pink salmon run), one day driving the main road into Denali when we had a total of 22 Brown Bears and started having to drive right past them since we wanted to have time to look for other wildlife, and the only time I've been to Brooks Camp in Katmai, when we had a conservative estimate of 48 total Brown Bears.

This turned into a very long answer (can you tell I love talking about bears!) but basically: tl;dr yes there are a metric fuckton of bears in Alaska.

[midnight-moth-musings]

The Butcher's Boy, Part 3: The King

John "Soap" Mactavish x reader, medieval au

Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4

---

The grey-blue sky extends infinitely through the edge of my peripherals. My fingers are tickled by blades of grass. The tendrils prickle against the exposed skin of my palms. The air smells of wildflowers, fresh dirt, and vaguely of burnt firewood. I lay flat on the grass without a single care in the world. I feel as though I'm almost floating amongst the many birds of the sky in between clouds.

My body is grounded by the sudden movement of another's skin against my forearm. My head turns over as I smile at the man beside me--a blade of grass now tickling my nose.

"Ye enjoying it here, bonnie?" I'm met with the crooked grin of my blue-eyed, handsome companion.

"It's beautiful here. Thank you for bringing me out here Johnny." In the past week, Johnny has stayed true to his word--accompanying me on trips I take after sneaking out of my home.

"Aye. Well, it's not the most beautiful sight I've seen."

My brow quirks curiously. "What, then?" Johnny looks back up to the sky for a moment in thought before turning back to face me. His hand reaches out cautiously before resting against the edge of my cheekbone.

"You." He whispers softly. I would roll my eyes at the cheesiness of the statement, if he didn't gaze at me so seriously. We lay in a comfortable silence for a few moments and I notice his eyes flicker down to my lips. I repeat the motion, praying he cannot hear the thumping of my heart against my chest wall.

"Johnny." Our heads lean closer and I hear the grass crunching underneath us.

"Bonnie." He murmurs. My heart begins pounding faster. "Can I kiss you?" His blue eyes flicker back down to my lips. My breath catches in my throat and words begin to fail me, I simply nod. "I need to hear it, dove."

"Please." My voice barely expresses the plea before his lips brush against mine. At first, his lips feel soft and gentle against my own--almost as if he fears I will pull away. My hands finally interpret the signals of my brain and reach out to grasp his shirt tightly to pull him closer. His hand moves slowly down my cheekbone to the back of my neck. Our lips remain interlocked until we have to part for air. Johnny pulls away carefully to rest his forehead against mine as we catch our breath.

We both smile instantaneously and Johnny grabs me by the waist to pull me closer. I laugh in his arms as he squeezes me tightly--kissing my cheek and forehead tenderly. With each kiss, my heart skips a beat. We spend hours in that meadow together, trading kisses until the sun begins to set.

---

Johnny accompanies me home, sending me inside with a kiss and a promise to see one another the next day. I slip past the gates quickly and enter the manor hoping to avoid the Clara's questioning. A cold hand wraps around my wrist just as I close the door and I gasp as I'm turned to face the stern expression of my mother.

"Where have you been?" My mother grips my wrist tighter as she inspects my dirty dress and disheveled appearance. "Your dress is covered in dirt! And you come home at sunset!"

"I-I was--" She cuts me off quickly by raising her hand, shaking her head in disappointment.

"I will not hear any of your excuses. You are late for the ball tonight. How do you expect to earn the King's hand in marriage if you show up late to his events?" With a huff, she gestures to our nearby housemaids and they bring me upstairs to get dressed for the ball. Every sharp pin poking into my head, every tightening of my corset, and every scolding of my mother causes me to press my nails deeper into my palms--crescent moon bruises forming along them as evidence of my frustration. After I have been dressed and I no longer recognize the woman staring back in the mirror, I am ushered quickly by carriage to the ball. My mother mutters to herself the entire ride and I can only hope to pass the time by holding onto my day with Johnny. I try to hold back a grin as I envision all the ways to ruin a possible courtship between me and the King.

---

We reach the palace quickly and my mother drags me quickly inside. "Ah! You have not missed the introduction." She smiles in relief before pushing me in line. I grab the skirts of my dress with a huff as I join the other women. A few minutes later, a booming voice from inside the doors begin to announce me.

"Lady Y/N Dimitrescu. Daughter of the Duke and Duchess of Vivane, Ferdinand and Alcina." I slowly make my way through the doors. My eyes widen as I notice the hundreds of people in attendance staring at me. My eyes flicker around the room and land on the King sitting in his throne watching me carefully. I curtsy as gracefully as I can muster in my tight corset before making my way down to join the others in attendance. I breath a sigh of relief as the focus is no longer on me.

The ball proceeds and I take every step possible to avoid my mother. Just as I think I have succeeded, a familiar cold hand grabs my arm and tugs me over to the King. "You will remember what you have been taught. Make me proud." She whispers threateningly into my ear as I am pushed toward the King.

I manage a another measly curtsy and look up to greet him. "It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance, King Phillip." I almost pinch myself over the sickening tone of my voice. The man in front of me only nods boredly before looking up and down my body. His eyes narrow as he seems to calculate the worth of my features. He seems almost pleased--a sickening grin spreading over his face.

"I like this one." He turns to an advisor before waving me away. I walk away in confusion, my mother nodding as she observes the interaction. I spend the rest of the night in the company of a champagne glass as my mother continues to seek the King's company--likely to gain his favor.

The King claps his hands to draw the crowd to attention. "I have chosen a bride." The people of the room begin to whisper amongst themselves. My eyes flicker over to my mother who holds a smile. I look back over to the King in time to hear my name. "Lady Y/N Dimitrescu!" My stomach drops as hundreds of eyes look my way and the King extends his arms toward me. I do the only rational thing in mind--and run. I push past people carelessly, picking up my dress as I run outside. I ignore the shouts of my mother and the others inside and run to an available horse. I quickly rip my skirt to allow my body to climb atop the mount, kicking the stallion into motion.

"Y/N! Y/N, you would not dare!" My mother screams, her face reddened in anger. I simply kick the horse once more to spur it into a gallop as I ride quickly away from the palace. The only thought in mind is finding Johnny.

---

Bonus points if you recognize the Resident Evil reference lol

-P

[the-light-finds-its-way]

Mom got out of ICU today, and put into a normal hospital room. My family went to go see her, and as for myself and my siblings, it was basically the first time in 3 weeks that we'd seen her.

She was covered in giant tender bruises from head to toe. Thankfully, only 2 IVs were in versus the original 7, and she was down to one pole that held the bags, while the rest were hooked to the bed. The blood clot in her leg has grown, and is breaking up at last, or so we assume. But mom can't walk because it hurts so bad. She has mesh in her lungs now to prevent the clots from reaching them again, which will kill her if they do. Additionally, she's on oxygen for the time being. And, there's a chance when she comes home, that she'll have to remain on oxygen tanks, and if that's the case then nobody is sure how long. But I've got this awful gut feeling telling me mom will be on the tanks for the rest of her life... I don't know, and have no way of knowing, but that's just what my stupid gut is saying to me. It'll be minimally 3-5 more days before she's released to go home. It could be more, and something inside also tells me it's going to be longer. But mom says she's doing the best she has been since the first surgery 3 weeks ago. Her nurses are really nice, super sweet, and they playfully poked (hehe) at my needle weenie self who had to turn away when they drew blood from her.

My anxiety didn't help when a $86 bill went through on my bank account that's already overdrawn by Gods only know how much... I'll be damned lucky if I make $150 for this paycheck. And an artist I commissioned back in March last year for a November finishing time on a piece, was late and is now almost finished in January. I'll have to pay him the other $175 soon, and I don't know when, and if I'll even have a single dollar to spare by then... There's another draft I have coming, on the 16th, for the retirement fund my father forces me to pay into unless I want to give him $100 for literally no reason, minimally once a month but possibly more, instead of the $75 for the fund once a month. So I go for the fund. And then, I have to somehow pay for my therapy appointment in another 10 days as well. I'm really not sure if I can do all this. I ditched college to work more, and as soon as I did, they cut me down to one day a week for the next 4 weeks, and there are no people I can cover because everyone is scrambling with trying to get more than 25 hours per week. Fuckers. Try living off 8 a week, when you just told the boss you're free all day every day at any time, and they won't even schedule you for 1/3 of what everyone else is working part time, let alone full time.

I'm so scared, so lost... I was hoping to get a ticket to go see Blind Guardian in May, but they're selling fast and I'm not sure when I'll ever have the money, if I will have the money, to get one in time... Not like I've waited 9 years to go see them live for the first time ever... I somehow have to save $32 for a train ticket as well by mid February, to go to the city for something I'd planned 7 months ago. And then, I planned a trip with friends which I may not be able to do if this keeps going downhill with my money... I already have to pay for a con we are going to as well in September. And I'm just... Fucking distraught. I planned my entire year around the fact that I'd be working full time and get more money. And work kicked my ass with a giant fuck you immediately upon me making those plans.

Fuck my life. Give me my healthy mom back, and $1000. Please... I'm fucking desperate and broken...

[vegtable-bucket]

This is a very long and self indulgent vent post. Feel free to disregard and tw for sucidial ideation. I am currently seeking help but I needed to vent.

So 2023 I think is the official worst year of my life. I thought as the years went on life would like.... get easier??? But no lmao it somehow gets progressively harder and I feel like I am completely drowning and suffering at every turn. I will essentially plan a little treat for myself and that treat will then turn into like a comical death trap of some sort. I feel like whoever is controlling my sim is trying to torture me.

I'm just going to list the terrible things that I've had to deal with since I have what 5 months left of this year to claw my way through?

My cat was diagnosed with cancer. That cancer spread so rapidly in the span of one week, I got her diagnosis on her last day on earth.

Prior to this, she was puking 3 times a day and so I was cleaning up puke and sobbing over her for a month striaght

Vet bills

The doctor who did the biopsy of my cats cancer didn't relay how severe her cancer was causing me to have to spend 5 hours in the the ER. I was separated from my cat during those 5 hours. My phone was on 1%. Ready player one was my only entertainment. Many dogs got checked before my blood puking cancer ridden cat. The person at the front desk said "we only treat several emergencies first." Meaning vomiting blood isn't urget............. wild.

Obviously I had to put my cat down. She was 7 years old. I miss Pirate everyday. I used to call her an angel from outerspace, now she's really sailing around up there.

I had to do this without my husband present because he was at.... his grandma's funeral in England. I couldn't go because I was taking care of our dying cat. I find this to be an especially twisted fate since he left right before I had a psychotic break due to all the stress

I got covid. And I got it like a month ago in the middle of the summer. This ate away at my travel time making it so I couldn't see one of my friends in portland.

I got exposed to covid over the weekend and if I get sick again my job will take my remaining 3 days off. This is my last year in America and if those days are taken from me I won't be able to see my family for the holidays

I dont get to leave this hell country this year after excitedly telling everyone I was out of here. Embaressing.

Every single trip I have planned this year has been a complete disaster

I either didn't get to see the friend I planned to see, or my time with that friend was limited to reasons outside of either of our control leaving me to feel completely isolated, lonely and like nobody's priority or important friend (even though that's irrational)

I've had an issue with almost every single flight I've taken this year. Will it be delayed or canceled making me have to take the flight that makes it so arrive home at 4am? The answer is always yes!

My job had revealed itself to be a toxic work enviornement before but it continues to worsen.

My job makes me want to kill myself, like actively. I've had the worst suicidal ideation of life since I was 13 and having to visit my abusive and neglectful father

Somehow, at 27, all of my trauma seems to be bubbling up in the worst possible way and nobody in my support system is close to me right now/alive.

Guess what? In an ironic twist of fate applying to jobs also makes me want to kill myself and I find to be a dramatic waste of time.

My husband and I set up trips around this time of year which made it so when his grandmother died, he will have seen me once in the span of 4 weeks. Meaning the only person who I can mourn the loss of my cat with is gone. I will be coming home to an empty house when I return tomorrow and my depression is not making it easy to take care of myself

Living in America has never seemed more dystopian. My rights are simply withering away while inflation stacks up. It's been an expensive year by itself but the recession isn't helping

I feel completely lost on what I want to do with the rest of my life. I want to be financially stable (as I am lucky enough to be now) but I'm unsure of my future in england. I don't know if I really should pursue my masters because I feel my entire body aching to do something I enjoy and I have no idea if I'll ever be able to work in a field that improves people's lives and doesn't make me want to kill myself

I will never be mentally emotionally or financially stable enough to have kids. Having them seems terrifying to me. I cry for my younger self imagining her life and how unfair the world was to her, and wondering why I was born if not to suffer

I can barely focus on anything in my life anymore. I feel like my attention span has stopped working and I can only do a task for 15 minutes before feeling exhausted

Crippling weed dependency

I can't remember the last time I felt geniunely happy. If I spend anytime not listening to something or distracting myself my brain is essentially torturing and harassing me and telling me the many ways in which I should kill myself

I cannot afford a grippy sock vacation to make me not kill myself. I feel like I'd want to be there for a whole month and that's probably like 800k and would mean losong my job lmao

Having to wait for life to improve slowly on its own is agonizing to me as I really just want to leave America as quickly as I can to get away from it all. And then I remember all the things and people and places I will miss and I get this unearthly ache of sadness.

I'm also not blind and know terf island (england) is also doing remarkably terrible and I will be moving to a very xenophobic country far away from the familiar.

Everything that happens on the news now makes me fully believe I'm living in a dark comedy about a species that is run by a group of people so greedy that they are racing to extinction

*gestures widely at the state of everything*

I visited my dad's side of the family without nick (husband) present and not only did they bully and antagonize me the entire time, but they also said the most off the wall insanely racist shit I've ever heard in my life. So vile i was physcially ill after interacting with them. But I have to keep up appearances for my future wedding.

I want to cut them out of my life so fucking bad it's unreal. My mom is begging and pleading with me to not do it but being around such vile people makes me physically ill.

This things I used to love now feel distant and boring to me now. I feel like it's so hard to laugh at anything anymore

The real kicker for this is I always pack period items just in case, and I didn't for once and now I am dealing with painful cramps at 3am away from ibprofin and like all of civilization

Okay that's it. I hope none of you read this it's incredibly self indulgent and pitying. I feel as though I've never been allowed to be sad and it's all bubbling up this year and suffocating me. And then people keep telling me to not kill myself which makes me feel guilty for wanting to end it all in the first place. I've always hated asking for help, I hate people feeling sorry for me, I hate struggling. I've never even attempted because im too chickenshit.

Can't wait to share this post in therapy. Which I won't be able to afford for awhile.

I miss feeling joy.

[starlit-mansion]

I was tagged by @luftnarp-writes-things for a tag game of "talk about the first 5-10 songs that come up on shuffle in your playlist" (paraphrased because i'm lazy), but I am going to take the opportunity to say that I........... am a guy who doesn't really "listen to music," in that I do not really do it as an activity or as background and I don't have a big overarching playlist on spotify or anything.

What I actually do is play lo-fi beats to write and relax to, play comedy music videos on youtube sometimes (i like Ninja Sex Party, the Stupendium and Danny Gonzalez), and listen to thrifted CDs (or recent ones my partner bought) in the car. Every once in a blue moon I will play a song or artist purposefully on spotify, usually because I head a word or phrase that made a song start playing in my head, and i need to listen to it to cleanse my brain. So like. Overall, I listen to music like. Maybe 1-3 hours a week a week. I KNOW THIS IS FREAK BEHAVIOR. Or like. It's not because everyone's subjective tastes are fine but I'm defensive because I've gotten side eyes about it. I'm sure someone is side-eyeing this post right now! I just kind of find music with lyrics to be understimulating on its own but overstimulating when paired with any other task besides driving (or washing dishes, but I only spend about 5 minutes on that a day now that I am not a professional dishwasher so it's not worth opening a new app.)

For lo-fi beats, I like Jazz Hop Cafe, because it has curated themed albums that last about 45-60 minutes and rarely have long voice samples in the tracks. I remember really liking the Midnight Drive album, but it's 2 years old now and I usually don't scroll down far enough to find it when I need background noise.

The last time I went to goodwill, I got 3 CDs, so I'll talk about them for a second as well.

Best of Simon and Garfunkel - Since I'm almost always in the car with Corv, it's very important to find something we both want to listen to. I don't really want to listen to their Fall Out Boy CD and they don't want to listen to the multiple Tori Amos CDs I've scrounged up. Fortunately we both fucking LOOOOOOVE a solid handful of Simon and Garfunkel songs, so they've been in charge of skipping the boring ones so we can listen to The Boxer 3 times in the same car trip.

The Best of Glenn Campbell - Yeah, I only got this one for Witicta Lineman, which I fucking looooooooove. I don't always listen to music, but when I do, I am a dad.

The Darkness - Permission to Land - As a general glam rock liker and 13 year old radio listener/VH1 watcher in 2003, "I Believe In A Thing Called Love" really hits me in the nostalgia and I'd like to actually listen to the album and get my take on it at some point, because it is kind of funny that there was one single throwback glam-rock song muscling its way to the front of the line before 80s stuff hit its over-extended 30 year nostalgia cycle that is only now getting outsted for Y2K nostalgia (which. hoo boy. IS confronting). And even if it's fully one-hit-wonder territory with an accompanying album of slush, it was still worth a dollar to have an artifact and a ripped mp3.

Anyway, @corvidcall you should talk about songs too.

[monmouthcastle]

Happy Tuesday! 🧡✨

For once you’re getting a Tuesday Motivation instead of a Monday one, because I got home from my trip on Sunday and was knackered. I spend the entire day in bed to rest and now… I’m feeling a bit better!

Anyway! Something happened on this trip that really did set some things into perspective - so I thought I’d share that with you! Due to a train strike I had to spend the entire night and early morning walking the streets of London and I was so scared. Not because I thought something would happen, but the idea of not being able to go home and being stuck freaked me out. I always had a need to control whatever I could to make myself comfortable, to stay into my safe bubble but that night completely pulled me out of that bubble. I remember it turning 3AM and I was 1. Tired, 2. Freezing and 3. Hurting from the panic and I decided to give in. Give in into knowing that whatever I did would keep me safe and I just had to go with the flow. And it helped me so much to get through that situation. Because letting go of that need for control, letting go of that fear from not having any control, it really did make the night more memorable. So maybe if you’re like me and you steer away from situations that make you uncomfortable because you’re not in control… it would be good to take baby steps into giving up some of that control! ❤️

Also, intrusive thoughts aren’t friends! They are pranks your brain pulls on you but your brain will never admit they did. The amount of intrusive thoughts I had before and on this trip… it was tiring. For example, I’ve been staying with my friend’s family every single time I went to the UK and it has always been fun but they also made a comment on my body every year. I was so scared this year that they would do it again, but guess what? They didn’t! I had believed that prank too much that I actually didn’t enjoy the first day (because I was in fear of a comment) but at the end of the day - the only thing I got were compliments.

So, this weeks theme? Control & Intrusive Thoughts 😂 what a mess this ask is, but hopefully you can pull some motivation from it!

💭 How was your weekend? I want to know!

I'm glad you got through that ordeal okay :). I think those moments to be so stressful and miserable, but they sure make things memorable!

Very shitty of that family-- you deserve all the love and compliments ❤️❤️❤️

It's been getting chilly in my city and I've realized I need to hunker down and really prepare for winter. My first time living with snow, and I've been chilly just in this fall weather 😭. My friends had a block party this weekend for baseball playoffs (not sure if youd know what that is; just a thing where neighbors get together and throw a little party on the street "block") and I had to huddle by the fire because I was so cold. Excited, though! The down jackets will be in full use in my life for sure.

[malfoysmaybank]

drivers license - stanley barber

a/n: i was having some writers block on my requests and i’ve been sobbing to this song on repeat, so here’s a fic for my bebs stanley barber. i also changed one lyric from “blonde girl” to “one girl” because it fit the plot more!

warnings: angst, you might cry (i did while writing this lols), parent absence, fluff at the end because i couldn’t break my heart with this one, but some straight angst is coming soon!!!!

word count: 1.7k+

------------------------------------------------------

You had been best friends with Stanley Barber since you were young, maybe 10. You had stood up for him when some kids were pushing him around because of his outfit. 

“Hey! Get off of him!” You said, yelling at the trio of 5th grade boys pushing another boy to the ground. “Or what, Y/N? You’ll tattle? We aren’t scared of a girl.” The leader of the pack said. You clenched your jaw and punched him straight in the nose. You weren’t going to let a man talk to you like that. The leader started crying and ran off, his sidekicks following after him. You walked over to the boy on the ground and helped him up. “T-Thanks for that.” He said as he got back up. “No problem. I’m Y/N, by the way. Y/N Y/L/N.” You extended your hand for a handshake. He took it. “Stanley. Stanley Barber.”

You’ve been close ever since. You ate lunch with him that day and  bonded over silly things like tv shows and favorite colors. In middle school, he helped you develop your style and you bonded over new things like favorite bands and books. You had his back and he had yours. He truly was your best friend.

However, you started seeing Stanley in a new light in eighth grade. He had gotten taller, his face a little more structured. He also learned how to play guitar that year. He wrote a song about you, of all things. Nobody had ever done something like that for you before. You started noticing the little things he did for you. He would randomly bring a bag of your favorite candy to lunch if he saw you were having a bad day. He taught you how to play piano because he thought it sounded nice with your voice. You fell in love with Stanley Barber. Fuck. Of course you’d NEVER tell him. You couldn’t fuck up the only good thing in your life right now. So that meant silently suffering whenever he had a crush on someone.

That’s the issue, you couldn’t be happy for him when he was with someone else. You spent countless days crying alone in your room after he’d go on for hours about his newest crush. This continued for a straight 3 years. His newest crush was Sydney Novak. You thought this one would blow over, just like his past few, but it didn’t. In fact, this one was the strongest crush he’s ever had. He’d been ditching you to hang out with her. He wasn’t even there to see you get your drivers license, something he’d been so encouraging about. He basically taught you how to drive because he knew how much it meant to you. He didn’t even know you had passed your test, never once asking. But in the sparse moments when he didn’t blow off plans, he’d constantly be talking about her. One of those sparse moments being tonight.

You were currently in his room/basement and he was going on one of his Sydney rants. “She’s so cool, Y/N. I mean, I’ve never met someone who I’ve clicked with more.” Um ouch, but whatever. “I don’t know, she’s just different. Like, in a good way though.” Three deep breaths, Y/N. 3… “We even hooked up the other night.” 2… “I think I’m in love with her.” 1. “Look Stanley, not to be rude, but do you EVER shut up about her?!” You spat. He looked over at you in shock. “I can’t do this tonight… I’m leaving.” You grab your ‘save the earth’ backpack and start jogging up the stairs to leave. 

He follows as you open the door to his garage. “Woah, woah, woah, Y/N. What’s up?” Stan calls from behind you. You grab your skateboard and lift up the garage door. It’s pouring outside, but you don’t care. You go to leave but feel a hand on your wrist stop you. “You’re not going out in weather like that, just come inside and we can talk.” He says gently, still slightly confused. “About what, Sydney again? Don’t you get it Stanley?!” You snap in his face. His eyebrows furrow and you let out a sarcastic laugh, tears building in your eyes. “Of course you don’t. You’ve been so wrapped up in Sydney that you forgot who I was! I’m so done, Stan. I can’t sit here and pretend that I don’t care anymore. Don’t bother hanging out with me anymore.” You snap and rip your wrist away from Stanley’s grip. 

You drop your board and get on, pushing as fast as you can. He calls after you but you block him out. When you’re a far distance away from him and his house, you just sit down on the side of the road and cry. Hurt that he’ll never be yours. Angry that he doesn’t care about you anymore. Frustrated because you tried to be the glue that held your friendship together, but even glue can’t fix the titanic.

You didn’t go to school for the next week. Your parents wouldn’t care, they weren’t even here. Still on some ‘business trip’ just like every week. Instead, you did something that calms you. Wrote music about how you were feeling. You played piano basically all week. Singing anything and everything you were feeling. It made you feel worse sometimes, but in the end it felt worth it.

Stan pulled into your driveway in his dad’s piece of shit car. He needed to work this out with you, he hadn’t seen you all week and he was worried. He missed his best friend. As he quietly closed the car door, he heard the piano playing. He didn’t recognize the song, he was curious. He didn’t even bother knocking, knowing you would slam the door in his face if you knew it was him. He quietly shut the front door and he heard your voice. It got louder as he walked closer to your bedroom door. He’d always loved your voice, it put him to sleep some nights. He could see you slightly, the door left ajar. He listened in.

“I got my drivers license last week,

Just like we always talked about.

'Cause you were so excited for me

To finally drive up to your house.

But today I drove through the suburbs,

Crying 'cause you weren't around”

You sang flawlessly, not a single note out of tune. There was so much emotion behind your voice. So much hurt, anger, frustration. He continued listening, trying to find out who caused you so much hurt. He’d bash their face in, that’s for sure.

“And you're probably with that one girl

Who always made me doubt.

She's so much older than me,

She's everything I'm insecure about”

With that first line, it hit him. He’d caused this hurt. The anger, the frustration, that was him. He was so angry with himself that he almost missed the next line… almost.

“Yeah, today I drove through the suburbs,

'Cause how could I ever love someone else?”

You… you loved him? He’d spent so much time on Sydney that he hadn’t even realized what was in front of him all these years. Except he had.

“And I know we weren't perfect, but I've never felt this way for no one.

And I just can't imagine how you could be so okay now that I'm gone.”

God damn it! He could’ve confessed sooner, instead of ignoring his feelings. And for what? A mindless hookup with Sydney?! He could’ve had you this whole time, but he fucked up.

“....Guess you didn't mean what you wrote in that song about me.”

You said that line softly. No anger, or frustration, or even confusion behind that line. Just hurt. He saw a single tear fall down your cheek as you stopped singing. There was more to that song, you just couldn’t continue. He’d be sure to ask you to sing the rest of it later, but right now he needed to fix this. You stood up from the piano bench and he burst through the door. “Stanley, what are you doi-” You couldn’t even finish your sentence before he wrapped his arms around you and brought your head to his chest. “I meant every word of that damn song. Every word. I’m so sorry, Y/N. I’m so sorry.” Tears flowed down your face as you tightly hugged him back and buried your face in the crook of his neck. “I love you. And I’ll be better for you. I should’ve treated you with the respect and love you deserve. I swear I’ll spend the rest of my life trying to make it up to you. Please give me a second chance, please.” He cried. “I love you too, Stan.” You started. “But I don’t know.” He squeezed you tighter (but still as gentle as possible, he didn’t want to hurt you), with more tears flowing out of his eyes. “Please, Y/N. I’ll be better. If I give you anything less than the love and attention you deserve, you have my full permission to punch me square in the face and kick me to the curb.” You both giggled, still crying. 

He let go of you to hold your face in his hands. “Please?” He begged. “...Okay, fine. But we need to go over how you’re going to do better in the future and what we can do to help each other communicate better and stuff.” You said. He picked you up and spun you around, making you squeal. “Thank you, thank you, thank you, Y/N!! I promise I’ll make it up to you, I promise.” You laughed as he set you down and leant down to whisper in your ear. “Want to hear a secret?” He said, sending shivers down your spine. “I never liked Sydney.” He laughed as you hit his chest. “You dick!” You exclaimed, shocked. He swiftly pulled you in by the waist, your faces inches apart as your hands rested on his chest. “You love me, though.” He whispered. “That I do.” You said and finally closed the gap. Damn, you could kiss this boy forever. Alas, the moment is cut short because unfortunately, humans need oxygen to survive. “I love you too.” He says and smiles, giving you a peck on the forehead. “Could you sing the rest of that song for me? I love your voice but that songwriting was INCREDIBLE.” He says and you nod.

------------------------------------------------------

permanent taglist: 

@loonylunaandthenargles​

[blysse-and-blunder]

in lieu of a regular posting schedule,

please accept some irregular scatterings and impromptu blogging

1:30pm, sunday, oct 3, 2021.

playing catch-up here again. the last week+ has been a real one-- baby's first maybe-serious relationship did end in an abrupt dumpage the night before i had to lead my first tutorial, of the three tutorials i'm now handling this term! and i've been coping through a) being very busy and b) aggressively distracting myself with both media and retail therapy.

reading earlier this summer, my mom got me back into reading the mary russell mysteries, by laurie king. @dinosauriaawesome introduced me to these back in the day, but i only read the beekeeper's apprentice at the time-- something about the fact that their partnership turns into marriage threw me, as a concept? and/but/so i picked up the moor, king's return to the baskerville mystery (but with a twist!), and something about being dropped into the russell-holmes marriage in media res totally helps-- it's still just them, and i still love mary. spectral hounds and hauntings aren't usually my bag, but the fact that there's going to be an explanation, and that mary is going to be totally sarcastic at every turn, is helping me stay engaged. also 10/10 descriptions of scenery, as grim as dartmoor is i now very much want to witness it.

at the same time, i've been making progress on the mirror and the light, the book of three, and now the novel of heaven official's blessing courtesy of @viciousmerlin. more to report when i've been at it a bit longer but >:) >:)

watching sought out things that would make me laugh, that weren't romantic in the slightest, that my housemates would be interested in joining me on-- housemate d. and i holed up in front of the greatest showman (one of her comfort movies) and some stand-up by taylor tomlinson and gabriel iglesias; housemates m. and g. and i streamed ted lasso 2.08-2.10 together; housemate g. and i have been steadily knocking episodes of star trek: the lowerdecks and we're well into season two now. i could speak to each of these individually, i enjoyed each of them in their own ways, but it's enough to say now that-- ted lasso is objectively the best, those emmys are deserved, and lower decks has the kind of lovingly chaotic star trek energy that i haven't seen done so well since galaxy quest (and my favorite untamed trek-au fic, you know the one). every single time they refer to a character / plot point / gag from an earlier series, i fall in love all over again-- the spock + kirk carved into the bar of the most recent ep's dive bar felt like i was going to ascend.

listening i recharged my ancient ipod touch from 2014 last week, and have been reconnecting with the itunes library i had assembled back then. it's a distillation of my high school and college taste, but a lot of it still resonates-- or resonates more now-- and listening to it all has been a trip down memory lane, a way to honor or return to some of the core bits of myself, and an escape from my current spotify playlists with all the associations there. shout-outs to a few old ingrid michaelson songs for being way more intense about relationships than i usually care to get, which has been cathartic in its own way. this one is the most immediately relatable, though, and yes i know its a mid twenty-tens cliche but we're overlooking that.

playing not much to report here except that i picked up the ds again yesterday and sank a few more hours into ultra moon, i've lost the plot after completing the first stage of the island quest but i did catch a bunch of new friends and name one of them waldetrude, so really, i'm winning here.

making weird how a purse you got for free from your place of employment in 2017 can start to look kinda worn and shitty after nearly five years? the thin film of color on the vinyl is pealing and leaving odd white patches, so i've armed myself with some leather/vinyl pigment dye and, failing that, embroidery thread, and. well. it can look a lot worse than it currently does, but it can also look a lot better and the only way to find out is to try, right?

working on trying not to be just swept away in teaching-related prep and emails (emails, emails, emails), trying to fucking do something with this diss proposal outline i should have sent to the supervisor in august what the hell am i doing. deep breaths. deep, uh. breaths.

[shyrose57]

Brothers anon back again. Heads up im going to be busy for the next week about so it may be a bit til I submit my next bit. I'll try to get something in though! Even if its just a bunch of incorrect quotes I have stored up or songs that inspired the story (or if you have questions you haven't been able to ask you can ask those, literally any question is fine).

1: Not particularly, but it does give him an advantage in everything basically. Cause he was taught how to survive in many different areas (like treating wounds and how to survive in a tundra when you have nothing), this teaching is what allowed him to live alone for 4 years, and is what gives him a strong advantage in the Pit because he's almost fully trained in fighting and has many different tactics for multiple scenarios. Ranbob was distraught and was sent into a depressive episode when he discovered that, almost his entire family was dead, and got even more distraught and sent into a state of hysteria when he found out he was the one who killed them. He acted much the same when he found out he killed his friends, Ran's friends, and every single mentor and leader that was there. Knowing full well he may of very well doomed Mizu, if anyone was still left alive of course. 

2: Grievous remained salty for the rest of the day, and showed distaste in Ranbob as well. But the day after Grievous was back to being friends with and gently pranking Ranbob, forgiving him for yesterday's accident.

3: Eh? It depends I'll say. For life threatening situations and stressful situations, yes definitely. He doesnt last long before breaking down and begging Benjamin for help. But if its something like getting everyone to work toghere, giving directions, stopping fights, or even making calls in a very important decision, he doesnt get overwhelmed too easily. Benjamin is basically the co-leader of the group, only really leading when Isaac is unable too. 

5: Yep! Just cause this is a mythical and fake world doesnt mean there can't be some real world attributes. Im trying to keep it mythical but also use real world functions and trying to show the change/mix in times (like how while some of the world is machinery and its slowly gaining popularity, it's still mostly midevil based)

7: If the person is in the arena he gets revenge. Though sadly he can't get it outside cause last time he did that he got banned from fighting for a month. But if he sees one of the people who made fun of Jackie in the arena he makes sure to go hard to them, pushing them to their limit, but not pushing hard enough to make them lose if that makes sense. He makes sure to fight in a way that's draining and causing pain for the person, but not draining enough to make the round end so he can drag it on until the person collapses. 

8: He does! He's kept all of his books from his adventures and sometimes re-reads them to make sure he doesnt forget anything. And sometimes if the others beg, he reads them outloud to the group as a sort of bedtime story. He goes wack, he wacks Jackie when he's being a little shit, he wacks Grievous after a prank, he wacks Genevieve when she brakes a training dummy, he wacks Levi especially hard when he gives Jackie alcohol after he specifically told him not too. He watched the dressmaker, baker, farmer, fletcher, cleric, cartographer, and butcher! He learned all tricks of the trade and learned how to properly make clothes, map maps, how to take care of animals and what certain animals need, how to cook anything basically, how to harvest and preserve food, and how to make arrows and the basic necessities for a bow. 

Ran does not necessarily make them often, he mostly only wrote them down so he wouldn't accidentally brew a potion of poison and drink it thinking it was a healing potion. Its considered no longer necessary to go into the nether, as the only thing really needed is netherwart and building supplies, but the building supplies are very rarely needed and every major city has a netherwart farm. Also cause I wanna add it, no one knows about netherite. Only a few adventures know about it but consider it a hoax, it's only Rans netherite sword that actually proves that it does exist. I actually wasnt planning on it at first but now definitely, I could do a lot of things with them in the SMP grounds. Weeks, it takes weeks for Ran to decide their ready. Because they need to pass whats basically tests about mobs of the nether and their habits, mine plenty of gold, learn about what to and what not to do around Piglins, learn about bastions and fortresses and areas to completely avoid, learn to be able to take multiple mobs on at once, and be able to withstand the heat there. Watson tries to get Ran to lighten up on the requirements but Ran is firmly sticking his ground and Watson ends up giving up and letting Ran do whatever. Though even with all of Rans training their not completely ready for the nether. The fishermen originally refuse to go through, but eventually go through, mostly to make sure Ranbob is safe, and because Cletus wouldn't stop whining about going. 

10: I am very tempted to add angst here because their fighting against Dream after all. But I've made a lot of angst so far so I'll only do it if you want me too. 

12: He does end up stepping in! He goes to Ranbob one night and says how he's noticed he's been stressed and always sad and asks how he can help. Ranbob brushes him off at first but is debating going to him again and asking for help one last time.

13: Yeah he's like a final boss. When you fight as a General your allowed to use your own personal weapons and whatever tricks or tactics you want, along with 3 potions of your choice. While when fighting as a typical gladiator, you have to use the weapons supplied (although unless specifically stated you can use any weapon given at any time), and have to use tatics and tricks specifically allowed in the rules. Though there are 2 more titles! Sergeant and Corporal. Ran and Watson are both Sergeants, they get to use personal weapons and mostly any tactic and tricks they want too. While Grievous is a Corporal and only gets to use his personal weapons. 

14: Yep! The whispers disappeared gradually the futher away they got from Mizu, and even while he was moving away from Mizu Dream was asking, almost begging him at the end, to come back to Mizu. Saying how the futher Ranbob gets the lonier and colder he feels, and how he's sorrh, trying to guilt trip him into coming back to Mizu, or at least coming closer again. 

15: It is!

1: Huh. What kind of things would people learn if they chose other idols, exactly? Also, ouch. Why do I keep asking questions I know will hurt me later on?

2: Gently pranking. I applaud his restraint. Is that how Grievous forgives people? Gently pranking them? Just joking with them in general. Also, who laughed at that little situation?

3: So Isaac’s good with everyday things, not so much high stress situations. Gotcha. Is there a reason Benjamin is able to remain calm where he can’t? Practice, experience, personality trait?

5: Very cool. Can’t wait to see what else you do with that, honestly.

7: Petty. I love it. 

8: Aww, adventure bedtime stories! Also, him wacking people is so funny to me, thank you for that. And Levi gave Jackie alcohol? How did that go down? Did Jackie get drunk, or did Watson manage to keep them from drinking it? Watson sounds like he could probably establish a small village if he so chose, and honestly, good for him.

Dang. Does this mean like, everything from the Smp has been lost? So many of them had netherite armor and stuff, what happened there for people to not even know it’s a thing anymore? What happened in general, for so much of the past to be lost to history? How does their little Nether trip go? Anyone get hurt? Are piglin tribes around to trade with? Do they find anything cool, like a fortress or bastion?

10: It’s your AU, do what you will. I’m going to read it regardless, because for some reason, I enjoy breaking my heart like that(and the AU in general). Just give us some bonus hurt/comfort if you do, please? Just a smidge?

12: One last time? What does that mean, exactly? Should I be concerned?

13: Huh. So how many people know that Jackie’s the General? What kind of status does it give him? And how many people have managed to beat him when he fights all out? Would you say he and Ran are on par? How about him and Watson? And do the Sergeants and Corporals fight before the General, as like, mini bosses?

14:Oh no. Did it ever cause Ranbob to try and go back to him toward the end, or did the Fishermen manage to distract him long enough to get away from the whispers just about completely?

15: Yay!

[cardigantaylor13]

malina appreciation week / day 4: song or lyrics

hello again! here are 3 of my favorite malina songs and an indepth explanation about each of them because i have uni work to do and i’m procrastinating <3 this is gonna be long long, so buckle up if you’re interested and i won’t blame you if you scroll.

(beware of spoilers!)

willow - taylor swift

I'm like the water when your ship rolled in that night / Rough on the surface but you cut through like a knife / And if it was an open-shut case / I never would've known from that look on your face

they should’ve known!!! from the moment they saw each other when they were kids!!! in the field!!! looking at each other like they were the only ones that mattered!!!

The more that you say / The less I know / Wherever you stray / I follow

they will literally go wherever the other one goes. and they more you say!! the less I know!! I can’t explain it but just sound so THEM

I'm begging for you to take my hand

need I explain? they’re always always reaching for each other 🥺

Wreck my plans / That's my man

she chose him!!! over the darkling!!! (was he ever an option?) and over nikolai!!! she chose him! THAT’S her man. THAT’S the one she wants.

Life was a willow and it bent right to your wind

I think this goes both ways. they both adjust their life according to the other, and they’d go to the ends of the earth for each other.

Head on the pillow, I could feel you sneaking in

thinking about when they both were reaching for each other even when they were miles apart

As if you were a mythical thing

they are both literal mythical things. she’s a sun summoner. he’s the last morozova amplifier.

Like you were a trophy or a champion ring / And there was one prize I'd cheat to win

mal says he’ll spend the rest of his life trying to deserve her!!

You know that my train could take you home / Anywhere else is hollow

they’re each other’s true north 🥺🥺

Wait for the signal and I'll meet you after dark

this reminds me their last days together when they think mal is gonna die, how they would always get away from the others to be together and enjoy the little bit of time they have left

Show me the places where the others gave you scars

firstly: their matching scars!!!

secondly: they’re best friends!!! they’ve seen each other for through it all!

and thirdly: that scene when alina is taking care of mal’s wounds!!

Now this is an open-shut case / Guess I should've known from the look on your face / Every bait and switch was a work of art

they really should’ve known from the beginning, but every single twist and turn lead them to each other.

smithereens - twenty one pilots

TELL me this is not the most malyen oretsev song in existence. you can’t.

You know, I've always been collected, calm and chill

he’s a good soldier!! reminds me of mal’s long lost letter 🥺

And you know, I never look for conflict for the thrill

(except in s&b when he’s hurting and being self-destructive)

But if I'm feeling someone stepping towards you / Can't describe just what I'm feeling

he would do anything to protect her!! and she would do the same!! when she was taken away, he would halfway through ravka to get back to her!! and he can’t even explain why he does it except for the fact that he wants to see her safe

and in one of the flashbacks, she protects him with a letter opener from an older boy!! soulmate energy!

For you, I'd go step to a dude much bigger than me / For you, I know, I would get messed up, weigh 153 / For you, I would get beat to smithereens

this man!!! is willing to go against the darkling!! the most powerful man in existence!!! to protect alina!! he was willing to die to give her the chance to win!!

You know, I'll be in the corner taking notes

specially in s&s, mal is pushed to the side while alina tries to help nikolai. and at first he doesn’t even mind it, because the only reason he’s there is for her (she’s his flag! she’s his nation!).

I got your six while you're working votes

he’s pushed to the side but he has her back while she tries to do all this political stuff and strategies!!

happy hunting ground - maisie peters (feat. griff)

Now interlaced / For worse or for better /My bird of a feather

they’ve been though the good and the bad together. also my BIRD of a feather? 👀👀👀

This could be your happy hunting ground / Everything you wanted, well, you've got it now / So don't take it for granted /I love you, don't take advantage

for me this is what alina thinks in the first book!! she’s been in love with him for a long time, and she thinks she could be the right person for him. but she’s also scared of getting hurt because she thinks her feelings are unrequited (I love you, don’t take advantage)

This could be your happy hunting ground / Everything we dreamed of is falling out the clouds / So careful where your boots tread /Oh, protect the love that you get

this part however!!!! reminds me of the epilogue, because they truly truly got everything they wanted. the ordinary life they always dreamed of. “protect the love that you get” seems like a warning because of how much they lost — protect the love that you get, because even if you lose everything, this love is the one that will hold you up.

And you know I'll be here / 'Cause we've got it all to lose /That's you included

with the war they literally have everything to lose, and they both think the other is gonna die at some point. “He watches her the way Harshaw watches fire. Like he’ll never have enough of her. Like he’s trying to capture what he can before she’s gone.” and then when they discover mal is the third amplifier, she realizes she’ll have to kill him in order to defeat the darkling.

Oh, so tie up the lace of your boots / Before we trip and forget / With every hope that we've ever had

them trying not to forget their meadow!! and where it all started 🥺🥺

And we got way too much to lose here, don't you think so? / It's too good, yeah, just to let it slip on by without a pause / And we've been stacking up the boxes trying to reach for what we wanted

like i said, they have each other to lose but all they ever wanted was an ordinary peaceful life 😭💔

Don't look down, oh, I know it was worth the cost

mal reassuring alina that his death (the cost) was worth saving everything!!!!

I'll have you and then a bit more

they can never get enough of each other 🥺🥺

—————————

soooo that was that I guess. hope you liked the songs I chose, you should definitely give them a listen if you haven’t!! and if you want more malina songs, I have a whole playlist on spotify <3

https://open.spotify.com/playlist/19ZrmZtob9KxBSVYsvqMGJ?si=RSerU24cT3SfDneku4mGdg&dl_branch=1

see you tomorrow with a surprise for the last day of malina week! 💕

[jkflay]

"Another Moon" by jkflay (Tron Bonne X Denise Marmalde) Chapters 1 - 5

Chapter 1

June 5th, 5:40 AM

Gold City Police Department, Ryship Island

"~Ring, ring~ ~ring, ring~" goes the phone, with a hand promptly picking up the desktop rotary telephone in response.

"Hello, this is the Gold City Police Captain, what's the issue?"

...

"...Ah, so you're low of officers yourself. We have a bit of a surplus here ourselves, so I can ask if any are willing to transfer to another department."

...

"...You'll pay us how much? If that's the case, I'll what I can do..."

... < 2 hours later > ...

Morning light shimmered through the window shades, scattering sunlight across the spare papers strewn in stacks on the large table of the police office. The mountains of paperwork were being attended to by various police officers, so idle scritches and scratches filled the air, hums and hahs peppering the soundscape occasionally, and even the rare sneeze making it's way in. Yep, it was looking like another lazy day for the Gold City Police -

WHABANG! The bomb-like crash entered the scene, heralding a certain klutz...

"S-s-sorry that I'm late!" a dorky voice called out. In rushed Denise Marmalade - the resident bumbling girl of the station - nearly tripping over herself as she went on with her excuse, "My alarm clock stopped working and there was ALOT of traffic in the way, I'm sorry about all this!"

Her hurry could be seen in her uniform: her azure and navy button-up short sleeve top and skirt were riddled with wrinkles, her brunette hair frizzy and her three spikey bangs in disarray, her square glasses awkwardly askew on her face, the bulky white bangles that connected to her light blue gloves were awkwardly angled, the black stockings that covered her legs were bunched up messily, and her petite police hat nearly falling off her head. At least her blue high heels were on this time.

Groans make their rounds as she starts to set herself down at the paper-laden table. She gets to work on one of the closest stacks, scribbling down as much as fast as she can to make-up for lost time. Denise curses herself for showing up on time, sure the traffic couldn't be helped, but the alarm clock? How could she not see it coming - even though there really wasn't hint that it was going to break - she can't keep showing up late, especially since she's always on the edge of being fired constantly.

An edge that she's trying to ride off today, with her shifting her work to maximum overdrive! Pages fluttered through her fingers at lightning pace, Denise's sapphire eyes skimming the many words that littered the documents and hastily filling out whatever space she thinks she needed to. She's already gotten through 15 papers in ... what? 3 minutes? That's much faster than her co-workers ever could, so she must be doing something right!

Right?

"Denise!", the Captain called out from her office, "I'd like to see you right now!"

Wrong, as usual.

"Oh no..." Denise grumbled. She gets up and walks past the over officers. This is pretty much a daily ritual to them, so they don't bat an eye at Denise gloomily making her way to the Captain's office. What it's about, that's what makes everyday distinct!

Denise opens the door to the office, "I'm here ma'am, is there something you need from me?" she nervously asks as she closes the door and takes the seat in front of the Captain's desk.

The Captain, sat attentively in her office chair, with a stern look aimed at the neatly organized folders that she was currently shuffling with. Without looking at Denise she begins her dressing down, "Miss Marmalade, this is the 5th time in the past couple of weeks that you've showed up hours late. You've made excuses for them every single time, and yet they keep happening. I'm disappointed in this behavior, Miss Marmalade."

"Yes, I know ma'am, I'm so sorry about all this! I promise you that it won't happen again!" Denise cried. "I've been-"

"I heard how you've been Miss Marmalade, and it's likely you won't be doing it much longer."

"I-I'm sorry?"

Oh no, no, no...this is it. The thought bursted out from Denise's mind. I'm getting axed, let go, given the pink slip, sacked, dumped, canned, given the ole' heave-ho...FIRED! How could I have let this happen? I should've done better! I should've gotten up on time, written up more reports, and catch those criminals like the others can! Why don't things work out for me-!

"I'm giving you an offer to transfer to a new police department."

"I...I'm sorry?!"

"I received a call from the New Palladio City Police. According to them, they're understaffed and are reaching out to other islands for more officers. Earlier, I held a meeting to discuss who would be available, and almost every officer here isn't able to due personal restrictions. Since you showed up early, I figured that I should ask you privately, as to not interrupt everyone else's work. Like you did a bit ago."

"I'm sorry..."

"Don't worry Miss Marmalade," the Captain continued, "the department there pays for their officers' housing, so you don't have to worry about that. All you have to worry about is anything that'll stop you from moving there."

"I'd have to move there, ma'am?"

"Of course, since New Palladio City is on the island of Sapphronia, which is way too far for daily boat trips."

"Hmm..." Denise looked down at the Captain's desk as she thought over the offer.

Moving? That does sound interesting. I've never left Ryship before, and I've never heard anything about Sapphronia or New Palladio City before! It'd be a new experience for sure, I'd be turning a new leaf. Maybe things will be much better for me! No more bad luck...

But... what about Mom? It struck her mind. She lived with her middle-aged mother in their simple home. While her Mom mostly stayed at home, her networking job mainly raked in the dough for the household, with her always facing her bright and bulky PC away from Denise. Her Mom's job never left her time to take care of the home, and it's been Denise's job to make sure the home is in working order for the both of them. Cleaning the laundry, preparing meals, doing taxes, her Mom never had time for that - she told Denise herself - she couldn't just abandon her!

"Uh... ma'am?" Denise quiveringly said, now staring down her Captain, "While I appreciate the offer, I have my mother to look after, so I'm not sure we'd be able to make such a big move. We've lived here for so long, after all."

The Captain pondered a bit before pushing her landline telephone towards Denise. "Well, why not give her a call? There might be more options than you think." the Captain replied. She shoved the clunky phone to her.

Nodding in response, Denise grabbed the phone and dials her house number. In no time flat, her mother was on the other line.

"Hi Mom, it's Denise. I-I'm calling you from work to ask you something."

...

"So I have a chance to work at a different department, but I'd have to move to a-"

...

"Wha-, you're already packing my bags?!"

...

"Oh. Okay then... love you Mo-"

...

"Ah, she hung up."

...

Denise returned the telephone to the Captain.

The Captain leaned back in her chair, a face of confidence beaming as she spoke, "Well, I guess that answers that. I'll give you the rest of the day off to prepare for your trip over. When you get to the island, go straight to their department, tell them your situation, and they should have housing for you, I already have some of your records here," with her handing over the 'Denise' labelled folder, "so that the whole process goes smoothly for you. It's up to you to get everything else from your own desk though, so please get to it Miss Marmalade."

"Ah-Alright! I'll straight get to it! It's been an honor working for you ma'am!" Denise replied, with a wobbly salute. She made her way out of the office, confident in her stride and panicking in her mind.

June 5th, 1:25 PM

Primiki Harbor, Ryship Island

Clear blue sky and bright sunlight beckoned those of Ryship to the one of the many harbors of the island that housed many of the islands famed boats. From bulky shipping liners to the opulent vacation cruisers, they bordered the outstretching concrete docks, inviting passing people to become their new passengers.

Today, a luggage laden Denise headed to a humble ferry. She was nearly tripping other herself with all of the bags she was hanging all around her, especially her legs. She would blame her Mom for packing everything into several separate, hard to carry bags, but maybe if she didn't have so many things she wouldn't have to carry them in these bags.

Granted some of them are empty....

She stood in front of the docking platform to the boat she needed, that led to a ticket counter that blocked the entrance. Denise scrambled with her numerous bags, desperate to find the one that held her wallet of zenny, and a free hand to grab it. Eventually, she resorted to dropping everything and opening up every bag, looking through all of them in a frantic hurry.

And after about 15 or so bags of searching, she victoriously held the leather wallet in both of her hands!

"Hooray!" She cheered, "Now to get everything-"

Looking down, a face of defeat struck her as her rummaging scattered the insides of her poor luggage, several sets of clothes and some spare trinkets, realizing the awful task ahead of her.

Denise scrambled, stuffing stuff back in her many bags, as the boat's ticket counter looked on in confused worry, wondering if they should help the poor lady out, but figuring that they don't get paid enough to help people.

...< A hectic half an hour later>...

The deep blue serene stillness of the ocean parted into sparkling white foam, as the ferry dashed across the ocean surface. Passengers inhabited the boat's deck, gazing out into azure beauty of the ocean and sky's union. How pillowy clouds laid on the rifts on glittering expanses of blue, the two so alike yet so distinct they were, joining them together so lovingly.

This was the sight Denise was currently enjoying - after managing to get all of her bags stored in the ferry's hull - as she leaned on the deck's railing lazily. Finally, she has some peace and quiet to herself, fresh salty wind whipping through the brown bangs that draped her face, idle chatter from the other passengers and the crashing of waves providing a backdrop for her thoughts.

I can't believe how fast this all was! I mean, it's probably a good thing that I got this opportunity, but it's really only been a couple hours! Hard to think that this was all in one day really.

Especially with Mom. She seemed really hasty with it all. I mean, I'm happy that she packed my bags for me, but after that...

Denise's mood turned solemn, as she looked towards to bleak void of the ocean.

She didn't do much. Didn't say goodbye or even an 'I love you', gave a little wave. I even offered to take her on my trip to the harbor so she could see me off, but...

...it was probably my fault. It always is.

No matter what it is, no matter how hard it is I try at something, I never win.

I might've made Mom mad somehow. Maybe me being late to work set her off, I might've stayed up too late... I don't know. Whatever it was, it was my fault. Just like every other time: my school life, that time I tried finding other jobs, catching crooks...

Like that Bonne Bot.

She perked up at that memory. It was one of the most vivid one's she's had.

It was months ago, when the whole island was pillaged by the Bonnes, the infamous family of Air Pirates that were said to have an entire nations worth of battle machinery; mechas the size of large houses and the power of army tanks blasting away any who oppose them, and leaving the victims penniless in the wake of their destruction.

This was the reality that Denise faced back then, when she called in to deal with the gigantic war machine, and it's miniature mechanical minions, storming the Gold City residential district with thousands of stolen Zenny in their possession. She was the one who faced the metallic malefactors, trying her best to get them to surrender.

Instead, she got a shot of sass and defeat.

A defeat that she didn't live down.

After that initial meet-up, she started to work out, intensely: hard-core VR simulation training, building her muscles to superhuman strength - she can lift a car pretty easily - for when then that Bonne Bot returned.

Which did happen! The gang of robots returned and charged through waves of police defense easily to the famed Gold City Bank. Once again Denise confronted the Bonnes, to more smack talk from the main Bonne Bot, with a worried confidence that she hadn't felt in a long time.

It was short lived.

While she did do a number on the Bonne Bot - even single handedly suplexing it easily - she was no match to it's mechanical might. It blasted her away in almost everyway, and another embarrassing defeat was her's.

And that embarrassment turned to determination.

She convinced the Captain back then to fight metal with metal, and so the department bought their own mecha, the Compages. An equally large mecha made specifically for high-level threats, with Denise trained to pilot it, which she quickly mastered in a matter of days, fixated on getting that Bonne Bot! The Bonne Bot returned to the bank soon after for another round of robbery, and Denise arrived soon after in the Compages, ready for their final - banter filled - battle!

And then the Compages blew up.

And it didn't matter that Denise got out of the explosion fine, she lost for a third time! She tried so hard, worked and trained some much, and in the end it didn't even matter! And the dressing down from the Captain, the demotion that would come. Her heart and mind were in tatters, hopeless and unlucky in the worst way possible...

"I'm sorry, but I've got my own problems to worry about. Good luck, officer!"

Those were words. Words of kindness. Words with feelings that see hasn't seen in a long time.

And all of them coming from a crook? It didn't make any sense at all!

The sweetness behind the voice, the concern... and when the Bonnes flew off via an airship, the robot looked back. Back at her.

Feelings of joy and confusion blossomed from her torn heart - happiness from being thought of being important to someone and perplexion from where those thoughts came from - feelings she's held onto all this time later, even after every daily disaster that's stood in her way, the voice has given her the hope to keep training her body and become the best police officer she can be.

And hopefully, they'll meet again.

A smile graces Denise, and her view turns to the bright sunny sky. We'll meet again, she thinks happily. Whether or not her time on the new island is better than her life on Ryship, she can't say, but if the Bonnes ever come back in her life, she'll be ready for them.

Next time, its personal.

Chapter 2

June 5th, 2:03 PM

Gesellschaft-Zwei, H.Q.

The world of the sky, the land no creature can live on but all haven’t lived without. Hanging over today was a crystal blue hue, speckled with the white shine of clouds, and topped with the blinding brilliance of the sun. The usual visitors of the sky, some spare seagulls soared idly along, flying together in a close knit flock. Squawks and screeches by the thousands were the standard around these parts, flaps of dull white joining the pantheon of many other clouds-

That quickly dissipated as a titanic dark olive green menace barreled right through them all like legs in tall grass. The green seagull-flock-destroyer was a humongous metal air ship, with the appearance that on could liken to a heavily armored deep-sea angler. Ruby red eyes gazed out blankly without thought, silver cannon hatches lined the bottom and sides, airplane wings the length of a football field jetted from each half, a menacing mechanical mouth and a high leveled artillery cannon adorning the front of this metal monster. All of it brandished with an infamous logo: a simple circular skull.

It was the Gesellschaft-Zwei of the Bonnes.

Indeed, the nearly skyscraper high battleship cruised along without a care in the world, cutting clouds like ocean waves as it sailed. Such a priceless war machine must be owned by one of the most blatantly ruthless, vile people known to man to show it off so unsubtly. The infamous Bonne family must surely live up to the threatening aura the battleship bleeds out.

The answer to that depends.

Inside the menacing walls held the three members of the Bonne family: Teisel - the eccentrically loud eldest brother, Tron - the feisty genius sister, and Bon - the baby brother encased in an immeasurably strong mecha. Each held authority over the Servebots, petite yellow and blue humanoid robots made by Tron that serve the three siblings semi-dutifully. 40 in total, the Servebots managed the Gesellschaft-Zwei’s navigation and weapon management best as with their stubby claw arms and silly demeanors.

Today it was just another day of sky sailing, the circular command center - known as the H.Q. - was bustling with Servebots typing away at little the computer monitors that helped navigate the humongous metal aircraft. From the right door out came Teisel, the defacto leader of the Bonne family. The man could easily be mistaken as the Gesellschaft-Zwei in human form, as his body was almost entirely robotic aside from his face and wild white hair. His eyes were cybernetic glass lens with a rose tint to them. His arms, legs, and everything in between was made of cylindrically bulky metal - his thighs and chest being thickest parts on him - that came in greens, blacks, and whites. Teisel briskly walked towards the raised platform that housed the ship’s pirate steering wheel and the Gesellschaft’s intercom system, where he yanked it’s microphone towards his mouth.

“Testing, testing, 1-2-3! Ahem, everyone I want your UNDIVIDED attention RIGHT NOW!”

Teisel’s gruff yet charismatic voice could be heard echoing althroughout the ship, drowning out any sound that could oppose the booming force.

“In about 3 hours, we’ll have arrived at our destination: Sapphronia Island, home of to one of the most prosperous cities IN THE WORLD! It’s BOUND to be heavily guarded, so I need everything in working order as soon as we get there! I don’t want ANYTHING ruining this operations, so get to work on the DOUBLE! Let’s DO IT!”

He slammed the microphone back into place and directed his attention to the Servebots seated at their computers, with a spirited point of his finger, “Men, I need you all to make sure our route there steers clear of ANYONE who could see us. And when we get there, you need to find us a good place for us to dock the ship. I want it to be some place where NO ONE can FIND US! UNDERSTAND?”

The Servebots turned to him and gave cute salutes, “Yes Master Teisel!” they rang out in childish unison.

Teisel nodded continued to shout, “ALRIGHT! I have tasks to take care of myself, so GET TO WORK!”

“Roger!” The Servebots sang out.

With that, Teisel turned and left H.Q. back the way he came, and started going down the many cramp hallways towards the Weapons Development Laboratory, or just the Lab. There was someone he wanted to check-up on, post-haste.

June 5th, 2:15 PM

Gesellschaft-Zwei, Lab

“#34! What do you think you’re doing?! I needed those tools right now!”

“Oopsie! Sorry Miss Tron! I thought they would make it tougher!”

The Lab was home to weapons that any army in the world would love to call their own: rocket launchers, grenades, large explosives, artillery tanks, one nuke, high-speed bombers, Gatling guns, and so many other killing machines.

And right now, the most dangerous weapon within it was the rage of Tron Bonne.

“I tell you to work on improving the armor, adding a bulletproof layer to it to be specific, and instead of that, you decided to take my tools and weld them into it?!”

Indeed, the the thick sheet of 'to-be-armor’ metal had various workshop tools sticking out of it like the spines of a porcupine. Servebot #34 looked up at Tron with tearful fear in his eyes as he apologized, “Y-y-yes… I thought that if a bad guy came up and tried to hurt you, they’d get poked real bad!”

“Are you dense?” Tron roared, “This armor is for defense only! We don’t need to line it with wrenches or whatever, we have guns! We can just shoot the bad guys, you dolt!”

“Oh…I’m sorry Miss Tron! I really am sorry!” sobbed #34.

“If you are sorry, you’ll get these tools out of the armor, and get your job done ASAP! Otherwise, you’ll be punished!”

“Eeeee!” Squeaked #34, as he quickly set about trying to unlatch the many tools with the miniature welding tools that got him into this situation.

The other Servebots that worked in the Lab had paused to ogle at Tron’s anger. She turned her attention towards them.

“And what are you all looking at? Get back to work, or you’re gonna get punished too!”

With a group “Yeek!”, the others hastily went back to their jobs, with slight shivers of anxiety to boot.

After a couple seconds, Tron huffs in disappointment and walks away from #34. She doesn’t know if she expected too much or too little of the Servebots, but every time she finds them messing around she can’t help but explode at them. She’s not a fan of it, but she can’t help that she has a temper. Plus, the Serevebots - all 40 of them - are pretty much her children, and children can’t learn without a little reprimanding. So it’s fine.

Tron Bonne had the most human appearance out of the family and had an outfit that was as boisterously girly as her voice. She had on a pink hip-length dress that split a small bit at the bottom of the dress. A short sleeve black jacket with puffed sleeves covered her back, and surrounded the pin of the Bonne emblem that was on the chest area of the dress. Pink gloves covered her hands, and big white bangles cuffed her wrists. The entirety of her legs were covered in black tights and topped with pink high heels. Strangely, she had a metal plate covering her crotch perfectly, and her dress exposing it like it was a declaration. The most notable aspect about Tron was her hair: the dark brown mane was pulled back in a way where it formed 5 sharp ridges that hid her pink hair band. Behind the hair band was the semicircular spectacle that was the rest of her hair that curved slightly up like horns. Tron’s elaborate appearance was all intentional, she enjoyed looking so distinct from everyone else, she wanted it to say to the world to say, “Wow, that’s Tron, the smartest girl in the world! She’s so amazing!” and get all the praise she deserves!

She does get that worship from the Servebots and a little bit from her brothers, but that’s it. And it bothers her to no end. Sure, Tron got a couple weird looks - alot of them by older men - but none of them gave her the recognition she deserved! She’s THE Ton Bonne, the genius inventor, the mechanical master, the daughter to a famous family that was known far and wide! How come NO ONE cares?

“Humf…” She sighed as she shook her head. She’ll worry about that later, right now she has a job to do. Tron strolled over to one of her newer creations: The Neu-Gustaff, an improved model of the Gustaff mecha she used months ago. It looked similar to the old model in many ways: a top heavy humanoid mecha with bulky arms and legs, and a rather small head. The body was the Neu-Gustaff’s cockpit, as it can open itself up like a jig-saw toothed mouth to the seat and controls that Tron would use to bring it to life. At the moment, the left arm was missing it’s hand, and for good reason: in it’s place would be an weapon of some sort that could be detached for another weapon when needed, because sometimes you need a Gatling gun to shot down a ravenous Reaverbot that’s trying to murder you but you’re stuck with a dumb bazooka.

Tron looked over the progress that Servebots #30, #9, and #10 made on it. The little robots were attentively tending to little things around the Neu-Gustaff, with #30 managing the mecha’s energy tanks, or E-Tanks. Tron called out to him, “#30! How’s the progress on the Neu-Gustaff going?”

#30 gave a salute, “Miss Tron! We’re a little behind schedule because of #34’s mistake, but the rest of us are doing fine! It’ll be ready before we get to the new place, I promise!”

“Hmmm… alright then,” Tron replied, “you better hold up your promise. Otherwise, you know what will happen, right?”

“Of course!” #30 cried in response.

“Alright, I’m counting on you all to get it done on time. Don’t screw up, okay?”

“Yes, Miss Tron!” he squealed. #30 went back to his E-Tank business with fearful mumbles under his breath.

Right then, the Lab doors swung open with the force of a thundering Teisel. His powerful stomps shook the floor as he made his way towards Tron with a huge smile.

“Hey there Tron! How’s everything in here?”

“Oh hey Teisel. Everything’s been going great, aside from well…”

Tron motioned a hand towards #34, who was currently trying to pry off the welded on screwdriver with a another screwdriver.

“But other than that, we’ll be ready in time for when we get to Sapphronia Island!”

“Ha ha ha, that’s wonderful to hear!” Teisel laughed, “I’m proud of you being on the ball, as usual!” and ruffled her hair playfully.

Quickly, Tron smoothed out her mane as she spoke, “Aww, Teisel… anyway, I know we’re going to Sapphronia, but why don’t we stop by Ryship? We’re pretty close to it, and known for being pretty wealthy. I mean, I should know…”

“That’s exactly why we’re NOT going there.” he answered. “The people of that island will recognize us from the last time, and will be much more prepared for us! A whole new island is a much safer bet for us, AND I’ve heard Sapphronia much more wealthy than Ryship by a LONG mile!”

Tron sighed in disappointment, “Oh, if you say so….”

Teisel’s grin drooped at the remark and he asked worriedly, “Hm? What’s wrong? You’re usually more excited about new operations. Did something happen there?”

Tron perked up, “Uh, not at all! It’s just something that crossed my mind, that’s all.”

But that wasn’t all. And Tron knew it. And she hoped Teisel didn’t know too.

“Alright then. I’ll be in the Meeting Room if you need me. Tron, maybe you should take a break, the Servebots look like they can take care of themselves.”

It’s a good thing Teisel’s as dense as he is loud, Tron thought with a smile.

She nodded to her older brother as he turned and left the Lab just as noisily as he entered it. Once she could finally hear her thoughts again, she pondered and decided to take up Teisel’s offer. There wasn't make she could really do besides keep the Servebots in check, so she could use a breather. As she walked towards the Lab doors, she shouted one last threat to the Servebots, “I’m going up to the Deck for a bit. If I find out that any of you are goofing off when I get back, you know what’ll happen!”

A cutesy chorus of terror rang out, “Yes, Miss Tron!”

June 5th, 2:23 PM

Gesellschaft-Zwei, Deck

Tron stood atop the Gesellschaft-Zwei’s deck where she was bombarded by high-flying winds whipping around her lithe body. The Deck was the one place on the ship where someone could safely stand outside while it flew, it akin to a boat deck as it had no roof and was bordered by protective guard rails. It was supposed to be used for lookout, but Tron usually used it as her own little place for herself and her thoughts. The feeling of the air flowing all around her gave her a sense of tranquility, a piece of nature that gave her some life in her artificial world. Tron found herself lackadaisily leaning on the railing, staring at the cloud filled sky peppered with light blue stripes.

So we’re skipping Ryship? What a bummer…I was hoping we’d go back… Tron thought to herself.

Months ago, the Bonnes had set out to that island for it’s famed treasures, Diana’s Tear being the most sought after, but encountered dangerous loan sharks that kidnapped her brothers. She found out that Teisel had borrowed 1,000,000 zenny from the loan sharks, and had resorted to looting the entire island to pay-off the debt, including interest! While it was a stressful period in her life, she had to admit that it was one of the most exciting operations she’s ever pulled off in her career. From ruin spelunking to Reaverbot ravaging, she guiltily enjoyed every moment of it. Her favorite part of it was raiding the island’s city for it’s gold, as she faced off against the heavily armed police. She dodged their puny bullets and bombarded the riot shielded officers that tried to stop her in the original Gustaff. And after all of the swarms of incompetent cops, in rode one officer that never failed to show…

A rather cute police girl who klutzily tried to foil Tron in a variety of ways: first in a police car, then on foot with a squad of other officers, and finally in a flimsy mecha of her own. Frankly, it was the highlight back then, it was fun to see how the police girl try and stop her every time. Tron knew back then that she should’ve acted more professional, but the way that girl pursed Tron with such determination and ditz put a smile on her face, and fire in her heart. She couldn’t help messing with the cute police girl back then, even letting the girl get some shots on the Gustaff - it was more of a suplex than a shot - in the end, Tron won out as expected. She did feel bits of guilt when the girl sat before her, soot covered and sorry looking, crying about her job being in jeopardy. She felt especially bad when the girl got a call from her captain, the her voice was full of misery as she tearfully made her report - Tron guessed she was being chewed out on the other end - and wept...

“What?! But… I’m sorry ma'am! I mean would you please reconsider?”

That line right there. The despair behind those tugged at Tron’s heartstrings. Something foreign began stirring within her chest, an aching that grew worse as the poor girl’s face glistened with streams of fresh tears. Tron wanted to stop the girl’s wails, her pathetic begs of forgiveness…

But she couldn’t. She had her brothers to save, and for the Bonnes, family came first.

“Miss Tron! We got everything!” a Servebot had said, “Let’s go home!”

As a Drache ship starting closing onto the Gustaff’s position for pick up, Tron stood there in the mecha still looking down on the police girl, guilt still in her heart. She couldn’t leave just leave the girl in her despair, but she couldn’t let the cop arrest her since she can’t save her brothers that way. Still, emotions boiled furiously within her, so Tron comforted the girl as kindly as she could, “I’m sorry, but I’ve got my own problems to worry about! Good luck to you, officer!”

And with one last look back, the Gustaff and the several Servebots with Tron boarded the Drache ship, abandoning the police girl in the rubble of the Bonne’s destruction. Thinking back, Tron thought about how she should’ve done more for her, how she could’ve given her a small bit of their stolen wealth, or how she could have told the police her predicament with the loan sharks, or how she should’ve said more comforting words at the very least.

That aching for the girl never left Tron. Even not knowing her name, the passion for the police girl was a fiery as ever. Tron never wanted to see that girl cry again, to never see her in the throes of heart-break, she wanted to see that girl be graced with happiness and success in the face of trouble. And Tron wanted to keep that joy safe from harm, and let nothing taint that girl with misery ever again.

I wonder what she’s doing now? Tron worried to herself, I hope she’s doing okay on Ryship. Maybe she still has her job and she’s still a police officer. She’s probably been fired by now… but I hope she’s doing well…

Chilly winds continued to comb through Tron’s immaculate hair, her near bare arms and legs shivered at the breeze’s touch. Fresh air filled her lungs as she took a deep breathe, and turned her gazed towards the shimmering sea. She could see vague outcrops of large figures from a long distance become smaller as the airship slowly passed them. Tron couldn’t tell if they were islands, sailing ships, or even roaming sea monsters, but what she could see was possibility. The possibility of good fortune, no matter what was far from her or her family, they would seize whatever riches it held. The possibility that she, Teisel, Bon, and the Servebots will live life to the fullest everyday of their lives’.

And the possibility that Tron will meet that girl again.

Chapter 3

June 5th, 5:41 PM

Sataellael Harbor, Sapphronia Island

"Attention all passengers, this is your captain speaking..."

"AAAH! Sorry ma'am I-!"

"We have docked at Sataellael Harbor. Please pickup your luggage at the luggage queue, and disembark from the ship."

It took a couple stunned seconds for Denise to figure out she wasn't going to get grilled by her superior, as usual. Blinking, she remembered the emotional rollercoaster that was that day, and how she chose to retire to a passenger room for the while. Deciding that she would stop her habit of oversleeping, she took to the room's only chair for a quick nap.

By most definitions, 'quick' doesn't mean '4 hours later', but quickness is relative.

And now Denise, in a flurry, realizes how her little snooze has once again messed everything up. After almost falling out of the chair, she rushed out of the room and into the ship's meager crowd of other passengers.

Ugh! Why can't I ever wake up early for anything? Denise thought to herself. As she joined the rest of the passengers, she kept thinking to herself. Every time she thinks that she can just relax, something bad always bulldozes through her plans and she can't do anything to stop it. It doesn't stop her from trying to pick up the many fragments that remain, as they kept breaking apart in her hands.

At times like these though, Denise wonders if it would be better if she just left those fragments to lie.

June 5th, 5:50 PM

New Palladio City, Sapphronia Island

Reacquainted with her loads of luggage, Denise hurried down the harbor taking in the sights of the city that loomed above. Skyscrapers against the sunset were drowned in darkness, jutting out like the open jaws of a monster, ready for it's next meal. Multicolored bright lights littered the bases of the black impending towers, like hopeful stars against the void of night. Signs and logos of all kinds glowed harmoniously, wordlessly trying to pander to the clamorous crowds that were scattered across the city streets and side walks. Blocky four-wheeled vehicles paced sizeable streets with cacophonous honks and beeps, with yellow checkered taxi cabs peppered into the crowd.

Though the many bags weighed Denise down, they didn't slow her pace as she ran down a cluttered sidewalk, flailing a free arm in the air to flag down a taxi.

"T-taxi! Uh, taxi?", She anxiously yelled out, with a few jumps that nearly knocked her luggage over. Soon, a ritzy looking cab rolled up to her, and rolled down their window to look at Denise.

"Ay kid, you got zenny?" the driver asked, as noxious smoke slowly flowed out of their car.

"Yea-yeah I do." Denise stuttered, quickly retrieving her wallet (sometimes she DOES learn from her mistakes).

"Alright, alright. And where're ya heading?" the driver continued.

Remembering her destination, she replied, "The New Palladio City Police Department."

SCREEEEECH!

In a huff of disgusting smoke, the taxi sped off, made a sharp U-turn, drove past rows of other taxis with a yell from the driver, and triggered every other cab to drive speedily past Denise in a cloud of horrific tasting smoke.

Denise was hacking up a lung and trying to fan the smoke away as she shook her head in defeat. Clearly she's not going to get a ride there.

Maybe I'll just walk to the place, it shouldn't be to far, Denise figured. The police should be close to the people they protect, so maybe it's close by!

... < 3 hours later > ...

Sweat and pain was all that Denise's body knew as she stalked the outskirts of the city, where modern luxuries started to become entwined with nature's primordial grasp. Weeds cracked into the sidewalks, the once blinding advertisements had morphed into the dim street lights that faintly stood against the night. Tall stonewalls were draped with leafy ivy vines, and the same goes for the metal gates that guarded the hidden homes that gazed at the tired intruder to the aged neighborhood.

Lonesome dissonance was the resident of this street, Denise was just a roommate.

Denise wearily marched on aimlessly, with huffs of exhaustion being the only speck of humanity in the inky stillness. Her feet were numb but burned in misery, her bag burdened back was stiff and ached at every movement it made, but Denise had to keep going. She was told that she had to get to her new Department, and she swore to herself that nothing would stop her. Fire burned in her heart, though weakly, and determination raced through her mind. She can't fail now. So many times she's been tasked with so many duties of great urgency and significance, and one way or another they shattered before her, and the shards of her incompetence cutting into her skin. Those cuts have stopped their bleeding a long time ago, yet they've never left Denise.

She can still feel those scars, ones she could have never been left with if she was able to do what she had needed to do. If she was able to wake up early. If she was able to stop crime, if she was able to not get on her Captain's bad side constantly, if she was able make friends at anytime of her life, if she was able to find employment without her mother giving it to her, if she was able to speak up when her mother only gave her glares of malice everyday and ask her why she never showed any love to her.

But she can't. She couldn't.

And I know never will. Denise concluded tiredly.

Everything in this world is out to get me, and really... that's how it is. I try and try so hard, but things never go my way. It's never going to change, and I'll just be fate's punching bag.

The only job that I'll ever be good at.

...

"...is that-?"

In front of her were the harsh florescent beaming of the humongous police station. It's stony dead exterior stood before Denise, the white light forming a halo around the glass doors that beckoned her to enter and delight spread across her face as she sprinted towards eventual victory. Though worn-out, her body was alight like a lightning bolt, her long worn legs were alive again, and as she reached out a hand to push open the gates to her victory...!

Only to bluntly ram herself into the glass barrier with a BANG and fall flat on her back, with her hoard of bags flying across the plant-filled pavement, and luckily some cushioned her landing.

If I was able to OPEN A DOOR... Denise angrily lamented to herself.

Two policemen, one pudgy and one lanky, pushed the resilient doors open, stopped next to each other, and stared at the young woman that laid flat before them surrounded by about a hundred bags. The pair of officers blankly stared at her, brief glances at each other sharing in the event's oddity. Eventually, Denise regained enough strength to wobbly raise herself from the ground, the backside of her body still stinging from the impact, and gave the two men a weak salute.

"H-h-hello there sirs! I'm the transfer recruit from Ryship... and my name is Denise..."

The two officers turned their heads towards each other, as if they were trying to brainstorm what the woman was talking to them. Slow seconds later, they faced her with dumbfounded expressions, and the lankier one uttered lamely, "Uh... yuh need to get in?"

"Y-yes please! Thank you sir!" She squeaked in reply.

Wearily, she followed the two men into the florescent police station. As they pulled one the twin doors, a single pathetic thought worms it's way into of Denise's mind:

Today's been a long day...

Chapter 4

June 5th, 6:58 PM

Gesellschaft-Zwei, Meeting Room

"ALRIGHT EVERYONE! Here's the plan!"

Teisel's boisterous proposal filled the cramped yellow room, as Tron and a dozen Servebots sat around the long office table that the tall robotic man was addressing. He began writing on the dry-erase board behind him with scribbly shapes and lines that could vaguely be described as a picture. Thankfully, Teisel hastily turned back to his crowd, pointed at the board, and began to explain.

"First thing's first, we scout out the city! Figure out where we're going to loot from and the best routes to get to each target! Then, we make our move... AND STEAL THE GOODS! Take EVERYTHING that's valuable as fast as you can! Even if you need to knock out a person or blow up a building, DO IT! And once we've stripped the island's wealth bare, we head back to the Gesellschaft-Zwei and BOOK IT! We have to make sure that NOBODY can follow us, so make sure that nothing is left behind! The city is wealthy, so it's a safe bet that they'll have a strong defense force, SO DON'T SLACK-OFF! After that, we head off and the operation is complete! We'll be FILTHY RICH! AND NOBODY WOULD BE ABLE TO STOP US! AHA HA HA HAA!"

While Teisel maniacally laughed, Tron sat in an office chair, attentively thinking over her brother's plan. It's layout is a standard 'get in and get out' strategy, one that makes sounds feasible on first glance. Many of the island communities they've raided were taken down similarly, but those islands were much smaller and poorer than the treasure behemoth they were about to tackle. Given how large the island of Sapphronia was, it wouldn't be a stretch to say that it might have more than just a big city. It could be holding much more...

"Teisel, why don't we search for more than just the city? Sapphronia is a pretty big island, so I wouldn't doubt that there's a couple ruins to it. And where there's ruins, there's more treasure!"

He cocked his head, scratching his metallic chin with a pondering look at his sister. "Huh... now that you mention it, this IS one of the largest islands we've ever seen, but I haven't seen any hints of ruins being here..."

"And that's why we should look for some!" Tron replied proudly, "Ruins aren't the most visible thing in the world. They're pretty much only underground, you know!"

"Well, yeah... but you'd think that such a populated island would've uncovered it by now. Maybe the reason that we haven't see anything about it might mean it's already been picked clean!" Teisel countered.

"Still, it wouldn't hurt to look for them, right?" She remarked with flourished hand gesture.

Teisel dramatically leaned back, now with his his hands on his hips and staring off into space, mulling over Tron's proposal.

"Well... I suppose it wouldn't hurt to look for some ruins..." A toothy grin graced his face as he turn to Tron again, "Alright then. We can stick to the plan and squeeze in a ruins search in there. Tron, since it's your idea, I'd like you to take over this task, if you please."

"Sure, I can do that. I can take the Finkel out for it and find us some ruins." She nodded. As she began to get up from her seat, she thought of and asked her brother another question.

"So when will the island scouting start?"

He answered promptly, "Tonight. And tomorrow, we begin the invasion."

"What?" She stared right at Teisel, bewilderment stained across her face. "We just got here!"

"Of course! The sooner we complete this mission, the sooner we become rich."

"I guess... ugh, alright. I'll get go get the Finkel set up...", she sighed.

"Thanks Tron!" He then posed with dramatic confidence as he commanded the seated Servebots, "MEN, it's time to begin the operation! Get to the Drache ships and drop yourselves off on the island, ON THE DOUBLE!"

As the petite robots saluted, Tron walked towards and out the door of the Meeting Room, the echoes of cheer bounced lightly around the metallic hallways of the ship. Arms crossed and brow furrowed, she thought over the meeting, and how her brother was acting... strangely.

This isn't like him at all... he's usually more thorough with his operations, and if this place really is as wealthy as he said it was why was his plan not more definite? Last time we were after a huge target, he made us comb through that entire strait of islands for an entire week because of a rumor that they were made of gold! Nothing about this is adding up.

Something is wrong, and it's something that Teisel's not telling me.

... < 2 hours later > ...

~Chopa-chopa-chopa-chopa-chopa~

Soaring through the still night air was a kookily cute robotic pig with a long antennae tail and a propeller sticking out from it's back. This was the Finkel, a stealth drone that helped the Bonnes' explore place's too dangerous or remote for any of their mammoth sized mechas to get into. At the moment, it's weaving it's way through the woody outskirts of town, with its camera filled snout trying to find any hint of an ancient remains, or something like that. From the Gesellschaft-Zwei, Tron was sitting in the Meeting Room alone with a chunky drone controller in her hands, guiding the Finkel's path from a first-person perspective via the screen in the middle of the controller.

At the moment, nothing's showed up. There was trees, grass, bushes - actually that might've been another tree - point is that it's been really boring. Tron leaned back lazily in an office chair, yawning as she leisurely watched and listen for anything the Finkel could find. The drone was able to detect audio and play it through the average speakers of the controller, and recently she had added a headphone jack to it for a pair of puffy headphones, so the calming chirps and rustles of the forest in surround sound didn't help Tron in anyway. Drowsiness made her eyelids droop and her body becoming numb, it's clear that sleep was inevitable.

"Ugh..." she murmured. She stretched her legs to keep herself awake and brought the controller much closer to face, trying to see if there was anything minute she's missed. From a corner of the screen, a strange light glowed eerily, one that brought Tron from the brink of sleep. The soft glow turned into a blaringly bright building, as she flew the Finkel closer. It left a shadow of white light on the ground, the fluorescence held a bleak stony structure with its glass doors and signage in its death grip. Said signage plainly read 'New Palladio City Police Department' and Tron leaned forward in her chair in intrigue.

So there are police here. Can't say I'm not surprised that a city has police, but it's strange that it's so far away it is from everything else. She continued her pondering, Wasn't Teisel worried about the island's defense? This doesn't look like the force of a super wealthy city to me. I know that I should be looking for ruins... but it wouldn't hurt to take a peek.

The Finkel closed in on the imposing department and began to circle the perimeter, stopping at a stray window that was partially open, but not open enough for the drone to slip through. It was cracked open enough for listening, and the glass was clear for spying, so spy she did. Within was an obnoxiously gray and beige office where a saggy, elderly suited man sat behind a dark oak desk, shifting through two or three folders with a gaze only old people can perfect.

In front of that desk were a couple matching oak chairs, and about three people that made their lot in them. A gangly bald man with bulky and weapon-laden vest and a freckled larger man with scraggled hair sat in chairs as far from the desk. In the chair directly infront of the desk was....

Was...

Was...

...no...

...

It couldn't be...

It was her...!

That cinnamony brown short hair, those quaint square glasses, the big white cuffs and light blue gloves, the dorkily cute face...

It was her. Tron didn't know how, but it was her.

Tron's jaw dropped and sat straight in her chair in shock. She couldn't believe her eyes... that girl was right there on her screen, on the island they're about to raid! A strange feeling had made it's home in Tron's heart, a bubbly feeling of aching happiness and relieved joy that gave her a drug-like high althroughout her body and mind. And she wasn't going to come down soon.

Tron wanted to be there. Her hands shook as the controller's screen showed her the cute police girl of her dreams. She wanted to be there, with her. Tron wanted to be in that office with her, and steal her away. Because, right now this girl was the most beautiful treasure on the entire island...

"Aack! What am I thinking!" Tron exclaimed, "I can't get distracted like this!" and shook her head trying to focus. "How the heck did she get here? She was on that other island... Ryship I think... so what happened? Hmmm... I think I should listen in and see what's going on." And so, Tron tried to shush and hear what was about to happen.

At the office, the old man finally put down the folders he shuffled before and stared down at the girl with a grimace. The voice that seeped from that man's mouth was gravely and dry, and a tone of huffy order.

"The Ryship transferee I was starting to think that you wouldn't show up since most of the other transfers arrived at 5. I did give you the benefit of the doubt and thought you would be here by 6, but I guess I was a bit too conservative with my estimate."

"I'm sorry sir! The boat that I took was running very late, and I'm not very familiar with the area, so I didn't know where the station was. I apologize for all of this!"

If there was any doubt on the girl's identity, they've been completely trashed. The adorably dorky voice and apologies were undoubtedly belonged the one from so long ago.

"Hmmm..." The man opened one of the folders at hand and scanned the contents, then tapped a piece of a document with a wrinkly finger, "Says here that you had encounters with the... 'Bonnes'..."

Excitedly the girl jumped up from her chair, fists pumped as she proudly spoke, "That's right! It was a couple months ago, but when they invaded I was the one that faced them head on! They had a large robot with them that-"

"Successfully stole from your city approximately three times, two of which where of Gold City's famed bank. You were the officer in charge of these incidents, am I correct?"

"...yes sir. I was..." She replied in dejection, "The Bonnes were an incredibly hostile force, and it was difficult to push back their invasion, sir"

Tron slyly smiled to herself.

The elderly man looked at the now moping girl in front of him, "Miss, we have no records of these 'Bonnes', so clearly they must not have been that much of a threat."

Tron madly scowled out loud.

"But the threats of one nation aren't equal to another, so I'll take your word for it." He continued, as he closed the now rifled folder, "As for more pressing matters, you'll start your service two days from now as per the policies." Now reaching down and opening a creaky drawer, the old man retrieved and tossed a jangling set of keys to the girl.

"And also per policy, transfer officers are provided housing paid by the department in exchange for your service. These are the keys for it."

Tron's scowled face turned to on with perplexed anger on it. This guy is pretty much saying he's keeping people enslaved in exchange for a house! That's a pretty bad deal, there's no way anyone would take it...

Well... anyone normal wouldn't. Going off of this girl's track record...

Tron turned her focus back to the Finkel's screen.

The keys clanked against the girl's square glasses - she squeaked in pain at that - and plopped down into her hands ungracefully. She stood up from her chair and saluted to the man, with a look of tired determination, and the keys in her hand now smacking her in the face.

"Thank you sir, I'm extremely grateful and I swear to do my very best for this department! B-but, I'd like to request a ride to my housing, please. I don't really know where it is..."

The elderly man raised a hand and snapped his chapped fingers to the two officers in the corner, "You two," He hoarsely ordered, "take her to her housing." and with a curt salute from the pair they quickly marched out of the office, and out of view from the drone. The elderly man then gave one last remark to the girl, "It's good to have you on the force, ma'am. I'll be seeing you soon."

"Of course!" She replied with weary excitement, "I'll do my best, or my name isn't Denise Marmalade!"

Denise.

Denise... Marmalade.

It took a minute for that name to sink in. That name was... mundane, yet fitting for that girl. Tron never thought of what her name could've been, but she probably would have never called it being so average. Average, yet... special. It sounded so nice, cutesy in a way to Tron, how quaintly it fit the other girl. So sweet and pure that name, like the taste of vanilla ice cream timeless and saccharine. It looped in Tron's mind like an earworm, each repeat furthering the smile on her face.

Denise Marmalade, the name and girl Tron won't be forgetting any time soon.

And the girl who's not on the screen anymore.

"Aaah!" Tron yelled out, "Wuh-wuh-where did she go?!" Desperate and panicked, she franticly piloted the Finkel all around the concrete box of a police station, before a nearby engine vroom clued her in. Immediately the drone flew to the sound, with the noisy police car rumbling below. Cautiously - in a quick way - the Finkel approached the car, and saw that the two police officers were lazing in the front seats, and no one in the backseat. The window to said backseat was open, and without hesitation Tron flew the Finkel into the car, lodging it into the backseat's floor space. If this was Denise's ride, then Tron wanted to be here, with her, for every second of it.

Almost on cue, Denise stumbled into the backseat and buckled herself in as she spoke, "Sorry for being late! I had to pick up all of my luggage." Then dumped dozens of bags onto the car floor, helpfully disguising the Finkel and accidentally aiming it up towards her face. The perfect viewpoint for the wanting Tron, as she lounged in her chair in interest. The police car's door slammed shut and the car began it's journey into the night. Light rumbles and sudden jumps from the road rocked the passengers, a buckled in Denise swayed slightly in her seat trying to sit up straight, but leaned slightly forward and hands on her lap trying to prop her up. Now that the Finkel's camera was much closer to Denise, it was easier to see the sheer weariness on her face and more obviously her eyes. Behind the square frames and glass barriers were sapphires lost of luster and glazed over in darkness, dropping eyelids threatened to seal away the pair of bejewelled eyes, and bags hung below almost ready and waiting to catch them if they dared to fall. Denise tried to hide the suffering, but it was all to clear to Tron, and it was just as clear that there was nothing she could do about it.

She couldn't be there for her. There next to her, there to make her less alone, there to be shoulder for her to lean on... to let her rest there happily... and they'd be there... together...

Again, Tron shook her head in embarrassment, blush blossomed on her cheeks. Why do I keep thinking things like that? Tron thought to herself, It's so hard to focus on anything when Denise is on the mind - and especially now that she's here - it's just like when I met... him.

Mega Man.

A while ago, she, the Servebots and her brothers had invaded the small island community of Kattleox in hopes of making bank from it's ruins, but were thwarted by an armored boy in blue named Mega Man with his massive arsenal of guns and explosives. He single handedly destroyed so many of Tron's finely crafted mechas, and even sunk the original Gesellschaft leaving the family homeless for a long while. And while it was a blemish on the Bonne's pirate legacy, there was still times of delight. Such as when Tron had been graciously saved from a rabid hound by Mega Man, he had the soft face of an angel and the thin steely body of beauty, with a goofily polite voice to go with it. That was the first time she had felt this way, that dizzyingly sweet feeling that left her heart aching for days. It made the bitter failure of the invasion a bit better to stomach, especially since they left that island the poorest they've ever been before.

Still it was the first time Tron's ever felt so starstruck for someone, and comparing those emotions back then to now...

It was so much worse. Or better? Who knows...

...< Several minutes later>...

Sweet silence filled the air, both in and outside the drone's controller. Tron's eyelids were half-shut, ready to fully envelope her sight and take her away to dream land, but her restless resolve for Denise kept her awake. Everything had pretty much stayed the same in that car, and any normal person would grow tired of the scene after so long, but for Tron it was endlessly interesting. She had the freedom to - in a away - be with Denise, alone with her and enjoy the tranquility between the two. If only Tron could actually be there with her, next to her, so close to her...

The soothing rocks of the police car, and the blankets of darkness had lulled Denise to sleep, with her fully leaning her body on the cold car door. She shivered in her sleep as her bare arms laid against the freezing metal of the door, and small murmurs in discomfort left her sleepy mouth. Tron had no idea how Denise could sleep like that, she was clearly uncomfortable with nothing around to warm her up, but if Tron was there...

She tilted her head to the side, thinking to herself. Should I be...? You know what, nevermind. Tron dismissed. These thoughts are the only things are really keeping me awake, other than her. I might as well think of them. And besides, they make me happy... so why not have these thoughts?

So she leaned back in her chair, eyes closed and delved into a new fantasy. Tron was there, sitting right next to the sleeping Denise, who still shook from the cold. There wouldn't be any wait, Tron would take hold of the sleeping girl to try to become a blanket of warmth for her. Of course, that wouldn't be enough - Denise wouldn't beat the cold if she was always near the cold - so Tron would take hold and gently draw Denise's body to Tron, where they would sit together and hug each other so dearly. Tron would smile down at the precious girl in her arms, lightly petting the soft cinnamon brown hair and Denise's back, and then she would wake up and turn her head up to Tron. Sapphire and emerald would meet, each basking in the glittering beauty other's eyes, casting a spell on the both of them that made the world blisteringly hot. With the both of them together like this, it would only be a matter of time before Tron drew Denise so much closer, their faces mere inches away and breaths heavy in anticipation, and then they would...!

"Ay, uh miss. Yer stop's here."

Instantly, Tron snapped back to reality - nearly toppling out of her chair - and with a jolt brought the Finkel's controller right up to her face. On screen, Denise had woken up suddenly as well, and was franticly gathering up her hoard of bags while apologizing to the police men in the front seats.

"Ack! Sorry sirs! Th-thank you for driving me here and uh, see you soon!" She then shoulder bashed the police car door open - her arms were filled with tons of bags - and raced off into the darkness, but not before kicking the door shut with a clunk, leaving the Finkel - and Tron - on the backseat's floor, alone.

All alone.

It was... jarring. It had only been a few seconds, but the disappearance felt like ages. Despite not being there, Tron could feel the barren cold of the area, the darkness's once comforting embrace held onto her with an iron grip, and drained all of joy she had only moments ago. All that remained was a barren wasteland that once housed her heart, her usual firey spirt now but small pitiful embers. Before, Tron couldn't put to words the bubbly excitement, but absolutely knew the name of this drained void within her:

Despair.

Absolute despair.

She's been gone for only a minute, but... it hurts... so much, Tron lamented as began to go limp in sadness and controller fell onto her lap. Sorrow was all her face showed as everything in her world became numb, and eventually became nothing...

"Ay, so what did'ja think of that girl?"

" 'onestly, nothin special."

What.

"I mean did'ya hear all that crying back at the station? Pretty pathetic if ya' ask me."

WHAT.

"I betcha she won't make it past 'er first day, most girls like her are pretty weak..."

WHAT?!

In a flash, Tron's soul ignited into a wildfire, snatching the Finkel's controller in outrage to the police man's chat.

"HOW DARE THEY?" Tron roared, "Those two... they're gonna PAY for what they said ABOUT HER! When I'm through with them, THEY WON'T SPEAK ANOTHER WORD EVER AGAIN!"

With that, she jammed the 'return to home' button on the drone's controller, tossed it away in barely managed rage, and stormed out of the barren Meeting Room with fury. Stomping down the hallway, pure anger filled every fiber of Tron's body, to the point where she became blind and deaf to all but her rage. Still, she had a destination, straight to her Lab and instinctively walked towards it with a face of devilish fury.

She has a few new weapons to fix up for tomorrow's target practice.

Chapter 5

June 6th, 6:23 AM

New Palladio City, Denise's Apartment

"~Ring, ring~ ~ring, ring~" goes the phone, the desktop rotary telephone echoing in the distance.

The little device rumbled away within the dark and cramped apartment, shaking the flimsy wooden desk it sat upon next to the aging reclining chair that faced the home's small kitchen. Away from all that was a short hallway that branched into some smaller rooms. One of which was a desolate looking bedroom with Denise flopped onto a messy bed. She was still in her Ryship uniform since she didn't have much energy from yesterday's marathon, even her square glasses still sat on her face all smudged from her rolling around on the mattress in her sleep. She softly snored, deep in sleep, almost in opposition to the loud ringing from a far, but eventually the phone's persistence won out as Denise began to wake up in agitation. Despite finally having a bed to fall asleep on, she felt just as tired as yesterday, her legs sore and her mind still in a blur from... well everything that happened. It was just hard to think that all of this was in one day. Denise sat up and began to make her way to the crying telephone, while she continued to reflect.

It's just so crazy, isn't it? Moved from Ryship to this place with a new job and place, all in one day? That's not really normal at all, right? This feels like a bad prank, like somebody's going to come up to me and tell me that this was all a hoax or something and laugh at me.

Looking around, she stood in the middle of her, the apartment's meager hallway and the telephone still ringing in the slightly bigger kitchen - living room.

Maybe they're on the other line to laugh at me, she pondered as she walked towards the telephone.

Now at the wailing device, Denise brought the telephone's handset to her mouth and ears as she gave a customary greeting, tiredly.

"Hi-hi, this is Deni-"

"Hello, this is an automated message to police personnel."

Should I have expected anything else? Maybe a more hearty laugh, I guess... She glumly thought, and listened to the phone's message.

"This an emergency announcement. A major crime is occurring. Please report to the department for information on the situation. Thank you."

Crime! And a big one too! No wonder this place needed more officers if this happens after my first day here!

Setting the phone down, Denise rushed down the cramp hallway and to the even smaller tile bathroom to straighten up her look. The chief might've given her today as an off day, but where there's crime, an officer needs to be there to stop it: her precisely! So with the help of the bathroom mirror she patted down her wrinkled clothes and did her best to straighten up her hair (she did have a comb and hair conditioner but they were buried in the bag abyss.). And so once she fixed her her whole look, she burst right out of her apartment into the day's light with determination. The once pitch black night from yesterday was replaced with the vibrant colors of the day that painted forest greens on aged stone grays and reds. Rustic suburban city buildings loomed peacefully over the dry street where Denise stood alone, the area in pure silence almost in harmony with the verdant flora. The open sunny sky shone, and Denise's smiled shined back, confident as she began to make her way to the department...

And then she remembered she didn't know how to get there.

Today didn't seem as sunny as it was before.

June 6th, 7:02 AM

New Palladio City Outskirts, Rhodi Suburbs

'A major crime in progress' is the most professional way to describe the warzone that she almost passed trying to find the police department.

The earth scorched and scarred, building broken into burned rumble, weapon shrapnel scattered among the wreckage, and dozens of her fellow police officers lying in defeat. Luckily none of them were dead as she could hear their pained groans as she approached.

"Wh-what happened here?" Denise shouted in concern, running to injured men with an outstretched hand.

Some of them began to get up from the ground, two of them she recognized as the men that drove her to her apartment from last night. The lanky bald man stumbled onto his feet with a huff and gave a curt nod to her as his larger friend struggled to rise. He addressed Denise a bit curtly, "Ay uh, well you wouldn't believe it if we weren't standin' in all this destruction, but I swear to you on on all things holy -"

"Uh ay! Get on with it Ron!" The large man shouted.

"- well out of nowhere a large robot dropped out of the sky with a bunch of little guys, and they started blowing up and stealing things from these old buildings!"

And instantly something lit up inside Denise's mind.

This wasn't your everyday crime, that much was obvious, this devastation, the robot, the looting...

This was the work of the Bonnes.

Somehow, they were back. Here to raze chaos on the inhabitants on this island, just like how they did so long ago.

... because I failed so long ago, as always...

...

"Sir." Denise asked, her expression and tone turning serious, "Do you know where the robot went?"

The lanky man, Ron, scratched his chin, trying to remember the direction. The larger man finally rose to his feet and responded to Denise, "They went towards the Rhodi Bank, missy. It's west of here. We got men heading over to stop it."

"Thank you sir! I'll be heading over there to help them!" She stated.

Ron's attention snapped at that statement, "Hold on a second, missy but that robot was very large and has a huge supply of explosions and guns and -"

"Point is, you'd die in an instant! Let the strong men handle it!"

She paused for a moment, but shook her head in disagreement and replied, "W-well... there's no such thing as not enough help." and ran off to the west dead-set on meeting her foe once more.

And this time, it's personal.

June 6th, 7:23 AM

New Palladio City Outskirts, Rhodi Bank

"Oh boy, oh boy... I hope I'm not too late!" Denise whispered to herself. Finding the path to the bank was sadly easy - the rubble from decimated buildings was almost path-like, and the pot hole footprints in the street helped - it was what was waiting at the end that made her dread. For all she knew, the bank was already turned to wreckage with the bodies of dead men decorating the ruins. Nothing like that happened like that the last time she dealt with the pirates, but with this much decimation, you can't really be sure.

The trail of devastation brought her right in front of the Rhodi Bank, still standing despite the many cracks and scorches it wore. And there beating it down with a booming cannon, was a familiar steely face. Without a doubt, it was that humongous Bonne Bot that disgraced her before, standing there unaware of her presence. It was larger before and had a much more intimidating look to it, the cannon's ammo more lethal looking than anything Denise had ever seen. One shot from it looked as if it would evaporate her in an instant...

And yet, Denise ran towards the hulking giant. Blood pumping fast all through out her body, her mind resolute in what she was doing. Not a single thought in her mind took concern for her well being, if she should really be doing something so dangerous.

There was one thing on her mind.

Revenge.

Denise darted quick as a flash to the giant robot's free hand and embraced it. Before it even knew she was there, Denise had, in one swift motion, suplexed the monster of a machine, crashing it into the ground like an apocolyptic meteor.

The move left Denise on her back, so she got up to look at the impact she made to the robot, only for it to astonishingly get back up as if nothing happened to it. Whatever blazing determination she had before turn into cold horror, at how her effort had pretty much no effect on the mecha. And know the reality of her standing in the way of a war machine hit her too hard for handle, yet she faced the mecha as it turned to her, her body tense in terrified anticipation. Towering over her, the titan of steel looked down at her, the glass eyes gleaming menacingly and giant arms akimbo, and a muffled familiar voice came out from it.

"W-well! Somebody decided to show up and make this interesting! I was starting to fall asleep at that rate."

The robot stepped back, presumably to get a better look at Denise as it continued, "The other officers were complete pushovers, they thought a pistol would stop me. A dinky little pistol! What a bunch of wimps."

Denise nervously walked towards the Bonne Bot to close the distance, "W-wuh-well, your not going to get away with this. I'll bring you in and make sure you're locked up for a longtime!"

"Oh really? You know how things went down last time, don't you?"

Denise freezes for a moment, stunned at that remark.

"Yeah, I remember you," The Bonne Bot noted, "all the way back at Ryship, you were the one person that even came close to beating me you know. I think that's pretty impressive."

Now Denise cocked her head in confusion. "Uh... thanks?" she said, trying to process her long standing enemy complimenting her. Of all people.

"Well, let's see if you're still up to scratch!" the Bonne Bot announced, as it got into a fighting stance with the arm cannon aimed directly at her, "it's been a longtime Denise! Don't disappoint me!"

And with the stage set, a booming laser blast was fired! Denise dodged it swiftly, and began to run headlong at the Bonne Bot. Remembering the last fight that was like this, the robot didn't have anyway to deal with her close up, and only had ranged weaponry. And while it looked like it was the same here, Denise was absolutely sure things were going to be different this time. She just needed to test the Bonne Bot a bit...

Whirrs rumbled out from the arm cannon as the Bonne Bot backed away from Denise, the ground shaking with each step. The other robot's arm long low to the ground, where it's hand nearly grazed the ground at some points.

Is the robot only ranged? If it's just like last time, maybe my approach from back then might work. Just need to not mess up! She decided to herself.

Another blast scorched the earth as Denise dodged it, and closed in onto the Bonne Bot. She dived towards the robot's hand and latched onto it. The arm shook her off easily, throwing her onto the ground, where she thankfully landed on her feet. The cannon starts charging again as Denise circled around the machine, looking for an opening to take advantage of. The Bonne Bot easily kept track of her, the main bulky body turned independently of it's short legs, allowing it to keep it's eye on Denise as it fired once again. And again, she avoided it, but an idea began to form. The mecha itself was very top heavy, and didn't much support other than those legs, so if something where to happen to them...

Looking around, she spotted a sharp, heavy looking piece of rubble from the partially ruined bank. It was about the size of a double XL bed and could've weighed as much as a whole car, yet she dashed towards it, and managed to grab and hold it up single handedly.

The voice from the Bonne Bot commented teasingly, "My, my. I knew you were strong Denise, but you don't need to show off!"

"Uh... how do you know my name?" Denise stuttered, "I don't think I ever -"

"You think I wouldn't know about my enemy? I have a giant robot, for crying out loud! I have the technology to know pretty much everything!"

"W-well, uh... know this!"

Denise expertly chucked the rubble at the Bonne Bot's midsection, lodging it in between the mecha's body and torso. It had torn it's way into the robot likely leaving a rather big gash in it, and the sudden weight made the metal titan stumble for a second.

"Huh? What was that? I can't turn the body anymore!" The voice complained.

Confidence graced Denise's face, "How's that? Looks like you won't be gunning for me, will you?"

With a scoff, the voice replied, "Of course I will! This is just a scratch, and I'm just getting started! Get over here, boys!"

Out from the wrecked bank popped out a small group of yellow and blue child-like robots. They unanimously cried out a cheery, "Yes Miss Tron!"

"Get to your stations, let's show this little lady what we can do!"

And with a squeaky "Roger!", the little robots scattered into the area's outskirts, only for tall boxy tanks to rear their ugly heads.

"Ahahaha! Did you think I wouldn't come prepared! It's one against an army, and if I were you, I'd give up." Taunted the voice, or Miss Tron as the little robots referred to.

"I-I..." Denise muttered in terror, her body shaking in tune with her fear. Artillery surrounded her, death being closer to her than ever before, and all she could do was be a deer in the headlights.

Obviously smug, Miss Tron continued talking, "Aww... I feel sorry for you right now. You're down there without anyway to defend yourself, it's a bit sad really. And to think, you've never seen the one to make you grovel like this! How unfortunate for you. Luckily for you, I'm kind enough to let you take a glimpse of me, out of the kindness of my own heart."

Steam erupted from the Bonne Bot's body, causing Denise to shield her eyes with her arms. When she looked back, the steam faded away, where she saw the giant robot had opened itself like a mouth, and inside that mechanical maw was...

The most beautiful girl she had ever seen in her life.

She had a body like her own, thin and youthful, and she looked like she was as old as her as well, about 14 or 15. She wore a bubblegum pink dress with a short sleeved ink black jacket that made her look dashing. Her legs were covered by rather attractive tights and pink high-heels only made them so much more appealing. The metal plate covering the girl's midriff was peculiar, yet fit with the outfit and gave it an element of alluring mystery. And while her fan-like hair was rather surprising, it somehow made this girl all the more stunning, as if her whole appearance was screaming to Denise, "I'm good looking and I absolutely know it!" and she heard every word. Denise was frozen not in fear, but in awe. Hot red blush blessed her face, her heart thumped hard, and deep within her... she felt something. Something wonderful...

"Like what you see, Denise? And since I know your name, it's only fair you know mine. I'm Tron Bonne, though you can call me Tron, one of the famed Air Pirates of the Bonne family!" Tron coy fully declared.

Tron Bonne... the name echoed in Denise's mind. It was oddly bombastic and charming, and fit her to a tee.

Tron's confidence was more than obvious, her arms crossed, her left leg propped up on the rim of the robot's mouth, and the delightfully devilish grin on her face. She waved her right hand nonchalantly as she kept speaking, "You're lucky that I'm so generous to you, most people don't even get know I'm a girl!"

Shaking her head, Denise tried to think of a way out. The many tanks dead set on her, and nothing around that seemed like an exit, so a simple escape was out of the question. There wasn't anything large enough for her to use as a weapon either, so her options were next to nothing.

Nothing physical, at least...

The one thing that's more obvious than Tron's pride is how much she likes hearing herself talk, so Denise probably couldn't do anything about her and turned her attention to the many tanks, specifically the child-like robots piloting them. They had begun charging their cannons and of course they were major threats, but if they were as childish as their voices and appearance made them out to be, then maybe they're just as naïve as actual kids.

Denise reached down and picked up a stray concrete rock, keeping her eye on Tron - mainly to make sure the other girl didn't notice her's plan, and a bit to gaze at Tron's good looks - and tossing it in her hand to test it's weight. As soon as she was sure of her plan, she got into a pitcher's stance and threw the rock hard into the sky, near the robot. The closest tank noticed the flying rock and shot it. The tank's laser blast had easily vaporized the rock...

And kept going, hitting Tron's mecha directly at the gash Denise had made! The impact knocked the robot off balance, sending Tron tumbling out from it, and causing the wedged rubble to slice the robot in half.

"Yeah! How's that?" Denise cheered for herself, jumping in joy at her victory.

And then see remembered the other tanks. That surrounded her completely.

They were still aimed right at her. With cannons ready to annihilate her.

And nowhere to run.

"Oh no."

KA-BOOOM!

The blasts made the ground below erupt like a volcano, and launched her high up into the air. Her body flew like a ragdoll, and her mind blank of any thought other than the hope of survival. And just as soon as she had accepted her fate in the air, gravity dragged her down hard, aimed right at the hard concrete below. Denise braced herself for impact, arms crossed over her head and legs tucked.

She landed hard, skidding across the concrete ground roughly. Her clothes and tights ripping open, and her arms and legs tender from the abrasion tearing her skin open. Pain racked through her body, blood beginning to make it's way out from the injuries, and various bruises painting her skin in deep purples and blues that left her stunned. It was a struggle to move herself without agonizing her body more. The only good aspect of the situation was that her glasses had somehow gotten out of the blast without a scratch, but even this small mercy had an ugly twist, for the pair of glasses had flew off of her face and out of reach.

Denise was left blind, suffering, and terrified. She was as good as dead, she was sure of it.

I can't run away. I can't fight. I can't do anything.

Though isn't that how it's always been?

... if this is the end, then it's a fitting one...

Denise's vision faded into darkness, ready to accept her fate, and embrace death, whenever it would come...

...

...

...

"Please get up Denise! Get up, get up, please!"

Denise opened her blurry eyes not to her demise, but to Tron - her enemy from so long ago - holding her so close in the her gentle arms, with tears dripping down her face.

[jaehyunsuh]

Paradise; Jaehyun // part 2

part 1

"I like your smile that's brighter than the stars

this place where we're dreaming the same dream is paradise

like the ones I drew when I was young,

I feel like tomorrow is gonna be filled with dreams and thrills"

series: songs for you🌃

REQUESTS ARE: OPEN

— pairing: jaehyun x reader

— genre: fluff/ romance/ boyfriend! Jaehyun/ fiance! Jaehyun/ husband! Jaehyun ??

— words count: 1.5k

summary: Jaehyun and you have been together for 3 years now, he is the best boyfriend you could ever ask for, he is kind, caring, sweet and always cares about you. Jaehyun has always been kind of closed when it comes to his feelings but he always ends opening up to you. He has been acting weird for the last couple of weeks and you have been overthinking about it for the last week. He hasn't been talking that much, he comes home, kisses you and the goes straight to bed. You wonder if the spark between the two of you is dying or is it just you being dramatic?

since you arrived to Jeju things have been better with Jae. He was really talkative on the plane telling you all the stories about what he did on set, about his recording with the members and how he felt, about how excited he was for his next schedule and all of that. You were glad that now he was sharing all of this stuff with you but you had that is slightly thought that he was doing this just as an attempt to repair your relationship. 

you arrived at the hotel and even slept together. In the last two days everything has been really cool  exploring the city and getting to know all the beautiful things you can see in here, but even thought of that you still upset and worried about what your Jaehyun's words they are keep playing in your head, repeating like a broken record you can stop thinking about the fact that he planned all of this trip just to fix your relationship.

even since you arrived he has been really expressive and you really appreciate that,  but on the other hand you haven't been really talkative lately. You just nod at his words smiling, and what hurts you the most is the fact that he doesn't try to ask you what is happening, he just keeps talking about his stuff without paying attention to your feelings. Jaehyun has known you for 5 years and has been in a relationship with you for 4 years now, you definitely know he is able to identify when you're feeling uncomfortable, sad, upset or angry about something, and that's all the things you're feeling right now and he hasn't even mention it once! it makes you worried that he really doesn't care about what is going on with you and is just doing this as some type of obligation to look like he didn't try to fix things between you two.

you haven't had a proper conversation since you're here so today is your Anthem to clarify your feelings to him and explaining how you have been feeling lately. 

you are now holding hands while walking by the beautiful flowers while staring at the sea. You can't deny Jaehyun has a fantastic taste for everything but you have to admit that this trip has been one of you favorite ones, he has all activities and places to visit organized in his mind making this whole trip magical, you hope after this conversation you can get to enjoy it more peacefully.

"Jae." 

"Yes babe?." He turns looking at you.

"I want to talk to to you about something." You look at your hand playing with them nervously. You were happy that you had the courage to finally express but you were nervous it didn't as planned, maybe ending up with Jaehyun saying that he doesn't feel like that anymore like that. You try to block you thoughts and only focus on the things you want to tell to him.

"Okay? Let's sit then." He laughs playfully and guides you to a bench, you sit and realize how the view still so beautiful from there, with no one around just the amazing landscape in front of you.

"Look, since a few weeks ago i have felt like you are acting weird. You didn't tell me anything anymore, we didn't spent time together and it was killing me honestly i felt like it was just me and that i did something that made you feel upset or something. But suddenly you show up with tickets for a vacation and say that we this to reconnect and the things haven't been the same." You feel how the tears start running down your cheeks and you try to clean them with your wrist while looking down.

"I don't know how you feel but all that i know is that I've always love you and I've never felt like something is messing. You have no idea how much sleep i haven't got at night rethinking about our relationship and what i would do without you. I'm not asking you to feel sorry for me and continue a relationship that you don't feel anymore but i only want you to be honest and not act like nothing happening." You can't stop you tears now, Jaehyun just looks at you listening carefully.

"Since we arrived you haven't ask me even once about how I'm feeling or why I'm not talking or why I'm not as talkative as always, and i know it is because you are trying to give a chance to this relationship and try to make me feel better with your attempt. Jae, you are the most important thing for me in the world and if you don't want to continue this i will totally understand." You breathe in and out calming you down so you can talk clearly.

"And i just want you to know that i love you so much and i'll support any decision you take." You finally look at him and he is looking at you quite worried and surprised. You still can't read his face so you wish he starts talking so you know how he is feeling.

"Y/n, you are the most amazing and fantastic person I've ever met, I'm thankful for having you in my life." He smiles wide.

"You have been the only person I've ever opened to in all aspects. You know afraid i was to fall in love, show myself and my whole vulnerability and insecurities, but as soon as i saw you, insisting me to overcome my fears and open up to you and giving me you sweet smile, every single thing disappeared and i felt so free, finally revealing you my true self." He holds your hands talking to you enthusiastic.

"I couldn't ask for someone better in my life. Look, I'm not dumb, i have notice all the details in your acts since a few days ago. The way you pouted upset everytime i came home, rolling on the bed all night because of how stressed you were, the sad look on your face when i told you that i planned this trip to make our relationship better again and even the way you just nodded and smiled at everything i said." He is talking with a wide a smile and you don't understand what is happening. You are shocked at how correct where all the things he was saying without you giving those details.

"And I'm sorry for the bottom of my heart but  the reason why i avoided you and act like nothing was wrong with you was because of this." He stands up, searching for something on his jacket, proceeding to kneel down on the floor.

"Y/n, you have made me the happiest man alive. You are my paradise, always drawing bright days and putting colors in me.The past 5 years with you have been amazing and I've never ever doubted about loving and falling in love with you even more everyday." He is now showing the biggest and brightest smile showing his dimples.

"Will you marry me?" He finally says opening up the little box that was resting on his hands now showing a beautiful ring with a diamond on it. You cover your mouth in surprise starting to cry even more than before.

"Yes, Jae, yes." 

he stands up and lifts you while hugging, then brings you back down grabbing your lower back and kissing your lips. The kiss was full of love, joy, relieve and peace. He starts to slide his tongue inside you playing with your, you get closer to him and place your arms around his neck intensifying the kiss and being able to feel him more. You bury you hands in his neck. You realize that you are at a touristic place and you don't want to become one of the attractions so you end the kiss.

"Jae, we are in a public place." You say laughing while he keeps giving tiny kisses on you lips. You cover his mouth making him stop. He pouts playfully and puts on fake sad face.

"We should go to our hotel then." He says grabbing your hand in a sign to follow him and winking at you leaving on more kiss on your lips. 

you we're so happy that you were going to marry Jaehyun, he has been the best boyfriend,  and now fiance, that you could ever ask for. You are so thankful for having someone like him in your life, that always stands up for you, listens to you and supports you in every situation.

the next days on the island were amazing, you you continued to explore, you saw the beautiful flowers,museums and even ride horses. Jaehyun even took you to a romantic dinner and after that you had a great time at the hotel. You were the same as always, cuddling all might, having endless makeout session, him waking you up with a kiss and all the other this that keep the essence of your relationship

you have never been more in love with him and you couldn't ask for someone better. You have to accept that he's the love of your life and you are his and now you will love each other forever.

[stargazing-enby]

Hey! I recently found your blog and you seem very nice. I've had a very tough time with the pandemic situation and I was wondering how are you and your girlfriend doing? (Idk if you live together). Do you have any advice for anxiety?

Hi! Thank you 🙈❤️ We're doing okay! We don't live together, but we do live in the same town, so we hang out together most of the time hahah. I haven't seen her in a few days because she's out of town rn, but skyping with her yesterday made me smile like a fool. And we're going to cook some homemade meals tomorrow when she's back :3 can't wait for that!

The pandemic hit both of our mental health very hard too, though. 2020 in general is doing a number on my anxiety. I’m going to share some tips and thoughts that have been on my mind and that have helped me lately, but first I wanted to link you to this post that @april-thelightfury115 wrote just now, also inspired by your ask. 

One of the things that my therapist told me when the pandemic started, and that helped with my anxiety, was to try to focus on the things you can control, and not on the things you can't. Maybe you can't see some of your loved ones right now because it's not safe, or you can't go to the gym to work on being more physically active like you were trying to do before the pandemic started. Maybe the things you do yearly can't happen this year, so life feels like an uncertain void floating ahead of you. Uncertainty is a biiig enemy of anxiety, so it helps to try to focus on: what are things you could be doing right now? What are the plans you can make for next week, or even next month, to give that void a bit of shape and colour? Maybe you can read some books/fics in your to-read list, watch some shows, look for some ways to exercise at home, learn new recipes, make plans to Skype with some people once every week...

And even though my therapist and I didn't talk about this topic in relation to social media, I did want to bring it up here too, because social media (in general, but especially right now) can be a draining, dangerous place if you have anxiety.

(Warning: this next bit doesn’t have that much to do with your ask 😅 but it’s something that’s been affecting me lately, so I felt the need to talk about it)

I already shared some advice that worked for me regarding all the ways you can control your fandom/social media experience so that you can avoid things that affect your mental health negatively, but I wanted to touch on another aspect of social media: what to do with the content you DO see. Because, if we're realistic, no matter how much you do to turn your online experience into a safe space for yourself, chances are you're going to see untagged posts about current events sooner or later, or that you’re going to click through properly tagged ones and find triggering information. And if there's something that we as individuals have little to no control over, it's current events.

So, here are some things that I always try to keep in mind for when this happens: 

1) Guilt-tripping is not activism.

If a post says that you have to reblog it or you're a bad person; if it says you should have known about the issues it's discussing already; if it makes you feel guilty for not being able to engage with its sort of content at all times or for wanting to avoid it; if it implies in any way that you putting your mental health above anything else is an act of selfishness/violence/privilege; if it is telling you that in order to help others who are less privileged than you, you have to stop helping yourself: that is guilt-tripping. Whether intentionally or not, it is trying to make you care about their issue out of guilt. It is exactly the same as when you're walking down the street and someone from an NGO approaches you and tries to make you donate money to them by describing to you how other people are suffering and dying because you, personally, are not sparing 10€ a month for them.

And you now have a free pass to roll your eyes at that post, say "yeah, sure", and move on.

2) No fight is more important than every other fight. 

This quote comes directly from my therapist, so jot that down. If you want to make the world a better place by engaging with activism, that's great! But there's only so much we as individuals can do, and activism is something that we should always do on our own terms. So if someone else comes to you with "if you don't care about MY fight as much as I do, you're a part of the problem I'm trying to fix!" you should kindly remind them, or at least yourself for your own peace of mind, that THEY also aren't fighting every single fight at once. They might be super invested in a few issues because they hit them very close, like saving some animal species or fighting against a political party in their country, but I assure you they are not as invested in every single fight happening in the world right now. That doesn't mean those other fights are less important! It just means that no one should be turning their fights into a sign of moral superiority on their part. That's not how you convince others to join you. In fact, that's a very quick way of making people want to avoid you so they're not feeling like they're personally guilty of the world going to shit for 3 seconds.

I feel like what a lot of people without anxiety don’t know is that anxiety can make you feel like any blame that’s thrown around the place without a specific target is directed specifically at you. At least mine does: it often feels like all of those posts about how “people” are indirectly harming others by not fighting the system 24/7 are talking about me, specifically. It feels like if I dare log off, or if I dare have my own problems to deal with, I am guilty of something terrible.

But if that’s the case for you (or anyone reading this) too, I promise the world is not going to shit because you're not reblogging Tumblr posts about current events. It's not going to shit because you're not going vegan right now. It's not going to shit because you're taking care of yourself and doing things at your own pace. And you're not “just as bad” as the people in power who are keeping in place the systems that are hurting the planet and everyone else who lives in it. 

It's okay if the only person you can look after is yourself.

[riderdrauggrim]

Day Unknown. Sat, Sep 26, 2020.

Nervous about randomly hiding in 4G Motorsports parking lot, I'm awake a few short hours later around 6:30. I have the tent packed by 8:30, and huddle beside the bike, waiting for staff.

9:00 rolls around and I approach the doors, making my way back to the Parts/Service desk. A young woman who's family shifts her between Alberta and Toronto seems thrilled to meet someone else from Ontario. We check if they have a replacement battery in stock. They do not. And their mechanics are not in on the weekends.

But!

There's a MAGNACHARGE Battery megaemporium RIGHT across the street!

Heartened my luck might be improving, I trot over.

Nope.

They're closed on weekends.

I trot back to 4G, on the way calling Riverside Honda in St. Albert, the blokes who'd changed my tires. They sold their last YTZ14S on Friday. BUT they'd ordered more and they should arrive at the start of this coming week.

I run over my problems with their parts guy. He suggests I remove the battery and try starting the bike with another random battery attached; That might be able to isolate if it is my battery or my starter system/charging stator/rectifier/words.

Sounds good.

Back at 4G I ask if they have a charger or a booster. The parts girl knows where a tender is, but not how to use it. It's okay, I do. They graciously let me push the bike inside their service bay so I can tinker on it, good thing too as it starts to drizzle outside.

So! My battery: Out and Charging.

My bike: New battery hooked up to test the ignition.

My key: In the ignition, turning to activate the bike-*Crack*.

One of the few flaws I've found with the NC750 design is the key is needed in a secondary lock. Turn one way to unlock the frunk (front trunk) where the gas tank USUALLY sits on a motorcycle. Turn the other way to unlock the latch securing the passenger seat, this allowing you to lift it up to reveal the gas cap to fill the tank, which sits under the rider. The problem with this lock is the key does not fully insert. It's about 3/4 depth to the ignition proper.

Over time, this has created something of a weak point on the key itself, occasionally twisting ever so slightly if too much pressure is applied, if the latches are sticky, or the frunk is overfull and a bit jammed. This was usually corrected by sticking the key in and turning it the other way, straightening the blade out again. For this trip, due to the tail luggage making lifting the passenger seat incredibly difficult at best, I had opted to outright remove the pillion cover, leaving the gas cap exposed for easy access. All I needed the secondary lock for was to get in and out of the frunk, which I was doing several times a day to fetch out Goose and Hat, or store drinks, or change power banks.

Perhaps it was this excess of one direction twisting that finally did the blade in.

Perhaps it was just six years of use and wear.

Perhaps life just wanted to take the difficulty level up a notch.

In any event.

I was left holding the top quarter of my key. The remainder still inside the ignition. Even if I can get a new battery, I can now no longer turn on the bike.

My coworker who helped fund this adventure texts me to see how things are going. I tell him my key just snapped in half. He says if I didn't have bad luck, I'd have no luck at all. We discuss options. I'm 3,505 km from home. I'm 427 km from the nearest Honda dealership. I just want to Abandon Quest and Hearthstone out of here, but that's not an option. So I work through various plans.

I call Riverside back and get the Service department. Nick remembers me. I fill him in on the last twelve hours. "Wow." Indeed. He puts me on hold and consults his coworkers. If I can get it there, they'll try and squeeze me in and get this sorted. Some people have good luck using super glue to get broken keys out and then jury rigged back together. With my luck, I'll make a mess and fuse the tumblers and need an entirely new ignition system. The key is also a newer blade style, not a normal tooth house lock key. It's supposed to be stronger, amusingly enough. But it's not the sort of thing local locksmiths should be able to replicate, it needs a Dealership. So even if I got a Fort McMurray locksmith to fish the main part out, if he can't make a new one, I still can't Go.

AND there's the pressing matter of the battery.

During all this my battery on the tender has completed charging. I restore it into the bike, or try to, as the damn nut in the contact for the red lead slips out of the holder and falls precisely through the ONE (1) hole at the bottom of the compartment and somewhere onto the engine block. I don't hear it hit the belly pan, and wedging my fingers into every nook, curve and cranny yields nothing but grimy hands.

I call CAA anew. I get the same woman as the night before, so that helped since she already knew the first part of this story. I now have Multiple Problems that can not be fixed locally. St. Albert is outside the Alberta tow range of 350km. But my membership is from Niagara, and I'm covered for 500km. She calls them to approve it. They say 'of course'. One hurdle down.

She contacts the tow company. New hurdle.

Due to the nine hour round-trip commute, they don't run every single broken vehicle south to Edmonton every time someone breaks down. They wait for multiple items, load them all on a long truck, and do a couple runs a week. So. Yes, they can get my bike to St. Albert. Eventuallllyyyyy.

I get it; from a logistics and efficiency and financial perspective it makes perfect sense.

From a "but... my bike..." and waiting for a nebulous amount of time in a hotel somewhere just for it to get TO the mechanics, nevermind the unknown timeframe of the shop having time to look at it, figure out what's wrong, order new parts if needed, and install them.... Hrrrggggnnnnn.

So EMI came with the short bed and picked up the bike from 4G. The logic being, now it's in their secure compound, ready to go, and when they have a load ready, they'll shove it on and take it south for me. Solid.

How do -I- get back to Edmonton.

Well, there's several buses that run the corridor, presumably for the mine workers to get up and back around their shift days. Awesome!

Oh but they don't run again until Monday. Less awesome!

But what can you do.

My bike won't leave until monday at the /earliest/ anyway, so me being there any sooner really makes no difference.

I book a ticket - cheap at 65$! For a nearly five hour trip? I paid 85$ plus tip for the 20 minute taxi ride from Supertest Hill to Fort McMurray the night prior.

Leaving Monday at 8:30am, arrive near downtown Edmonton. Found a hotel for 80$ within a block of Riverside Honda, not as cheap as my beloved Whitemud, but Whitemud Inn being at the south center of the Edmonton bubble, I'd be paying more than the 15$ a night difference in a cab to get up to St. Albert region. So I'll be right nearby the bike if we can get it going, or I need something from my bags.

In the meantime.

I found an RV campsite literally next door to the bus stop. I called the owner and explained my experiances, and my need for somewhere to simply hide in a tent until Monday morning. Sure, I could try and hide -anywhere-, but for my own safety, and nerves, if I can do this cheap and legal, the better for it. She says she can help me out. She offers a site for a price considerably cheaper than the nearby hotels, which I of course agree to. It's a twenty minute walk from 4G, made longer by hauling two drybags of tent/sleeping bag and essentials, and a third partial of food. Plus wearing my gear. And being somewhat small and scrawny. I take several rests. I drink my Gatorades. I make it. She has the sweetest tabby cat with white socks, no tail, and the SOFTEST fur. Name 'Trouble'. Awwww.

Transaction complete, I set up my tent, kindly serenaded by a curious magpie.

I hear a nearby RV owner pull up, truck doors closing, and then I see a giant white monster making a beeline straight for me. My best guess would be Lab/Samoyed. The head was very much the rectangle block and jowls of a lab, but the pelt was definitely a living cloud. It gives an very quick sniff at my tent, and promptly accepts me petting it. I realize I've been pet-starved during my journey. All my stress is put on pause as I scruffle the heck out of this random dog's sides. In fact, twice I tried to move one hand to teach for my phone for a photo, and he turned in annoyance to see why I'd partially stopped. I hear a woman calling, and ask if he needs to go. He makes no move. In fact he tries to push backwards closer. On a whim, I drop to my rear and make a bowl with my legs. He promptly fills said bowl with his rump. Me on my butt and him on his haunches, I came up to his shoulders.

Good dog.

A woman shouts again, more insistent. I give him a bump with my leg. He resigns himself to getting up and heading home. I realize the owner can't see us, so I pop up and apologize for stealing her dog. She realizes he hadn't just ran off for no reason, and laughs, saying he loves people. Yes, I had learned this.

I needed that.

There's a valley beside the camp ground.

The trees are spent matchsticks, grey and charred and empty against the sky. New growth slowly fills in around the dead wood. I don't know if this is a remainder of the BIG fire of 2016, or another more recent event. It's a staggering amount of devastation, and only a small fragment of the damage done.

The clouds out here... I love skyscapes.

Beautiful.