#And I'm really sorry to everyone still waiting on comms...I'm actually down to my last few. Just a little more patience 🙏

[shima-draws]

MAN I don’t think I’ve ever had art block this bad. It’s at the point where even sitting at my computer thinking about opening a canvas to draw just puts my brain in “Shima.exe has stopped responding” mode. I know I haven’t been doing art recently anyway but now I’ll just make an official announcement and say I’m going on an art hiatus for a while. At least until I can kick this lol

[dxrksong]

Jason 13 au memes part two

Bruce: *slams a door on accident*

Batfam: you slam door on Brood? YOU SLAM DOOR ON BROOD LIKE GROUNDINGS???! OH!! OH JAIL FOR FATHER!!! JAIL FOR FATHER FOR 1000 YEARS!!!!

Jason 13, calling Danny on speed dial: JAIL FOR FATHER!!!!

-----------

Kitty:

Jason:

Kitty: YOU DIDN'T TELL ME YOU WERE BUILT LIKE A BRICK HOUSE!!!!!

Jason: to be fair, I forgot???

Kitty: speaking of which, hows that going out for you?

Jason: it's been....emotional.....not to mention the whord of shades trying to mother hen me 24/7

Kitty: I've been meaning to ask you about those.

Jason: I thought you wanted to talk about our relationship?

Kitty: we have communication rings, we can do that later. I'm more worried about the tall intimidating city spirit behind you.

Jason: oh that's just Gotham

Kitty:

Gotham: *tall black lady that can kick your ass* ;)

Kitty, sweating:

Jason: don't worry, she's nice. She's just a litte over protective of her kids.

Kitty: there's MORE of you????

----------

Kitty:

The batfam:

Kitty, surrounded by baby ghost cores like stray kittens: I don't know what's worse. How much they look like you or the inane urge to just adopt them all, oh nooooooooooo!!

Jason: now you know how it feels old man.

Bruce: *confused in bat*

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

Kitty:

Catwoman:

Kitty: crimes?

CatWoman: hell yes, kitten!

[LATER]

Jason: WHO THE FUCK DYED MY SUIT PINK?!?!?!

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

Kitty: you know considering my name it's a little odd that you're the one being all cat like.

Jason, laying his head on her lap while she cards through his hair: shut uuup, it's not like I can ask anyone else for attention like this. It'd be weeeeiiiird.

Kitty: *sighs* better hope you didn't leave your comm on.

Jason:

Kitty: Johnny.

Jason: I can't remember if I turned it off or not

Dick: you know little wing, if you wanted attention you could've just asked-

Jason: SHIT!!!!!!

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

Spectra: so are you still dating him or..?

Kitty: you know? We died basically around the same time and we were introduced to each other first before anyone else, so we kinda just stuck together. And really everyone had kinda just started calling us boyfriend and girlfriend, and we just didn't think otherwise to correct them.

Ember: wait, so you two HAVEN'T been dating??

Kitty: it was never official, if anything it was an ongoing bet to see how long it would last before people started to notice. We're more like.....siblings but not quite. Or emotional support ghosts for each other.

Spectra: that....actually makes a lot of sense. You two are hardly seen without the other and you haven't exactly been dead for long, so it would make sense you're still settling down from the trauma of dying.

Kitty: did you just psychoanalise me?!

Spectra: You basically gave it to me on a silver platter!! It's a force of habit!!!

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

Jason: hey squishy

Blob ghost in Johnny 13's bike: ?

Jason: think you can get this blob ghost out of my corpse-

Squishy: *Rev's backwards out of the bat cave*

Jason: ouch! Not even my own pet will help a zombie out.

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

Danny: so how you feelin Jason?

Jason, sarcastically: oh just great, I've only had ONE murderous breakdown this week due to Zom!

Danny: Zom????

Jason: the blob ghost possessing me.

Danny: You named it????!

Jason: WHAT WAS I SUPPOSED TO DO?!?! IT'S A FREAKING BLOB GHOST, IT'S NOT LIKE IT HAD A NAME BEFORE!!!!!

Danny:

Jason:

Danny: I'm telling frostbite-

Jason: Don't you DARE!

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

Dick: Hey, Jason? Can you come over? I need your help.

Jason, muffled by a humming noise: sorry, I don't think that'll be possible at the moment?

Dick: what do you mean by that Jay, and what is that sound?

Jason, swallowed into the shadows and getting fussed over by the shades: would you believe me if I said I got readopted by shades?

Dick: U Wot?

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

Batman: Jason, what's this about shades adopting you??

Jason: look I didn't ask for it, it just happened.

Bruce: and are they....good? Parents?

Jason: well they like putting me in shadow jail alot.

Batman: Shadow jail?????

Jason: not to mention the constant babying-

Bruce: WHAT?!?!

Jason: ?! Jeez Bruce!! Wha-

Bruce: YOU LET THEM BABY YOU?!?!?!

Jason:

Bruce: I HAVENT BEEN ABLE TO DO THAT SINCE THE FIGHTING STARTED!!!!

Jason: .....are-are you JEALOUS?!

Bruce:

Bruce >:'(

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

Dick: ok, so to recap! *pulls out a projector and a Google slide document*

Dick: Jason got reanimated by something going awry and messing with reality, accidentally reviving Jason. *click* He gets scooped up by Talia and revives him fully. *click* this leaves him with powers and uncontrollable emotional problems *click* apparently he can talk to ghosts and they are often friendly to him back. *click* so much so, according to Jason himself, he has been adopted by the entirety of the ghost population in Gotham *click* including the SPIRIT of Gotham herself.

*it's a vague drawing of what Gotham looks like*

Dick: any questions?

Tim: yeah, uh. Who's that?

Danny: hi! :D

Dick: no clue, next question!

Danny: I'm phantom! I used to beat Jason up when he used to go by Johnny 13!

Batfam:

Cass: does the Lazarus pit taste like lemonade?

Dick: no, it tastes more like sprite.

Duke: wait-how do you-

Dick: NEXT QUESTION!

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

Jason, 'living on his own':

The Shades: :)

Squishy: :)

Gotham sometimes: :)

Kitty: :P

Danny: >:)

The various bird and/or bat: :)

Damien: :

Ember: lmao I'm the older one now! >:D

Spectra: (usually only when Kitty shows up)

Skulker: (target practice training) >:)

Technus: (built Johnny's bike believe it or not) >:)

The box ghost: (this man has dad energy, change my mind) >:)c

The lunch lady: (every growing ghost needs proper calories!) :)

Jason: ...............I need a bigger house....

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

Batman steps into the batcave to see green fire everywhere, Jason in his ghost form, and Damien trying to stab him with a sword.

Damien: it was Todd's idea!

Jason: Damien, you fucking snitch!

Batman: language!

Damien: yeah Hood, watch your fucking language!

Batman: DAMIEN!

(Reference to this)

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

Jason: remind me why you're here again?

Danny: what? Like I can't visit my favorite Rouge?

Jason: I thought that was plasmius?

Danny: he's my arch nemesis, not a rouge! He doesn't count!

Jason: if you say so. But why am I your favorite, and I'm pretty sure I no longer qualify to be one of your rouges?

Danny: dude you're the only one I can have a serious conversation about! Vlad's a fruitloop!!

Jason: yeah but at least he knows what he's taking about half the time.

Danny: psh. 'Half the time'

Danny:

Danny: you can still turn into Johnny, right?

Jason: I mean if I concentrate real hard I guess? But it'll take a lot of energy.

Danny: wanna convince Vlad he's going insane?

Jason: only if I can record it.

Danny: DEAL!

[bofor-fh77b]

“Jaune, if you space out again, I'm gonna hit you with a wooden stick~!”

Jaune blinks as he looks at Ruby, who is regarding him with an impish smile. Instead of an answer, he reaches for his scroll and connects to the team’s comm system. “Everyone, this is Jaune speaking,” he says, hearing his voice echo through ruby’s device. “Ruby finally gave in to her bloodlust and threatened me with gross bodily harm.”

A look of horror passes over the young reaper’s face. “Jaune, what the fuck-” The brunette stands up from her desk.

“Unfortunately, Ruby has just decided to murder me,” Jaune keeps his voice purposefully deadpan as he stands up, rounding the desk to stay away from the scythe wielder. “She has become a veritable berserker, bile and spittle flying everywhere. The collateral damage is off the charts. Atlas will surely go bankrupt trying to repair this place.”

Ruby splutters inelegantly as she chases after him - it takes the silver-eyed warrior a few seconds to realize she can climb over the desk. And then she does that, dragging Jaune down on the floor in a tangle of limbs.

“What you heard just now was Ruby tearing my lungs out. I am in such an incredible, mind-shattering state of pain that it is nothing short of a miracle that I am still capable of speech.” Jaune drones on, occasionally twisting one way or another to prevent Ruby from snatching the scroll from his grip. “Ow, my spleen. Ouch, there go my femurs. Words cannot describe my pain.”

“Jaune cut that out!” Ruby reaches for his scroll again, only for Jaune to veer her hand away at the last moment.

“Ow, oof, ouch, my absolute bones.”

“Don’t listen to him; he’s talking absolute nonsense!” Ruby howls at the top of her lungs, hoping that whoever’s listening hears it - which, she soon realizes, means both their teams.

“That is all.” Jaune says one last line into the microphone before tossing it aside. “C’mere, you!” He digs her hands into Ruby’s sides, grinning when the brunette squeals with laughter. “Threaten to batter me, will you?”

“I’m s-s-sorry, I was j-just jo-kiiiing!” The reaper giggles helplessly under the assault, trying her best to wriggle out of Jaune’s grasp.

He lets out a grunt as Ruby manages to flip him on his back briefly, but a quick jab with his fingers in Ruby's side immediately turns her into a pile of wriggling limbs. As a huntress, the brunette might have Jaune beat in sheer physical strength, but it is made rather moot by how exceptionally ticklish she is.

It takes a few moments more of playful struggle before he has Ruby pinned to the ground. Again, he has no illusions of besting the more trained huntress in a physical struggle. It just means Ruby was enjoying the scuffle just as much as he was - otherwise, the reaper would have pushed her off already.

“Y’know, you gotta stop starting shit, ruby,” he mutters, a little out of breath.

“I know, Jaune, I’m sorry,” Ruby huffs in response, still regaining her breath - and looking not even slightly apologetic. “You just keep getting lost in your mind all the time!”

“It’s called ‘thinking’, craterface. Ever heard of it?” Jaune chuckles. “You should try it sometime. Might prevent you from getting tickled silly again.”

“Hey!” Ruby whines, mock pouting, but it’s obvious she’s not actually offended.

Jaune then realizes something – he’s still on top of Ruby.

She still hasn’t said anything about it.

This close-up, he becomes suddenly aware of how beautiful Ruby is - her eyes are as lively pools of silver, sparkling with mirth. It really isn’t helping with the crush he has on the reaper. Quite the opposite, in fact. It’s unreal how much I want to kiss you, Ruby.

“Well? What are you waiting for?”

Jaune almost turns to stone from sheer embarrassment. “Fuck, did I say that out loud?” he groans.

“Reckon you did, Vomit boy,” Ruby chuckles slightly, though her smile wanes a little. “Well?” She repeats, a hint of nervousness entering her features. “I’m right here.”

A small part of Jaune’s mind remains absolutely convinced this is some trick, a prank being played upon him. But the rest of him screams relentlessly to fucking go for it.

So he does just that, eagerly locking lips with the young huntress, and immediately finds out that Ruby’s response is just as enthusiastic - the Reaper is more than happy to wrap her arms and legs around him, groaning into his mouth as they kiss. Words cannot describe the feeling of Ruby’s lips against his, the press of warm, soft skin against his body, with a feeling of toned muscle beneath.

Neither of them have much experience where kissing is concerned, and it shows - luckily, they make up for it with lots of enthusiasm. Jaune presses himself against Ruby in an attempt to pull her closer, and the brunette eagerly tightens her embrace.

It’s better than he could have ever imagined.

Unfortunately, his body soon reminds her that she needs to breathe - he is not happy about this since it gets in the way of kissing Ruby, but he reluctantly breaks the kiss.

Ruby is panting, face flushed red as she looks up at Jaune - but the grin on her face cannot be mistaken for anything else. “You got no idea how long I’ve been wanting to do that, my knight,” the Reaper mutters dreamily.

“Ain’t like you to hesitate to be honest, craterface,” Jaune replies, just as out of breath as Ruby. “You’ve always been straightforward to a fault. You know I would’ve heard you out… if nothing else.”

Ruby pulls a face. “This is… different, y’know? Like, super personal and stuff. Even I can get cold feet.”

“Yeah, I get that.” Jaune nods. “Don’t worry; I don’t hold it against you.” Ruby smiles gratefully at her as they lapse into silence - but it’s just as Jaune leans in for another kiss that they hear a ruckus on the other side of the door. “Oh, right,” he mutters. “Almost forgot about that.”

There was an animated argument going on outside the office, several voices attempting to drown each other out - until there’s a muffled thud and a yowl of pain.

“Shit,” Jaune curses, pulling himself upright. He crosses the office in a few swift steps, Ruby trailing after him.

The sight that greets her when she opens the door is… well, it’s not perfect, but also not as bad as it could have been – Wiess is curled up on the floor, howling with pain as she clutches her hands over her obviously-broken nose. Nora is curled up next to her; arms crossed over her stomach as she’s sucking wind. And Yang is being enthusiastically pacified by Penny - a polite way of saying the blonde brawler is getting the life throttled out of her.

“Please put her down, Penny,” Jaune sighs before hastily raising his voice. “ON THE FLOOR, PENNY, ON THE FLOOR.”

“Very well, Friend-Jaune,” Penny nods, unceremoniously dropping Yang like a sack of potatoes. “You have sorted out things with your girlfriend, I assume?”

Jaune goes red in the face. “Sh-she’s not-” her words die in her throat as she looks over at Ruby. “Uh, yeah. We did.” He mumbles before leaning closer to the brunette. “Hey,” he mutters quietly, “wanna be my girlfriend… and stuff?”

Ruby snorts with amusement but is quick to nod. “I’d love that, vomit boy.”

“You’ll probably want to call him by his name, friend-Ruby,” Penny comments blithely. “I’ll be leaving now if there’s nothing else. The corpsmen have been notified. Good day.”

Jaune can only blink dumbly as the walking, talking military asset who just prevented him from getting cockblocked departs before turning her attention to the three fools rolling around on the floor. He can guess why Yang and Nora were in such a state, but Wiess…

“Damn it, Wiess,” He sighs and rubs his face, before sitting her against the wall and leaning her forward. “You really gotta learn to say ‘no’ to your godamn teammate.”  He sighs again and moves away her hands from the heiress’ face to inspect the damage before he looks at Ruby. “Get the first aid kit from the office, will you? I’m going to set it before the aura heals it crooked.”

“Sure thing.” Ruby nods, going back inside.

“Mr. Arc,” Jaune turns to see a wary Winter approach. “Care to explain what happened here?”

“Penny happened.”

“Ah.”

----------

blantantly stolen from the azur lane community, angrymadmoth wrote the original as an fem!ssk x Hornet fic on ao3 and you should check out her work as its all insanely good, I just wanted to see this crack written out as lancaster

[frenchpuppycormier]

Prom Night!

(ao3)

word count: 2k

rating: T

Shoutout to @krdnvrs for being my number one fan and cheerleader on all of my random ideas, and for listening to me complain. Another thanks to @red-cape-morgana for being my glorified cheerleader ;)

They were in Midvale, working a case, when it happened.

Somehow Lex managed to lace the water supply with kryptonite, the team got wind of it, and so they went to investigate.

Lena, now an integral part of the team, tagged along.

Alex, J’onn, Brainy, and Nia went first to make sure everyone was safe and that the kryptonite wouldn’t harm anyone, while also checking to see what kind of kryptonite it was and how it would affect Kara.

Kara and Lena are staying back at the town line. Waiting patiently. Some more than others.

“Will you please stop pacing? You’re stressing me out,” Lena rubs at her temples.

Kara stops mid-step, skidding on the loose gravel, and sighs. “I’m sorry. I’m just really anxious right now, and I’m scared of what they might find. I mean, what if—Eliza lives here! I can’t just—

“Hey,” Lena interrupts by placing both hands on Kara’s forearms. “It’ll be fine. Eliza isn’t even here. She’s out of town, remember?”

Kara lets out a deep breath and nods.

“Can I—Kara, can I give you a hug?” she asks, timidly. Lena won’t openly admit it, but Kara’s the only one she openly and freely gives hugs to. Anyone else and it’s touch and go.

Kara smiles, “Duh! You don’t even have to ask, you know that.” She wrangles her arms out from Lena’s hands and wraps her own around the CEO’s shoulders, burying her face in raven hair.

Lena grips her hands tightly around the hero’s back and inhales deeply, the sweet smell of honey and lavender from the blonde's shampoo, and the hint of earth which makes Kara, Kara.

The moment was quickly disrupted by a chirping in Kara’s ear. She steps back slightly so one arm is still resting on Lena’s shoulders while the other presses the comm. “Alex?”

Lena is moderately perturbed at Alex in this moment, but doesn’t let it show. Instead, she loosens her grip and slides her hands to rest on Kara’s hips, giving them a reassuring squeeze.

“You guys should head into town,” Alex supplies.

“What is it?” Kara asks while absentmindedly playing with Lena’s hair.

“Everything’s fine, but you’re gonna wanna see this for yourself.”

Kara frowns. “Okay, we’ll be there shortly.” She clears her throat and Lena eyes her warily.

“So?” Lena steps back and crosses her arms in front of her chest.

“Alex says she has something to show us,” Kara replies. “So,” she moved her arms in a swooping gesture, “Ready to go?”

Lena shakes her head. “No. We are not flying there.”

“Suit yourself,” Kara laughs and begins to take off. Lena stops her with a hand on the wrist before she can. “Change your mind?”

“Just promise to go slow,” Lena huffs, giving Kara permission to scoop her up bridal style.

“Yes, ma’am,” she smirks.

___

“Blue kryptonite?”

Alex nods.

“What is his endgame?”

Alex puffs her cheeks up and releases hot air. “It seems he wants to get rid of your powers. And apparently he thought starting here would be the best course of action, knowing you grew up here and you’d come this way. Fool proof plan, really.” A sudden serious look clouds over her. "And I have a feeling this is only the first step in his nefarious plans."

Kara groans, "Well, is everyone okay at least?" She puts her hands on her hips, in the classic hero pose.

"As far as we know, it doesn't have any negative effects on humans. In fact, we think it does the opposite."

"Of course!" Lena interjects from her spot. She's stayed quiet and let the sisters discuss things, until now she remembers information that could help.

"Lena?" Kara raises her eyebrows in question.

"When Lex was researching ways to hurt Superman, he discovered blue kryptonite," she rolls her eyes. "Blue kryptonite can drastically improve the health of any non-Kryptonian organism, such as livestock, crops, and humans. Continual consumption of blue kryptonite-irradiated water puts humans in a perfect state of health. I'm almost positive he's been drinking the stuff for years."

"Well, fuck," Alex huffs.

Lena shakes her head. "I wouldn't worry about it too much. It doesn't make him super-powered or anything. Actually, now that I think about it, the blue rock makes humans more prone to mental irregularities. If that's the case, it would explain a lot."

"Is there a way to counteract it?" Kara asks.

Lena sighs. "If I'm hypothesizing correctly, I'd bet my life on lead getting the job done."

Kara nods and looks to Alex. "Okay. You got all the rock bagged up then?" Alex nods. "How long until the water supply is back to normal?"

"A week? Maybe two. Just don't go drinking the water at mom's house, got it?"

"I'll stick to bottled," Kara smirks.

___

As they’re flying to Eliza's later that night, Kara notices her old high school is bustling with people and everyone is gussied up. She gasps loudly in Lena’s ear. “Lena, look!”

“What?”

“It’s prom night!” she slows down and finds a spot behind some bushes for cover. Once grounded she practically beams. “Let’s break in!"

Lena guffaws.

Kara stares at her with a gleaming twinkle in her eyes.

“Are you serious?” She asks incredulously.

Kara nods furiously like a bobble head. “Yeah, totally! I remember you telling me once how you never went to prom, and then I promised you if the opportunity ever arises I’d take you myself. And I'd dance with you.”

“You said no such thing,” Lena states, highly amused.

“Okay, well," Kara visibly flusters, "Maybe I never said that part out loud, but I still thought it in my head. And...I mean it.”

“Kara, that’s very sweet, but look at us,” she gestures between them, “I’m dressed like I’m ready for a board meeting, and you,” she glances around to make sure no one can see or hear them and whispers, “You’re Supergirl.”

Kara looks down and pouts, “Oh. Right.” It doesn’t keep her down for long though, because she speeds away and comes back in a dress before Lena can even blink.

“Wow. Don’t think I’ll ever get used to that,” Lena chuckles. “You didn’t think to grab anything for me?”

The hero frowns while looking Lena up and down with an intense gaze, causing Lena to feel immensely self-conscious. With a finger to her chin Kara says, “I think you look perfect. You’re basically wearing a suit, anyway, just one that probably costs more than anyone in that building can afford.”

Lena raises her eyebrows haughtily.

“Shall we?” Kara holds out her arm.

Lena rolls her eyes fondly, before relaxing, and hooks her arm through the blonde’s. “Alright, MacGyver, how are we doing this?”

“Easy,” Kara shrugs. “I’ll just open the door to the gym with my super strength, and sneak in the back. Piece of cake.”

“Famous last words.”

___

“Ha! Told you we could do it!” Kara exclaims as they make their way through the gym, where fairy lights are strewn about everywhere, and the ceiling is decorated with cheesy cotton drapes. Surprisingly, no one even notices the two women, and if they do they don’t care.

“The night is still young,” Lena points out.

“Oh quit being a downer,” Kara teases. As they find a secluded spot in the corner, a slow song starts to play. The lights cast a glow on Lena making her seem ethereal, and Kara gapes in awe.

"You look beautiful, Lena."

"I could say the same for you," she blushes.

“May I have this dance?” Kara playfully bends forward with one hand outstretched.

“You’re such a goober,” Lena laughs and takes her hand.

They slow dance for a while, the heat between them hanging in the air. As soon as Kara thinks about asking Lena the question that's been niggling her for the past few months, she notices a man poking around in the corner of her eye. He makes eye contact with her and begins making his way toward them. Kara panics.

“There’s a man coming our way. What do we do? He’s probably gonna kick us out!”

“Shit, I don’t know! This was your idea!” Lena hisses.

Kara thinks fast and makes a decision. A decision she never thought would happen, here in Midvale, in her high school gymnasium of all places. A decision that will inevitably change their lives forever.

“Do you trust me?”

“With my life,” Lena answers immediately, with a wistful smile plastered on her face.

Kara nods and takes a moment to compose herself. Just a tiny moment. Because they’re kind of running out of time here. Before she can second-guess herself, she takes Lena’s face in her hands and kisses her.

She kisses her like her life depends on it. She’s waited for this moment for so long and it’s finally here. At a high school prom she wasn't even invited to. The thought makes her want to laugh. But she can't, because she's kissing Lena. And Lena is kissing her back with just as much ferocity! It’s funny, she never imagined she’d be back here, years later, with the prettiest woman in the universe at her side, yet that’s what was in the cards for her.

When what feels like minutes of absolute heaven go by, Kara pulls back slightly, breathing heavy. She slowly opens her eyes and whispers, “Do you think it worked?”

“Excuse me?”

The voice startles them from their little bubble and makes the women jump apart in surprise.

"Gosh, you scared the crap outta me," Kara shudders, clutching at her heart. She gathers her wits and when she sees the man, realization slowly dawns on her. "Kenny?"

The man, presumably Kenny, frowns. "I'm sorry, do we know each other?"

"It's Kara. Kara Danvers!" she smiles with hesitancy. The gears in Kenny's head start turning and he puts his hands on his head in utter bewilderment.

"Kara!"

Being the tactile person she is, Kara envelops him in a bone crushing hug. When they pull back she asks, "What are you doing here?"

"I'm the principal," he replies bashfully. Kenny smirks and tilts his head. "What are you doing here?"

Kara blushes a deep red and clears her throat. "Um, well...I'm just visiting, actually." She adjusts her glasses awkwardly. "You know, see how everyone's doing since I left..."

"And who's this?" Kenny asks, peering behind her, effectively cutting off the inevitable ramble about to happen.

The blonde swallows. "Oh geez, where are my manners?" she bonks herself on the head and turns to Lena. Kara gently pushes her forward by the small of her back, and rests her hand there. "Lena, this is my friend Kenny from high school. Kenny, this is my....Lena..."

Lena chuckles and holds out her hand. “Lena Luthor. Nice to meet you.” His grip is firm when they shake hands.

“Pleasure’s all mine,” he replies.

Kara grins after seeing her former (dead?) best friend meet her current best friend (maybe more?) chat with one another.

She explains why they’re there and that they essentially snuck in.

“I won’t tell a soul. You have my word,” Kenny winks at them. “Keep in touch, yeah?” Kara nods enthusiastically, and gives him one last hug before departing to the other end of the gym, where he sees a student spiking the punch bowl.

"So..." Lena starts, "That's the Kenny you told me about?"

Lena notices Kara's eyes crinkle and one corner of her mouth lifts up, in that cute way it does when she's thinking deeply about something. "Yeah. He died though, in my timeline." She frowns, and her eyes dart around the floor like the cracks and scratches have all the answers. "This whole universe...reset...thing is mind-boggling."

Lena reaches up and rubs softly at Kara's little crinkle with the pad of her thumb. When it disappears, she drops her hand and plays with the blonde's fingers instead. "Nothing's ever easy in our lives, is it?"

Kara hums an affirmation in response.

"You can tell me about it, if you'd like," Lena offers.

"That'd be nice," Kara smiles, then like a flip of a switch she's throwing her a flirty smirk. "But not right now," she joins their other hands together and pushes them forward and back, as if they're on the cusp of telling each other exciting news.

"No?" Lena plays along.

"Nope," she raises their hands up so Lena's rest on her shoulders, and Kara pulls her forward by the waist. "I was kinda hoping we could talk about that kiss."

"Mhmm, I was wondering if you were gonna bring that up," she inches closer so her forehead touches Kara's, and she encircles her arms around her neck, the distance between them practically nonexistent.

"I should've asked," she connects her hands on the other woman's back.

Lena shakes her head, the action causing their noses to bump. "You never have to ask to kiss me." Before Kara can properly respond, Lena connects their lips together again, shutting her up in the best way possible.

They still have a lot of things to figure out, a lot of demons to fight-both literally and figuratively-but Lena relishes in the thought that at least she has Kara.

At least they're doing it together.

After all, it is their life motto: stronger together.

[cyberwavelit]

Gamer's Debt (Short Story)

"Crap, all I wanted was the gold chest so I can buy some extra lives. If I don't get any more extra lives, I'll lose all my gold when I die. How am I supposed to win if I have to pay for every damn thing?" Joden stepped down the ramp of his Blourgan cruiser and surveyed the alien landscape. It was barren except for the remains of a small village that he had just annihilated with a two-ton necro-missile.

"That's life. People are generally selfish, impatient, and insecure. Game companies use these weaknesses to motivate players. Maybe you shouldn't have blown up the village, is all I'm saying." The pilot of the cruiser, Jershamalama, spoke through his comm.

"But how does anyone get the hell out of this game if they can never win? I've been stuck in this hell hole for thirty days! My body’s back in the real world, rotting away.”

"Hey, you wanted to play, didn't you? Maybe if we travel to a non-npc sector we can trade off some of this junk we get every time we kill an enemy.” His pilot stared at him from the cockpit.

Joden looked back, “I feel like a slave. That garbage is only worth a pinto cent. It’ll take decades to get to the end game. And besides, that's if we can take off with all that junk. It'll take us a few hours to get back into the atmosphere. It's like a Fetch-22."

"You mean a fetch quest?"

"Yeah, something like that." said Joden taking out his cent-o-meter. It consumed his health bar as it scanned the surrounding sector. His eyes darted around his visor interface, looking at all the blips and bubbles that pinged. “I wish I could afford the Super Hyper Gold Jetpack that all the booster players use.”

“They only release that on the first Wednesday of every other month with a sign-on fee, an option to buy stocks in EternaEntertinament, a monthly fee, a mental evaluation, and maintenance fees when your able to grab it from one of the random places it spawns, like the Hell planet Infernum or the planet Madness Descent. Plus, I hear they only give you like a 3 second jump.”

“What?!” He nearly tripped over a crumpled alien body. “You can’t be serious. My mom’s going to kill me. I told her I was going to school. I figured I could just sign up for a few games, try my hand at Galactic Teamslayer, and be back at the rent-a-plex by nine. That was a month ago!”

“Relax. They won’t even notice you’re gone. Most parents have been sucked into this new thing called Binge Child Raising. EternaEntertinament created it too. It’s a simulation where adults can raise children and not have them become reclusive, angst-ridden failures. They’re really gouging everyone for money, real and fake, young and old.”

Joden was too focused on the horizon where a few blips were going off. They were purple, which meant that they were low-value targets. Everything seemed to be purple. “I never asked--how long you been here?”

“You shoulda seen it when it was it first came out. The servers would never load and you had to sit there, in the darkness, watching a timer run out as they patched their simulation. It was like holding your breath under water.” The pilot sucked his teeth. “Hang on a sec. Have to rate the game again—after this ad.”

“Yeah, I hate doing this every hour.” The astronaut picked up a child’s toy from the clutched hand of a sloblarian. “Wonder what this is worth. I heard that we used to play with things like this, not just video games where you pay to win. Up, hang on a sec, got an ad playing.”

Joden’s reality changed. He was sitting on a park bench. A duck came up to him, honking and pulling at his pants. The countdown to the end of the ad appeared in his peripheral. It quaked and quaked until Joden threw down a few coins to skip it.

Back in game world he was still holding the toy. He threw it down with distain and a lack of remembrance for such physical trifles.

He was then asked to rate the game. He voted as he always had, giving it a one-star out of three. There was a chime and a message: “We’re sorry you’re not enjoying your time in our game world. Perhaps if you were more openminded and understanding of the fact that you may not always get what you want, you might have a better experience with our merchandise. Please lower your expectations. Thank you.”

Joden coughed to drown out the message he had heard a hundred times. “I’m so tired of game companies stealing from us. Don’t they realize that it’ll only make the game suffer?”

“Yeah,” responded the pilot, “let’s go steal something.”

“I’m so tired, Jersh. I just want to go somewhere where we can kill an alien race and grind their bones into dust. What’s so wrong with that?”

“If you only knew, kid. On its launch the game world wasn’t even finished. Eterna used the gamers to construct most of the planets using the build-and-play incentive. Those gamers signed a contract that said that they had to make at least four hundred ‘products’ before they could actually the game. They called it the ‘fix-it-later’ release. The products they were referring to was one galaxy. Those designer gamers are probably still waiting…”

“Four hund--?” Joden held up his fist to the pilot, who had been watching from the ship’s windshield. “That’s extortion!”

“Welcome to the world. They get away with it because it’s a game world. You can do anything in the game world like gambling, murder, blackmail, forced labor, and forced sodomy. Nothing’s real so nothing matters.”

The astronaut had disembarked about five hundred meters from the ship. Steam bellowed from its worn exhaust. “Why did you call me kid? How old are you? I mean I know you have the same avatar as me…”

“Age doesn’t matter either. Yeah, I couldn’t afford the customizations either.” Jersh tapped his helmet. “So, I guess we both have the same face.”

“And same weapons, gear, armor, boots, ships, weapon skins, and abilities.” He noticed a large oval blob on his visor’s HUD. It was moving closer behind a small series of stone pillars.

“Oh no, I have the blue-skinned Rigormortis rifle. It’s got this badass blue stripe on the side. Cost me 20,000 gold, 200 platinum, and 4 of my lifesaving’s accounts. If I didn’t have this stripe, I’d probably go insane or worse, color blind.”

“Shut up, dude. Something’s coming. I think it’s a surviving sloblarian. I hear they get angro really quick. I don’t want to die here, man. I never bought a 600-gold resurrection pack. It’ll take sixty days to load back in…”

Jersh responded, sounding distracted, “You’re fine. Just cap it in the head or something.”

The purple blob was twenty meters away. If it wanted to attack it would have to come out into the open and charge him. He could tell there was movement but it was more restless than threatening. Joden took out his rifle and fired at the rock tower. The gun exploded in his hands, sending his obliterated fingers in multiple directions.

“Ah damnit! I forgot about the maintenance fee!”

The figure bounded from the pillar and slunk slowly towards the enemy astronaut. It skulked across the yellow, Phallusian sand with its omni-dexterous flippers. Arriving to the hunched-over human its tugged at his spacesuit and motioned for him to come closer.

“Gross dude, it wants to talk to me. What should I do?” The rounded head bobbed up and down like a rubbery ball. It seemed to be injured or at least miserable.

Joden heard distinct crunching noises emanating from the pilot’s mouth. “IDK. Step on it I guess.”

The polymorphous blob at his feet opened its crevice-like mouth and appeared to gasp for air. But it wasn’t gasping. It was whispering. He leaned down and listened.

“Dunk…prrray…Donk pppreeeey.” It was saying, and gargled as its lips flapped. “Doooonnk plllaaaaay. Chooose nut to pprraaaaay. Fyind sumting essl to do wilth yourg tyhme.”

“Oh, hell no!” shouted the man, as he squashed the creature’s face with his boot. It was like stepping on a water balloon filled with pebbles. He looked at where his hands used to be and screamed into the sky. “What does it all mean? Why do I always have to be punished! I’ve been in the same place for too long!”

"It's not good to live in a dream.” More crunching came from the ship. “You sometimes forget what life is like."

Virtual blood splashed onto the dry dirt from his nubs. A few splatters mixed with the alien’s internal fluids. The reflective pool at his feet showed his avatar’s face, the same face of his pilots. He searched rapidly for any signs of wealth or material possession. There was nothing but ooze and viscera. Tattered cloth around the dead alien’s head was smushed and torn.  

He turned toward the ship with a look of bewilderment. “How many gamers are trapped here? We can’t be the only ones. This game isn’t anything like what they advertised. They lied to us! Who would want to be stuck in this perpetual nightmare of pay-to-play, pay-to-build, pay-to-live, pay-to-pay mechanics?”

“I don’t think you get it.” The pilot was still eating. “Companies do this to consumers because consumers let them. The general belief is that consumers are very smart but when’s the last time you heard someone say: ‘I won’t buy that because it goes against my code of ethics?’ None, no one’s ever said that. People like spending money. It’s in our blood. Its our nature to trust rich people. They seem to have all the right answers even when they don’t. They make the truths that we all follow. Besides, how could they get all that money if they had bad intentions.”

Joden used his character’s remaining strength to rush back towards the Blourgan cruiser. He felt a draft of air coming in the direction of the ship, and heard the engine roaring to life. “What the hell are you doing?”

The mercenary vessel hovered three feet off the ground and its nose pointed at the runner. Its pilot could be seen through the windshield, “Sorry newb, you’re becoming to be a real downer.”

“I thought you were my friend!” he whimpered, his nubs heaving back and forth.

The ship elevated to ten feet. “None of us are really friends. We’re all just trying to make a living. And I need one more kill for the Slayer Award. We’re all just numbers.”

As he came to the plateau where he had disembarked, he held up his invisible hands to shield his face. “I just want to go home! I just want to go home.”

A cybersonic laser beam burst from the cruiser’s forward cannons. He felt the hot bathing light of the beam and then felt nothing at all.

“I can’t get out…I can’t…” He awoke in darkness. A screen appeared that read the same message he received hundreds of times, “You have died. Looks like you have low gear and feeble weapons. Would you like to buy a booster pack?”

“No.” he responded.

“A looter box?”

“No!”

He said the same words over and over before. The message continued, “You have elected to refuse game-provided assistance. This is a poor decision. In order to continue gameplay without using game-provided assistance please insert thirty-seven-point-one resurrection tokens.”

He wanted to cry but said, “I don’t have any.”

The automated voice paused and spoke again after popping up a sixty-page form. “Well that sucks. In order to continue please complete the loan agreement in front of you. The loan is for $6,000. Sign here, here, and here.”

Joden lowered his shoulders and looked at his current debt. It read: “-387,000.” He breathed out, collapsing his chest, and grew red-faced. “No!” he shouted.  

There was another pause and the form disappeared. For several moments there was darkness and silence. “Very well.” The automated voice returned. “You have chosen reincarnation. Goodbye.”

“No!” he screamed defiantly. “No!”

Then, all of a sudden, he felt strange. He looked out through oddly-colored eyes. His hands had returned but they had three fingers instead of five. When he tried to speak, he could only gasp through what felt like a straw. The sand that he walked on grew hardened in his webbed feet. An alien girl danced toward him, carrying a toy. She hugged him with pencil-thin arms and turned towards the sky. Tattered robes fell along his arm and he patted the girl’s head. He looked up, to where the girl was gazing and saw a massive fireball break through the atmosphere. A necro-missile came out of the fiery plume, heading straight for their small, stony village. 

[overwatchdaydreams]

So uh, I'm in love?? With that Blackwatch McCree ask???? Would you please do another part of it? Like during the mission or afterwards and the reader and McCree get together? Cause that would be amazing I just love your writing so much

I’m glad you liked it!  Thank you!  

Just a warning here for drunk McCree, in case that bothers anyone.

HERE is the first part.

Ending the mission was the hardest thing Jesse had to do.  All through your fake double date with your parents he’d gotten to do all the things he wanted to.  He could stroke your face as often as he wanted, hold your hand and barely let go to take a bite of ice cream, and even better he got to have his arm over your shoulders and pull you tight against him.  He didn’t want it to end, and he certainly didn’t want to hear what Reyes was going to say to him back at the base.

But all good things come to an end eventually, that much he knew.  And soon your parents were waving goodbye, and the second they were out of sight, you dropped his hand.  He’d never felt so cold in his life.  

You leaned over, hands on your knees as your breathed out a heavy sigh.  “Thank GOD.  I thought they were never going to leave.”

Jesse forced a chuckle from his throat.  “They really did want to know…everything.”

You rolled your eyes and straightened.  “I wish they’d left sooner; I hate being on the sidelines during a mission.”

“Hm.”  Jesse couldn’t muster up the energy anymore, a deep nausea settling in his stomach.  “We should check in with Reyes.”

“Right,” you agreed.  If he hadn’t turned his back then he would have noticed you eyeing him.  He would have noticed the way you couldn’t make the dark blush on your cheeks fade.  But he didn’t, too caught up in the idea that you thought of him as an agent of Blackwatch, and nothing more.  A coworker.

The rest of the mission had gone smoothly, without you and Jesse there.  Reyes called you into his office and commended both of you for taking the civilians out of the way, and staying calm under pressure when it was your parents at stake.  Jesse watched as you lit up under your Commander’s praise, a strange spike of jealousy striking his chest.  He’d never been jealous before when you were praised, but suddenly the extra bounce in your step as you walked out of the room hurt.  Jesse stayed in the office, slouching in the chair across from Reyes’s desk when you were out of sight.

“Don’t even say it,” he ordered his Commander.

“Wasn’t gonna,” Gabriel replied.  He leaned back in his own chair, entwining his fingers behind his head as he watched Jesse.  “But I’m being honest when I say you did good today.  Got those people out of harm’s way.”

“I know.”  Jesse took his hat off and set it on his knee.

“There were a hundred different ways to do it, but you got the job done.”

Jesse let out a groan.  There it was.  “I thought you weren’t gonna say it.”  

“How long until this crush affects your work?” Gabriel asked.  Though his tone was casual, Jesse knew there was more to it.  “Did you even notice when the actual mission finished?”

“Of course I did!”  Jesse shot up.  “I was listening to everything over comms.  I always do.”

Gabriel quirked an eyebrow.  

Jesse reiterated, “I was listening.”

“And I had two of my best agents on the sidelines.”

Jesse ground his teeth.  He lowered his gaze to the floor, unable to argue.  He should have just gotten your parents out of the way and returned.  Nobody had been hurt…this time.  But Reyes had a point; what if something had gone wrong because he wasn’t there?  He’d never forgive himself if another agent went down while he was off having a fake date, even if that date was with you.

Standing, Jesse set his hat on his head.  “I got it.  Won’t happen again.”

Reyes nodded, leaning forward on his desk.  “What are you going to do now?”

Jesse thought a moment.  “I’ll figure something out.”

There was a pause before Reyes nodded.  “You know Jesse, your feelings might not be as unrequited as you think.”

Though he’d planned on storming off in a huff, Jesse froze.  His eyes met with his Commander’s, wide and unblinking.  “How d’you mean?”

Gabriel smiled and shrugged.  “Just putting the thought in your head.  I saw you both coming back from your date.  Neither of you is that good at acting.”

Jesse wasn’t about to admit the thought had crossed his mind as well, but he figured it was just wishful thinking.  He’d had a lot of wishful thinking since he met you, but sometimes he caught you watching Commander Reyes with a look that was more than admiration.    At least…he thought so.

Without another word Jesse turned and left the office, Gabriel’s words repeating over and over.  Hat low over his eyes, he kept his eyes down as he moved.  It wasn’t until he turned a corner and nearly toppled you over did he finally look up.

“Y/N,” Jesse said slowly.  

“Jesse,” you replied, eyeing him curiously.

“Ah, sorry,” he quickly added.  He tried to go around you but you stepped in his way.  “Y/N?”

“What’s wrong?” you questioned.  “For someone that had a good mission with no casualties you look really down.”

Your brow creased with worry.  Jesse tried to shake off what Gabriel had said but the words hung around him like a cloud.  He’d been lost in a fog since the day he met you, and it was only getting worse.  You tilted your head down to look up at him beneath his hat when he didn’t reply.  “We’re all going out for drinks if you wanna come.”

“Course,” he said, forcing his lips into a grin.  It seemed to make you feel better and you gave him a smile, making his stomach turn.  The last thing he wanted was to go out with everyone and pretend like nothing was wrong.  But damn, he could really use a drink.

One too many drinks later and Jesse was resting his head in one hand, his elbow nearly slipping off the bar.  Most of the other agents were going overboard as well, but in celebration rather than sorrow.  Jesse let out a low huff of a laugh beneath his breath, eyes lidded as he watched the other agents.

“Not a good actor,” he muttered, “I’m a great actor!”

“You are,” you said, jumping onto the stool beside him.  Jesse blinked a couple times before realizing it was you there.  “Did Commander Reyes say you weren’t a good fake boyfriend?”

“Fiance,” Jesse corrected, holding a finger up to you.  It pressed into your cheek accidentally, but rather than pulling away Jesse twirled it, showing your canines with a giggle.

“Right.”  You let him play with your face a moment before swatting his hand away.  “So is that why you’re upset?  Because the Commander said you were a bad fake fiance?”

Jesse snorted.  “I wanna be a real fiance.  A good one.  Flowers and chocolates and the whole thing.”

Part of Jesse was screaming for him to shut up, but the part that was too drunk to really know who he was talking to was overpowering.  His eyes closed comfortably, body swaying slightly as he tried to keep his head balanced on his hand.  

“I think you’ll be a great fiance, Jesse,” you told him.  He laughed.  “What?”

“I wanna be a good real fiance to you,” he admitted.  With his eyes still closed Jesse reached out his pointer finger again and tried to hit you.  You leaned back, dodging the assault with ease but when he opened his eyes he pressed his finger to your nose.  “You.”  Again, his finger stayed there, and this time you let it.

“To me?” you stammered.

Jesse nodded with a lopsided grin.  His hand fell from your nose, hitting the bar with a heavy thud.

You sighed.  “You’re drunk.”

“Drunk and in love!”  His voice boomed over the noise of the bar, making a few agents look in your direction.

“Jesse,” you hissed.  You noticed one of the cadets was smiling ear to ear in your direction.  You hadn’t had much time to get to know her, but you knew her name was Lena.  She quickly stood and zipped over to beside you and Jesse.

“He’s just drunk,” you quickly told her.

“And in love,” she and Jesse added at the same time.  Lena went on, “He finally told you!”

“Pardon?”

“I win the bet with the Commander,” Lena said.  “Wait, what d’ya say back?”

“They said I’m drunk,” Jesse answered for you.  

Your cheeks were getting darker and darker by the second.  You glanced around, finding that nobody else was looking at you all but you felt like you were under a microscope.  

“C’mon then,” Lena prodded, “how do you feel Agent Y/L/N?”

“I,” you began, “I feel…”  Your eyes darted to Lena and then to Jesse.  The man suddenly looked too sober, his gaze drilling into you.  Your hesitation had perked him up more than any cup of coffee could, though everything around him was starting to spin.

“I feel,” you mumbled, “the same way.”

Jesse blinked.  It felt like his heart had stopped.

“Then I win!” Lena cheered.  “And you two win!  Yay!”

“You feel the same?” Jesse echoed.

You gave a small nod, pulling both your lips towards your teeth.  

Without any warning Jesse leapt from his chair, thrusting his near empty glass into the air.  “They said yes!”

Lena stumbled back a step and then started to clap.  Soon the rest of the bar joined in on the clapping and cheering.

“Said yes?” someone asked.  “Was there a proposal?”

An agent chimed in.  “I didn’t even know you two were dating!”

Soon the chattering of the bar went from idle to all about you and Jesse getting engaged.  People began to congratulate you, ordering drinks in your honour.

“Wait,” you said, holding your hands up.  But it was no use.  Jesse wrapped two large arms around you and pulled you to his chest, the scent of whiskey and smoke filling you.  You had to laugh though, and hug him back.  His hold was tight, almost choking and he refused to let go.

“Ya said yes,” Jesse mumbled into the top of your head.  “I can’t wait ta marry ya.”

“Why don’t we just get dinner first?” you suggested with a pat on his back.  “When you’re sober.”

“Mhmm.”  Jesse nodded, still holding you tight.  There was no chance he was about to let go of you now.