#And we know Wendy's probably going to learn SOMETHING about herself down the line

[astro-b-o-y-d]

I was going to make a transmasc version of the post I just saw that was like 'we all have that one fictional character who's canonically male whom you understand is a closeted trans woman' but it'd be a lie because I have too many female characters who are transmasc to me.

[lockefanfic]

Business Trip: Pt 37 - Rough

“You want me to lie down on my back and spread my legs and let you fuck me until you cum in me like a good little girl, huh?” she continues. There is a wildness, an unconstrained craziness in her eyes.

You want to say something, want to snap back and tell her that you were more than willing and plenty able to do more than just that; but her hand pumping up and down your stiff cock, and the wild look in those eyes, has you incapable of coming up with the right words. Your cock begins to leak pre-cum, and she spreads it over your weeping slit and sensitive head, eliciting a soft moan from your lips that you do your best to stifle.

Seulgi sees this - sees that she has the upper hand - and the devious smile on her lips widens.

Seulgi grabs you by the cock and pulls you towards the bed - something that would have been painful were it not so fucking hot; the promise of sex with such a wild partner was an effective painkiller, it seemed.

Placing both hands flat against your chest, she pushes you down onto the old, small bed. She quickly undoes the button and zipper of her denim shorts, and strips it off her hips. Her short crop top soon follows it to the bedroom floor, and suddenly Kang Seulgi is naked in front of you, her slim, toned body tensed and ready to pounce.

“Too bad I’m not a good little girl,” she hisses, before climbing onto the bed, straddling your head with her thighs, and sitting on your face.

---

“So this is it, huh?”

“This is it,” Kang Seulgi repeats as she takes the first few steps into the apartment, reaching out to the wall to flick the lights on. Most of the furniture in the small, nondescript unit was covered with white sheets, although here and there an odd appliance or decoration was left uncovered to gather a layer of dust. The sheets and dusty atmosphere meant it was unlikely anyone had been there in awhile.

“I’d expected SM staff to be able to afford better housing,” you admit. The apartment was modest at best, being on a middle floor in a lower-middle class neighborhood of Seoul. It was far from being an unlivable place, but it was still a ways removed from the hyper modern, massive apartment buildings that dominated most of Seoul’s hipper, newer neighborhoods.

Momo and her team had picked you up from the JYP offices about an hour before; the other girls were doing some scouting and recon of the premises ahead of Seulgi’s meeting with Irene, which was scheduled for the next day. You’d volunteered to scout out Red Velvet’s old apartment with Seulgi, where the actual meeting was going to happen.

“This was all we could afford when we started out,” Seulgi replies, “when we were just paper pushers at SM. Before Red Velvet was even a thing.”

Seulgi reaches out to the refrigerator, which still had polaroids, takeout menus, and other miscellaneous junk attached onto its front door with magnets and scotch tape. Her eyes, normally cold and aloof, are far away, lost in thought and memories of days gone by. She plays idly with the edges of a series of polaroids - and though you were too far to see the subject of the photos, you knew it had to be the members of Red Velvet in their younger, more carefree days.

“When we started living here we decided as a team that we would each take turns cooking. We didn’t have a lot of money and we figured cooking our own food would save us a few won here and there,” she says with the hint of a smile on her lips, “but it turned out none of us could cook. Joy almost burnt this place down a couple of times. We ended up just taking turns ordering delivery.”

Her fingertips trace the corner of a well-worn delivery menu held to the door with a magnet. She touches the magnet briefly, as though she were reliving a moment that might have happened years ago, when she’d grab the menu off the fridge and ask the girls what they wanted to eat. But reality soon sets in for the suddenly sombre girl, and with heavy steps she leaves the kitchen.

She flicks on another set of lights, revealing the relatively small living room. An old, small flatscreen TV sat on a simple wooden stand against one wall, with a cheap fabric couch opposite it covered in white sheets.

“Only two of us could fit on the couch at once, so the other two had to sit on the floor. We took turns,” she explained, as if reading your mind. There must have been a lot of sharing going on - the apartment might have been cramped for two occupants, let alone four young women.

“Only one tiny little bathroom, too,” she continued. “Man, the fights that we had over who was taking too long in there…”

You are happy to let Seulgi reminisce about better days for a moment. This was the first time you’d spent any length of time alone with her, and you didn’t mind learning more about Red Velvet and how they began.

“Irene would shout at us if we were taking too long,” she continues, her tone wistful, “sometimes she would bang on the bathroom door so loud we’d get complaints from the neighbors.”

You are hesitant to broach the topic of Irene, given the noticeable thawing of Seulgi’s usually icy exterior since you’d arrived at the apartment. You were thankful it was Seulgi who brought her up.

“So the bitchiness started early,” you state.

Seulgi smirks. “At the time, yeah, we thought she was a bit of a bitch. But we couldn’t deny that she was driven, and that she wanted to go places. It was her that had the idea of forming Red Velvet - of working together as a team to make something of ourselves at SM. She was a bitch, but she could be a real leader, too. I suppose her bitchiness is also what made her so successful.”

“So how exactly did you four meet?”

“The four of us started at Red Velvet at the same time - we were recruited right out of university. We met at the SM orientation, and when we learned that we would be working in the same division we decided, hey, we may as well live together.”

Seulgi steps over to a bookcase filled with framed photos, old books, and other keepsakes collected by young people in the prime of their youth. Her hands reach out to graze its simple wooden frame, her eyes drifting from one item to another on its shelves and reliving a memory with each one. She doesn’t touch any of the photos or other things on the shelf, as if she were afraid of what would happen if she did.

“We started off just pushing paper. But one day Irene was promoted to be the executive assistant of some middle management type dude at SM. He was a bit of a perv - always hitting on her and shit, touching her like she was his girlfriend. Anyway, one day he was assigned to go to this convention in Europe and scope out what the competition was doing, and then report back. Irene went with him. Guy was drunk as fuck the whole time, treating it as a company paid vacation.”

Seulgi’s gaze finally settles on a framed picture, and with hands that appeared almost nervous, she reaches out and picks it up off the shelf with a delicacy that you didn’t know she was capable of. Her slim fingers play gently along its frame, as though she were handling some precious, fragile artifact.

“Irene ended doing all the work. And what’s more, she ended up getting some pretty juicy info on a competitor; info we ended up using to… convince them to sell us their tech.”

“So the blackmailing started early, too,” you say under your breath. Seulgi smirks.

“We prefer the term ‘corporate espionage,’” she says with a sly smile on her lips. “Irene was promoted for her work. The dude was demoted to the dungeons of SM where he fucking belonged. Irene took us with her, and soon we were climbing the ladder at SM.”

“Surely you were paid enough to buy nicer digs.”

“Yes,” Seulgi admits, “but we always kept this place. It was like a hideout for us, almost. We got up to some pretty shady stuff in our line of work. But we’d always come back to this place to relax, hang out, and just be girls again. No one knew about this place but us. It felt safe. It kept us grounded. It kept us together.”

“So what happened, then?” you ask, satisfied that now was the time to bring up the YG incident, “what happened on that day, Seulgi?”

Even without asking, the young woman knows what day you mean. She puts the picture back on the shelf and lets out a sigh; you experience a pang of regret as she does so, knowing that you were probably bringing up some bad memories. Seulgi takes a few deep breaths to compose herself. 

When she begins to speak she’s still turned away from you, moving from the bookshelf to stare out the window of the living room, towards the skyline of downtown Seoul in the distance.

“YG was our biggest competitor back in the day, as I’m sure you know. Wendy and Yeri were assigned a few operations to try and get dirt on them. But they never had any luck. Soon enough SM brass decided to give the assignment to Irene. Irene, of course - she didn’t waste any time. Before a month was out she had already established a relationship with YG’s CEO. More than that - she had him wrapped around her finger.”

“Damn,” you say, impressed.

“Anyway, her mission was to get the dirt on YG’s R&D division - they went under the codename Blackpink. She used her relationship with the CEO to dig up everything she could. But the more she found out about Blackpink, the more passionate she became about bringing YG down.”

“What did she find?”

“She wouldn’t tell us,” Seulgi says with a soft shake of her head, “she kept everything to herself at her own insistence. We usually shared everything we knew with each other, but this was different. She said it was because she didn’t want us to be in danger in case YG retaliated. She wanted to give us plausible deniability, I guess. Yeri thinks that by not telling us anything, she was trying to protect us. But I don’t believe that.”

“What do you think it was?” you ask, sitting down on the covered couch.

“I’m not entirely sure. I just know she must have had a reason for not telling us what she found. Either way, one day she came to us and proposed we infiltrate YG HQ. Apparently there was something there that we couldn’t retrieve via hacking. It had to be done the old school way, as I’m sure you’re familiar with,” Seulgi says with a smile, turning her head slightly in your direction. 

“A little too familiar,” you answer, knowing she was referring to the near disaster of Nayeon’s infiltration of SM.

“So we went and got pretty deep into YG HQ. We expected that we’d be doing some hacking into a secure mainframe or server and retrieving some confidential company data. Instead what we did was break four girls out of a goddamn dungeon.”

“What?”

“It turns out the whole thing was a rescue mission. The Blackpink girls were the target. No one knew this except Irene, of course, so you can imagine that when she told us we had to get these four girls to safety, we kind of freaked out. Wendy - she was Irene’s second, back in the day - she almost wanted to walk out on the whole thing and take the other two of us with her. But Irene convinced us that we had to get out with the girls - so we did. She was our leader. We trusted she was doing the right thing.”

“Except you didn’t all get out,” you say, realizing even as you said the words that you could have been more considerate with your choice of words.

“No, we didn’t,” Seulgi says, her voice dropping slightly. The girl takes a few deep breaths to compose herself, her hands bracing her weight against the windowsill. She had always seemed so tough and confident, but to see her vulnerability now made you feel bad for even bringing up the subject. Her very posture had changed; she was usually so proud and haughty, and now she seemed small and defenseless.

“You saw the tapes. You know what happened. YG captured Yeri and I on the way out. Irene took the girls and ran. Yeri and I… YG fucked us up.”

“Seulgi…” you say, not quite knowing how to best comfort her.

“Whatever. That doesn’t matter now. A few months later Yeri and I escaped that hellhole. And now all I want to know is why I had to go through that. I want to know why Irene left us there to die. And I’m going to ask her that tomorrow.”

A few seconds pass in silence as you digest Seulgi’s story. You’d known that Irene had left her and Yeri behind during the YG incident, but that was the extent of your knowledge. Learning the history of Red Velvet right from the source had given you some much needed context. 

“I’m sorry, Seulgi. It must have been terrible.”

Seulgi lets out a dark chuckle, as though she’d just heard a joke.

“Terrible is a vast understatement,” she says, “it was the worst few months of my life. But what they did to us physically - it didn’t matter. I healed. It was the betrayal that hurt the most. The relationship we’d built here, in this very room - to have it thrown away like that; that’s what really hurt me.”

Seconds pass in silence.

“It’s one thing to have your boss betray you,” Seulgi says with a wavering voice, “it’s another thing to have someone you’re in love with do the same.”

You are surprised somewhat at Seulgi’s confession. You’d known she’d had some sort of physical relationship with Yeri, and that their shared experience at YG had likely made them close, but you’d had no idea she’d had any sort of feelings towards Irene.

“What, you’re surprised?” Seulgi asks, a mocking tone in her voice and a sly smile on her lips as she finally turns around to face you. Her soft, sad eyes belay the cold, detached persona she was trying to return to. “Are you really surprised though, considering what Yeri and I did in front of you at the coffee shop last week?”

“No, that doesn’t surprise me. I just had no idea you and Irene-”

“Whatever, it’s in the past,” Seulgi snaps, “It doesn’t matter anymore. All that matters now is bringing her down. Who I fuck takes a backseat to that.”

“I suppose,” you say with a nod.

“Anyway, the bedroom’s that way. Come on then,” she says, stepping away from the windowsill to take you by the wrist and drag you towards a closed door.

“Uh, what?” you stammer as you are dragged from your seat.

“All this talk of the past has me all sad and shit, and I need a pick me up. Besides, you owe me one from the coffee shop. Oh, and you should know - this is going to be rough. I hope you’re not a pussy.”

---

Seulgi was right - it was rough.

From the moment she dragged you into the bedroom it was a bit like being caught up in a storm; one that pushed you around, one that hit you, one that caused you occasional pain. But instead of giving into her anger you found yourself wanting to fight back - wanting to show here you weren’t going to be pushed around. This was a wild animal you wanted to tame, a storm you wanted to weather.

As you cross the doorframe of the bedroom Seulgi grabs you by the collar of your shirt and quite literally shoves you up against the bedroom wall, rattling the walls and causing a few of the items on the nearby cabinet to fall over. Before you have a chance to react she is on you like a cat, quickly crushing your lips with her own before her tongue quickly invades your mouth. She tastes like mint - sweet, but with an underlying sharpness.

As you make out her hands find your collar again and she tears it open - sending buttons flying to the floor with small clinks. She tears her lips from yours momentarily as she forcefully undresses you. There is a hunger in her eyes as she takes in your newly exposed chest, like a predator salivating at the prospect of delicious prey.

Her lips return to yours in a torrid kiss; her hands quickly strip the torn shirt from your torso, and you are happy to help her remove it from your arms. You aren’t one to let her just get away with something like that, though; you want to fight back, want to show her that this wasn’t just a one way street - and so you grasp the light pink jacket she is wearing and pull it down her shoulders, leaving her in a short crop top and denim shorts.. 

As soon as Seulgi divests herself of the jacket she slaps you - across the cheek. You’d been slapped before, of course, even a couple of times during sex - but never that hard. It stung. She wasn’t holding back.

“Every piece of clothing you take off me gets a fucking slap,” she hisses. There is a wildness in her eyes that both scared you and intrigued you.

“Then I guess I owe you a slap for my fucking shirt,” you snap.

“Then do it! Fucking slap me. I want you to. I want it to hurt.”

“...I’m not gonna fucking slap you, Seulgi.”

“Because you’re a fucking pussy? I fucking knew it. I fucking knew you were a-”

She is silenced mid sentence by your open palm; even before you realized what you were doing, you’d hit her across the face. You are momentarily frozen by your own actions - you’d never hit a girl’s face before - but the crazy glint in Seulgi’s eyes, and the wild smile on those lips, meant that your slap not only didn’t piss her off - it turned her on.

Her hands reach for your jeans, fingers working quickly, almost frenzied in her desire to undress you. As soon as she undoes your belt she pulls them down, hooking her thumbs in your boxers and dragging them down along with your pants, leaving you naked. She takes a moment to admire your newly stiff cock as it springs free from its cotton prison.

“I see now why you have all those fuck toys in your office,” Seulgi says, licking her lips as though she were about to dive into a delicious looking meal, “and why Momo is always so fucking wet around you.”

“Maybe you should find out first hand,” you snap back.

“You’d like that, wouldn’t you?” Seulgi hisses, reaching down and grasping your stiff shaft. The skin of her fingers and palm are soft and warm, but her movements are rough and frenzied as she begins to stroke you up and down - you let a soft sigh escape your lips at the first spikes of pleasure, although you do your best to keep from doing any more than that. You don’t want to give her the satisfaction.

“You want me to lie down on my back and spread my legs and let you fuck me until you cum in me like a good little girl, huh?” she continues. There is a wildness, an unconstrained craziness in her eyes.

You want to say something, want to snap back and tell her that you were more than willing and plenty able to do more than just that; but her hand pumping up and down your stiff cock, and the wild look in those eyes, has you incapable of coming up with the right words. Your cock begins to leak pre-cum, and she spreads it over your weeping slit and sensitive head, eliciting a soft moan from your lips that you do your best to stifle.

Seulgi sees this - sees that she has the upper hand - and the devious smile on her lips widens.

Seulgi grabs you by the cock and pulls you towards the bed - something that would have been painful were it not so fucking hot; the promise of sex with such a wild partner was an effective painkiller, it seemed.

Placing both hands flat against your chest, she pushes you down onto the old, small bed. She quickly undoes the button and zipper of her denim shorts, and strips it off her hips. Her short crop top soon follows it to the bedroom floor, and suddenly Kang Seulgi is naked in front of you, her slim, toned body tensed and ready to pounce.

“Too bad I’m not a good little girl,” she hisses, before climbing onto the bed, straddling your head with her thighs, and sitting on your face.

It must have been only a few minutes since she’d pulled you into the bedroom, and already she was almost too much to handle. With the other girls there was at least some preamble, a healthy amount of foreplay, or both; with Seulgi there was none of that. A quick, torrid kiss, a stripping of clothing, and now your face was between her legs.

Your determination to fight back returns, having been lent strength by the fact that she no longer literally had your cock in her hands. And so you quickly dive into Seulgi’s slick, juicy pussy, darting out your tongue and giving her a slow, hard lick from the bottom of her opening to the top, delighting in the taste of her wet flesh. Seulgi quivers at this first lick, although she quickly settles down - evidently she was fighting the same battle you were, neither of you willing to show the other that they had the upper hand.

Her right hand reaches down to your scalp, her fingers digging into your skull.

“Stop fucking around and eat my pussy,” she orders, her tone sharp, although you notice, to your satisfaction, that her eyes have softened due to the pleasure of that first, quick taste.

You smile to yourself as you dive back in, your tongue darting out and giving her another broad lick, this time swirling your tip around the top of her opening, searching for and quickly finding the stiff little bud that is at the centre of her pleasure. Seulgi quivers slightly at this first contact between your tongue and her clit.

You are determined to not give her what she wanted - and it was clear what she wanted was a quick orgasm. So instead of returning to her aching clit you dive deep into her opening, pressing your face against her hot heat, penetrating her as much as you could with your tongue. You drink in Seulgi’s slick juices as they flow freely into your mouth, delighting in her bittersweet taste as you eat the writhing young girl riding your face. The moans that leave Seulgi’s pursed lips become a little louder with each dive into her depths, and the quivering of her soft thighs around your face become a little stronger as the young woman slowly, gradually loses control.

For a few delicious seconds you tongue fuck her, thrusting your tongue in and out of her opening, swirling your tip around with each entry and exit, savoring the taste of her body like some delicious meal. Her fingers dig deeper into your scalp as she continues to grind her crotch against your face, the pain in your skull and the delicious taste of her pussy mixing into a heady cocktail that quickly intoxicates you.

“Fucking… fucking make me cum.. Oh! Make me cum already,” she hisses.

You are unable to answer her with words, your mouth filled with her pussy as it was, and so you answer with action. You bring your hands up, cupping and squeezing her toned, round ass from behind, pressing her crotch closer and deeper against your face. Giving her pussy one more lick and driving your tongue as deep inside her as it could go one last time, you finally move upwards to her needy clit.

Seulgi’s reaction is instant, having been driven to the edge by the tongue fucking you were giving her. When you capture her bud between your lips and swirl the tip of your tongue around it she cums almost immediately, her body going rigid for a split second before becoming a pile of jelly, the pleasure taking the young woman by surprise as her body succumbs. Her mouth is frozen in an open “o” for a few seconds as the first wave of her orgasm crashes against her, but soon she lets a long, drawn out moan escape her lips as she rides it out, enjoying every crest of pleasure that hits her.

She is gyrating her hips as she cums, grinding her wet, drenched, hot crotch against your face for a few beautiful seconds. It’s almost difficult to breathe, your mouth or your nose or both covered in her wet, hot flesh. You are clutching her ass in an attempt to hold her down, doing your best to lap up the plentiful juices leaving her slick opening, drinking up Seulgi like she were a fountain and you hadn’t drunk in days.

When Seulgi finally comes down from her high and releases your head from between her wet thighs, you are almost upset when her pussy leaves your face. You lick your lips, gathering her juices from the mess she’d made on your mouth and chin.

When you lock eyes again her face is wild - flushed with her orgasm, but still undiminished in that intimidating craziness that had taken her over.

She slides her body down, dipping her head and kissing you roughly, tasting herself on your tongue as your mouths lock in frenzied battle once more. To Seulgi, kissing was not a show or display of affection - it was a battle, a display of dominance.

“Not fucking bad,” she admits when she finally breaks the kiss, “now let’s see how you fuck.”

You were surprised at her lack of foreplay, lack of build up before she forced you to eat her out - but you were still expecting some sort of lead up to actual sex. But you should have known better by now, should have known that Seulgi wasn’t that type of girl.

In the space of a couple of seconds, Seulgi moves her body down until she is straddling your waist, and after reaching down to point your aching tip at her slick, dripping pussy, she takes you inside her and begins to ride you.

No build up, no slow gradual rise in pace or tempo - soon she is riding you hard, as though she were atop some bucking wild horse in some sort of race to a finish line only she could see. Her pussy is tight and wet and slick and hot and every possible adjective you could possibly use to describe the pleasurable feeling of her body - and it took you all at once, the sensations hitting you all at the same time, like a tsunami hitting the unprepared coastline of your brain.

It is all you could do to hold on to her bucking hips as she throws herself again and again into your cock, taking you in and out of her body at a pace that held no regard for your pleasure or even your comfort - all she wanted was to get off, and you were the tool she was going to use to get to her destination.

“Mmmm…. Argh! Fuck! Fuck, yes… Mmm... !!”

Even the sounds she made were different; aside from the odd pleasurable moan or hissed profanity, she sounded like she were searching for something, or working away at a project. The other girls sat back and let themselves come across the pleasure they were searching for; for Seulgi it was as though she were actively searching for it, looking for it amidst the sensations and pleasures emanating from between your bodies.

It took you longer than you cared to admit, but eventually you are able to at least get used to the torrid pace Seulgi has set as she rides you roughly on the creaking, protesting bed. She clutches the headboard above you, and as she does so it finally gives you a good look at her slim, svelte form, all tight muscle and lean limbs, her abs tight and sculpted, her small breasts tipped with delicious looking nipples stiff with pleasure. 

Above it all, though, was that face of hers - surely capable of much beauty and grace, but now twisted in wild abandon, the craziness of her need and lust twisting those perfect features into a mask that was equal parts intoxicating and intimidating. Hey eyes, even half-lidded in pleasure, are still bright and wild, fixed on you even as the rest of her body bounces up and down.

Rather mercifully, it is her that ends up approaching orgasm first; lucky for you, because you’d have hated to see what could happen if she were disappointed by sex. The gradual tightening and pulsating of her already tight, slick tunnel tells you she was quickly reaching her peak.

Seulgi ups her pace, impaling herself again and again on your cock as though she were nearing the finish line to a race and wanted to finish strong. The determined look on her face begins to crack, as the pleasure of your stiff cock pumping in and out of her finally overwhelms her senses.

“Oh, fuck, I’m gonna fucking… fucking cum… fuck!”

She cums like you expected her to, like she did minutes before on your tongue - like a violent storm breaking upon a shore. Her body goes rigid, her fingernails dig into the wooden headboard, and her thighs clench around your waist as the pleasure overtakes her senses. Her pussy pulsates and quivers around your cock as she buries it as deep inside her as it could go. It is all you could do to hold on to her tight, shaking body as she rides out her pleasure for long, beautiful seconds.

When she comes down from her peak she is still slowly grinding herself against your crotch, your cock fully embedded inside her body, as though she is chasing the last vestiges of pleasure before she comes down to earth. Breathing heavily, skin flushed, she finally gives you her appraisal of your performance.

Her appraisal is a slap across your face. When you recover enough to look back at her, your cheek stinging with sharp pain, the wild look in her eyes both scares you and turns you on.

“You think I have to thank you for making me cum, when all you did was lie there? The only credit you get is for not cumming in five seconds like a fucking virgin.”

You are a little stunned by Seulgi, and more than a little unsure about how to react. You’d never been with a woman so wild, so crazy in bed before - only Chaeyoung came close, and even then it was more playful than angry. Seulgi was a storm, a tornado that came in, tore down your house, and didn’t care what you thought of it.

You want to reach up and choke her. You want to turn her around and pull on her hair hard as you drill her tight little body from behind. This part of you wants to fight her - wants to show her you were just as capable of dominating her as she was of you - but another, darker part of you wants to let her have her way. Because deep down, it kind of turned you on.

“I suppose you can cum too, then, I guess,” Seulgi says, as nonchalantly as she could, given the circumstances - as though she weren’t naked, fully impaled on a man’s cock.

“Where do you want to cum, you little bitch?” she asks, with a look that you would have thought was threatening if it weren’t so fucking hot.

“I want-”

Another slap, this time to your other cheek. This one stung more than the other. The gradual increase of pain in her slaps would have concerned you if they weren’t so fucking hot at the same time. You should have known better. You’d think you’d have learned.

“I decide where you cum,” she states, a little edge in her tone. She says the words matter-of-factly, as though she were to brook no complaint or argument, would accept no alternative. A storm, after all, cared little for the complaints of those in its path.

She slides off your cock - and you lament the loss of her tight wet heat wrapped around your cock as it slips out of her, shiny and glistening with her juices. Before you know it Seulgi is curled up into a ball between your legs, and soon she is taking you in and out of her mouth.

Again - no build up. No preamble, no teasing or foreplay. Only the replacement of one hot, wet orifice with another. Only the wet, hot cavern of Seulgi’s mouth, those lips wrapped tightly around your shaft, her tongue swirling around your sensitive head each time she reached the apex. You should have been ready. You should have known by now. But again, the tsunami that was Kang Seulgi’s body finds a coastline unprepared.

She is rough, lacking in the patience and technique of someone like Sana or Seolhyun; but Seulgi more than makes up for it with sheer determination, as though she were using anger and hate to fuel her work between your legs. And you were in no position to complain, not when her hot little mouth was already bringing you close to cumming after only a few seconds of work.

She must have felt you nearing your peak - because you were certainly in no position to tell her so, given the near paralysis you felt as she worked fiercely on your cock. Just moments before you finally cum Seulgi lets your cock pop out of her mouth.

Your orgasm overwhelms your senses, but you force your eyes open to watch as thick, glistening cum erupts from your tip to land on Seulgi’s face, on her cheeks and nose, painting her soft features with white semen. You continue to cum more than you think you were going to, as though your body were responding to Seulgi’s abuse by painting her face with as much thick, hot white seed as it could. The look of utter lust on Seulgi’s needy features is breathtaking - mouth open and tongue out, she looked as though each rope of thick cum that landed on her face brought her to a new level of perverse pleasure.

After letting the first few streams of cum land onto her wanton face Seulgi slips your spasming cock back inside her mouth, and the feel of her tongue on your sensitive shaft, mid-orgasm, is almost too much to handle. Your hands grip the sides of her skull in a grip that is almost too tight for the girl; but she bears it, accepting the last few streams of cum into her needy mouth to splash against the back of her throat.

Your hands keep her there - you had involuntarily buried your cock into her mouth with a thrust of your hips and the grip on her head, it seemed. Not that Seulgi seemed to mind, if the swirling of her tongue around the sensitive underside of your pulsating cock was any indication.

An indeterminate amount of time later, when you finally release her head from your grasp, Seulgi lets your now half-softened cock slip out between her pink lips - along with a thick stream of fresh semen. She is almost embarrassed by it, and she quickly darts out her tongue to collect it all, as though it were some expensive drink that she didn’t want to waste a drop of. You watch as her throat works, gulping the thick ropes of cum down into her body.

You are barely cognizant enough to watch as she sets to work cleaning your cock, using her hand to keep it straight as she licks your combined juices from your tired, weary shaft and balls.

All the while she does so with your warm cum still dripping down her face, a wicked smile on her lips, and those crazy eyes locked on yours.

---

It’s half an hour later when Momo and Yeri arrive in the apartment, thankfully enough time for you and the former member of Red Velvet to get yourselves dressed up again and at least somewhat presentable, even if you had to deal with a shirt that had its buttons torn off. The sight of your torn shirt was an obvious giveaway to Yeri and Momo; Yeri reacts with a sly smile, as though she’d expected it to happen, although the dark look of barely hidden disappointment in Momo’s eyes stings you a little.

“Our work downstairs is done,” Momo states, seeking to change the subject as the four of you stand in the living room, “We set up cameras at all the entrances and in the parking lot. Seulgi will be wearing a camera and a wire to capture her meeting with Irene here in this room.”

“And I’ll be in the bedroom with a recording device of our own,” you state. You knew you had to have your own copy of the recording; not only to ensure redundancy in case of equipment failure, but also as a backup plan in case Irene tried something unexpected. “Jihyo and Nayeon will be with me, ready to arrest Irene once the time is right and we’re sure she won’t try anything.”

“Fair enough,” Momo admits, “Now if you two are done with your… work, we can leave.” She gives you another sharp look, then turns and leaves the apartment. Yeri follows, but only after giving the apartment one last quick glance; unlike Seulgi, she seemed to have no desire to relive days gone by.

“Seulgi,” you say, stopping the girl as she makes to follow Momo and Yeri out.

“I need to know you won’t do anything stupid tomorrow,” you continue, as straightforwardly as you could.

“Stupid? Like what?” the girl asks, crossing her arms and facing you.

“Like kidnapping Irene. Or worse. Jihyo and Nayeon will be here to arrest her. All you need to do is get her inside the apartment. That’s all. I know you want to get back at her for what she did to you, but she’ll be prosecuted for all her crimes, I promise you. We’re going to do this the right way. We’re not going to hurt her.”

Seulgi smirks, as though she were offended by your insinuation.

“What makes you think I want to do that?”

“She betrayed you and Yeri. Left you behind to be captured by YG. You said you wanted to ask her why. That’s fine - but I need to know that you won’t do anything stupid, especially if her answer isn’t what you want to hear.”

“I just want to ask her why she left us there. One way or another, I’m going to get my answer.”

Seulgi turns away and begins to walk out of the apartment.

“Remember what I told you last week - don’t get in my way,” she states, each word cold as ice, as she steps out of the apartment to leave you alone with your thoughts.

[luvlyrv]

Our Songs | pt. 3 | Wendy x f!Reader sm!au

Summary: You and Wendy are rising musicians who are garnering attention. As the both of you decide to begin working on writing songs together, will you catch each other’s attention too?

Series Masterlist

You perk up at the sound of a knock at your door. You leave behind your notebook where you had been scribbling notes and song lyrics as you get up to answer the door. You open your door to Wendy in a cute simple dress.

"Oh hey Wendy!" You said with a smile growing on your face.

Wendy eyes you up and down and laughs a little bit. "I feel like I'm a bit dressed up compared to you." You look down and are reminded of the fact that you were wearing a loose t-shirt and your favorite sweatpants.

"Oh I'm sorry! I forgot to dress up. I just find it easier to work when I'm in really comfortable clothes. I hope you don't mind?" You say in an apologetic tone, feeling a bit embarrassed that you looked so… musty compared to Wendy.

"No, no! Don't worry about it. I think you pull it off. You could probably pull off wearing a literal garbage bag if you wanted to."

"Hey, don't start putting ideas in my head." You joke with her, feeling a bud of happiness when you hear a sweet and soft laugh come out of her. You step to the side and allow Wendy to come into your small and admittedly a bit cluttered apartment.

"Sorry, my apartment is like, 90% studio."

"Well, I can admire your dedication to your work." Wendy begins to walk around, inspecting all the instruments being held in racks around your home. She stops for a second.

"Hey, isn't this the new guitar you got recently?"

You nod a bit in surprise, it was kind of unbelievable that Wendy watched your channel the way you watched hers.

"I really like the tone of it. Your hands are really mesmerizing when you play guitar, Y/N." Wendy is inspecting your guitar with a gentle look. You can't help but to feel a bit bashful with her compliment as you admire her side profile.

You shake your head out of the thought. "Ah, anyways, how about we go inside my room? That's where all the real fun is at." Wendy quirks an eyebrow up.

"Where the equipment is, I mean."

She follows you into your room, with one small bed squished up into a corner with the rest of the space being taken up by your equipment. You sat at your chair at your desk, being greeted once again by your notebook. You point at a small squishy stool nearby for Wendy to sit on. At the very least, you had some extra seating for your guest today.

"So," you begin asking, "what have you come up with so far?"

"Ah, it's a bit embarrassing to share lyrics with other people. No matter how many times I've done it before."

You try to shoot her a reassuring look. "Hey, I understand the feeling, I just want you to know I won't judge. I mean after all, I have to share my lyrics too you know? Which by the way, sorry in advance for them being half-baked."

Once again you feel a little tinge of happiness as you see some tension leaving your partner's body. She pulls out her phone and begins scrolling. She scoots closer to you so you can both look at her phone together as she begins describing some of her song ideas.

"This one is called Stopwatch. I wanted to capture the idea of living your life through the motions, you know? Everything goes by so fast until you find someone who makes you think for a second and stop time. You slow down for them so you can learn about them and spend time with them."

Wendy nervously glances from her phone to you. She watches as you read through the lyrics intently, feeling relieved when she watches a small smile building on your face.

"Out of all your ideas, all of them are great by the way, this is my favorite." You half whisper while still scrolling through and reading through the rest of her lyrics. Hearing your praise made Wendy let out her own smile.

"Now can I see yours?"

You look away from her phone, with your face contorted into an anxious looking mess. You begin rubbing at the back of your neck.

"I mean, yeah. I just don't know how well they'd hold up against yours." You say with nervous laughter.

"Don't worry about it Y/N! I've heard your lyrics before. I'm sure these will be just as great as those." Wendy places a hand on your arm, making you release a sigh. You look back at her before swiveling to grab your notebook and showing it to her.

Just like Wendy did for you, you walked her through the concepts and ideas you were trying to work with, You described the kinds of emotion you wanted to convey. Unlike what Wendy showed you though, you had less complete songs and more blurbs.

"I don't know why I couldn't piece a full song together. I guess I'm getting a bit of a block at a very inconvenient time. Sorry about that."

Wendy just shakes her head at your statement. "No, don't worry about it. I get it. I think even if they're not completed, all the lines you did write down really resonate with me and do their job well. I'm sure we can find a way to piece most of them together and combine them with mine to create something really emotional."

You feel comforted by her statement and flipped your notebook to a blank page. "Let's start figuring out what we do want to keep then, and the lyrics of the five songs we wanna make."

Hours and hours go by surprisingly quick. The both of you had sang to each other, throwing around different ideas for melodies and beats. By the end of it all, both of your throats were a bit sore, but at the very least you had finished getting a skeleton of an idea of what you wanted for each song.

Wendy glanced at the corner of your monitor to check the time. Her eyes widened as she saw it displaying 10 PM.

"Ah geez, we've worked a lot today, Y/N. I think it's time I should go back home before it gets insanely dark." Wendy rises from her stool, only for her stomach to immediately emit a loud growl. You look up at her.

"S-sorry."

You just laugh at the situation, it was a laugh that didn't feel mean but rather welcoming to Wendy. "Don't worry, that's what happens when you work for like, 6 hours straight. How about you stay for dinner? I'm hungry myself and don't mind cooking you anything."

For some reason, the girl's heart began to beat just a little bit faster. She felt like she couldn't say no to the kindness in your eyes, so after a couple seconds of deliberation she gave you her answer. "Sure, that would be nice."

To be brutally honest, Wendy did not expect much. She half-expected you to microwave some ramen for the both of you or something, but instead she was pleasantly surprised by the delicious looking meal you had laid before her.

She couldn't help but stare at the food you made. She thought that maybe it would be a sin to eat something so beautiful looking. You're already beginning to eat from your plate when you realize Wendy hadn't touched her food at all. You began to worry.

"Is there something wrong? Should I make something else?"

Wendy left her trance and looked up from her plate to your worried eyes. "Oh, no, no, I just… I'm just impressed Y/N. Thank you for this meal. Really!"

You focus back on your plate, and luckily for Wendy the food tasted just as good as it looked. She savored every bite up until she was finished. At the point, the both of you were full, and Wendy's eyes began to feel heavy as the food coma began to kick in. Her body was just begging to get all comfortable and warm to fall asleep.

With a bit of shame Wendy decided to ask, "Is it okay if I spend the night here…? Sorry, I'm just… so tired now."

"Hm? Of course you can. Do you want to shower? I think we're both kinda gross right now."

"I didn't really intend to stay the night. I don't have any clothes to change into."

You get up and go into your room, only to quickly go back to Wendy with a pair of pajamas in hand.

"Well you do now."

"But it's-"

You just push her towards the bathroom and gave her a towel to dry herself off with. "See you later, stinky."

As Wendy showers, you pick out your clothes and your own towel. Then you get to making your bed in preparation of having Wendy sleep there tonight.

When the sound of rushing water stopped, Wendy came out wearing your large dog-patterned pajamas. You point her towards your bed. "Feel free to go ahead and sleep."

She shakes her head at you. "Hey, I'm the guest here, I'm gonna go sleep on the couch."

You stop her from leaving your room and just stare at her. "That's exactly why I want you sleeping on a comfortable bed rather than my shitty couch."

"I'm sure the couch is fine. It's your bed, Y/N."

You just stare.

And stare.

And-

"Okay fine." Wendy grumbles and makes her way towards the corner of your room. Once again she felt like she couldn't refuse you.

You go ahead and shower, and by the time you're finished Wendy is passed out cold on the bed. You can't help but to smile a little. You go outside to sleep on the couch, not before setting an alarm for early in the morning though.

[sevlgi]

chemistry

requested: yes

group: red velvet

pairing: irene x fem!reader

genre: fluff, angst

contents: college!au, tutor!irene, chemistry pickup lines

warnings: none

synopsis: When you end up with your ultimate crush and the goddess of the school, Irene, as your Chemistry tutor, you can only think of one way to woo her-chemistry pickup lines. But is that enough to woo the beautiful ice queen?

a/n: I can absolutely do an Irene drabble! I haven’t gotten many requests for red velvet, but I’m happy to write for them. also, happy birthday, Irene!

word count: 2.8k

Getting Bae Joohyun assigned as your tutor is probably the best thing that has ever happened to you.

Joohyun was recognized by everyone on campus as a literal goddess. Even among her friend group of the most illustrious and beautiful girls on campus, she stands out as the leader of all of them, the prettiest and most brilliant one of all. Armed with knife-sharp wit, stellar grades, and a gorgeous face to top it all off, Joohyun could have the world at her feet.

Despite how cold she is to everyone outside of her friend group, everyone is infatuated; you swear you’ve seen her receive at least a dozen marriage proposals in a week from guys and girls alike. If you had enough courage, you’d probably be one of those girls, although you’d probably be turned away like the rest with a scathing remark from Jennie or a sympathetic smile from Nayeon.

Recently, though, you’ve become friends with one of the sweeter girls in the group, Joohyun’s friend Wendy. She’s in your Chemistry class and is just like Joohyun, only nicer.

You groan as you spot the fat red D scrawled at the top of your paper as it’s handed back to you. “Ah, come on! I studied so hard this time!”

Sitting next to you, Wendy watches sympathetically, silently turning her own paper over to conceal the A at the top. “Hey, it’s okay, Y/N. I heard that the class average was a 61.”

Glaring at her halfheartedly, you mumble, “Yeah, well, I’m not far off from that.”

Wendy sighs, leaning down to get to eye level with you as you like face-down on your desk. “You studied hard, but maybe you just need some outside help? What about a tutor?”

“Are you offering to tutor me? I’m not that dumb. I just- I just can’t seem to get it. You get it.”

“Yes, but I’m one of the top students,” Wendy laughs lightly, placing a hand on your shoulder. “I can’t tutor you, though, I’m already signed up as a Calculus and History tutor.” You groan immediately; having one of your friends as your tutor is embarrassing enough, but it would be way worse with a stranger. “Come on, Y/N, a tutor isn’t bad.”

You open your mouth to retort but quickly clam up when you see Joohyun and Jisoo heading over. “Hey, Wendy. Are you coming to the tutoring meeting today?” Jisoo asks, giving you a polite smile. Jisoo’s pretty, and she’s definitely nicer than Joohyun, but you can’t help being infatuated with the other girl. You notice her eyes stray from your face to the D on your paper, her expression remaining impassive.

“Oh, of course. Joohyun, you’re signing up as a Chemistry tutor, right?” Wendy asks. She sounds innocent, but you’ve known her long enough that you know she has something planned.

Joohyun shifts her gaze to Wendy now, and the ice in her eyes melts a little at her smiling friend. “Yes,” Joohyun says, and you barely manage to not smile at the sound of her voice. “Jisoo finally convinced me to use my intelligence for good.”

“Ah, great!” Wendy grins, nudging you under the table. “It just so happens that Y/N here needs some help in that department.”

At a harder shove from your friend, you gulp and stutter out, “Y-yeah. I’m not doing so hot right now.”

Joohyun flashes you the tiniest of smiles that doesn’t reach her eyes, tugging on Jisoo’s elbow to leave. “Yes, great. I’m sure I’ll see you there, then.”

As soon as the two girls are out of sight, you smack Wendy as hard as you can with your rolled-up test. “What. The. Hell?” you hiss.

“I know you like her,” Wendy smiles innocently, rubbing her arm. “And you really need to get a tutor, so it was the perfect opportunity. Come on, Joohyun’s even better at Chem than me!”

You can’t deny the genius of her plan, but you’re sure you’ll embarrass yourself either way. “Fine,” you grumble, resting your forehead on the desk. “I guess I’m going to the tutoring meeting.”

“Stop fidgeting, you look great.”

Despite Wendy’s words, you can’t help but pick at your T-shirt, tucked into nice pants, and frown. You refused to wear a dress, but Wendy was able to force you into nicer pants than your beat-up jeans. She herself looks stunning as usual as she maneuvers the two of you through the crowd to sit by her entire posse of friends at the front. “Hey, Roseanne, mind if we sit here?”

You don’t hear what the blonde says in response, but you sit down between her and Wendy with your eyes on Joohyun, a few seats away. You signed up for a tutor right after class two days ago, so you can’t do anything but hope you get Joohyun assigned as your tutor.

Everything else the professor says goes in one ear and out the other, until he begins announcing the tutors. “Kim Jisoo, you’ll be tutoring Jeon Jungkook. Bae Joohyun, you are assigned to Y/N Y/L/N.”

Wendy clutched onto your arm with an excited smile as soon as he was done with calling out names. “See? This is great!”

“What’s great?” You look up to find Joohyun standing there with her arms crossed, expression impassive as always. She sticks out her hand to shake. “You can call me Joohyun, I’m your tutor.”

“Y/N,” you respond breathlessly, shaking her hand. Your hand is probably sweaty, but Joohyun’s face reveals nothing. “Um, we should probably set up a time? For our first tutoring session?”

Joohyun nods, already tugging Wendy up. “Yes, I’ll get your number from Wendy. Come on, Seungwan.”

Wendy flashes you an apologetic smile as she leaves, but you don’t mind- you’ve got your crush as your chemistry tutor, and she’s going to text you. All is well, as far as you’re concerned.

Joohyun doesn’t text you for a full week. You’re too scared to go up to her in Chemistry, and Wendy says she doesn’t know what’s going on, so you’re left to stare at your phone, waiting for that first text.

Finally, at 2:17 a.m., it comes.

Unknown number [2:17]   Is this Y/N Y/L/N? It’s Joohyun.

You [2:17]   yes, it’s me!

Joohyun [2:19]   Good, I thought Seungwan would give me the wrong number.

You [2:19]   I’m glad she didn’t haha

You [2:20]   when are you free to meet up?

Joohyun [2:24]   How about at 3?

You [2:25]   like 3 this afternoon?

Joohyun [2:26]   No, in half an hour.

Joohyun [2:26]   Unless it’s too early for you?

You [2:27]   no, it’s fine!!!

You [2:28]   see you in half an hour at the library!

“Ah, where is she?” You rub your eyes, swaying a little bit as you survey the mostly-empty library for your tutor. You spot her in the corner, dark hair thrown up in a bun and her back to you, books heaped on the desk. “Hey, Joohyun!”

When she turns around, you notice the glasses perched on her nose and promptly fall down. Her footsteps echo as she walks toward you, and her face appears above yours, the slightest hint of amusement glinting in her eyes. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah, I’m good,” you groan, sitting up; your face flames hot red as Joohyun picks up your bag and leads you over to the desk. “Thanks for being my tutor, by the way.”

Joohyun glances at you, her face still cold. You can’t help but think about how incredibly beautiful she’d be if you could make her smile, just the tiniest bit, or even laugh. “I’m not doing it for you, it’s my job. I always tutor who I’m assigned, it doesn’t matter about my feelings.”

“Right.” You’re sure your face is even warmer now, but when you spot an open textbook, you blurt something out to change the subject. “So, what’re we learning today?”

“I thought we’d start with exothermic reactions,” Joohyun explains, pointing to the wall of text in the book. “Do you know what they are?”

“I think you’re an exothermic reaction,” you blurt out. Joohyun quirks an eyebrow, slightly confused but letting you go on. Your cheeks burn even brighter as you continue, “You spread hotness everywhere.”

Unless you’re so sleep-deprived that you were seeing things, you see the slightest tinge of pink in Joohyun’s pale cheeks, right before she rolls her eyes and sighs, “At least you know they spread heat.”

“Well, you look terrible.”

You roll your eyes at Wendy, plopping down in your usual seat next to her with a heavy sigh. “Yeah, Joohyun tutored me from 2 in the morning to 4. I’m dead inside.”

Wendy smirks at your disheveled state; your dark circles and messy hair are nothing like Joohyun’s flawless skin and neat clothes, despite the fact that she probably slept even less. “Yeah, I can see that. Did it help?”

“No,” you groan, throwing a paper with a C- glaring up at you on the desk. “It’s an improvement, but not much. Not enough.”

“Keep trying,” Wendy sighs, patting you on the shoulder. “With Joohyun’s help, you’ll be a genius in no time.”

At almost the same time the next morning, Joohyun texts you to go to the library. You arrive, armed with more pickup lines this time to try and make Joohyun actually smile. “Hey, Joohyun,” you smile.

“Hello,” she murmurs in response. “I was thinking we’d review the periodic table today; I saw you labeled oxygen as the first element on the quiz.”

“Forget hydrogen, you’re my number one element,” you grin, leaning back with a satisfied smile. “Do you like boba, by the way?”

Joohyun rolls her eyes and pushes the book toward you, ignoring your question. “Read,” she commands. You oblige, but you see a faint hint of a smile on her face as soon as she thinks you aren’t watching.

At that moment, you realize something--   Joohyun isn’t an untouchable ice goddess after all, and you really need to find more pickup lines. “Hey, Joohyun? I have a question.”

“Yes?”

“Do you have 11 protons? Because you’re sodium fine.”

Joohyun groans and shakes her head, pushing your head towards the book. “Keep reading, Y/N.”

After two weeks of midnight study sessions, your grades improve significantly and your dark circles are getting drastically worse. However, you’d been rewarded with a smile just the night before, so today, you’re going to ask Joohyun for coffee.

“Hey, Joohyun!” The girl turns at the sound of your voice; Jennie, at her left, looks exasperated, probably taking you for another desperate suitor, and Wendy looks surprised, especially when Joohyun gives you the faintest of smiles and stops Jennie from warding you off.

“You know, we always study at midnight. I was wondering whether you could tutor me this afternoon?” you ask, nervous that she’ll reject you. “Get boba, learn some more about chemical reactions?”

She seems like she’ll say something at first, but then agrees with a sigh. “Sure.”

“Great!” you beam, just happy that she didn’t turn you off. Right as she turns away, though, you call out. “One more thing. You must be made of uranium and iodine because all I can see is U and I together.”

She gives you an exasperated look before turning away and tossing over her shoulder, “4:28 sharp at Red Velvet Tea. Don’t be late.”

As she and her friends walk away, you swear you see Jennie whisper something in Joohyun’s ear and look at you with a questioning look in her eyes.

“You’re early.”

You grin as Joohyun sits down opposite you, setting down her books on the table and staring at the 2 unopened bubble teas between the two of you. “Yeah, I wanted to get a table and buy you something.”

“I don’t drink sweet things,” Joohyun raises an eyebrow, pushing the drink back at you.

You push it right back. “Ah, come on, Joohyun, just try it.”

She sighs a little harder than usual and pulls it towards her, but she doesn’t sip at it before she questions you, “Who told you to call me Joohyun?”

“Oh. Um, I hear your friends call you that, and we’re friends now, right?”

Joohyun looks like she’s restraining herself from saying something, but she gives you another one of her small smiles that doesn’t reach her eyes and responds, “Sure. Friends.”

She takes a sip and doesn’t frown or scowl, which you take as a good sign. “Hm. It’s not bad.”

“See?” you exclaim, victorious. “You know, I might be a physics major, but I’m no Bohr.”

“You’re not a physics major,” Joohyun deadpans, shoving yet another textbook at you. “Now read.”

Joohyun [3:19]   Are you still awake?

You [3:20]   always, for you xx

Joohyun [3:22]   Give it a rest, Y/N. Ready for tutoring today?

You [3:23]   ahh, it’s too early

You [3:23]   meet me for lunch today? you can yell at me then

Joohyun [3:24]   Fine, but don’t you dare order me a cheeseburger.

“You must be a magnetic monopole because all i get from you is attraction,” you flirt as soon as Joohyun sits down in the restaurant.

She walks right back out, but she comes back reluctantly after you chase her with a promise to never say that line again.

You made her smile that day, and you made it your mission to do so more often.

Two months or so later, it’s safe to say that you and Joohyun are pretty close. She’s even introduced you to some of her friends although Jennie remains hostile, and for some reason, almost all of them give each other knowing looks whenever you join them for lunch and make Joohyun laugh at your jokes.

You aren’t failing Chemistry anymore- in fact, your recovery is miraculous. Still, you’re pretty sure you failed the final exam.

“Ugh, and the question about prevalent bonds?” you groan, putting your head in your hands, your bottle of soju in danger of being knocked over. You’re out for drinks with your friends; the boys who elected to come out with you are all drunk to hell, dancing as if they’ll die if they don’t, and most of the girls have joined them. Wendy stays with you, listening to you complain. “I’m dead. Hey, where’s Joohyun, by the way?”

“Ah, she’s-”

Your question is answered by a fuming Joohyun bursting through the doors of the bar, but you and Wendy are the only ones who notice her as she storms towards you. “You-” she hisses, pointing a finger at you.

“M-me?” you stammer. You’ve never seen this much emotion of Joohyun before, and especially not anger. It’s admittedly scary as hell, but also the tiniest bit hot. “Uh, Joohyunie, what’s-”

“Come with me,” she snarls, grabbing your arm and leading you out of the bar. As soon as you’re out of earshot of the other girls and in the streets, she stops, and her expression turns to some mix of anger and sadness.

You step closer to her, watching her carefully to determine whether you’re in real danger or not. “Hey, Joohyun, what’s going on?”

Joohyun shoves you away at first, glaring at you. You notice the shine in her eyes, and if it was anyone else, you’d think they were tears.

“I failed the test,” she chokes out, putting her face in her hands. There are real, actual tears spilling down her cheeks, and you’re not quite sure how to react.

“What? Come on, no way,” you stammer out, putting your hands tentatively on her shoulders. Miraculously, she doesn’t push you away. “You’re like the smartest person I know, how could you have failed the test?”

She looks up at you, and you can’t help but think she’s so incredibly beautiful even with her nose reddened and her eyes shimmering. “You.”

“What?”

“It’s all your fault,” she sniffles, rubbing her nose harshly on her arm and tearing out of your grip once again.

You’re bewildered; how in the hell could you cause Joohyun, star student, to fail her best subject? “W-what?”

“You!” Joohyun is sobbing now, tears trailing down her cheeks and her nose redder than her lips. “I- I couldn’t stop thinking about you. During the test, during tutoring... I just can’t!”

“M-me?” You step forward now, taking Joohyun’s hands in your own. “How could I do that to you?”

“I like you, you idiot,” Joohyun blurts out, her eyes widening in surprise. She clamps her hands over her mouth. “Oh no, I-”

You take a few strides forward and snatch her hands away again, this time pressing your lips to hers. She’s stiff at first, and you almost pull away, but her hands fist in the collar of your shirt as she pulls you into the kiss.

It seems like an eternity has passed when you finally pull away for air. You stare at each other, eyes shining with something other than tears, before you eloquently decide to start the conversation again. “Uh...”

"I... I’m sorry,” Joohyun mumbles, her hands still loosely clamped on the front of your shirt. “You’re just... so unlike me. You know? You’re so beautiful and kind, and so warm.”

“Warm? The hell?”

She rolls her eyes, smudging her tears away roughly. “You know what I mean. You tried to make me laugh even when I was so cold to you... and you smile so much and you look really pretty when you smile, you know that?”

You smile and kiss her again, sweeter than last time, and you feel her smiling against you too. When you pull away, your foreheads are pressed together, and you can’t stop yourself from saying breathlessly, “I guess we’ve got chemistry”.

That breaks the spell, and Joohyun groans and rips herself out of your grip, running into the bar. “H-hey! Joohyun!”

You chase after her, and you can’t help the cheesy grin on your face. There’s no doubt about it- getting Joohyun as your Chemistry tutor is the luckiest thing that’s ever happened to you.

[2-cute-4-school]

Hiraeth

Group : NCT

Pairing : Lee Donghyuck/Haechan x f!Reader

Genre : fluff, angst

Word count : 4K words - Part 1

Mafia AU   |   M.list

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 - Final 

Chapter summary :  “Y/N please tell me you’ll always love me.” |  “You know I do. I love you and I’ll keep loving you no matter what.”

“Hiraeth - (n) a homesickness for a home you can’t return to, or that never was.”

Haechan was always by her side, her guardian angel and her partner in crime at the same time. Sure, he wasn’t ecstatic about having a little girl around them at all times in the beginning, but Taeyong was their leader and what he said had to be done. He remembered the day he met her so clearly, a lasting impression on him.

Taeyong had told them beforehand that a new member was going to arrive, but none of them ever expected her. Their squad was made up of only boys so seeing a frail girl trailing behind their leader left them shocked and frozen in their spots. Her eyes were wide, scanning her new surroundings and future teammates while tightly griping Taeyong’s shirt until her knuckles turned white. She tried to put on a brave face, but anyone with a decent sight could see that she was trembling like a leaf.

He later learned her name, Y/N and that she was training for the spy position. Same as Haechan. They seemed to be around the same age but he still felt a strong need to protect her, shield her from any harm. She looked so small that day, meeting the other members who swarmed her as soon as she peeked out from behind their leader. The way her face broke into a grin as she found out she would be training alongside Haechan as spies broke his hard exterior and made him decide he would take her under his wing.

And now, years later, Y/N became the light in the endless night, a breath of fresh air after drowning in the fast waters of a rushing river, although neither Haechan nor the rest of the boys would ever tell her that. But it could be seen in the way they looked at her, drops of honey and stardust swimming in their eyes whenever they caught sight of her or in the relieved exhale of air whenever she hugged them, her warmth enveloping them like a comfort blanket. It was the subtle hints that showed their love for her and the other way around.

“Y/N, I’m going to murder you!”

“Taeyong told me to wake you up, why are you such a bitter bitch?”

“I’m not the bitch here, dear”

“Is it because of old age, Doyoung? I know old people can get easily irritated, but damn gurl, you’re on another level”

A vein popped at Doyoung’s temple and he deeply breathed in, trying to keep his composure before he went nuts and burned down the entire household.

“Y/N, I’ll give you three seconds to vanish from before my eyes”

And she didn’t need more as she zoomed past the rest of them, her giggles echoing around the hallways.

“This is what I get out of raising children” Doyoung sighed before plopping down on the couch beside the younger ones.

To be honest, Haechan wanted to murder both of them. As much as he liked making fun of his members, being dragged out of his room for an unknown reason wasn’t on his to-do list today. He simply wanted to play some video games with his roommate Johnny and Y/N, maybe eradicate their self-confidence when it came to survival games with his unmatched skills. What he didn’t want right now was petty bickering, even though it’s usually his forte.

His train of thoughts was interrupted by the slam of the front door. Taeyong stormed inside, draping his coat and leaving his shoes by the door. His hair seemed messy and his movements were quite tense, very unlike for him.

“Are all of you here?”

No greetings, no smile. Something was going on.

Y/N trudged back in the living room with Yuta in tow, hearing the ruckus created by Taeyong’s hurried entrance. She sat down on the arm of the couch, beside Mark. Haechan took a moment to look at her. Her eyes turned serious, no glint of mischief in them anymore, her lips set in a straight line. Haechan gulped before turning his eyes back to their leader.

“Yes, what’s going on, Taeyong?” Taeil voiced out all of their thoughts. He also seemed tense, it was very weird that Taeyong hadn’t told him anything beforehand.

“I know none of you will like this, but we have a new mission” 

Everyone looked at each other. Missions weren’t anything new and it’s been quite some time since the last time they all went on one so they didn’t understand Taeyong’s worry.

“Alright, so? Things were starting to get boring anyway, so I don’t think anyone minds. What’s the job?” Johnny seemed even more content than the others at the mention of a mission

“Park Ji-won and his goons are having a party. All rich and influential people are invited. They’re probably trying to make connections with powerful people, maybe get them involved in their business. Wendy said he’ll have a USB flash drive with him. It contains future plans and reports of his actions if we get our hands on that he’s done for. Unfortunately, we’re not sure where it will be exactly. He probably won’t have it on him, it would be too risky, but other than that it could be anywhere in the house although his office seems most likely.”

Park Ji-won, the leader of one of the most powerful gangs in the country, a master of assassinations and other dirty deals and NCT’s biggest threat. He hunted them down with every chance he got and killed any allies of Taeyong’s he could. Everyone knew it would be a hard mission. 

Johnny was the first one to break the silence.

“We can handle this, we’ve handled worse”

Taeyong bit his lip, anxiety showing on his face.

“The mission is tomorrow evening”

Silence. And then chaos. Questions and remarks were flying everywhere, most members in shock before Taeil shushed everyone. He looked Taeyong in the eyes, his glare ice cold.

“Do we have a plan already?”

Taeyong sighed before answering.

“Nothing out of the ordinary. Y/N and Haechan will go in dressed up, blend in with the crowd. The hackers will stay here and monitor everything with some of us. The rest will wait in cars scattered near the party. I’ll fill in our spies with some info about the people there and come up with an inside plan, but that’s all”

Haechan’s hands started to sweat and his breathing became irregular. His mind was running wild and he seemed restless. His heart seemed to climb up his throat and jump out any minute. Haechan knew what this meant.

“Taeyong, this is too rushed and you know Ji-won isn’t a man to mess with” Taeil tried reasoning calmly.

“We’ll have to, this is a one time chance”

“BULLSHIT!” Johnny exploded. His excitement from earlier seemed to turn into anger at the announcement of the time of their mission “This is bullshit and you know it, Taeyong! What you’re doing is sending us, sending them” he gestured wildly to the couch where Y/N and Haechan were seated with wide eyes “on a suicide mission.”

“No, I’m not. We have a plan, as long as we don’t stray from it we’ll be fine”

Johnny was seething. He gritted his teeth, barely containing himself from exploding. Anyone could see his clenched fists by his side.

“I’ll shove this poor excuse of a plan so far up your ass it will reach your brain and unclog this shitty mindset of yours, I swear to God-”

“Let’s stop this, please” Y/N voice was weak, any smaller and no one would have heard her. She was looking at her elders fighting with a sore expression on her face “If we have to do this, let’s at least try to come up with something better, this is no usual mission.”

Taeil sighed as he gently pushed Johnny back.

“She’s right, you’re acting like clowns, did the hair dye fry through your scalp and to you neurons?’”

His words seemed to cool down the room, but burn Haechan’s heart. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It was in the early hours of the morning when they finally settled. Although their plan didn’t stray too much from the original one, details were added and the spies knew perfectly what they had to do. Things were still riskier than ever and tension was high in the air of the dorm.

Y/N stayed close to Haechan the entire time, his presence calming her down. As long as he was there beside her, she felt as if nothing could touch them, neither one would allow it. Over the years, their bond that first started as a simple partnership soon developed into what they liked to call a soulmate bond. They could understand each other without words and trust tied them together tighter than anything else.

“You should head to bed, bub. You need all the rest you can get.” A warm hand petted her hair, as she lifted her head to meet Johnny’s eyes. He could see the unspoken anxiety behind her fatigued orbs and he wanted nothing more but to wrap her in a fluffy blanket and protect her forever. But everyone knew it would never be possible.

Y/N tried to offer a smile, but it was weak and it didn’t meet her eyes. She was clearly feeling oddly off about their mission too.

“Right, goodnight then.” She lifted herself off from the armrest of the couch and began trudging back into her room, which she shared with Haechan. Said boy didn’t waste another second before following her.

“And kids?” Johnny waited a second until they both turned their heads towards him “Don’t worry too much, we won’t let anything happen to you.”

He smiled kindly, showing his fatherly side which surfaced only around them and it was enough to get Y/N to smile, even in the slightest while muttering a broken ‘thank you’ before continuing her short walk to the bedroom.

Haechan instead lingered a few more moments, eyes shining as he stared at Johnny’s retreating back. He shook his head as if snapping himself out of a trance and rushed to catch up to Y/N, who was already fluffing up her pillows to settle down.

As she finally stretched herself out on her mattress, Haechan hesitated nervously near her. His bed looked cold and lonely and right then, his mind wouldn’t have been able to achieve peace without the help of his lifeline. His soul was too agitated and his heart was beating erratically, almost shattering his rib cage to escape its dark prison and find itself into the warm hands of their real owner, the girl whose eyes would disgrace all the stars in the sky.

“Are you going to fall asleep while standing or do you plan on joining me?”

She could read him like an open book. Through just a few words, Y/N could rip his thoughts out of his fuzzy mind and present them on his sleeve.

Haechan said nothing as he dragged his feet over to her bed and plopped down beside her. Without a second thought, he wrapped her in a protective cocoon of his arms, trapping her against his chest. He worried for a second. What if she could hear his heart? What explanation would he have for the way it betrayed him and threatened to simply jump out at her mere presence? That he was more afraid of losing her than losing anything else in the world? That he wanted to end his own pathetic self at the thought of the next day? That losing her meant his end, the edge of his sanity that he would throw out the window?

“I’m scared.”

It was only the second time he ever heard these words coming out of her mouth. The first time was on her first mission when he had to hold her hand all the way to the house they had to infiltrate in, just to keep her grounded. But that was such a long time ago when she had no experience in the field and her innocence was still intact. So hearing her say these words now unsettled him greatly.

“Why?”

“Is that even a question?”

“We’ve been on countless missions before, we’ll be fine.”

“No, no we haven’t. Not on one like this.”

“Y/N, as long as we stick to the plan, nothing will be different.”

“You don’t know that.”

“Neither did we before any of the past missions.”

She went silent. Y/N knew he was right, but she could only admire curiously the firmness in his voice. Was he really this fearless or did he only keep up this facade to lessen her worry?

“Maybe you’re right.”

“You know I am.”

“Shut up, Hyuck”

He softly laughed at her tone as he let his fingers run through strands of her hair as if mesmerized by the way she was really there, tucked in his side as her index finger traced patterns mindlessly onto his chest. And he was scared too. 

He was scared that the patters would slip through his skin and burn his hurting heart. Scared that tomorrow could bring an end to him, to them. Scared that he would knowingly let his lifeline vanish before his eyes, taking with her his whole being. He wasn’t scared for himself, no. He was scared for her and only her.

“Y/N please tell me you’ll always love me.”

“Ew Hyuck, what the heck are you talking about?”

“Y/N please”

His voice trembled then and broke at the end of the sentence. Y/N craned her neck in order to lift her gaze to his face. She found his eyes already trained on her, staring through her soul with an indecipherable look. That seemed to wake her up a little.

“What is this all about? You said nothing will be different. Why should we- “

He seemed to realize his mistake as he softly shushed her, cradling her back in his comforting embrace.

“It doesn’t have to mean anything, I just want to hear it from you”

It was silent for a few moments and his caresses seemed to slowly lull her to sleep, hopefully, a soothing one.

“You know I do. I love you and I’ll keep loving you no matter what.”

Her words were muffled, barely audible, but they resonated through Haechan’s entire body. It was a matter of minutes before Y/N was off to Dreamland while Haechan came undone in the darkness of their shared room. Hot tears rimmed his eyes before slipping down his cheeks, leaving trails of ashes from fallen stars. He closed his eyes tightly, feeling the utter dread rip apart his body, burn every piece of him down to nothing as the only witness to him falling apart was the moon which seemed to shine shallowly through the lids. He lifted a hand to cover his mouth, to keep the devastation inside himself, to let it eat him inside out.

That’s how he finally fell asleep, heart in his throat, weakly yelling at him to give up, to allow her full control and his mind, fighting against it, destroying him from both ends.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Y/N’s hands were sweating as Mark went over the plan for the millionth time, talking endlessly from the passenger seat. Johnny was sat behind the wheel, gripping it so tightly, Y/N was afraid it would bend and break anytime. She did her best trying to shut down her emotions ever since she woke up that morning, falling into her way to cope with unwanted uneasiness that came every time she had to go on a mission.

“Are you sure you’re feeling well, Y/N?” Mark’s voice snapped her out of her state.

“Huh?”

“You seem a bit out of it”

“I’m alright, don’t worry,” Mark still seemed reluctant and she could feel Johnny’s gaze through the mirror in front of him “really, I promise.”

Mark sighed as he turned back around, settling down in his seat as silence enveloped the car. Suddenly, fingers slipped through hers, intertwining their hands with a strong grip. Y/N’s head snapped towards Haechan who watched carefully with worried, but soft eyes. She could tell he was nervous too, but he tried to push that aside just to make sure she was fine. In return, she squeezed his hand back fiercely, trying to show him he could also lean on her, that there was nothing to be afraid as long as they stayed together.

As they neared their destination, the tension in the car intensified, almost suffocating Y/N as she struggled to keep her mind clear and not let her evident fear unleash and swallow up her sanity. The car stopped just short of the entrance gate as they unbuckled their seat belts. Y/N watched as Mark checked Haechan’s in-ear one last time before leaning forward herself. Mark did his job, but before she could bid goodbye and exit the car, Mark’s warm hand cupped her cheek affectionately, instantly grounding her with his reassuring touch.

“Come back safely, okay?”

“You know I will, we always do.” Y/N tried to bluff her bravery in a poor attempt to convince everyone, including herself, that she didn’t doubt herself. But Mark didn’t fall for it, and she knew none of the others did either. His eyes looked deeply into hers, searching her orbs desperately.

“Y/N.”

“I will, Mark. I really will.”

Johnny patted her head as Mark let his hand fall back in his lap.

“You too, devil child.” Haechan’s head snapped up and he had to force the smile on his face to seem genuine.

“Wow, I can really feel the love here, we’ll be fine.”

With that, the two youngest exited the vehicle, letting the light breeze brush away their nerves and bring them their usual mindset. Quick, quiet and clean. That’s how their jobs went every time. This had no reason to be different. They easily passed by the guards with the fake invitations Wendy provided them with and they stepped inside.

The first thing you could feel once you entered the party hall was definitely the stuck up atmosphere, which wasn’t shocking considering the people present there. The lights were dim and conversations were kept hushed. The tables on the sides of the room were filled with glasses of probably expensive champagne with fancy names and the occasional plates with small sweets. Y/N and Haechan spent the next 15 minutes checking their surroundings, blending in with the ever-growing crowd. They did catch a few glimpses of Park Ji-won caught up in conversations and Y/N could feel her blood start to boil at the sight of him. But she knew they weren’t there to kill him, so she kept a safe distance, far enough to keep out of his sight but close enough not to lose him in the crowd.

“I think we should get this going,” Haechan whispered subtly in her ear. She eyed the stairs she had to climb to the floor where the offices and a few other rooms were located, their best bet at finding the USB. Haechan was supposed to remain downstairs, monitor any weird actions and watch her back. Y/N nodded and immediately disappeared into the crowd, missing the indecipherable look he threw her.

Nearing the stairs, she quickly slipped upstairs, tapping her in-ear once, sending the boys outside and back at the dorm the signal that the plan was put in action.

“Alright, be careful” Taeyong murmured.

She checked the first few rooms nearest, so quietly you could hear a fly buzz around. Every room was empty, both of any people and the USB. Ji-won’s office was still yet to be found, but Y/N’s chest was uncharacteristically beating uncontrollably. Everything was so silent, only the ruckus from downstairs could be heard faintly. Haechan had been silent the entire time and Y/N clung onto her hope things were going well since he hadn’t said a word since she left.

The blood was rushing through her veins, adrenaline high and keeping her going as she neared the next door. Her eyes were focused and it seemed as if no emotion was displayed, her face muscles completely lax. Her footsteps were light, making no sound against the carpet beneath and adding to the eerie silence that threatened to cloud up her throat and spillover.

A loud bang resonated in her ear and she was instantly snapped out of her trance. She barely contained herself from lifting her hand up to touch the device settled inside her ear, but it was enough to make her freeze in her spot, waiting for something, anything, for someone to guide her, to calm her and keep her steady on her feet just for long enough to finish her task. But her guide never came, at least not in the form she hoped for.

“Y/N! Haechan! Get out of there! NOW!” Taeyong sounded more frantic than ever. Never had Y/N heard their reliable leader scream that way, not with such raw desperation and never to abandon their mission, never. Several gunshots now echoed in the background and her teammates’ yells could be barely heard over the ruckus created. “We’re getting attacked! Get out-” Another gunshot, incredibly loud and it was enough to cut off the connection, their only link to the outside.

Y/N felt herself getting dizzy. She was trapped, with no help, her brothers were in danger back home and she could do nothing besides muttering a broken ‘no’ and turning around harshly, not wasting a second to get out of here and back home. Her feet carried her thoughtlessly, to hell with the stupid USB and the cursed Park Ji-won, nothing mattered more than her family who needed her help now more than ever, and she would be damned if she doesn’t get there fast enough to fight alongside them. 

Her entire world was shattering and she was hopelessly and blindly running back to gather the shards.

A hand reached out, grasping her arm and turning her so her back was pressed tightly to a chest as a hand came around her to embrace her tightly around the shoulders. Y/N reached out immediately, ready to fight back but settled for a few moments one sensing the familiar scent of Haechan.

Right, Haechan was still there, still with her. Her lifeline was still there, keeping her alive, clinging to her sanity. Her soulmate was there and anything would be alright as long as their fates stayed intertwined, she would fight until her last breath with him by her side. 

“Thank God you’re here, we have to go, come on, the rest are in trouble.” 

Y/N urged him to get moving, tugging on the arm wrapped around her and trying to step forward. But the boy behind her didn’t seem to budge, frozen in his spot like a cold statue, roots keeping him planted into the ground. She felt him let out a shaky breath, the warm air blowing a few strands of her hair as she struggled to snap him out of his daze and run back to her family, their family.

“Haechan come on-” 

But her words were cut, just like Taeyong’s as the same arm that hugged her protectively in her safe heaven the night before, slipped up and tightened around her neck, cutting off her air supply. Her eyes widened, trying to comprehend what was happening right under her fingertips, the way the pieces of her world were falling apart, becoming dust in the wind with every second that passed. She struggled both physically and mentally. She tried to wrap her mind around the situation at hand, the way her vision was turning black and her will to keep going faded with it, the cruel way everything was ripped away from her in a mere second, the simple way her small world she worked so hard to gain along the years was vanishing into an endless abyss filled with bitter reminiscences.

Y/N struggled to grasp her Haechan’s sick betrayal.

[goldenworldsabound]

The Onsen Episode

This is technically for the “Misty” samhain selfship prompt which I KNOW is a stretch but let me have this lol. I want to say that this fic falls completely outside any semblance of canon. But I couldn’t resist writing this down once Set-chan and I discussed the idea :p

Word count: 1295

Content warning: mention of (but no description of) non-sexual nudity

All Auron had wanted was a relaxing break in the onsen. The rising steam of the hot water as it mixed with the brisk day made him feel at ease despite missing his usual shades and collar. It was peaceful.

Or at least, it would have been, had he not been stuck with Tidus and Wakka. The two couldn't seem to sit still in the hot water, pushing each other and generally making a nuisance of themselves. Kimahri chose not to partake in the hot water, sitting cross legged on a nearby rock, quietly observing.

Auron closed his eye, resting his arms on the edge of the pool. Perhaps he could block them out.

"Hey Auron!"

Auron groaned at Tidus' loud voice. He cracked his eye open, shooting daggers at Tidus, who was directly in front of him, with a grin on his face. A mischievous, boyish grin. Auron could already tell he wasn't going to like this. And there was Wakka beside him, a similar boyish expression on his face.

"Yes, Tidus?" Auron asked, trying to keep his tone even.

"So you and Wendy, huh..." Tidus said slyly, waggling his brows.

"You two seem close, ya?" Wakka asked. Both of them watched for Auron's reaction.

"...that is none of your concern." Auron replied. At least his face was already flushed from the hot water. He looked to the side, willing them to leave him alone.

"Don't be like that!" Tidus responded with a pout, crossing his arms. It became a smile soon enough. "It's obvious, so there's no point in hiding it!"

"I'm not being like anything." Auron shot back, looking clearly annoyed. "I'm not hiding anything."

"That's good ya, cause if you were trying to hide it you've been doing a terrible job." Wakka added.

"Hide. What." Auron asked through gritted teeth, despite himself.

"That you're in love with Wendy!" Tidus blurted out.

"I-" Auron flushed darker. He wasn't sure what he'd expected but he found himself at a loss. "I am not!"

"Dunno, seems like she's the only person you get a little tender and soft around, ya?" Wakka smirked. "It's real easy to see you know."

"You must be imagining things." Auron snapped, scowling. "I don't get tender or soft for anyone-"

"Kimahri thinks that you are in denial." Kimahri interjected, crossing his arms and staring directly at Auron, who looked back with barely masked surprise. "And Kimahri is certain that Wendy cares for you, too."

Everyone stared at Kimahri for a moment.

"If even Kimahri knows, it sounds like you're just gonna have to accept it, Auron." Tidus continued smugly, raising a thumbs up at Kimahri, who stared at him for a moment before looking away.

"..." Auron closed his eye, pressing his lips together into a thin line. He opened his eye again, and suddenly shifted to send a wave of water at Tidus and Wakka with his arm. The two boys yelped in surprise before the water hit them. "Just let me rest in peace." He grumbled, settling back into his spot on the side of the spring.

"Oh no, it is ON now, right Wakka?!" Tidus said, glancing at Wakka.

"It sure is!" Wakka agreed. They both looked at Auron, and began violently splashing water at him.

"I'm going to make sure you both regret that."

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

Meanwhile, in the other bath, Yuna, Lulu, Rikku, and Wendy were having an animated conversation about battle tactics.

"Wow, mechs are so cool! I'm so grateful the Al-Bhed didn't let our knowledge of them die out." Wendy said, smiling at Rikku.

"YEAH! It's too important to just let it go!" Rikku replied with a passionate punch to the air. "Magic is really cool and all, but I don't see why we can't have both."

"It's certainly something I hadn't questioned much, until this journey." Lulu added thoughtfully.

"I hadn't either. Wendy did her best to keep her secret mech projects away from us." Yuna said with a giggle.

"Aha, clearly not good enough, I didn't realize you'd seen any of them." Wendy laughed a little.

"You had secret mech projects?!" Rikku asked, slapping her hands onto her face, before flailing them in the air. "Tell me tell me!"

"They weren't very impressive! Most of them were failures. And out on Besaid I didn't have much access to tech anyway." Wendy pouted a bit. "I was just...curious if I could make...well, I tried to make something that would respond to magic and put it on the television. Like, the...the form of the energy, I guess. But I think that was rather ambitious for someone with my level of knowledge."

"Ooh, that sounds cool though!" Rikku's eyes were sparkling.

"I had no idea. Was there some application you had in mind?" Lulu asked.

Wendy shook her head. "No, not really. I guess I was curious if different types of magic showed up differently. Especially if my modifications to spells like Blizzaga actually made a difference in strength or structure or if it was...pointless?"

"Oh but Wendy, it's so clear that your modified spells are different than other peoples'!" Yuna chimed in. "Using Blizzaga to make a defensive move is...simply unheard of!"

"She's right." Lulu nodded in agreement.

"Well yeah, but with spells like Shell and Protect and even the Nul Element spells it seems...superfluous. Like, sure it lets me create somewhat equivalent effects without learning white magic, but I do know white magic, and I'm not sure if there would even really be a time savings..." Wendy sighed.

"Things can be cool without serving a purpose." Rikku added, shrugging. "Not everything has to be the most important thing ever."

"Ha, okay, fair." Wendy smiled. "Thanks, everyone." The group went quiet for a moment. It was then that they heard splashing and yelling coming from the other bath.

Lulu shook her head. "Why in Spira are they yelling?" She asked, looking up at the sky with disbelief and a hint of a scowl.

"Uh, I hope everything is okay over there...what if there's a fiend or something?" Yuna gasped, putting her hands over her mouth.

"I think they'd probably let us know. But they're big boys anyway they can handle it!" Rikku giggled. "Even if it'd look a little funny fighting naked."

Her remark seemed to shut up Wendy, who had been just about to speak. Her face flushed, as did Yuna's.

"Fighting...naked." Wendy mumbled, staring down at the water. She slid herself in deeper, as if to hide. She considered the image of muscled Auron, swinging that huge sword around while she could see every ripple of muscle across his body. The thought got her heart pounding. Oh, dear.

"That is...certainly an image." Yuna laughed, covering up her own response to the thought of seeing Tidus naked. "Are you thinking about Sir Auron, Wendy?" She asked, deflecting any attention she may have been about to receive.

"Huh?" Wendy blinked, suddenly aware of everyone smirking at her.

"Oh yeah! Are you, are you?" Rikku asked.

"That would be quite a sight, wouldn't it, Wendy?" Lulu piled on as well, smirking knowingly.

Wendy stammered in vain before snapping her mouth shut to collect her thoughts.

"It's not very nice to gang up on me." She squeaked out. "Auron is, Auron is just an old friend of mine." She was screaming internally as her voice cracked - she hardly sounded convincing. "B-but surely anyone could appreciate his, er, his physique, no?"

"Seems like you were stricken by the thought," Lulu pushed. She shrugged. "Just an observation."

"Yeah! Just saying!" Rikku added.

"You two would be a wonderful couple, though." Yuna said, going the extra mile.

"YUNA!" Wendy put her face in her hands. "Can we please discuss something else?!"

[kpop-zone]

Best Boy | Joy

Genre: Fluff overload

Wordcount: 1,138

Request: Joy goes on a walk with her dog. Her puppy escapes her and Joy searches for him. She finds Haetnim in the arms of a very pretty girl (the reader) and falls in love with her at first sight. Panicked baby gay Joy tries to get her number with a pick up line. A lot of fluff basically.

A/N: Thank you for requesting this! I had to smile while writing it :D

It was a beautiful spring afternoon. It was warm, birds were chirping, and the rays of the setting sun were beautifully playing between the leaves of the trees. Joy was content, closing her eyes for a while and walking dreamily through the park. When she turned around, however, to see what Haetnim was doing, the peace was over.

Her cute puppy was nowhere to be found.

Panicked she looked all around her and started yelling his name, but he didn’t come running as usual. Fear began creeping up inside of Joy. What if someone stole him or even worse, if he ran into a car. She started running around in the park, constantly yelling his name. But there was no trace of him. She rotated around her own axis, letting her gaze wander over the park, running her fingers through her hair in desperation.

Suddenly, she could make out a figure in the distance with something white in its arms. Immediately her feet started to carry her into this direction and when she saw that it was actually Haetnim in the arms of the stranger, she started running. Shortly before she reached her destiny, the person let Haetnim down on the ground, so they could meet halfway. Joy was so happy to have her puppy back that she totally forgot about the stranger, being completely focused on her dog,

“Oh my god, don’t ever scare me like this again.”

She said to Haetnim, kissing his head softly.

“I think he was as scared as you were.”

Your voice suddenly ripped her out of her excitement, and she remembered that she hadn’t even thanked her hero. She got to her feet, ready to promise you the world for finding her puppy.

“I can’t even...”

But her words got stuck in her throat once she met your eyes. You were smiling widely at her, endeared that Haetnim apparently had a really loving owner. Joy had never seen someone so beautiful before. The sun light hit your figure perfectly from behind, making it seem like you were glowing. But she was sure that you could probably even light up the dark, because your eyes were shining so brightly. Joy only realized that she had already been staring at you for quite a few seconds when you sheepishly turned your gaze to the floor.

“Um...”

Joy cleared her throat, trying to gain her composure again.

“Thank you for bringing my dog back to me.”

She said sincerely, because she really was extremely grateful.

“Oh no problem at all. I am happy that I was able to help.”

You answered, making her heart flutter even more. Cute and humble, she thought.

The both of you were standing there in awkward silence, because Joy was staring at you again, forgetting every word she had ever learned.

“Well, I guess I’m gonna leave then...”

You broke the silence after a while, dorkily gesturing to an indefinite direction with a small smile.

Joy’s eyes widened. Leave? You couldn’t leave now! She didn’t even know your name.

“Joy!”

She blurted out and you looked at her in confusion.

“That’s my name. Joy.”

She added more silently now, completely aware that she was acting absolutely weird right now. Her blushing made you giggle, but you extended your hand to her,

“Nice to meet you, Joy. I’m Y/N.”

You flashed her a smile and Joy was so mesmerized that she almost forgot to take your hand. But this time she caught herself in time, shaking your hand and lingering there maybe a little while longer than necessary.

When she pulled back, you both started to blush.

“So...um...do you like dogs?”

Joy was cursing herself right now. Do you like dogs? What question was that? But she just couldn’t think of anything else to start a conversation, her thoughts being too occupied by you.

“Yes, I love them!”

You answered excitedly, but then silence fell between the two of you again.

“So it really made my day to have met you, Joy. But I think, I’m going to head home now.”

You said with a small smile, giving her a wave and starting to walk backwards.

Oh no, she was not meeting a cute, polite and pretty girl for once and then letting the chance to get to know her pass.

“Y/N.”

She called your name, buying her time to think about anything to say.

“I think there is something wrong with my phone.”

She suddenly blurted out and you were taking a few steps back to her.

“What?”

You asked in confusion, not knowing if she wanted to borrow your phone now or why she was telling you this.

“There is something wrong with my phone, because it doesn’t have your number in it.”

As soon as the sentence left Joy’s mouth, she was facepalming herself internally. She didn’t know what had gotten into her. Wendy and she had competed in a contest of the worst pickup lines a few nights back and this was the only one that she remembered. You were just blankly staring at her, before you suddenly started laughing. Joy started to blush profoundly, looking to the floor until your laughter had died down.

“I...I’m really sorry. I don’t know what that was.”

She stuttered out too embarrassed to look at you.

Suddenly, however, a phone came into her sight and her eyes snapped up to look into yours.

“Well you can give me your number and then we can work on fixing the problem with your phone.”

You said with a smirk and Joy was absolutely speechless again. Wordlessly she put her number into your phone and gave it back to you.

“I called you, so now you have my number, too. I think your phone should work just fine now.”

Joy couldn’t believe that you actually considered going out with a dork like her. But your bright smile told another story.

“Can I see you again?”

Joy asked like in trance while staring into your eyes again.

“I hope so! Just text me when and where and I’ll be there.”

You exclaimed happily, giving her a kiss on her cheek, before turning around and making your own way with a last wave in her direction.

Joy was glued to the spot for another moment, before Haetnim suddenly started barking, fed up from standing around the whole time. A smile made its way to Joy’s face, when her brain finally decided to work again, and she realized that she had just gotten the number of the cutest girl in the world.

She crouched down to Haetnim, while laughing,

“You are the best boy, Haetnim! You’re going to get everything you want today.”

She praised her puppy, while ruffling his fur and already dreaming about the day, she would see you again.

[mystic-scripture]

Prolific Scene: Grief Assessments

Continuing off my post from here, I’m making my way through the ten week time lapse. I’m still not sure If I’ll do anyone as in depth as this one or her one for Spencer, but I do want to make an attempt at going through all the team. Nothing has really jumped at me for Rossi or Garcia (ironic given their family, but it’s explained in this) and I don’t think Wendy would have that much of a relationship with Ashley. Anyway, enough rambling, and on to the writing.

Wendy sat on Hotch’s couch, her knee bouncing and her arms crossed as she glanced at him across the coffee table. She knew she was reading as closed off, and that it would be recorded along with everything else. He was profiling her before they even spoke about the elephant in the bullpen so to speak. That was, in fact, the entire point of these mandatory grief assessments. Except, traditionally speaking, it was something the whole team underwent, and Strauss was the one to conduct them. 

So why she was sitting in front of her SSA, she didn’t know. If anything it strengthened her arguments that she’d been having with herself. She hadn’t forgotten about the suspicious behavior between him and JJ. So, while he was having his go at profiling her she was doing it right back, or at the very least attempting to. Unfortunately, he had been at this a lot longer than she had, and everything she learned was from him. It was part of the reason she was stubbornly waiting for him to initiate, trying to parse out who could stay silent longer. The answer came after she took a sip of the offered tea without breaking eye contact. 

“I suppose I’ll start with answering the question you're making a point not to ask.” He said, stating the obvious first. “Why am I doing this instead of Strauss?”

“That would be because I know that every member of this team, present company included, finds her to be an evil that isn’t necessary at this time. More accurately, she’s a dragon that we don’t bother unless we really have no other options.” She quipped, offering a shrug as she put the tea down and returned her arms to their crossed position. 

“That is,” he cleared his throat, trying to control the smile that tried to twitch at the corners of his mouth. “Certainly one way to put it.”

“Well I figured it was more diplomatic than ‘Heinous Bitch’.” She offered a half smile of her own. “Probably would look better on paper, too.”

She felt her smile grow as she earned one, paired with a small chuckle from her boss. She always felt a swell of bride in getting him to smile, aside from being Jack, it was rare to achieve it. She didn’t let it show though, raising an eyebrow as if to challenge him to contradict her. They both knew he wasn’t going to, the point to break the tension between them.

“Besides, given your need to control this team with everything you have…” She mused, swirling her mug slowly in one hand. “And how close to the vest the team plays it amongst each other, let alone any perceived outsiders; you were the logical solution.”

She watched the subtle twitch in his eye as she called him out for his alpha male personality, but he didn’t say anything. Instead, he focused on her, allowing his attention to shift ever so slightly where she could slip past his walls. It was a blend of Rossi and his teachings; lighten the mood then attack the subject’s pride. He nodded slowly, his eyes shifting up and down her face. His face was set into the neutral, yet stern expression. Lips and eyebrows were straight, and to the point, much like his speech patterns. From what she could tell, everything was annoyingly familiar. The pause broke as she sighed, deciding that getting to the point was best for both of them.

Wendy pulled her lips inward, biting the middle before puffing them out. As he refocused his gaze, she stated the truth. “Denial and Anger.”

“What?” 

He shook his head, as if he didn’t understand. She knew that he did, of course, it was just a ploy to make her comfortable enough to continue talking. Blue eyes met brown in annoyance, rolling slightly when they found nothing. 

“That’s where I am right now.” She clarified, unable to stop her hands from twisting with each other. “Five stages of grief and all that? I mean yes I’d agree that I’m depressed, as well, and there has been plenty of bargaining. Hell, I wouldn’t be lying if I sat here and said I still feel all of them aside from acceptance. But Denial and Anger...those two are the most prevalent.” 

“So what do you do?”He relaxed with her familiar babbling, but only slightly, his hand moving along the lined pad of paper in his lap. “How do you rationalize it?” 

“Well, Denial is self explanatory and common in cases like this.” She recited, her voice taking a clinical approach. 

Her body, however, betrayed her as she started picking at her fingernails. She’d only started the habit after the funeral, but it was oddly comforting to her. Whether or not Hotch noticed it, wasn’t shown in his face, but indicated in the new writing on his pad. She didn’t pause, pushing forward as she felt her knowledge push away her feelings, if only for a moment. 

“This can’t be happening, I can’t believe she’s gone…” She placed the tea back on the table, rotating in his direction. “This has to be some twisted nightmare, so on and so forth.” 

“But the anger?” Hotch pressed, his eyes not leaving his notes. “Where would you say that is currently placed?”

“I could lie to you and say that it’s hard to pinpoint.” She stated, picking her words carefully. She knew that in order to get something from him, she was going to need to give. However, her methods were all she had against him. “Doyle for his part in it, Emily herself for running away, Me and Derek...but that is mostly logic and the aforementioned bargaining talking more than my actual feelings.” 

“Why Derek?” His face softened with curiosity. “Was there a shortcoming that wasn’t mentioned in your reports, something that he did wrong?” 

“No, we played it straight, it’s nothing like that.” Wendy sighed,  standing up to pace, her hands weaving her thought process in front of her. “He did everything he was supposed to, he stayed and tried to stabilize her, clearing the room before stopping. It was me who messed up. I pushed forward leaving in a futile attempt of hubris. We didn’t both need to be there, and he had backup, so I ran down the hall, trying to track Doyle.”

“But he was gone,” She paused, her hands freezing along with her legs. “I hadn’t seen the extent of her injuries, he’d gotten to her so quickly. When I heard him call out for help, I doubled back so fast I’m surprised I was able to stay upright after. I’d foolishly thought she was fine, I thought-I don’t even know what I thought, all I could do was stand there and stare after calling for the medic.”

 She gulped, blinking so as not to focus on it. She’d refused to do a cognitive interview for this very reason. She hadn’t wanted to think about it, her mind compartmentalizing it behind a wall of facts. She hesitated, she froze, and she hated herself for it. Having let the truth out for the first time, she felt a knot twist in her gut. She hadn’t even told Spencer about that, and Derek told her not to mention it. They’d done the best they could and that was what mattered on paper. But paper didn’t keep the nightmares at bay, and paper didn’t twist into her everyday thoughts to shame her. 

A silence fell over the room as she slowly slumped back onto the couch, cradling the teacup in her hands. It wasn’t particularly hot anymore, her hands barely feeling the heat within, but it was something that kept her hands busy. She’d given up on her own hunt into Hotch’s mind, her thoughts circling around her confession. 

“Wendy…” She turned to meet her mentor’s gaze. “Are you in any way qualified to help with the sort of injuries Emily sustained? Do you have a medical degree?” 

“No.” She shook her head. “I’m the on field tech support.”

“If that’s what you need to hear, the yes.” He tilted his head as if to accept her self depreciation. “So, what could you have possibly done to help in that situation.” 

“Look, I know what you’re doing and it’s not going to work.” She mumbled, setting the tea down to level her gaze at him. “Intellectually, I get it, I shouldn’t blame myself, we did everything we could. Everything was done right.”

She grit her teeth watching the pen scratch across the paper, eyes barely leaving hers. 

“But with all due respect, Hotch you weren’t there. I deserve to feel like this, to let this guilt fill me. When it really mattered most,  I cared too much about the suspect than I did about my own teammate. I left her bleeding out on the floor while I chased a lost cause. I was too focused on my job to worry about my friend.” 

“I may not be as smart or have a steel trap of a mind like Reid does, but I still could have worked something out. Looking back there are several ways I could have helped. I should have known, something, anything that could help. But instead, I froze, and just stood there: useless. Sure I called for Medics, sure I told Derek not to pull the plank of wood she had sticking out of her stomach, but what did that to in the end?” 

“Morgan did the only thing you could have done.” Hotch raised his eyebrows at the look she gave him. “Think about it, he applied pressure, and was there for her until someone qualified showed up. You did the right thing.” 

“Again, logically, I am aware of that.” She sniffed, rubbing at her nose stubbornly. “But the stupid chemicals in my brain that control emotions that have a different idea.”

“Then let’s talk about how you’re coping with that.” The pad slid onto the coffee table, his entire focus on her now. While she didn’t meet his gaze, she could feel it, the usual intensity of it gone as concern came to the forefront. “How is this affecting you and Reid?”

“I can’t provide an answer for that.” Wendy stated, averting her gaze just as quickly as she met it.

“Can’t or Won’t?”

She bit her lip in thought, debating the answer. How could she tell him that it was both? She knew it would come up eventually; it was inevitable. Ever since the hospital, things had been strained between them, Wendy watching Spence slowly slip away from her. This was different than when Gideon left, different from when he was using. They’d been uncharacteristically distant and she didn’t know how to help him. Usually, she was instant on her presence, and letting him know she was there. This time though, this time that was only met with deflection and him pulling away. If she was to be honest, this was the part she really didn’t want to talk about.  

“Let’s just say things aren’t quite normal at the moment.” She stated, doing her best to keep her body language as neutral as possible. “And answering your question would require me to interact with him enough to form a diagnostic for you to interpret.” 

“So you haven’t seen each other? What about Garcia?” His brow furrowed, lips falling into a slight frown. “You’ve at least seen her and talked to her, have you?” 

“She’s my cousin, obviously I’ve seen her.” She snipped, offended by the implication that she was isolating herself on purpose. It made the guilt of trying to read his expression dissipate a little, especially when she recalled some microexpressions when she recounted the incident they were here about. But only a little

“And I’m not providing any profiling of her.” Rushed out of her lips, a little harsher than she intended. “She’s pretty easy to read as it is, you don’t need insider trading.” 

He let out a ‘hmm’ of interest, making her look up at him quizzically. “There’s no need, I’ve already assessed her. Though, she did the same thing, maybe with a little less hostility. She also knows that she can’t read you.” 

“Not for lack of trying on her part. She even tried to take me to a couple sessions of the group she runs.” Wendy rolled her eyes. “Trust me, it’s better for everyone involved that I not participate in group therapy scenarios.” 

She thought there was an ever so slight wince at her words. If it was in regards to how she reacted to Penelope, or if it was the use of ‘trust me’ she wasn’t sure. But there was no denying the pull to his lip, almost like she’d said something that disappointed him. She didn’t look at him head on, acknowledging her solidarity in the feeling. Nervous about what he wrote, she instead focused on him from the corner of her vision, playing with her mug again. 

A part of her thought it was an appropriately nice and thorough gesture on Hotch’s part; grabbing one of her own mugs. It showed his care in his team outside of the professional scope. Wendy felt a slight uptick in her pulse, a physical manifestation of anxiety, when he spent a few more seconds than previously on his notes. She kept quiet though, sipping at her drink as she kept a subtle gaze on him. When he was done, she tilted her head in tandem with him, ready to continue. 

“Maybe you don’t grieve in the same ways, but have you talked to her?” She shook her head slowly, causing him to push on. “But isn’t that what family’s for, comforting each other in times of loss? Why build up the walls?” 

“Because I know Penny, and she is going to push all her own stuff aside to focus on someone else.” Wendy placed her drink down with a sigh. “And that is a distraction to the team that we can’t afford. I also know that while she means well, when it comes to things like this, her comfort is ineffective. At least with me, anyway. She has enough raw emotion on her own without lumping my emotions and relationships into a loss that affects both of us.” 

“So there is something you’re avoiding telling me about your relationship?” He held up his hands, putting the pad down. “Saying this as a friend, not your supervisor, but that rings an opposing tune to your deflection earlier.” 

“Doesn’t necessarily make it an invitation to pry.” She defended, smiling despite her blunt tone. 

She couldn’t help it; it was challenging to be so guarded around Hotch. She hated herself for harboring these suspicions, knowing he has and will always put the team first. The man lost his wife long before she was killed by his enemy. However, his line of questioning was a little too pointed for her to ignore. Not that she was. She wasn’t crazy, she saw Hotch and JJ talking in the hospital, she saw the looks they shared at the funeral. It wasn’t her grasping at straws, it wasn’t her grief making up illusions in her mind, she was sure of it. She knew how to separate emotion from reality. Or so she thought, but seeing the culmination of his efforts to make her feel comfortable gave her doubts.

“While that’s a fair statement, there’s a part of you that wants to discuss it.” He said, pulling Wendy from her thoughts and back to the conversation at hand. “What’s on your mind?”

She ran her tongue over her teeth, fighting against his soothing tone. “Whether or not you asked him anything regarding our personal relationship.” 

“Deflect all you want,” He said, leaning back in his chair with a sigh. “But it’s your subconscious that keeps circling back to it.”

“Don’t know why, there isn’t much to tell.” She picked up the mug to take another sip of tea. “I already told you; we haven’t really seen each other much.” 

“But he’s your partner, in more ways than one.” Hotch reminded her, “Which makes that unusual for the pair of you, correct?” 

“We’ve worked three cases, in which you’ve been pairing me with Rossi or Morgan, each had our own parole consults, and I’ve been helping Penny narrow down cases to take on.” She deadpanned, “We may have lost a team member, but the killers didn’t slow down.”

“That never seemed to stop you two before.” He mused, raising an eyebrow. “You two have been here later than me sometimes when I know neither of you had particularly heavy work loads.”  

She paused, not willing to give into him with that. Yes, they were rather physical for a lot longer than they were together, but that wasn’t what he was asking. The emotions were something they still worked on day to day, and that was all she was going to discuss with her coworker. Unfortunately, her face warmed, and her eyes widened in surprise, giving him everything he needed anyway.

“Well, now that you’ve confirmed it, thanks by the way I owe Rosse twenty bucks.” He gave her a look where he had a half smile, but his eyes challenged her to call him on his bluff. She decided on laughing humorlessly, rolling her eyes. 

“Not that it’s any of your business, either of yours, there’s more to it than that.” She explained, tapping her foot a couple of times. “You know what, okay, I’ll admit it, I’m worried about him. Ever since the hospital and the funeral it feels like he’s pulling away from me even when he’s there, but that’s grief. I’m not going to force him on the issue when I know that JJ’s been helping him. When he needs me he knows where I am so that I can do my part, until then, I can’t really do or say anything else at the moment without sounding callous or jealous.” 

“What about, your needs?” Hotch said, sounding genuinely concerned for her. She avoided his gaze, not wanting the confirmation. “You suffered a loss as well, and we’ve spent this entire conversation circling it outside of your confession that you’re angry at yourself for something you couldn’t control. It hardly seems fair for you to help anyone without processing your own feelings.” 

 “I know, but that’s pain.” She stated, shrugging her shoulders slightly. “As the Dread Pirate Wesley said: ‘Life is pain. Anyone who says different is trying to sell you something.’”

“On that note, I think that’s where we’ll stop. For today, at the very least, I may call upon you again.” Hotch stood, moving to open the door for her. “Until then, know that my door is always open.” 

“Technically you just had it closed.” She teased, stretching upwards and taking her empty mug with her. “But thank you, I do appreciate it.” 

He gave her a quick smile, nodding to her as she made her exit. Wendy offered a half smile in return before starting the walk down to the bullpen. A part of her wanted to throw him a bone, tell him that maybe she was jealous. JJ was in the picture far longer than Wendy had, and she knew about his crush. Their similarities had always been a source of insecurity. That is until she paused on the stairs, to glance back at him. 

She doubted he was even aware of it, but she watched him, his figure moving ever so slightly as released whatever tension he was holding. If he was going to keep secrets from her, it was more than fair that she do the same.

Wendy Tag: @abbyarcxnes​ @raging-violets​ @perfectlystiles​ @curious-kittens-ocs​ @starcrossedjedis​ @foxesandmagic​ (Want to be added, hmu!)

[ifanfictionella]

Vampire falls chapter 2- the outer world is nothing

Mabel's sleep was not pleasant whether she was tossing and turning or just laying on her side with a wave of insomnia mixed with panic that messed with her head. Would she tell anyone about this? no , course not , she didn't want to have to worry anyone with her little problems.

Just meant that sleep was something she ended up going without sometimes.

When night finally broke and the blue sky had been swallowed by the dark there was no hope of Mabel catching up on any of the lost sleep she was missing out on. She could already hear motion underneath her meaning wendy was probably already up, maybe she hadn't slept either.

She looked to her side where her other two friends were still fast asleep, she smiled as she kicked the covers off of her body to the end of the bed- she probably didnt have to worry about being all to quiet around her friends as she had seen on multiple occasions that those two could sleep through a thunderstorm.

Her attic was pretty much the same as it had been when she had first ventured to the small town- all of the posters were gone but really that was the least of Mabel's issues at this current moment. They had left dippers pin board where it was with all of his stuff taken down, they left the board blank which defeated the purpose of the pin board but really what could they actually put there

She had been breathing pretty mangled all night and now it was just starting to calm itself down, her just laying down in bed allowed her mind to rest which is when she was vulnerable to the thoughts of what Gideon could do to her if he ever got his hands on her.

She didn't like to think about it for too long

She pushed the door open before closing it behind her and leaning on the closed door with her eyes squeezed shut. She took in a few sharp breaths as she leaned on the door attempting to get the thoughts out of her head- she just needed to think about something else that wasn't him

She shakes her head pushing away from the door making her way towards the stairs, on her way down she makes sure to hit all of the steps- it was a small thing she found herself doing to keep herself grounded in reality.

The red head came into view quickly, she was trying to get the tablet to actually work, with very little luck.

Mabel sighed, sitting down to Wendy "let me guess, we're getting cut off?" wendy looked away from the screen and at mabel, the concern flashed in her eyes but it quickly changed to something else

"Cutting our necks more like" she replied sighing before putting the tablet down, the screen was just white with nothing else on it before going pitch black "no signal, nothing works" she sighed leaning backwards resting her head on the chair looking up at the ceiling "we've lost all our tactics, we are now sitting ducks" she sighed again

"He was in my head last night again"

She hadn't wanted to contribute to the growing list of problems but she couldn't keep things from Wendy, especially this type of thing.

"Was it bad?"

Mabel shook her head "no worse than it normally is but.." she paused thinking over what she was going to say "You were right,he is getting more restless- and i think he's getting stronger with his hold"

Wendy looks at her before putting her hands on mabels "Let's not try to think about that,as long as he doesn't see you, he can't hurt you,ok"

Mabel sighed, about to nod before hearing creaking behind her.She quickly turns herself around to see her two friends, look disheveled as if they had just been woken up and behind them was tambry clutching her phone in her hands, close to her chest "Wendy, my phones not working, did they?" Tambry asked stepping past the other two to sit in front of Wendy and Mabel, the two didn't follow instead staying standing.

"Yeah they cut us off" Wendy said, taking her hands off of mabels and standing up to meet her friend, Mabel had thought they were going to connect hands or something, it seemed to be something Wendy did for comfort but instead the two just kind of stood there. Wendy looked down before looking up at the other girls "but that doesn't mean we don't still have one plan, it'll be shaky but it's our only way of living to see to real world"

Mabel stood up scrunching up her fists, she angled her expression hardening her face- she had no time to be acting all scared of the things that go bump in the night, especially a vampire who should have been burnt at the stake years ago

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Over the other side of town, the humans were all locked underground where high class vampires could come and take their pick.This was the northwest mansion- the basement which no one seemed to know was being hidden by gravity falls richest family, aside from the resistance these were the only humans left in town.

All except one, pacifica elise northwest,

The blonde was sold to the vampires by her parents for a free ticket out of the town to go live in europe, the price they had to pay was having their memories of the town and their daughter erased.

The teen was sat on the single bed in the box room she had been given.The wall was decorated with a bookshelf that spanned a full wall with a spare dress hanging off of a hook.

She had thought of using the ribbion belt of the dress to hang herself from the hook, at least she would finally be free of what Gideon wanted off her, that felt like a fate worse than death.

She was frail and weak, had her past self met her currently she would surely be ashamed of the girl who stood infront of her. The colour had completely drained from her face and her neck was brusied as if she had been through a war, which she might as well have.

The door slaming open makes her jump, the sound echos around the room and the hallway connected to her room, her eyes travel to the door finding the one responsible for the sound. Her eyes find the pale faced vampire prince, his red eyes send chills throughout her whole body. "Pacifica looks like we have something to talk about" the vampire said shutting the door behind him

He looks pissed off, something hasn't gone right

This supposed higher up person had disagreed with him on something

Out of habbit pacifica stands up and holds her hands behind her back, she was of course preparing herself for the very worse, a new bruise on her neck wasn't the only thing she was worrying about, gideon was cruel when he bit someone, scraping his fangs across a girls neck drawing extra blood that scared over into lines that never seemed to go away.

"Go ahead, ask me . I dont have a choice do i?" she responded with a tad bit of bite back that she used to be known for before everything went to complete chaos. "You'll bite me and in my haze you'll ask again"

He never changed

He stared at her intently and pacifica returned said stare watching as his eyes traveled down her neck, he seemed to be fixated on the pionts at which he had left those marks, those harsh red lines that are a stark contrast to the white patchy nature of the rest of her neck.

She didnt speak up, knowing exactly what could happen to her if she did actually inturput him while talking, learning everything the hard way around here basically made it easy for her to make assumptions about how things worked. "No your right, even if you refused i'd still get the information out of you" He stepped forward and adjusted his posture, stretching out his back to be taller, glaring down at her with that smirk he had now become infamous for.

"What do you want, you could probably see im very busy being a mindless blood prisoner" she replied motioning behind her where her bed was littered with books as well as a notebook where she had been writing random poems.

When she was in a proper state of mind, not living off the high of a vampire bite, she found herself rather bored. She had read every book in this room- none of them were at all interesting to her, one of them was gideons bloodline.

She had to come up with hobbies to keep herself occupied, one that she had started was poetry. There was a high pile of notebooks in the room with a pen or two so that's where most of her time went.

"Yes i can clearly see that" he responded glancing over at her books before looking at her again, he didn't look to impressed at her little joke, Gideon didn't seem to have a sense of humour, like at all. "You remember your boyfriend, dipper pines?" he asked finally getting onto his subject

At the mere mention of dipper being a romantic option to the girl pacifica was red in the face, certainly a feeling she hadn't felt in a long while. She spluttered before looking around the room for a few seconds before she had to look at him again "He never was my boyfriend gideon" she answered in a cold manor with folded arms and a half laid eyes. "Though right now, i'd rather be with him over you"

"Well never mind the specfics. Any idea where he might have run to? im in need of his" gideon paused giving pacifica time to consider the options of what gideon might want dipper for, it woulnt be blood, gideon had a preference for girls blood and seemly had an abundance here right now, her and all the other girl prisoners were a perfect example. Course she had no idea what actually happened to the male prisoners but still. "talents"

"ha like i believe some bull shit like that" she shouted suddenly before covering her mouth quickly once she had processed what had just come out of her mouth, she started shaking when she looked up at him again "im sorry for speaking out of turn"

Before her eyes gideon basically stepped infront of her, grabbed hold of her arms with an iron grip that felt like he was digging his nails right into her skin. Her eyes went wide and the gasp that escaped her mouth was quick and quiet but definitely still audible. He glared down at her with a wide smirk now, fangs basically exposed to her and his breath stunk of wine and blood, a smell that brought tears to the girls eyes "now normally id just bite you but i need you for something first" he said

As he said that pacifica felt control over her body slip away, she couldnt believe she was falling for this again, she always seemed to be weak after this.

"I'll ask you again where would dipper pines go? i need him for something" he said, pacificas body shifted slightly before going still staring right back at him but with hazed over eyes, her lips moved without sound comming out for a few seconds before she did finally say something to answer his question.

"I dont know him so well but i'd assume if he's not in the shack hes ran away" she said she sounded so monotone and unlike herself, gideon smirked before letting the compulsion down, pacifica gasped taking in a huge and deep breath comming back to reality "what did you make me agree to this time?" her voice was breathy now with slight panic behind it, she was clearly in one of those fragile states

Gideon only smirked in response before leaning down to her neck, he felt pacifica tense up feeling his breath near her neck and that caused a smirk to stretch right across his face. His fangs sprouted out of his gums and he proceeded to run them across a bare part of the girls the neck, she cried out in pain at the feeling in quick successive gasps. The actions continued for about 2 minutes before he decided to just finally bite the girl earning a pleasured moan to escape pacificas mouth that replaced the pained one's that had been there only a minute ago

The plan was set.

The girls were going to sneak out of the shack into what remained of the town,storm the old convenience store and raid it for supplies. The older girls stayed back at the shack trying every which way they knew to reestablish any sort of connection.

The night sky touches everything around them and the trees that all around the town have them practically caged in the town, the vampires had chosen the perfect town to take over- no one even really talked about gravity falls anyway

After nearly half an hour of walking the store finally comes into view "alright it's basically an in, grab and out" mabel said turning around and looking at the two of them, they nod at her before we start walking towards the store.

She stays infront of the two and walk towards the locked down, knife in hand she raises it to the lock and twist it inside the key hole before the old metal lock basically spilt in two allowing us access to the shop.

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

The shop is creepy, the abandoned isles and the light that turns on and off , Mabel could almost hear the children begging their parents to get them candy, she walks past a stand of smile dip which brings a smile to her face as she remembers one time when she 12,sneaking in with wendy and her friends.

She shook her head and continued towards where the pharmacy was.

She was not surprised to see the place trashed, she'd expect the vampires to crush anything Needed to live and yet they left some of the things , they like to pretend their smart but really they're pretty dumb. Climbing over broken shelves is considerably difficult all of sudden now that she was stuck in the stupid dress

She picks up all of the things in sight putting them straight in her bag before checking around her for potential threats to her safety.

She seemed safe.

Then something dug into her shoulders making her gasp loudly and turn around, face to face with Amelie

"mabel marira pines, you really should learn to sneak around properly, even then i'd still catch you" 

[raywritesthings]

What Have They Lost? 3/?

My Writing Fandom: Arrow, The Flash Characters: Laurel Lance, Oliver Queen, Connor Hawke, Ted Grant, Barry Allen, Iris West, Barbara Gordon, Wally West, Cisco Ramon, Caitlin Snow, Joe West Pairings: Barry Allen/Iris West, Laurel Lance/Oliver Queen, Pamela Isley/Harleen Quinzel Summary: “I can definitely tell you that there’s a way we’re going to bring [Laurel] back and she’s going to be alive and well. And Flashpoint might have a little bit to do with that.“ -Wendy Mericle AKA: The AU where that wasn’t a blatant lie, and Flashpoint has bigger repercussions for Barry’s friends and allies than he first realized. Notes: Much thanks to @colorofmymindposts for beta-ing as well as to the Lauriver discord server for helping with world-building and character histories. Anyone interested in joining the server should follow this link: https://discord.gg/gp9ANVr  *Also can be read on my AO3*

He hadn’t meant to fall asleep. Damn age getting to him.

As it was, Ted woke on his couch to the sound of a key trying to find the lock and muttered curses. He got to his feet just as Dinah pushed through the door and slammed it behind her, glancing back through the window.

“Alright, we expecting company?”

She looked at him. “Ted, it happened again.”

He sighed. “Okay.”

“I don’t know what it is,” she burst out. “I mean I do, but — I mean, why me, right? Babs is fine, Helena’s fine, and Pam—” she drew up short. “Well, nobody’s really sure what’s wrong with her. But at least it’s consistent.”

“Not getting worse?”

Dinah chewed her lip. “Harley says they’ve had to up her dosage again, or that rash keeps coming back. If that stupid explosion hadn’t knocked her back into that ivy…”

“Or hit you when you were holding the mic?”

“Yeah.” Dinah looked down and sighed. “I just need to, I don’t know, take a breather or something.”

“Stuff’s in your room.”

“Thanks, Ted.” She touched his shoulder distractedly as she made her way down the hall into the spare room she used whenever they stopped here. A few minutes later, he could hear sounds of a familiar melody on the guitar. Ted shook his head.

It wasn’t any wonder she’d gotten worked up and that this whatever-it-was had activated again. Dealing with that washed up excuse for a father, being back here…

He found his phone on the coffee table and went through the recent contacts. His call was picked up after a single ring.

“Hey, Ted.”

“Barbara. You got any time?”

“Yeah. Dad’s got another night shift. He won’t be back for hours.” He could hear fingers clacking away at a computer’s keys rather than a keyboard’s. “What’s up?”

“Dinah’s had another accident. She’s a bit shaken up.”

“Put her on. I’m switching over to video.”

Ted went down the hall and knocked on the door. It wasn’t completely shut, so it swung in a few inches.

“I tried to look for you in the dark water, but I got lost along the way,” Dinah was half-singing, half-saying under her breath. She really wasn’t giving that one up, was she?

“Hey, it’s Barbara.”

Dinah smiled up at him and set the guitar aside. “Thanks, Ted.”

She took the phone and set it up so she and Barbara could each see each other’s faces.

“So what happened?” Barbara never was one to mince words. Probably got it from the old commissioner.

“There were some creeps trying to force a woman into having their sick idea of fun. I didn’t like the look of it, so I said something.”

“And then screamed something, huh?”

“He was running at me. It was, I don’t know, instinct. Something like that.” Dinah dragged a hand back through her hair. “I thought for a second somebody else saw — but nobody was there. I must be getting paranoid.”

“Well, we do need to talk about what to do going forward, Dinah. This clearly isn’t something you can ignore or force to stop happening.”

“I know. But what do you want me to do, announce to the world I’m a metahuman? The Flash would just zip up onto the stage and have me in handcuffs,” Dinah remarked, the humor in her tone only barely masking contempt.

“Who says you have to tell people you’re the metahuman?” Ted asked. Dinah turned towards him and it was clear that Barbara was listening as well. “Nobody knows who the Flash is. That’s why he isn’t in prison.”

Dinah looked back at the phone screen. “What do you think, Babs? You’re the masked crusader expert.”

“Don’t remind me,” Barbara replied with a grimace. “But I do think you need to find a way to separate your identity from the woman who can knock down walls with her voice. If only so the latter can do some good.”

Dinah stood, her arms crossing over her chest. “You sound like dad. He was just reminding me tonight how I used to want to do something for the world with my life.”

“Well, don’t you?”

Ted held his breath, watching and waiting.

“I can barely do enough for myself,” Dinah said. “I’m not some hero, Babs, or even a guy in a bat suit with an ax to grind. I just got dealt a bad hand.”

“And why let that stop you?” Ted asked. “You climbed out of poverty with your music, Dinah. You got yourself out of the foster care system. You’d be free of the abuse if you’d cut the old man off.”

She scoffed.

“I know you feel you haven’t done what you set out to do,” he continued, placing his hands on her shoulders. “But don’t you think you might find out more about yourself if you look to the future instead of the past?”

“I can’t stop looking, Ted,” Dinah said, her eyes wide and pleading.

“And you won’t. But tell me, where did that little girl who snuck into my gym ‘cause she kept getting into scrapes go? Where’d that young lady who kicked guys in the head for harassing women in the crowd go?”

“You know I’d be out there if the answer had come back different,” Barbara offered.

Dinah scowled. “Who cares if Batman said no? You could still do it.”

“Maybe now that I have some money behind me,” Barbara allowed. “But I don’t have the kind of power that accelerator gave you, Dinah.”

“I could hurt someone,” Dinah stated. It was the fear first and foremost in her mind ever since they’d learned what she could do, after all the months of worrying that the accident had stolen her voice. Maybe it had in a way; it was making her hold herself back.

“With the right kind of training, I don’t think so,” Barbara countered. “But that’s gonna take practice, the same as all our other lessons.”

“So where am I supposed to practice? I don’t exactly have my own city lying around somewhere unless you two are surprising me this Christmas.”

“Well, you are home,” Barbara said.

Dinah raised an eyebrow. “Doesn’t Star already have a guy?”

Babs shrugged. “Just Green Arrow. Batman never took him that seriously. Thought he liked to make speeches more than get anything done.”

“Forgive me if I don’t hold Batman’s opinion that highly,” Dinah said with a cool tone, “considering he clearly doesn’t know talent when it knocks on his door.”

“Things might have been different,” Barbara said not for the first or probably the last time. “Just my dad being the GCPD liaison with him...it complicates things.”

“If I didn’t know better, I’d say that involved of a discussion with Batman would necessitate you knowing who you were talking to,” Ted remarked.

“Nope, not falling for it, Ted.”

He grinned. “Worth a shot. I really am starting to wonder if I should make the rounds and get these new boys into shape.”

“Yeah right,” Dinah said, some of her old bite back in her voice. “You like us too much to go over to that boys’ club.”

“All the more reason to get you out there, Dinah.”

She sighed, looking down at her guitar. “Just...let me think it over, okay?”

“Sure thing.” He retrieved his phone and headed for the door.

“It’s not that I don’t want to help,” Dinah said before he had quite left. “It just feels like every time I try...someone gets hurt.”

“That’s just the growing pains. But I think you’re ready to fly now, Dinah.”

She nodded once, and Ted shut the door behind him as he left.

“You think I might have pushed too hard?” He asked Barbara, who had stayed on the line.

“She doesn’t think she’s the right person to be a hero,” Barbara said. “But that’s exactly why she is.”

“Right you are, Babs. Think I’ll go air out the old gym here. We might be needing it soon. You feel like joining in?”

“Give me two weeks. I promised my father we’d spend some time together.” Barbara gestured around the empty apartment she currently sat in. “You can see how that’s going.”

“Well, you hang in there. We’re gonna get you your chance, too.”

“Thanks, Ted.”

He hung up and smiled to himself. Much as he liked his role with the band, he was looking forward to being a teacher again.

—-

Combing through the old family papers was easier said than done. Back when he’d first returned from the island, he had found out that they’d all been boxed up and stored in a warehouse. Walter had been meticulous about the organization of it all, but Oliver had just gotten out what was necessary to declare himself alive again and then looked for a new place to live. Even if the old Manor hadn’t been sold, he couldn’t have gone back there. Too many empty rooms.

Now, he was looking for something entirely unrelated to him, something among his mother’s things. He had to stop every now and then, smiling with watery eyes at her handwriting or an old photo. She’d kept every one of his school pictures, notating them on the back: Oliver, 6th grade.

God, why’d she let him have that hair?

Eventually, he came across an old lock box. Walter must not have touched it beyond moving it here, though he clearly hadn’t found the key.

Oliver looked up at the ceiling. “Sorry, mom.” He broke the lock.

Inside were a number of yellowing papers, some looked to be about financial matters while others were of a more personal nature.

There was also a checkbook tied to an account number Oliver didn’t recognize, nor was it from their family bank. It recorded monthly payments to one of the local orphanages, up until the last month before they all got on the Gambit.

Heart thumping in his ears, Oliver reached a birth certificate at the bottom of the stack of papers. Mia Dearden, was the name given to the child, born January 21st, 1995. She was ten years younger than him. He had a kid sister?

There was a photo paper-clipped to the back of a tiny baby sleeping in a nursery. It was irrational, maybe, but he felt a fierce longing for this tiny life he’d never known.

But he should have. How had his parents kept this from him?

The birth certificate was from a hospital whose name he didn’t recognize. A quick search on his phone showed that it was out of state. He tried to remember that year. Had his mother been away on a trip? Had she hidden the pregnancy that way? His father’s name wasn’t on the certificate. Did that mean…?

There was nothing to indicate if his father had known, or what he had thought if he had. But there had to be some reason Mia Dearden hadn’t been raised alongside him in their home. Never mind that his mother must have purposefully brought her back to the city and kept up payments that must have seen the orphanage well outfitted. At least until 2007.

She would have been twelve, or around that age, Oliver realized. What had happened to her after? Would the orphanage know? Had she found another family, someone to provide the love and care his parents had either been unwilling or unable to give?

“Dad?”

Oliver looked up from his desk, spotting Connor in the shadows by the door. It had gotten late, and the single lamp he had on was the only source of light in the room.

“Hey. Sorry. I got, uh, caught up with all this. You eat yet?”

“Did you?”

Fair enough question. Oliver set the birth certificate and the photo of his baby sister aside, standing up. “Okay, what do we want? Chicken? Chicken tacos? Think we still have some wraps.”

“We could order a pizza,” Connor suggested. “You look tired.”

Oliver looked down. His son was probably right; he’d been at this for three days now, only stopping for meals or to go out on patrol.

“Okay. You pick the toppings.”

They settled out in the main room to wait after Oliver called the order in. He looked Connor over during the silence. He had failed to be the father this boy should have had for the first several years of his life, and now he was finding that was an all too common mistake of his when it came to family. Even if he really had been a kid in the case of Mia Dearden.

“So,” Connor began, “what did you find out?”

Oliver grimaced. “Uncle Barry was right. Sort of, anyway.”

Connor’s eyes were wide, in excitement or worry he couldn’t tell. “So there is a Thea Queen?”

“I don’t know about her, but my mother had a daughter she never told me about. Her name’s Mia,” Oliver said, his voice cracking slightly on the name. He cleared his throat. “Mia Dearden. She has mom’s maiden name.”

“How come your mom never told you?”

“Well, if I had to guess...my parents were partners in the business sense. They built the old company together, as equals. But in their relationship, it wasn’t exactly like that.”

Connor nodded sagely. “She had an affair.”

“Seems that way. Not exactly the best example us Queens are setting for you. Don’t get any ideas,” Oliver quipped when Connor made a face. He was definitely glad that his son still seemed uninterested in the dating scene, and prayed it would last at least a little longer.

“What are you gonna do about Mia?”

That was a question he hadn’t let himself contemplate yet. “She’s a young woman now. Probably out on her own. I don’t know how happy she’d be to learn the truth now.”

“But you wanna meet her.”

It was remarkable how well the kid could read him.

“It’s hard not to wonder. How different would things have been, you know? The way Barry was talking...it sounded like he thought she’d be here.”

What would it have been like to return after those five years to family, to someone he knew had missed him and cared about him? Someone who could’ve been the listening ear he’d needed when Connor had first arrived, who could’ve helped him.

“You know, she’s not the only one Uncle Barry thought should be around.” Connor’s voice pulled him out of that wondering, and when he looked up his son was grinning. “How are you supposed to know the lead singer of one of the hottest bands in the country?”

Oliver shook his head. “That’s maybe the one thing hardest to buy.”

He’d been vaguely aware of his parents’ infidelity. The idea that one of them had had a child in that context was not unthinkable. But where would his path have met up with someone like Dinah?

Barry had said something about the team. “Laurel’s still — I mean, Dinah. Dinah’s still…”

Still what? Singing? Way out of Oliver’s league? Barry had been worried about Thea’s — or Mia’s — existence. Had something about Dinah not been right? And who was Laurel?

A knock at the door interrupted them, and Oliver got up to get their food and tip the delivery man. When he came back over to the couch, Connor held up his phone. It was displaying a social media page of some sort. He could never keep the sites straight.

“Think this could be our Mia Dearden?”

The profile picture was of a young woman with short brown hair and delicate features, almost like a pixie if he had to put a word to it. But her eyes...those were his mother’s eyes.

“Says she’s a bartender on 4th and Wells in the Glades,” Connor continued. “We could go check it out?”

A part of Oliver wanted to throw his coat on and take the elevator down to the lobby right now. But he looked down at Connor.

“Are you sure? I still feel like you and I are figuring out how we work together now, and this would be a lot. I don’t want you to feel like you’re being pushed aside in favor of the next surprise relative I have.”

Connor put his phone away. “I came to Starling to get to know my family. All of it. If this lady is your sister, then that makes her my aunt. I’ve never had one of those.”

Oliver felt himself smile. Trust his kid to look on the bright side.

“And anyway, it’s not like you’d just forget about me,” Connor joked half-heartedly. There was only the slightest hint of vulnerability there, but it was enough for Oliver to read.

He dropped a knee onto the couch and wrapped his son in a hug. “No. Never.”

They settled back in to enjoy their pizza, another night as father and son. Maybe in a week or so, they might have more company. Oliver eyed the armchair across from the couch, trying to imagine the small girl in the photo sitting there. Would she be happy to join them?

Barry had been right about his sister. Could he really be right again about Dinah? Oliver sent Connor to bed and went back to his office, shifting his mother’s old things aside to unearth his computer keyboard. He scrolled through articles and photos alike.

No one knew the woman’s full name. It was likely she came from Gotham, as the rest of her bandmates had. And Gotham was hardly his territory.

But the more he stared at her photo, he thought he should know her. Was it the old paranoia, the placebo effect resulting from Barry’s words, or was there something more than wishful thinking to his wondering if those lips had smiled up at him once before?

—-

Barry sat on the information he had about Dinah for a few days, nervously turning it over in his head. The trouble was, he didn’t really know who to go to.

If he alerted the police, they wouldn’t really be prepared for the kind of power that sonic scream held. If he went to Oliver and his team, he wasn’t sure what they would think. He’d already probably said way too much to Oliver in his distress.

Truthfully, Barry wasn’t sure what to make of this new version of his friend. Oliver wasn’t as different as some of the others had been in the Flashpoint timeline, but there seemed to be a subtle sort of change to him hard to pin down. And Barry just didn’t know if he should trust this Oliver to handle something like a Black Siren. If that was even what they were dealing with.

It was up to his team, as Iris kept nudging him into realizing over the week. They knew how to manage a metahuman, even if the weapon they’d used against Siren wouldn’t work against a Laurel of this Earth. But he needed Cisco and Caitlin’s help if he was going to brainstorm a backup.

With some trepidation, Barry entered the lab that afternoon to the now-familiar sounds of Laurel’s voice on the speakers. Since learning Barry had next to no knowledge of Birds of Prey, Cisco had taken it upon himself to play the band’s entire discography, along with anything and everything he could find with Dinah’s vocals attached. This particular song didn’t even sound like rock at all, come to think of it.

“Uh, dude?”

Cisco swiveled around in his chair and seemed to understand Barry’s confused point up towards the ceiling at the music.

“Oh, hey. Yeah, this was released a year or so after the accident, all studio-recorded. She did an album of the Great American songbook sort of stuff, sort of for the slower crowd, you know? People still went nuts over it.” Cisco’s sigh had a dreamy quality to it as he added, “She could sing the phone book.”

“Is everything alright, Barry?” Caitlin asked, watching him carefully. He must not have hidden his nerves as well as he hoped.

Joe came through into the cortex, followed by Wally, and he knew it was now or never. He was going to need his team behind him for this, however willing they were to be.

“Okay. Guys, um, I really hate to bring this up again, but we’ve got to talk about Flashpoint.”

Immediately Cisco’s shoulders hunched, and Caitlin grimaced. Joe shifted a bit on his feet. Wally alone seemed ready to talk.

“Alright, what about it?”

“It’s not really to do with anything here,” Barry was quick to reassure. “Not exactly. It’s...it’s the Arrow Team.”

The others looked at each other. “They’ve been affected? How?” Caitlin asked.

“Well,” Barry hesitated, looking to Iris for support. She gave him an encouraging nod. “It’s about Dinah from Birds of Prey,” he admitted.

“Oh no, what did you do to her?” Cisco immediately said.

“I — nothing! I mean, it’s confusing, but she is different because of the timeline changing, yeah,” Barry admitted. “I tracked her down the other night and saw her knock a guy down with sonic waves. From her mouth.”

There was a long beat of silence as the others digested that bit of news. As before, Cisco was first to react.

“Dinah from Birds of Prey is a meta? Barry, this is the best news you’ve given us in forever!”

“No, not great news. Because we’ve already met a Laurel — I mean Dinah — who was a meta, and she was evil. Does nobody remember Black Siren from Earth-2?” Barry looked around but received mostly quizzical looks from the group. He should’ve expected it; Cisco would’ve said something if the rockstar he idolized had a double he’d met.

“So, you’re worried that this timeline’s Dinah is also evil,” Joe surmised.

“I don’t know,” Barry admitted. “I mean, when I saw her use her powers, it was to help this other woman. But then what’s her goal long-term? I’ve seen her powers in action when Siren used them. They’re powerful.”

“Tell them about Laurel,” Iris spoke up unexpectedly. “The one you knew, Barry.”

“Who’s Laurel?” Caitlin asked. “And why do you keep correcting yourself by calling her Dinah?”

“Because that’s how I knew her before. How we all knew her. As Laurel.” Barry looked around the room, watching their intrigued but otherwise blank faces. Not for the first time, he wished somehow he had the power to show them what they had once lived along with him rather than just tell them. But he couldn’t.

“Dinah Laurel Lance was the ADA of Star City, and at night she was part of the Arrow Team as a vigilante called the Black Canary.”

“That’s her real name? Dinah Lance?” Wally asked.

“Uh, yeah.” Barry blinked, though it occurred to him a moment later that in this timeline he’d had yet to hear anyone else use her full name. Thea — or Mia — had even been surprised to learn who Laurel’s father was. What was Dinah’s story, really? What could’ve had such an effect on her past?

“She- she died last spring. Before Flashpoint. There was a sorcerer they were fighting, and he killed her. But now none of that ever happened.” Barry was aware he was pacing, but he couldn’t really stop himself. “She’s a singer instead of a lawyer, Oliver and the others don’t know her, Oliver’s son showed up a whole year early and is Connor—”

“Whoa, what’s wrong with my man Connor?” Cisco demanded.

“Nothing, just, you know, he’s different! Oliver had a whole different kid named William who apparently doesn’t exist anymore!”

“Oh, Barry,” Caitlin sighed, disapproval inlaid in every syllable.

“I know,” he ground out. “This is not good. I just don’t know how to fix it.”

“Don’t.”

The single word came from Cisco, and Barry blinked in surprise. “Don’t?”

“Yeah. Trying to ‘fix’ things was what caused you to mess everything up in the first place. So just live with it like the rest of us.” His friend stood and walked out of the cortex, likely heading for his workroom.

“Cisco’s right, Barry,” Caitlin added. “Your time travel never seems to put anything back fully the way it was. It’s better for you to just leave it alone.” She, too, turned away. He could tell by the look on Joe’s face that he was thinking something similar, even if he’d probably say it in a gentler way.

Barry looked to Iris. “We still need to be prepared to deal with- with Dinah if she’s more like her Earth-2 counterpart was.”

“Give the others some time, Bear,” was her advice. “You’ve just dumped a lot of information on them. It’s going to take some time to process.”

“We’ll be ready when it counts,” Wally added with a confidence Barry wished he felt. “And hey, maybe she is on our side.”

“Maybe.” Barry sunk down into Cisco’s abandoned chair and felt Iris walk up behind him, her hands massaging at his shoulders.

“We could start with some recon,” Wally was suggesting, using Joe as a sounding board just as much as he was using Barry and Iris. “Most of the band’s from Gotham.” Wally snapped his fingers. “Maybe Batman knows her!”

Barry’s head lifted sharply in bewilderment. “Bat-who?”

At the same time, Joe gave a sharp shake of the head. “Oh, hell no. Not that nut job.”

For someone extremely used to the feeling of deja vu, Barry seemed destined to find himself unaccountably lost.

[novaent]

** This episode was uploaded at 12PM on Nova Entertainment’s official YouTube channel.

The episode starts with a quick reminder of what has happened so far during the run of the show. As the last part before the grand final concert, it has the role of making sure everyone is up to par on what has happened so far. In one week, it’ll be time to reveal the results of this three-month long journey. The practice room where results were shared have one person left and the colorful vests are switched to match each trainee’s current ranking.

Minsoo, the rap coach, starts to speak. “This will be the third and last month of this project. To bring it to an end, we’ll make sure to do it properly.” He nods before looking over to Yonghwa, the one who keeps the explanation going. “SAFE and DANGER will work together for this mission, but you’ll be separated between boys and girls. Each group will receive two original songs which were never heard before. By the end of this week, you’ll have recorded it, by the end of the next one, you’ll have learned the choreographies to it. At the end of the month, a new concert will be held where you’ll get to perform these songs, and is where the final results will be revealed to both you and the public.”

The camera zooms into Solji, the one wearing the golden vest, and then it changes to her interview. “How are you feeling after the results of this last month?” They ask her. “I’m obviously very excited and thankful. Honestly, a little shocked as well. It was a real relief,” she chuckles, running a hand through her hair. “When you’re practicing, there’s always a part of you that wonders if you’re doing enough. And then when the performances happen, you question whether the performances you chose were what the judges wanted. Unlike some of the other contestants on the show, I’ve never gone through the MGAs or anything of that sort and so, it’s hard for me to gauge exactly what I should be doing. But I think that, despite all that, for Hyun Bin sajangnim to recognize my talents through all that is…” Solji swallows thickly. “I’m just really happy,” she nods her head.

Jungwoo is the one next, the only one who matches with her. “I’m honored, really. I never dreamed of getting MVP. Shouldn’t it be someone else? A better dancer?” Unlike Solji, the boy looks more worried than relieved. “I’m gonna do my best to live up to this title. I’ll work harder.” He promises firmly, nodding at the camera with conviction. The opening sequence plays soon after and lets people know this is the start of the last month. The camera shows an image from the top of the girls living room, and then it changes to the boys. While the images play on screen, the words on the bottom change from ‘Month 2, Week 4’ to ‘Month 3, Week 1’.

“Notice anything different about me?” Hosung asks jokingly while posing cutely with his hands around his face. “I made the safe team! Ta-da!” The camera zooms out, showing what he’s wearing. “I’m wearing the blue jersey today and for the rest of the month. I just want to take this month to thank Hyunbin CEO-nim for the chance to continue on this project and for believing in my hard work and potential. I will dedicate myself fully to improving myself and being the best version of Hosung there is.”

The setting is still the same, but the one in front of the camera is Yongsun. “Are you satisfied by the results from last month?” She looks up with a small smile curving her lips before she nods. “For my group, yes, I couldn’t be prouder or happier - both Kaeun and Meiqi made it to the next round… As for myself,” she thinks for a second. “I am happy for myself too of course, but as Hyun Bin said, I was the only one in my group that was mainly a vocalist so I would stand out naturally regardless…”

“Who are you the most excited to work with this month?” Yongsun looks up at him, her lips purse together, “Solji for sure, Chaeyoung, Wendy- but I’m especially happy that I get to work with Meiqi again.” The scene goes back to the practice room after results. Once they’re told they can go, the younger heads directly to Yongsun, giving her a hug. “We did it! Yongsunshine, we did it! We’re safe!” Yongsun hugs her back, both smiling. “Yes we did,” she nods. “You did so well, Meiqi-yah.” The scene returns to the woman in her interview. “She has grown on me a lot since the project began.”

The one next is another girl sporting the blue, Lee Kaeun. “...Trainees. We spend so much time in front of mirrors dancing and singing for a simple shot at debut. I’ve been here for two years, and yet there are so many others who had been here even longer. Four, five, six… some people spend a quarter of their lives preparing for something that they had no idea when it will start. It’s not easy. I hope that people would be able to see and understand that part. That the path to debut is simply not easy.”

It’s the inside of a practice room now and Wendy sits by herself, rehearsing some of her lines as she winks to one of the cameras. She lets out a loud laugh before trying to listen to the demo again, but the song on the background makes the scene a bit more sad than funny. The girl makes a few notes in her paper before it changes to her interview. “I hate not being good enough,” she sighs. “We’ve all worked hard, and it’s rather disheartening to see that sometimes, our effort isn’t enough.” The girl pauses for a moment before continuing. “Don’t get me wrong, I’m happy that Kaeun unni, Yongsun unni, and Meiqi all made it to safety. It’s just that… why to be at the expense of Sunmi unni, Hyuna unni, and me? Why can’t we all be safe” Wendy sighs, and while she speaks, a few more scenes of her in the practice room play for the public to see.

“I’ve never reacted to defeat very well, especially when I know this is my last chance,” she admits. “I can’t afford to make any more mistakes. We all know that Nova won’t debut another girl group after the end of this project after a long time, yes? If I don’t debut now, then when? How many more years would I have to wait if I don’t make it now? I don’t want to be the one left behind.” After she pauses, they ask her a question: “Is your heart still in the competition?” Wendy replies without much thinking: “Yes.”

Huidong walks closer to Wendy who’s taking notes on the song assigned to her. “I don’t think that color vest is right on you. You should be in a blue one.” She turns to him with a smile. “I should say the same for you, oppa. Red isn’t your color either.” He returns her smile but his expression isn’t exactly joyful. The man has one hand in his pocket, the other holding his own sheet of lyrics. “I don’t think they were right about your zone, but they were right about mine… They said I’d been too busy helping the other boys and forgotten about myself… There was some truth to that.” Wendy gives him a pout. “I don’t think you should be in the zone you’re given either.”

“No offense to the other boys, but had this been another type of show, you’d have been my one-pick because of your leadership, oppa. You did what you could, and I’m sure the boys are thankful for that.”

The scene shifts back to an interview, this time with an excited boy in blue. “Congratulations on being safe.” Haknyeon smiles. “Thank you,” he replies. “How do you feel now that you’re in the safe zone?” The boy looks down at the blue vest and holds onto it, as though desperate. “I don’t know if you could call it safe,” he says. “I’m still scared… I’ve been in danger once and I can’t mess up anymore.” There’s a pause before he continues. “It feels nice, to be moved up from danger to safe, but at the same time, the responsibility is all the same. I have to do well and prove it to everyone. To the viewers, the other trainees, sajangnim, myself.” Haknyeon keeps holding onto his vest. “Huidong hyung and Hugo hyung are in the DANGER zone. Huidong hyung…” His voice trails off. “He’s so selfless and he’s very talented. If Huidong hyung’s in DANGER zone… then nobody is really safe.”

The cameras show Sunmi walking down one of the hallways leading to the practice rooms. She stops by one of the doors and the screen shows who is inside. “Hey, I’m just about to head up. Want to come with?” She keeps herself by the doorway, not walking in. “Our beds are calling us.” Hyuna looks over to the other. “Oh… I think I’ll stay… sleep can wait half an hour.” She laughs, but it comes out dry as she looks back at the other trainee.

Sunmi gives in and walks inside. “Are you worried over your lines?” She asks. “Have you taken a break at least?” Hyuna shakes her head. “It’s not that. Lines aren’t a problem.” The woman runs a hand through her hair. “I have, probably more than I should.” She laughs. “Hey. You don’t have to answer me this if you don’t want to, I’m… I’m probably being too nosy by asking this either way. What’s been keeping you motivated for so long?”

There’s a bit of silence before she replies. “My mother,” she replies simply. “She was my initial drive. For a while, she was my sole reason but I learned that aside from that, I really loved performing. Not only did I want to honor her memory - may she rest in piece - but I love being on stage. It’s just too bad I haven’t been able to in a couple of years.” She snorts and shakes her head. “But now… I’m just stubborn. I’m going to do what it takes to debut even if that means setting my sights elsewhere.”

“How do you feel about your placement this month?” They ask her, and the camera slowly zooms into Sunmi’s face who carries an expression rather somber. “How do you feel?” They have to ask her again before she takes a short intake of breath. “Numb… I feel numb. I’m at the point where… I can’t sit here and get mad. I’m at the end of my line. I’ve been training for five and a half years total. The last four have been with Nova. If I can’t do something here then this is the end of my line with Nova. I cannot do more in this company and I cannot make anyone change their mind.” She shrugs, but her eyes start to sparkle with tears. “So I’m numb. Because I’m not going to argue with the decision. I’m going to accept it and I’m going to deal with it. I have no other choice now.” The woman doesn’t break down into tears, but the tears do start slowly falling down her face. “I’m so proud of the others though. They’ve really stepped up. I think they needed this environment to excel. Some people get too comfortable when it’s normal training. An environment like this pushes everyone to do better. I’m glad it’s working for other people.”

Sitting on the chair next is Chaeyoung. “I have mixed emotions over the results. I’m forever grateful and happy that I was in the safe group once again, but seeing someone leave and change teams is conflicting to me?” She tilts her head. “To me, I see eliminations as something that I dread seeing especially that so much is on stake for this. We have trainees from all backgrounds and experiences that if they were eliminated from this project, it feels like as if a huge part of their dream was crushed, you know? It’s why whenever these eliminations and comparisons happen, I wished it didn’t but sometimes we need this to become better versions of ourselves.” Her voice grows softer after when she brings up another point. “As for the current results, I find it quite sad seeing three people in our previous group move to the DANGER team. I know they worked hard and want it so much, but…” there’s a brief pause before she smiles. “I know they’ll do everything they can to go back to the safe team!”

Then it’s back to a practice room. Jungwoo smoothes the paper out in front of him which most likely contains the lyrics to the original songs. “You can’t breathe here.” He points to a spot in the lyrics and looks over to the other boy. “It’s in the middle of a phrase, it’s like if you-” he stops, takes a dramatic gasp of breath, and then continues, “stopped talking to breathe in the middle of a sentence.” Ricky doesn’t look too happy about this sitting beside him. “But I didn’t-” he stops for a moment to think of his words before continuing. “I didn’t do it on purpose…”

“That’s okay!” Jungwoo replies. “I didn’t think it was on purpose, but we gotta think about it on purpose sometimes so it doesn’t happen when it actually counts!” He nods. “Can I hear it again? I wanna listen to your vowels. I’ve got the worst habits when it comes to them.” Ricky glances up apprehensively, swallows, and then does his best with the lines he’s given. “Good!” His current teacher congratulates him. “Much better. Just open your mouth a little more, that’s my own number one mistake.”

The following scene is of Jungwoo in his interview sporting the gold vest. “It’s weird,” he says. “Ricky was my coach on he MGAs. He’s been helping me learn dances all through this project, but I became the teacher this week! It’s a little strange, right? It was fun, though. I like working with him. I hope we’ll continue to work together.”

It’s the end of the week and the trainees slowly go one by one inside the recording studio. Not to spoil much of the songs, the editing team made sure to only show the pieces that were already aired before, playing it as background for each person who appeared. With one week done, it meant less than a month to go.

The camera shows an image from the top of the boys living room, and then it changes to the girls. While the images play on screen, the words on the bottom change from ‘Month 3, Week 1’ to ‘Month 3, Week 2’.

A camera spots Solji in one of the hallways and a smaller figure right behind her. They pat her on the shoulder, and when the woman turns around, she finds Chaeyoung. “Happy Birthday! I hope I still kept the tradition and was the first person that greeted you.” The younger girl smiles, followed by laughter. “Oh my gosh, that’s today?” Solji asks with eyes opened wide. “You are definitely the first person that greeted me,” she says. Chaeyoung offers her a card as a birthday gift. The camera zooms in to show in better detail the drawings of a birthday cake and colorful balloons. “I’ll be going to the practice room first so come back soon!” The younger rushes inside a room, clearly embarrassed. “Don’t leave me all alone with the cameras!”

Solji appears in her interview instead. “How do you feel about your progress?” They ask her. “I feel pretty good,” she nods her head. “Similarly, I think it’s really cool we’re getting this opportunity to make these songs our own. That’s probably one of the best experiences that I’ve had here so far. Just getting to see how the song is really made from start to finish.” Chaeyoung appears right after her. “When we were introduced to the choreography, I couldn’t help but feel a sense of excitement? I felt as if I was an idol because I started thinking about how other idols feel when they’re given a song and choreography to something that would be their debut or comeback song. There is the initial reaction as to whether it is something that the individual likes, but underneath that is this sense of pride knowing that it’s yours. Does it make sense?” The girl purses her lips.

“It’s the second week of the month,” Haknyeon says. “It’s starting to feel more and more unreal but… still real at the same time.” He takes a brief pause. “Everything that sajangmin has said, I’ve heard and I’m trying to improve. I know… I’m aware that I’m lacking in many areas, especially in comparison to the other sunbaes here, but I’m thankful for the feedback he’s given me. I want to be more than eye catching, I want to be memorable. That’s what I want to be.”

The boy sits by the mirror and the camera slowly moves to show Jungwoo dancing in front of him. The scene breaks for a second to show a flashback of the previews episode back in the first month. It was a situation similar to this, except Haknyeon wasn’t very happy. When it comes back to the present, Jungwoo had just finished his routine. “Hyung,” the younger starts. “How do you think you did?” The boy asks but there’s already a smile on his lips.

Jungwoo’s face twists up. “I could be sharper. I was late on a beat in the middle part. Um… floppy hands?” He rests his hands on his hips, pushing his should back. “Was it okay? I mean, I know it could be better, but better than last time, yeah?” There’s a slight smile on his face, and Haknyeon gets ready to answer him. “Your hands weren’t floppy,” he says. “They weren’t the best, but they weren’t floppy.” The younger boy gives the other a thumbs up. “You did much better than last time. I could tell you were trying to make your moves look sharper and nicer. They were smoother this time, hyung,” he explains. “Be confident of yourself, hyung. You did good.” Jungwoo’s eyes immediately light up. “I’ll try,” he grins and slaps his hands against his friend’s for a high-five. “Whew, I’m glad to get a good review from you. You’re a tough judge, Joo Haknyeon!”

The following scene is Jungwoo’s interview. “I’m better.” He says. “I mean, skill-wise. I’ve improved a lot in the last several weeks, maybe more than I thought I could. I mean, we still have to practice a lott, all of us. We can’t afford to get lazy now. These songs we’re doing… they’re original to us. No one can perform them better than we do. And that’s exciting and terrifying.” There’s a quiet pause. “Like… we have to do it the best. There’s no other option. Regardless of who wins or loses, we’re the next generation of Nova performers. This is our first chance to show the public that we can hold our own, with our own concepts and stuff. If it’s not good, then we’re not good.”

Yongsun appears next. “How do you like the choreo for the original songs?” They ask her. “I think they are rather nice, especially for someone like me who is known to struggle with dancing.” She smiles. “If you told me a year ago I’d be where I am today- I wouldn’t believe you.” She nods her head. “I find the growth I’ve done within dance pretty amazing. Considering where I started. Even if I don’t debut, I’m grateful for this experience… but I’d like to debut.”

They show an empty practice room except for Sunmi who sits tiredly on the floor. When she looks up, the camera slowly focuses on what she’s looking: the clock on the wall saying it’s 1 in the morning. “My initial plan was to just work on songs nothing more,” she says to the camera. “I was going to keep practicing singing and try to do what I can to sound good but… I don’t want to strain my voice.” The woman pulls her knees to her chest, making the bruises on her leg visible. “I’m really skinny so I bruise easily in some places.” She points at her knees. “I dance really hard even when practicing so if I’m doing drops and stuff repeatedly as I practice, I get bruises. I’ll be fine! It doesn’t hurt or anything…”

“I’ve been trying to do what CEO Hyun Bin said,” it’s Wendy’s turn this time for an interview, “and trying to stand out even when I don’t sing. But I’m not exactly sure how I am supposed to do that. I keep practicing even beyond what people think my limits are. But then again, I’m not sure what I’m doing wrong and doing right. Does it mean I have to dance better? Fix my stage presence? Do I have to be prettier?”

Most girls appear to be eating, some others resting, when Sunmi approaches Wendy and tells her that they need to talk. When the older walks off, the screen shows scenes of Wendy turning on her sleep at night and then a sped up version of her time spent in the practice rooms at night. They zoom in on the table where the other girls were eating as she only takes a sip of her tea before standing up. When she makes her way inside one of the bedrooms, she finds Sunmi standing with her arms crossed, waiting for her. “I’m sorry unni,” she says with her head down. “I promise I’ll work harder to improve faster.”

“That is not what I called you in here about,” Sunmi snaps and Wendy’s eyes grow wide. “You’ve been working too much, Seungwan. When is the last time you slept? Or even eaten? What are you hoping to achieve by doing this?” The younger appears surprised. “Working too much? I think it was around the day before the recording, but even then it was pretty hard to sleep. Eating is hard, since I’ve been throwing up everything that I thought I was sick,” she explains. “Every time I close my eyes or just stop thinking of our lyrics and choreography, I hear CEO Hyun Bin’s voice in my head telling me he’ll kick me out of the company as soon as the project is over.” The girl shakes her head. “I don’t know what I’ll do with my life if that happens. I can’t let another dream I worked hard to die again.”

Sunmi sighs, closing her eyes. “I understand. I know this is hard but you cannot just stop taking care of you because of this.” Her jaw clenches. “You have to take care of yourself! That doesn’t stop because you did bad one month. You’re still here. The facts are that you are still in the dorms. BamBam, who is already eliminated, wasn’t kicked out of the company. You won’t be kicked out either. You have to pay attention to the actuality of the situation and stop giving into the things your brain manifests because you’re scared.” Sunmi gesture towards the door as she yells. “Practicing and not taking care of your body is only going to lead you to fainting. You’re ruining yourself to the ground. If you’re so scared of being kicked out then how good are your chances when you’re so malnourished you can’t even move? Huh? Tell me!” The woman runs a hand through her hair. “This will accomplish nothing but close the coffin in your dream.”

The following scene is back to Wendy’s interview. “I heard that you had an altercation with another trainee. May I ask you to tell us about it?” And she replies. “I wouldn’t call it an altercation,” she says with a soft sigh. “Sunmi unni was just reminding me to take care of myself. Apparently, my method of coping with failure wasn’t very healthy and I hadn’t realized it,” Wendy admits. “I haven’t been able to sleep at all. It’s been difficult.” She takes a breath before continuing. “I’m competitive by nature, and I’d rather die knowing I tried everything rather than live to see myself fail. I’m thankful to her for that talk. I’m now actively trying to be better.” She takes a deep breath. “I want to be better…”

They show scenes of the girls practicing together, an emotional song playing in the background. It’s followed by the boys doing the same thing, and then the screen freezes as if it’s the end of a drama. From this point on, there was only one more week to go.

EPISODE SEVEN TEASER: Scenes from their first mini-concert appear on the screen, fans cheering for the contestants. For their final episode, the trainees will go back on the stage to perform four different original songs. The final results will finally be revealed. Who will debut? Who will be eliminated? It’s their last chance to show what they’re worth. Do you think you’re favorite trainee will make it? Tune in next week for the final episode to find out.

[darkspellmaster]

Some Thoughts Regarding the Disney Princesses and why they are all Strong characters that deserve praise.

Recently was reading an article on the Mary Sue about how Kira Knightly doesn’t let her daughter watch certain Disney films, and sure that’s her right as a parent. However, one thing that I noticed with the article is that the write seemed to be taking a lot of talking points that don’t make any sense as to why certain Disney films are less than others regarding their female leads, and I’m kind of tired of it.

Like, fine, if you don’t like a film because you disagree with the message, or the animation, or you don’t like the voice actress or actor of the character, or you hate the music (but why would you because this is some Broadway level music here), that’s totally fine, that’s on you. It’s your feelings towards a work and that’s cool, I’m not out here to tell you that your reason for disliking something regarding a actual flaw in the script or the acting or the animation isn’t valid.

What’s getting to me as a writer and a creator however is this sense that some of the older princesses and films are being dissed for a variety of flawed reasoning, and that’s what I hope to dispel with this post. I’m not going to change your mind if you’re set on believing in certain things, but I want to clear up some talking points that I think people are, by hearing them over and over again, misinterpreting in regard to the actual films and that people aren’t critically thinking when they view the movie.

Every Disney film has a surface level view and several deeper meanings in regard to the story, and that’s kind of what I want to clear up here. There’s been so much put on the characters in the stories through the princess line that many are now missing the key elements in the actual film that should be taken away with the character and their active, in most cases, approach to things.

So let’s Start with Snow White. Why? Because she’s the oldest character, the one that get’s the least notice by most people, and she is one of my favorites.

So what do people say about her regarding how “Bad” she is as a character:

She’s looking for her prince to come and save her.

She’s doing what her stepmother tells her to do.

She’s unable to save herself and is easily tricked.

She’s easily scared and too weak to do much on her own.

She’s a homemaker rather than a fighter.

She’s basically useless in her own story.

So I want to take each of these point by point and counter them with facts.

First let’s start out with those. Snow is 14  years old, and probably, other than princess Eilonwy, is the youngest princess in the group (though I think Alice is younger than her by two years and Wendy is a year younger), and lost her father not that long ago, as the story opening states. We know that her Stepmother is being cruel to her and treating her badly, but we also know that even in these circumstances she’s hopeful. We see her trying to make her work go faster by singing, and that this is an important point in her character. If you watch it and listen to the story, you’ll notice that the “Whistle While you work” song indicates that singing is clearly something she did a lot of to make it easier for her to deal with the burden that her Stepmother is treating her like crap and forcing her to work as a scullery maid for the castle.

Now that is another important factor. The Queen doesn’t give Snow an easy task, in fact she is given one of the WORST jobs in the entire castle.

From Wikipedia:

The scullery maid reported (through the kitchen maid) to the cook or chef. Along with the junior kitchen-maid, the scullery maid did not eat at the communal servants' dining hall table, but in the kitchen in order to keep an eye on the food that was still cooking.[3]

Duties of the scullery maid included the most physical and demanding tasks in the kitchen[1] such as cleaning and scouring the floor, stoves, sinks, pots, and dishes. After scouring the plates in the scullery, she would leave them on racks to dry. The scullery maid also assisted in cleaning vegetables, plucking fowl, and scaling fish.

The scullery maid provided hot water for the scullery, kitchen tasks, and household. In addition to her other tasks, the scullery maid had to keep the scullery clean by clearing away meat and vegetable garbage, scrubbing work tables, and swilling the floors. The water was carried through a drain outside the house.[6] Scullery maids would rarely have handled fine china, stemware, crystal or plate silver; these are cleaned by housemaids and footmen. Before the advent of central heating systems, scullery maids were required to light the fires on the kitchen stove and supply hot water for tea and washing. She performed these tasks in the morning before the cook came down to the kitchens.[7]

In a household with no between maid, the scullery maid may also have waited on staff in the Servants' hall, although this may have been assigned to another maid or a junior footman. In the days before the indoor water closet she may have been required to empty and clean the servants' chamber pots as well.[8]

So basically Snow White was not only doing the most physically demanding jobs in the kitchen, helping cook and clean, start fires in the kitchen, and probably other task, she also more than likely had to clean the Queen’s bath water, and chamber pots. Yeah this was not fun or enjoyable work.

Later we see Snow dealing with the Huntsman, and her reaction to nearly being killed by him. Some may say she’s being foolish in her actions here, but it does show that while she was scared she also can show mercy, understanding and forgiveness. Something that a lot of characters don’t often show as much anymore in regard to showing strength of character.  And even when she learns the truth, that her own Stepmother is trying to kill her, her first reaction is shock, showing that even though her Stepmother is treating her horribly, she still loves her enough to believe that the woman cares about her and wouldn’t harm her. It’s a total surprise to her that the woman that probably helped raise her until she was 14 would even contemplate this sort of action.

Even when we’re dealing with the Dwarves we see a strong character in her as, yes one could say she’s being motherly. But as –pretty much – a child who is still fairly young (as is her Prince –who goes by three names depending on who you ask: Ferdinand, Florian, or Fredrick) she’s going to imitate what she saw the cook do to get the other servants to come and eat dinner. Yet there is a confidence there that she has which shows that she can be as commanding as some of the newer Princesses, and she’s not a docile girl as she’s willing to enjoy herself even though she’s just been through hell. She doesn’t let the fear of her Stepmother coming for her weigh her down and keeps going even if she knows there’s a chance she may be in danger. On top of that you have her moment with the witch.

A lot of people think that she’s being an idiot here, but it’s in her nature to not judge people by her looks. Again, she’s been working as a maid in the castle, so she’s probably seen a lot of people who are less than good looking. Snow White, while making a mistake here, also shows you shouldn’t judge a book by it’s cover, giving the woman a chance to prove herself. If this had been any other old woman, the message there would have been clear as a bell that looks shouldn’t equate if someone was good or wicked, and we know that the Queen herself is beautiful also that the Dwarves are not the most good looking of people in the movie, so the message still comes across.

Lastly we have her moment at the end when she wakes up. Who does she look to first, not the Prince but rather her friends, whom she thinks woke her up from a sleep as they did when they first met, and then she sees the Prince and is happy to see him. Her first notion getting up is the men that protected her and became her hope over the prince but she was still happy to see him moments later. Then, given the Prince clearly knows the sort of person she is, goes about allowing her to say goodbye to her friends one by one, lifting them up for her to again show her compassion and grace and courage. She was literally dead, and now, revived she still goes about making sure her friends know she’s okay and makes sure that they know she cares for them by kissing them on their heads showing that she will remember them and probably will see them again.

So back to the points above.

She’s looking for her prince to come and save her.

Nowhere in the movie does she say she is looking for a prince to come save her. Never once in any song does she even remotely indicate that that is what she wants.

Her first song “The wishing well song” talks about how she is wishing for the one she loves to find her today. Now the implication for most people is that she doesn’t know who the Prince is but in the song the lyrics indicate that she may have met him before (possibly when they were young children).

“I’m wishing, for the one I love, to find me, today. I’m hoping and I’m thinking of the nice things, he’ll say.”

This isn’t saying at all that she wants to be saved or taken away. It’s simply saying at this point that she would like to meet with the person she has feelings for to see her again and say kind things to her. As we know, by this point, the woman that is supposed to be treating her right isn’t treating Snow White very nicely or kindly. So of course she would be hoping to meet with the last person that treated her kindly and hoping to hear nice and sweet words as she’s living in a place where all she probably hears is comments by her own Stepmother that are more than likely insults done to bring her down more so that she loses her beauty.

Later in the story when she is running away as per the request of the huntsman, she never once calls out for help, she does all the running herself. She doesn’t even break down until she’s so lost in the forest that she doesn’t know where she’s at, and can anyone blame her for being freaked out by those trees? And when she does find the home of the “children” her first thought isn’t of the prince, it’s of “How can I make it so that they’ll let me stay so that I can hid from the Queen until I can figure out what to do.”

The only time she thinks at all of the prince is when the Dwarves ask her to tell a story. This is the only time we get her talking about the Prince at all since the beginning of the story. She explains, in the song, that Someday, not now or tomorrow, but someday he’ll find her and take her back to his home where she can be safe away from her Stepmother.

This is actually important if you know anything at all about history regarding kingdoms. When a woman was married into a royal family she became part of that family and thus the royal court of that new kingdom was there to protect her. In this case, Snow is hoping that by going with the Prince (who is not king yet) she can plead her case to his family, the same way she did with the Dwarves, and can seek asylum with them so that the Queen can’t hurt her because then that would be a declaration of war against the other Kingdom.

She is not at all being an idiot here. Hell she didn’t even know the apple was going to put her into a sleeping death and had no idea the prince would come and kiss her. She was planning on staying with the Dwarves for however long it took before she could, probably with their help, find a way to seek refuge in another kingdom, or until the Queen died or whatever, and then come back to her castle where she could rule fairly and not live in fear.

She’s doing what her stepmother tells her to do.

Again she is a Scullery Maid, and not by choice. The Queen places her in this post in hopes that all the work and wearing the rags and such would break her spirit and end up causing her to become ugly. Snow is doing what she can to survive this abuse and neglect from the woman who’s supposed to care for her. Of course she does what she’s told.

We’re seen in older story boards that the Prince at one point was to be held captive with a number of skeletons. It’s not that hard to believe that, given what the Queen says to the Huntsman that she would be more than willing to harm her stepdaughter if for a moment she thought she was falling out of line.

Snow is a survivor, someone who finds a way to overcoming this harsh reality, by doing as told to keep herself alive and using songs to keep herself from falling to despair.

She’s unable to save herself and is easily tricked.

And here is yet another made up bit that so many people like to say regarding Snow White. Okay so firstly, she does save herself. She runs away, as per the Huntsman’s request after she’s told the truth. Yes she’s helped by the animals to find the cottage, but again, she’s never been in these woods so she would have no idea where she’s going. Anyone would take the help in this cases, it’s not weak to ask for help. 

Then she takes initiative when they get to the cottage and insists on cleaning up all day, cooking a meal for the “children” all in the hopes that by doing so she can win them over and stay there till the threat has passed. She’s saving herself by using the skills she gleaned from working as a maid in the castle and putting them to good use. How many other princesses know how to clean up a mess like she does and use it as a means of a diplomatic intervention in order to stay at a place to keep from being killed?

Then, the whole tricked thing. Again, she has worked in the Kitchen of the castle so more than likely she has seen her share of not nice looking people over the time there. This means, again, that she’s trying to not judge a book by it’s cover. She’s trying to look past the whole thing of a hag that is pretty damn scary offering her an apple. Disney, smartly I may add, had it where she only had the one situation rather than the original three times she was tricked in the original story. Snow has no idea that the apple is poisoned, and again, in normal circumstances, one of the things that we as a society have been trying to teach people is to look beyond the appearance of others, so she was doing just that and trusting what she believed to be a kind woman. She doesn’t know that her stepmom can do magic, she didn’t even know she was a witch. Even when she learns this, the dwarves don’t give her examples, and this is also hearsay in regard to Snow who lived with her and probably never saw any of that. So her being tricked wasn’t a moment of weakness, it was a case of her own morality and being kind to others being used against her, which is something we should loath in the Queen.

She’s easily scared and too weak to do much on her own.

Yeah, I’m not buying this one either. Snow’s only moment of showing actual fear was when she was about to be stabbed, and who wouldn’t be scared in that moment, and freaking out in the forest. If you think about that moment she’s not only dealing with the fact that she’s lost in a place she has never been in, with what seems to be monsters attacking her thanks to her own imagination, and she’s just come down from being not only attacked by a man that she trusted to keep her safe.  But also learned that her Stepmother, the woman that let her leave the castle for the first time in years, go have fun, gave her a new dress, and is showing her some kindness for the first time in a long time and possibly to her having a change of heart and may love her again as a daughter, was only faking and wants to have her killed and will stop at nothing to have that done. That is one hell of a thing to process.

So yeah, I would probably be freaking out thinking someone’s gonna come after me too after learning all of this. And no, she’s not too weak to do much on her own. She not only managed to clean a house (with help with animals) but also cook a meal, got seven older men to clean up –something they haven’t done in years, and have a party with them, without anyone helping her do that. She’s a lot smarter than people give her credit for.

She’s a homemaker rather than a fighter.

Not all strong women have to be able to swing a sword. A lot of people seem to think that the only way you can show strength is in wielding a sword, yet one of the strongest members of the Princess line and the one that gets the most praise, defeated the bad guy with a fan and a rocket. Never once having to use the sword she learned to use to stab or cut anyone.

Snow’s strength comes in her diplomatic skills. She uses what she knows (her time as a scullery maid) to give a reason for the Dwarves to allow her to stay. She basically pulled off a trade with them. She’ll use her skills to keep things clean for them, for the fair price of allowing her to stay, and in return they will keep her hiding place quiet and probably listen up for any news of anyone trying to come to harm her.  Making deals is a hard thing to do, and Snow has this skill in spades and it’s something more people need to learn to do. Using kindness to get what you want over threats.

She’s basically useless in her own story.

Again, it’s this false narrative that so many people seem to see. Snow White has more agency in her story than some more modern heroines that are lauded by people. She keeps herself safe by doing as requested by her Stepmother, later when confronted by the truth, she chooses to run and hide till she knows she can find a place that can keep her safe. She uses her skills from her time as a maid to get the okay to stay in a safe house, and then the only time that she at all loses her agency is when she is tricked into eating an apple that she wouldn’t know was poisoned, and also she only does so because she believes that you shouldn’t distrust people based on her appearance.

So how do people think this young woman is a bad role model for younger girls? Because she cooks and cleans? Well everyone should know how to do that so that they can survive. You shouldn’t live in a mess just to say “Yo I’m a strong independent person.”

Next up Cinderella....

[ticknart]

Second Summer: Battle

It was just before noon and the sun was high as four members of Blue Team walked through the forested part of the paintball course. They walked in a diamond formation: Wendy center front, Dipper to her left, Thompson to her right and Grenda behind. Tambry, the fifth member, had been left back at base to guard their flag. As they left, she pulled herself up and into the tree the flag had been tied to.

Dipper thought that it would have been smarter to leave Thompson or Grenda guarding the flag than Tambry. Tambry was small and could hide behind a tree or some brush. Thompson, on the other hand, was a big guy and would be hard to miss when shot at. Grenda was at least six inches shorter than Wendy, but she had broad shoulders and her body rippled with muscle. There was no way either could hide in any setting. Putting a tank in front was a smart move in DD&MoreD, not so much in paintball, though. But Wendy insisted and she appointed herself team captain and Tambry, Thompson, and Grenda didn't argue with her. The only thing Dipper could hope for was that Thompson and Grenda could keep moving silently so he wasn't taken out before they could make their final approach on the Team McAwsome's flag.

Just before the edge of the woods, where the waist high grassy plants started, Wendy held up her hand and stopped. Thompson stopped, dropped to one knee, braced his paintball gun against his shoulder, and scanned the clearing ahead. Grenda scanned the trees around them. Wendy knelt down and waved Dipper over.

"Time for a plan," she said as he knelt down beside her.

Dipper nodded.

"Thompson. Grenda," she hissed, turning to the other members of the team. "Get over here."

Wendy took off the blue and white pine tree cap she wore and ran her fingers through her luxurious auburn hair. Dipper knew that time moved at a constant pace, but he saw her in slow motion and when she turned to him and gave a toothy smile, time froze.

Grenda cleared her throat and touched his shoulder. Time snapped back into place. Thompson settled next to them and asked, "What's the plan?"

Wendy brushed the ground in front of her clear and drew an oval in the dirt. She drew shapes in the oval as she said, "It's been a while since we've played."

Earlier in the summer, Dipper learned that Wendy and her friends had played paintball nearly every week since school started in the fall. They went to the course1, rented guns and gear then spent a few hours blasting away. Sometimes they played three-on-three, rotating the roster each time. Sometimes they all played together against another team. But with summer came parents insisting on jobs, visits from out of town family, or going on family vacations. This was the first time they played this summer and might be the only time.

"I've been thinking about the games we played during school," she said. "Robbie likes to put the flag somewhere where he can keep everything contained. Some place easy to defend. Somewhere that'll force us to go in one at a time. The easiest place to defend is here." She pointed the stick at a square near the top of the oval. "The Shed2."

"What's The Shed?" asked Dipper.

"It's four walls, a door, and a couple of windows," said Thompson. "It's usually a good place to catch your breath and regroup."

"Do you think it's where Robbie would put the flag?" asked Wendy.

"Absolutely," said Thompson. "He's wanted to before, but we always stopped him because it seemed unsportsmanlike."

"Maybe Nate and Lee stopped him again," said Wendy.

"Not with Mabel there," Dipper said.

"That girl loves to win," said Grenda.

Dipper nodded, "She does."

"Okay," said Wendy, placing a leaf in the square, "there's where the flag is. He's gonna want at least one person the--"

Thompson brought his gun to his shoulder and scanned the field in front of them. "False alarm," he said, lowering his gun.

"Lee and Nate," said Wendy to Dipper and Grenda, "like to stick together. Lee's fast, but doesn't really aim before he shoots. Nate's not as fast, but he's a decent shot when he's on the move."

"He's not so great when he's standing still, though," said Thompson.

"Neither are you," said Wendy, playfully punching him in the arm.

"But I make a great mobile shield," he said, grinning.

Wendy grinned back before saying, "So, Nate and Lee will probably be together scouting around for us." She dropped two pebbles into the oval and drew a circular arrow away from them. "Robbie, on the other hand, likes to hide and wait for people to come to him. I bet he'll be waiting in the Shed."

"Probably," said Thompson as Wendy dropped a pebble in the square.

She looked at Dipper and Grenda and asked, "What do you two think Mabel and Candy will do?"

"Mabel's too unpredict--," Dipper said, but was interrupted by Grenda.

"Candy's a crack shot."

Dippers jaw dropped. Before today, he couldn't have imagined Candy holding a gun, let alone being good with one. Of all the people invited to play, she was the only one he thought would say no. She was so shy and seemed too gentle for a game with guns. Even fake guns. He supposed that he didn't know Mabel's friends very well, even though they had come on the tourist trap trip last summer.

"What do you mean she's a crack shot?" asked Wendy.

"I mean that she always hits the target, even if she misses the bullseye," Grenda said.

Thompson and Wendy looked unconvinced.

"Guys," said Grenda, "I'm serious. I've been to the shooting range with her and her parents a few times. When she steps up to the line, the whole place goes quiet. Everyone watches her. She once shot a hole through a quarter at 75 yards. Dead center. I was there. The place shook because everyone cheered so loud. If she wasn't so shy, she would win trap shooting competitions. She could be a modern day Annie Oakley."

Everything Grenda said sounded impressive to Dipper, but he wasn't sure how much of that was true. Shooting traps? How would you shoot a trap? What did they do, set up a bear trap and try to set it off with a bullet? Traps were supposed to shoot at you, not the other way around.

"Assuming that's all true," said Wendy, carefully.

"It is true," Grenda said, looking flushed.

"Okay, then where do you think she'd be?"

"If she has a say, she'd be on the highest point she can get to with the clearest view."

"That's probably on top of The Shed," said Thompson.

Wendy drew a small rectangle overlapping The Shed and dropped a pebble in it. "What about Mabel?" she asked, looking at Dipper.

"There's no way to know," he said. "She's too unpredictable. She hears a plan. She agrees to the plan. She starts following the plan. When she gets bored or frustrated she makes things interesting again by doing whatever she thinks is the most fun."

"She's not--" Grenda started to say before she paused and said, "yeah, that sounds like her."

"The only kind of gun she's ever shot is a squirt gun, though," Dipper said. "So I don't think she'll be a very good shot."

Dipper had at least shot BB guns with scouts. He knew how to aim properly. Of course, shooting BB guns at a scout day camp, having all the time you need to aim before carefully squeezing the trigger, was probably a lot different from shooting a paintball gun on the run. At day camp they taught him to slow his breathing and take his time. He didn't think that advice carried over into real combat.

Dropping a fifth pebble into the oval and drawing squiggly lines around it, Wendy said, "I guess that's something." She frowned at the map on the ground.

"What's the plan, boss?" asked Thompson, again.

"We split up," she said. "Two pairs. We go in opposite directions." She drew two arrows near the base of the oval, one curving to the left and the other to the right. "We stick to the tree line and meet on the other side of the clearing."

"Won't that put us awfully close to the Shed?" asked Grenda.

"Once the Shed's in view, go back into the trees. Try to stay out of sight. Okay?" Everyone nodded and Wendy continued, "Dipper and Grenda, you go that way." She pointed to the right. "Me and Thompson'll go that way. Remember, this is a scout, so keep your eyes and ears open and sharp, but if you get the chance, take 'em out."

Everyone stood.

Thompson brought his paintball gun up to his shoulder, ready for action. Wendy kept hers at her side, but Dipper could tell that she would be ready for action in a fraction of a second. She was like a tiger, calm and cool before pouncing for the kill.

"Good luck," said Wendy, "and give 'em hell."

Dipper watched as the pair headed out. He wondered why he couldn't have been paired with Wendy. Yes, he was inexperienced, but that meant he'd try harder. He'd do whatever she wanted-- no, needed him to do.

While playing paintball, of course.

"Come on," Grenda said, in her rough and husky voice. "We should get moving."

He turned around to follow Grenda, wondering if he had done something wrong. What could he have done to make Wendy choose Thompson over him. Life would be a lot easier if people had thought balloons hanging over their heads3, like in his dad's old comics. If he could, then he'd always understand the whys and then make new choices the next time. Better choices.

"You like her," said Grenda in a singsong voice.

"What?! Who?"

"Wendy."

"Of course, she's, like, one of my best friends."

"No, you LIKE her like her."

Dipper blushed. Was he that obvious?

"You don't need to worry about it," she said. "I think I'm the only one who noticed."

"Yeah, thanks," he said, sighing, "I'm supposed to be over her, you know?"

"Really? Why?"

"Last summer we sat down and had a talk. She told me that she liked me but..." He really didn't want to talk about that. "You know? And I sort of let her think that my crush on her went away."

Grenda rolled her eyes and said, "She never believed you."

"Of course she did. She would have said something."

"After your talk, did you ever watch her from a distance and then turn away because you thought you might have been looking too long?"

He didn't answer.

"Did you ever laugh a little too hard and too long at one of her jokes?"

He refused to answer.

"Did you ever babble away at her because--"

"That's not fair," he said, looking at her. "I babble when I'm nervous. I do it around everyone."

She looked down at him, digging though his eyes and into his soul, and asked, "Did you ever 'accidentally' touch her and let your hand linger before jerking it away?"

Dipper stopped walking and said, "I am such an idiot."

"Well, you are a boy," she said, laughing.

"What have I done? What's going to happen?"

Grenda put her giant, but gentle, hand on his shoulder and sighed. "You didn't do anything. Nothings going to change. If she didn't like you, she'd just pretend you didn't exist. You wouldn't be out here playing paintball."

"I guess."

"Well, I know," she said.

"Thanks."

"What do you like about her? You don't like her just because she's pretty, right?"

He thought for a bit and said, "I mean, she's beautiful and that's the first thing I knew about her, but it doesn't matter anymore, you know?"

Grenda's eyes were big and wet as she looked at him.

"Wendy has this way of looking at the world. She sees it all. She knows how serious things can be, but she still finds things that are funny or fun. She can climb a pine tree using only her belt and use the top of the tree to catapult herself to another. If something goes wrong, she's the first to face it and the last to run because she makes sure everyone else is safe first. She makes a platform on a roof become the most special place in the world. She looks at me and doesn't see just some noodly armed little kid. She never treated me like a little kid. She sees me," he said, tapping his chest.

Grenda, sniffling, wrapped him in her huge, comforting arms and said, "It's like a tragic love story. The only thing keeping you apart is the love you have for each other4."

"If you say so," he said into her shoulder.

She let him go and they walked along together in silence. Dipper looked around him, but he wasn't paying attention. He thought about Wendy and himself. Was their friendship any different now that it was before he knew that she knew? Him knowing that she knew that he still had a crush on her shouldn't change anything with her, if he didn't act weirder than usual, because she didn't know that he knew that she knew. What would she do, though, if she knew that he knew that she knew? He felt like screaming. There was no answer unless he talked to her and if he talked to her not only would she know he knows, but he'd also confirm his crush to her. There was no way he wouldn't come out of this feeling like he was four years old again.

To move his brain away from the spiral into the dark abyss he asked, "How are things with that, uh, prince?"

"He's a prince in my heart, but in reality he's only a baron."

"Okay, baron then. Are you still together?"

"We sure are. He wouldn't know what to do without me and if any girl hits on him, he shows them my picture and they back off." She flexed her muscles.

"Isn't the long distance thing hard?"

"Sure, sometimes, but we Flusprech5 almost every night. He flew me and my family over to Austria for Christmas and then he came to visit us here at Easter. Plus," she said with a mischievous grin, "he knows I'm a playa." She waggled her eyebrows at him and when his face turned bright red she laughed. "Dipper, you're too easy."

"And it hasn't helped my love life at all," he said.

She laughed harder.

Suddenly, paintballs flew out of the grass at them. One hit Dipper in the arm -- It hurt! -- but bounced off without breaking. The rest missed.

Mabel popped up from below the grass line, shouted "DIE MUPPET SCUM!" and fired wildly again.

Dipper and Grenda had their guns up and fired back. Everyone missed. BB guns hadn't prepared Dipper to fire a paintball gun. Not at all.

At the pause in gunfire, Mabel said, "Well, good-bye." and took off running. Grenda and Dipper glanced at each other then chased after her. Grenda, with her longer legs and the fact that she actually exercised, unlike Dipper, pulled ahead of of him and gained on Mabel. As she brought her gun up to fire, Grenda fell, disappearing below the weeds.

"Are you okay," Dipper said, as he approached.

"Gopher hole," she said. "I'm fine. Keep going and get her. I'll catch up."

He didn't answer as he sped by her.

"You’ll never take me alive, copper!" he heard Mabel cry out. Then she laughed: a horrible, witchy cackle.

He was going to get her.

In front of them, he could see The Shed. He had to get to her before she got inside. He pushed himself harder as they approached the little building. He raised his gun. His finger rested on the trigger, ready to squeeze. She was his.

Six paintballs exploded at Dippers feet.

He skidded to a stop and dropped down to try and hide in the grass. Mabel ran into The Shed. He wanted to let out an angry shout, but that would only give her reason to start teasing him so he made a mistake. With his gun raised, he scanned the area in front of the little building. The barrel of a gun hung out the window near the doorway. He could see it, but was pretty sure that the person holding the gun couldn't see him. Was it Mabel, or was someone in there with her?

The Shed was exactly as Thompson had described it: four walls, a door, and a couple of windows. He didn't talk about how it was covered in all colors of paint, though. Briefly, Dipper wondered if he could shoot paint balls at a canvass and sell it as art. If he could, it would be a good way to make lots of money.

"That was just a warning shot," Candy called down from the roof. He saw the bright orange tip of her paint ball gun hanging over the edge and the oversized goggles covering her eyes. "I don't want to hurt you, Dipper," she said.

"Why?" he called back up to her.

"I thought you could join us." She got up on her knees, raised the goggles up to her forehead, and re-aimed her gun at him. "Join the winning side and be with me." That last word hung in the air before she added, "And your sister and the others."

"Shut up and shoot him already!" Robbie hollered. He was the one in the window. "We don't need him on our team!"

Candy ignored him and said, "You have a choice, Dipper. What will it be?"

"I won't betray my team!" he called back and shot at her.

He heard a clunk as she dropped back onto the roof.

"That was your last mistake!" She fired.

Time slowed as he dropped to his belly. Time slowed without Wendy being near. He liked slow time better when Wendy was around. If only because he wasn't being shot at.

A large shape charged between him and the incoming paintballs.

"Grenda! Nooooo!" Candy shouted. "What have I done!?"

Candy was back on her knees. Dipper rose back onto his knees. He aimed, pulled the trigger several times, and fired at her. Three blue splatters appeared on her chest plate. She dropped her gun onto the roof.

"Grenda?" he said, rolling her onto her back. "Why did you do that?"

She was covered in a dozen red splatters. How had Candy hit her so many times so quickly?

"I had to," she said. "You need to be with your lady love."

"What?"

"Go," she said, pushing him away from her, "run to your lady love. Be with her. Protect each other."

Dipper stood and started to run, in a wide arc, around The Shed.

"And don't be angry with me," Grenda called out to him, "because I'm going to tell Candy everything you told me once she's off the roof."

He briefly turned around and fired at the now sitting Grenda. He was too frustrated to hit anywhere near her, but he did add some paint to The Shed. It needed a little more blue on that side.

As he approached the tree line, he slowed and whipped his whole body around, gun stock in his shoulder. He wanted to make sure he could get a few shots off if Mabel or Robbie had followed. He didn't see anyone, but continued to walk backward.

After he was a few yards into the trees, he relaxed a little. He had to keep going. Now that Grenda was taken out, he needed to find Thompson and Wendy. If he couldn't find them, he'd head back to the blue flag and wait with Tambry for the eminent attack.

A short walk later, he saw Wendy coming toward him. Her back faced the tree line.

"Wendy," he called to her.

She spun around and fired several shots before she recognized him. Fortunately, he had just walked behind a tree or he would have been covered in blue paint.

He peeked out from behind the tree and caught her eye.

"Dipper," she said, running his direction. "I'm so sorry. I'm a little jumpy."

"What happened?" he asked. "Where's Thompson?"

"Thompson's gone, man. Lee got him in the back. Lee was really angry, too. I guess he didn't like seeing Nate get brought down in a hail of paint balls. I took out Lee after that. Is Grenda with you?"

"No," he said, removing his hat and placing it over his heart, "she took a shot for me. Came out of nowhere and got splattered. It was a good death, for a warrior."

Wendy pulled her cap off and placed it over her heart and said, "Thompson, too. May they reap all the rewards among the honored dead in Valhalla6."

"I don't know," said Dipper settling his hat back on his head, "all the Pitt Cola lights were flashing on the machine. It might be out of drinks."

"What did you learn on your scout?"

He stood at attention and said, "Mabel ambushed us and we chased her to The Shed. Candy sniped at me from the roof, but after she accidentally shot Grenda, I got her."

"Robbie?" she asked, pacing in front of him.

"He was in there with Mabel. He complained about how Candy was playing the game."

"So, they're both waiting for us to attack."

"Robbie's probably in there, but I don't know about Mabel. She could be looking for us, or she could be headed for our flag."

"Is there anyway we can tell if she's with Robbie?"

"I have an idea that might work, but we'll have to get close."

"Good. If she's going for the flag, Tambry will take her down. Let's go."

On this side of the clearing The Shed could be seen easily. They were far enough that they couldn't be hit if shot at through the window, but close enough that someone standing inside the gloomy building could clearly see Wendy and Dipper. They were also close enough that they would be heard if they shouted.

Dipper cupped his hands around his mouth and cried out, "Mabel! I spoke with Waddles earlier today! He said he didn't love you anymore! He wants to live with Abuelita because she has better and more sparkly make-up!"

A body tried to dive out the window, but got snagged, either on her sweater or by Robbie. It didn't matter, though, she wasn't going any farther.

"You take that back!" yelled Mabel, still struggling to get out. "Waddles does to love me! He'd never leave me just because I have less make-up!"

"Looks like she's in there," said Wendy.

"Sure does," said Dipper. "What's the plan?"

"You run to the left side," she said, pointing, "and I'll go right. Keep out of sight and close to the wall. We'll meet at the door."

"Okay."

"Go," said Wendy and the both started running.

Mabel wasn't hanging out the window anymore, but as he approached The Shed he heard bangs and thumps.

"Stop struggling," he heard Robbie say.

"I gotta get out of here and get that monkey nugget eating brother of mine."

"I can get you free if you just. Stop! STRUGGLING!"

Dipper slid around the corner and crept under the window on his side of the building. There were more thumps and bangs. One of the guns went off.

"YOU ALMOST HIT ME!"

"YOU KICKED THE GUN!"

"IT'S YOUR GUN!"

Dipper approached the next corner and eased himself around it. He saw Wendy slide around hers. They both moved silently until they stood next to the doorway.

Wendy grinned at him from across the way and whispered, "You didn't see Lefors in there did you?"

It was from the movie they'd watched together last night. One of the rare ones that was so good it was good.

"Look, kid," said Robbie, "why don't you take a look out the window, see if they're still there and I'll get you free."

"Lefors?" asked Dipper. "No, why?"

"For a moment there," she said, "I thought we were in trouble."

She raised three fingers and ticked them down. Three... Two... One...

"ROBBIE, THEY'RE NOT THERE. THEY'RE NOT THERE, ROBBIE!"

On no fingers, they rose, turned toward the entrance, and started firing as they stepped through the doorway together.

Most Excellent Scandinavian Paintball Experience is the paintball course just outside of Gravity Falls. It was founded by an extended family of immigrant from Mexico who claimed that they wanted to "smash the stereotype" by opening something other than a food truck that sells Americanized Mexican food.

In a statement, overheard at Gravity Falls High School, one of the children from the family said, "Truth is that my parents and aunts and uncles suck ass at cooking anything that doesn't come in a box with a packet of sauce." ↩︎

The Shed is actually named Abu Ghraib, but many patrons of Most Excellent Scandinavian Paintball Experience find the name insensitive and refuse to use it. The owners of Most Excellent Scandinavian Paintball Experience refuse to take the name off of the official map. Civilian veterans' support groups occasionally picket. ↩︎

While not strictly people, the mumarian lemurs, discovered by Stanford and Stanley Pines in the Aleutian Islands on their second trip of exploration and named after the lost continent of Mu, do project their thoughts in balloon-like bubbles above their heads. These projections are often simple, static images expressing desires or emotions. Occasionally, there is motion in these images.

At this time, no hypothesis has been formed for why some images depict motion. Mating had just begun at the time of the Pines's arrival. After only 36 hours on the island, even Stanley Pines became too uncomfortable to observe any longer. ↩︎

"The only thing keeping them apart is the love they have for each other" is the tagline for an after school special, titled "Hungry for Love" and produced in the mid 1970s, that still runs on Gravity Falls's local access channel once a month. The special warns of the dangers of illegal drug use by drawing a connection from the use of illegal drugs to cannibalism. In the special, the lead characters fall in love, but individually decide that they must keep themselves away from the other because of the fear that the extreme need to devour human flesh would be stronger than their love. The special ends with the two having quit drugs and sitting in class staring hungrily at each other.

"Hungry for Love" is considered to be one of the most successful of the after school specials because when crime statistics were reviewed six weeks after it aired there were no reports of drug related cannibalism. ↩︎

Flusprech is an Austrian video chat application. The defining feature of this app is the algorithm that detects small talk and immediately drops the chat. People from most nations who have used Flusprech have a difficult time adjusting to this feature. The majority of the German population have strongly embraced the app, praising effectiveness of the algorithm, even though it reinforces a strongly believed German stereotype. ↩︎

Valhalla: Snack, Bar, and Grill is the snack bar at Most Excellent Scandinavian Paintball Experience. On weekends it serves a wide variety of best authentic Scandinavian sausages Minnesota produces, with mashed potatoes, which come from flakes in a box. On non-holiday weekdays the selection is limited to leftover cold sausages or sandwiches made on the premises. Few who eat the sandwiches have returned to play paintball again. ↩︎

[kingdomcomefic]

Cloud Connected

I was told that I could fly when least expected.  Raziel was waiting for Castiel outside of the old farmers market where they’d chosen to house their rebel prisoners. Castiel knew that Johiel was inside the building waiting on him, and he could hear the grunts of the male prisoner as Johiel beat him. “Raziel, has he learned anything from the prisoners?” Castiel asked. “Not as of yet. Michael has demanded that you extract the information on where the nephilim and his army make their camp.” Raziel stood with her chin held high, staring down her nose at Castiel.  “You look at me as though you’re disgusted, sister,” Castiel said, feigning hurt.  “You are disgusting, Castiel. You think that some of us don’t know what you do in the dark? You think that we don’t know where your so called ‘talents’ came from? You’re pathetic. You’re beneath all of us,” she sneered.  Castiel bristled at the idea that they could know about Meg, but he reassured himself that if they knew who he sneaked off to see and where that they would have already destroyed Meg by now. No, they probably assumed that he was with a human, which, he admitted to himself, would have been disgusting. “Whatever you think I may or may not be doing doesn’t change the fact that this entire world is at Michael’s feet because of me,” he said stepping toward Raziel menacingly.  She backed up a step, but she kept her expression steeled. “You place too much importance on your skills, Inquisitor.” “Oh? You seem to forget that it was me who assessed the Winchesters as errant, disrespectful, abominations. One was addicted to demon blood and the other was so homesick for Hell that he was having dreams about it. I was the one who sent Dean Winchester back in time to stop his mother from making the deal with Azazel to save John Winchester, insuring that the Winchesters were never born, and I was the one who secured that the battle between Michael and Lucifer went forward as planned.” Castiel backed Raziel up against a tree and leaned forward until he was mere inches from her face, “You, and all the others, should show me some respect.”  “Castiel!” Jofiel called from the door of the store. “I was wondering where you were. Welcome! I’ve been waiting. I always enjoy your work.” Castiel didn’t take his eyes away from Raziels face, “At least someone appreciates my handiwork.” He straightened and took a deep breath in, before turning and beginning to walk away. Behind him Raziel let out a breath she’d been holding in her vessel’s lungs. She finally allowed her face to show the fear she’d felt. Castiel didn’t have to see her to know that she was shaken, but he needed to be sure. He stopped in his tracks and turned his head to speak over his shoulder, “Oh, and Raziel? If you, or any one else think of following me again to spy on me, I’ll cut the grace out of you, and string you from the trees using your vessels’ intestines. Am I understood?”  Raziel whimpered before muttering, “Yes...” “’Yes’, what?” Castiel demanded. “Y-yes, sir,” she said.  “Good,” Castiel said, then he made his way into the store to do the job he’d been assigned, never suspecting what the night would hold for him.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ In the early light of morning Michael watched the rift close with a zap. Next to him stood an alternate, wounded version of his brother. He could sense the rage radiating off of Lucifer, but it didn’t compare with his own. Michael was incensed at the escape of the nephilim and his rebel faction. There were other humans in the world, certainly, but they were tiny in numbers and had no leadership that even came close to Mary Winchester and her surrogate, Jack Kline.  Lucifer growled, his eyes flashing red, but then he breathed deeply and straightened, rolling his shoulders back. He chuckled and turned to Michael “Well, would you look at that? Sammy got me good. I’ll just have to repay the favor when I get back,” he said, smiling.  “I’ve been trying for months to get through to that other world. I have angels stationed in all of the locations where the veil is the weakest and you think that you can get through? Why should I trust you?”  “I know what it takes. It's some blood, some fruit, a glowy rock, and then? Bam!  We step through, both of us,” Lucifer said.  “And then?” Michael looked at his brother, wary that this could all be a trap. Still, he could be useful, and Michael could use him.   “And then I get my son, and you get...” Lucifer studied Michael’s expression, trying to decide what he might want, before he finally settled on an answer he thought sounded enticing enough. “Everything else,” he said. Michael’s eyes affirmed his desire to rule, and Lucifer knew he had him. Thunder rumbled overhead, as Lucifer asked, “Are we agreed?” Michael nodded once. “We are. Now what are the ingredients for the spell?”  ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ In another dimension Meg paced outside the bunker while Castiel explained why and how she was alive. He’d been inside at least an hour and she could almost imagine the pearl clutching that he’d had to face. She knew that it was a difficult sell, but she was there to help. She’d been gone from Hell too long, and her bond was with Castiel. She couldn’t explain it, but she had to stick by him. When they had returned from the alternate dimension they called Apocalypse World Castiel had been very quiet, and she knew something he’d seen there was bothering him, but she didn’t pry. Now there were a lot of new people they were getting sorted into new lives in their world. Castiel suggested that he would ask Sam and Dean if she, too, could live at the bunker. Meg doubted they would agree to it, but Castiel had insisted.  Thirty three more minutes passed, and just as she was about to hop herself over a few towns to grab a drink Castiel emerged from the bunker, wearily watching his feet as he climbed the steps to where she stood. When he reached the top he looked up to meet her eyes and he sighed heavily and shook his head. “They are obstinate and, at times, hypocritical, but it is their home, and they have the final say. Their answer is ‘no’. You can’t stay here.” “It’s your home, too, Clarence. You have no say?” she questioned irritably. “Meg, I stay here on their kindness. There was a time when I wasn’t allowed to stay here, either. It’s just that there is warding and there are security systems in place and you simply aren’t able to dwell within. Physically it’s impossible for you. It’s not as simple as erasing a line in a symbol. It’s built into the bunker and they can’t undo it,” Castiel explained. “That and they shat identical bricks when you suggested it,” Meg said raising an eyebrow in disdain. Castiel gave her a pleading look. “We anticipated their reactions for the most part. Sam, of course, seemed more movable, but--” “But Dean was adamant that I’m going to try to bite the hand that feeds?” she interrupted. “He suggested that, in so many words, yes. He was also concerned that the new tenants might not be so keen on living with a demon and an angel. Our ilk slaughtered their whole world. I’m starting to make friends with them, but it’s...tenuous,” Castiel said, placing his hands on his hips. Meg huffed. “Super. So did they have any suggestions besides ‘tell her to go to hell’? I mean, I could keep hopping motels, but I like having a steady hideout. You know that.” “They suggested the safe house Kelly Kline and I created,” he said. “Oh, the house you built for Wendy Darling?” she scoffed.  Castiel raised a hand and then let it fall to his side. He’d known that she would be adverse to the idea. “It’s not a bad idea, Meg. It is warded against many beings, but we could destroy the wards against demons and you could lay low there.”  Meg tried to swallow her annoyance. It wasn’t a bad plan at all, but she didn’t have to be happy about it, even if it made sense. “Fine,” she said after a moment. “It’s a roof and it’s free, so fine.”  “Thank you,” he said, relieved. “I have a hunt to do with Dean, Sam, and Jack. The safe house is in North Cove, Washington. Here’s the address,” he said, handing her a slip of paper. “I’ll meet you there later.”  She shook her head. “They’re never going to get used to us, are they?” she asked.  He walked over to her, stopping when he was a few inches from her. “It will take time, Meg. They’ll come to respect you, as I do. In time,” he leaned down and kissed her lightly, closing his eyes, and when he reopened them she was gone.  He found himself missing his ability to fly more than ever. 

[donutpwns]

Forduary - Paranoia

It was good to be back in Gravity Falls. Ford loved the sea, loved sailing it with his brother in the adventure of a lifetime and was looking forward to returning to their boat at the end of the summer, but Gravity Falls still felt like home. There was good memories and bad ones all over but he still loved the crazy town. Stanley did too; Ford suspected he missed being Mr. Mystery sometimes. He was sure Soos would be all too happy to let the original give a couple of tours while they were back.

The house had been modified since they'd signed the deed over to Soos. Stan's room was left untouched for the most part, sans what his brother had taken with him when they left, and the attic was likewise left bare for the twins. The room that had once been a lab before Stan had cleared it out for a museum of what turned out to be murderous wax figures had been converted into a bedroom for Soos’ grandmother. The room Ford had slept in last summer was now a bedroom as well, shared by Soos and his girlfriend. The couch had been moved into the basement room that had been a shrine to Bill, the various monitors replaced with a large TV, the tapestries with shelves upon shelves of those video discs that Ford couldn't remember the name of. It had been dubbed a “man cave” by the girlfriend.

Thankfully Ford's basement lab was more or less in one piece. Apparently Soos had scavenged a few things for his own projects but Ford was able to work around that. Stan had put a bed down there a long time ago, so that's where Ford would be sleeping for the next few months. He was excited to work in a stationary lab for a bit; he'd brought so many samples from the Stan O War II to study here. And Dipper was here to help him. As wonderful an assistant as Stan was, he didn't really share the level of joy at scientific discovery that his nephew did.

Speaking of his nephew, Ford hasn't seen the boy or his sister since the bus had dropped them off this morning. There'd been hugs and then everyone had been off to unpack. Ford feels a twinge in his gut and decides that seeing the kids is his number one priority at the moment.

Stan is in the gift shop when Ford steps out of the elevator and pushes the vending machine shut. Soos closed the Shack for the day so thankfully it's void of the obnoxious tourists that flock to hear outrageous stories. Stan’s looking at all the prices but keeps glaring at where the “no" has been crossed out on the “no refunds" sign. That will probably be an argument by the end of the week.

“Are the kids upstairs?” he asks instead of choosing to deal with his brother's money grubbing ways. He's learned to find such things like that or Stanley's insanely sticky fingers endearing over the last year. It was a survival requirement at this point.

Mention of the kids brings his twin out of his grump at least temporarily. He nods and jerks a thumb towards the stairs. “Dipper went out to visit Wendy, but Mabel just ran back upstairs with an armload of stuff from the kitchen. Wanna go make sure she's not eating pure sugar on our first day back? I'm too tired for that today.”

Ford hums and makes his way towards the stairs, bumping his shoulder to his brother's as he passes, just hard enough to make Stan stumble a step and shove him back with a gruff laugh that brings a grin to Ford's face. The opportunities to bug Stanley will be greatly reduced than when they're on the boat so Ford must take advantage of every small opportunity.

He expects to find Mabel seated among her multitude of stuffed animals, likely working on her new scrapbook while eating handfuls of sugar. What he finds instead is her pouring salt in a circle around her bed; Dipper's bed appears to have already been circled. There's also a...bag of oranges hanging in the window? Ford is confused. More so when he hears a crunch beneath his boot when he steps through the doorway, looking down to see yet more salt. “Um, sweetheart?”

Mabel lets out a startled little yelp and drops the salt container, sending more of it spilling across the floorboards. She scrambles to pick it up and hugs it to her chest, though she does smile wide for him. “Hey, Grunkle Ford! Wassup? Miss your favorite niece in the whole wide world? Understandable cause I'm great!”

“Of course I missed you, Mabel.” affection comes easy with Mabel, possibly because she just exudes it in waves. Ford's considered studying her to see if she was putting off some sort of aura or pheromone to make her so lovable but apparently running tests on family members is something “only a mad scientist would do" according to Stanley. The killjoy. He points to the salt in his great-niece’s hands. “What are you up to?”

Her cheeks go a bit rosier than normal and she moves the container behind her back, her bottom lip sticking out in a pout. She stares at the ground, moving her shoe to straighten a part of the salt line that was a little wonky. “Dipper thinks I'm being silly. But I'm not. Well, not about this.” She huffs and Ford has to stop himself from chuckling.

He moves to sit on the edge of Dipper’s bed, careful not to disturb the salt around it. Clearly it was important to the girl. “I can see that. Why don't you explain to me what you're doing? Maybe I can help Dipper understand how not silly it is?” he offers while patting the mattress next to him.

Her face shifts instantly back to the joy that he loves to see there and she nods. She runs over to where her suitcase is laying open in the corner of the room. After a bit of digging through what appears to be a small mountain of fabric, she lets out a victorious sound and runs over to where Ford is sitting, wielding a small book in her hands. He scoots a bit so she can seat herself next to him.

The book, once she has it propped open in her lap, seems to be a guide of some sorts. It's not a handwritten one like the journals he and Dipper have, but a printed, store bought one. She turns to a page marked with a bookmark that looks like a cat biting the paper and points to a section highlighted in bright pink. “Salt is supposed to protect against evil. If you make a circle then evil can't get in.”

Ford feels a small tug on his heart even while his brain corrects her. Salt is helpful against some entities, mostly slug and snail based ones. But the idea that Mabel thought she needed to protect her and her brother against evil...it clenches Ford's heart in a cold, steel trap. “Sweetheart, that's very nice that you're trying to protect your brother, but you know the barrier is still up, right?” that had been the first thing Ford had checked once he'd gotten back, his own fears bubbling up.

Mabel seems to shrink next to him which is the complete opposite effect he was wanting. She pulls her feet up on the bed and starts to tug the collar of her sweater over the bottom half of her face. “I know. I know there's the barrier and you've got your nerdy sci-fi gun and Grunkle Stan is really good at fighting and Dipper is really smart at coming up with plans and he said salt doesn't usually work but it's what the book said and I just wanna help keep everyone safe.” She rambles while continuing to disappear into her sweater. Ford has to press a hand to her shoulder to stop her from fully going to what he had been told was called Sweater Town. She slumps against his side. “Bill hurt everyone because of me last time so I wanna help.”

Ford feels another jab to his heart, another stab of regret because it was his fault Bill was a problem in the first place. If he hadn't fallen for Bill's tricks in the first place…but Mabel didn't need his self-pity. “You're a very good person, Mabel.” he smiles softly, ruffling her hair affectionately while hugging her to his side. He nudges her until she looks up at him; another stab when he sees how red her eyes are. Still he smiles at her; Stanley taught him how important it is to smile for others. “What do you say you and I go make a big helping of Mabel Juice and then I can show you how to make a smoke bomb? Then you can use one with your grappling hook to escape with the family if anything happens.” a smoke bomb was safer than a crossbow, right? Eh, Stan would be fine with it. Probably.

Mabel's eyes go big and she practically explodes out of Sweater Town, Ford swears he hears a popping sound when she does. “Can it be a glitter bomb? That's like a smoke bomb with pizzazz!” she grabs Ford's hand and begins tugging. “And it would go with my attack glitter!”

“We can certainly try.” he laughs, letting himself be pulled up. Well, that was easier than he thought. He spares a glance at the window, one last question coming to mind. “Uh, Mabel, about the oranges…?”

She looks over and shrugs. “The book said garlic but that smells worse than Dipper's socks so I figured oranges would work instead.”

Ford chooses not to point out the flaws in that. If it makes her feel better, so be it. He'll make sure to put some wards under the window later, just to be safe. The last thing he needs is something happening to his family.

[timmyrx2000]

Dipper Steps Up: Chapter 4

Chapter Index: (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13)

Chapter 4

From the Journals of Dipper Pines: January 3, 2014: Well, here we are, back in Piedmont. It was nice to spend the week after Christmas in Gravity Falls with Grunkle Stan, Grunkle Ford, Soos, and Melody.

OK, OK, and Wendy. ESPECIALLY Wendy. She's been teasing me in her texts ever since she saw that awful picture of me on Peoplebook, but a couple days ago she said she wanted to have a serious talk with me: Was I sure I wanted to play baseball? Could I handle it if we didn't do so well? If I didn't get to play much would I be upset? Was I going to focus too much on the game and not enough on school?

I told her she was talking like an adult, and she said, "Well, ya know, I'm getting' there, dude!" But we exchanged gifts (sorry, Mabel, but what we gave each other is still our secret. Yes, I know you sneak in and read this journal sometimes!), and I asked, "Are you still looking forward to us coming back next summer?" And she gave me a little shove and said, "Don't be a dork! You know I am!"

So. . . . I guess we're still just friends, but I realized again, being there with her—and I finally got the courage to tell her this—I can't turn off the way I feel about her. She thinks that's sweet. But she brushed back my hair, smiled at me, and said, "I love your birthmark." Then she leaned close and whispered, "I'm still kinda old for you, dude."

My heart beat a little faster, just because this time she said "kinda." Not "I'm too old for you. You know that," but KINDA! I know, I know, I'll hang my hope on anything. It's probably not realistic.

But maybe not totally unrealistic, because from what Wendy told us, Robbie's still tight with Tambry, and Wendy herself has no boyfriend, no serious one, anyway, and she hinted she might sort of be willing to wait for me to catch up. "Never dated a sports star," she teased me. "Might be fun to try if I got a chance. So—you guys win the pennant or you get to be like the most valuable player or whatever, and we just might go together to a dance or some junk when I see you again."

So . . . now I have to learn to dance?

I'll do it! Man, if I need to win a game single-handed, somehow I'll do that, too, and in the meantime I'll even get Mabel to teach me some dance moves—because NOW I'm motivated!

It was easy to be motivated, coming right off a week with his friends (especially the red-headed one), but the next day when school started again, Dipper didn't feel so sure of himself.

In Piedmont, January is the rainiest month of the year, and that Monday was a dismal, wet one with low, ragged gray skies and cold rain drifting down either in showers or in wind-rippled sheets. The team couldn't practice on the swamped baseball field, so they went to a gym classroom and on a big flat screen they watched video of last season's Pico Padres in action.

Just seeing the footage intimidated Dipper. The Padres all looked taller, longer of leg and arm, and more muscular than almost anyone on the Piedmont team—Chuck Taylor and Wiley Casen were the only two Panthers that looked like they'd be even close to an even footing. Coach Waylund kept identifying Padres players from last year who were still on this year's team.

Dipper could see how good they were—a couple of power hitters, some fast runners, some agile and accurate fielders. "Oh, man," someone groaned when they saw a video of one of Piedmont's games against the Padres. It ended in the fifth inning—the Padres were ahead twelve to one, and if a team led by more than ten, the game was over at the end of the fifth, rather than going to the standard-for-JV seven innings.

"We are so dead," someone else moaned, thunking his head down on the desk.

"With that attitude, you may be," Coach said as he flicked on the lights. "Start noticing their weaknesses, not their strengths! Look at their guy Manello—power hitter, but a sucker for a low inside pitch! And Grobbert—yell at him as you run the bases, and he gets confused! In the game against Pemberton, a player got caught between second and third, so he rushed Pemberton and screamed "Look out!" and Pemberton flinched and missed catching the throw and the runner hit third standing up. Watch for things like that!"

It would have helped if they'd had more practice time, but gallons of rain fell that month, and they got in only one day on the field per week. They got back to two or three days in February, but when Saturday, the fifteenth, rolled around, Dipper didn't feel ready—and he was afraid the team wasn't, either. In fact, he secretly hoped for rain that day, but—just their luck—the day after Valentine's dawned bright and clear.

As they suited up in the locker room, the guys talked about girlfriends and Valentines. Taylor said, "I'm out of luck there. The girl I really liked moved to freakin' Florida! How about you, Dipper? Have a date yesterday?"

Dipper was putting on his cleats. "Uh, not exactly," he said. "I video-chatted with this girl I like a lot, but—not the same."

"She from around here?" Chuck asked.

"No. Remember Mabel told you we spend summers in Gravity Falls, up in Oregon? I met her there."

"Bummer. Gravity Falls. Weird name. Yeah, Mabel talks about it a lot, and, something funny, I happened to mention the place at dinner one night. Guess what? My great-great-something-granddad on my mother's side lived in that crazy town, like, more than a hundred and fifty years ago! In fact, Mom says he founded it."

Oh, no. No, it can't be.

"He had a weird name, too," Chuck went on, not noticing that Dipper had frozen in position with only one shoe on. "Nicholas Northwest? Something like that."

"Nathaniel?" Dipper asked.

"Yeah, that's it! One of his daughters moved to California and became my mom's great-great grandmother, I think. I mean, Mom doesn't even know for sure, but something like that. Anyhow, the Northwests supposedly got rich, but I guess they didn't want to have anything to do with us poor relations. The Gravity Falls Northwests still around?"

"I think so. That's a wild coincidence," Dipper said numbly, wondering why his mystery sense was tingling.

For a while he didn't have time to worry about it. When they went out to warm up, he saw Mabel. In a short blue skirt, a white top with the Panthers logo on it in gold and blue, knee-high white-and-blue socks, white sneakers, and—not one, but two pony tails, one on each side of her head, tied with blue-and-white ribbons. And pompons. There had to be pompons. One big, fluffy, and gold, and the other one big, fluffy, and blue. And Mabel was doing high kicks, somersaults, even splits.

The bleachers looked about half full of laughing spectators. Chuck whistled. "Man! I know this is the home field and all, but we never drew a crowd this big last year!" He slapped Dipper's shoulder. "Your sis is OK, dude! I think she'll bring us good luck!"

As the game started, Dipper warmed the bench and hoped that if they really were in for some luck, it would start soon.

But it didn't, not right away. Piedmont won the coin toss, and Chuck decided they'd take the field in the top of the first, so the guys who were playing trotted out to their positions. Dipper hunkered down on the bench, his glove in his lap, and tried not to hear Mabel shrieking, "Padres, Padres, gonna flop! Panthers, Panthers, we're the top! Gimme a Panther roar, people!" What she got was mostly a sustained laugh and some scattered cheers, but that didn't even slow her down.

Dipper glanced sideways and saw that Coach was grinning down at him. Dipper knew he must look sheepish.

But Coach just shrugged and said, "Don't worry, Pines. Mabel's brought in a crowd. Nice to have some spectators!"

Chuck's arm was in good shape. He struck out the first batter with four pitches—two strikes, a ball, and then a strike—and the next man in the batter's box popped out on his first pitch, the shortstop taking two quick steps to field the little looper. Then, seeming to gain confidence, Chuck fanned the next man, the big hitter Ricky Manello—though Manello protested the last low inside pitch, which he claimed missed the strike zone by an inch. The umpire politely disagreed, suggesting if Manello thought a pitch was too low, he probably shouldn't swing at it, and the Padres took the field.

At first it looked as if the bottom half would fly by just like the top: Mike Monohan took a good cut at a fast pitch and launched a pretty fair line drive, but the Padres shortstop, already tall, made a leap and snagged it. One out. Then Petey DeFoy, who had started out nearly as bad as Dipper at the plate but who had been hard at work on his batting all fall, took two strikes and two balls, but to the crowd's excitement, on the next pitch he made a solid connection. The left fielder misjudged it, it flew over the tip of his glove by a couple of inches, and by the time he'd scrambled around to grab the ball and fire it in, Petey was sliding into second, and Mabel was going nuts, like an AAA-cell battery-operated toy that had accidentally been plugged directly into a wall socket.

Chuck stepped up. The pitcher shook off a couple of suggestions from the catcher and pitched an outside ball. Then another. It looked as if he meant to walk Chuck, but then the pitcher threw one that would have just clipped the outside edge of the strike zone if Chuck hadn't swung on it and sent it past the first baseman and skipping along the first-base line. He made it to first while the right fielder fielded it and threw to second for the relay to home, holding Petey at third.

Now the bench guys all leaned forward, chanting, "Go! Go! Go!"

Jayden Dufresne, like Dipper a freshman, was a muscular, above-average cleanup man, and Mabel chanted, "One, two, one-two-three! Hit a homer now, JD!"

He grinned at her and gave her a salute before stepping into the box. The pitcher looked grumpy as he went into a windup. He drilled in an excellent fastball—and JD, the heavy hitter, bunted!

That was all Petey needed. He slid into home plate, though the catcher, a fraction of a second too late to tag him, turned and fired the ball to first, just barely putting J.D. out. And then, unfortunately David Barbour—"Barb"—struck out after two strikes, two balls, and two fouls.

The second inning was fast and scoreless for both teams. Dipper kept looking back at the scoreboard, as if the Panthers' 1 would suddenly evaporate. He began to hope that he might have a chance on the field this game. It was early in the season, they were ahead—well, just barely ahead—and maybe things would fall right for him.

And they did in the next inning. Coach looked thoughtful as the Padres' seventh and eighth batters both reached base on singles. He signaled Chuck to call for a change and said, "Pines, take second. Renaldo, you're in at first. Don't get shook up just because this is your first game, guys. Remember your practice!"

Dipper took over second from X-Man, who in passing said, "Luck, Dip!" and Tom-Tom Renaldo replaced Monohan at first. Dipper got into position and tried to concentrate over Mabel's glass-shattering "Dipper! Dipper! There's no doubt! He's the man to put them out!"

He tried to gulp back some butterflies that seemed to be trying hard to flutter out of his stomach and pass up his gullet and escape from his mouth. It wasn't a hot day, but suddenly the sun seemed glaring and he felt a little dizzy. Get a grip, get a grip, be in the game.

The next batter whiffed the first pitch, took the second for a called strike, and then swung on the third, getting a piece of it—it was going to come down a few feet behind second! Dipper backpedaled, jumped, caught the ball—and it stayed in the pocket of his glove!—and was running in mid-air before his feet hit ground again. The runner on second had bolted for third, realized what happened, reversed, and made a dash back to the base—but Dipper's monster-running practice got him there a heartbeat faster, and he tagged the Padres player out—an unassisted double play!

And the crowd went crazy! Well, be fair, Mabel, mainly, went crazy. But Dipper felt a couple of feet taller. Unfortunately, the next man up blasted a double, and the runner on base scored. But Chuck bore down hard and struck the next batter out, retiring the side with the score tied 1-1.

From there, for Dipper, it was downhill. He got to bat in the bottom of the inning, but though ahead of him Bobby Adamski had reached first and Dub Wilson had made a clean hit through the gap, the base coach unwisely motioned Dub to stretch his hit to a double—and Dub wasn't as fast as Dipper. He was put out, the throw to third was in time, and suddenly the Panthers had two outs, no one on base, and it was up to Dipper.

Who clenched up. A good pitch went right past him. He swung uselessly at one outside the strike zone. And he broke too soon and went down swinging on the third pitch, which, to be fair, he should have hit.

He took the field again, feeling, as Grunkle Stan might say, like ten cents worth of nothing.

The fourth inning brought a personal improvement, but unfortunately, it looked like the Padres had caught fire. They led off with a double; then the next man struck out; and then the biggest guy on the team with the unfortunate name Frank Farder hit a sweet home run, and suddenly the Padres were ahead, three to one. The next Padre got to first, and the next one after him smashed a blazing line drive to far left field. Dipper saw JD dive, catch it a foot off the ground, roll and leap to his feet, and fire it to him. He caught it—it stung like a hard-hit ball—and Dipper spun, realizing that the runner on first had overrun on his way to second but at the last moment had reversed direction. Putting on his best speed, Dipper caught him almost at first base and tagged him out.

The coach met him as he came in. "Good double play back there earlier," he said. "But Pines, throw to first when a man's running back. You're lucky you got the speed."

Dipper hung his head and admitted, "I know that was a dumb move. I got too anxious and lost track."

"You're coming along. Just remember next time."

Dipper rested in the dugout, but not for long—the next three Panthers struck out, one after the other. The Padres pitcher, Norm Chernky, was even better than Chuck, and he seemed to have hit the top of his game.

In the fifth, as if in revenge, Chuck in turn struck out three Padres in a row. And as if inspired, the other guys stood up to Chernky when they came up to bat: Stevie Prenelli, not a great hitter, got a single on a fielder's error. Kenneth Keeler, who had a good eye, then sacrificed to put Stevie on second. Mike managed a double, Petey went down swinging, and then Chuck, facing a Padres pitcher who now was getting a little tired and wild, also smacked a double, tying the score. That was great. Even better was JD's heroic homer, which pushed Piedmont to a 5-3 lead. Mabel didn't calm down even after the next batter, David Barbour, made a ground out.

Following league rules, which limited a pitcher to under 95 pitches per game, Coach retired Chuck at the top of the sixth and sent in Jon J as pitcher. After his warm-up, Jon J first pitched into a line drive, but the shortstop nabbed it for the out. The next Padres batter hit a fast grounder, and Dipper hustled to pick it up—but he glanced to first base at the wrong moment and overran it, letting it shoot through the gap, and the opposing player got a single.

Coach called for substitutions, and—not to Dipper's surprise—he was called in to the bench, while X-man took his place. "Sorry, Coach," Dipper mumbled. "That was a bad error."

"Not so bad if you learn from it," Waylund insisted. He also sent Big W in as catcher, and from that point to the end of the game, Dipper was a spectator. The Padres went down without managing to score another run, leaving it 5-3, Piedmont's favor, before they were retired. In the bottom of the sixth, the Panthers just couldn't get anything going. Two men got to base, but the others were caught out or struck out.

"If we can hold 'em," Coach muttered, "we've won a big one."

And—

Well, no need for false suspense. They did win it in the seventh. True, thanks to a double and a grounder single, the Padres got another man home and brought the score to 5-4, but between some good pitching and some better fielding, the Pico Padres were retired without managing to tie or beat Piedmont. The game ended with the score still five to four, Piedmont, and they'd squeaked out a win for their first game of the season.

And—funny thing—only when his mom and dad came down from the bleachers did Dipper even realize they'd come to the game. "We are so proud!" Mom said, beaming with joy. "You were absolutely wonderful! Everyone loved it! That was so great—Mabel!"

But Dad at least glanced at him and said in a mild voice, "Nice double-play, Dipper."

Mabel was jumping up and down in her lone-cheerleader get-up and excitedly suggesting that they should treat Chuck to an early dinner at a fancy restaurant when, behind them, a commotion broke out. Dipper turned.

One of the Piedmont men lay on his face in the grass just to the right of the third-base line, as if he'd fallen.

The number on his back was 3.

Chuck Taylor's number.

And Coach, who had hunkered over him, stood up with an expression of urgent concern and yelled as loud as he could, "Is there a doctor here?"

To be continued

Note from the Authors: This was just an idea I had but the one who really worked his magic and wrote almost all of this is none other than BillEase. He’s an amazing author who usually hangs out at fanfiction.net. Don’t pass up on a chance to check out his stuff. This guy is AMAZING. He wrote the story, I just gave the plot.