derrickohato

[idontknowreallywhy]

This one accosted me while I was trying to write something else (which appears to be A Pattern for me and writing… well… anything actually). It is very much inspired by many enjoyable conversations / informal therapy sessions with @astranite who shares my “what’s really going on with Scott” headcanon, and at the same time helped me figure out what might be going on with me too. Thank you for everything and for helping me nudge this into something shareable.

It’s also inspired by @sofasurf’s amazing set of fics about Scott’s struggles in the early days post Jeff disappearing. It’s absolutely right that after an initial crisis his brothers and grandma would have put in measures to stop him needing to work so hard and bear it all alone and I love how she tells that story.

And yet… we have Scott who 6 years later is still up late sat at that thrice-darned desk.. brothers aside, he’s CEO of a company that would employ a lot of competent people to sort out all the nitty gritty paperwork. So why is he still frequently found asleep there 6 years on?

This is my attempt to figure out some of the Reason… and not in any way a side quest distracting me from my own Big Document nemesis. Nope.

It is, however, 99% projection for which I hope you’ll forgive me. Hopefully it’s not too out of character.

Sort of an emotional hurt-comfort thing. The ending is very silly because that is apparently how I roll.

Trochilidae

Scott shook his head irritably as his eyelids drooped and flung out his hand to grab his mug… which promptly took a nose dive off the desk.

Allowing himself to face plant the polished wood for a moment he acknowledged he was, at least, lucky it was empty. Something he really should have remembered as that would have been the 5th time he had raised it to his lips only to be disappointed at the lack of caffeinated wake up juice within.

Not that it was doing any good. He scowled. It never did. The miraculous transformation from ‘Sleep of the Dead’ to ‘Alert and Ready’ that the brown stuff could bring about in Virgil and Brains remained a mystery to him. Drinking it kind of kept him grounded though, maybe that was just habit by now. Nevertheless… he shoved his chair back and stood up, glaring at the chunks of ceramic on the floor: a job for future Scott. He went to get a new mug.

Re-entering the living room, he surveyed the scene. All was quiet. Deep breath… stretch out shoulders… he tilted his head from side to side to shift the tension in his neck with a satisfying series of cracks.

1am. No problem.

He was nearly done and then he could get to bed and get a solid 4 hours oblivion before his morning run.

Back at his desk, he took a fortifying gulp of focus juice, put on his determined face, picked up his tablet and swiped up to open the annual report again. He blitzed through another three paragraphs, noted down 4 questions for the board, one for the accountant and one further point to follow up with Jack, the Tracy family lawyer, before his eye was drawn to the broken mug scattered across the floor.

Probably shouldn’t leave that.

Gordon might wander by in those flimsy deck shoes and mortally wound himself.

He laid the tablet back down, pointed at it and muttered” don’t go anywhere” to the document that had been tormenting him. Blinking rapidly as he realised quite how little sense THAT had made, he crouched down to nudge the scattered fragments into a pile he could scoop up into the waste basket.

From this angle he realised there was a lot more than just decimated mug and coffee splatters down here… there were crumbs galore, odd, sticky patches and… yes he was pretty sure that the mysterious patch of shadow tucked away under the back corner of the desk was the better part of a club sandwich. He shuffled over, crablike, and reached underneath to retrieve it, sniffed it cautiously and was just concluding it was unlikely to be worth the subsequent food poisoning when John’s hologram popped up in front of him. He didn’t even glance up to see the inevitable raised eyebrow.

“Don’t even say it, John.”

Obediently his space-brother remained silent.

“I’m nearly done. I’m just signing off the annual report for the board meeting tomorrow.”

“From… under the desk?”

Blue eyes were cast upwards as Scott strode over to the kitchen to dispose of the rancid but weirdly tempting sandwich. There was no liner in the food waste caddy. He tutted and placed the plate on the counter top to deal with in a minute.

“Obviously not, I just spotted that Gordon had left something gross lying around and we don’t want a repeat of the taco incident.”

“Okay, and what are you doing now?”

Scott looked down at the cleaning bot in his hands.

“I… well it’s clearly not been working, the place is a health hazard so I was just going to see if I could…”

This time he did raise his eyes to meet the eyebrow of judgment.

Holding up the bot for John to examine, he grinned at his little brother and shook it gently.

“Look it has googly eyes! I bet that was Gordon.”

“Unlikely to be causing the malfunction. Get Brains to take a look at it tomorrow. Or Alan, he needs the practice.”

“True. Oh, did you see the note his teacher sent through?” Scott returned the bot to its housing and jogged over to his desk to pull up the email in question. He sat down and started to type a reply.

“Scott.”

“Mmhmm?”

“I saw it. It’s non-urgent.”

“Yes but while I think of it I might as well…”

“It’s 1:27am. Why don’t you just sign off the report and get some rest. It’ll keep.”

A melodramatic huff and the offending document was returned to the screen.

“You’ve been reading this for the last four days, Scott. What’s the issue? Can I help?”

“There are just so many points I need to follow up before I can put my name to it.” Scott highlighted a particular paragraph. “What if the data this is based on is inaccurate? I haven’t seen it!” He stabbed at another “These assertions here… is it ok to say that? I need to check the industry standards for…” he gestured vehemently “six or seven of these baseline metrics. The grammar in the narrative paragraphs feels clumsy. And I haven’t even started proof-reading it for typos yet!”

Scott took a deep shuddering breath and rubbed his eyes with the heels of his palms, weaving his fingers into his hair and gripping slightly harder than was comfortable as if that would ease the headache he knew was starting.

“The accountants have checked it, the divisional heads have checked it, Jack has been all over it at least twice. Virgil and the engineering team went through it with a fine tooth comb last week, they’ll know the baselines. I’ve checked it myself. Even EOS had a look.”

The response was barely audible.

“But what if… it’s not good enough? If someone missed something and… I didn’t spot it…”

“You don’t have to spot everything Scott. We pay smart people very generously to spot things. As CEO you are allowed to rely on them.”

Silence.

“Please… can you trust us?”

Holding his breath to fight a wave of nausea, Scott flipped to the final page of the document and added his digital signature.

With ninja-like speed John had saved the file and forwarded it to the board.

“It’s done, big brother. Go and sleep in your actual bed for a change.”

A swift shake of the head and muttered curse as big brother realised he’d gnawed through his bottom lip again.

“Can’t.” He stood up and paced the room.

“You know, maybe you shouldn’t have caffeine so late. Even Virgil…”

Scott’s snapped explanation that it made no difference whatsoever and that John KNEW that was forestalled by a series of beeps followed by a low hum as the cleaning bot started trawling across the floor.

“EOS?”

“Yeah, I asked her to see whether a firmware update would sort it.”

“Right.”

The brothers watched in silence as the little machine zigzagged around the room, bumping from one obstacle to another in an apparently haphazard fashion.

“It doesn’t seem very efficient does it?”

Scott sank suddenly to the floor in an effort to hide the fact his legs had turned to jelly.

“No, but it’ll get there in the end and everything will be done and it will all be ok.”

He snorted at his brother’s lack of subtlety and rested his forehead on his knees, concentrating on breathing evenly. He was fine. It was all fine. Again.

A few minutes passed before he noticed a faint high pitched giggle and his moment of peace was interrupted by the cleaning bot repeatedly bumping into his hip. He lifted his head to glare at it only for his eyes to make contact with the outsized googly ones jiggling wildly with each collision. His shoulders shook and he pressed his lips together to try to contain the rush of emotion rising up in his chest.

“EOS!”

As John turned to lecture the AI about when it was and wasn’t appropriate to annoy older brothers, the bot froze, all unblinking innocence gazing up at him. Scott let slip the smallest chortle then, after a beat, exploded, throwing back his head with howls of laughter, tears running down his face

It took him a while to compose himself enough to notice he was now lying on his back on the living room floor, John smiling down at him like some benevolent heavenly messenger. Smugness permeated through EOS’s voice as she enquired whether the Commander was much better now. He hiccuped. Then nodded. As he peeled himself off the floor and patted the cleaning bot absently, Scott found himself seized by An Idea.

And so it was that as Gordon awoke with his dawn alarm to find a 6-day old sandwich with giant eyes watching him from his bedside table.

The screech of a horrified squid echoed through the villa and was swiftly followed by the slamming of doors and the thundering of feet as most of its occupants tore to the rescue of a brother in distress.

The eldest brother remained precisely where he was, warm and comfortable, listening to the chaos and bemused voices. He smiled to himself and drifted back off to sleep.

[AO3]

[scribz-ag24]

sth sth dusknoir clinging beyond expectation to grovyle. cant believe thats a line in the game

[sincerely-sofie]

(Sprite sources)

[tagarilaghost]

hey uhm @wowitsmetaylor you know about that one post you made and that one specific tag...?

Yeah well now he does have that :D

It truly sucks being an artist and having free will-

[fujii-draws]

This was their dynamic for 3 chapters right

[ensiriustea]

2021 art

Little Barbatos and Lysias 💙💚

[archived-diegesis]

Will fight God in the back of a fast food parking lot -

The o.g will fight God in the back of a parking lot -

[chromaji]

Havoc Guild's first boss fight🎉

So far, Buccaneer & Alchemist have already been cool to use. They work pretty well with other team members, since Bucc's chase skills have been condensed into 3 skills with 1 physical & 1 magical element each (Fire-Saber/Ice-Thrust/Volt-Blow). Since Alfir & Cadence can always combo together, I've started with Volt-Blow so Klaus can join in... Also Eagle Eye is AoE now.

The team's ideal playstyle can't be used for long right now due to TP, so its a bit rough here. I'm excited to see how they handle the woodlands bosses tho.

EDIT: Playlist link

[owl-bones]

I've got to ask what is Eos or swap nightmares type? And can we get a little more background on him please? Sorry if this was asked already

his type is someone that he feels safe around and that makes him laugh!

more info below the cut:

he’s a pretty standard swap nightmare, i think! he’s cynical and stand-offish, but craves connection with people. he’s just been dealt enough bad hands that he assumes the worst of everyone around him, so he doesn’t bother trying to form meaningful relationships. he does want to help people though, if only to feel useful and hold onto a glimmer of hope that maybe someone will like him. despite that, he takes his job as the guardian of negativity very seriously and tries his best to uphold the balance— even if his brother is constantly expanding his territory and eos is vastly outnumbered by his followers. this of course comes into conflict with his want to help people, as upholding the balance means often spreading negativity. so a lottttt of AUs consider him a menace/bad omen and he’s generally treated rather poorly. 😔 but hey, at least he has one friend (aka killer, who followed him one day and never left him alone)

there’s lots more to him and his brother but i want to expand on that in a fic someday so perhaps i will keep it secret for nowwwwwwww

also a plain version of the pic

[rocketinthesky]

hi taiga! hope you're having a wonderful day <3

for the ask game, can we hear your thoughts on carcar?

HIII hello! My day's been good i hope you're having an amazing day too! As for the ask game hehe Carcar!

It’s funny they weren’t even a ship i was aware of till i got on f1blr and it took exactly one fic to change my life and send me down a rabbithole i couldn’t escape.

Carcar is like—there isn’t much canonical lore to them but their dynamics are SO complex there’s so much juice man.

Firstly, there’s this thing about like—Carlos being a cocky bastard, treating Oscar like a kid almost. And Oscar being this apparently “cool” and “level-headed” guy who’s facade breaks away the moment Carlos is in his vicinity because Carlos brushes him off like he’s nothing and it crawls under Oscar’s skin.

There’s the canonical “magnetism” aspect ofc, they both want to avoid eo and want nothing to do with eo but the universe keeps pulling them back into each other’s orbit. I know people like to call them opposite poles BUT HEAR ME OUT—they’re like poles. They collide and crash and it’s electric and magnetic cause their very nature is meant to push them apart which is why they crash so violently but at the same time they can’t stay away from eo.

They’re so similar yet different at the same time and i think where they clash is their similarities—their coolheaded and calculative racing, their silent, fiery passion, their nerdisms. They’re actually similar in so many ways which is why they got issues cause their stubbornness and pride are constantly battling.

The differences is more of a personality and age thing. Oscar, despite his tendency to repress his emotions, isn’t as “mature” as he appears (evident in the things he says sometimes) and when Carlos of all people is the one calling him out for it it just brings out all that repressed rage and the bratty side out of him.

Carlos is just a menace and enjoys the feeling of riling Oscar up, likes to see the cracks in Oscar’s icy facade break, to see that hidden fire burning within him. And he likes to see Oscar act a bit more genuine, a bit more his age even. He doesn’t have to pretend to be all mature and emotionless around Carlos cause yes he might bring out the ��worst” in him but feeling emotion is OK and showing said emotion is even MORE ok and Oscar can truly do so around Carlos because from the getgo they’ve seen the ugly/petty sides of eo, so when they eventually start to accept eo it’s easier to understand eo. It would take a lot to break them apart once they admit to their emotions and get tgt because they’ve seen eo at the lowest points, shown eo their most animalistic sides, so to speak.

They’re more-so like-poles of a magnet—they’re constantly repelling each other, yet unable to truly escape each other’s orbit.

[sincerely-sofie]

Omg I love Ruby

I'm not sure that the person who sent in her origin story quite understands how much I adore this girl. I love her so much. She's my baby. Oh my goodness gracious. She's such a good partner-in-crime for Opal and I can see these two forming an exploration team together when they grow up.

Team Smoke and Mirrors are some of the most well-known scouts there are in the exploration team world— they aren't the best of the best, but they're up there in skill, and Guildmaster Bidoof is always bragging that those two were apprenticed at his guild, and look at how they turned out! Yup yup, he's so proud to have been able to help them get their footing and send such a doggone wonderful team out into the world, gosh!

Chatot retired shortly before the Guild received their application papers, and he's slightly conflicted about that.

On the one hand, he'd like to resume his work and ensure they get a proper apprenticeship— while he's never met Ruby, he remembers when Twig brought a younger Opal to the Guild on a handful of occasions when her husband (Chatot shudders whenever he recalls the reality of who she married) was away on his own errands and she couldn't get a sitter for the day. He recalls Opal transforming into a downy little hatchling of his species during the first visit, and she was always in that form before Twig even came through the front doors on subsequent visits— when Bidoof casually mentioned the significance of this, Chatot was so emotional the rest of the day that he misfiled an embarrassing number of reports. He doubts Opal remembers him at all, but he'd be proud to keep her and her sister on the straight and narrow.

On the other hand, her and her sister are Twig's daughters. He barely survived ONE Twig. The thought of TWO of them being apprenticed simultaneously, let alone on a single team, is nearly enough to make his feathers go gray with just the thought.

[zeroducks-2]

Sometimes I think about Thawne admitting he has done some heinous stuff to Barry that Barry doesn't even know and I'm like ok did you fuck him? Did you stick your dick in this poor sod at some point and Barry doesn't even realize it cause Thawne's faster than him and his fast healing is making him think his body ache feels good? Thawne was saying shit about turning back time to adopt Barry and groom him like he got my head running shamelessly saying his kink to his crush's face like that hmmm

Okay I KNOW this ask is not serious but I have the chance to talk about my beautiful little meow meow and I will take it, so I will split my answer in two, the unserious answer and the serious answer.

The unserious answer is that I love it about Eobard that he's so open about what he likes. He went (paraphrased) "Hey did you know I was in love with your uncle :D" at Wally one time, and then proceeded to beat the shit out of him. He used to write in his diary about how alone he was and how just thinking about Barry made him feel better. Gayass nerd dweeb he had a crush on Barry since he was a damn child. We could just go on and assume he did stick his dick in there (maybe when Barry hadn't still been hit by lightning), because at this point I wouldn't be surprised (I do believe he used to touch and hold Barry at superspeed back then but that's just me we don't really have canon confirmation of this YET! YET!!! ahem.)

The serious answer is that he's just playing. Eobard is good at saying things that will rile people up, but it doesn't always work on Barry (because Barry knows him), and so he will say a bunch of shit in the attempt to get a reaction. When he says that he did unspekable things that make killing Nora pale in comparison, when he says that he's going to kill Iris (or any other "flashfamily" member), when he says that he'll go back in time and do this and that, adopt Barry (I really fucking loved that one btw), whatever, he's just provoking. He's trying to make Barry mad basically.

I'm saying this because he does not do any of what he says even if he could, at any given time. He can move through time easily, and he does it constantly. He says himself in Finish Line that this is not his first rodeo in this timeline, and we have the confirmation that during the events of Lightning Strikes Twice there are two Eobards around.

Look at this:

This is the beginning of Lightning Strikes Twice. As you can see Eobard is there spying on people, but the thing is that we also know FOR SURE that he is currently locked up in a cell, looking like this:

(the person speaking is August btw)

So yeah, he's in two places at the same time, running around and watching things unfold, and also tied up to that freaky bondage contraption from which Barry will break him out lol.

Also it's worth noting that he's so fast he runs laps around Wally and can go entirely unseen by him, and Wally calls himself the fastest man who ever lived. His powers make it so he can come in and out of the timestream and run through it without any kind of external aid - he does it while being "trapped" in Paradox' dimension, and is precise enough when he interacts with the timestream to not cause any kind of ripple effect (like again when he saved Chris in Flash Age).

If he wanted to hurt Barry like he says he does, he could. If he actually wanted to do any of the shit he brags about he'd just do it without threatening Barry about it. He's just playing, trying to get a reaction out of his crush, and sometimes it works! Sometimes Barry actually gets worked up. But in fairness, most of the time Barry's reaction is 😒🙄 because all of what I just said, Barry knows too lol.

(indeed Barry is also very scared that Eobard might actually hurt the people he loves, because he knows that Eo could and is aware of how easily he would do it. Not many people can defend from a speedster especially if they don't know he's coming. And no one can defend against this yellow menace of a banana man altering the timeline however the fuck he prefers. Luckily for everyone involved, he's not interested in altering the timeline any more than he already did, at least for now)

[strangelittlestories]

Eos emerged from the pool and stretched and his spine cracked with a hundred years of spent tension.

“Sounds like you needed that.” Said Nyssa, who had been sitting by the pool, waiting.

Eos took in their surroundings for the first time. The two of them were in a cave, lit by a seam of glowing mushrooms overhead. The water reached up to Eos’s waist; the pool was black as space and just as cold. Strangely, they didn’t shiver. The cold was just a curiosity.

The water did not rippled as Eos walked towards its edge. Reflected in the pool’s perfect obsidian surface were Eos, Nyssa, and the fungal bioluminescence which turned the dark water into a cosmos. 

“I’m sorry … who are you?” Asked Eos, as they clambered up onto the rough rock floor. “For that matter, who am I?”

“You’re Eos. I’m Nyssa.” She smiled and her smile told a story of grief and mischief. “And this is Stinger.”

For the first time, Eos noticed the creature sitting in Nyssa’s lap. It was somewhere between a hedgehog, a badger, a wolverine and patch of weeds, with green leaves and barbs sticking up like fur.

“How did I get here?”

“We came in together. We were in a bit of a state, apparently. Your soul must have been more ragged than mine, as I crawled out a couple of days ago.”

“I remember fire like old rot. The face of a god carved in the wind.” Eos winced at the memory, like picking at scars on their brain. “And pain. Lots of pain.”

“Yeah, whatever did this to us tore our bodies to shredded hell. Nearly took our spirits with us.”

“You remember?”

“No. Stinger told me.” Nyssa stroked the creature, careful to only touch the soft underside of her leaves. “She’s a nettle possum. My familiar. It pays to keep some of your memories on the outside, apparently. The pool wipes them clean, otherwise.”

Eos started walking towards the tunnel at the back of the cave. Their legs wobbled like a drunken heron.

“We have to get back…”

Nyssa reached over to grab one of Eos’s ankles and they teetered for a moment, before grabbing onto the cave wall.

“Nothing to go back to. It’s been, oh, at least a full generation for the pool to restore us.”

The remaining strength in their legs gave out and Eos sat down hard on the floor.

“Then…”

“The world outside is what it is.” Nyssa shrugged and the shrug was the whole world. “For now, we have one job.”

“What’s that?”

“We teach each other who we are. Again.”

“How? My head feels ... unmapped. All my memories just roads leading I don't know where.”

“Well, they say the past is foreign country.” Nyssa smiled that sad menace smile again. “But there is no border a witch can’t hop if she really needs to…”

[idontknowreallywhy]

A very silly something a little inspired by all the Regency AU loveliness floating around and also by the fact I’ve recently caved and cracked into a series of novels my English Lit teacher would NOT have approved of 🤣

Also because the little Scott who lives in my head can be a menace when he’s in a good mood...

… so can John…

✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨

“What on earth are you reading?”

As Estera walked back into the living room towelling her hair, her friend was sprawled on the sofa, half-crushed by Bez, and utterly absorbed in some ancient paperback she couldn’t see the title of.

“Hrrrm? Oh just something I found on your shelf.”

Estera racked her brains as to what she actually still owned in paperback format…

“Any good?”

“Oh VERY.” He looked up and grinned in a way that filled her with dread. She had a sudden suspicion she knew exactly what he’d picked up.

“Just so you know, not all of those books were purchased by me… some were gifts. Err… generous but ill-advised gifts.”

“Mmhmmm” his eyes had returned to the page but the grin had not gone away. Oh no.

Oh nonononooooo.

She hurried over and bent down to check and her worst fears were confirmed.

“No wait, no you have to believe… that’s not what I normally… I mean… I read proper literature! Not… my sister bought that! I sometimes wonder if she knows me at all! I haven’t even read it!”

He looked up and raised an incredibly smug eyebrow. “Are you blushing, Miss Hermaszewska?”

“Ok fine, I read a bit of it. A very small section before confirming it was terrible and I definitely intended to put it straight in the recycling!”

“OH I’m VERY glad you didn’t…”

“Argh, no please… just… give it here I’ll bin it right now!” She tried to wrestle the book off him but he clutched it to his chest.

“Uh uh, no way, you’re not getting this back until I’ve had the chance to make some notes.”

“Scott!!”

“What?! This Duke chap has some excellent pick up lines. Remind me what a dukedom is anyway? Would it improve my chances if I purchased one? Or would a Viscount be better? I do like his style…”

“You have to be born into either. And no! Stop it!” She flicked him with the towel. “You’re a terrible tease!”

“According to this that’s the best way to the heart of a lady… that and waltzing…” he was actually giggling now.

Estera huffed in frustration and growled “I wouldn’t know.” Scott’s face radiated maddening disbelief. “Just smother him now Bez, it’s for the best.”

Bez looked up and cocked his head and she could swear he was laughing at her too.

“You furry traitor! I shall have my revenge upon you both, mark my words.”

Scott and Bez shrugged in unison and returned to their previous engagements of reading and snoozing respectively.

Estera stalked into the kitchen and pulled up John’s number to send a message:

“Hi John, sorry to bother you but I find myself in need of some highly embarrassing Scott-related anecdotes… I don’t suppose you might know where I can source such a thing?”

✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨

EOS noticed John chuckling to himself and whirled along her rail to peer over his shoulder.

“What do you find humorous, John?”

John smiled enigmatically and tapped his index finger on his chin.

“Sometimes, EOS, it pays to keep meticulous records of seemingly irrelevant data. Today might prove to be one of those times.”

[tagsecretsanta]

From @alexthefly

From @alexthefly to @gaviiadastra

FUN AND GAMES NIGHT

The prompts:

A Tracy Island games night;

Something’s cooking in the kitchen;

Put the mess in domestic.

Rating: teen

Content warnings:

Moderate whump (fracture, soft tissue injuries);

Alcohol throughout (no drunkenness);

Flirting, including innuendo and one sex mention;

One instance of swearing.

Other warnings: a bit of Pen & Ink included in this one; hope that's ok.

**********

A familiar combination of thrusters, VTOL and a slightly-delayed sonic boom signalled Thunderbird One's return to the island. Gordon immediately felt his heart-rate leap a hundred beats.

“They’re here! Action stations! Alan, fluff the cushions; Virgil, get the food; Kayo…”

Whatever task Gordon had been about to assign to her fizzled away in a blaze of epic side-eye.

“...just kick back and relax, ok? No biggie.”

He backed away a few steps just to be safe, but his sister seemed satisfied, pointedly putting her feet back up on the coffee table before returning to her romance book. 

Any other day the temptation to comment on her choice of reading material would be far too much to bear, however hazardous to his health such a comment might be, but today he had other things occupying his mind.

“What can I do?” asked John, making to get up just as Virgil - already on his feet - pushed him firmly back down onto the sofa.

“You can stay right there, Mister,” he said, voice full-medic stern. “You know the rules. First night down from Five means no unnecessary moving around.”

John rolled his eyes and muttered something in Russian, but thankfully stayed where he was. 

Gordon flashed the big man a grateful smile on his way past to the kitchen. The last thing he needed right now was a certified space-case causing a danger to himself and others.

Not tonight.

“Shall I get some tunes ready?” Alan had already pulled his tablet out from behind a pillow and started tapping. “I’ve got a great playlist I’ve been working o-”

“Is it video game music?” asked Kayo, not even looking up.

“Yeah?”

“No!” The chorus was unanimous.

“Aww, but it’s not like normal video games. It’s this really cool mix of techno and-”

“NO!”

Alan pouted. “Oh, so I guess you'd all rather listen to Fish-boy’s sea shanties and Europop?”

“Hey!”

Gordon was all ready to defend his frankly impeccable musical taste, but John was clearly not in a mood for bickering.

“EOS, could you put on playlist P3 please?”

“Of course John.”

And with that the room was filled with gentle contemporary music - upbeat but not too raucous, neither intrusive nor dull - ideal for an evening with company. Obviously it was no Wellerman, but it wasn’t half bad. 

“Would you like some ambient lighting as well?”

“Not right now, thankyou EOS” replied John, ruffling Alan’s hair as he sat back down with a huff. “Is everything okay up there? Any calls? I could dial in if you need me?”

“Absolutely not,” said Kayo, an edge of menace in her voice. “You’re staying right where you are. Grandma’s orders.”

John scowled.

“Really John, there’s no need,” continued EOS. “I’m perfectly capable of handling things for one evening.”

Gordon noted the slight drop of his big brother’s shoulders but decided not to tug on that thread just now. Gravity always did a number on John the first night down, and it had been known to make him grumpy and homesick.

Virgil wandered back in carrying a big bucket filled with ice water, bottles of beer, prosecco, and cans of soda. With every step another puddle of ice water sloshed over the side and onto the floor.

“Allie, get a cloth would you? And could someone get some glasses out please? I’m kinda weighed down here.”

Kayo and Alan each grabbed one of John’s shoulders, using them to both pin him down and haul themselves up. The older man started to object, but was distracted by a ping on Alan’s tablet beside him.

“Scott’s on his way up now.”

Oh god oh god oh god. 

Gordon had the sudden and inexplicable urge to dunk his head in the bucket Virgil had just set down, but instead decided to busy himself with robustly re-plumping the chair pillows while bouncing up and down on the balls of his feet.

“So everything’s ready, right? Place is tidy, drinks are out, games are stacked, food’s in hand… Are we all set? Should I open a window? It’s kinda hot in here.” Am I sweating? “Maybe I should go change-”

“Breathe Gordon.” soothed Virgil, resting a reassuring hand on his shoulder. The weight of it felt good. Calming. “This isn’t a state dinner; just a normal games night like we’ve done a thousand times before. Nothing to get worked up about.”

Gordon scoffed. “Except it’s not though, is it? ‘Cos those other times it was just us, not-”

There was a ding and the elevator doors slid open.

“Right through here Lady Penelope.” Scott Tracy, suave as always, smoothly waved their guest into the room. “Go ahead and make yourself comfortable and we’ll get started.”

“Thankyou Scott. And sorry again that you had to come and collect me…”

And there she was. Penelope.

Perfection personified. The epitome of class and grace. A beautiful angel with a heart of gold and a spine of steel, whose voice was a song and whose smile could reduce whole armies to-

“Gordon, what on earth are you doing to that cushion?”

Huh?

He looked down at his hands to see the pillow he’d been fluffing, now scrunched and twisted over and over as if he were trying to throttle the poor thing. As he stared down trying to compute the mess of fabric and stuffing it suddenly disappeared from his hands, and then something was shoving him in the back, causing him to stumble forwards over his own feet. He recovered just in time to spot Virgil throwing the battered scatter cushion back behind the sofa, grinning from ear to ear.

Oh, there will be vengeance…

Right now though she was looking at him and oh god he needed to say something.

“Uh…”

Quick as you like, Tracy.

“Er…” His throat made a strange sort of rasping sound.

Any words will do!

“Lady Penelope!” he squeaked. “Welcome in! Come here! I mean come in. Welcome here. You’re welcome here. To our home I mean. This home. Where we…”

He glanced over and caught sight of Kayo, face in hand, shaking her head behind the temporary bar they’d set up for the evening.

“Drink!” he exclaimed, just a little too loudly. “Can I… Would you like a drink?”

The small, knowing smile she gave him was all at once thrilling and completely mortifying; a glorious little needle of light straight through his poor, mortal little heart.

“That would be wonderful. Thankyou Gordon.”

Cheeks burning, he slumped off to the bar and a consolatory shoulder nudge from Kayo while Scott showed Penelope to the seating area. Virgil scooted around them and disappeared back down to the kitchen, throwing him a sympathetic look on the way.

After getting their guest settled, Scott casually folded himself down on the sofa next to her. “So how come Parker didn’t join us tonight? He was more than welcome.”

Gordon loudly shovelled a scoopful of ice into a long glass and then reached for the schnapps.

Stupid Never-flustered Always-has-the-right-words Scott Tracy…

“He wasn’t feeling too good I’m afraid. He said something about Lilian’s casserole disagreeing with him, but to be honest I suspect it was probably more to do with the FA cup final showing on BBC.”

Cranberry, orange wedge…

Kayo cleared her throat softly. “So what drink was it you wanted, Lady Penelope?”

Gordon’s brain short-circuited, vodka in hand. 

What.. drink?

He replayed the conversation - such as it had been - through again in his head.

…Dammit, he forgot to ask! He’d been so flummoxed he’d ended up mixing on autopilot.

“Oh, anything really. Whatever you’re all having.” Penelope looked over curiously. “What’s that you have there, Gordon?”

Aww hell.

“It’s a… umm… Sex on the Beach.”

Now it was John’s turn to facepalm while Alan snickered from behind his tablet. Even Scott snorted before passing it off with a hasty clear of the throat. 

Lady Penelope, however, held Gordon’s gaze, expression inscrutable, then ever so slowly arched one perfectly coiffured eyebrow.

“Well, that sounds interesting. But perhaps just some wine for now and we’ll see how we get on.”

There was a squeak beside him, and Kayo ducked down behind the bar giggling. Alan snort-coughed and had to be hit on the back by John, who was at least trying - somewhat painfully - to keep a straight face. Scott just grinned at him.

Gordon stood there, stunned into inertia, though he wasn’t quite sure if it was his own mortification holding him back or the slight hint of mischief in Penelope’s eye, almost as if…

Nope, he was definitely imagining it.

Scott looked from one to the other for a moment then, chuckling to himself, jumped to his feet and strode over to the bar.

“C’mon Fish,” he said quietly, grabbing a champagne flute off the bar top and flashing his best, most reassuring, big brother smile. “Let’s go choose a game and get this thing started.”

Gordon nodded, dumbfounded. He grabbed his ridiculous but perfectly mixed drink, complete with little novelty umbrella, and trudged over to the seating area.

Alan was already giving the assembled group a run-down of the various choices lined up for the evening. “We’ve got all your classics like backgammon, chess, battleships, guess who…”

“Those are all for two people, Allie,” said Scott, grabbing himself a beer and pouring Penelope her wine. “How about something we can all play?”

“Clue then?”

“That needs six. We’ve got seven.”

“I don’t mind sitting out the first round if you need me to,” Penelope said gently, accepting her drink.

“Not a chance,” said John firmly. “You’re our guest.”

Alan looked around, confused. “Wait, who’s the seventh?” 

Kayo passed him a soda from the bucket. 

“Uh, Virgil(?)”

“Oh yeah.”

““Oh yeah” he says,” came Virgil’s voice over the ‘comms. “How soon I’m forgotten(!)”

“Sorry Virg!” Alan slurped his soda loudly, earning him a frown from both Scott and Gordon. “Guess I’m just too hungry to think. Where’s the food at?”

“It’s coming. Just waiting for the vol-au-vents to puff up.”

Alan nearly spat out his soda. 

“Vol-au-vents?! What happened to our wings and chi- Oww!” 

A pillow flew across the room and caught Alan right upside the head. He got back up and glared at Gordon, who was already gearing up for another throw. 

“Whatcha do that for?”

Penelope looked from one to the other, realisation dawning. 

“I do hope you didn’t go to any trouble, Virgil. Is there anything I can do to help?”

“Not at all. Really, it’s all in hand. I’ll be up in a few.” 

And with that the comms blinked off.

John swayed forward in his seat. “Y’know, I might go give him a hand…”

“Sit down, John!” ordered Scott, clearly done with them all by this point.

John remained there for a second, possibly weighing up the odds of making a run for it, then sat back down, arms folded definitely-not-at-all petulantly. 

“...Fine.”

“What about Monopoly?” suggested Penelope, clearly trying to change the subject. “That can have up to eight players.”

Kayo shook her head. 

“Can’t.”

“Oh?”

“We’ve been banned,” Alan piped up. “Grandma said so.”

A pause. “...I see.”

“Well that doesn’t matter, does it?” urged Gordon, keen to get everyone playing before the whole evening went up in smoke. “Grandma can’t stop us from all the way in Gran Roca.”

“You sure about that, Gords?” asked Kayo, eyebrow raised.

He laughed nervously. “Heh…”

“In any case,” interjected Scott, “did you forget why Grandma banned it?”

“...Good point.”

The Great Tracy Anti-capitalist Revolution of 2056. In Gordon’s defence Scott had started it, buying up all those hotels like a dragon hoarding gold…

Alan held up a bunch of VR headsets. “How about something more modern? I’ve got Samurai Slasher, Twilight Ridge, Malibu Steade’s Epic Quest…?”

Scott frowned. “Not on John's first night down, Squirt.”

“Oh yeah. Gotcha.”

Gordon nodded. Way too much potential for injury.

“Ugh!” John threw his hands in the air. “You guys are like a flock of mother hens. I’m fine! Look…” He rolled to his feet before anybody could tell him not to. “Nice and steady. No wobbles, no stumbles. Nothing. Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to the bathroom.”

“Uh, Johnny…”

“John darling...”

“Nope, I’m not listening,” he barked, striding purposely out of the seating area towards the stairwell, “Comfort breaks are necessary, so I don't care what you s-”

“John!”

“Food’s here!”

“Look out!”

There was an “oof” and a crash as spaceman, heavy-lifter and a platter of freshly-made vol-au-vents collided in a mess of limbs and pastry before tumbling out of sight down the kitchen stairs.

“John!”

“Virgil!”

Everyone was on their feet as a series of thuds, grunts, clatters and clangs echoed from the stairway, followed by one very plaintive “Oww.”

The place immediately erupted into total uproar. Ever the level head, Kayo immediately ran to get the first aid kit and the medi-scanner. Meanwhile Scott - always the quickest to leap into action - practically flew down the stairs after the pair of them in a frenzy of big brotherly concern, with Alan, Gordon and Penelope following closely behind. 

The two fallers themselves were actually relatively uninjured in the circumstances. Both were a mess of bruises and grazes and smooshed pastry, but at least they were fully conscious and coherent enough to be thoroughly embarrassed by the whole thing. John had twisted his ankle and had a walnut-sized bump on his forehead, and Virgil (who had slid most of the way down the steps backwards) ended up with a bruised tailbone, strained shoulder and one broken finger.  

The kitchen, unfortunately, hadn’t fared quite so well. Total disaster was the most accurate description. 

Best they could figure, the metal serving platter Virgil had been carrying had reached the ground floor airborne, bounced off the doorframe and had landed right in the middle of the countertop, sending plates, bowls, jars and spoons scattering and smashing all over the place. The situation wasn’t helped any when MAX, having heard the commotion, came speeding into the kitchen brandishing a mop and broom, skidded on a stray patch of vol-au-vent filling, slammed into the fridge and sent ice cubes from the dispenser shooting across the floor, then got confused and started spinning on the spot, taking out the stand mixer and two cupboard doors in the process.

Eventually they managed to get things back on a somewhat even keel. After a thorough checking over and an even more thorough mothering from Big Bro, both casualties were helped to their feet and safely installed back on the sofas with strict instructions not. To. Move. 

Penelope kept herself busy fetching drinks and ice packs for the patients and generally trying to soothe frayed nerves while Gordon, Alan and Kayo set to work fixing the kitchen back up, but after twenty minutes Scott - aware of the time and the presence of their guest - called everyone back to try to enjoy what was left of the evening.

And so instead of vol-au-vents, chips and dips were retrieved from various stashes in various rooms, drinks were replenished (non-alcoholic for the two injured parties, eliciting low grumbles from one and shrug of “stupid gravity” from the other) and in lieu of further disagreements a couple of packs of cards was produced. 

The rest of the evening was spent enjoying rounds of Go Fish, rummy, and playing poker for bottle caps, with plenty of jokes, stories and good conversation enjoyed in-between. Towards the end of the night - and to Gordon’s delight - Penelope even taught them a game from her university days called Shithead.

Finally, after most of the others had said their goodnights and wandered off to their rooms, Gordon and Penelope sat side-by-side on the sofa finishing their drinks alone, save for Alan who was snoring softly on the floor beside them.

Penelope swirled the last of her drink with her straw. “Do you think we should move him? That doesn’t look very comfortable…”

Gordon shrugged. “Nah, that’s how he normally sleeps. It’s a teenager thing,” he added, chewing on his orange slice garnish.

Penelope beamed. “I really have had a lovely time tonight. It’s been the most terrific fun, injuries notwithstanding of course.” 

Her eyes seemed to sparkle in the warm mood lighting that EOS had finally persuaded John to put on an hour or so earlier.

“And this drink of yours really is delicious by the way.”

Gordon laughed.

“See? I knew you’d like it. Maybe one day I’ll open up a bar of my own right on the beach and serve them out of coconut shells.”

He removed the little paper umbrella from his glass and started opening and closing it like he was in a tiny Hollywood musical.

She laughed. “Well if tonight’s anything to go by, any bar of yours would never be dull!”

Gordon grinned and presented the tiny decoration to her with a flourish, all hint of his earlier embarrassment gone. He was here, she was here, and it was all just… right.

She accepted it with a smile.

Really though Gordon, it’s been the most wonderful night.” 

There was a pause while she twirled the umbrella in her hand thoughtfully.

“You know, it’s not always easy to relax around other people, especially in my line of work.” She sighed. “So many functions, so many people, but it can all sometimes feel just a little bit…” 

She shook her head. 

“I’m not making any sense. It’s just that being here with you all, everything feels so… easy; so fun.”

Gordon leaned forwards, willing her to go on. It was like a wall somewhere was shifting, and he could finally catch a small glimpse of what was actually going on behind that perfect smile of hers.

She looked up at him, eyes shining.

“I suppose what I’m trying to say is, thankyou so much for inviting me.”

A breath. A moment that seemed to stretch out between them, soft and fragile.

“Thankyou for coming.”

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

The next morning, as Penny yawned and stretched out in the extra-soft, gloriously comfortable guest bed, luxuriating in the distinct novelty of waking up with nowhere particular she needed to be, her eye fell on the little yellow umbrella laying, just as she'd left it, on top of the nightstand beside her.

She smiled, her stomach fluttering.

So fun…

From downstairs there was a sudden commotion and a voice:

“WHAT IN GOD’S NAME HAVE YOU KIDS DONE TO MY KITCHEN?!”

[emin-folly]

RULES: make a new post with the names of all the files in your WIP folder, regardless of how non-descriptive or ridiculous. let people send you an ask with the title(s) that most intrigues them, and then post a little snippet or tell them something about it! (then tag as many people as you have WIPs.)

Tagged by @ceeloilights~

I'll just doing my DC folder since I have way WAY too many WIPs for a normal person lol (long ass list is LONG, you've been warned~)

My DC art WIPs in alphabetical order:

Ace and Batman

Alan and Thomas

Alan n Hal

Alan

Allen fam

Armless

Auction

Awkward

Bar Spo (yeah I don't blame you for not understanding this one lol I sometimes like to abbreviate the names of the characters)

Bargain

Bard

Barry and Wally

Barry and Wally 2

Barry horse

Barry Iris

Barry Iris 2

Barry Iris date

Barry Jesse

Barry out of time

Barry possessed

Barry sketchdump

Barry study

Barry suit

Barry Superman 2

Barry

Bart the Menace

Batman and Riddler

Batman needing help

Battle of the Fashion Tastes

Bby Eo and Barry

Beach

Bringing Barry to life

Carrying Barry 1

Carrying Barry 2

Carrying Wonderflash

Cats

Cheetah

Choices

Clark reading Cinderella

Compromise

Consequence

Cover Flash

Cover mockup

Cover redraw fem

Crackship doodles

Creature Eo

Crossdressing Barry

CW Flash

CW Flash 2

Dark Flashpoint Eo Supes

Dark Flashpoint Eo ivy

DC Aftermath

DC Barry and Kitty

DC Barry vs Slade

DC Barry's obsession

DC Barry's weird fears

DC Bruce's Farm Madness

DC Dad brawl

DC Eo styles

DC Flash and Thawne

DC drawpile 1

DC drawpile 2

DC Fashion Tastes

DC Food Cramps

DC Hal's Stripper Discovery

DC Hole in the Ground

DC Human Disaster

DC Human

DC Interviews

DC Justice League Civilian

DC Mer Spell Gone Wrong

DC My Hero

DC Nobody wants to save Thawne

DC Off Worlding

DC Plan Backfire

DC Slade's new pet

DC SonicFlash

DC Speedster Realities

DC Speedsters and Bug

DC The No Speed Force Race

DC Welcoming Barry back

DC Bleached

DC Furries

DC Mer Funny

DC OC

DC pile

DC things

DC vampires au

DC vs vampires 2

Deer style

Flash AU doodles

Flash AU

Flash

Flashfam fluff

Doting

Dress up

Drunk Barry

Eo and Croc

Eo Barry civilian

EoHal

Eo medieval

Eo meme

Eo needs help

Eo outfit

Eo panel practice

Eo torn up

Eo vs Batman

Eo wants commitment

Eobard AU

Eobard AU 2

Eobard Ivy doodles

Eobard

EoBarry transformers

EoBarry

EoBeth

Eo Carol

EoHarlIvy

EoIvy

EoIvy 2

EoIvy Genderbend

EoIvy meeting

EoIvy talk

Eo's Coping Methods

Eo and Paradox

Eo mini Barry

Eo's verbal mess-ups

Eostar pickup

Fem Bard full body

Fem Eo

Fem Eo 2

Fem EoBarry

Fem Thawne

Flamboyant

Flirting

Funny Silver Age

Genderbend Eo

Gertrude

GL headaches

GL Human infestation

Good Cop, Bad Cop

Gotham

Hal in Thawne's body

Hal suspects faves

Hamlet

Hamlet 2

Hamlet 3

Hamlet 4

Hand

Heels

Horse

Hug

Injustice Eo

Injustice Eo dump

Injustice EoIvy

Iris gets powers

Iris holding a grudge

Ivy about Eo

JL silly faces

Justice

Linda and Barry

Manga Eo

Menace

Mer AU

Mer AU 2

Mer design concept

Mer Reverses

Mom J'onn

Monophobia

Monster Supes

Muzzle Barry

New suit

No speed

Obsessive Eo

OT3

Panel redraw Barry

Panic induced Rogues

Parallax Eo

Parody

Pathetic

Personal boundaries

Pet

Plaything

Poses

Pre new 52 memories

Prop up

Protect

Random doodles

Reverse fam

Rogues and Barry

Role reversal

Roy and Ralph

Sacred

Scarlet Speedster

Secret

Shibari

Shift

Ship comic

Ship

Sin

Sleep

Sleepover

Speed dancing

Speed Force and Eo

StarFlash

Swan Thawne

Symbolism

Teacher

Team up Thomas and Baby Bruce

Thomas and Barry

Touchy feely

Vampire Barry

Wally Shayera AU

Wally talks to Barry

What Eo eats

Wipeout

Women

Wonderflash doodles

Wonderflash 2

xxx

xxx 2

Zoom prodigy

As for who I'm tagging, I don't really know who to pick specifically so the person reading this, boop you're it! :>