#I wanna see... claw machine shenanigans.

[lunarpanda]

I’m gonna need another arcade episode because I love arcade episodes so much.

[thescarletnargacuga]

DON'T BE SUSPICIOUS

A SHOWTIME AND CIRCUS SHENANIGANS ONESHOT

For: @waffle-gal

WARNING: suggestive Jax

~~~

"You wanna do what?" Pomni questioned with a confused look on her face.

Gangle and Ragatha only just now realized how ridiculous their request was, hearing it out loud. Gangle was too afraid to speak up, hunching over and fidgeting with her hands. A bright pink blush of embarrassment colored her cheeks.

Ragatha found it hard to meet Pomni's gaze as well, but found the courage to ask again. "We, uh, would like to...follow you...on your date with Caine. We want to make sure everything goes well. Girls support girls."

Pomni crossed her arms and arched an eyebrow. "Are you sure it's not to live vicariously through me? ...or Caine?"

"....maybe a little." Ragatha stared at the floor. "Can we come? We promise we won't get in the way. You won't even know we're there."

Pomni thought for a moment, taking in the adorable duo. She sighed. "Alright, but I'm telling Caine that it's a double date. I don't know how else I'm going to sneak you two through the portal."

Ragatha and Gangle perked up immediately. "Yay! Thank you, Pomni!" Ragatha clapped.

Pomni shook her head with a smile. "You got lucky this time. We're going bowling, so it'll be pretty casual."

"Ooooh, bowling sounds fun! Like Ragatha said, we won't be in the way." Gangle bounced with excitement.

No sooner had the girls come to an agreement, Caine popped in next to Pomni. "Who's ready for a date!!" Heart shaped confetti fluttered to the ground around him.

"I certainly am!" Pomni matched his energy for once. "And so are they!"

"Huh? Oh! Hello, Ragatha, Gangle. Sorry, didn't see you there." They were standing maybe three feet away.

"I hope you don't mind, but I invited Ragatha and Gangle on a double date. They really want to go bowling." Pomni took his hand; an excellent move to get him on her side.

"Not at all! The bowling alley is big enough for everyone! Let's go strike some pins!" Caine snapped his fingers and the signature multicolor portal appeared to transport them to the new world.

All four filed through the portal, but before it closed, a fifth fast moving figure dove through.

Pomni, Gangle and Ragatha shared smiles and gasps of wonder at the blacklight bowling alley. Loud music bumped from the speakers, colorful disco lights flashed over the alleys, glow in the dark bowling balls sat in racks, there was an arcade and a concession stand. The smell of cheap pizza and floor wax was an oddly good combination.

While the others were distracted, the unseen figure ducked behind the shoe exchange counter.

"Caine! This is perfect!" Pomni praised and shook his arm.

Caine felt so rosy every time she approved of one of his creations. "I have you to thank. Your description and attention to detail went a long way. So, really, this is yours." He placed her hand on his chest, where a heart would be.

"Awww...." Gangle couldn't help herself. She flustered when Caine and Pomni looked at her together. "Sorry! I'm gonna...go over there, ehe..." She slinked away to the arcade section.

"I'll go with her. She's my date." Ragatha laughed awkwardly, giving Caine and Pomni some finger guns as she side-stepped away. She rushed to Gangle once Caine and Pomni turned away from her. "What was that!?" She whispered harshly.

"I'm sorry!" Gangle whisper-shouted back. "It was involuntarily! They're too cute!"

"I know, but get a hold of yourself! We promised we wouldn't make things weird." Ragatha looked over her shoulder, Caine and Pomni were setting up a lane and getting ready to bowl. "Maybe we just hang out here and play some arcade games for a bit. Give them space."

"Good idea." Gangle examined the contents of a claw machine when a blur of purple in her reflection got her attention. She turned to see two long rabbit ears sneaking along the clerk side of the shoe counter.

Gangle clapped her hands over her mouth before she gasped too loud. She urgently poked Ragatha. "Rags! Rags!"

"What? What is it?"

"Look!!" Gangle hissed in a hushed tone, pointing at the counter.

Ragatha gasped. "What's he doing here!?" She watched the rabbit ears circle around the corner to the concession. "Whatever he's here for can't be anything good. Come on." She kept an eye on Caine and Pomni as she quickly and quietly crossed the room to the counter.

Gangle followed Ragatha closely, bumping into her when she stopped suddenly. Her comedy mask almost came loose. She held in place in a panic, sighing with relief when it stayed put.

Ragatha carefully peeked, staying out of sight, to see Jax rummaging through the kitchen. The NPC manning the concession stood lifelessly at the register. "Okay, on three, we get him! 1...2...3!!"

"Wait, wha-" Gangle just finished adjusting her mask when Ragatha jumped Jax.

Ragatha put a hand over Jax's mouth and wrapped her other arm around his neck. Jax struggled, kicking the metal tables and making kitchen utensils fall to the floor with loud clatters.

Caine and Pomni looked up from their bowling, towards the concessions. The faceless NPC just stood there, staring back. Caine rolled his eyes, they literally rolled around his bottom jaw. "I really need to work on the collision physics of non-action objects. An errant breeze could send a spoon through the wall."

"Let's hope we still have ten pins by the end of the game." Pomni teased.

"Hey, my bowling physics are quite adept, thank you very much." He bumped Pomni playfully with his elbow before stepping up to bowl.

Ragatha struggled with Jax, focusing on keeping him quiet. "Gangle! Help me!" She kept her voice down as best she could.

Gangle tried to restrain Jax, but he bit Ragatha, forcing her to let go and he got away. Jax scrambled to the other side of a metal table and glared at the girls. "What was that about!?"

"SHHHHH!!" Ragatha and Gangle shushed simultaneously. Gangle looked back to see if Pomni or Caine noticed, but the music was drowning them out as long as they didn't talk too loud.

"You can't be here, Jax!" Ragatha stomped her foot. "This is a date! You weren't invited!"

"Neither were you." Jax sneered. "From what I heard, you had to beg Pomni to let you come. How pathetic."

Ragatha flustered angrily. "You were eavesdropping!? Why are you even here!?"

"To have fun." Jax grinned mischievously. "How much you wanna bet you can't stop me from ruining their precious date and frame it all on you."

Ragatha gasped. "You can't do that!"

"Watch me, Dollface." Jax smashed a button on the pizza oven, activating it.

Ragatha rushed around the table to stop whatever the oven was doing. Jax vaulted over the table and left the kitchen. Gangle stood stunned with indecision on what to do. The concession NPC scratched it's face idly.

"Go after him! I got the oven!" Ragatha panicked, trying to figure out the controls.

Gangle ran after Jax. He was at a bowling ball rack, pulling off a couple of ten pounders when he saw her. He swung a bowling ball at her, hitting her in the middle and rolling away with her ribbons tangled around it. He laughed as she rolled away down a bowling alley, hitting the pins and knocking down all but one.

Jax groaned. "You can't get a strike even as the ball!" He ducked out of sight when Caine and Pomni looked around.

"Was that...Gangle?" Pomni questioned.

"I guess she really gets into the game." Caine laughed at his own pun.

Pomni smiled but kept looking for her friends. She saw Ragatha fussing with the oven in the concessions. "Hey! You good back there?"

Ragatha spun around, almost trying to hide the commercial oven behind her. "EVERYTHING IS FINE! JUST GETTING A SNACK!"

"Okay..." Pomni shrugged and took her turn bowling.

Ragatha mashed random buttons on the oven. It started making beeping and whooping and whirring noises, then a pizza with random toppings flew out of it. The pizza smacked the NPC in the back of the head, who did not react, and it fell to the floor with a wet splat.

"I hate this job..." The NPC grumbled, not moving from the register.

"Sorry!" Ragatha whimpered and continued trying to stop the oven, only for it to spit out more hot pizza at her.

Gangle rolled up inside the ball return, dizzy from her trip down the alley. She untangled herself and collapsed the floor, the world still spinning in the wrong direction. The sound of breaking porcelain snapped her straight real quick. "Oh no! No, no!" She teared up, staring down at her broken comedy mask.

Jax giggled maliciously to himself as he quietly scampered from behind one table to the next, careful of his height. He watches Ragatha dodge another flying pizza, it sailed over the concession counter and flopped on a chair. He frowned when he saw Caine and Pomni were too lost in each other to notice the kitchen carnage. "Ugh. Lovebirds make me sick."

Ragatha finally got the oven to stop when she yanked the power cord out of the wall. She had sauce and hot cheese dripping from her dress. "You!" She pointed to the NPC, who didn't react. "Why didn't you help me!? Your oven was going crazy!"

"I get paid to serve pizza, not stop the oven from making pizza." The NPC droned.

Ragatha unintelligibly grumbled, scraping pizza from her hair and snuck away from the mess. "Where is he- oh my god!" She saw Jax working his way into the ceiling. She stealth sprinted over to him and grabbed his legs.

Jax slipped a little but held on to the ceiling access. "Let go!" He tried kicking her off.

"Get down!" Ragatha snapped back, clamping tighter to his legs.

Jax hoisted himself and Ragatha up by using only his arms. They both disappeared into the ceiling.

Gangle's lip quivered as she collected her mask pieces. She didn't notice Pomni looking at her.

"Gangle? Everything all right?"

"I'm fine!" Gangle squeaked and ran to the bathroom.

Pomni looked after Gangle quizzically. "Maybe I'm paranoid, but do they seem a bit... Out of it?"

"Honestly, I haven't noticed that much of a difference. Humans are strange, and I have accepted the fact that I may never fully understand them." Caine double checked his score.

"Fair enough. I'm a human and I don't understand either. I just hope they're not bored. I haven't seen them do any actual bowling."

~

Jax and Ragatha wrestled in the ceiling, rolling and banging into cables and pipes. "I'm not going to let you meddle!" Ragatha squished Jax's face against a support beam.

"Watch it, Dollface, you're really trash talking now!" Jax laughed, rolling over her and pushing her against a vent. "Maybe," He panted. "You wanted me to yourself. Is that what this is about?"

Ragatha's face turned red in record time. The heat of the drop ceiling added to her color. "No! You disgusting, vile, evil rabbit!"

"Keep sucking, Ragatha. I'm about to come." He grinned at his own double entendre.

She kicked him away from her. "Screw you!"

"You wish!" Jax cackled as he crawled away from her in the direction he thought Caine and Pomni were in.

"THAT'S NOT WHAT I- UUUUUGH!!" Ragatha crawled after him with haste.

~

Gangle tried to put her mask back together, but it was no use. She'd have to ask Caine for help. She planned on staying in the bathroom until the end of the date to spare Caine and Pomni from having to look at her tragic face.

Banging and shouting from the ceiling above her got her attention. The ceiling started to buckle and crack from the people above tackling one another. She dove out of the way as the ceiling collapsed, dust flew as insulation and inner workings fell to her floor with Jax and Ragatha.

~

Caine and Pomni jumped at the crashing sound coming from the bathroom. Caine snapped his fingers and the music stopped. They could clearly hear shouting and sounds of a struggle behind the women's bathroom door.

"....maybe you should check on Gangle." Caine said slowly.

"Yeah..." Pomni set down her bowling ball.

~

Gangle jumped into the fray with Ragatha, wrapping herself around Jax, finally restraining him. The girls panicked when the door started to open.

"Gangle? Are you sure you're-"

WHAM! Ragatha body slammed the door shut, hitting Pomni in the face suddenly and knocking her off her feet.

"Sorry! Don't come in here!" Gangle shouted. "Uh, I just had some pizza that really didn't agree with me!"

Pomni rubbed her face. "Are you sure? It sounds like you're literally fighting your demons in there."

"It was REALLY bad pizza! Go back to your date! Don't worry about me!"

~

Pomni hesitantly went back to Caine. "She's fine, I think?"

"Alrighty then." Caine snapped his fingers and the music resumed.

~

Ragatha peeked and sighed. "She bought it. Barely."

"How are we going to get him out of here!?" Gangle's ribbons tightened around a struggling Jax. Ribbons were wound around his limbs and torso and he was muffled by her mask in front of his face.

"Very carefully. Can you puppeteer him?"

"I can try, but he's putting up a really good fight." Gangle strained, but managed to get Jax to stand upright. His body jerked and threw it's limbs in random directions as Gangle struggled to keep him under control. He staggered in place as though he just got off a tilt-o-whirl.

"Okay, come on." Ragatha held the door for Gangle, keeping an eye on the bowling couple.

Gangle made Jax take a step, then another unsteady step, then another. She banged her head, and subsequently Jax's, against the door frame. "Ow." She whined.

"Careful." Ragatha put her hands on Jax's back, in an attempt to steady his inebriated-like walk.

They only got a few steps towards the entrance when Caine started turning around. Ragatha shoved Jax/Gangle to the ground, out of sight behind a table. She smiled innocently at Caine.

"Enjoying yourself, Ragatha?"

"Oh, yes! And Gangle should be feeling better soon. I just checked on her."

"That's great, it's a shame to get sick on a date. Honestly, I didn't even know you two had a thing for each other. That's wonderful to hear."

"Oh, uh, yeah, we've- uh...been talking for awhile, figured maybe we could give dating a try." Regatha could feel the cartoon sweat down her neck.

Gangle/Jax tried to make progress towards the door on the ground, limbs twitching every few seconds.

"Well, If you're ever in need of a venue, just ask!" Caine winks.

"Thanks! I'll uh, keep that in mind." Ragatha was relieved that Caine's turn came up to bowl and she scuddled away before Pomni could ask her questions.

Ragatha grabbed Jax by the arm and helped drag him to the entrance. "Okay! Are you ready, Gangle?" She helped them stand and opened the front door. A portal back to the circus formed in the door frame.

"Yeah, I'll let him go with the count of three, and you push him through!" She winked at Ragatha. "1....2- NOW!" She unraveled herself from Jax.

Ragatha hadn't caught on to what the wink meant and was late to push Jax out. He braced himself in the door, chest skimming the portal. "You [%$!#]es can't get rid of me that easily!"

"You're not as tough as you think you are!" Gangle pried at Jax's fingers, forcing him to let go. He fell face first through the portal and Ragatha slammed the door shut.

The girls were a mess. Ragatha was covered in pizza pits and ceiling dust. Gangle was frayed from fighting with Jax and her comedy mask was long gone. They sat at a table closest to the entrance and waited silently for Pomni and Caine to finish their date.

~

Roughly an hour later, the Circus's favorite couple decided they had enough bowling. Ragatha was face down on the table. Gangle was still trying to re-curl her ribbons.

"What happened to you two??" Pomni couldn't believe how disheveled her friends were.

Caine arched his upper jaw. This wasn't normal?

"Pizza oven got a little feisty." Ragatha said, muffled against the table.

"Like it said...bad pizza." Gangle added.

[jeeperso]

D&D Quotes Without context

Miscellaneous Edition, for those quotable lines from between sessions

"All I wanna do, is fork a giant woman! A giant woman!" "Jonni, I'm pretty sure she is some type of undead, probably a vampire. Are you sure that is a good idea?" "If I don’t get turned into a blueberry it won’t be my worst date." "Okay, but if you have to defend yourself just don't burn the place down for once." "Oh, Nyx. Sweet summer child. I never make promises we both know I won’t even try to keep." "Jonni, if I wake up to my bed surrounded in flames again I'm short-sheeting your next bed every night for at least a month." "I know you're trying to score here, but Lady Dimitrescu's daughters are literally vampires AND bugs. I can overlook one, but as a Paladin, it is my sacred duty to burn this place to the ground and stir the ashes."

"We don't let Marshall make breakfast anymore." "Those waffles are well-fortified." "I'm going to be charitable and call it hardtack." "We can use these waffles as melee weapons." "Well if we need to deflect siege engines they'll be good to have." "This is still carbon based and digestible by human systems without any poisons." "I can't serve this. It'll cause ... death." "Marshal we've been over this. This Pizza has 10% less of a lethal amount of grease." "Plus they signed the waivers when they bought a ticket. It's fine." "And don't forget to push the Cakeon." "Cakeon being slices of cake wrapped in bacon." "The special sauce is a mixture of mayonnaise, ketchup, mustard, ranch, horseradish, cheddar cheese, sour cream, and anything unfortunate enough to fall into the mixing vat."

"You do have a copy of the legal code I requested in my letter? As landed gentry you should actually have legal avenues to... I'm sorry did you say Burning child?"

"First I'm going to nail a crossbow bolt through your heart. Then I'm going to mount your balls to walls on opposite sides of this chamber." "I need Three Barrels of Butter" "Are you serious? Those Claws could crush an elephant in full plate!" "You're Right!" *Turns to first person* "We might need more than three barrels of butter."

"So Ioun is the patron of poor college kids. that scans "

"its hardtack or a mug of molten cheese-fried... something in a woven mug of bacon. your choice."

"Welp, all this coke ain't gonna snort itself..."

"Right hand me that dress and the bail money. I'll get Jonni." OOC: Well I mean they allow men in the city. Its just no men live in the city. "I stand by my statement. I'm allowed to look pretty every now and then." OOC: And dragons are the most unprejudiced lovers of anyone after bards.

OOC: Well I mean come on, its Ravenloft: saying a place is of death and madness is like making the observation the day ends in y. "Going out. Getting laid." "Jonni, she’s a werewolf." "Going out, forking a werewolf." OOC: Well Lycanthropy isn't usually sexually transmitted. Its just that Mercedes is a biter. OOC: ...I don't have an appropriate response to that.

"You seriously think I’d turn on my friends for a pile of gold?!?" "sigh I’ll show you my tits. "Hot damn, let’s get these murders done!" "No, Jonni, stay good. Besides, there are plenty of other girls who will do that without asking you to murder us." "Hmmmm… this is the moral quandary of my life…" "I’ll give you five bucks." "Scales tipped!" "Phew, I thought I was going to have to cover her next trip to the topless bar." "No, no, I have the bail money right here."

Nyx: So what’s the inside of Jonni’s head like? Edmund (with thousand yard stare): Imagine every ladies only smut magazine you’ve ever heard of going on forever into infinity while everything is on fire. Food was good though.

"It’s cool. They stole it." "And you know this how?" "Magic." “90% of Ravenloft deaths are mysterious vanishings.” "Why does everything come out covered in glitter and … is that …" "Lube. I’ve got a few theories." "Please don’t share them."

OOC: This is a plan that ends with Strahd having fewer brides, his castle is in flames, and he’s lost his cape.

OOC: Our team consists of a horny pyromancer, a gnome who can fillete you in five seconds, an HP lovecraft protagonist with actual magic backing them up, a literal slab of iron with a face, and a guy with a "I went to the eternal city of Ryleth and all I got was PTSD and this lousy T shirt". Gorbash smashing his shield into their face: "Have! You! Considered! Therapy!" OOC: Good news is you guys will no longer be the most conspicuous guys at the masquerade now. Jonni: Challenge accepted! "Nyx, the bounty on stealing his fake mustache is still on."

"Vanilla is the king of flavors. What does it say about society where vanilla is considered just 'regular'?" "That they have a lot of vanilla." Lash: "Don’t you want wishes?" Jonni: "Do I need wishes to get to see you naked?" Lash: "No?" Jonni: "Fuck ‘em." Vesh: "Oh dammit its my arranged fiance." Pit Fiend: "Milady." Vesh: "An extra wish to whoever punches this douchecanoe in the nards." Jonni: "I wish…for Bigby’s clenched fist of nard punching."

Soth: "Oh, gods, why am I on fire and why is Immigrant Song playing?" Jonni: "Take a guess." Hazlik: "Okay, so its a partridge, stuffed inside a chicken, stuffed inside a duck, stuffed inside a turkey, and the whole thing is fried on a stick. Congratulations, that's the most horrible thing I have ever seen, and I once crossbred an elephant and an owl." "I give him the 'itis, and we run like we stole something." OOC: ...weirdly Curse of Strahd has stats for Strahd zombies but not Strahd Skeletons. Or Strahd's skeletal Steed. Strahd once went to a branding seminar hosted by Bane and it changed his life.

"Are we on a high enough floor that if I throw him through the window he'll be killed by the fall?" "Oh, but when I say stuff like that it’s all 'Jonni, murder is wrong.'" "When they say pick your battles they don't mean to pick all of them. That's too many battles Jonni. Put some back." OOC: He's technically already got a symbiote. OOC: They can get married. Gorbash: "I'm increasing the rent." Venom: "Can I keep the pool table?" Gorbash: "I'm not a monster." Giant Brain: "Jonni… I have summoned you here for… WHY AM I ALREADY ON FIRE! PUT ME OUT! PUT ME OUT!"

"Hello We're the party-crashers. This is Jonni, she's here to steal your women and burn your shit down. That's Nyx, she's going to repatriate certain items from the premise. Marshal over there, is here to studiously ignore our shenanigans. This is the New Guy. He seems pretty chill. I'm Gorbash... and I have been distracting you."

"Will you walk into my parlour?" said a spider to a fly. Jonni: "Hold up. Trying to sex a spider." Nyx: (throws her hands up) And then Jonni wakes up with a spider venom hangover webbed to a wall waiting to be eaten. Jonni: "Eh, I’ve had worse one night stands. I’m not a fucking blueberry." OOC 1: Hey, where does your weed elf grow [her] crops? OOC 2: She probably just grows them in the room she hasn’t paid rent on. OOC 3: Because I was also considering a circle of spores druid tortle. OOC 2: We could be partners! We could turn this into road to el dorado staring Cheech and Chong. OOC: Wait, I just realized five people are hanging out in a pirate bar, and none of us are rogues. We are gonna need someone to get thieves tools. OOC: We have a barbarian with a big stick.

"Are we Foxhound now? Blunderbuss Octopus." OOC1: You want to put the stoner in charge of food. OOC2: Eyup. OOC1: I see no way this can go wrong! OOC3: We need the four basic food groups. Beans, Bacon, Whisky, and Lard. “We pray to Almighty Darkseid! Give us a sign! Thumbs up, for the triumph of the human spirit! Thumbs down to begin the everlasting reign of darkness!” “Where did you find this guy?” “Me? I thought you hired him.” OOC: Yup, nature, arcana, history, investigation and religon at +6. MJ got baked and watched the Discovery Orb a lot. Tordek: "But we have a cleric, Jozan, over there." Strahd: *sigh* Snaps fingers, and suddenly one of Strahd's brides sucks Jozan out the window, cue screaming. "Oh look, you suddenly have an opening, how fortunate." Tordek: "We also have a druid...." Vadania: "SHUT UP, TORDEK!" Edmund: "I think the first order of business may be to discuss your Human Resources strategy..." Strahd: "I have a guy for that too."

"When someone as smart as him talks with himself, it's not crazy...They call it monologing." "I thought it was soliloquy?" "No, soliloquy is when you're talk at someone else when your talking to yourself." "Most people would run from a demon, you run towards it to study it." Professor: "THIS IS ABSOLUTELY FASCINATING! A FROGHEMOTH, AND RIGHT UP CLOSE, IT WILL BE AMAZING TO SEE THIS PERFECT KILLING MACHINE IN ACTION." OOC: Also note the Professor is Lawful Good, Archie is Chaotic Good, so collectively they balance out to Neutral good. OOC: That's good. "The incinerations will continue until morale improves!" “You never incinerate the women!” “Because I’m fucking them!” “I… was not expecting you to be so honest about that…”

"You got what you wanted....but you lost what you had...." "Yes, I'm familiar with how capitalism works."

OOC: Dragons are like, “That’s Krandor the shiney. He only fucks other dragons. Weirdo.”

Gorbash: "D'awww, so tiny... perfect size... FOR PUNTING!" *boots tiny mind-flayer into the horizon*

"Dracula hasn't been spotted in almost recently. Whats he gonna do, destroy all we know and love like he definitely can?" "... my god you people are too stupid to live." "What are you doing in my house?" Gorbash: "...well Edmund has been reading your books, I've been sorting through your armory, Nyx and Irost has been going through your other shinies, Marshal has been cleaving anything monstrous that gets too close, and Jonni has been lighting things on fire to stave off boredom." Gorbash: "Okay Marshal, Jonni. Rock, paper, scissors over who gets [to kill] the bishop."

Jonni: "Did you really think this would make up for what you did?" Nima: "I… killed everyone you grew up with." Jonni: "Yeah, and I’m still not forgiving you for what you did to Eddie." Nima: "I am missing some key context here…" Nima: "Also I committed identity theft on you by having my new undead army tell everyone you are running the show." Jonni: "Oh, no. You’ve fooled the boar tribe. Who still haven’t figured out shitting in a hole." Nima: "Yeah I noticed that. I ruined two pairs of shoes attacking their camps."

[fishybehavior]

Well if you wanna write I do have some suggestions...

-Lloyd's time in the medical room with the ninja seeing all the damage done to him after getting rescued from Morro

-Fuzzy baby dregon Lloyd starts to grow out his teeth and develop hunting instincts and then shenanigans ensue

u are getting some dregon? lloyd, but something that I have been thinking up.

@rosiehunterwolf the thing i wanted to write :D

- - -

Gently landing on the high ledge that led into their cave, Nya crept with a little bundle of cloth held carefully in her jaws. The young dragon shook off the water from the rain as a lump in the far corner of the cave began to move. In the low lighting, the lump was formless, but Nya knew that the only thing she left in their cave was her brother.

She watched his sleeping form rumble as he continued to be unaware of her presence. Sleeping off a rather large bull he consumed only a few days ago. Nya knew that she didn’t have to worry about Kai for another week as he digested.

Leaving her time to deal with the little bundle.

“You can come out. It's dry in here.” She rumbled gently to the now squirming and squeaking bundle of cloth. The small head that somewhat resembled a dragon's, popped out from the cloth. They were about the size of a small man, but compared to Nya, they were rather tiny. A small cub-thing who demanded attention and food as they began to squeak and bark desperately, now they were out of the storm.

“Ok, ok. You little beast.” Nya giggled as she cracked open a bone, letting the small cub-thing slurp at the plentiful marrow it hid. Eagerly eating, Nya watched the cub-thing. Curiosity arising at such an odd creature. A mishmash of scales and fangs, fur and claws. The thing looked like some hunter creation; they liked to tear things apart, putting them back together again and again to get killing machines. But this cub-thing did not have that stench of oil and corruption that was soaked into every Hunter production. Watching the little thing suckle on the bone, she could only smell the wet fur and love the cub-thing exuded. Whatever this thing was, it was alive, and it was loved.

Which made how she found them so much more of a tragedy.

[copias-thrall]

Any hcs for going sledding with papa III, Copia,& the ghouls I don’t have snow yet (blessing and a curse. Curse cause I really wanna go sledding), but I thought this would be a fun little ask since it’s December

Hi nonny! IT’S STILL SLEDDING TIME I SWEAR.

The lot of you rent a little chalet for a long weekend—it’s one of those places where you can ski out the door down to the lift. In fact, The Clergy has an “understanding” with the nearby ski slopes.

Papa III can’t wait to go sledding with you! This is something from his childhood in which he never got to indulge—maybe it was because his nannies had no time to take him, or maybe it’s because it was deemed too dangerous for an heir. But now he’s Papa, and if you want to careen down a snow-covered hill with him in a sled or inner tube, he’s going to make it happen. He purchases top-of-the-line, designer snowsuits and tinted goggles for the both of you wear, and he makes sure only to have sleds made from top-quality materials. Sufficiently outfitted, you make it to the top of the hill (his Ghouls abandon the two of you to your own devices pretty early on while they participate in their own shenanigans). The snow is white and dazzling, and you can hear the delighted screams of the others—people that become dots as they slide downhill. You can tell Papa is a little anxious by the way he’s gripping your hand—even through the gloves—but when you look up at him, he just flashes you a beaming smile. “Shall we, dolce?” He snuggles into you as the two of you skate downhill across the packed-in powder. He’ll never admit to being slightly trepidatious about the whole scheme (he’s been told since birth its a dangerous activity), but the whole time you’re just whooping it up and your energy is contagious. Pretty soon he’s tugging you back up the slope for another go. A race with one of the Ghouls ends with the two of you eating snow pretty hard—and at first you’re afraid Papa will throw a tantrum, but he just laughs and challenges his bandmate to best out of 3. Later, once the sun takes the warmth from the air and your garments are beginning to dampen, Papa escorts you to the lodge restaurant for some hot chocolate and cheese fondue to warm your bones.

Cardinal Copia: This is one of those activities he just had convinced himself was unenjoyable. Growing up without parents (or that many friends) left him on the sidelines too much—so you have a lot of baggage to deal with in getting him out onto the slope. The first pass leaves him feeling like the whole thing was a mistake—his fingers digging into your arms and himself frozen in terror—even as you had a great time, sandwiched in between his thighs as the two of you sailed down the hill. Copia is not a man who can let go easily, and unfortunately you guys quarrel a bit before you can come to an understanding—he has to go down the hill at least one more time with an open mind, and if he still doesn’t like it, you agree to let him spectate. The second time, he wraps his arms around your waist and buries his head into your shoulder. Halfway down—as you're laughing at the rush—you feel his grip loosen and his head tilt up. It’s progress, and he begrudgingly admits that another time or two down the slope might be ok. He never quite matches your exuberance, but a smile replaces the thin line on his lips, and he even lets out a breathy “Ah!” when a slight bump in the hill causes the two of you to go slightly airborne. The sun’s still out when he suggests you both retire to the chalet—he didn’t realize how tiring climbing in snow uphill would be. You must admit that stripping off your snow-damp garments and dozing in front of a crackling fire sounds mighty good right now.

Aether: Has heard of this “sledding thing”. He knows the Siblings around the Abbey often wait for the first snow to go out and engage in such an activity. He agrees to go because he’s super-curious about this human activity. Once at the top of the slope, he’s a little anxious—but it’s more about the anticipation than any fear. You tell him to hold on tight as you push off; the whole way down he’s making nervous chittering noises—and you’re concerned that he’s afraid—but the instant you reach the bottom, Aether is jumping up and pumping his fist in the air. In fact, for the rest of the day you can’t dissuade him off the slope for any reason—even for the hot chocolate break you take in the afternoon. By the end of the day, you’re pleasantly exhausted—if a little frozen—and looking forward to cozy sweaters and some warm stew back at the chalet … but then Aether finds out they do night sledding. And who can resist the bright, hopeful eyes his give you.

Dewdrop: Has definitely snuck off Abbey grounds to go sledding (but: shh—don’t let The Clergy know). Has his own sled he DIY’d into a speedy vehicle—a fact you learn only after you’ve gone down the hill. You’d just gotten settled when Dew had started adjusting flaps and fins that appeared out of nowhere. You’d been about to say something about it when Dew hissed at you to lean forward, and suddenly your vision was filled by the rapidly-approaching slope bottom, the chill wind burning your cheeks. When his brakes hadn’t worked, he’d pulled you off into the snow, where the two of you continued forward on momentum before finally being stopped by the snow mound you’d created. Dew had jumped up, cursing, to run after his sled—more intent on fussing with his alterations than you and your mouthful of snow. He disappears for a while, Swiss laughing after him. When he reappears, he’s serious as a heart attack, sled under his arm. Are you ready for round 2? Here, you can control the rudders.

Swiss: If you think Dew was the only one sneaking out to go sledding, you don’t know the Ghouls very well. The two of them have a “friendly” rivalry on whose sled design is the best. He’s pretty confident in his design—and don’t you want to be on the winning team? Unlike Dewdrop, Swiss performs a pretty elaborate safety check and dubs you his first mate. “This,” he points at a flap with a claw, “is to speed up. This,” he points at a fin, “is to slow down.” You and him make a pretty good team as he calls out directions. He doesn’t beat Dew the first go down—but you and him also don’t eat a facefull of snow. So. By midday the two of you are a well oiled machine—being able to fly down the slope even as you’re able to maneuver around obstacles. Dewdrop wants another go? BRING IT ON.

Rain: He’s always wanted to go sledding! He completely overcompensates, and you have to delayer him so he stops looking like a starfish. He’s completely entranced by the sled, and you give him a basic tutorial on how to maneuver it before the two of you even make your way onto the slope. On the first couple of runs, you bracket Rain in as you guide him into correctly steering the vehicle as he teeth purrs in joy. Soon enough, however, he commandeers your sled and makes you switch places. Snow is just frozen water: HE’S GOT THIS. The two of you make a pretty formidable team once Rain has got his captain’s hat on. While Dewdrop and Swiss compete to see who built the best sled, Rain does calculations in his head to use the wind and the drag of the snow to get the two of you at maximum velocity. Here you thought your Ghoul was going to be all sedate and snuggly, but now he’s barking out commands, intent on winning the competition he wasn’t even invited to.

Mountain: The adrenaline rush of speeding down the slope doesn’t even interest him. He just wants to cuddle you close and enjoy the journey—the burst of powder under the rails; the crisp bite of the winter wind; the way the color of the evergreens stand stark against the snow. He leans back, trailing his claws behind you in the snow as he enjoys the feel of the snow under his fingertips. You don’t get as many runs in with Mountain because he’s always wandering off—isn’t this a nice spot for snow demons? Wouldn’t you like a crown of pine needles? Look there—it’s a rabbit with it’s winter-white fur. You can’t even be mad about it as you finally make it back to the top, one hand holding your winter crown in place as you easily swoosh back down the slope.

Cirrus & Cumulus: These women are a team and you’re just along for the ride. Like Mountain, they have no interest in the fastest run competition—they just want to have a good time. They already know a thing or two about sledding, and they sandwich you in between them as they fly down the slope, careful to avoid the other sledders. They fuss when they think your gloves are too damp and your cheeks too red, making you take a midday break to warm up and dry out. The fire is a hot commodity, but they growl and hiss at anyone (Copia is no exception) who tries to get between you and the flames. While some of the others skip lunch entirely, these two make sure you have a hearty bowl of soup as they refresh with some raw roast beef sandwiches. You’re warm, full, and ready to take a nap in their Ghoulette pile, but they came here to sled! Now that you’ve been fed and warmed, it’s time to get back out there! When they hear there’s night sledding, they’re quick to join Aether with their puppy-dog eyes.

[secret-engima]

Nox verse HCs: Genesis

*kicks down door* Who wants to learn more about that Illegit Sibling of Nox and Noctis I mentioned forever ago? No one? Well TOO BAD HAVE SOME HCS ABOUT HER.

...

-Her name is Genesis. Her mother named her that because it means “Beginning”, which is fitting considering she was starting a new life in a totally new world.

-Her full name is Nedala Kikuli Genesis. Or- Genesis of the Clan Kikuli of the Village of Nedala.

-For obvious reasons, she tends to shorten her name to just Genesis Nedala or just plain Genesis (Call her Jenny and she will smile as she kicks you into the water).

-Yes, her mom was a l’Cie from ff13.

-Very pretty. Takes after her mom more than Regis in looks, so for once we have a Lucis Caelum who does NOT have black hair. She has pale blue eyes and thickly wavy long hair that’s a fairly even mix of brown and white-caramel. Few believe her when she tells them its natural and not dyed but there you go.

-Very laidback kiddo. Rolls with just about everything because nothing is weird to her anymore. Smiles easily. Seems like a very sensible person (this is a lie, she is the first to happily yeet herself out a window if the situation calls for it, she just is really good at making up logical excuses for her Stunts after the fact). Has few rage buttons but if you hit one prepare to be mauled because once her temper goes there is no stopping her. Can come across as naive as she will accept almost any crazy theory or story as … not truth, but not a lie either until she sees evidence to the contrary. Has a disturbingly loose grasp on the concept of physics, time, and legality but hides it well.

-Being the kiddo of a l’Cie and an LC makes for … interesting things. Namely she’s got her mom’s Crystarium powers and Eidolon all blended and mixed in with her LC magic, so look out she can do all SORTS of things.

-In FF13 Crystarium/Role terms she’s a pretty even mix between Ravager, Saboteur, and Healer. She also makes a decent Synergist, but LC magic is more geared toward destruction so debuffs come to her easier than buffs.

-Her Eidolon is Fenrir. He’s a warrior looking dude whose “vehicle mode” is turning into a giant semi-mechanical wolf. They are best buds. He summoned himself to meet her when she was like- 3 so their “battle” consisted solely of Fenrir spawning and snarling down at her and 3 year old No Fear Genesis zapping him with a bit of magic static to make him stop and then petting his fur while calling him Fuzzy Good Boy. Fenrir, terrible, inhuman Summon that he is, melted into a 10-12 foot pile of happy doggy goo. This is his person now. His. Do not touch unless you want to face down a snarling wolf with huge claws and sword teeth and enough magic power to make an Astral back off.

-In terms of LC magic, she was DEFINITELY an elemency bby. First thing she ever figured out how to do was make ice under her hands or feet so she could happily slide everywhere. Because she has her mother’s Crystarium folded into LC elemency, she also immediately learned a low level wind spell so she could GO FASTER.

-Has Nox’s/Noctis’s habit of slipping into other dimensions cranked up to fifteen. First time was when she was seven. She was only in the other world for three hours but it was the start of a trend. At this point she has food/water/medicine/camping supplies in her armiger 24-7 and a go bag always either on her shoulder or in her hand for good measure (just in case she goes somewhere that makes it hard to use magic, which hasn’t happened yet but you never know, it could happen).

-Lost her right leg up to the knee at 14 while in another dimension, got a kick-aft prosthetic replacement while she was there as an apology gift. That world was one of the longest stays she’s ever done, clocking in at a year to the day of her slipping into it. That world is also where she picked up several odd habits such as-

-Super mechanic skills and a love of learning engineering and stuff. If she ever meets Cid these two are gonna be a match made in heaven (or its opposite, depending on who is watching).

-Talking to whatever machine, car, or electronic she was fixing like it’s a living thing and then blinking in surprise when anyone acts like her behavior is odd because of course she’s going to talk to them and be polite, how would you like it if someone went rooting through your innards without telling you why.

-Swearing using terms like “aft” “slagger” and “pit-spawned fragging glitched out spawn of a toaster and a scrapheap”.

-Ability to yell at people in mechanical sounding nonsense.

-Firm belief in aliens, but only if they can turn into cars, trucks, boats, and the occasional tank.

-Tends to hide her kick-aft prosthetic to avoid questions and Imperial greedy eyes that would want the tech. The thing can fold in and out of armiger without issue because it was designed with her magic in mind, so in her day to day stuff she wears a normal, boring one made by an Altissian medical company. At least her normal prosthetic is a pretty blue color.

-Picture the looks on a bad guy’s face when he thinks that Genesis is the “crippled weak link” of whatever group she’s in and she just- pops off her normal prosthetic with a smile, there’s a flash of magic and BOOM epic metal leg with fighting claws for toes and a little afterburner thing in the heel for extra kicking/jumping power.

-Doesn’t have any desire to meet Regis at first because he’s a king and she figures he won’t care/won’t take kindly to an illegitimate kid but then she hears about Nox and part of her goes “hmmmm”.

-Still holds off on meeting Regis for probably a few years because Dimensional Shenanigans keep her busy and she honestly forgets about it. Probably meets Nox and Noctis first (I am laughing as I picture her being in the same alt dimension as them and meeting up and befriending them there and then when they “go back to their home dimensions” she’s RIGHT THERE and she’s like “oh. Never wound up outside Altissia when I came back before, hi again little bros.” and Nox and Noctis are like “??????”). Ends up liking these little brothers of hers and following them to Insomnia on their request to meet Regis.

-I want her Shield to be someone from another dimension that she befriended and who had no one else so she was just like- “wanna come live in my world?” and they were like “Yes.”. Still not sure who it will be or what dimension they are from but … that’s what I want.

[marmolady]

“It’s his favourite movie...”

Book/Series: Endless Summer

Main Pairings: Estela x MC/Taylor (f)

Summary: Post-ending (Endless ending). Recalling a most intriguing creation of Rourke’s from the Endless’ memories, what kind of friend would Taylor be if she didn’t indulge Diego in some well-intentioned Freaky Friday shenanigans?

Warnings: Coarse language, sexual references. A lot of silliness. Much stupidity. 

Word Count: 5518

Tagging: @brightpinkpeppercorn @sceptilemasterr @bbaba-yagaa@edgydepressedchoicesthot @endlesssummerfan @blightarts @princessstellaris @acidsugar0 @taramitch96

“You’re telling me you’ve never seen Freaky Friday? What have you even been doing with your life?”

“Taking out fascist dictators and demanding justice for good people. What have you been doing with your life?”

Diego spluttered. It seemed someone had forgotten to put on her sense of humour when she got up in the morning.

“That’s what I thought. So, are you gonna tell me what you two are up to?” Estela looked from one suspicious face to the other. She’d caught Diego and Taylor whispering in a corner, talking about some movie and looking extremely shifty.

Taylor took out the device and handed it to her. “This thing I picked up from MASADA. It’s basically a body swap machine. It can put the mind of one person in someone else’s body.”

The grin had returned to Diego’s face, the anticipation all too much for him. “Basically, it makes for the best prank in history. We’ve just gotta pick our targets and -boom!- Freaky Friday time! And that, my friend, is how you win April Fools’ Day.”

Estela raised an eyebrow. “And you think this thing actually works? If Rourke had a weapon like that, why wouldn’t he use it?”

“What? No! It’s not a weapon! Taylor, she’s taking the fun out of it…”

Taylor shrugged. “Well, she’s got a point. In the wrong hands, this could be really dangerous. But I think Rourke made it just for fun. When I saw it used in the Endless’ memories, Aleister said it was his favourite movie.”

“I found the DVD in the VIP lounge, and it’s had some serious playback. Rourke was a psycho and all that, but even he had to nurture his inner movie nerd.”

“So, it worked in this alternate timeline you saw?”

“Yup,” Taylor nodded. “And we’re being careful. I checked with IRIS. She says it’s fully functional and ready to go. We’ve just got to test it out and get the hang of using it.”

Diego’s hand shot up in the air. “I volunteer! I volunteer as tribute!”

Estela gave him a look that dashed his hopes and dreams in a second. “Nope. I don’t trust you with my body or the body of the woman I sleep with every night. Besides… that’s my line.”

“I love you, Diego, but I don’t really wanna get stuck married to you either,” Taylor admitted.

Crestfallen, he sighed. “Well, I guess that makes sense. So, you guys are gonna…?”

Estela frowned, but nodded. “Of the possible worst-case scenarios, that would be the least screwed up.” She looked at Taylor with an expression that could only be read as, I hope you know, you owe me big for this.

“Haha! I am gonna be so hot!” Taylor laughed as she saw her wife’s cheeks go a little pink. It was all too easy, but she loved having that effect on Estela. “Come on, let’s do this thing.”

Diego took the device and began to fiddle with it. “Okay, this should be on ‘safety mode’, so you’ll be able to see that you’re in range of the machine. Just make sure you stay in the glowy area, and I’ll have you switched in no time.”

Taylor took Estela’s hand with a playful smile. “Aren’t you so glad you checked in on what shenanigans we were up to?”

“I’d rather be on the inside than one of your victims, so yeah. But tonight, we get to do something I want to do, all right?”

“Thankfully our favourite night-time activities tend to align.” Taylor gave a cheeky wink. “Better hope we don’t get stuck…”

There was a small flash.

“Did it work?” asked Diego, shaking with anticipation. There had been no need, the looks on their faces told him all he needed to know.

Taylor, or at least, a person who looked like Taylor, wore an expression that would have been appropriate should she have been clubbed over the head.

‘Estela’ burst out laughing. “What’s that face for? You look cute! This is so weird…”

Estela, who looked rather like Taylor, shook herself, trying to avoid eye contact with her partner. Being stared at by your own face was creepy as all hell. “I don’t like it.”

Diego, in contrast, was jumping up and down, clapping his hands. “Why am I not filming this? If it wasn’t for the accent, we could have seen how long we could fool everyone!”

“Uh, the accent and the fact that ‘I’ve’ suddenly acquired a resting bitch face. Besides, then the jig will be up before we can indulge in some well-placed mischief.”

“How are you not more creeped out by this?”

Taylor shrugged her shoulders… Estela’s shoulders?... whatever. “I guess I’ve already seen myself through the memories the Endless gave me. And, you know, looked at the Endless. I’m pretty unflappable with the weird and wonderful these days. But maybe we should switch back… just so we know it works. I feel like this is gonna be awkward in the bedroom if we’re stuck like this.”

Estela shuddered. “God! Please.”

Pouting, Diego fiddled with the device. “You people are no fun at all. But as unofficial sponsor of your romantic relationship, I guess I’ll zap you back.”

There was another flash. Seeing Taylor --as Taylor-- in front of her, Estela pulled her into a hug.

“Thank fuck,” she said. Releasing her wife, who was doubled over laughing, she roughly took the device out of Diego’s hands. “It’s not that I don’t trust you with this, but…”

“Welp, there goes the brightest spot in my life…”

“I’m gonna tell Varyyn you said that-“

“Wha- No! Taylor!”

“So,” Estela stashed the device in the inside of her hoodie. “What’s your plan?”

  Before sun-up on April Fools’ Day morning. A positively giddy Diego was let into Taylor and Estela’s suite.

“So, we’re 100% set on our targets?” Taylor queried.

Diego shrugged. “I’m still all for a hotel-wide complete mix-up, but I guess this is fine.”

“Right. You keep an eye on the surveillance cameras, and if you’re sure they’re both asleep, give us a call over the radio, and Estela goes in.”

“Wait- won’t their door be locked?”

“Estela has the master key. Obviously.”

Diego looked at Estela with his mouth hanging open. “When did you get that?”

“The day we arrived.” Estela shrugged nonchalantly. “It’s a lot easier to search the place when you can get into every room.”

‘It’s nice to get a little reminder to always stay a tiny bit scared of you…”

Sometime later, Taylor and Diego waited in the atrium, having overseen Estela’s successful zapping of a sleeping Craig and Zahra. Diego would be switched too, for he would have it no other way, but wanting to be surprised, he decided that the unsuspecting victim should be whichever unfortunate person wandered downstairs first. And then there was Raj, strolling down to make breakfast.

“Taylor! Kitchen- kitchen, now!” Diego spluttered, and the two of them ran to lay their trap.

While Diego stood by the stovetop, doing his best attempt at nonchalance, Taylor lurked behind the solid counter, out of view from the doorway. She waited for her target to step into the room and then, adrenaline pumping through her, she activated the device.

For a moment, Raj -in Diego’s body- blinked rapidly and swayed on the spot, his eyes on his on form which was inexplicably standing before him. Instinctively, he reached for his pocket, only to find he was wearing Diego’s pants. “Where’s my…?” he mumbled.

Diego, trying not to squeal with excitement, pulled a packet out of Raj’s pocket and handed it to ‘himself’. “Maybe you should lay off that stuff for a while…”

“Yeah… yeah, I think I’ll sleep this one off…” Staggering a little, he turned back towards the door. “Thanks, Raj!” he called to Diego.

With Raj gone, Taylor came out from behind the counter. “Huh. That was kind of a non-event,” she said. “Though, to be fair, this being a weird drug trip is more believable than ‘got zapped by a Freaky Friday machine’.”

Standing by the reflective surface of the shiny metal fridge, Diego did a twirl. “Taylor, look! I’ve been Freaky Friday-ed!”

Estela stepped into the room and scowled. “You switched with Raj? There goes breakfast…”

Diego immediately deflated. “Ah.”

“And where is he?”

“Uh… back to bed I think…” It suddenly occurred to Diego that he’d better keep an eye on where his body was actually going.

“Hey, I’ll go after him,” said Taylor quickly. “If he sees himself chasing after him, he might do a runner. You can, uh… make breakfast?”

She made a beeline for Raj’s room and hammered on the door. Furball made an appearance, watching her with curiosity. “Raj, my man, you in there? It’s Taylor- just checking in, nothing to worry about.” Crap, girl, could you sound any more suspicious?

For several more minutes she banged on the door, until she was joined by Estela.

“Estela-“ Taylor hissed. “I don’t think he’s in there! Where would he go? He can’t just disappear with Diego’s body…”

Estela’s brow furrowed. This piece of harmless mischief was turning out to be more trouble than it was worth. She made a mental note not to leave Taylor and Diego unsupervised with each other for too long in the future. “He’d just woken up, he wouldn’t have gone far.” She threw the master key to Taylor. “Check he’s not in there and just completely out of it. I’ll keep an eye out for Craig and Zahra getting up.”

Leaving Taylor to search for Raj, Estela sat down and waited. Zahra wasn’t much of a sleeper- she’d be rummaging in the kitchen seeking out coffee soon enough. Or she would have been if she were herself… in Craig’s body, she was probably blissfully unconscious. With that in mind, Craig was probably already awake, but Estela suspected he’d be slow on the uptake.

A skittering of tiny claws on tile suddenly caught her attention. Trusting her gut feeling, Estela stood up and followed the footsteps into the lobby. There was Furball, bouncing around merrily, holding in his jaws… the device.

“How did you…?” Goddammit, Diego! Having left the device with him in the kitchen, it seemed the idiot had been distracted enough by his situation to let his guard down dangerously low. Estela approached cautiously, giving a low whistle to try and entice the fox closer.

Furball eyed her suspiciously, and readjusted his hold on his exciting prize. All he knew was, this weird metal box was interesting to the humans, so it had to be something good.

Then, strolling in from the atrium came Grace, greeting the day cheerily as ever.

“Good morning!” she said brightly.

“Uh, hi,” Estela replied after a long silence, preoccupied as she was with getting at Furball, who’d turned out to be a slippery little creature. As she reached for him, he scampered underneath a table and chewed on the device with gusto. “Furball!” she hissed, crawling after him. “Drop that!”

There was a bright flash, and a loud stream of fruity language.

‘Estela’, or rather, Grace, stood up, an expression of frightened confusion on her face. “Wh-what happened?” Her eyes grew wide as they laid on… herself?

“Get hold of the fox!”

But Furball had taken off at a run. Estela took Grace’s hand and hurtled after him. In the rush, Grace tripped and fell, and in the time it took Estela to pull her to her feet, the quick fox had vanished.

Estela huffed. This was just excellent.

  Having had no luck finding Raj in his room, Taylor was on a mission. The elevator door buzzed open, and standing inside were none other than her first victims, making her all but jump out of her skin.

“Look who it is,” ‘Craig’ said, his tone uncharacteristically icy. “Our friend, Taylor.”

“Hello, you two!” Taylor cried, excessively enthusiastic. “How are you this morning? Sleep well?”

Receiving a hard nudge from ‘Craig’, ‘Zahra’ spoke. “Uh… I never sleep well,” she said. “I’ve got that… not… sleeping… thing.”

‘Craig’s’ gaze was pointedly on Taylor, searching for weakness. “Obviously, I could sleep through the apocalypse…”

“-That’s not true!-“

“But Z was awake. Noticed a disturbance. So… any reason why your wife might have been creeping around our room at four in the morning?”

Taylor contorted her face into an expression that she believed to portray sweet innocence. How successful she was could be debated.

“You must have dreamed it. She has a way of getting inside people’s heads… it might be the staring, to be honest… I should talk to her about that…”

‘Craig’s’ eyes narrowed, while ‘Zahra’ was looking over herself with an air of amusement, poking and prodding her own body with clear fascination. She was taken by surprise as ‘Craig’ smacked her over the head.

“Hey! That’s not fair; you’re bigger than me!”

Taylor couldn’t hide her smirk. “Is something the matter? You two… don’t look like you’re feeling yourselves.” Oh god, Zahra is actually gonna murder me.

“Actually-“ ‘Zahra’ began, before receiving an elbow in the ribs. “You know you’re only hurting yourself?”

“Worth it. And shut your dumbass face.”

“It’s your…”

A look was all it took to silence ‘Zahra’. ‘Craig’ cleared his throat and continued to stare Taylor down. Clearly, she was behind it, but she stood firm under what should have been a withering gaze.

To Taylor’s relief, the elevator touched down in the atrium, saving her from a glare so scorching it would have impressed Estela. And then, there she was, just outside the elevator as it opened up.

“Oh, good morning!” she said shakily, a look of nervous confusion on her face.

Immediately, ‘Craig’ surged forwards. “I don’t know what you did to us, but you’ve got an hour to fix this bullshit or…”

‘Estela’ cowered away, eyes wide with fear. “Please- I’m sorry, I don’t know what you’re talking about…”

“Oh, no, no, no, no, no…” Taylor stammered. There was no way on earth that was Estela.

After the briefest moment of realisation, Zahra and Craig roared with laughter.

“Ah, Tayls, ain’t karma a bitch?”

Taylor ignored them, focused instead on the poor imitation of her wife. “Shit…” She rubbed her forehead, thinking that she’d need a stiff drink before the day was out… and Estela would be needing an even bigger one. “…Okay… who am I talking to?”

“Grace,” came the meek reply, which was met with howls of mirth.

“Oh, Grace! I’m sorry! Wh-where’s Estela?”

“She went after Furball; he ran off with your body swap machine.”

“Wait, what?” Taylor’s eyes bulged; the device… Diego had hold of it… surely, he’d not been so careless?  “Double shit. Shit, shit, shit…”

Quick on the uptake, Zahra, who was in Craig’s body, grabbed him by the hand… her own hand?... and pulled him along after her.

“Hey- you can’t just run off!” Taylor protested, falling on conveniently deaf ears.

Zahra paused momentarily to give her a sly grin, something which looked rather bizarre on Craig’s face. “We’re going fox hunting. And just a warning, Tayls, my good friend, when I get hold of your body swap machine, you are screwed.”

As Taylor made to chase after them, raucous shouts rang out from the kitchen. “Diego!”

She turned and bolted to the sound of the kerfuffle, to find Diego-in-Raj-form cowering behind a worktop while his own likeness angrily waved a frying pan at him. Upon seeing Taylor, Raj-in-Diego-form pointed the pan accusingly at ‘himself’.

“Taylor, you’ve gotta help me… it’s an imposter! I thought it was me, that I was just tripping- I’ve seen that before. But then I smelled it- whatever that thing is burned our breakfast! That’s not me… that’s not me…”

“Raj…”

He kept on muttering to himself. “I’ve seen some weird stuff on this island, dude, but an evil-breakfast-burning twin… nah, it’s too much… too much, dude…”

“Hey! That’s not an evil twin. That’s Diego. Have you looked at yourself?”

“Die-wha?” Confused, Raj looked down, then back at Diego. “Ohhhh. Huh. That’s new.”

Diego hung his head. “Sorry about breakfast. When I Freaky Friday-ed us, I forgot that I’m like the guy in Ratatouille who can’t cook- but I don’t have a cooking genius rat to save me.”

A little stunned, Raj looked at his reflection in the door of the shiny, metallic refrigerator, watching his movements taking place in Diego’s body as a vessel, fascinated.

“Happy April Fools’ Day, Raj!” Diego cried, now confident that he wouldn’t have his friend’s lucky pan lobbed at his head. “Did we bring it, or did we bring it?”

“You most definitely brought it, my friend! Except for breakfast. That’s the saddest thing I’ve smelled in months. It’s borderline offensive, and you created it while wearing my innocent face.”

Taylor could breathe a sigh of relief. One missing person, found. If it wasn’t for the unfortunate Grace-Estela incident, the missing device, and the fact that a dangerously beefed-up Zahra was now on the warpath, she might call the ‘harmless’ prank a success.

“Right,” she said, “why don’t the two of you stay here, and fix breakfast up. I know Diego’s crap, but he doesn’t need a cooking genius rat… he has a cooking genius Raj.”

Her companions looked at her with wonderment.

“He’s not gonna sit on my head and…?”

“No, you dope. Raj is gonna follow you around offering advice and marijuana. Just… roll with it.”

Taylor left them to it, satisfied that she’d put out at least one of the fires she and Diego had unleashed. By the time she returned to the atrium, though, Zahra and Craig were long gone, and Grace was nowhere to be found either.

  Estela had tracked Furball all around the lower floor of the hotel, getting close only to have him shoot out icicles defensively the second he felt she was too close to getting hold of his new toy. Furball was quick, and Estela’s new body was unfortunately, rather a downgrade in the physical fitness department, and not nearly as agile as what she was used to. Finding herself out of breath, the little fox seemed to find it all a great game, throwing out streaks of ice as he gambolled through the Celestial. Estela was patient, though. If the fox kept that up, he’d soon become dehydrated; she’d just keep on his tail until he could no longer put up a fight. It was simple, or at least it would be if she could just be left to get the job done.

“Grace?” Aleister called from the lobby. “Are you coming for breakfast?”

Wincing, Estela cursed her own misfortune. Of all the people the damn fox could have switched her with… and, of course, Furball was trotting right towards the sound of the voice. Little shit.

Aleister’s face brightened as he laid eyes on Estela. “Ah, there you are, my dear-”

“I’m busy.”

Taken aback by her abruptness, he immediately became concerned. “Anything I can help w-“

“No.”

As Grace came into the room, it occurred to Estela that she might not appreciate outright hostility towards her lover. Her gaze pointedly averted from her brother’s simpering one, Estela at least made an effort.

“You should… go enjoy… breakfast. Sweetheart.” Feeling as though she might throw up, she turned to see a most horrifically sappy expression on her own face. She shuddered. If the experience had been creepy before, this was something else…

A hand touched her arm, and she impulsively swung a fist round, colliding with Aleister’s startled face.

“I said ‘go’!”

He ran.

“Estela, you can’t just hit him!”

“Sometimes, you’ve gotta be cruel to be kind. I think all three of us will be less traumatised by this fiasco if I can make him stay away. I do not need him trying to stick his tongue down my throat. Besides, it wasn’t as if I could hit him hard, not with these fists.”

With Aleister safely out of the way for the time being, she could resume her pursuit of Furball, now with Grace around to guard potential escape routes.

“Just make sure we don’t lose the fox, and don’t let him get near water. Sooner or later, he’ll give up, and we can fix this. In the meantime, can you please not look at Aleister like that while you’re wearing my face.”

Disturbed by his encounter with ‘his girlfriend’, Aleister wandered towards the restaurant looking appropriately punch-drunk, when he bumped into a rather frazzled Taylor.

“Sorry- could I… borrow you for just a minute?”

“Al, I’m really, really busy. Is it important?”

He scowled. “Do I make a habit of seeking help from you people? Yes, it’s important!”

Taylor raised an eyebrow.

“Sorry, sorry. It’s just… Grace. I’ve done something wrong. I can’t for the life of me think what, but she’s absolutely furious, and it’s something I’ve done. Taylor, she looked at me as if I was a leper…”

“You know, I think Grace is the sort of person who’d be kind to the sick and downtrodden…”

“You’re missing the point! Taylor, you’re skilled at handling… people problems…”

“Okay. Grace isn’t feeling herself today. It’s nothing personal-“

“She punched me in the face.”

“Uh, wrong place, wrong time.” Taylor was not fool enough not to realise that their April Fool’s prank would not appeal to Aleister’s sense of humour… certainly not once he’d been socked in the face by his supposed lover. “This isn’t a good time for her.”

A lightbulb appeared to go off in Aleister’s head. “Are you saying that this is a… er… delicate… ladies’… issue?”

Eh, that’ll do. Can’t be pinned on me, can’t be blamed on himself. “Yeah… something like that. Just give her a little space.”

“Are you sure? I always thought it was at such a time when attentiveness was…”

“Aleister! I told you, I’m busy. There are, like, five other people in this hotel who you can chat menstruation with. Find one of them- but not Grace. Leave her alone, okay? You’ll thank me for that piece of advice.”

She made a move before he could protest. Jesus Christ on a cracker… Well, at least Diego’s having fun.

Diego was, indeed, having fun. It turned out, making breakfast was a lot less stressful once you’d smoked a couple of joints. If he was to pull off a morning as Raj, he was going to do it properly. Now rather more relaxed, and finding himself singing for no apparent reason, he fried up the eggs, wild mushrooms, and giant La Huerta peccary bacon to near perfection under the guidance of his mentor. For his part, Raj was having a whale of a time now that his imposter was no longer seemingly intent on sabotaging his culinary reputation.

A voice came over the intercom… Taylor’s voice.

“We are experiencing a small crisis situation. All residents, please gather in the restaurant where breakfast will be served as normal. Please don’t freak out- all will be resolved shortly. Just… go eat breakfast.”

“Ohmygod!” Diego cried. “An emergency? We’re all gonna die! This is gonna be our least meal- I can’t handle that kind of pressure!” He took a long drag of his joint, and his expression slackened.

“Maybe this is the end…” Raj put a hand on Diego’s shoulder. All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given to us. And I say we go out in a blaze of breakfast!”

“Did you just Gandalf me?”

“I’m Diego now, of course I Gandalfed you!”

Diego put a hand over his heart, touched. “You are me! And look at this breakfast… I’m you! This is just…” he sniffed… “so beautiful…”

“Aw, dude… you’ve got so much bottled up in here. Worry, anxiety… you need to get it all out! See, this could be the therapy the world always needed. Isn’t that what Freaky Friday’s all about? Improving your relationships and becoming the best you by seeing the world through someone else’s eyes.”

“Holy epiphany Batman! You’re right!” Diego wiped a tear from his eye. “I’m gonna go out there and serve breakfast like the Raj I am.”

Raj sniffed. “I’m so proud… I love you, dude!”

“I love you too, dude!”

When Taylor returned to the kitchen, both men were lying on the floor, watching a fly buzz around above their heads, rapt.

“Er… everyone okay in here?”

“Taylor, I’m better than okay- I’m Raj…” Diego murmured. “…Look how pretty that fly is… It doesn’t have expectations to meet… It’s just doin’ its thing… like a fly… flying… bzzzzzzzzzzzz…”

“Yes. Yes, it is. All right down there, Raj?”

Raj’s eyes crossed as they tried to follow the fly as it landed on his nose. “I understand everything… we all need to escape… whether we’re getting stoned and watching pretty bugs… or getting lost in a fictional world… we’ve gotta escape, my dudes… we’ve all gotta escape…”

“…Wooooow, we really are the same… bzzzzzzzzzz….”

Something told Taylor that neither of them would be much help. “Right,” she said. “Thankfully, everyone who we haven’t brain-zapped is still in the restaurant finishing breakfast. Thank you, by the way. You two make a surprisingly effective team… or, you did… might be too far gone now. But I should be able to wrap up this fiasco with no more unintended participants being dragged in.”

  Furball ran, tripping up over the device that was fast becoming heavy in his small jaws. He skidded out to the poolside and hid in the bushes, Estela hot on his heels, Grace futilely holding out food as a bribe, and Craig following along with interest.

“He’s getting dehydrated- just don’t let him get in the pool-“

Craig’s, or rather Zahra’s eyes grew wide. “Does Furball multiply if he gets wet?”

Estela turned and gave him a look. If there had been any doubt that they’d switched, it was now gone. “Craig, can you grab hold of him? I dunno… pretend he’s a ball or something. That’s what you do, right?”

“I do. But I’m Z now. I feel like I should just stand here with a face like this…” Craig pulled the most exaggerated scowling face he could muster. He pulled out his phone. “I’ll get it all on video… look at me with your best Estela face… yep, just like that!”

Grace, at least, understood the gravity of the situation. “Please, we have to be careful… if Furball drops that in the water, we could be stuck…”

“Grace- Grace! Say ‘Aleister has a sexy ass’ for the camera…”

“No… I- Craig, please don’t antagonise her…”

“What’s she gonna do? She’s in your body. You stole her Ferrari and left her driving a Volvo. I know the feeling… now Z’s got the brawn and the brains… what does that make me…?”

Furball darted out, making a dash for the cover of a deck chair… and heading dangerously close to the water.

“Fuck,” said Estela with Grace’s voice, amusing Craig immensely.

By that point, a curious audience had gathered by the window. Seeing Grace outside, in the midst of an announced crisis, Aleister had no choice but to throw caution to the wind and bring her back to the restaurant -at least until Taylor explained what the hell was going on.

He hurriedly strode over, heading for the person who appeared to be his girlfriend... and ignoring the frantic head-shaking warning from the actual Grace.

“Grace, I…”

“Nope!” Not today, Satan. Estela had had just about enough. She shoved him with all of Grace’s might, sending him flying backwards into the pool.

Fully clothed and utterly bewildered, Aleister hit the water with a colossal splash that brought everyone who hadn’t gathered at the window rushing to watch.

“Chyeeeaaahhh boi!!! Caught! On! Film!” Craig went to high five Grace, but she was too busy rushing to the aid of the unfortunate Aleister.

In the ruckus, Furball bolted- straight into Zahra’s arms… or Craig’s, actually. Startled, the fox dropped the device, and a smug Zahra looked from one panicked face to another.

Taylor burst outside, her eyes round.

Smirking, Zahra inspected her new toy. “C’mere, Craiggers, first thing’s first.”

“Z- I got Grace on video saying ‘fuck’!”

Poor Aleister was still flailing in the water, fighting as Grace tried to pull him up, apparently convinced that ‘Estela’ was trying to drown him.

A few twiddling of buttons, and a bright flash that was visible even in the warm sunshine.

Craig reached down and touched his own chest, dropping the device into Zahra’s waiting hands. “Aw, man, I’m back… Dope trick, Taylor!”

“…Thanks, Craig…” Taylor replied nervously.

Zahra watched with satisfaction as her spectators squirmed. “Yeah… dope trick, Taylor.” She let the device fall to her feet with a metallic clunk. And then she brought her foot down on it, hard.

Grace dropped Aleister unceremoniously back into the water. Taylor gave a strangled yell as Estela looked at her with pure horror. At the window, Raj and Diego cheered… and then Diego went back to doing his fly impression.

“Zahra! Are you out of your mind?”

There was a spluttering sound as Aleister once again tried to haul himself out of the pool. “Will someone please tell me what in the name of sanity is going on?”

Her face a picture of sweet triumph, Zahra dipped her hand into Craig’s jacket pocket, and pulled out a second Freaky Friday device.

“April Fools’, bitches. I won, right?”

  The Freaky Friday Incident would no doubt go down in lore, at least if the buzz that followed was anything to go by. All who contributed to the creation of such chaos were lauded as April Fools’ heroes, and most who’d been ill-effected were now seeing the humour in the situation. Appreciating the genius of the original prank, Zahra bestowed the second device, which she’d found in Rourke’s V.I.P. room after having quizzed Iris, to a still totally stoned Diego.  Craig’s precious video of Aleister being walloped into the pool by ‘Grace’ was playing on almost constant repeat, to the victim’s increasing annoyance. From Aleister, Taylor and an oblivious Diego received a long and thorough ear-bashing.

Finally set free from a tedious and angry lecture on the dangers of such childish pranks, Taylor wandered back to the restaurant, catching the last of her friends as they dispersed. Out of the corner of her eye, she was certain she’d seen Zahra fiddling with the original, broken device while she walked out towards the pool with Craig. She shook it off. The thing was smashed up, caput. Zahra might be a genius, but that machine was beyond repair… wasn’t it?

Taylor’s brief concern was forgotten the second she laid eyes on Estela. Their spot of mischief hadn’t exactly gone to plan, but all was well that ended well.

She ran to her, a broad grin across her face, and took her in her arms with a heady kiss.

“Holy shit, Princess! The hell ya doin?”

Her blood running cold in an instant, Taylor jumped back as if zapped by a bolt of electricity, her hands flying to her face. “Jake?! Ohmygod… holy crap… hooooly crap… I didn’t… oh shit, oh shit…”

Unable to keep a straight face any longer, Estela collapsed into uncontrollable giggles.

“Estela!” Taylor repeatedly smacked her wife over the head as she cried with laughter. Slowly, her body recovered from the shock, and she almost saw the funny side. “There’s a special place in hell for people like you! I think I almost had a heart attack…”

Estela slid onto the floor, clutching her sides and clearly not remotely sorry. This, Taylor supposed, was fair payback for dragging her into the whole mess to begin with. With her heartrate recovering, she began to laugh, and took her lover in her arms.

“When did you learn to do a southern accent, anyway?”

Estela wiped her eyes, high on the simple feeling of being back to normal… and no longer having to look at herself making goo-goo eyes at Aleister. She peppered Taylor’s face with kisses. “To see that look on your face? You’d be amazed what I could do.”

Shaking her head; relieved and only a little exasperated, Taylor made a show of studying Estela’s face carefully. “You’re you?”

“I’m me. And I’m confiscating Diego’s toy and throwing it in the volcano. Never again…”

Taylor giggled and hugged her. “Do it now, while Diego’s still high as a kite.”

“Or…” Estela ran a finger slowly up her wife’s thigh. “you can start working off that debt you owe me for helping you with all this Freaky Friday nonsense. My fees are high -especially after Aleister started following me around with heart eyes. But… I figured you wouldn’t mind paying in instalments?”

“Just one thing... “

“Hmmm?”

“If you do another Jake impersonation while you’ve got your head between my legs, I swear I will divorce your ass.”

With a snort, Estela doubled over once more, before coming up to peck a kiss to Taylor’s nose. “You’ve got a deal, mi amor.”

[acemenagerie-a]

📖+ I just wanna see something for werebear Hank tbh

AU Shenanigans || ACCEPTING

How he hadn’t smelled that this was the wrong Connor was beyond him. Before, he’d chalked every android up to the same metallic, man-made reek, but now he’d realized that just being around Hank gave Connor a slightly more wild scent. Of course, since the smell hadn’t tipped him off, the gun held to him definitely did.

He couldn’t say that he would’ve appreciated Connor flat out sacrificing him, but - given the fact there was no way in hell that the bullets in the other RK800′s gun were silver - it wouldn’t have physically hurt much and could’ve bought Connor a breath of time.

Hank was almost amused as the RK800 shoved him to the ground. Even with the android’s beyond human strength, it didn’t hurt much more than an accidental bump on the street. As he rose, he saw Connor become locked in combat with his counterpart and one thought screamed through his every muscle and sinew. PROTECT.

Primal form would have been enough, but Hank wanted to send a message. His muscles ripped apart and reformed, bones broke and mended, and he rose like a mountain, continuing well past where even a normal bear might have stopped. His fur was somewhat matted, unkempt, and streaks of grey cut through dusty brown. There’s no mistaking that he’d gone grey around his muzzle, though. War-Beast wasn’t the form for critical thinking, but he noted that both androids were staring at him, LEDs spinning into a bright crimson. 

PROTECT CUB.

“Back.” He growled as a massive, clawed paw pressed into Connor’s chest - HE SMELLS RIGHT. CUB. Even trying to be gentle, his claws still easily tore the CyberLife uniform as he put himself between Connor and the RK800 and ribbons of cloth fell to the floor as he rounded on the imposter. 

A roar exploded from his throat and he slammed down onto the imposter with all the force of a hurricane, smashing it like a Coke can. Yes, War-Beast was overkill, but any agents of the Weaver watching the footage would get the message. 

It was hard to change back, let go of that rage he had toward all these disgusting, toxic, stagnant machines, but Connor was standing too still and staring almost through him. PROTECT. FIX. TURN BACK. As he did, Hank felt the bite of a wound in his side.“Shit, bastard got a shot in…. That’s annoying.” He shook thirium off of his hands, wiping some of the muck on his pants. 

Connor’s LED continued spinning and he didn’t respond.

“Son, c’mon, you got a revolution or whatever. Di’n’t save us all a long drawn out, cliche, ‘which is the real plastic bastard’ just for my own health! You don’t have a whole helluva lotta time!”

Connor’s eyes finally moved. “Lieutenant, you’re injured.”

Hank glanced down at the spreading red stain on his side. That actually smarted; fuck, he wasn’t as young and spry as he used to be. “S’nothin’, get back to what you were doin’.”

[faunusrights]

Nora/Pyrrha, loudly so that everyone can hear

I don’t know why my mind immediately leapt to ‘Pyrrha and Nora in an arcade’, but it did and here we are. So have 2064 words of shenanigans! I’m also gonna make this today’s RWBYAC fill??? MULTITASKING.

You’d seen the claw machine before - it’s hard not to have, really, since it’s huge and sticks right out of the arcade on the boardwalk. Plenty of kids like to try their luck and plenty more have come away empty-handed, but you’ve never seen reason to have a go yourself. Some of the toys are cute, sure, but even if you could get one out of confinement (which is unlikely anyway since all these machines are, in Jaune’s own frustrated words, completely fricking rigged up to the armpits) you’d have no real need for it anyway. Your dorm room only has so much space to offer when it’s shared between four people and, besides, you don’t even want to imagine trying to get all your stuff back home to Mistral as it stands right now.

So there’s a claw machine on the boardwalk that you’ve never had any interest in, but then Nora decides she’s having a really lucky streak after beating Ruby to the last of the morning pancakes and she declares she’s gonna win something this time. Even if this is, like, the fiftieth try! She’s feeling good about it! And Ren doesn’t want to go because he wants to study (he says, but you think he probably has other plans that include throwing an impromptu congratulatory/consolation party depending on Nora’s success) and Jaune’s been dragged off to spar one-on-one with Ruby (an idea that, quite frankly, brought tears to his eyes) so it’s down to you to chaperone and make sure any frustration doesn’t end up with a fist-shaped hole in the glass.

Besides, it’s a nice day for a walk anyway.

So the pair of you board the afternoon airship down into Vale because Nora is kind of in love with the very concept of Beacon having its own airship service just to ferry kids around in, and you both end up looking down to all the people on the ground and start to make up stories about what they might be doing, or going, or whatever.

“That guy down there-” Nora prods at the glass, leaving a fingerprint on the otherwise pristine surface. “He and his dog are vigilantes at night. He chases the criminals and his dog cuts ‘em off and bites at their ankles.”

You laugh airily, mostly because you’re thinking of Zwei and also thinking that it’d still be the least weird thing this city has to offer, if it were true. “Okay. I think… I think that person there?” You motion towards a fisherman at the end of a narrow, wonky dock. “Years ago, a fish stole his left boot and he’s still fishing for revenge.”

Nora gasps so loudly it’s almost like she just got shot. “And! And and and, whilst fishing today a second fish will steal his right boot.”

A Yangism pops into your head, and you grin. “Leaving him without a leg to stand on, hm?”

“Pyrrha.” Nora’s delighted, and her freckled cheeks are pink with it. “You’ve been hanging out with Yang too much!”

You’re guilty as charged, so you just laugh again instead, the airship humming as it turns around to dock below.

Once both of you are back on solid ground Nora takes point, leading you through crowds of people with only minimal amounts of shoulder-bashing, but you still follow with strings of apologies anyway. At some point Nora’s hand finds yours and she pulls you along easily, feet thudding along as sandy tarmac turns to wooden slats, and the crowds taper off a little until you can easily swerve around those slower than Nora.

Just over the salty tang of the air and the rhythm of the waves beneath your feet comes the sweetness of sugar and ice cream and the chipper notes of music, and when Nora lets go of your hand to enter a even faster sprint you know the arcade must be just a few meters away. So, you slow down a touch, able to see Nora’s bright head of orange hair as she bobs in front of the machine. Even though you’re walking at a pretty decent pace she still waves you over, pretending to tug you over with some invisible rope when that fails to speed you up.

“C’mon Pyrrha! You’ve gotta be my witness to my victory!”

Your eyeroll would make Weiss proud, but you finally jog over until you stand side-by-side, looking into the glass box as Nora presses her face against it.

“Oh man, what should I go for? That bear is super duper cute, but that kitty is so- oh! Pyrrha, they have sloths!”

“I see it.” True to her word there’s a few fuzzy, sleepy sloths scattered amongst the other prizes, and you already know she’s committed to them. Without another word she’s pulling out her wallet, emblazoned with the Beacon logo, and it jingles with change.

A Lien goes in, and chirpy music starts to play over low-quality speakers. Nora takes control of the crane like a seasoned pro - which she kind of is by this point - and you’re content to lean against the machine as the crane practically crawls into position above a sloth coloured an eye-searingly bright shade of pink.

“Here it comes, here it comes-” Nora’s chanting under her breath as she drops the crane, and there’s a moment where you hold your breath as the claws tuck beneath the prize, starting to slowly lift it from the other toys.

Judging by how a dog walking by with its owner just turned its head to you, Nora’s squeal of excitement was beyond your hearing range.

The claw takes its sweet time dragging back over to the bucket, though. Even you’re feeling an infectious itch of impatience as the sloth gets closer and closer to the bucket… and then, hardly an inch away, it slips just a little out of its metallic grip.

“No! Ren Junior!” And, just like that, the claw gives up entirely and the sloth falls, falls, falls, all the way back with the other prizes just in time for the music to stop and the crane to slide back to its starting position.

You’ve never heard Nora make such a horrified cry before and maybe you should comfort her, but the fact she’d already given the sloth a name just makes you snort, and then snigger, and when Nora’s wide eyes slide from Ren Junior over to you it’s inevitable that you’ll just start losing it. So you do, hands on your knees as you bend over with a cackle that’s practically bursting from your chest in a rush to get out into the world.

“Pyrrha, my child just died a death and you’re laughing at me?” She must know she’s just making you laugh harder, because when she grasps your shoulders to pull you upright she’s smiling too, even if she’s trying her hardest to keep it down. “The great and wondrous claw deemed my only child not worthy.”

You’re going to get hiccups at this rate, so you try and take a breath, swallowing it down. “I- hehe- I’m s-sorry… I just-” Your words fall into a long snort, body shaking, so Nora lets go and gets out another Lien, shoving it through the slot to start the music up again.

“No sympathy in my time of plight on this team… never any darn sympathy…”

Still, it soon proves that the first attempt had also been Nora’s most successful. The second attempt misses Ren Junior completely, and the third sees the claw not even manage to get a decent grasp. The fourth and fifth see Ren Junior get lifted a little before falling back down, and the sixth sees the claw stoke the fuzzy fur like some weirdly affectionate four fingered monster before rising back into place.

Nora’s too distressed to try a seventh attempt, your claims that seven is a lucky number aside.

“He’s lost to me!” Her broken sobbing is very realistic, you have to admit. “His father will never know what he looked like!”

The people in the arcade are also looking pretty distressed, so you pat her back and tug her away from the machine with gentle hands. “You can try again another day, you know.”

A sniffle, resigned. “But what if someone else gets him first?”

Patting her again, you glance towards the end of the boardwalk, noting the ice cream stand you’d seen - well, smelled - before. “Listen, hey. Ren Junior might be a lost cause, but you know what isn’t?”

“What?”

“Ice cream. Which is always accessible even in the dead of winter.”

Just like that, Nora’s eyes light up and her persona falls away as easily as a coat, so you continue. “If you go to that parlour over there and get something, I’ll join you in a second? I promised Ruby to get one of those silly hats with the drink holders for Weiss.”

“Sure thing!” And then Nora’s off like a bullet down the boardwalk, disappearing amongst the throng of people, but with a hum you turn on your heel and head back towards the arcade.

Maybe it’s not Nora’s lucky day, but with a bit of help from a certain semblance it might just be yours.

When you enter the parlour not a few minutes later, Nora’s got a chocolate wafer cone with more scoops towered on it than physically, gravitationally possible. Your hands are tucked behind your back, but Nora doesn’t notice when there’s a scoop of marshmallow chocolate bigger than your fist calling for her, so she doesn’t even really glance your way when you slide into the seat next to her.

“Having fun?”

“Mm-hm!” A dotted napkin comes up to wipe off a bit of ice cream just out of reach of her tongue, and she grins. “They’ve got butterscotch there if you wanna get one too!”

You mentally calculate how much sparring you’ll have to do to burn it off, and find it’s probably worth it. “I will in a moment. I was going to tell you this weird thing that happened when I went back-”

“Weird? Weird how? Like a Grimm rose out of the ocean wearing a hat kind of weird? Or just you saw a woman with three legs kind of weird?”

Privately, you wonder which outclasses the other. “More like as I was walking I heard this little voice crying your name, and when I looked down I happened to find this.” From behind your back you pull out Ren Junior, in all his fluffy pink glory, and Nora just stares open-mouthed, heedless of the dripping ice cream that’s falling onto the table. And then, she turns around sharply, tapping the shoulder of the person sat at the table over.

“Excuse me- hi, yeah, sorry, can you hold this real quickly? Thanks.” Nora turns back to you with both hands free, and she cleans them on the napkin seconds before launching herself at you like a cannonball, paired with a face-splitting grin and a roar of your name.

“Pyrrha! Pyrrha!”

She’s heavy enough that your chair falls back and ends up propped on two legs against the wall in a way that makes you very nervous, but she’s squirming and hugging you until your ribs are creaking and she’s laughing too, Ren Junior squashed up where you threw your arms around her in a panic. The guy holding the ice cream is waiting patiently with half a grin, but you shoot him an apologetic smile anyway and wonder for a moment if this is a place you can ever return to.

When Nora pulls away just long enough for your chair to thud back onto four legs she takes your hands in hers, squeezing until your knuckles pop, and her face settles into an expression so serious it feels like you’re being proposed to.

“Pyrrha, I’ve not said this enough, but I want everyone here- everyone!” The shout attracts pretty much all the attention of the parlour, and you blush so hard you can tell it’s matching your hair. “I want everyone to know that this woman right here, that this perfect teammate? This brilliant friend? I love her more than anyone in the world!” Then, she pauses, blue eyes falling to the prize trapped between your palms. “‘Cept maybe for Ren Junior.”

You don’t even bother trying to hide your laughter this time. Some things are just too impossible to stop.