#If I wanna be even more cruel these guys are all too fruity (and not white) to survive European audiences

[azulock]

My boyfriend was asking me how long I still think the blue lock manga has to go, I told him they'll probably still have a u-20 world cup tournament arc after this one, I also explained what's happening in this arc. This in turn led me to have to explain that, if I go about it realistically, the blue lock project isn't preparing these boys for SHIT.

Like why no penalties??? This is one of the most nerve wrecking moments in football, they need to get used to that. Also stick some screens and a fake audience in there, Japanese people may watch football silently but the rest of the world doesn't, these kids are gonna discover so many new slurs, an angry enough audience can break a whole team's mind. And hit up the sprinklers or turn off the ac, these guys gonna have to play in adverse weather at some point.

Anyway I know the reason is this is a shonen manga, he gotta spice shit up, but I tell you penalty shootouts are spicy enough. Anyways, who I think would survive penalties: Shidou, Barou and Kunigami, and only because they are all the right type of crazy.

[deus-ex-mona]

MAKE A HOLIDAY: Epilogue

well... this marks the end of the fruity thtottle adventure~?

previous part (chapter 7)

MEGU: Okay, here’s a skip! Skipping YUI, it’s now RIO’s turn!

YUI: Oi, hold it! I was just about to throw four cards down!

DAI: Huuh~? Does a rule that allows you to put a few cards down at the same time even exist in this card game?

YUI: It does! Wait, huh? Maybe it’s a local rule? Either way, aren’t you being way too cruel by skipping my turn?!

DAI: Idiooot. Games are more fun when we’re merciless to each other.

RIO: Reverse.

DAI: Whaaat?! But it’s my turn!

RIO: But it’s more fun when we’re merciless to each other, right?

YUI: Nice one, RIO! It’s my turn again… Wait, I can’t put any cards down… I’ll pass.

MEGU: Yup, yuuup! I’m putting a card down~.

MEGU: …Y’know, doesn’t it feel like it’s been a really long time since we last did something like this~?

YUI: Right? I can’t remember when the last time we had time off in the evenings was.

DAI: The choreography of my dance solo needs to be checked later, so I’ll leave the checking to you, IV.

MEGU: Ah, that sounds nice. I wanna do it too! Can I, IV?

IV: Of course.

RIO: IV, you said that you wanted to spend some time with everyone, but… are you really fine with spending it like this?

IV: Yeah, this is perfect.

RIO: That’s good, then. Though, I have something to check with you regarding the live…

DAI: Same here. I’ve drawn rough sketches of the costumes for our next live.

IV: You work really fast, don’t you? Let me see them later, okay?

YUI: Come to think of it, I wanted to try writing lyrics, so I’ve written some down.

MEGU: Ehh. I reallyyy wanna see them!

YUI: Not now! I’m not done with them yet.

IV: How interesting. As for the song… what do you think about co-writing it with RIO?

RIO: That’s not a bad idea.

MEGU: Ehh, that sounds niceee. I wanna do something like that tooooo!

DAI: But you’re already in charge of the choreography.

MEGU: But I wanna try something new toooooo! Ah, how ‘bout this! I wannaaaa do an MC corner or something!

YUI: Lemme join in on that kinda thing too, yeah?

IV: Then, let’s talk about the live once this game ends, okay?

MEGU: Somehow, this kinda reminds me of when we were fooling around in IV’s hospital ward.

DAI: You’re talking about the times when all of us would visit him to check in, yeah?

YUI: But those were less of check ins, and more of visits to play around, right?

DAI: You’re the only one who thinks that way, though?

MEGU: Exaaactly, you’re the one who aaalways brought in a microphone to sing.

MEGU: What a turn-off.

YUI: Huuh?! But you’re the one who was always yelling in the ward?!

DAI: You guys were the ones who always got us scolded each and every time, weren’t you?

RIO: Well, you all were going against the visitor rules of the hospital…

MEGU: But there’s no doubt in my mind that I was visiting him because I was worried about him.

IV: Haha, you didn’t seem to be worried, though.

RIO: In the end, regardless of the scolding we received, we ended up fooling around again immediately after, right?

YUI: Nothing can stop us when we’re all together, yeah?

DAI: What’s with that? How lame.

YUI: Oi!

IV: (They haven’t changed a bit from how they were back then…)

MEGU: I don’t wanna get scolded anymore, so please don’t get hospitalised again, okay~?

IV: Got it.

Every time all of them laughed together, IV found himself thinking that, as long as he was together with those members, they would be able to create history in the future…

That thought still had not changed a bit. Therefore, he could not afford to stop yet.

[z3nitsusgf]

Ok now please hear me out. So if we had pervy kazuha and albedo... then how about childe but he is clueless and completely innocent until you decide to break him. Reader would lean over him to help him get up but actually point her chest out when he accidentally fell and mf doesn't have a clue. He doesn't even dare to have dirty thoughts about you because he knows deep inside that he could break by just that. He doesn't admit it tho when yn tries to make him confess. Its a little messy but I hope you get the idea :)

Evil. Evil. Evil. You are so evil nonnie, I love it. ( this is not same AU as pervy nerd albedo bc that would be cheating and that would be v sad ☹️ )

CW: NS*W, afab fem reader, overstimulation, humiliation, riding on the floor, making out, Childe battling his perverted thoughts

Tartaglia isn’t a bad guy. Truly, for all he’s worth, he’s nothing if not a good role model, a star athlete, kind, generous, handsome, friendly—

But the predicament he’s in makes him question whether or not the raging stiffy he’s downing can be explained. If this will more or less make him unravel and tip over into that uncertain underbelly that he shoves down and pretends he doesn’t notice. And you’re making it harder and harder to push down.

“Come on childe, please,” you murmur across his pursed lips, pushing a strand of auburn hair from his forehead with a lilac nail and he braces himself as if he’s in pain. He can smell the mint fresh of your breath, coalesced with the shimmering cherry of your fruity lip gloss. It’s intoxicating, makes him want to lean forward and smear it across each of your mouths, suck it into his tongue and taste it. And he gulps down a choked swallow.

If someone were to walk in, they’d see you straddling him like a lover. Knees wrapped over his hips as his hands twitch not to grab onto to your ass, it looks like he’s trying not to moan. And the thought makes Tartaglia clench his eyes shut and grit his teeth. Wincing like a kicked puppy. You hide a tipped smile, leaning forward as he leans back, knees pressing into the carpet as you make sure drag your tits across his chest. “I wanna hear you say it.”

He can’t even look you in the eye, face flushed carmine up to his ears. He knows you can feel it. The bulge that’s digging into your clothed cunt, dragged across the seat of your damp panties, the ones that are a periwinkle blue - the ones that have cream lace trim on the edge and dig into the doughy fat of your ass, and that he refuses to acknowledge he can see right now. “I don’t-“ He can’t outright deny your accusations, not when his cock is harder than rocks and presses up against your pussy like it wants to make its way into the tight hole all on its own.

So he rephrases himself, “I can’t.” Whining it out almost, and you draw back. There’s a cruelness to you. With the way your nipples strain through your black chemise, dragging across his chest like faint traces. How you press the mounds to his front, the doughy flesh bouncing along his pecs. It takes everything Tartaglia has not to flip you over and fuck you till you you’re begging him to stop.

You’ve spent so much of your time getting to this moment. Spent countless hours shoving your tits in his face, flashing your panties, suggesting lewd disgusting things, trying to get the perfect boy to break, to no avail - and now, you’ve got him right where you want him, on the precipice of demise. You’re honestly applauding his restraint.

He’s digging his hands into the carpet, trying to look anywhere but the tits so ceremoniously shoved in his face. If he really wanted too, he could lean his mouth down, could peak out his tongue and drag a stripe of hot wet saliva across the plush of your chest, scoop the hard nipple into his mouth and suck until you cry and-

“Please Tartaglia, I’ll do anything.” You drop your voice, make it saccharine sweet and caramelized. Tilting his jaw up with your pointer gently, and he’s looking at you wide-eyed. Big aqua blue eyes shimmering back as you murmur out appraises to him. When he doesn’t respond, you internally huff, pulling out all the stops.

Dragging a hand up to cup his face and play with the back of his hair, the other swirling at his chest. Leaning down to whisper into his ear, “I just want to know if you want me as much as I want you.” Kissing the shell and giving it a faint suck as you feel Tartaglia full-body shudder underneath you, “fuck, I-“

He grabs at your waist, fingers digging into the doughy flesh of your sides and you secretly smirk in victory. Hearing him groan in desperation. “I do,” he pants, feeling him creep a palm to the back of your skull as he grips it and smashes your mouth to his. It’s messy and disgusting, spit swapping and dripping down each of your chins, his tongue slipping in and around your mouth as he tries to get every inch of your palate, trying to taste you. “Want you so bad- it hurts.”

He’s palming desperately at your skin, slipping his hands up your skirt to squeeze your ass till you jerk forward with a needy whine, feeling him bite and suck at your lips. “Wanted this, wanted to do this since I first saw you, wanted to fuck you across the picnic table in front of everyone.” He kisses you till you’re breathless and cross-eyed, tipping your head back and he’s chasing your mouth with shiny spit soaked lips.

Tartaglia grinds his hard on up between your spread legs, right on your pulsing clit. The jeaned bulge catching your clothed damp cunt, making you shudder and pant over his lap. “Did you think about me too? Stuff your fingers in that pretty cunt of yours? Hmm?” He bucks up and huffs into your drooling mouth, sucking on your tongue. You clench around nothing, head foggy with need as you squirm on top of him. “Hah, Childe, please-“ You drag your hips over and over his bulge, the friction working wonders on your puffy aching clit.

“So mean to me, thought you could get away with it too.” He hums, digging his palms into your ass. Scooting you up and down his lap. You hold onto his broad shoulders, skirt bunched up to your waist. He’s making you dizzy, hauling you up to slip out his hard leaky cock, the head red and dripping. You look down and widen your eyes, he’s big. You don’t think you’ll be able to take him whole, and you yelp when he yanks your chemise down. Tits spilling over the lace.

He doesn’t even take off your panties, just slipping them to the side as he ruts the tip between your puffy pussy lips. “Thought ‘bout your pussy everyday, went home and jerked off to the thought of cumming inside of this tight cunt.” Tartaglia is practically feral, letting your slick coat his length and then slamming you down to the hilt. You don’t have a moment to process what’s happening, mouth dropping down to a pretty o shape. Pushing down on his abdomen at the sheer stretch, feeling him all the way in your tummy.

“Tarta-“ he bucks up before you can even get out his name, wretched moans leaping from your throat, as the most disgusting squelching fill the air. “Fuck- fuck, fuck, you feel better than I imagined.” He groans into your neck, your tits bounce with each thrust, each grind of his hips that smash your g-spot. “Gonna cum, gonna cum inside your pretty little pussy.” He moans, licking a nasty stripe over your chest and sucking till you smack a hand to his bicep and grab at the corded muscle. “Childe, hmm- wait, wait, holy shit,” he’s punching the air out of your lungs with each bounce.

You’ve broken him. Or maybe it’s the other way around. Fuck, you can’t think straight. Not when he’s pumping you full, stilling and pushing up to the hilt. The squishy bulbous tip kissing your g-spot, and you feel yourself cumming with a half moan half scream. Tartaglia rubbing circles on your red clit that’s begging for reprieve. Practically jolting in his lap, “so so pretty when you gush around my cock.” He coos, thrusting languidly your into your overused sensitive hole. Sensitive aftershocks pulsing through your lower half making you cream around the base of his length, and spritz down his hips.

“N’ more, please,” you whine tiredly, a funny ache building in your pelvis when he doesn’t pull out. It feels like he’s pulled a million orgasms out of you instead of only one. “No more? But baby,” He drawls, smoothing a hand up your back to fully take off your chemise and skirt. Leaning back up to your ear as he pushes a palm on your lower tummy, smiling when you give him a choked whimper, “I’m only just getting started.”

[fanfic-inator795]

RotTMNT Oneshot: Sweet Sixteen

((This scene just popped into my head, aaaaand I don’t feel like writing anything else atm so- hope you all enjoy))

It wasn’t often that the lair was bustling early in the morning; the Hamato-Jitsu family stayed up late, and often slept in even later. But on certain days such as these, only one person was allowed to sleep in...

At about 7 a.m., all activity was quickly shushed as silent shadows crept towards a specific room - a bedroom with red-tinted walls thanks to the small lamp that was still lit. They could hear quiet snores, and grinned to themselves as they snuck inside.

Still somewhat asleep but awake enough that his ninja senses were reacting to certain noises and scents, Raph snorted a bit and turned over as he began to stir from his slumber. He instinctively hugged his teddy - he had chosen Dr. Huggenstein the night before - close and tried to bury his face in the back of its head, hoping for just a bit more sleep.

And yet, his mind was slowly starting to wake. He could smell something fruity and buttery near. He could hear quiet giggles and quiet steps padding across the floor of his room. And, despite his eyes being closed, he could still somewhat ‘see’ figures coming closer and closer, until they were standing right in front of him...

With his curiosity now too much for even his sleepy mind to ignore, Raph opened one eye, and-

“SURPRISE!”

The snapper flinched, startled as he sat up and nearly throwing a punch at his ‘surprise’ - although this was anything but a surprise attack, and due to expecting it, his family easily stepped back, avoiding the hit expertly as they laughed. 

Donnie and Mikey threw bundles of red and green confetti at him, and as Splinter held up the stack of strawberry and chocolate waffles, Leo leaned over and placed a plastic “Sweet Sixteen” tiara right on his big brother’s head. “Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you~!”

Although he groaned a bit at being surprised by one of their family’s longest running traditions (again. You’d think expecting it would be enough to STOP him from freaking out), Raph still smiled as his family sang and clapped. 

When they finished, Raph naturally invited them all in for a group hug. “D’awww, thanks guys.”

“No probles, Big Brother.” “Happy birthday, Raphie!” “Heh, seems like we got you pretty good this year, huh?”

“Ugh, only ‘cause I was in a deep sleep!” Raph argued, pouting only a little, “I’ll be ready next year.”

Splinter just chuckled at his boys, shaking his head. He hadn’t expected this Birthday Morning tradition to last sixteen years when he started doing it when they were all tots (albeit with less screaming involved, at first) but he was sure glad that it had. “Here,” he said, handing the snapper his breakfast, “Best to eat them before they get too cold and soggy.”

“Right, don’t wanna lose that crunch,” Raph agreed, quickly digging in. Although they still had their own breakfasts to prepare, his brothers and father kept him company as he ate. Honestly, Raph appreciated that just as much as he appreciated the breakfast itself.

Naturally, they discussed Raph’s ‘birthday wish’ plans for that day first - another family tradition, the birthday boy (or girl, in April’s case) gets to decide what they all did as a group that day. For his Sweet 16, Raph had decided on some sparring with Frankenfoot, go-karting at Albeartoland, a small shopping spree at Teddy Bear Town (gotta spend that bday money somehow) and capping off the night with a three-hour wrestling special that was premiering on TV (after presents and cake, of course). 

His bros approved of all these ideas, and after texting the schedule to April and CJ, they gave her approval too.

Afterwards, the brothers moved on onto talking about past birthdays, followed by Leo, Mikey and Donnie all talking about the plans that they had for their upcoming birthdays. But as fun as this conversation was, Raph couldn’t help but notice his father growing quieter the longer it went on.

Eventually, his brothers excused themselves to both grab their own breakfasts and give Raph some space to get ready for the day. (The guy didn’t even have his bandana on yet! How embarrassing - or at least it would’ve been if there was anyone but family there). The only one who stayed was his pop, sitting there as content as ever with a soft, slightly bittersweet smile on his face.

“...Everything alright, Pops?” Raph finally asked, once he had polished off his waffles.

“Hm? Oh yes yes, I’m fine... So, how are you feeling, my son?” Splinter asked, “Sixteen is a pretty big milestone, after all.”

“Heh, I’m good. ...Honestly, it doesn’t feel all that different from fifteen” Raph replied. Thinking about it, he added, “Maybe ‘cause a bunch of stuff has already happened in the past year?” He was now officially a year older, yeah, but it felt like he had already done plenty of changing and growing before then.

Who would’ve thought that he would be given mystic weapons (and later mystic powers), learn about his dad’s past, take down several city-ending threats, meet the spirits of his family, and become a hero alongside his family and friends all before his next birthday? That whole situation was... pretty crazy to think about. Amazing, yeah, but definitely still crazy. In that sense, maybe a more normal and lowkey birthday was just what he needed.

Raph was brought back to the present when he felt his father patting his shell. “Yes, you make a fair point... Still, this birthday is just as much an accomplishment as anything else, and certainly worth celebrating properly.”

The old rat sighed a bit, closing his eyes for just a moment. “You boys are growing up so fast... Before I know it, you will be all grown up. You and your brothers...”

“Aw, come on, Dad...” Setting his plate to the side, Raph pulled Splinter in for a one-armed hug. “We’re always gonna need ya, no matter how old or grown up we get.”

“Heh, I know...” But it was still admittedly nice to hear. “Still, you cannot blame me for being a bit... well, a bit shell-shocked as it were whenever I think about how far you have come, Red. I remember when you were all small enough for me to hold in my arms, and now-”

Splinter stopped, his eyes widening as if he realized (or maybe remembered) something - something apparently funny enough to make him laugh. “Did I tell you- ah, no, I wouldn’t have... Well, no time than the present. Want to know something about the day you were born?”

Raph’s eyes widened at the suggestion, more than a little surprised at his dad’s sudden openness about that day, which Splinter supposed he should have expected, considering previous reactions to anything (or anyone) relating to it.

“I know I do not always-” or ever- “talk about the day I was mutated, but it was not a completely bad day.” He smirked. “I got you boys that day, didn’t I? Heh, you were all so tiny and cute! And you-” Splinter laughed again, and while he was still a bit surprised, now Raph was curious about what was so funny, and how did it involve him?

“Okay, so- this was before your boys were- yourselves. Back when you were norm- ah, average turtles. I was picking you all up, looking at how cute you all were and, well, at one point I decided to give you a kiss on your little head - and you know what you did in return? You bit me!”

“Pffft-!” Raph brought a hand to his mouth, hiding his laughs. “I did not!”

“Oh yes you did!” Splinter shot back, grinning now, “Bit me right on the lip! And I am pretty sure I still have the scar to prove it, somewhere under all this fur. Oh, I was so mad! Heh, but only for a few seconds. It is cruel to be mad at a baby, after all...”

His expression softened a bit as he thought about what happened next. Although Splinter was sure that he would always have mixed feelings about what happened that day and the transformation he received, he would always see the creation of his sons as a blessing that he would always be grateful for.

“Once you were all yourselves, I did all I could to get you boys to safety. And when I held you and your brothers in my arms and saw you all looking up at me... I knew that I would never be able to let you go.” 

Even before he began calling them his sons, even when he still only saw them as ‘innocent creatures’ and had no idea what they would eventually become, they were still his. And they always would be. 

“You have all grown so much that day... And I am not just talking about size, although you especially have certainly gotten bigger.” Splinter looked up and smiled at his eldest. “You are strong, and brave, and so kind... You are more of an honorable man at sixteen than I ever was, and I am so, SO very proud of you, Raphael.”

By this point, Raph’s tears were already beginning to fall, but the snapper could hardly care about that. He just brought his rat dad in for another hug - one that Splinter happily returned. When he eventually felt his son’s grip begin to loosen, Splinter moved to stand on his tip-toes and moved his tail towards his son’s head.

Understanding what he was getting at, Raph lowered his head, allowing Splinter’s tail to lift up the silly tiara as his dad planted a kiss right on the center of his head. “Heh... Happy birthday, my son.”

Wiping his eyes, Raph nodded back. “Thanks, Pops.”

“Oh please, thank YOU for not biting me again.” 

The two shared another laugh, staying beside each other a bit longer. When Splinter did finally decide to leave, he made sure to grab his son’s plate to take back to the kitchen. “Try not to come home too late, I’ll be sure to have supper waiting for you all when you get back. But make sure to enjoy yourself today too, okay?”

Raph chuckled, nodding again. “I will,” he promised - easy enough to do, considering it already felt like a great day. Splinter gave him one last smile before walking away.

As he put on his bandana and his wraps, Raph continued to smile to himself. Maybe he didn’t feel any different than he did at fifteen, and maybe in comparison the days where he escaped a Battle Nexus or fought a dark armor, a birthday wasn’t THAT big of a deal.

But maybe his dad was also right. Maybe it was still an accomplishment that he was a year older - that he was still there, still living and still right beside his family, even after a less-than-normal ‘birth’ and everything that came after. 

Maybe that really was worth celebrating, especially when that celebrating was done with the people that actually made his life worth living.

Speaking of which- “Hey, Raph! You still in there?” “Come on! We’ve already got the dojo set up, and we’re pretty sure Buddy’s just gonna start punchin’ stuff if you don’t get in here!”

“Yeah yeah, I’m coming - and you guys better be ready!” Raph shouted back, grinning. 

With his wraps, belts and bandana all now on, he grabbed his sai, spinning them a few times before sliding them into their holsters. Once that was done, he happily raced out of his room and ran towards the dojo, more than ready to seize the day - seize his birthday - for all it was worth.

THE END

[sparring-hyena]

Another beccaxmc request ☺️ so i had this idea.. what if becca comes to London at the end of the senior and knocks the door on mc’s apartment but when mc opens becca notices that she’s half naked with a guy sleeping on her bed.. idk how but it ends with a happy ending ? 😬

oof. the potential for angst here is off the charts. thanks for sending it my way. i hope ya’ like what i wrote

-

-

there was an adjustment period, and that had been... hard, to say the least. Alex had spent the first part of her stay in London wallowing in her own heartache, the distance between her and her friends only making it worse. then Abbie had come to visit and that had been nice. had marked a sort of turning point for her.

she’d started going out again for the hell of it. exploring the city and meeting new people. she’d even met a small group of people at some pub tucked in an alleyway a few blocks from her apartment. she hangs out there a lot in her free time. not always drinking. sometimes she plays darts or pool with her new friends, sometimes they just sit and talk, and sometimes—very rarely—she does a little bit of writing.

that’s where she is tonight, actually. at the pub. laughing. talking. and about to win the round of darts she’s playing with her friends. the night dwindles on and they all drink some more. it’s Friday and they’re currently celebrating someone’s recent promotion.

there are empty shot glasses and half-drunk fruity cocktails spread across the dinged up wooden table.

Alex checks her watch, not that she’s able to make much sense of of the time being displayed to her. she’s teetering on the very fine edge of being blackout drunk, so everything’s all a bit blurry. she guesses it’s late though because the pub has pretty much cleared out now, and it’s just Alex and two of her new friends left.

“i think i might call it night,” one of them— Anna says. “you right to get her home or you want a hand?”

“go on, i’ll manage,” Matt, this time, says.

Anna leaves, and then a few minutes later, Matt scoots out of the booth and offers his hand to Alex. “c’mon, time to get ya’ home.”

Alex grumbles out a protest but still takes the proffered hand. she stumbles a bit as they walk, but Matt manages to hold her up.

“did i ever tell you about my girlfriend who’s not my girlfriend?” Alex says, her words coming out slurred and a little jumbled.

“i remember you said you didn’t want to talk about her,” Matt says.

“i only said that ‘cause i was sad. but i think you two would have been friends.”

“because we’re both law students?”

she touches her nose with her finger, or tries to at least. “you got it.”

Matt laughs. “c’mon, we’re almost there.”

-

when Alex wakes the next morning, she realises a few things: she’s definitely more than a little hungover, Matt is fast asleep on her couch, and there’s knocking on her door.

Alex sits up in bed and immediately regrets the decision. her head pounds and she feels like she might throw up. there’s a bucket beside her bed, so she guesses it wouldn’t be the first time. Alex searches her floor for a shirt that reeks a little less of alcohol. she tosses her shirt into the hamper and pads over to the door as she unfolds the new shirt.

Matt wakes up as she moves through the apartment.

“thanks for getting me home,” Alex says. “feel free to use the shower.”

Matt smiles and nods.

Alex opens the door, shirt half on, and when she sees who’s standing on the other side, she very nearly collapses. it’s Becca and she looks broken.

“can i come in?” Becca says.

Alex stares at her dumbly, shirt completely forgotten. and then, in some cruel twist of fate, Matt steps back into view, asking about towels. Alex can see the moment Becca’s entire mood shifts. she’s pissed.

“oh, hi,” Matt says, waving. “i’m Matt.”

Becca gives him a once over, and then says, her voice dripping with venom: “Becca.”

“oh, you’re the famous Becca. nice to meet you. you know, this one” —Matt nods to Alex— “thinks you and i would make pretty good friends.”

“i doubt that.”

“you know what, Matt, do you think you could give us a minute?”

“nevermind,” Becca says. “it’s clear what i have to say won’t mean anything to you. so you two can just pretend i was never here and continue with your morning.”

Becca leaves and Alex is left standing in the doorway trying to piece together in her hungover state how everything just got infinitely worse.

“you should go after her,” Matt says.

“she’s pissed.”

“yeah, but anger is a secondary emotion. she’s only pissed because she’s hurt.”

“when did you get so smart?”

Matt shrugs. “dated a psych student last year. but you should go after her. she wouldn’t have come all this way for nothing.”

Alex nods and is about to run after Becca, only stopping when Matt clears his throat.

“might wanna finish putting that shirt on.”

Alex laughs, puts her shirt on, and then runs after Becca. she catches up to Becca on the corner of the block.

“what do you want?” Becca snaps.

“what do i— you’re the one who came to my apartment!” and yeah, maybe Alex shouldn’t have snapped back like that. “sorry, i shouldn’t have yelled. we aren’t together—Matt and I.”

Becca scoffs. “you two sure looked pretty comfortable.”

“that doesn’t mean we’re together. he’s my friend. one of the first i made here.”

Becca sits with that information for a moment, her frustration slipping from her face. “really?”

“yes.”

“oh.”

a beat passes. cars whoosh by and pedestrians give them dirty looks as they block the path.

“come on.” Alex grabs Becca’s hand, their fingers automatically lacing together, and leads her to the nearby park.

they sit down at one of the benches, hands still together.

“sorry for getting angry back there,” Becca says.

“it’s fine. i probably would have been angry too if i were in your position.”

“how’s London been treating you?”

“it’s fun. took a little bit to adjust, but i’m starting to really like it here,” Alex says, and then a moment later adds: “i miss you.”

Becca squeezes her hand. “me too.”

and then Alex says something that’s been banging around in her head a lot these past few weeks. “i wish we’d tried harder.”

“we still can.”

“yeah?”

Becca hums, smiling. “plenty of people do long distance.”

“it’ll be hard.”

“worth it.”

Alex pulls Becca in for a kiss then and it’s at this moment that she realises how much she’s missed this. missed the way their lips lock together, the way Becca cups her cheeks like she’s something to be treasured, the way Becca doesn’t open her eyes right away after they kiss like she needs a moment to come back down to Earth.

“i love you,” Becca says, voice soft and eyes gleaming.

“i love you too.”

[bird-in-a-cage]

#42 from the prompt list... I mean I'm sorry but... I NEED TO SEE THAT.

Wow, am I sorry this took so long! This was a tough prompt but, thanks to @cockasinthebird for being a wonderful human being, we got through it. So I hope this was worth the wait!

Prompt list is here if anyone wants to throw a prompt at me!

#42: “I didn’t say “sex party” as in orgy.  I said “hex party” as in witches.”

So far, college had been okay. It was as hard and challenging as Steve had expected, but he was getting on almost well. He had to spend a lot of time studying in the library, reading and re-reading source materials, typing, editing, deleting and starting all over again with essays and assignments sure. But it was different from high school, on a deep level he wanted to be here, amongst the old stone buildings that either held no heat at all or far too much depending on the weather outside, surrounded by people who also shared a passion for learning. It was different to focus on what he wanted to learn instead of just having to cram a little bit of everything into his brain everyday.

Turns out, if he was just allowed to go a little slower and take his time, he wasn’t as dumb as everyone back home at thought.

He’d gotten into college by the skin of his teeth, pulling far too many all nighters and living off five hour energy to drag his grades up when it was almost too late, pulling in every favour he had to retake anything below a C with nothing but a prayer and a pleading smile, somehow managing to not go completely insane in the process. Getting a 3 point grade average at graduation had been nothing short of a miracle. He wanted to say his parents had nothing to do with his acceptance into quite a nice school, but in reality Steve knew they probably greased a palm or two. Maybe helped pay for the new set of band uniforms that were recently unveiled.

The college itself was beautiful. Steve had fallen for it on his first visit. Old stone buildings, a large green campus area, a good surrounding community, regular activities and groups to go meet up with and try different things with now he was getting out of small town Hawkins and away from being stuck in what he knew. 

There was something a bit…odd about the college though. Steve would be sat in the library, for example, finishing up a comparison piece when he would hear the telltale low battery beep from his headphones. He always forgot to bring a charger. He knew it was on his nightstand back in the dorm room, wrapped around the drawer handle so he wouldn’t forget to lift it this time, so it was pointless checking his bag for it. He would go to pack his things away, open up his slouchy backpack and there it would be, his exact one because he’d wrapped a piece of green tape around it when his roommate kept stealing it and swearing blind he hadn’t, laying curled around his water bottle..

That wasn’t the only example though. Things would just appear when he was looking for them. Books he needed from a completely different section would just happen to be on the shelf he was currently looking at. If a flavour of soda was sold out at a vending machine, he would pick another, but the one he originally wanted would tumble out, ice cold and somehow impossibly refreshing. None of them were a major inconvenience by far, but it was just odd. 

The only small downside to the college of his dreams is that he forgot to investigate anything about the fraternities and sororities. Steve didn’t really have any desire to be in any frat even if offered, they were just houses for boys to pretend not to be at least a little bicurious as they bumped into each other all sweaty playing sports, using basketball as an excuse to touch each other’s muscles. Flat out no homo-ing each other. Steve was out and proud at college, didn’t need an excuse anymore other than “you’re hot, you wanna?”. The days of bi-panic and needing a thinly veiled excuse such as helping someone he thought was cute off the ground in the middle of a match were long gone.  Steve had been to a couple of frat parties, naturally, everyone did. They were kinda fun if you hung around outside away from the thick, choking air of sexual tension that was threatening to bubble over at any minute.

Everyone knew frat houses were just potential orgy dens, right?

There was one frat house though, just off campus and to the right a little, that gave off a weird vibe. The Omega House. It didn’t look that special, had dark grey panelling on the outside, windows trimmed in white, the omega symbol on the outer wall above the door painted in silver that reflected the sunlight and looked almost like real silver. Like the college itself, it was just odd. As far as Steve could tell it didn’t have many members, only four, as far as he’d counted, would walk around in blazing orange letterman jackets with that emblem stitched into the back and a smaller one on the front right breast. He didn’t know what majors they took, probably all on sports scholarships with how stacked a couple of them looked, and one liked to hang around the library. Always in sunglasses even indoors, tight jeans to combat the slightly too big jacket. Blonde hair shaved at the sides but longer on top, not wildly long but just enough for natural loose curls to develop.

Not that Steve had been looking at how handsome he was at all.

Thinking about it, he seemed to always be around when the odd things happened. When there would suddenly be a spare chair even though all the tables were packed with other students trying to do their work, a fresh stack of post it notes in Steve’s bag when he needed to write an annotation down quickly, a newly sharpened pencil just happening to be on the floor by his feet when he’d lost his before class. The rain suddenly starting as soon as Steve got into a building when he’d forgotten an umbrella like it was waiting for him to be safe and dry.

There was just something weird about the whole thing. Not enough for him to freak out and want to go home though, no way. He could deal with weird and slightly odd far better than being stuck in a town going nowhere, where his only future was getting a job in his father’s company and a wife he didn’t love, cranking out a couple kids after a year of so and slowly but surely morphing into a mirror image of the man he lowkey despised.

Even the thought of that was horrifying. It was bad enough that genetically they might look similar one day. Hopefully many, many years in the future. When plastic surgery was cheap.

The library was quiet when Steve entered. Of course it was, it was a Friday night. There were a number of parties and gatherings happening all over the place, but this week he’d promised himself to be good. Study now and party later. He’d been invited to a glow paint, totally-not-a-rave party happening just outside of town that he was pretty excited for. He’d been focusing hard on his studies so it was time to let off some steam. And maybe that steam had been building for quite some time cause ol’ Lefty wasn’t doing the trick anymore, mashing his face into a pillow in the dead of night, furiously jacking off under a blanket and praying his roommate didn’t wake up or come back soon. And, maybe sometimes, Steve thought about that cute blonde in the Omega House jacket and how good it would be to see those thick lips all slick and swollen wrapped around his cock. Really those thoughts were just between him and God, who he hoped wasn’t paying attention most of the time he was alone in his room.

Steve found the spot he liked, towards the back facing towards the window where he couldn’t be distracted by people walking in, and pulled his laptop and the well annotated copy of Dracula he was working from. His half finished essay sat on the screen, cursor blinking at him accusingly, demandingly even. He sighed at it and opened up to the page he was last working from when the chair next to him was pulled out. Not even one or two over, obeying the unspoken rule of the Personal Study Bubble. No, the very next chair. Steve could see orange reflected on his screen. He frowned slightly and turned to just give a passing glance, hoping for a the fuck? expression, when he saw staggeringly blue eyes staring back, nestled into tan freckled skin, natural curls just reaching down into the field of view. The regular sunglasses had been tucked up into the neck of a black tee. The back of Steve’s neck felt instantly hot as he looked away, hoping for a moment he hadn’t been seen, but that was impossible. He was right there.

“Hey, haven’t seen you around before. Must be in the same class though.” His voice was deep and Steve felt his legs turn a little bit to jello. He chanced another glance and saw the guy was holding a copy of Dracula too. Steve wasn’t sure he’d been holding it before… 

“Well, I attend almost every lecture…”

“You must do if you’re in here by yourself on a Friday,” the guy smiled. It didn’t look cruel, neither did it sound like he was making fun. This was already confusing, and Steve wasn’t the greatest with people at the best of times, let alone he around guys he thought were kind of stupidly handsome from afar, and apparently just stunning close up.

Steve just nodded and shifted in his seat slightly since this guy clearly wasn’t going to go away any time soon. He didn’t have anything on the table in front of him, didn’t even look like he had a backpack for the potential of anything. The odd feeling was definitely strong and getting stronger. “Can I… can I help you with something?”

“That depends,” the book was quickly tossed aside and the guy nudged closer with his chair, Steve could smell his cologne. It didn’t smell like anything he’d tried before. It was floral but dark and spicy, but also fruity too. Slightly burnt lemon and vanilla loaf? His hand wrapped easily around Steve’s freer one. His skin was warm, a little rough maybe from weightlifting which he clearly did, applying a comforting amount of pressure. Steve couldn’t help the skin on his arm breaking out in goose pimples. He glanced at their hands together and his throat felt impossibly tight. “I’m Billy by the way.”

“Steve...”

“Great. So, I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but things can be a little, strange around here-”

Steve glanced at their hands again, felt that blue steel bore into his eyes and further back. “Oh they’re strange alright…”

“You ever wondered why?” This guy, Billy, grinned something devilish and let Steve’s hand go only to put it on his knee, squeezing firm but not unpleasant. Steve was sure he was starting to sweat under the attention of all this. Yeah he had fooled around with a couple guys drunk at parties, stumbled into a dorm room or two he didn’t recognise to have some fun and wake up with carpet burns over his back and his knees, but this felt very direct. Especially when Billy’s hand started slowly drifting higher. Steve couldn’t even say he didn’t want it, he’d been staring at this guy from a distance for months now, but to have him suddenly be right in front and touching with obvious intent. It was something else.

“Uh, n-not really. Sometimes maybe?”

Billy’s eyes turned from cool to blazingly erotic in an instant, for just a moment, then back to cool again. He nudged even closer into Steve’s bubble, who was more helpless than a fish on dry land at this moment. 

“Would you like to know why?” The way Billy’s tongue licked over the L was something filthy. If Steve had been set jello before he was now quickly melting into a sweet pool of tangy cherry. “My friends and I can show you.”

Steve felt like he was drowning. This wasn’t happening, it couldn’t be happening. But still BIlly’s firm hand crept ever higher until he was practically cupping Steve through his jeans, inching closer until their lips were connected in the middle of the library. Steve’s eyes fluttered closed. He was already boiling alive in his skin from all the attention and Billy’s lips weren’t helping. They were as plush as Steve had imagined. Maybe not in the right area just yet but with the way Billy was pushing his palm directly against Steve’s slowly awakening dick they just might be soon.

He was half hard when Billy pulled away, flushed bright red like he’d been sunburnt.

“Come by the house tomorrow night, you’ll see. We promise you’ll enjoy it.” 

With that, Billy winked, slipped his sunglasses back on and left. Steve blinked at nothing for a long time, trying to piece together what the hell had just happened to him.

Did… did he just get invited to an orgy?

He packed up quickly and went back to his dorm, there was no way any studying was going to happen now. It didn’t happen throughout all of Saturday either. Just the memory of the whole short incident rolling around and around in Steve’s mind, of Billy’s words dripping from those lips and the feel of his hand pressing just right.

He’d definitely gotten invited to an orgy.

He lay on his bed for a while just thinking, tapping his forefingers together as something for them to do. Steve was kind of flattered really, he knew he was nice looking, but there were far better looking guys on campus, and from the stories he’d heard they’d probably be up for it no questions asked. It also popped into his head that the guys he’d seen wearing the orange Omega jackets were a lot more jacked than he was, and Steve had seen enough porn to know what that probably meant. A part of him knew this was utterly insane. Shit like this didn’t happen without a bored camera crew and fourteen different close up angles.

But then maybe it did happen. He was from a small town after all. He was pretty sure his neighbours three doors down were swingers from all the cars that would suddenly appear once a month for just a night. Least that was the rumor that he may or may not have pushed a couple times. And, afterall, wasn’t this what college was about? Being out there and experimenting with crazy shit you wouldn’t do in the real world. He’d taken ecstasy in his first few weeks at a warehouse party, he had no desire to do that back home.

So, maybe he was warming up to the idea of being a bottom at an orgy party being held in the weird grey frat house. Who was anyone to judge? Steve just wasn’t going to tell anyone about it, that’s all.

He felt nervous standing on the front steps of the Omega House. All the blinds were drawn inside. He didn’t know what to bring, what was customary? It didn’t feel right to bring, like, snacks, so he’d just brought himself, already flushing and trying not to get hard by just the thought of Billy getting his hands on him again, how good he must look naked and sweating, finding out what those lips could really do.

The man himself answered the door after two sharp knocks. The grin he wore was sinful, eyes wild and excited, grip firm as he pulled Steve easily inside the dark room. Steve wasn’t sure what to expect, but low mood lighting, a coffee table in the middle of three couches covered in books and blank papers, and every other surface holding up thick lit candles dripping with wax wasn’t it. It also appeared to be just the two of them.

It wasn’t entirely what he had signed up for. But Steve wasn’t exactly complaining.

“Man, am I happy you actually came,” Billy started, pulling his letterman off and hanging it over the banister like a coat hook. His black tee had the sleeves ripped off, his arms were nothing short of statue worthy. He ruffled his hair a little, the curls bobbing just so. They looked delightfully soft. “The rest of the guys are at some sorority bullshit, but they’ll be here later.”

“Uh, o-okay, cool.” Steve tried to sound confident as he went to go take a seat on one of the couches. Billy sat next to him, up close and personal again and it wasn’t the worst thing in the world. He was radiating body heat which Steve wanted to eat up greedily. He noticed some of the books on the table. A copy of Frankenstein, a very old looking copy of Dracula, maybe second edition, a copy of Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea, and copies of both Malleus Maleficarum and A Guide to Modern Witchcraft. Those titles mixed with all the candles and the mood lighting and Billy’s staring and frankly demonic grin led Steve down the path that seemed the most obvious to him.

This was a sex cult house. And it was about to get all Rosemary’s Baby up in here.

Billy’s hand was back on his thigh again, heavy and pressing, taking Steve out of his deep barrel of thoughts. The grin was back on his tanned features. “You look nervous.” He gave Steve’s thigh a squeeze. Even though he had no idea what was going on it still made his cock jump alert in his jeans.

“Well, I’ve never exactly been to… one of these before…”

Billy’s eyebrows furrowed together a little, he still wore a smile though. It suited his face. “One of what?”

“You know...?” Steve rolled his hands as his face turned ever redder. He was sure it could almost be seen from space. He wasn’t a prude by any means, but growing up in quite a strict household meant he just struggled saying some things out loud. So he whispered it instead. “...an orgy?”

Billy stared at him for a moment before breaking into laughter that wasn’t at all humiliating. He must have sensed Steve’s rapidly growing discomfort and indignity because the laughter quickly died and turned more into gentle questioning. “Did you think that was what this was gonna be?”

“Well I don’t know what else this would be!” Steve spat out in frustration. He hated not knowing the whole story and here he felt he barely even knew the first line of the novel. Billy smiled warm like a summer day and cupped his cheek. He felt instantly calmed, being swallowed up by those cool blues like a gentle river on an August afternoon.  “I said I’d explain about all the odd things that happen around campus. They’re from us in this house. We’re kind of, different.”

“Different how?”

Billy took his hand back and snapped his fingers loud and piercing. All the candles extinguished themselves at once. Not a breeze to be felt. It wasn’t scary, or spooky, but it was pretty cool. “Different different. You’re the only person who’s seemed to notice. And, by house law, that means you get initiated. You get to know that we’re all witches.”

The word hung in the air and seemed ridiculous. But, at the same time, it didn’t. It did certainly explain how chargers and post its and pencils would suddenly just appear whenever Steve needed them. He still wasn’t completely convinced though.

“Witches?” He repeated back carefully, just in case he’d heard that wrong too. Billy nodded and clapped his hands. Every candle reignited themselves, flickering back to life one by one in a circle around the room. A bottle of whiskey and cans of coke appeared on the table where there had been just papers before. The books remained. There was a proud look on his face. Short of being drugged at the door and this all being a crazy fever dream, this was definitely real. Steve didn’t really have any reason to not believe his eyes and what was happening around him. Billy didn’t look like David Copperfield that was for sure. “So, not an orgy?”

“No. Not an orgy.” Billy chuckled and repeated back. He must have seen Steve’s face go from confused to understanding to a little disappointed all within the space of a few seconds because his hand was high on Steve’s thigh again. Maybe the guy just didn’t understand personal space? That seemed growingly likely. “I don’t think I’d wanna share you anyway.”

Steve felt the flush on his face again, but he grinned through it this time. Weird, spooky, otherworldly shit could be saved for later if there was even a chance of getting what he’d been thinking alone in his bed. “But you’d wanna maybe...?”

He let the question stay floating between them as Billy smirked lewd and pressed himself up against Steve’s body. “Bet you’d love to find out what I can do with my fingers pretty boy…”

Oh, Steve really would.

[masquerade-story]

Chapter 4 - Memories

Lillian awoke late into the evening, after everyone collectively agreed to take a nap and process everything Crystal told them. Her throat was dry and scratchy, so she carefully rolled out of bed to avoid disturbing Grey, who'd crawled into her bed for comfort like he always did when he was upset, and padded quietly out of the bedroom.

Since there wasn't going to be any sort of heating bill, they'd left the mysteriously working heater on to combat the unexpectedly cold weather. Lillian stopped by a window to peek outside, and was momentarily startled when she could pick out individual leaves on distant trees.

"Right, our vision got all fancy." Lillian laughed softly at herself, turning her gaze from the trees to the starry sky.

An unfamiliar sky.

Three moons scattered across the horizon, a couple of planets close enough for their rings to be distinct to the naked eye, and a brilliant aurora ribbon streaming across more stars than Lillian ever remembered seeing when she looked up back on Earth.

"There's no North Star," she whispered to herself, her warm breath briefly melting some frost on the window glass. "Different constellations, different horoscopes... I wonder how long a year is here? Or a season? Can we... Even communicate with people to find out?"

An oppressive sense of loneliness settled in her chest. Lillian blinked back a few tears and turned away from the window, resuming her earlier mission of a glass of juice. She slipped downstairs into the kitchen, drank an entire glass, and went to bring her second cup upstairs in case she woke up again, when a soft sound caused her to pause mid-step toward the stairs.

Sobbing. Wretched, mournful sobbing, from the living room which currently had no light on.

Lillian felt her heart clench in sympathy, and changed route.

Rayne sat on the couch, curled into the corner with a blanket around her shoulders and a phone in her hands. She glanced up when Lillian approached, hurriedly dashing her tears with the corner of the blanket. "H-hey, what's up?"

Lillian had the sense to put her juice cup down on an end table before sitting heavily on the couch, encroaching on Rayne's personal space with reckless abandon. "I was gonna ask you the same thing. Why are you down here alone in the dark?"

"Oh, I..." Rayne muttered, her gaze flicking back to the phone. Lillian glanced down, and saw a photo of Rayne and her boyfriend trying on mouse hats during their trip to Disneyworld. His expression was exasperated, but his affectionate gaze was fixed on Rayne's laughing face.

Rayne locked her screen and set the phone down, but it was too late and she knew it. She retreated further into the warmth of her blanket, faking a shiver to cover the fact she was trying to hide her face.

Neither Rayne nor Crystal appreciated it when other people saw them cry, but Lillian knew that it was sometimes exactly what someone needed, whether they wanted it or not. So she leaned on Rayne's shoulder, resting a gentle hand on the other woman's knee.

"You know," Lillian said softly, closing her eyes. "There's three moons."

Rayne was quiet for a moment. Then she sniffled, before whispering: "Really?"

"Yeah. And some ringed planets, and an aurora. Wanna see?"

The bundle of blanket shook in a hesitant nod, and both Lillian and Rayne moved to sit on the window seat overlooking the front yard, keeping throw pillows between them and the frozen glass to seal in their bodily warmth.

Silence stretched on between them as they stared together at the foreign night sky. Whenever Rayne gave a soft cry or pained whimper, Lillian reached over to squeeze her hand without turning to look at her, giving the other woman a measure of privacy while still providing comfort until she was ready to talk.

"It's unfair," Rayne whispered finally, reaching out of the blanket to draw a frowning face on the frosty glass.

Lillian nodded. "It ate our bonds so they all forgot us, but we still have to remember them? It's totally unfair."

"Actually..." Rayne looked over, locking gazes with Lillian, her dark brow furrowed. "That's the thing. Lils, do you remember your parents?"

"Of course. Robin and Larry-"

"Their faces, Lils."

Lillian opened her mouth, then immediately shut it. Her curious expression turned to one of realization, then panic suffused with horror. "No, I... What...?"

"I don't remember his face if I'm not looking at the photo," Rayne said, crossing her arms tightly under the blanket. "I don't remember his voice anymore. I did at first, but... Every passing moment, it's harder to remember the times we shared. The bad, the good. Even while looking at the photos! And I just... I felt like I should have a good cry, while I still felt enough lingering emotion for him to do it."

Lillian felt as though her heart was caught in her throat. She swallowed, swallowed again, then wheezed as she tried to remember how to breathe. Rayne hurriedly wrapped her arms around Lillian's shoulder, squeezing tight in a hug that contained all her comfort and sympathy.

"We'll do everything we can to remember, them, okay?" Rayne whispered, her voice shaking with emotion. "Let's go wake Grey and Crystal, then we can all start writing stuff down. Alright?"

Nodding, Lillian clung desperately to Rayne's hand as they both hurried upstairs, rolling their respective siblings out of bed for an emergency meeting. Grey's horror was contrasted starkly by Crystal's numb nodding, as she apologized for not realizing it would happen. They dug into the boxes of personal belongings, finding some notebooks and pens, and sat together in the master bedrooms writing down everything they remembered about Earth and their loved ones until well into the next morning.

"On the one hand it's a mercy," Grey said sleepily, as he doodled another picture of his parents in the margins of his notebook. "So we won't be grieving our loss very long, I guess? But it still feels..."

"Wrong," Lillian mumbled, looking through her phone for a picture of her cat to use as a reference.

"It's not like the time was wasted," Rayne said, adding another bullet point to the list she was writing. "Our experiences shaped who we are whether we remember them or not. It does feel pretty crappy, though..."

"I wonder, will they forget us like this?" Lillian asked, unable to stop the words in her heart from escaping. Her hand paused above the page, the pen in her hand shaking violently. "Will they just... Slowly forget us? Or was it sudden and merciful? Because this... This is cruel."

"Cruelty implies intention," Crystal said softly, her voice shaking almost as much as Lillian's pen. "That... Thing. The Eater. It didn't have any malice, it was just hungry. But I dunno if that makes things better or worse..."

"I dunno man, you ever seen a cat catching prey? Pretty sure eating something alive has some inherent malice in it." Grey grumbled, trying to force his chicken scratch handwriting into something legible.

Crystal, who'd already given up on her own handwriting and embraced the chaotic glyphic nature of her lettering, nodded sagely in agreement. "That's true. I got the impression the Eater wasn't exactly sentient or sapient though. More like a force than a being, if that makes sense? Or maybe I just can't conceive of it, since that thing exists outside our dimensions of understanding."

"You say that so easily, do you even know how wild that whole statement was?"

"Do you even know how wild this whole situation is?"

"Look, we've passed absurdity at this point. Now I'm just down with whatever weirdness comes our way."

"We don't have to pay bills anymore," Rayne said slowly, staring at her paper. Her handwriting was the neatest by far, and she'd finished writing down most important events she could think of, but she kept having a nagging feeling she'd left something out so she kept reading the pages over and over hoping to trigger another memory. "We won't have to buy groceries unless there's things we want specifically that wasn't in our house to begin with. The electricity will never go out, damage to the property will be repaired, and even though we're in a new world with unknown levels of development and technology, we will never have to worry about toilet paper. In exchange for a very comfortable standard of living, we lost our connection to our home and families."

"Personally speaking I think it's fair," Crystal said with a scoff. "But that's because our family sucks so I'll be glad to forget them. All my most important people are here with me! I know Robin and Larry will take good care of all our cats, my exes all sucked, and my other friends will get along just fine without me. I don't have anyone to worry about, just regrets for stuff I never got to do. Like visiting the Grand Canyon, or going on a long cruise."

"I wanted to hike around Europe someday..." Rayne said wistfully.

"I wanted to vacation in the tropics. Or maybe Spain? For like, two years. With some hot guys and infinite fruity alcohols." Grey said, staring off into space with a dreamy look in his eyes.

"I wanted to be famous enough for us to visit the space station," Lillian sighed. Grey snorted, and everyone started laughing in a combination of absurdity and delirium from lack of sleep. They started listing everything they could think of, starting with shopping sprees and game show appearances, and ending with complex bank and casino heists to dismantle capitalism.

When Crystal started dozing off while sitting up, they all agreed to get some sleep for real. The notebooks were stacked lovingly on one of the end tables, which reminded Lillian to run downstairs and chug her long-forgotten cup of juice in the living room before trudging back upstairs into bed.

------

"We can't just stay in the house forever, right?" Grey muttered as he stared out the living room window later that night, curled up on the window seat with his knees hugged to his chest.

"Technically we could," Rayne said, drumming her fingers against the recliner arm as she waited for her laptop to boot. "Infinite food and basic supplies, stuff for our hobbies... We have our instruments, we have our computers and game consoles and several external drives worth of movies and books and music since you and Crystal obsessively insist on collecting or hoarding anything of interest for later use."

"Hey, hey." Grey wagged a finger and feigned an offended scowl. "Look at our situation. How bored would we be if the two of us didn't hoard everything? In fact, maybe our desire to hoard entertainment was preparing for this day!"

"Damn psychics always preparing for everything they couldn't possibly know about," Rayne muttered rebelliously, and Crystal laughed. She'd stretched out on half of the corner couch taking up an entire section of the living room by itself, looking cozy with a pile of blankets and her special edition Switch.

"It's only gonna get worse from here, Ray."

"Open your town, I need to sell my oranges," Lillian interrupted, nudging Crystal's feet from her spot on the other side of the corner couch.

"Alright, lemme finish making this waterfall first."

"Your villagers are never gonna have scurvy again for like, three generations."

"That many oranges? Isn't that a bit overkill?"

"If they don't want an entire island nation's agricultural sector's worth of citrus they should learn to adjust their economy for inflation."

"You know the shop is run by literal children, right?"

"It's good to learn early that nepotism leads to ruin. The business world is harsh and so am I."

Rayne chuckled at the sound of Lillian's low, malicious cackling, but her expression swiftly turned serious. "What do you mean it's gonna get worse, Coco?"

"All four of us have abilities for real, right? Being in this world is gonna make them grow exponentially, whether we try to train them or not. New ones will pop up too, or existing ones will change a little as they grow. Okay Lils, gate's open." Crystal spoke nonchalantly, but every word drained a bit more color from Rayne's face. Meanwhile, Grey turned away from the window with an excited glint in his eyes.

"So psychic powers can get real strong in this world?"

"Yeah. The impression I got when we were coming over was... Magic exists here, and it's something anyone can learn to use with practice. But abilities like ours, psychic powers? Those you have to be born with, and it's rare. That's about as much as I know about it though," Crystal sighed and shrugged.

"Can you list everything you know about our situation?" Rayne said, opening a new document on her computer and typing away with her nose inches from the laptop screen. "I wanna write it all down. I got the thing about our bonds and memories, and the house being indestructible-"

"It's not indestructible, just protected." Crystal seemed startled as soon as the words left her mouth, as though the information was somehow new. She furrowed her brow, nose wrinkling as she carefully examined her thought process. "I see, protected... Like a barrier, almost? It'll always rebuild itself and restock supplies overnight no matter what happens, even if it's all burnt to ash, but the property itself is also shielded unless we draw attention from a big threat."

"A big threat? Like what?"

"I don't know. Big animals like those Nessies on the beach yesterday. Or monsters like the Eater, maybe?"

"Monsters?!" Lillian sat up straight, pulling her feet under her body. "There's monsters!?"

"There's magic, why wouldn't there be monsters too?" Grey pointed out, but his twin just stuck her tongue out at him.

"It's just an assumption," Crystal hurriedly explained. "For my power to work, I'd have to come into contact with stuff related to what I want to know about in order to get more information, I can't just pull stuff out of the ether whenever I have questions!"

"Then how do you know what you know already?"

"Well, we were in contact with the house. The house is made with really powerful magic, so I learned magic exists, and that it was used to make the house echo and ensure our supplies remain the same. I think I also learned about the barrier then, but didn't think about it or really absorb the info cuz I was thinking about other things, so it only just popped up." Crystal shrugged and let out a half-hearted laugh.

"What about the Eater?"

"The Eater was menacing us directly and I looked at it so I was able to get some info on it and the bond-eating shenanigan, but not much else because it's way stronger than me, I think? And my power activated as soon as we started our... Transfer, I guess? Away from Earth. And you all were in the room with me, so I knew you all had powers as well as myself, got the basic gist of how mine work, and that we'd all get much stronger whether we wanted to or not. That's really about it for what I know. I told you it wasn't much."

"Why the house though?" Rayne muttered. "It just wanted to eat our bonds and it did that. So why did it drop us on another planet, and why give us this cushy house echo thing?"

Crystal shrugged again. "I honestly have no idea. I think I could know if I got a lot stronger, but... That won't be any time soon. I can tell there's a reason, though. I just dunno what."

"Maybe it's compensation?" Grey said, his expression hopeful.

"Or bait, like a beacon, so it can find us again..." Lillian whispered with a shiver, and everyone's faces fell. Seeing their reactions, she hurriedly straightened her spine and forced a smile to her face. "But it didn't hurt us, and we're all still together. Imagine if we'd been flung to different planets instead of staying together!"

"That'd really suck," Grey agreed. "So like, Crystal, your power activates if you come into contact with stuff?"

"I think so. I'd have to test it to get the hang of how things work, precisely."

Grey chuckled, a mischievous grin spreading across his face. His expression made the three women exchange worried glances, especially once he started rubbing his hands together like a two-bit cartoon villain. "Looks like we got ourselves an excuse to head to that town for some reconnaissance!"

"In the snow?" Rayne asked, raising her eyebrows.

"With only summer clothes in our wardrobes," Crystal pointed out.

"We wore hiking boots for the walk up here so that'd be fine, but the warmest clothes we have right now are..." Lillian trailed off, then suddenly doubled over and started giggling.

Realization dawned on the others soon after, and Rayne covered her face with her hands. "Oh no."

"Oh yes!" Grey hissed, pumping his fist into the air. "That'll make one heck of an entrance, wouldn't it?"

"Our music video costumes? In PUBLIC!?" Rayne wailed while the others laughed.

"That might not be what we want to do though," Crystal said after her moment of laughter had subsided. "We don't know what kind of world this is. If they'll be friendly to strangers, especially ones who can't speak their language - or any language on this world. They won't know English, you know."

"But do we really have a choice?" Lillian asked, putting down her console and staring up at the ceiling. "We don't know anything about this world. About magic, except that it exists. About the people. And hiding here in our safe cozy house will be fine short term, but what about long term? Are we gonna spend our whole lives holed up in here?"

"I, for one, embrace the forest witch hermit lifestyle," Grey said. "And I know Crystal does too."

"Sure do. Cottage life."

Rayne sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose. "I don't wanna be caught completely off guard by whatever nonsense comes our way. We know it's winter, but we don't know what the other seasons are like yet. What if they have a raining magma and diamonds from the sky season? We can't apply Earth logic here! Or if we can, we don't know to what extent! There were dinosaurs on the beach!"

"That's a fair point. There were indeed dinosaurs on the beach. Counter points?"

"There were dinosaurs on the beach."

"A fair counter point as well. I do want to see the dinosaurs up close."

"From a safe distance."

"Up close from a safe distance, of course."

"Plus, we don't know what's gonna happen with our powers. You said they'll get stronger, what does that mean?"

"I don't know. More powers will manifest, I think? And the ones we have already will be more potent. But I don't know how potent, or what exactly will happen."

"Exactly! You psychically downloaded only a little info about our situation and it gave you a nasty seizure! Right?"

"Pretty much."

"So what if something worse happens? A big huge infodump? If you can't control your powers, or shut it off when needed or whatever, what if..." Rayne's shoulders sagged.

"What if I have a big seizure every time I use my powers now?" Crystal finished, a wry smile on her face. "Yeah, I was wondering about that too. Honestly, everything about our situation has me so terrified I've circled back around to just feeling numb about it all."

"That's a hell of a mood," Grey sighed, stretching out on the window seat and propping his feet up against the wall. "Everything's happening so much, am I right? It's hard to be freaked out about everything simultaneously. It's easier to just phase out of existence, mentally speaking."

"I... Have an idea."

Everyone turned to look at Lillian, who sat perched on the edge of the couch. She glanced at all their faces, then offered a shy smile.

"Well? What's your idea, sis?" Grey encouraged, when his sister kept fidgeting in place instead of finishing her thought.

"Well, those warmer clothes we have... They're our costumes, right? And Crystal said we dunno how people would react to that sort of outfit, or to strangers in general, but what if... I mean... We have our instruments? What if... We pretended to be minstrels?"