#Jokes aside I really dislike being scared so probably something where you just sit in a little wagon and take in the scenery

[zerozeroren]

Bubble Tea!

bubble tea: what ride would you pick at an amusement park?

Garfield Dark Ride >;}

[jiminrings]

i just reread ll (after seeing that yoongi pic on twt..... loml) AND UGH IM SO MAD AT THAT FIGHT WHY DID HE SAY THAT AND OH MY GOD WHERE IS OC SLEEPING OMG DID SHE STAY THE NIGHT AT TAEHYUNGS (not like that ..... nasties 😑) WHATS GOING ON. WHAT IS JUNGKOOK GONNA DO WHEN YOONGI OR SEOKJIN FIND HIM WHAT IF YOONGI KILLS HIM OR SMTH

cold senior!y/n x stem major!koo masterlist :D

you leave jungkook alone in your dorm after a fight — but at the same time, he gets left alone with yoongi and jin, who still aren't sure what to think of him especially now

aka part two of the ll couple's first fight

"i think i'm gonna crash."

seokjin yawns and says out loud without the knowledge that he's speaking out loud, his hands fumbling for the dorm keys amongst the numerous keychains he has a knack for collecting

"you drank one cup of coffee, jin," yoongi snorts because as far as he recalls two hours ago, jin even made him drink his remaining coffee because he couldn't take any more

yeah well sCREW jin for trying to stay awake the whole day alright!!!! he made a roadtrip out of scouring each individual part he wanted to add to his fancy PC setup he's been saving a pretty penny for

he doesn't say it at all but yoongi carries immense happiness in tagging along with errands even if it serves him no purpose <3 sometimes he just likes being a keychain to his best friends and he's happy!!

"yeah, hot coffee — the worst," jin elaborates his dislike for hot coffee even if both you and yoongi heard it a hundred times before

he's noisily trying to find the right key and he's surprised you haven't woken up and just oPENED the door for them, but he's cluelessly and thoroughly entertaining yoongi aka the guy who hAS his own key yet refuses to use just so that he could see his friend suffering some more

at this point, your neighbors probably think you’re getting robbed but thankfully jin finally manages to put in the right key, a satisfactory sigh leaving him when it finally clicks and turns the right way

the dorm is dark and noT dim like what they’re used to, probably something to be blamed to the hellfire of rain that’s going on outside

jin’s carelessly removing his shoes by his own feet, only stopping when yoongi harshly pinches him on the side before he does it to himselF on the inside of his arm

“ow! what was-“

he soothes the sore spot on his side because yoongi can reallyyyyyy put his two fingers close without pinching and therefore make it hurt even more, eyes all around the place before it stops on a familiar figure

a familiar figure, sure. welcome? not exactly.

"huh. you're still here? are you staying the night?"

seokjin asks out loud to jungkook who’s standing by himself beside the couch with his hands bunched, worried eyes fixed on them

"where's y/n?"

yoongi asks and it’s made evident how the both of them have different intentions to acquire for, but they all boil down to you nonetheless

jungkook’s throat dries because it hasn’t even been an hour that he’s left alone in yoor dorm, not expecting it either that your two friends would come home this quick

"that's the thing,” he mumbles and yoongi picks it up first, slithering around jin to confirm if he’s really hearing jungkook

what does he mEAN that’s the thing???

"y/n left."

jungkook’s with the two of them now but oddly enough, he doesn’t feel cornered even if the two of them are positioned as if they’re trapping him

he feels more alone than he is cornered, fresh tears stinging at the back of his eyes that he doesn’t want to show yoongi nor jin

"what did you just say?" yoongi asks more in confusion than in disbelief, narrowing his eyes at your boyfriend

"why would she leave at this hour and at this weather? not to mention, leave you alone with us."

jin raises a valid point to put into everyone’s head how bizarre the situation is and not to spook jungkook out, but it sounds like the latter to him which is why he snorts at the startled look

"calm down, kid. we're not gonna rough you up if that's what you're thinking," he reminds him because they’re not tHAT unhinged when it comes to you, walking to the refrigerator to down the nearest water bottle, ".... not unless??"

he still carries a playful edge to him because as much as he’s worried about you, atleast one of the three of them in this room should be far from having a breakdown to level the others

yoongi’s not done with his questioning streak because he presses further, sitting at the couch in your exact seat that makes jungkook gulp

god it’s now just hitting him that you left

"why did she leave?"

"w-we fought."

there’s slight hesitance in his tone because he’s not exactly surE if he should be telling that he fought with you to your friends, but he sets aside the possible consequences because after all, it’s you that they’re conversing about

yoongi nods to himself, having a hunch that the both of you must’ve fought and when he looks up at him, he only belatedly realizes that your boyfriend’s now blonde

"what did you do?"

he goes straight for it, startling jungkook

he’s not necessarily offended that yoongi asked him what he did because if you ask him, this is really aLL his fault

"i-i'll get to that but uh shouldn't we look for y/n first?"

...

..... okay that was understandable

yoongi knows where he’s coming from, nodding to acknowledge him

"not the first time this happened," he admits quietly and that leaves jungkook speechless, watching him intently which is why it made sense that yoongi’s not out of his mind panicking just like he is, "y/n left the dorm when she and seokjin fought."

yoongi says it even quieter and jungkook gets why, because as low as his mumble went, seokjin still managed to hear it

it must’ve been a sore spot that jin doesn’t want to tell him all about, atleast right now, because he looks down to his feet as if he’s been burnt

"it was a serious fight, but it was long ago,” he mumbles under his breath and the reminder of their fight which he’s tried to bury in the back of his head throws him off his feet slightly, “she doesn't really leave when it's just a petty fight or something."

yoongi somberly smiles at jin as some sort of apology for bringing it up, not wanting to put salt on the wounds as he just redirects his attention to jungkook

"i'm asking you for the last time, jungkook — what did you do?"

there’s no direct pressure behind his words but the three of them know that it would drastically help if he just said so

there’s no moral compass that he tries to steer because he himself wants to tell yoongi and jin, even if it means having to put the little respect and love they have for him on the line

jungkook doesn’t sugarcoat and retells all the way from what happened with the hoseok situation until he finishes with what happened merely an hour ago, almost scared to look up at the both of them

jin humorlessly chuckles and shakes his head to himself, still perched against the kitchen counter

"low fucking blow, kid."

surprisingly, yoongi became the lenient one

jungkook’s head aches because the two of them switched attitudes in a matter of minutes!!!! jin is the one that sounds like he hates being in the same room as him and yoongi is the one that tolerates hin generally

he could oNLY assume that the retelling of the events must’ve hit jin one way or another, somehow connected to what the two of you fought about long ago

yoongi takes the liberty to speak after jin’s remark, nudging jungkook by the knee to sit beside him

"y/n's hurt, of course, because as much as she had flings and casual fucks and whatnot," he trails around but doesn’t look to jungkook who’s wide-eyed thy he’s even letting him sit beside him, “you're her first boyfriend."

...

....

...... what

“i am?”

jungkook asks in confusion and the regret creeps up to him not a second later, the ringing in his ears blocking out the rain and even jin’s announcement that he’ll call you

he nods and kook knows that he’s not only saying this to pull at his tail, simply because he’s aware that yoongi doesn’t joke around with him

with jin entering his room to call you, that leaves him alone with yoongi and it barely registers in his head that this is the first time it’s only the two of them after that time when he threatened to give him a knuckle sandwich and the sort

"was starting to entertain and like the idea of you in y/n's life — our lives, y'know?"

yoongi initiates conversation and kook gets startled even more, tripping over his words because he can’t grasp at the situation fully

"i'm sorry, yoongi. i-i really am."

"hate to say this but," he clicks the roof of his mouth with his tongue, fiddling with his bracelets, "i know you are."

???

jungkook’s confusion at your friend’s words is what distracts him from his remorse, not believing his ears

yoongi believes him??? he knOws that he actually feels sorry for having done what he did??

"y/n doesn't like being accused, i think no one really does," he starts off carefully, “it's not my story to tell but it's for you to understand that y/n, y'know...."

jungkook swallows the lump on his throat for whatever yoongi’s gonna say next, a furrow in his brow as he chooses his words

“she doesn't come from a past wherein assurance is at face value,” he clears his throat, "that's all i can tell you."

jungkook nods and he tries to contain his thoughts because he doesn’t want to assume. he’s only gonna take what you give and he’ll willingly wait for that time you tell him all about his past

he does have a clue about your family because he asked that one time if he’d be meeting your parents because you’re a senior and you’re graduating soon, but you only shaked your head no and said “yoongs and jin are enough” for your ceremony

yoongi feels sorry, but he’s not sure for who :(

all he knows is that his heart aches, even if it’s for the boy in front of him that he swore he’d hate, but is now unconsciously worming his way into his heart

he’s no stranger to what jungkook feels because he felt the same type of territoriality and the insecurity that came along with it — the one he used to have over you, in that platonic soulmate sense he didn’t realize at the time

"it's not my place to tell you either, but sooner or later, insecurity will consume you, jungkook."

the guy in question nods eagerly because yoongi manages to address the struggle he has in his mind, acknowledging the issue at-hand fully

"y/n can't baby you forever,” yoongi sighs, “but you can't be ditched whenever she feels like it either."

:O

did...

did yoongi just take his side.....

jungkook kNOWS in the back of his head that yoongi’s neutral, but it all just registers in his head that for the first time, yoongi’s on his side, even in a sense

"talk it out. just sleep in her room for the meantime. fix it in the morning,” he starts to gather himself to stand, pausing to look at jungkook in the eye, "i'd hate to see my soulmate hurting."

the thing is, jungkook knows that yoongi’s your soulmate :-)

you told him that once and as much as you explained that it was only platonic, jungkook quickly understood it, much to your surprise

he knows he doesn’t know the entirety of you, but he knows that when he looks at yoongi, he’s looking at you too :)

yoongi gives him the ghost of a smile, making jungkook blink twice

"sooner or later, the two of us need to talk."

jungkook’s contented with that, smiling back at him

"good night, yoongi."

"good night, jungkook."

( ♡ )

ok.,.,.

“don’t come home, it’s pouring. or go back to your dorm, whatever. i don’t care.”

okay you dO in fact care!!!

it’s been more or less two hours since you left the dorm and you know this because jungkook’s been texting you without fail, only stopping twenty minutes ago that makes you look at the time

it’s 11 o’clock :O

either he’s asleep like he usually would be at this time, or he walked home

in fact, you don’t even know if jungkook is still at your dorm

your phone rings all of a sudden that it makes you flinch, scrambling to see who it was and you don’t know if it’s disappointment or relief coating you when you saw that it was jin

"and where is my favorite girl at this time of the night?"

you could only chuckle as you share a glance with the person whose dorm you crashed in, sending an eager greeting with his mouth full

"i'm at taehyung's. we're eating brownies right now."

when you knocked on tae’s door just two hours ago, the only thing he greeted you with was with a towel!!

he didn’t ask why you’re practically soaked in front of his doorstep because for whatever it is, it must probably be in good reason

truth be told, you didn’t even knOw where you were supposed to go but then tae popped into your head as the only sane person you know that would let you in at this time of the night without prior notice

it was a simple “jungkook and i fought.” to which he only nodded to, turned on the tv for you, and started baking brownies

"mhmm. what kind?"

you chew on the chocolate fudge, slightly chuckling at what jin’s insinuating

"the kind that doesn't leave you disoriented."

he hums at that and you could picture him swiveling on his gaming chair he bought just a week ago, his phone tucked to his ear closely

"the same kind that makes you able enough to come home tonight?"

"yeah,” you breathlessly agree, fiddling with the matching bracelet you have with jungkook, “same kind."

you could only assume now that they've seen jungkook and he's still saying there, all alone but with them

your heart warms at the thought that indirectly, jin’s making you come home to reunite you with jungkook, knowing that there’s an impending conversation sooner or later

"want me to pick you up? you'll get a cold."

"i'll borrow tae's umbrella. i'll come home when we finish the brownies."

the both of you know that it’s code for you just wanting a little more time before you come back, and also because you really wanna dO finish the brownies that tae warmly made for yoy

"mkay," jin smiled at your response, "i'll lock the door but just send me a text and i'll open it for you."

"won't you be sleeping?"

"i'll stay up. i'm not sleepy."

jin replies just as quick, a complete 180 to what he said when he initially came home that he wanted to crash because of the hot coffee he drank

you wordlessly thank him and he acknowledges it, happy to atleast know that you heeded his concern for you to come home tonight

"get home safe. love you."

it’s not only minutes later than you thank taehyung immensely and promise to take him to the aquarium as your thanks, finding yourself in your dorm that seokjin ushers you into with a peck on your head

you rush to your room and you’re greeted with the airconditioning turned on, seeing a lump beneath your comforter that you automatically know it’s jungkook sleeping

you're still damp from the rain but you change quickly to the first set of clothes you can grab from your drawers, not wasting a second longer

you sneak into your own bed, the same one that’s carrying jungkook

his sleep hasn’t even been the deepest and the moment he feels a shuffle beside him, he’s woken up immediately

“i’m here.”

jungkook realizes it’s you with the way your voice is soft and the way you hold his arm when you climb into the covers, wordlessly embracing him from behind

"i'm sorry. it's all my fault,” he says sincerely as he turns his body so he could face you, caging you in with his arm

"i'm sorry i stormed out on you."

he feels you nuzzle to the crook of his neck and it calms him down, the familiar scent of you enough to make his eyes close without fear

it only hits you now that this is the first time the two of you cuddle, much less share a bed

"love you."

it’s barely audible but it leaves you nonetheless, not expecting a reply in return but you get one anyways from a sleepy yet overwhelmingly-content jungkook

"i love you the most."

.

.

.

as always, lmk what you think!! i love answering asks :D what do you want to see from the lunchbox lovers next? send them here <3

[hydra-collector]

Ripped Apart

AO3

Pairings: Intrulogical

Characters: Logan Sanders, Remus Sanders (all other sides mentioned)

TW: self-harm, suicidal thoughts, ocean creatures, gore/body horror (referenced, doesn’t actually happen), cursing

Words: 1,844

Summary: Remus gets much-needed comfort.

Note: Takes place roughly after POF.

Bite your tongue.

He felt the muscle conform to his teeth.

Harder.

Harder.

Bite it off.

Don’t.

Do it.

He bit until it bled, but not hard enough.

Please bite it off.

He would just cut. He wouldn’t have to think about this anymore. He’d forget. Healthy- healthier distractions.

He knew what he was. He knew he was self-destructive, unhealthy, depressed, even dying if you were to count where his thoughts had been going lately.

Just cut and it’ll go away.

What will? There’s the chance cutting would make him want to-

Cut your arms off.

No. He wasn’t going to do that.

You should.

He would bleed out and die, probably.

Then do that.

Just fucking cut.

That voice was constantly pestering him. Remus didn’t mind the intrusive thoughts, sexual jokes, murder, other people’s gore… none of it bothered him. But a while ago the thoughts of killing and hurting and dismemberment had begun being directed at himself. He hated it. He hated himself. What a disgusting being he was. The only way to make them stop was to give in. At least a little.

The blood that came was comforting. It felt humanizing, and reminded him his veins were still pumping. He was still alive.

It was grounding, but also saddening to some extent. He felt like this giant piece of shit that hurt anyone he touched. Part of him was so glad to be in this exhilarating whirlwind called life, no matter how hated he was, but the other part wanted it to end. He never knew if it was selfish or not. Sometimes he wanted so badly to fuck up his relationships with all his friends, if they even considered him a friend, and just erase himself from Thomas’s mind. Sometimes he felt trapped. Thomas never let his ideas free into the world. What was the point of Remus existing at all if he wasn’t going to be used to better Thomas’s content?

Was that his problem? Did he think Thomas was the problem and it was really him?

He sighed and set the razor aside for a moment.

Tell someone if you’re not going to rip out your internal organs.

Who could he tell?

Remus was still scared that Janus despised him, and he was never good with emotions anyway. He supposed he could talk to Virgil. But he’d left the dark sides. Why would he want to talk to either of them? Especially about sensitive topics. Patton was empathetic and theoretically would be good to talk to, but he’d hurt him. He hated intrusive thoughts, why would he want to talk to the embodiment of it? And there was no way he was going to talk to Roman.

Logan?

Logan, he was pretty sure, didn’t hate him. Rather, they’d talked before Remus’s first appearance and now could probably consider themselves friends. He knew Logan (even though he did shove teeth up his nose) and Logan talked to him. By choice.

He kind of liked Logan.

A lot.

Maybe too much.

He was the only side that Remus could give something the others thought disgusting, weird or creepy, and care about it. Talk about it. He’d even invited Remus to join in some chemistry once, (it did not go well; that did not happen again) and dissected all the dead animals he found. They talked about things the other sides wouldn’t dream of thinking about. And Remus loved science, especially about living things, because there were new, weird things always being discovered. The deep sea is full of wonders like squids and octopi, huge whales, tiny things, so many different species.

Just cut a little more. Then you can see Logan. He’ll help.

Will he?

“Logie! Teach me how to feel like a human again!”

He bounced his steps into the hall, Logan seemingly off to do work.

“You’re not a human, Remus.”

“I felt like one before, though.”

“Why not ask Patton for assistance? He’s much more well-versed in emotions than I am.”

“You’re the only one that likes me.”

“I doubt that’s true. Sure, the other sides may dislike your rather random thoughts, but why would that give them reason to dislike you? You’re a wonderful side.”

“That’s probably not true. No offense to you. I was hoping to find someone to stop me, but you don’t have to. I might cut off my arms and bite out my tongue. Ooh! Or blow up my legs! How long would it take for all of that to kill me?” He smiled a twisted, tortured smile, digging his long fingernails deep into his palms.

“Remus, are you alright? Would you like to sit down? I can get you anything you need, you seem like you could use it. Anything, I can help.”

“Logan, I haven’t been okay for months. Years? Probably my entire life.”

“Please, come sit down.”

Logan led him, hand on his back, to his room, walls blue and books stacked neatly in rows. He pushed aside his laptop from his bed to sit Remus down.

“Ooh, does the nerd wanna fuck?”

“Remus, I need you to be at least semi-serious right now. Did anything specific happen to make you feel like this? Are there any other notable emotions I should be aware of? And what can I do to help?”

“I’ve been depressed for,” he counted on his fingers, “I don’t know how long, but a while!” He said this far too cheerily.

“Okay, that does not sound good. Why did you tell me now?”

“I decided I either give in and destroy myself and wait to die or tell someone. I figured I can do it anyway after I’ve told someone, so I might as well. Ooh, should I write a note?” He grinned at Logan, beginning to scratch at his hands and arms.

“Remus,” he took the creative side’s hands in his own to prevent further scratching, “don’t write a note, don’t kill yourself. It is illogical to take away a part of Thomas’s personality, no matter how inessential you may think you are.”

“I don’t want to, but I have to. Everyone will stop being miserable because of me, I’ll stop being miserable because of me, I’m sure as hell not gonna be missed-”

Logan pulled their hands up to his face, making the impulsive decision and kissing the dark side’s knuckles lightly.

“I’d miss you.”

Remus gazed upwards, surprised. Logan retracted his hands from Remus’s.

“I apologize,” he still didn’t let go of his friend’s hands, “that was unnecessarily intimate.”

Logan could swear Remus’s eyes sparkled.

“No, it was okay. I don’t think anyone’s… ever done something like that.”

“Would more physical affection help with your mental state? If so, I shall provide it.”

Both were desperate for it.

Remus nodded and Logan sat next to him, at first giving an awkward hug, but soon the two moved to lean against the wall and grew more comfortable, supporting each other’s weight.

“I’m bleeding.”

“Remus, did you-”

Before he could even finish his question, Remus’s sleeves were pulled up, smearing the blood still oozing out of the fresh wounds.

“I love them. They’re so pretty. They’re dark and warm and satisfying and I don’t have to chop off my limbs-”

He had a visible reaction to thinking about it again, hitting his head with his now bloody hands.

“Why do I remind myself-”

Logan took Remus’s hands again, keeping them away from his head, as well as each other, in case he started scratching himself again. It hurt him to see him like this. He waited a moment until he was fairly sure Remus could sit for a bit without hurting himself, left to wet a washcloth from the bathroom and brought in the First Aid kit.

“I wanna see them though.”

“Remus, let me. They’ll get infected.”

“Even more fun!”

“Remus, no.”

“Remus yes.”

“What?”

“Didn’t expect you to understand that.”

“Are you going to let me clean those?”

“Can I make more after?”

“No, this is incredibly unhealthy. On quite a few levels. Not only does self-harm directly impair your physical health, but additionally indirectly affects physical health by worsening your mental health, which is probably the worst effect.”

“They make me feel better though. And stop me from dying. Even if cutting technically hurts me, it’s probably keeping me alive.”

“It’s not a healthy coping mechanism. At some point it won’t be enough.”

“It’s enough now.”

“Like Janus said, don’t wait until you’re having a mental breakdown- or in your case, once you’re about to die- to take care of yourself. It only ends in misery, Remus.”

Logan only just realized how close the two of them were. He’d leaned forward, hands on Remus’s upper arms, holding the two of them too close for normal comfort. But right now it was oddly okay. He could feel Remus’s breathing on his face, irregular and nearing sobs. He should give him room to cry, but he’d grabbed onto Logan as well, so apparently didn’t want to.

“I already hurt so bad, why do I want more of it?”

Remus sniffed before burying his face into Logan’s shoulder and letting his tears flow into the black polo.

“Please hug me. Or clean them. It doesn’t matter. Just touch me. And in a non-sexual way, for once.”

Logan took his chance to gently wash the cuts with his rag. Remus continued crying while he applied the antibiotics and wrapped gauze firmly around his arms. Remus cried when he was done, falling on his chest with enough force that he ended up on his back, surprised. He adjusted this position so it was comfortable for the two of them, leaning against pillows he moved next to the wall.

He rubbed Remus’s back and upper arms, shoulders, held his hands, squeezed his torso, hoping it was helping. Remus turned his head and opened his eyes, which had at last stopped crying. He stared at Logan, maybe a bit too long.

“Am I doing something wrong?”

“No.”

Remus contemplated for a moment, then decided to say it, grinning widely.

“Can I kiss you?”

“W-what?” His cheeks turned red.

“Can I kiss you? I don’t have to.”

Logan thought for a moment, looking at Remus’s face, then slowly nodded.

He held Logan’s face with his hands and kissed him softly, causing him to get even redder.

“I did not expect that.”

“What?”

“It was remarkably… unlike you.”

“Want another more like me, Lo?”

“I hesitate to ask what that would be like.”

Remus grinned. Less pronounced than the previous ones of the day, but it was more real and meant so much more than those had. It lifted Logan’s heart a little.

“Are you feeling a little better now, Remus?”

“I don’t really wanna die anymore, so probably.”

It was a massive relief to Logan to hear that. He started smiling, which Remus smiled back to.

Logan, after some silence, kissed him on the forehead. He held him as long as he could.

Remus needed every second.

[hoodwinkd1]

the stars that shine Ch 2

Ch 1 here.

Chapter 2: woke up to find that summer gone

Evangeline sat at the dark cherry desk in her bedroom, staring down at the piece of parchment which seemed to be staring right back at her. She had picked up a pen almost half an hour ago and had successfully written one line.

Dear Lys,

“Damn this!” Tossing the pen to the side, she stood and began pacing around the bed. Normally, her letters back to Caraverre were pages and pages of stories, filled with every minute detail and every silly joke that Lysandra and Aedion might enjoy. Tonight, she could barely get her thoughts in order enough to discuss what she’d eaten for dinner two hours ago.

Evangeline knew exactly who to blame for this conundrum. Hollin Havilliard.

Her first two weeks in Rifthold were amazing. Ever the social butterfly and lacking peer friendships back in Terrasen, Evangeline absolutely loved getting to know the other students in her lessons.

“You should come shopping with us next week,” Regina suggested, her smile genuine. As the third eldest daughter of the Callot family, the largest noble support of Adarlan’s fashion industry, Regina would certainly have good taste. “Anya and I are looking for springtime outfits.”

The other girl had jumped in then. “How long will you be staying? My parents always plan a trip to the country house right after the Spring Solstice and I can bring a few friends.”

So yes, Evangeline had no problem making friends. She was downright delightful and ready to try anything, go on any adventure.

Her lessons were equally wonderful. Part of the reason she came to Rifthold was to expand her education, filling in gaps that Darrow had no expertise in, and she enjoyed the challenge immensely.

Point being, she should have plenty to write home about. The shopping trip, the mathematics concept she finally mastered, even the amazing duck stew she tried two nights ago.

Unfortunately, the fond memory of her duck stew faded when she remembered what had immediately followed.

Dear Lys,

I had the most awkward night of my life. I’m relatively confident I’ve made my first enemy and I may never go back to the ballet after this traumatizing experience.

No, she couldn’t possibly send that. Aedion would charge into the palace and demand revenge at the mere thought of anyone disliking Evangeline, if he didn’t laugh himself to death trying to imagine the concept first.

Her popularity aside, she was still in disbelief. Hollin had approached her first, offering to escort her to the royal box at the Rifthold Theater for a travelling dance troupe that evening. Evangeline accepted (delightfully and more than ready for an adventure). She even dug through her closet for the stunning cerulean gown Aelin had gifted for her fourteenth birthday.

And then the prince proceeded to ignore her. All night.

“Who goes two entire hours without speaking one word?” Evangeline grumbled, moving towards her closet to grab a nightgown. The letter could wait until tomorrow. “Why bother inviting me in the first place?”

Whatever. She would be just fine with her new friends, who’s families also owned boxes at the theater.

----

“It’s been two days.” Dorian dropped into the chair next to Hollin. “Two whole days, and I haven’t heard a word from either of you. Quite rude, if you ask me, considering it was my idea to take her to the ballet.”

Hollin kept his eyes on the book in front of him. “Some people think it’s rude to speak in a library. And yet, here we are.”

The king sighed, as if his little brother’s social life was as draining as running a nation. “At least tell me if you enjoyed yourself. Or if you think Eva enjoyed herself.”

“The dancers were talented.” Hollin turned a page. “I can’t speak for someone else’s opinion.”

Dorian huffed. “I meant, did you enjoy spending time with her?”

Hollin shut the book with a bit more force than needed. “Do you have nothing better to do than force me to go on dates with your friends’ wards? I’m working on something here.”

“It wasn’t meant to be a date!” Dorian protested. “Just...Evangeline is so delightful. And friendly. I thought she could, you know, be a friend?” His words trailed off at the end.

He heard the unspoken words. Hollin was not delightful and not friendly. Dorian probably hoped this picture-perfect girl could change him, mold him into a better prince.

“She has friends. And I have work to do.” He looked pointedly at the book strewn across his lap.

Dorian, finally, took the hint. “Fine. Enjoy your suspicious research.” He stood up, fixing his tunic. “I expect to see you at the merchant’s council dinner tomorrow night.”

Hollin waved him off. “See you then.” He’d been searching for some excuse to get out of that event, some way to avoid all the grouchy, greedy men that tried to grab the king’s attention.

Maybe if he fell off a horse, he could avoid politics for a few days.

----

The two months passed quite quickly. Evangeline was expected home in time for Aedion’s birthday celebration, so she took the last day in Rifthold to search for a gift. He might grumble about her spending money on him, letting his annoyance over aging take over his usual good mood, but Eva knew he would secretly cherish something special.

Anya had offered to join her, commandeering her family’s carriage for the trip. The two of them, along with Regina, had become inseparable during Evangeline’s stay.

She had never had friendships that were entirely her own before, outside of her family’s vast and unyielding legacy. Spending the day shopping tasted like freedom and youth.

“Where are we heading first?” Anya asked, shifting her long skirt to make room for Evangeline to sit on the bench next to her. “What does one even buy for the most infamous General in the world?”

So maybe she never could fully escape that legacy. Evangeline chose to ignore the honorific. “Aedion? He can be quite the sentimental type. I was imagining some sort of calendar he could use; one that I’d add drawings and photos and secret notes to. Something useful, but still personalized.”

“Oh, thank the Gods. I was terrified you would drag me to some boring weapons shop.” Anya fanned herself in mock horror. “Minsky’s has the best stationery.”

Once they arrived, Evangeline lost herself in the rows of parchment. She adored the smell of the shop, somewhere between a library and perfumery, thanks to the variety of candles that lined the walls.

She wandered for a while, enjoying the feel of books, journals, scrolls, and other trinkets underneath her fingertips. Anya struck up a conversation with Minsky, the elderly owner who apparently had very strong opinions about what time of day one should light lavender candles.

Evangeline stopped in front of the rack she’d been looking for, eyeing the different color choices. Each calendar looked sturdy and durable, perfect for Aedion’s regular travels, but only a few had carrier cases. She selected the emerald one, to match Lysandra’s eyes.

“Oh that’s lovely!” Anya beamed as Evangeline joined them at the counter. “Very practical.”

Minksy nodded solemnly as they checked the price. “Smart child, finding a way to stay organized.”

“It’s actually a gift,” Evangeline corrected. “Would you have any wrapping supplies?”

They pulled out a few choices of paper, and the girls left the shop with the package securely tucked under Evangeline’s arm.

Anya opened the door of the carriage to let her enter first. “Do we have any other errands - Gods!” Her question was cut off with a curse. “Galen, you scared the life out of me.”

Evangeline found herself face first with Anya’s older brother. He shot her an apologetic look.

“I spotted the carriage and didn’t fancy a walk back to the house,” he explained, musing at his dark locks with one hand. “Any change you two lovely ladies want to go out for lunch?”

“You are unbelievably annoying,” Anya sighed. She moved to sit next to him, glancing at Evangeline. “What do you think? One last meal before you go?”

Galen turned to face her as well. “Leaving so soon?”

Evangeline hadn’t had many interactions with the older boy. Galen had danced with her at one of their parents’ parties, and had teased her a couple times when she joined them for dinner. But all of a sudden, Evangeline found herself wishing for some more time in Rifthold for an entirely new reason.

“I have to return to Caraverre tomorrow,” she informed him. “It’s my....it’s Aedion’s birthday.” Explaining their relationship was difficult enough, and easily avoided since everyone knew exactly who he was.

“Pity,” Galen replied. “But that just means I have to treat you to the best sandwiches Rifthold has to offer before you go.”

Anya groaned. “He always drags us to this tiny little place, when there are plenty of nice restaurants around.”

“A tiny little place sounds perfect,” Evangeline reassured. The carriage jolted forward, carrying them away from the main streets.

An hour later, she wasn’t lying in the slightest when she praised her meal. The sandwiches were really quite good. And the twinkle in Galen’s eyes when she stole one of his chips was even better.

“Oh goodness,” Anya interrupted as they stepped outside into the twilight hour. “I left my pouch at the table. Be right back.” She strode back into the restaurant, leaving Galen and Evangeline alone by the doorway.

Galen leaned against the stone. “Do you have plans to return to Adarlan?”

“Not in the next half-year,” Evangeline admitted. Her thumb rubbed the edge of her pointer finger, a nervous tick despite her calm tone. Was there meaning behind his question? “I’m due to spend two months with one of my mentors in Arran after some time at home.”

“Pity.” He offered her a light smile. She prayed to the former Gods to keep her face from turning pink. “Next time you come around, I’ll have to move faster. Ask you on a date at the beginning of your stay, instead of the end.”

Evangeline couldn’t hold back a wide grin. “Yes, I suppose you will.”

---

Hollin threw himself onto his bed, head spinning a bit from the wine he snuck during dinner. Evangeline was leaving tomorrow, a fact that wouldn’t affect his life much since Dorian had stopped forcing a friendship between them.

Maybe the wine was a mistake. The prince didn’t like alcohol much, knew he was far too young to start drinking, but insomnia had plagued him for weeks now. Hollin tried so many home remedies, from herbal teas to meditation, before attempting to drink himself to sleep that night.

It wasn’t working.

He still couldn’t force his mind to relax. Ideas for new experiments and inventions swirled around, mixed with memories of his most recent failures that stabbed him with self-doubt. Then came the childhood memories, the horror of being raised by the devil without noticing and the shame of past cruelties keeping him far from relaxation.

Hollin groaned into his pillow. He wanted someone to talk to. It was such a simple solution, one that most people would find easy. Dorian had even hired a specialist, a healer who worked with minds as well as bodies, for palace staff who needed help after a traumatizing war. Hollin had paced by their office more times than he could count, never entering.

Somehow, he fell asleep before sunrise. A sharp knock at the door yanked him out of restless dreams.

“Hollin?” He recognized Herina’s voice, one of his personal servants who was years past using formalities. Changing a baby's diaper gave one that privilege. “I have your schedule for the day.”

Hollin stood up, blindly feeling for the robe hanging next to his dresser. “Come in, thank you.”

She pushed the door open, pulling a cart of food behind her. “I didn’t see you eat nearly enough at dinner last night, certainly not enough to be stealing drinks of wine like you did.”

He opened his mouth to argue, but shut it quickly. “I - thank you,” he said again, too tired to form a better sentence.

Herina left the cart by the entrance and walked further into the chamber. “You have a couple lessons scheduled, one before lunch and one in the evening. Light day.”

“Not too terrible.” Hollin took the parchment from her. “Herina..” He trailed off.

“Yes?”

“Could you - do you know how to add things to my schedule?” he asked.

She nodded. “Of course. What grabbed your interest?”

He pushed past his discomfort at the idea. If he didn’t sleep well after, that would be the end of it. “Training. Physical, that is. I’d like to learn how to fight.”

Herina eyed him warily, no doubt taking in the lanky and awkward features that haunted most fourteen year old boys. “You know the king would never expect you to fight. He knows that isn’t where your interests lie.”

“I know.” Gods, he was blushing now. “It’s for myself, just a new hobby.”

Thankfully she moved on. “Well, alright then. Don’t be late today.”

With a final meaningful look at the breakfast, she left. Hollin thought about ignoring the food and falling immediately back to sleep, but his stomach chose that moment to growl loudly. He would need the calories if he planned to actually follow through with his new training idea.

If getting knocked on his ass for two hours a day didn’t help him fall asleep, then nothing would,

[teamsarawatshusband]

Word Of Honor - 1st watch insta thoughts - Episode 4

Episode 1

Episode 2

Episode 3

In case you haven't read my previous episode summaries, you should know that I now refer to alcoholic tanned tragic hero lord guy as Baby Xu (because he gave the name Zhou Xu), Wen Ke Xing is Smirky Xing, Ke Xing's female travelling companion is referred to as purple love of my life (because she rocks).

Alright let’s get started with Episode 4:

:O WHAT? Smirky Xing is qi-gong-balling nuts? Is he the red masked nut guy??? WTF? Is that why he said he's terrifying? Is that why he wasn't there at first during the fight in the dusty place? Waaaahhhh

Aww, he stilll wants Baby Xu and himself to be on first name basis. Giving horses as gifts. He's so determined.

Oooh the beggars caught up. And they openly state they're with 5 Lakes and want to bring the kid back to... some guy, I already forgot. Hmmm. The kid is instantly scared and hides behind Baby Xu. Baby Xu looks worried too. Nobody trusts 5 Lakes. Smirky Xing also doesn't trust them.

Wow, that's a lot of beggars.

Oh no, Smirky Xing insulted the talky beggar guy. And now they wanna fight.

Woahooooo, Baby Xu is pissy at Smirky Xing, but he trusts him to take care of the kid while he throws himself into the fight. Nice.

Less than 6 minutes in and we already have a million times more action than in the last episode. Thank you.

I see what smirky Xing meant when he called Baby Xu elegant. He is a VERY elegant fighter.

Offering nuts again, lol. Doesn't he know that the kid never wants to eat?

But jokes aside, the way Xing and the kid don't even go far but stay close enough to watch shows really well that smirky Xing is super confident in Baby Xu's fighting skills...

Oh no, they broke the alcohol jars, Baby Xu is gonna be so pissed.

And Smirky Xing is kind of an ass, teasing Baby Xu about his promise to keep an eye on the kid, while the beggar is chasing the kid around and Baby Xu is doing all the work.

Ahhh, it's cause he wants Baby Xu to admit that he needs him. Hehe, smart. Evil but clever.

:O The beggars got swords in their sticks! Cheaty little fuckers.

Baby Xu is fighting a bazillion beggars at once, no problem while the kid is almost caught.

Oh no, Baby Xu is mouthbleeding. That's never a good sign.

Oooooh, Smirky Xing notices and instantly steps in. No more teasing.

Oh how the turntables. Baby Xu and the kid flee, while Smirky Xing takes on the beggars. Nice. Sharing the workload. Like good husbands. Smirklord ftw!

Oh no, Baby Xu is worried about being a loser. And now he's doing the smelly meditation thing again. Awww :(

Meanwhile Smirky Xing has killed all the beggars, and it's not even shown on camera. Like... he probably did it with a determined look, some nut throwing and a snap of a finger or something. Impressive.

LOL, the purple love of my life comes on screen, looks around and has this, "Aww, dangit, he's on a killing spree again" look on her face. So this happens a lot, I gather.

She's concerned about the cleanup and the aesthetics, lol. My queen.

Whoa, what's that? Two tied up girls on a boat. And a jerk. I don't even know him but I know that much. Character introduction 101.

Oh wait, my purple love stops him. She knows him. He's one of the mountain ghost guys? And she knows him? There's a connection. That probably means that Smirky Xing really is nut guy. :O :O :O

She's striking a deal. And I didn't catch what she asked jerk guy to do in return for keeping him tying up girls a secret. But he leaves to do it.

Wow, Baby Xu knows how to cook. And offers the fish to the kid. And the kid ACTUALLY TAKES it. Impressive. I thought he hates food.

Ah, no, he spit it out. Okay. My worldview has been restored. And Baby Xu is not a good cook after all, lol.

My purple queen shows up and explains how to cook fish, lol. Yeah, they wish they had her cooking skills.

Oh, and baby Xu actually asks about Smirky Xing's whereabouts and looks longingly towards the boat where my queen points to.

Very lovely scenery, with Smirky Xing plaing the flute on the boat, and the two girls (who were previously tied up, I think, I still suck at recognizing faces) are enjoying his company, preparing drinks and listening.

Clearly Smirky Xing is playing just for Baby Xu. And then jumps off the boat with a flute twirl (clearly a Wei Wuxian fan, and who isn't?!) and then fly-jumps over the water to the beach and Baby Xu.

Heh, tempting Baby Xu with alcohol and good food, Smirky Xing is really trying everything.

LOL, you can't sit with the cool kids Smirky Xing.

But he never gives up and recites poetry again. Okay, now some story about historic white cloth. And a sword. Wait, is the "white cloth" the sword? Oh, and Smirky Xing is hinting that Baby Xu's sword is so bendy that it might be the legendary sword.

Always digging for info. Always noticing everything.

Oooh, Baby Xing compares their relationship to the fish he threw away, calls it "raw/unrequited". Nice pun. BUT, the fish wasn't raw, you literally discussed with the kid that is was cooked through, you little liar. I see what's going on there. Unrequited my ass. Smirklord setting sails.

Baby Xu explains that he doesn't know himself and couldn't care less about knowing Smirky Xing.

Smirky Xing is such a sweet talker. This whole "I hurt when you hurt" spiel... blergh.

He called him "My A-Xu" awww, cute. Also super invasive.

Some dark figure is playing headach inducing music. Huh? What is going on?

My purple queen and the kid are affected and Smirky Xing, stops them from running off by placing his hands on their backs. How? What?

Wait, Baby Xu plays the flute as well???

Everybody's a musician.

Oh, it's a music fight. The acoustic waves are hitting each other.

And the girls on the boats are jumping off, because they don't have Smirky Xing's hands holding them back.

Whooooooo, Baby Xu's flute sound lawnmowers the grass and the other musician down. Nice skills.

Oh, it's an assassination skill. The one that the dark figure used. :O A music assassin!!!

LOL, Baby Xu apologizes for getting Smirky Xing's flute dirty. Honey, he 100% won't mind your spit.

Why is the kid puking? He hasn't even eaten anything. Oh, he's lacking martial arts skills to defend against the attack, got it, got it.

Awwww, the one who dislikes you is the one who is really good to you. Of course you would live by that motto Smirky Xing, you lovesick boy.

Okay, the kid wants to learn martial arts now. Wants to be Baby Xu's disciple. And he's kind of agreeing, even though reluctantly, because he... doesn't wanna look good in front of Ke Xing?

Oh a camp of assassins. Pretty girl assassins. One of them is getting a leg massage. Nice. Being an assassin has perks, it seems. Ooh, and she gets touchy with some victim guy.

Did that guy just kill the several-times-stabbed victim by throwing a bone at his head? lol

Oh, the music assassin is one of this group, k, got it.

What? Smirky Ke Xing playing this special meditation song means he has a pure mind? I'm with Baby Xu, I would never have thought so. So, he's not nuts guy? WHAT IS GOING ON?

Dude, he does NOT look like of pure mind while playing that flute at all. It looks very... not pure. This looks like a mating ritual to me.

Wait, is he telling my purple queen to kill the two girls she saved? I'm so confused.

Aww, he LIKES Baby Xu. Not that it's a surprise. But he admitted it. Heh. And, once again, my purple queen gets it.

Aww, Smirky Xing plays for his boy all night long. And Baby Xu finally gets some rest. Nice.

And Smirky Xing finally gets to sit next to his crush after all.

But he doesn't get to hold his hand yet. I see how it is.

LOL, tough women can't resist clingy men, what? Is Smirky Xing ever talking about anybody other than himself and Baby Xu?

Ahaha, Smirky Xing is such a bad liar. But really good at making Baby Xu feel guilty. Yes, yes, you poor man driven off the boat, aching from all the flute playing, riiiight.

LOL, he ends up the coachman. Nice.

Oh no, the grandparents are fighting nice undies tree master guy and the mini Wangjis. Why can't they be friends?

Why are they all after that stupid glazed armor, this is so annoying.

Oh no, now pleated skirt soldier boss guy is joining in as well. Which side is he picking?

Okay he's fighting the grandparents, but is he on friendly terms with undies tree guy? Because I don't think so. But the mini Wangjis knew him and seemed to trust him. So confusing all of this...

Okay and there's another new guy. In green and gold with a tiny mustache. Is he the one they were supposed to bring the kid to? Ah yes, okay. Uncle Zhao.

Wait, the leader of the something something sect is chased. Who was that? Undies tree master? I need a name chart mind map or something. I should make one and add on to it as I go along.

Anyway, end of episode.

Okay this was interesting, what have I learned? Baby Xu can't get rid of Smirky Xing, no matter what. The kid wants to be his disciple. My purple queen is 100% a smirklord shipper. There's a bunch of assassins out there to hurt... I don't know, everybody, possibly. Everybody seems to want the glazed armor. Except for Baby Xu who just wants to be left alone, and Smirky Xing who just wants Baby Xu. I feel like I'm getting the hang of this. Except I STILL don't know how everybody is truly connected. And Smirky Xing might be nuts guy but also maybe not because he's pure, but I mean, who are you kidding?

Goals for future episodes: I should really actually make that character name chart mind map thing.

Also, we have officially reached the moment, where I wanna continue watching, even though I'm tired and have other stuff to do. I bet the point of no return strikes during the next episode. I can feel it coming.

[atopearth]

Ar Tonelico: Melody of Elemia Part 1 - Aurica & Misha (Phase 1)

PHASE 1

Okay, I am beyond excited. I honestly never thought I'd be able to play my favourite PS2 games ever again after I moved houses, because I can't for the life of me find my old PS2 that could play copied games, all the wires and some of the games, and I can't buy these games anymore either, so I was literally so sad and nearly cried when I first realised this. But then I realised that we could get PS emulators now and play the games!! Honestly so thankful and happy right now because omg it's so beautiful to know I can finally properly finish these games again!! Anyway, I still remember Shurelia and Lyner very well, I loved how cool Shurelia was, whereas I can't remember much about Lyner so he's probably the average protagonist that gets all the girls lmao. I'm not sure if I'll bother playing each Reyvateil "route" but I do know who I picked as a kid so I'm definitely going to pick her again. It's kinda funny, I wonder if this is when my bro and I decided to each choose our favourites and play through them so we could both see the different stories haha. I just remember he liked the shy brown hair Reyvateil and I loved the blue hair childhood friend, I can't remember their names anymore but I still love them hahaha. And if I remember correctly, Shurelia should have a short story/route, but I remember diving into her cosmosphere was weird because she's kinda like the old type of Reyvateil haha, so I was sad about that but it doesn't matter, it's Shurelia, everyone loves her!

On to the story itself! Lyner is pretty childish but he's a typical teenager protagonist so I'll just ignore it lol. On another note, dang, the art and character design and everything still looks good to this day imo. It's sad that Shurelia and Ayatane had to stay behind to fend off viruses that I can't really kill off until Lyner goes and gets the Hymn Crystal Purger, but I guess they can't really allow these viruses to run around into town, so as long as they stay in the Tower where I assume Shurelia has tried to seal them for many years, it should hopefully be fine~ Poor Lyner got his airship broken the moment he left though, but I guess that's how journeys begin haha. Lmao at Aurica (that's the name of the brown hair girl!!) healing Lyner with her Reyvateil magic/song and then running off when he wakes up, she's so cute lol. Kinda sad to see Reyvateil treated so badly by organisations like Tenba, like wow, the abuse is rampant. The village is pretty unreasonable to make Lyner kill their monsters to get his airship back but I guess that's just how desperate they are? Still don't like them. LMAO when Lyner went to learn grathmelding, the grandpa joked around saying Lyner's reward for learning it was his granddaughter hahaha.

Well, I guess it's good to help the village, because now they're willing to take care of the broken airship until Lyner finds someone who can fix it. Anyway, did Jack like Misha or something? I can't remember🤔 Lmao, Jack is so slack to Aurica, like yeah she's gloomy but I can empathise with her😭 Okay, I gotta agree with Jack though, Claire is definitely much hotter than Aurica, just the fact that she runs a bar by herself and tries her best to be strong and independent already makes me like her lol. On the other hand, why is Misha with Tenba, was she being manipulated or controlled or something? Anyway, the moment I saw Misha, I fell in love with her again, like wow, her design is so beautiful and unique, I could never pick someone else over her. I feel so sorry for her that Lyner can't remember her though, because I'm pretty sure she really likes him🥺 I can't remember the story but I guess we'll know when we can dive into her. Lyner is rash, super reckless and honest to a fault, but that honesty is a good thing I guess haha. The fact that he can't take people in Tenba badmouthing Reyvateil like they're tools that can be scrapped when they don't seem to be crafting good magic would make anyone mad, but Lyner refuses to sit by and listen to that, which is pretty admirable of him tbh.

With the way people react to others going into the Dive shop in the middle of the day with a Reyvateil, you'd be thinking they were doing something R rated lol, but they're just getting to know each other so it's kinda weird to have that kind of stigma, I mean I'm pretty sure going at night is weirder?! Anyway, I have to agree with Misha, Firefly Alley is a scary place, just thinking about being near all those propellers and falling down is crazyyy. It's kinda funny, but I remember Spica (Misha's friend that sells good stuff) but I don't remember the chainsaw girl lmao, I feel like she looks familiar but that's all hahah. It's so hilarious but brave of Misha to tell Lyner to dive into her so they can craft magic to break the wall and leave to go to Nemo without Bourd and them on their tail. Considering how bold she is, it's crazy that it's her first time, but since diving is such a personal thing, I honestly doubt Misha would let anyone aside from Lyner dive into her. I gotta agree with Hama (Misha's cosmosphere mind guardian) slapping Lyner for saying he's only in there because Misha told him to dive in, like excuse you Lyner?! You do realise the one that's being invaded and the one that has to feel vulnerable and everything is Misha right?! Have some tact lol! But I guess Lyner is slow, so it was normal of him to not have realised that it was a bigger deal than he thought, especially since Misha seemed so nonchalant about it. Misha's Level 1 Cosmosphere is so nostalgic though, I remember it so well, because I think it was a really nice contrast to see the brave and cool Misha in real life compared to the vulnerable one in the cosmosphere who is scared of revealing her true self to Lyner. It was nice to see him encourage her and to tell her that he wants to know her better, I mean it's sad that he can't remember her but you can't help things you can't remember I guess...

Krusche and Misha arguing all the time is pretty cute lol, I think it was even better when they worked together to open a door and made bets the whole time making them shout each other food if they got things wrong haha. Misha really is such a great girl to be so scared of heights but try her best to save Aurica. As usual though, Lyner is pretty crazy to jump and save Aurica when she was falling, like dang, they're lucky Krusche was nearby to catch them with her airship. Anyway, lmao at Aurica's naming sense and that fireball she made😂 I feel like Lyner is way more encouraging towards Aurica than he was with Misha before though, I guess it helps when it's obvious that she's troubled, whereas Misha being capable made him slow to realise a lot of things? Awww, Aurica cares so much about Lyner. She crafted blue magic in the real world because she wanted to protect him so much🥺 He's honestly really reckless though, he really could have died with the Hymn Crystal Purger, he's lucky Jack saved him. Honestly though, the more I play this, the more I feel like Lyner's type is Aurica and I'm so sadddd😭 I mean, I like Aurica too because she's so cute, but Misha😭😭

Lmao at how much it would cost Krusche to fix Lyner's airship, back to trying to climbing the tower back to Platina instead~ Well, I didn't expect Claire to really sing a song, her voice was beautiful! I'm glad she's out of Tenba and doing what she wants now, I feel sorry for any Reyvateil stuck in Tenba. Honestly, considering how self-sacrificing Misha was before for Aurica, I would have expected Lyner to care a little more of the possibility that Misha might be hurt or dead from one of the Hexagonal plates falling off and landing in Tenba where Bourd and them were having a meeting. I'm starting to think he really doesn't deserve Misha lolll. Anyway, the virus/Reyvateil Mir sounds familiar, was she one the girls in the next game? A Reyvateil utopia sounds about right if she was also once oppressed by people like Tenba. I honestly can't remember much about Ayatane but I do feel like I remember he disliked Lyner for being the one that protected Shurelia when he feels that he's so much more capable which is understandable considering he seems to be obsessed with her too. Well, the President of Tenba looks very...wow haha. Ooh I remember Misha looking super great as her real age, but she's great the way she is. Anyway, considering that Tenba experiments on Reyvateil, I hope Radolf talks about this with the church, but I guess I'm not sure if the church even has the power to destroy them even if they were so inhumane. Well, dang, Demon Aurica looks like a spider devil or something lol. I'm not surprised there's a part of Aurica that hates Claire though, it's understandable because she feels so inadequate compared to her. It's interesting to read the other bits in the cosmosphere that aren't as important, because omg, Aurica actually really liked this Knight guy before and she got rejected so terribly, that's sad.. I love Aurica's images of Radolf and Krusche, they're so silly🤣 Misha as a student body president is cute lol, and Shurelia(?) is there too?? Lol. Anyway, I like the cat on top of a vacuum, it's so cute. Lmao, okay wasting 900DP to find out that Aurica is a cat fanatic is hilarious, the idea of her rolling around with cats when no one is looking is so funny😂

I'm so glad climbing the Tower led to saving Misha, her breaking down and crying was so heartbreaking, she's really suffered😭 On the other hand, lmao at these residents up here cooking chicken, I just stole all their food✌️Lol at the trial though, it's literally just to test your strength! I'm sure Jack and them could do it too. Anyway, I never realised the Tower was called the Tower of Ar Tonelico, and oh wow, it's pretty cool that in between the Lower World and the Upper World is the Frozen Eye that separates the two so they're actually not physically attached. Oh wow, so Misha being the Star Singer meant she was the one singing her Chronicle Key song to keep all the viruses out, but because her song was stolen and she can't sing it anymore, the viruses are now attacking Platina. How sad though? She has to sing for eternity to keep world peace but what about her? Ooh, Jack left the Teru Tribe because they were too fixated on rules even when they were on the brink of destruction huh? I guess it's understandable why he would be annoyed, he's seeing so many people close to him die and he can't even use the technology that could possibly save them because of some covenant with Elemia. On the other hand, nice to know that Krusche wants to go to the Upper World because her ex-boyfriend Luke went there and never came back. Tbh, the Luke part sounds familiar but I don't remember anything else about this story. And I see, Jack is close to Misha because he used to protect her until he left.. She must have been so lonely after that. Anyway, I don't know why it didn't click to me that people are named after musical instruments here, like Flute and Harmonica lol, not sure what Tastiella is lol.

Time to do Misha's cosmosphere before going up! Adult Misha is beautiful~ lmao at the chunk of ice being an ice fairy😂 LOL at Aurica in the Don Leon costume😂😂😂 I'm kinda glad we did Misha's cosmosphere now though, because I would be so confused why her world is like this if I didn't know she has the responsibility to sing for eternity to keep the world peaceful. Especially now that she can wander around to find her song, I'm sure she's even more reluctant to go back to singing all by herself to save people she doesn't even know, and she's been doing this her whole life. I'm dying at the "flower" you can water with the China dress Misha that turns into a freaking tree hahahahah. I'm not sure about an abundance of love being able to grow a little flower into a gigantic tree😂 But I guess it exactly shows how little exposure Misha has of the real world, since even the stuff in her cosmosphere is really a lot of stuff she read in books. Honestly, I got mad at Lyner when he shouted at Misha to like do her job as the song fairy to save this Krusche, Misha was right that he doesn't understand her feelings at all. She's been stuck in one place for so long and has finally been given medicine that could turn her into a human, of course she would hesitate. I don't really blame Lyner though, since he doesn't really know about her life and her past at all. Shinobi Misha is so hot, I love the costume! It's so heartwrenching to hear how understanding Misha is to say she's willing on giving up on this chance (that she doesn't know if she'll ever get again) so that she can save Krusche because she understands that as long as she's alive, there's still a chance for her to find another way to be free, but if Krusche dies, she'll never have a second chance for her life. HAHAHA, I was thinking if those things in Misha's hair were drums, and thanks to Hama's confirmation, yes they are! But just like Hama's bells, they're just decorations, so don't beat those drums she says lmaooo. 

Lolll at Shurelia being Misha's mum telling her to grow up. So, the reason Misha hates growing up is because when she was young, she was still "free" and got to be in Platina playing with Lyner and stuff, but once she grew up, she was forced to sing and sing, so now she hates the idea of being "grown up" and having to live with this responsibility for the rest of her life, since at least if she's a kid, she can rebel and be a bit more selfish... I always find it hilarious how every Shurelia character in the cosmospheres have to ask Lyner out 😂😂 I guess it's because Shurelia is connected to all the Reyvateils? So even if Shurelia herself doesn't realise it, she really does like Lyner enough that it leaks into all her "characters"? It's terrible to think about how strict Lyner's dad was on Misha when she was in Platina if it's still haunting her here. Aww for Aurica's cosmosphere, Don Leon was a gift from Claire to Aurica before she left the village, she told Aurica to treat it as if it was her so that she wouldn't be lonely. It's cute how Don Leon really stayed so important to her that it's even her Mind Guardian now.

I'm glad Misha put Lyner in his place and told him it's too late to say he doesn't want to involve everyone, but I guess it's understandable since they could die or never be able to come back to the Lower World, but even still, Misha is right, they should be the ones to make that decision and not him. Anyway, in terms of the story, I feel like Lyner would choose Aurica to download the Hymn Crystal into to fight the viruses but I'm biased towards Misha so~ The viruses invading Misha's cosmosphere must have been pretty scary tbh like omggg, that's terrifying, especially since she got sealed in a crystal and everything was a wasteland. It was nice that after choosing Misha for this, it seems like Lyner has finally shown concern and worry over Misha lolll. Well, Platina is saved and now there's potential for more interaction between the Upper and Lower Worlds so I guess that will be nice. And that's the end of Phase 1!

Overall, I've been really enjoying my time with Ar Tonelico again. Tbh, now that I'm playing it again, it really does run like a visual novel with RPG elements hahaha. The battle system gets pretty repetitive and boring though, I'm glad it's not hard, but it can get tiring when there's a lot of random battles, I had to escape a few times because I was just so bored of it lmao. Otherwise, I definitely like Aurica much more than when I was a kid lol! She's actually really adorable and kind, lacking confidence at times, but with Lyner, I think she's definitely found a lot more confidence in herself and her abilities, and we should really be thankful to Lyner for that hahah. I love her weird naming sense and how she's so obstinate about silly things. As for Misha, I still really love her too. I like how she's so honest and true to herself, and I think I like her dynamic with Krusche and them more than Aurica is with them, but I really like how vocal Misha is about stuff like telling Lyner what she thinks and stuff like that. Shurelia is as cool as I used to think she was haha. I think I'll go with Aurica's route first though, just because I've never played it��

[nimsajlove]

Brothers (V)

Not the last part, sadly. I was hoping to finish this thing today but even stuck at home, I can’t do it...

Brothers-AU  Ao3

Part IV , Part VI

*~*

Ahsoka won the one fight. With the help of Aayla Secura, Plo Koon and Anakin, the files against Fives disappeared with surprising speed and Ahsoka managed to cover up the whole thing with words, that Cody and Obi-Wan Kenobi had given her this time, and somehow transfer Fives into her ultimate care. She wasn't quite sure, how she really did it! But she sensed that the voices of Senator Amidala and Senator Organa had been of great support in front of the Senate.

However, she suffered a defeat in another. "And you are sure, that we can't treat more men?", she asked quietly and looked at her feet, she was sitting cross-legged in the bunk under her own. Rex was standing in front of her, on the side of his head Kix had attached a thick plaster. It looked strange, almost unsettling. "I do not think so. We finished our unit and I'm still amazed, that Cody agreed. But we don't know, who would tell the Senate about this if he could.", he explained and his tone softened as he saw her grimace in pain. The last few days had been tough, her nerves had worn out and in the end Rex had taken over her paperwork from the past week. Just to catch up a little. She had to overcome many fears. The fear of the Council, of the Chancellor. Yes, even a little fear of failing herself. None of that had done her any good, and it didn't improve her tired features.

Two seconds passed while she chewed her nails and he watched her, before he dropped next to her with a small thud. She was so tired... She wanted to be strong, really! She wanted to be there, keep an eye on Fives. But she hadn't even found the strength to follow him and his brothers to dinner this afternoon. Was she even hungry at all? "He's in good hands.", it mumbled next to her and she nodded dully. "I know." "Then why are you making yourself even more stressed? He's alive and he'll still be when you restet.", asked Rex and she rolled the answer back and forth in her head for a while. Because she was needed? Or, at least, wanted to be? Sometimes this little fear crept into her mind, that the clones would eventually leave her alone. Like the Council. She knew she would have to accept it, if that day came. But that didn't made the thought easier! His hand grabbed her shoulder and pulled it against his. With a small sigh her head came to rest against his and fingers layed quietly on her temple. She stared into the air for a few seconds, then breathed out deeply and let the warmth drive away all thoughts. 

* ~ * 

"Why are you hesitating?", Jesse asked, looking around searching for what had upset his general. She shrugged her shoulders, her posture so strangely insecure and nervous. "I don't know, maybe a bad feeling?", she mumbled and then climbed into the ship, which would bring her back onto her cruiser. Actually, she couldn't wait to get away! 

The Jedi, especially Anakin Skywalker and Obi-Wan Kenobi, had become downright intrusive in the past few days. And even if the two Jedi brought back fond memories in her, it caused enough pain for her to want to avoid them.

Saying goodbye to Cody was short, but she had looked at him honestly and even a small smile had appeared on her face. Despite the problems of the past few days. "I owe you one.", were her last words, his as he had yelled after her: "Definitly!" She was still grinning at the thought of it. 

Back on the cruiser, it seemed as if the bad memories were slowly being washed away. She was cautious for the first few days, although her bad feeling at the departure had disappeared now. But then she noticed more and more how the men laughed and joked together. She was greeted with a smile at any time of day and at some point it passed on to her too. Even Fives laughed again, it was really contagius. She was grateful, that the clones could always, somehow, find something good in every situation. 

* ~ * 

Almost two months passed. The war went on around her and a strange distance had developed between her and the men. She wasn't sure where it came from, but she seemed to separate herself from them every now and then. She spent more time meditating, letting Rex choose which missions to go on next. She was still helping, eating and sleeping with the men. But she still felt this distance and was worried, that it was coming from her side... Maybe she was missing a nice fight after all. She didn't knew if she should have been happy, when Cody called her and jokingly remembered her that she was still owning him something, even if the situation was probably not funny! At last she would be able to do something without putting more blood from the clones on her cap. Because this was something, that still worried her. Maybe it was better, to get away from these men and let them be happy with the small and peacefull missions. 

But when the men heard of her preparations, they surprised her with their anger. Hesitantly and slightly confused, she sat alone while eating and assumed that all the distance had now turned into dislike after all. Rex, Jesse and Kix gave it away as a lie, when the three of them sat down with her and acted as if nothing had ever happened. It wasn't until the young woman chewed on her food for a few minutes in silence that Jesse nudged her in the side. "What is it, did you swallow your tongue?", he joked and when Ahsoka shrugged, the other two fell silent. There it was again, that distance. She felt so incredibly heavy as she watched the men seem to be more relaxed with each new peace mission. "What's stuck in your throat?", asked Kix and she pressed her forearms on the table, she wondered if it was worth sharing her worries with those, whom she had called brothers for years. Finally she spoke up. "The men avoided me today, have I moved so far from them?", she asked quietly and the three clones began to chuckle. She looked up with furrowed eyebrows. "That's not funny!", she hissed softly and put her fork aside. Rex was the first to swallow his amusement and patted her head across the table, earning him another angry twinkle from the general. 

"You know, I think it's more like, that the men are offended.", Jesse finally grinned broadly. "Running into a mission without all of us? Not even you can pull that on us.", Kix agreed. 

Even later, she hadn't quite digested that the men would just follow her. In what would be certainly the death of most of them. She didn't want that! She paced up and down in her office and was nearly scared to death when the door suddenly slid open. Rex and Fives stood in front of her and the ARC just shook his head. "How about some sleep until we get there?", he suggested, she shook her head firmly. “No, it’s not like I could sleep now anyway. And don't even think about calling Kix! You don't want to see my dinner again and neither do I!”, she threatened Rex, before he could open his mouth. Both clones smirked and now entered, their general began to pace up and down again. The two sat on the desk. “Then how about running around on the bridge. At least you have space there.", Rex joked and she stared at him. “How can you joke now? I am leading more than a hundred men to their certain death, with a really high probability!” She started softly and grew louder, until she crossed her arms angrily and wondered if this was a good time for a little scream. Just to calm her nerves.

Fives stood up, his gaze dead serious. “These men follow you voluntarily! You lead them because they want you to lead them. Sooner or later each of us dies, let us at least hope to be allowed to die for the right thing.", he explained and she heard a passion in his voice that has not been seen since Umbara. A lump formed in her throat, but she forced herself to maintain her composure. There had been a time, where she had thought so as well. “With all due respect, brother! I want you to die for the right thing, after all of you have had a chance to live. A real life without the bolts and bombs flying around you all the time. You should be allowed to live, not have to.” Her voice was hard and cold, it was difficult to speak past the lump. Rex got up too and came up to her. “I want to live right here and now. And if we die out there, it will be because we made the right decision to trust you." She looked at him and realized, that at was herself who built this distance. She was so afraid to loose one oft hem! Tears started to form in her eyes und she turned away. 

* ~ * 

She had been standing alone in front of the battle plans for a while now and looked at them, the situation was not only tricky. Fatal was probably the better word and she was still gnawing at Rex's idea, of ​​how they could still save the whole thing. He had gone, alone. She didn't like it, but she also knew that she couldn't run after him always and everywhere. He had Cody with him and Unit 99! It would all go well… She remembered her brief conversation with these clones while telling Rex to be careful. A smile crept on her face, Wrecker reminded her of Hardcase. The two alone would certainly have been enough, to reduce the entire base to rubble and ashes.

Footsteps approached from behind and she looked up, Anakin came up to her and clasped his hands behind his back. She had to grin. "You had a nice conversation? How is she doing?”, she asked softly and he smirked, she hadn't spoken to her master in a long time. Not really after she left Coruscant in such a hurry. But she wasn't blind. "You're clever.", her former master admitted and examined the plans with her. She felt his restlessness and sighed, before loosening her arms and looking at him. "What is it, Master?", she asked and it was unexpected for her, when his worried look met her. 

"I missed you.", he muttered and she smirked. "Sure you weren't just missing Hevy?", she teased and he rolled his eyes before carefully lifting an arm. An invitation she could decline if she wanted.

She swallowed, since the council had expelled her once, she had forbidden the other Jedi from any avoidable physical contact. She knew Plo Koon was sorry, but she couldn't just see past it all. She also knew that every time, Master Kenobi saw her, he worriedly stroked his beard and tried to put his hand on her shoulder. Since then she has consistently avoided him. Now she and her master had never maintained closer contact, except for a deep bond. But it hurt him too, to know her so far away and distant. And that hurt her too ... She might not really always agree with him, but he was her friend and with a small sigh she slipped into the embrace and held him tight for a few seconds before releasing him. 

* ~ * 

She was crouching on the floor and biting her nails, that hideous habit that had only emerged since the Fives-Thing! She had closed her eyes and was thinking, trying not to lose her mind while doing so. Her master and the other two Jedi doubted the captain's statement, she didn't! If Rex said that had to be Echo, it was him! But what exactly should she do now? She had to go there, take him home. That was out of the question. Could she involve his brothers in this? No, the clones were more important to him than she was. In the end she was expendable for her men, even if they were loyal to her. Her brothers would get over her loss, should it occur. After all, they would then have Echo back again.

"Have you made up your mind?", asked a calm voice and she opened her eyes. She had previously included Hunter in her deliberations, and he had told her that Rex was up to the same thing. This, of course, accelerated her decision-making process. "Yes, let me just talk a word with Cody.", she snorted and went into the medical tent. The commander refused to leave the planet, after all he was more or less patched up. He was awake and staring at her. "And?", he asked, and if she hadn't been to bed faster, he might have got up to meet her. “I'll go and look for Echo. The others must not follow me! You can do this for me, right?” The clone nodded, worry darkened his eyes and Ahsoka patted him carefully on the shoulder, trying to calm him down. "I'll take your boys with me, let's see what they're good for.", she joked and saw Cody smile briefly, before she turned around and disappeared. 

* ~ * 

Did these shafts never end? Echo smiled next to her and she looked down at him, had she said something? "Don't look like that, I know where we're going to get out.", he grinned and it actually cheered her up. She was full of bruises and minor injuries, but Echo was alive and she had her arm wrapped around him to hold him up. It was all worth it! 

Wrecker behind her sighed again and she had to smile again. "I'll make sure that you get a few more before we run.", she said and received a comradely push against the shoulder blade. "I hope so!", laughed the massive clone, and Crosshair in front of her just shook his head.

"Here it is. I just don't think, you'll like it.", Echo grinned at Ahsoka and Tech opened a hatch, the wind blew in on them immediately and she stuck her head out. It went down from up here, far down. "No different than jumping into the underworld.", she thought aloud and out of the corner of her eye she saw Echo tilt his head. "You speak from experience?", he asked and she nodded. 

* ~ *

 Every bone hurt her, but it didn't matter! Because Echo was as intact as he could be and she was still alive. In addition, Wrecker was totally amused, to have thrown a Jedi for the first time in his life. She smiled too, she hadn't wanted to take the fun away from him and had given up her other acrobatics. It had been funny, especially when Hunter asked her loudly, if she still was sane to volunteer to do this. It had been easier somehow, now that she wasn't surrounded by the clones that her heart was so attached to. Besides, her brothers got along quite well without the fighting, but these ones...

The gunship started to land and she got up, the ground seemed to sway slightly under her as she braced herself on the wall and Echo looked at her from the side. She had filled in a few of his gaps. "General, maybe..." She held up her hand and cut him off. "I'm fine, I'm standing upright on my own two feet. But I'll send you straight to Kix.", she grinned and Echo returned it, albeit hesitantly.

The ship opened and she could see a whole group of people rushing to meet them. She pulled back a little and let the clones go outside, not at least to get out of the view of all the others, including her former master. She really couldn't use one of his lectures now. She might have underestimated the enemy a tiny bit... Echo was welcomed with open arms by his brothers and they all escort him to Kix, Ahsoka waited a few seconds until Tech stuck his head back into the ship. 

"They are gone.", he announced and she left the ship with a deep sigh, the pain in her body was still dull. But it was slowly growing and she just wanted to get into a bunk and close her eyes for a few minutes. Nothing more. "Thanks, Cody actually didn't exaggerate.", she said to Hunter and tried to drive away the exhaustion. The clone looked her up and down once and then smiled a small smile. “He wasn't exaggerating when he spoke of you either. General Tano, you look awful.” She laughed, it hurt and she held her ribs. "Not everyone can have a genetic advantage.", she joked and said goodbye.

She began to hobble into her improvised command tent as fast as she could and sat on the floor, preferring not to inspect her injuries. Now that all that adrenaline was gone, it hurt like hell. Her right lekku burned like fire and blood was dried on him, her shoulder and forehead. Her head felt like it would explode, her sense of balance seemed to have been damaged. She knew, that blood was still oozing from her left hand. But she just didn't dare to look down. She just sat there and breathed against the sting of her ribs, wondering if she should just allow herself some sleep here on the floor.

She never got to it, three figures appeared in her tent. "Ahsoka?" The question sounded scared and she wondered, how bad she really looked. It wasn't like she had a mirror on hand. She raised her right hand to protect her eyes from the incident light and to identify the people. It was her old master, who immediately turned around and pressed his comlink. Rex, however, came over to her with long strides and pulled her upright again by the shoulders. When had she sunken to the ground? “It's okay. I can sit alone.", she grumbled and fixed her gaze on Obi-Wan Kenobi, he looked at her with an expression of concern and urgency. "Sure.", Rex grumbled ironically, but she braced herself against his attempts to get her to her feet. "Master Kenobi, did something happen?", she asked instead, feeling a slight knot form in her stomach. Something actually happened...

The Jedi hesitated before speaking. “Anakin will kill me, for not dragging you to the nearest Bacta tank right away. But ... Echo just shared some of his new experiences and knowledge with us. He discovered a conspiracy, the clones were actually given a hidden order.” She looked at him with wide eyes and could see in his, what she was thinking. It was finally proven, Fives was right! "We'll be able to help them all?", she asked choked and only felt dully, how Rex grabbed her tighter. Kenobi nodded and she took a deep breath, tears flowed and she knew that all the men would finally have a chance of real, free will. Then it got dark. 

* ~ * 

When she woke up again, she was confused. It was bright, white, sterile. This wasn't a battlefield! Where was she? Where were the men she had to protect? Was Echo still safe with his brothers? Did she really make it? Panicked, she sat up and looked around, she was alone in a room, she identified it as the medistation of her cruiser. Where was everyone? Had she just been sent back and left alone? 

Suddenly, that feeling was there again, that deep fear of loneliness. She gasped, she'd had all of that under control for years, and now… She wanted to get up and noticed the many cables, that were glued and clamped to her skin. The panic overflowed and with a jerk she threw herself out of bed, tearing off the cables and lying there breathless. She was trying to find her legs, to do something before something happened. Her stomach was knotted and it was difficult for her to breathe. There were dull voices and when hands grabbed her, she tried to throw herself against them. Then it went quiet and dark again. 

The next time she opened her eyes, she was sick. Groaning, she immediately closed her eyes and straightened up, one hand pressed to her mouth. She could hardly breathe and suddenly a warm hand was on her back and someone pushed a bucket into her hands. Just in time, whatever had been in her stomach, it just greeted her cheerfully. She hugged the bucket, trembling.

A few minutes passed, before she was nothing but a trembling misery on the bed. She leaned back and more than two hands carefully helped her, there was a cool wall behind her. Before she could drop the bucket, someone took it from her and now she tried again, to look at the world around her. The difference to before was fatal! It wasn't the white ceiling of the medistation, but rather the familiar gray of the quarters. And as she took a deep breath, the familiar scent of her home flooded her lungs. The light had been dimmed and she could now hear and see how crowded it was. Oh by the Force, how many had seen all of this? The first that her eyes could focus on was Echo. He was sitting on one of the lower bunks and when he saw, that she was really looking at him, he smiled widely. That was nice... The next one was Kix and she realized quickly, why he looked so guilty. It was clear, that he had pumped the medication into her body. But did he really had a choice? Jesse sat next to him, arms on his knees and gaze serious, but relieved, fixed on her. Hevy, Droidbait, Cutup, Fives, Cody... she spotted a few other faces and then turned to the nearest one. Rex was sitting on the matress she had been put on and when she blinked at him, he actually picked up a second bucket.

"Please don't say, you need this one too.", he muttered and a laugh escaped her, her ribs no longer hurt. Carefully she sat up properly and rubbed her aching head, her gaze slid back to Echo. He looked so much better... "How long was I gone?", she asked quietly and as if that had been a secret sign, her brothers came closer to the bed and Cody shooed the others away, but kept himself in the background. “Almost two weeks. One of them in the tank.”, Cutup announced and threw himself on her foot end, Driodbait shoved him heartily to the side and climbed next to him. Two weeks? "What did I miss?", she asked still quietly and Echo and Fives had to laugh, she gave them a strange look. What was there to laugh about? "I can lend you a hand, if you need it.", Echo announced and a shockingly realistic prosthesis landed in her hands. Without an arm. She paused, then raised her eyebrows and returned his new hand. "Very funny.", she commented dryly, but was infinitely happy. That was the first joke Fives was involved in for who knows how long! 

"The GAR is dechipped.", Jesse threw in and simply sat down on the floor, in front of the bunk, he had a satisfied grin on his face. "And Skywalker screwed up!", Hevy announced and all the clones laughed softly, that was almost too loud for her head! "Why?" She asked pained, rubbing her temples. “The Senator is even less of a secret now, than it was before. But the men and General Kenobi cover him as best they can.", Cody grinned from further back and she had to laugh again, what a surprise! Her master has never been good at keeping things a secret... 

Kix stared at his hands and she recognized the expression. She got up a little more and tilted her head. "Kix?" He looked up and she grinned widely, it elicited a small smile. She wanted to see that, even if, according to her stomach, she didn't felt like grinning. "What exactly did you find?", she asked in a pretended good mood. He didn't fall for it, but finally began to enumerate.

"Serious head injuries. The right lekku was completely slit.” She raised her right hand and stroked the tentacle, a bulging scar pressing against her fingers. There could have been worse. "Burns, abrasions, grazes, broken ribs ..." The list was long and yet it had to end at some point. "And two fingers of the left hand were torn off.", the clone finished and exhaled deeply, Ahsoka looked at her hands for the first time. The right one was perfectly fine again, but the left one looked so out of place. The ring and middle finger were completely missing and she clenched her hand once into a fist, it was as if she could still feel them. With a shudder, she remembered how she'd faded out the pain, after wrenching herself from the grip of a droid. 

The men around her waited to see, if she would say something.She looked up and carefully swung her legs out of bed. "Where are we?", she asked, waiting for the world to stop turning. That headache would kill her sooner or later! Breathing deeply, she propped herself up on her knees, tried not to gag again and heard Kix start to rummage in his backpack. "Hyperspace, on the way to Coruscant.", Cody replied and she nodded vaguely, why weren't her men there already? The rest of the fight couldn't possibly have lasted two weeks. "Why are you here?", she asked further, when Kix pressed a tablet into her left hand. Without looking for water, she swallowed it. Her brothers moved a little closer, slowly it was getting tight on the bed. Droidbait and Cutup sat diagonally behind her, Rex on her right and Kix on her left. Fives, Echo, Jesse and Hevy were crouched on the floor and Cody was leaning against the opposite wall. "You're kidding, right?", Jesse asked, and she shrugged. "I wouldn't have blamed you, for flying home as soon as possible.", she muttered and massaged her forehead, the pain seemed to subside and the nausea finally went away! She loved Kix, he always had one of the few tablets that she could swallow. 

Someone patted her foot and she looked up, Hevy looked at her with a surprising seriousness. "You took all the fun away from us, but we can't just leave you behind!" She wanted to protest, that leaving her on the medistation wouldn't have been such a big deal. "Don't argue, I won't go anywhere again without anyone of my family, this includes you too!", Echo announced and tears tingled in her eyes.

This unconditional love, that was shown to her here, was so different from her worries in the last few days. She wasn't sure, what she had expected or feared. Maybe anger, that she'd left them all to go off alone? Before she could start crying, however, Hevy rose energetically. "I'm starving, let's get something to eat!" Ahsoka hesitated, food sounded nice. But somehow... "When was the last meal?", she asked and Hevy shrugged. “No idea, 10 or 11 hours ago? Since you decided to throw yourself off the bed.", he grinned and it made her smile. "Then I don't want to stand in your way." But nobody moved. "Your stomach could definitely take something too.", Kix then threw in and stood up, offered her his hand, to help her up. She still hesitated, the pill was good. But she wasn't hungry either. "You haven't had anything real in your stomach for two weeks, do us this favor.", Rex insisted and with a sigh, she grabbed Kix's hand and pulled herself to her feet. "You can have my dessert too.", Cutup said as he pushed past her and his grin made her laugh. Suddenly the faces of all the men in the room lit up and she was a bit ashamed, of having burdened the soldiers for so long. "You are too good to me.", she tried to joke and squealed, as Hevy grabbed her and lifted her onto his shoulders. "Yep, you can really thank us more often.", he laughed and they all went off together.

[murderluv23]

Piano Demon Headcanons (1)

Rarely does anything aside from practicing piano. Is often found glued to his instrument and doesn't make eye contact when spoken to.

Very reclusive. Prefers to be left alone 99.9% of the time. He really enjoys quiet time with his music.

Really invested in musical theory. If someone were to start speaking to him about melody, rhythm, counterpoint, harmony, form, tonal systems, scales, tuning, intervals, consonance, dissonance, etc, he would listen very intently. He'd barely say a word as the person is speaking but take in every aspect of the conversation. It's the quickest way to get him to pay attention to you, as he usually doesn't enjoy talking to others.

If you're lucky and I mean really lucky, he'll become extremely talkative and start going off about how music can enrich everything in life if used correctly. He would offer his two cents on musical theory and start going deep on what works, what doesn't, how it can effect others' moods, etc. While you may be lucky to get him to talk like this, you won't be so lucky with getting him to stop once he's started. I hope you're just as passionate as he is because buckle up sugar, you're gonna be there awhile. Alastor has seen this side of him and finds it adorable. Honestly, it's in those moments where their bond really comes to the forefront. Many view their relationship as cold and distant due to The Piano Demon's personality. But behind closed doors and when The Piano Demon rarely opens up, Alastor and him couldn't be more in sync. Often cutting each other off or finishing the other's sentence when discussing music, having epiphanies at the same time that just escalates their passion. Every instance this occurs, Alastor falls even more in love with him. Granted, he's as stoic as ever, there's no changing that. But he wouldn't have it any other way.

Tea is his favorite thing to drink. He'll pretty much take whatever you give him but he prefers it to be hot.

Isn't a fan of alcohol. Could drink the hardest of liquor and be completely underwhelmed. He just dislikes the taste.

He is a lover of Jazz and Swing.

He adores chocolate truffles. He mentioned he liked them once very casually and Alastor showered him with them. He may not care for sweets himself but that doesn't mean he won't buy them for his Darling!

He very much enjoys spicy food. Do not ask to have a bite from his plate unless you want your jaw to melt off. He is willing to share but he is one of those people who eats the equivalant of the sun, looks you in the eye and says "This? This isn't even hot."

He knows how to cook. When Alastor can actually rip him away from the piano, they often cook together and sit with one another for dinner. It's a very good bonding experience for the both of them. Though again, it is a rare occurance. Getting that man away from the piano is nearly impossible.

He dislikes loud noises and loud people.

He's often told he chose the wrong spouse, then.

He dislikes any physical activity that is exhausting, especially dancing. 

He dislikes being touched. He is fine with Alastor hugging him or linking their arms together. He is also fine with others showing him affection if they ask for it and are close to him. Though touch is something he mostly can do without.

He severely dislikes Rap and Hiphop. He believes all music should be respected but if asked, he'll criticize it very harshly.

Social gatherings are his kryptonite. He'll omniously stand in a dark corner if he is forced to go to a party if he can't find a piano he can glue himself to.

He dislikes his Overlord status. When asked why, he'll simply answer that he loves music. It is believed that he does not concern himself with doing things out of ego and distants himself from the others.

He dislikes arrogance.

He dislikes sleeping. Evidenced by his constant practice and performances. 

"Dear, are you sure you're getting enough rest?"

"I occasionally close my eyes when I sneeze."

If he is not able to practice his music, he becomes agitated.

He does not like to be interrupted. If he is, he'll let the person finish but will be very annoyed afterwards.

He has a very positive relationship with Rosie. They share lunches together and chat on their off time.

Mimzy sometimes joins him for a walk or to think about the old days.

Though Charlie's enthusiastic nature is a bit much for him, they get along rather well. He likes her appreciation for music and will instruct her if she asks for tips.

Husk can actually sit down and talk to him. Most of it is just ranting and drunk grumbles but still a conversation. He can actually relax around The Piano Demon. He creeps Husk out a lot, with the mask and barely saying a word. But he doesn't piss him off which is refreshing. Husk would even says he likes the guy.

Mainly because he's very different from Alastor and other Overlords in a lot of ways. He will often scold Alastor if he tries to mess with him and treats him with respect. Alastor barely pushes his buttons when he's around. Husk is more likely to listen to him because of this. Not by much but it's something.

Niffty adores him. She'll often bounce around him while he walks or ride on his shoulders. The Piano Demon will sometimes read while she cleans to keep an eye on her. She loves the sound of his voice! If Niffty finds the time, she'll sit beside him as he practices and will listen quietly, kicking her feet.

Stolas is good friends with him. He will request his company at random times when he gets lonely. Stolas can get really flirty a lot of the time. Though he respects his boundaries. While The Piano Demon can do without the advances, he does enjoy the time he spends with him. Though he constantly has to reel in Alastor's jealous temper whenever he so much as mentions the prince.

The Piano Demon has access to the living world.

He, Alastor, and Mimzy knew each other when they were alive.

The Piano Demon and Lucifer have an odd relationship that even Alastor doesn't know the full extent of. It is implied they hold conversations in a void where no one else can hear them. What do they talk about? One can only speculate.

Only Alastor has seen his real face. No, he will not be providing details.

He is open to modern technology. He owns a smart phone that his underlings at the I.M.P company gifted to him. He mostly uses it for business, though.

Blitz calls him "Boss-Man" despite it being techinically incorrect. He's scared to death of him.

His cause of death is unkown.

He is indifferent to Vox and Alastor's chaos and rivalry, including Vox himself. They could be destroying a city behind him while bickering and he'd just sip his morning coffee while looking over his piano sheets.

The nature of his and Vox's relationship is odd. Vox despises his lover and causes him trouble yet the guy has literally zero reaction to his presence. Even Vox is perplexed on their dynamic. All in all, they're neutral to each other.

He would create a social media account out of curiousity. However, he is busy a lot of the time so he wouldn't manage it very well.

Would converse in a group chat with other Hotel residents, though. The others would tease him for being an old man for refusing to use anything other than proper grammar and puncuation.

Is known for roasting people's entire souls without knowing what "roasting" is. He'd probably respond by saying he does not eat other sinners and everyone would die laughing.

Him and Alastor have a relationship like Gomez and Morticia. Though he isn't very outwardly affectionate, Alastor is able to pick up on the sudtlies of his behavoir and react accordingly. Even if to outside viewers his feelings appear to be unreciprocated and delusional.

He is not fond of Alastor's dad jokes.

Alastor will often tease him with some just to get a laugh.

This may or may not end well in The Radio Demon's favor.

He is the only one who can reel in Alastor's chaotic impusles.

"Alastor, no-" 

Is a very common thing to hear. Only difference with him is Alastor actually listens. ....Most of the time.

When he doesn't? The Piano Demon can at least convince him to stop before things get too messy.

He can play multiple instruments but sticks to the piano.

He is also asexual.

[lumaejin]

Happy Halloween?

↬ Rating: General Audiences

↬ Archive Warning: No Archive Warnings Apply

↬ Genre:  Fluff. Halloween themed BTS housemates AU

↬ Category: M/M

↬ Relationship: Sope (Jung Hoseok x Min Yoongi)

↬ Word Count: 3.6k

↬ Summary: The maknaes are once again playing matchmaking by sending Hoseok and Yoongi to a funfair. On Halloween. While it's raining. Oh, and Yoongi totally doesn't want to kill them at all. Who would have thought that it would have actually initiated something between the two of them?

gif made by me - story written in 2020

(cross posted on AO3)

The rain clouds loomed overhead, darkening the sky and obscuring the sun from view. Aside from a few lone cars passing by, the roads were completely empty. Not that it surprised Yoongi; no one in their right minds would be driving to a funfair on a stormy day. Specifically, on Halloween.

"We should have never given in," Yoongi said, his hands on the steering wheel.

Hoseok glanced at the downpour, his eyes moving up to the ever-darkening sky. A frown appeared in place of his usual smile, though he covered it up quickly.

"Come on, don't be like that. It'll be fun!" Hoseok said, "Besides, they would have never stopped bothering us if we didn't agree. It's better to suffer now than for the rest of our days."

"We're going to a fair. In the rain. Because the maknaes forced us to. And you're telling me it's going to be fun?"

"They weren't the only ones forcing us to go..."

"Missing the point."

"Right," Hoseok said, "What I mean is: make the best of the situation, you know? We both know what's going to happen if we come back earlier than planned."

There was a moment of silence. Both of them did know. Very well in fact. They had had enough of Jimin, Jungkook and Taehyung's devilry to last them a lifetime. Their plans of revenge were feared by all (Hoseok, Namjoon, Seokjin and him) and could last weeks on end. Of course, Yoongi felt some sort of affection for the three and all their "punishments" weren't really punishments. That still didn't stop their behaviour from being a right pain in the butt, though.

This time, however, it wasn't just the maknaes they needed to be worried about. Seokjin and Namjoon had been hell-bent on making them go too, and Seokjin, especially, had more power in the household than all the others combined. To have him somewhere in the equation made everything so much more dangerous and Yoongi could already see the mountain of dishes he'd have to wash. Every day. For five weeks.

"We're not risking that," Yoongi said with a sigh, "But I might or might not beat them up once we get home."

"No objections," Hoseok said, "Um I mean, don't go too hard on them."

A roar of thunder interrupted their conversation and Hoseok shuddered at the sound. His eyes once again found the darkening clouds, his eyebrows furrowing. Rain was okay, but thunder and lightning though...

"They really had to pick today," Hoseok said, shaking his head. Not only was it Halloween (a festival he disliked simply because it was rather... frightening), but the weather was at its worst. They hadn't had a storm like this in weeks, not since the thunderstorm which had nearly blown away half of the country.

Yoongi grumbled in agreement, catching sight of a neon sign at the side of the road. So this was it... Seoul Fun Fair? He'd never heard of it before, which, in itself was rather unusual. After all, Jimin had claimed that this fair was pretty popular.

"What are the chances that they have a tracker on this car?" Yoongi asked. He had half a mind to continue driving -- maybe to a nearby village -- but the thought of being found out loomed over his head like a dark rain cloud.

"Do you even have to ask?" Hoseok said.

He was right, of course; both of them knew the maknaes well enough by now. In fact, Yoongi would be extremely surprised if they didn't have a tracker on the car. Shaking his head, he exited the motorway and stopped the car at the traffic lights.

The sky had darkened considerably, causing an unnerving feeling to settle in the pit of his stomach. He drummed his fingers on the steering wheel as he looked back towards the main road.

"The rain's getting worse," Hoseok said.

"Do we have an umbrella?"

"Yeah. I think there might be one in the trunk... but um... I think it's that small and pink one."

Yoongi raised an eyebrow at this. Typical of the maknaes. Typical. It was one of their many "grande" schemes and he knew for a fact that Jin and Namjoon had become a victim of this one in particular before.

"Those three boys are unbelievable," he muttered, starting the engine of the car again.

Another 15 minutes passed before they arrived at the funfair, during which Yoongi swore that he felt the temperature drop by at least 20 degrees. The trees rustled wildly, casting large, ominous shadows on the roads, which most certainly did not help to ease the feeling of dread. In short, Yoongi very much felt like punching the three maknaes in the face. For real. No joke.

The parking lot was empty when they arrived (surprise, surprise!), though pumpkins of different sizes and shapes had been strategically placed on the lawn. Hoseok had to admit that they fulfilled their purposes well; he was much more scared than he would like to admit. It didn't help that the sky was almost completely dark now, meaning that the candles inside the pumpkins were one of the only sources of light.

After coming back with a parking ticket, the two of them decided to walk towards the fair in search of warmth. Neither wanted to budge, but it turned out that the car they had taken -- Jin's to be precise -- was the one with the broken heating system. (Hoseok had to give the maknaes credit; they seemed to have gotten better and better at planning. Though, at the moment, he'd rather they were terrible at it.)

As they walked towards the gates of the funfair, Hoseok was very much aware of how close the pink umbrella forced them to be. He was terribly aware of how their arms touched more than usual, how he could smell the light hint of cedarwood. He knew one of the maknaes had given them that umbrella on purpose, and while he did curse them, he also felt slightly, just slightly, grateful. It wasn't every day that he got to walk this close to his crush- no, roommate.

A mantra of "I don't like Yoongi this way"s started playing in his mind, well, because he definitely didn't like Yoongi that way.

Nope.

He totally didn't sometimes stare at Yoongi in his sleep. And he absolutely didn't hang on to every word the latter said. Oh, and he most definitely did not want to cuddle him. Not at all. No.

It was simply a light slip up, one which didn't mean too much. It was normal for friends to occasionally find themselves in a dangerous zone, right? Though now that he really considered it, these thoughts never seemed to surface when he was thinking about Namjoon or Seokjin or Jimin or Jungkook or Taehyung... No- he needed to distract himself. This wasn't a topic to ponder on and he was bound to overthink it.

"How did the maknaes even get Jin and Namjoon involved?" Hoseok asked, grabbing at a random question in his head. Anything was good, as long as he was distracted.

"Probably by threatening. Or Jin and Namjoon just felt mischievous. Though they most likely told Jin that they were gonna cook something in his kitchen."

"They're not that terrible at it. Jungkook makes food every now and then," Hoseok said.

"It's not that. It's when they're together that they make a massive mess," Yoongi said, "Once, I walked into them having a food fight and it took Jin 5 days to scrub the kitchen clean. This was before you moved in."

They stopped at the gates of the fair, looking beyond it sceptically. A few lights were on, but most of the booths seemed to be closed. That wasn't the concerning part though because neither of them had expected large crowds anyway. What was surprising and slightly off-putting, was the fact that all of the stands and the attractions looked worn down and old. *What type of fair was this, if they didn't make sure to repair their equipment? *

Come to think of it... he hadn't heard about this fair before the maknaes mentioned it. Hoseok had always been under the impression that he knew Seoul well and if this funfair was as popular as they said it was, he should have heard of it at some point, right? The thought made him unconsciously step closer to Yoongi.

"Um Yoongi," Hoseok said, "Have you ever heard of this fair before?"

"No," Yoongi said, "Why the sudden question?"

"Don't the booths look a bit run-down to you? It just feels like they're gonna fall apart at any moment," Hoseok said, pausing for a second as he looked around anxiously.

Silence.

"Where did those three discover this fair anyway?" Hoseok asked, "They said it's really popular, but it doesn't really look that way. It seems more like business hasn't been good for years or something."

"They wouldn't send us somewhere dangerous," Yoongi said.

"Not on purpose," Hoseok countered.

Yoongi scanned the fair again with caution, before abruptly turning back to Hoseok. "It's fishy. But we should stop worrying before it drives us crazy. Let's just find somewhere warm to sit and wait it out."

He had a point of course. The rain was relentless as it pounded against their small umbrella and though they tried to stand close enough to prevent it, at least half of their shoulders were already drenched. If they stood here any longer, their shoes and trousers were bound to get soaked as well.

Yoongi reached out, opening the rusty gate and wincing slightly as it creaked loudly. Even though Hoseok tried to get his mind off of it, the way everything looked worn down continued to bother him. The paint was fading and there was rust everywhere; it honestly creeped him out. Or maybe it was that, paired with the fact that it was Halloween.

Or maybe it was Hoseok's sneaking suspicion that they were the only customers the shopkeepers had seen in years. Something about the way their eyes glinted just seemed off...

"I think that booth over there has a place to sit," Yoongi said, "And there's a fireplace behind the counter so it's bound to be somewhat warm."

"Sure," Hoseok agreed.

As the two of them crossed the lawn -- still followed by the stares of the funfair staff -- a peculiar shape caught Hoseok's eye. It looked sort of like the shadow of another person, maybe of someone walking towards them. As he turned to point it out to Yoongi however, it was gone.

It must have been a trick of the light, Hoseok thought as he shook it off. He had a tendency to imagine things when he was paranoid and even though Yoongi had told him to pay it no mind, he really wasn't succeeding. After all, everywhere he looked, something or someone creepy seemed to stare back.

Reaching the shelter of the awning, Hoseok put down the pink umbrella and greeted the lady behind the counter. He sighed in disappointment; the booth didn't offer coffee. Instead, the two of them ordered two cups of hot chocolate and sat down.

Even as the warmth of the booth simmered out towards them, Hoseok couldn't stop shivering from the cold. It was like sitting in a pile of snow and even the hot chocolate couldn't do much to help.

It was so cold in fact, that his tongue stopped perceiving the sweetness of the drink, leaving only an unappetizing blankness in his mouth.

"Do you think Namjoon and Seokjin will kill Jimin, Taehyung and Jungkook if we come back home with a cold?" Hoseok asked.

"They won't. The brats will feel bad enough on their own, so they won't need reprimanding."

Thunder and lightning interrupted their conversation and Hoseok turned back towards the stands and booths opposite them. The sight made him freeze, his cup pausing by his lips. A shadow had appeared... the same shadow he had seen while crossing the lawn! It was lurking in front of the two, before making its way towards them slowly.

Once the initial shock of having seen the shadow of another person had subsided, however, he'd managed to calm himself down quickly. After all, it was normal for someone to come towards this booth; he and Yoongi couldn't be the only ones at the fair.

Just as he was about to turn away, however, the shadow started morphing. Morphing, and not in a normal way. Rubbing his eyes to make sure he wasn't hallucinating, Hoseok stared avidly at the monster-like form.

"Yoongi," he whispered, his voice trembling as he pointed towards the lawn.

He glanced sideways to see Yoongi's eyes widen in shock and confusion. Hoseok had no idea what to do. Was this some sort of supernatural thing that only happened in movies? What were they to do in a situation like this? Shadow-monsters or whatever that thing was didn't exist in real life, right?

It seemed, however, that Yoongi had the answer. In the blink of an eye, he had started dragging Hoseok by the arm, not caring about the rain or the way both of their clothes were starting to get soaked. He fumbled around for the small umbrella, only to find that he had left it behind. His heart pounded heavily as he turned around; the shadow was still there.

It was following them.

He tapped Yoongi again, but the latter only looked ahead. He was moving the two of them forward at a constant speed and Hoseok really didn't mean to notice the way his hands gripped Hoseok's wrist tighter than ever before. Or the way he felt Yoongi's shallow breaths on his face. Or the fact that his t-shirt was starting to become really see-through. It really wasn't the time to worry about things like that, but sometimes, Hoseok couldn't help it.

"Yoongi," Hoseok said breathlessly a few minutes later. They were mindlessly rushing around the fair, looking for a place to hide. But the shadow was hot on their tail. Every time Hoseok looked back, it was there. Was this how the main characters in those goddamn horror movies Jungkook liked to watch felt like? He'd never appreciated being forced to watch them, and he certainly didn't appreciate the experience either.

"Come on," Yoongi said, tugging at Hoseok's hands. He had stopped to scan the area around them, his eyes finally landing on a small shack in the very centre of the fair.

Then, just as he was about to turn around again, a funny feeling made him stiffen. Was something behind them? Of course, the shadow was... but had it come nearer? He automatically looked towards Yoongi for reassurance, but the expression on the latter's face didn't help one bit, nor did the way Yoongi was staring at the ground behind Hoseok, or the way he was muttering something under his breath (something which sounded oddly like "Maknae" and "Kill").

Hoseok opened his mouth to ask, but before he could even form a word, they were running as fast as the muddy ground would allow them. Mud was splattering all over Hoseok's trousers and shoes, as they raced towards the small shack Yoongi was pointing at. The shadow was falling behind, but neither of them dared to slack off. In fact, though Hoseok had always been a hard-working person if he did say so himself, it felt as though he had never been this diligent before.

"Hide," Yoongi said, panting heavily. His hair was matted to his forehead as he pushed the door open, moving behind one of the many crates.

Hoseok stepped in behind Yoongi, nearly tripping over a long piece of fabric on the ground. Clown costumes were carelessly placed over the crates and straps of silk littered the floor. It creeped Hoseok out, though he tried to hide that as best as he could.

"How are we supposed to hide from a shadow?" Hoseok said, forcing out a shaky laugh. His heart was pounding against his ribcage like a hammer. His attempts to push the fear aside and lighten the mood were unsuccessful. "I think I've seen enough of Jungkook's horror movies to know that shadows can never be outrun."

Yoongi ignored him in true Yoongi-fashion, but Hoseok didn't mind. He hadn't expected a reaction or a reply, and he had most certainly not expected his half-assed attempt at a joke to actually elicit some type of reaction, especially when the atmosphere was as tense as it was.

As the two of them huddled behind their respective hiding places, Hoseok tried to keep still. It was hard. Really hard. How was he to control his shivering? Or the loudness of his heartbeat? Or the raggedness of his breathing? He was afraid the shadow could hear it. Or maybe even scent them. Or maybe it was already in the room. Maybe it had already found them, but they didn't know?

What if they were caught by this shadow? What if it killed them? Devoured them? Turned them into beasts? Ghosts? Undead? He shuddered as the idea of never being able to live normally again engulfed him. His heart accelerated and all fears, which had been ignored initially, surfaced. He gasped for air frantically, his senses going numb.

He and Yoongi were going to be turned into monsters. They would hunt their friends down, they would do horrible things, they would-

A cold hand grasped his shoulder and Yoongi's familiar presence appeared behind him. Hoseok was turned around slowly, his eyes catching Yoongi's warm brown ones. It brought him so much comfort that he almost forgot about the whole situation altogether. At that moment, only the two of them existed. No one else. No ghosts, no shadows. No monsters, no Halloween.

"We've lost the shadow," Yoongi said.

Hoseok snapped back to reality.

His breathing was slowing down, the pounding of his heart was starting to calm. It was as if Yoongi had flipped off a switch in Hoseok, as if he alone had the power to do so. As they sat in the same position for the next few minutes, Hoseok was very glad indeed that Yoongi was with him. Otherwise, he was sure that the bout of anxiety would have been much more nerve-rattling.

"Thanks, Yoongi," he said, as his breathing returned to normal. He noticed only then how close the two were... and how Yoongi's hot breath was caressing his neck. His cheeks warmed immediately.

"It's no problem Seok," Yoongi replied. His gaze lingered on Hoseok for another moment, before they looked back to the door.

"Where are we?"

"I don't know," Yoongi replied, "I just saw a door and ran."

"It could have been locked," Hoseok said.

"It could, but it wasn't."

"Well thank god for that. I don't what I would have done if we hadn't been able to enter," Hoseok said, his voice still slightly shaky. He was doing his best to keep it steady, but it was easier said than done. "How long do you think we should stay here?"

"I don't know," Yoongi replied, "But what I do know is that Jimin, Jungkook and Taehyung are dead."

There was a dangerous glint in the older's eyes, one which hadn't been there before. In fact, Hoseok had a sneaking suspicion that it had something to do with his anxiety attack. He blushed even darker as he imagined how horribly embarrassing it must have looked.

"They didn't know there was going to be a creature lurking here," Hoseok said carefully. He was annoyed at them, sure, but he couldn't just let them suffer a sure death without protesting at least a little. Yoongi's threats before had been mild, serious, but mild. Right now, however, Hoseok was sure that they were very much dangerous (loud-telling-off-and-death-glares-for-the-rest-of-the-year-dangerous and doing-all-chores-for-the-rest-of-their-lives-dangerous). He could already hear the shitstorm the maknaes would be subjected to as soon as he and Yoongi arrived at home.

"But you had a panic attack because of them!" Yoongi burst out angrily.

"It's fine... They couldn't have known," Hoseok said.

"It's not fine! They should have checked that this place was safe!"

"Once we tell them what happened, they'll regret it enough. There's no need to make them feel even worse."

Yoongi huffed in response. For a moment, the two of them just sat there unmovingly. Thunder was booming outside and lightning illuminated the room suddenly and repetitively. The world around them was both loud and silent; it made the hairs on Hoseok's arm stand on end.

"I care about you," Yoongi said, "and it hurts to see you in that state. I..."

A small bit of hope surfaced within Hoseok, but he did his best to push it down again.

"I would hope you did, we are friends after all," Hoseok replied, forcing a small smile.

They were friends, nothing more.

"No, I think I should have told you this a while ago," Yoongi said. He was still staring at him with an expression Hoseok had never seen him wear before. Yoongi was biting his lip and avoiding eye contact. And then, Hoseok saw the blush. Min Yoongi was blushing. "I'm sorry if this ruins our friendship, but I can't hold it in anymore."

"You're scaring me," Hoseok laughed nervously. Lightning flashed behind him, It made the situation seem much more unbearable than it was.

Behind all the joking, however, his whole body reacted to the words. Was it really possible? Did Yoongi really have some sort of non-platonic feelings? As quickly as that hope surfaced, however, Hoseok let it go. It was never going to happen.

Yoongi hesitated, his mouth opening and closing every few seconds as Hoseok tried his best to concentrate on the sound of the rain. He tried desperately to distract himself from the scene playing out in front of him. Yoongi was giving him too much hope. Too much hope. He was going to fall. He was going to fall and crash down if he didn't control himself.

"I- Seok, I like you a lot," Yoongi said, stumbling over his own words, "And not in a platonic way."

The world seemed to stand still as if had been captured by a camera and all Hoseok could do was stare at the photograph. The patter of the rain disappeared and he stopped registering the lightning or the thunder. This was the moment he hadn't even dared to dream about.

Yoongi had just confessed to him.

He had... right? This wasn't some sort of hallucination? No... this was real, very much real. And all he could do was blankly stare. Then, as if he had been freed from a spell, he lurched forward and hugged Yoongi.

"I'm sorry really," Yoongi said, "For ruining our friendship."

"Oh god," Hoseok replied, "you don't get it, do you?"

"Get what?"

Hoseok pulled out of the hug, holding Yoongi's shoulders tightly. He was scared that if he let go, everything would disappear, that he would wake up in his room. With a deep breath, he pulled himself together, "I like you a lot too..."

They were close enough for their noses to touch. Yoongi's eyes flickered down to Hoseok's lips and Hoseok really couldn't help it. The urge to lean forward was strong, and then... he just gave in. Their lips met in the span of a millisecond. It was as if they had been made to fit together.

If it hadn't been for the overwhelming need to breathe, they might have stayed like that forever, heck, Hoseok was ready to give up the rest of his life to stay like th-

Click.

Flash.

They froze in their rather compromising position. Had that just been a camera? Who was there taking pictures of people kissing... More importantly, who was at this fair, on Halloween, standing in the downpour to take pictures outside the storage room of a haunted house?

Hoseok dreaded turning his head and when he did, he had to suppress a scream. What looked like a massive monster, at first sight, turned out to be three people. Three people Yoongi and he knew very well. His dongsaengs were standing in the doorway, dripping wet and smiling like madmen.

"What are you three doing..." Hoseok began, before trailing off as he looked down to the ground. Their shadow looked awfully like...

His head snapped to Yoongi. He could hear the growling and the older's quickening breathing.

This was going to be a massacre.

"Happy Halloween?" Tae said uncertainly.

[mandochlorian]

secret (ben solo x fem!reader)

part I part II part III

summary: So, the thing about your mom… it’s not that she’s possessive or controlling… well, she can be. But it’s just that she really has a dislike for Ben Solo, which is why she can never know that you sneak him into your room every Friday while she’s at work.

general masterlist

star wars masterlist

You stare down at your cup of caf, hoping it takes effect and wakes you up soon. All you want to do is see Ben, apologise, make things right and let him know that you want to be with him. That’s all you’ve ever wanted; is to be with him, despite your mom and her opinion on him. 

The house is silent, your parents still asleep. And you wish Ben had stayed the night. Waking up next to him would have eased your anxiety about today. Sighing, you finish your morning drink and head for the door. It’s still dark outside, but you’ll catch transport to the Base soon enough. 

As you sit outside for a few minutes, you finish your caf and set the mug aside. Just as you see the transport shuttle come into view. It touches down and you feel yourself becoming even more fearful. When you board, your eyes immediately look for those of your boyfriends, but he’s nowhere to be seen.

“Y/N!” Someone calls your name out and you turn to see Finn and Poe, sitting beside one another and beckoning you over, “You look like shit.” Poe adds, looking you up and down.

“Thanks,” you sit beside him, running a hand over the flyaways coming from your braided hair, “Maybe that’s because it’s 4:30am.

Poe chuckles, “4:30 is nothing.”

Widening his eyes, Finn shakes his head, “Maybe not to the squadron leader but for the rest of us, it’s the worst.” You nod in agreement, forcing a smile to your lips as you look around at the seats once more, just as the ship picks up a few more people from the housing compartments before making it’s way to the base.

“Hey, uh,” you speak up, looking to the two boys, “Have any of you seen Ben?”

“You and Ben, huh? Getting awfully close.” Poe raises his eyebrows, giving you a teasing look as he nudges Finn. If only you knew, you think to yourself, holding back a smirk. 

“Yeah,” Finn grins at you, “you got a crush on him?”

You roll your eyes at your friends, wishing you could tell them about how you actually have the biggest crush on him. “So you haven’t seen him?” You wonder, taking the conversation back to your question. 

Poe shakes his head while Finn says, “He went to Base early, made his own way there, probably with the General.”

“Oh,” you mumble, cursing at yourself once more because you know he‘s acting this way because of you, “Weird. He never does that.” You think out loud, looking outside the window to see the base come into view. Finn just shrugs as Poe directs the conversation to something else, but not before making one last joke about you and Ben. 

When it’s time for everyone to get up and make their way to their stations to prepare for the mission, you can’t help but try to look for Ben. And when you’re unsuccessful in doing so, you start getting really worried. What if he decided not to go on this mission? No... he wouldn’t do that, he has to pick up the spice shipment. Oh fuck, the spice! Will Ben even want you to come along still? What a mess.

Ben. You reach out, closing your eyes briefly to try and feel him. Ben, where are you?

Upon not receiving an answer, you begin to get frustrated at the boy. What the hell is his problem? Sure, you were mean, but does that warrant being completely ignored? 

“Y/N?” Poe speaks up, one hand coming down to rest on your shoulder, “What’s taking so long?”

You snap out of it, shaking your head and quickly rushing to the weapons table. “Sorry, Poe! I mean... Sorry Gold Leader,” you correct yourself, though it’s odd being only slightly younger but still friends with your superior, you still have to address him properly, “I got distracted. It won’t happen again.” You excuse yourself.

Poe nods, seeing most of the other fighters making their way inside already. He also sees a certain long-haired boy making his way to the gear table too, “Make your way inside when you’re ready.” Poe says, before passing Ben and leaving.

By this point, you’re too focused on collecting a blaster and extra weapons in case something happens to your lightsaber. You don’t even notice Ben appear next to you until he speaks, “I can do the pick up alone today.”

Snapping your head up, you can’t help but frown at him, not trying to hide any emotion. “I thought you were ignoring me.” You reply sarcastically as you place the blaster on its hilt, opposite your saber. 

“Hence why I’m doing the pick up alone today.” He rolls his eyes.

“Without me? Yeah, right. You wouldn’t last an hour without me.” You scoff, standing there idly as he packs a blaster away.

“Since when do you get to be angry at me?” He places his hands on his hips, giving the same frown back to you.

“Are you serious?” You stare at him, face expressionless as anger begins to fill you, “You ditched me on the transport ship and ignored me when I reached out.”

“Hey,” Ben lifts his hands, pointing at you, “You’re the one who said I was a problem.”

“What?” 

“Last night.” He narrows his eyes as he pauses, “Oh, you don’t remember?”

“I was stressed out last night, my mom nearly saw you!” You exclaim, shaking your head incredulously at him, “As if you don’t see how that would have been a problem?”

“It wouldn’t be if you just told them!” Ben exclaims, before taking a deep sigh, “Y/N, we’ve been keeping a secret for three years. Aren’t you tired of it?”

“You’ve been smuggling since you were 15,” you begin, poking Ben in the chest gently, “And you've been keeping it a secret for years.”

“That’s different.”

“How?”

“It just is!”

“How?!”

“You’re hurting me!” He shouts, looking away angrily for a second before turning back to you. All you can do is stand there silently. “Me lying about smuggling doesn't hurt anyone,” he continues solemnly, wishing that this fight didn’t remind him so much of his parents.

“If I tell them,” you suggest, eyeing the sad expression on Ben’s face, “it’ll hurt both of us.”

He sighs once more, feeling defeated and unheard. “You’d rather let this die out than tell your parents?”

“Who said this was dying out?” You shout, looking into his eyes, wondering if he's trying to end things with you.

“I mean... eventually it will, how are we going to be together for the rest of our lives when your parents don’t know about me?”

“It’s not like I’m never going to tell them, I-”

“When?”

“When the time‘s right, when... when they’re more understanding!”

“The time will never be right, Y/N. Your parents are who they are.” Ben shrugs, giving you a small smile, “Just like you.”

“I don’t know...” You frown, looking down as your breath quickens, “I can’t...”

Placing a hand on your arm, Ben takes a step closer and his calm voice soothes you, “You don’t have to do this alone.” 

“Not now... Please.” You mumble, eyes cast down to the ground as you avoid his gaze, “Please,” your eyes begin to tear up, feeling yourself panic at the reaction your mom would have, “I can’t now, not now, soon, I promise. I promise I’ll tell them soon just... please, please don’t leave me over this, i-”

“I’m here, I’m here,” Ben pulls you into his embrace, calming you down as he rubs your back gently, “I’m not going anywhere, okay? Shh, shh.” He rocks you gently, pressing a kiss to your forehead as he closes his eyes.

“I’m sorry, I should’ve thought about what I was saying more,” Ben admits, “I love you, I love you with all my heart. It’s because I love you that I want to know them.” He pulls back slightly, looking down at you fondly, “And I want my parents to know who I love. I want you over to have dinner with them. I want to go on holidays together. I don’t want you to be scared when you come over because you don’t want to be caught.” Ben’s voice turns into a whisper and you see him leaning in slightly. You smile up at him, about to press a kiss to him when -

“Ben?” The Generals voice makes you step away from Ben awkwardly. Ben pushes his hands behind his back, standing before his parents like a soldier. You look to Han and Leia, giving them small, awkward smiles.

“Mom.” Ben forces a smile, acting as though everything's fine though he’s sure they can see the tears staining your eyes, “Dad.”

“You two should be in the meeting room. Is everything okay?” Leia wonders, looking between the two of you. Ben nods, silently.

“If he was being a jerk, you can tell us,” Han speaks up, hands placed on his hips just like Ben, who rolls his eyes.

“Thanks, Dad,” Ben mutters sarcastically, giving Han a glare.

Leia gives you a knowing smile, “I think it may have been the opposite. Anyways, we should all head inside to talk to the team, right?” 

“Right,” Ben responds, his lips in a tight smile as his mother holds him by the arm gently, leading everyone to the meeting.

[dammitadolfnomorecake]

Once Bitten, Twice Stupid prt.3

Balmeria Roadhouse was as it always was at stupid o’clock in the morning. Two road trains parked up in the back parking space. Another sitting at the diesel pumps, the driver sitting inside the roadhouse taking a much needed break. Pulling up at the bowser, Lance heard the click of the pump release, the roadhouse on the older side where a pin needed to be entered instore before you could use the bowser. Shay was definitely on, her brother Rax also worked there, but he’d seemed to take a real dislike to their group, making one of them go in and ask to use the pumps instead of being a normal civil person. Yeah, he fell into the people that thoroughly annoyed Lance, but Shay... Shay lit up the room. Her smile was bright, hair always dyed shades of blue, huge silver hoop earrings that surely had to hurt her ears, then topped off with an ensemble that threw back to the golden years of “emo”. When she joked about it, a little bit of him died on the inside. It was hard being 44 when his friends were young enough to be his kids.

Pidge climbed out after Hunk, as Lance started fuelling up. The rain was coming again, he could smell it on the air. Maybe making a run for snacks hadn’t been the brightest idea mid-storm, but you never knew what would happen. He didn’t want to pressure Hunk, not after the tour from hell, but seeing Shay might just be thing his friend needed to perk him back up. Leaning back against his car, he closed his eyes and let himself just be. He loved this life. Out of all his “lives” as Lance, this was the most peace he’d ever found... as a near on hermit.

Hearing the slow roll of tires over wet gravel, Lance paid it no mind. The pump handle clicking to indicate the tank was full. Shaking the last few drops out the nozzle, he set the handle back in the cradle with a sigh. It should be illegal that filling a tank cost $90. He could still remember when it was $1 a litre. Back in the good old days and all that. Heck, when he’d been 20 it’d only been 65cents a litre. His precious girl was killing his bank account... but he’d never say that out loud, at least not with Pidge in earshot. And not with his Mami in earshot either. She mistakingly thought he kept his girl around out of some sense of misplaced guilt over his condition, not because no other car made him feel quite the way driving his bronco did. Giving Shay a wave on the security camera, Lance double checked his wallet in his back pocket before shoving his hands in his jacket, then making himself jog over to the roadhouse door as if he was scared of getting wet. As he jogged he noticed that the people who’d pulled up were one of those “people” who park way too close to the front door with the bonnet hanging over the edge, making the walk way smaller than it was supposed to be. From the look of it there were two of them in the black sedan, their car practically screaming for attention. Good luck with that, Lance was more interested in the road train by the diesel than two rich kids taking their car for a joy ride.

Letting himself into the warmth of the road house, Lance headed straight for the drinks at back. Grabbing two bottles of coke, he also snagged a bottle of orange juice for the morning. Carrying the drinks up to Shay, Hunk was spluttering over Shay’s flirting. Neither of them were aggressive enough to make that first move, Shay’s bubbly personality came from being in customer service, the “real” Shay was a shy blushing mess especially in the presence of Hunk

“Hiya, Lance. How’s it going?”

“Any day my glasses decide not to fog up is a win. How’s the night been?”

“Slooow. Seriously slow. Must be the weather, all the smart people are staying home”

Lance laughed as he nodded

“Yeah, it’s the night for it, alright. Hey, we were thinking of having dinner at mine on Saturday night, can you swing it?”

Shay shook her head, her gaze flicking to Hunk, then back to him

“I’m working both nights this weekend”

“It doesn’t have to be Saturday. Friday works too. Or Monday. Actually, any night works. One of the perks that comes with working from home”

“I can do Friday... are you sure you don’t mind?”

Now Shay was sounding like Hunk. They’d be the sweetest couple

“I wouldn’t have asked if I wasn’t. It won’t be anything too fancy, maybe dinner than vegging out in front of the TV. I mean, please don’t feel pressured at all to come, I won’t be offended. I was just thinking how nice it’d be to actually hang out outside of this place”

Shay nodded quickly

“That sounds fun. I’ll finally be able to meet Blue”

With her blue hair, Shay had thought Lance was talking about her whenever he mentioned “Blue” to Pidge and, or, Hunk. His cooing over his precious princess making her uncomfortable. Shay remained in the dark until Pidge started teasing him mercilessly over Lance buying his baby girl a bigger and better cat tree to celebrate her first birthday

“She’s a bit of a snob, just so you know. Oh, you totally don’t have to bring anything, but I know what parents are like, so if you drink bring a bottle of that and we’ll pretend it’s for me”

Shay laughed. Lance felt as if the gift giving had slowly slipped from society, a bit like dinner parties

“Sometimes you sound like my dad”

Pidge slammed her palms down on the counter, excited to have someone agree

“I know, right?! You should have heard him earlier, I could have died of shame when he was talking about being “totally radical!”

“Much retro, so lame”

Huffing are the pair, Lance grabbed a pack of gum to toss in with everything else

“Remind me why I associate with all of you?”

“For the laughs. Oh, we better move, they’re coming in”

Spying on the two guys from the flashy car, the group moved aside as the door chimed. Shay swapping tills so she wouldn’t have to start ringing up his purchases from scratch

“You guys got everything you want?”

Pidge nodded happily

“Shay’s rung up my two slushies. I decided I needed one of each instead of two raspberry”

“I really should have only let you get one. You’ll be awake all night from all that sugar”

“Jeez, thanks, dad...”

Pidge made the telephone gesture with her hand, raising it to her ear. She played along with her fake fall, humming and nodding a few times before holding her hand out towards him

“The 1970’s called, they want their idiot back”

Swatting at Pidge’s hand, Lance felt a bump against his back. No apology was forth coming as Shay served the two strangers, the taller answering Shay’s polite attempts at small talk. At least one of them wasn’t a total douche.

When the pair left, the group moved back over. Shay finishing off scanning the last few items

“That’s $143.95 all up. Pidge said you were having a movie marathon when you got home?”

Fishing his wallet out, Lance pulled out his credit card, handing over as he shook his head

“She might be, but I’d hardly call it a movie marathon when she’s watching over what she taped tonight. Hunk and I are about ready to call it night”

“That sounds like a good plan. The weather’s supposed to turn bad again”

Entering his pin, Lance waited for “approved” to show on the reader, before taking his card back and sliding it away

“I heard that too. That’s why I’ve got to get these two home. If you write your number on the receipt, I’ll add you and chuck a text to confirm. You know where my house is, don’t you?”

Shay giggled, printing off the receipt like Lance has suggested

“Seeing it’s the only house on the road, I don’t think I can go wrong”

When the door chimed again, Lance turned out of habit. He hadn’t seen the diesel drier leave yet, so had thought maybe the man was waiting for someone. Walking back in, the taller of two strangers was scratching the back of his head. Greeeeat. The guy wanted a favour. He could tell by the way he was forcing himself to appear casual

“Hey, me again. My brother and I just tried our car but it doesn’t seem to be turning over. You don’t happen to know anyone around here that can help us out?”

That was what google was for. A quick google search would tell the man the towing service was shut for the night, unless he wanted to call someone in Platt.

Shay took the question in her stride, being a roadhouse she’d probably dealt with this kind of thing before

“That depends. If you need to reach Platt tonight, then you’ll want to call a Platt number for a tow. If you can wait until tomorrow, my friend Hunk here is the son of the town’s mechanic”

“We were actually hoping to stay a few days in town, you know, check out the old museum and that. My little brother’s really into photography. We’ve got a hotel room back in Platt, so I guess I need the number for that towing service”

The stranger scratched the back of his head again. Lance knew he was staring, but it was kind of hard not to when the man had a massive scar across the bridge of his nose

“I’ll give them a call, but they might not want to come out with the storm rolling in”

“Yeah, my brother was taking photos of the sky tonight, that’s how we ended up here in the middle of the night. I’d really appreciate it if you could”

“No worries, you’d be surprised how often it happens. Do you and your brother want to sit inside and wait?”

“No, thanks for the offer, but he’s not exactly a people person. I’m Shiro, by the way”

“I’m Shay. Welcome to Garrison”

“Thanks. I’ll just browse while you make that call. Thanks for this and for calling”

“It’s fine. They love me there because I send them so much business. Go ahead and take a look around”

There was no way that Lance was leaving Shay with a creeper. Hot or not, he didn’t know the man. An ordinary person wouldn’t be running around with a scar like that, his mind unhelpfully pointing out it could have been the result of a car crash or some kind of accident where he’d smacked his face hard against a pile or a corner. Whatever it’d been, Shiro had done a really good job of it. He carried himself with an air that Lance couldn’t quite put his finger on. Like he was hiding something, but exposing himself all at the same time. Shaking himself out of those thoughts, he settled on the fact that though he’d never see the man again after this, he’d be unfortunately stuck remembering him and always wondering about that damn scar.

Shay was brisk on the phone, she laughed at lot, Hunk practically melting in pining over the sound. Two quick phone calls later, Shay hung up her phone, swapping back to her customer service face

“Shiro, I’ve got some good news and some bad news”

Replacing the magazine he’d been flicking through, the handsome stranger wandered his way back to the counter. Shiro laughed nervously, something making Lance’s skin prickle

“I’m not sure I like the idea of bad news”

“Well, there’s been an accident in Platt, the storm knocked a set of lights, so they won’t be able to send someone until tomorrow. The good news is that Hunk’s dad runs the local autoshop, he can take a look first thing tomorrow morning. The bad news is you’re either stuck waiting the next 12 hours in here or we can try getting you a room in town... you could probably call a cab out from Platt, but that’s going to cost about as much as getting a room”

Shiro sighed. Lance didn’t blame him. Being stuck sucked arse

“Don’t worry, man. My dad will sort you out tomorrow”

Hunk tried to comfort the stranger, Shiro looking at him properly for the first time

“Uh, thanks for that. I’m Shiro...”

Pidge stepped forward

“I’m Pidge, that’s Hunk and this loser is Lance. We can give you a ride back in town if you need”

Lance stepped on Pidge’s foot. He wasn’t a damn taxi service, for all he knew this guy and his “brother” could be serial killers

“Really? That would be fantastic. You three are locals right, you wouldn’t happen to know of any good places to stay?”

“Sure do. We know everything about Garrison. Hey, why don’t you crash at Lance’s tonight, then he can give you a lift in tomorrow when he drops us off?”

Lance ground his foot down. He didn’t want two strangers in his house. It was his house. Access was limited to people he actually knew and liked... a grand total of five including Shay

“What? They’re stuck. It’s the nice thing to do”

Damn Pidge and her “niceness”. Shiro scratched the back of his head again

“I don’t want to put you out...”

“Nonsense. He’s got enough rooms. And it’s only for the night. What kind of people would we be if we left you stuck?”

“At least let me pay...”

“Already taken care of. The only thing is you’ll have to ride in the back of the rust bucket out there. This one refuses to get a new car”

Lance huffed

“There’s nothing wrong with my car. She’s got four wheels and starts”

“When she wants to. Go let your brother know what’s going on, while we finish up here”

“I will. Thank you so much for this. You three really saved our butts tonight. So, the bronco, right?”

“Yep, that’s the one”

“I guess we’ll get settled then... Are you sure it’s no trouble?”

“It’s fine, go on, we’ll be out shortly”

When Shiro left, Lance rounded Pidge. Tempted to keep his foot on hers, but scared he’d apply too much pressure and accidentally hurt her

“What the fuck was that?”

Pidge fluttered her eyelashes

“What was what?”

“Volunteering my house? We don’t know them”

“Exactly! I saw you staring”

“Because he’s got a big arse scar across his nose...”

“And now we can find out why”

Lance rolled his eyes, trying to keep his panic internal

“And what if they’re both serial killers?”

“You’re just being stupid. It’s a guy and his brother. Oh! Maybe they’re into ghosts, everyone who comes here’s into ghosts”

Hunk groaned

“Pidge... Lance is right. We don’t know them”

“Too bad. It’s only for tonight. Consider it our good deed for the year”

Shay giggled

“I thought that was that tour of yours”

Pidge jumped up and down on the spot excitedly, grabbing Lance by the arm and shaking him

“Oh my god, that means two good deeds in one day! Karma, here we come!”

Karma could fuck off. If there was any kind of karma in the world, he wouldn’t be what he was now. He wanted his cat, his bed, and not to have two strangers in his goddamn house. Packing their shopping neatly into a bag, Shay placed two slushy cups down on the counter with a clatter as the lids slipped off

“Whoopsies. Anyway, I won’t keep you guys any longer. Lance, you’ll text me right?”

“Sure thing, Shay. Pidge, get your damn slushies so we can go”

“Do you think they want slushies? We should get them slushies. That’s the nice thing to do right?”

“If they wanted slushies, they would have got their own”

Blowing a raspberry at him, Lance knew that Shiro and his brother were getting slushies whether they liked it or not

“Shay, two more cups please!”

God, Lance was done. Grabbing the bag off the counter, he shot Shay a tired smile

“Wish me luck”

“Better you than me. Have fun”

Like that was going to happen. With a wave, Lance wandered towards the door. Behind him Hunk had been nominated to help Pidge with her slushies. What kind of idiot just opened their home up to strangers? His Mami would be so disappointed... Actually, she’d tell him it was the right thing to do, which only made him feel worse.

[raindrenchedstories]

Forever home 18

The meetings were the worst of it. Plenty of pre-council interviews. Now this. This was the last of it. Richter stood, tense as the council loomed over them. Five humans stood in front three giants, and an ogre. Facing the leaders of each speaking species. Richter took a breath, clasped his hands behind his back, and listened to the proceedings.

“So you see, great council, we feel our friends situation unfair. As it was created by an uninformed decision.” Bear spoke plainly. Hands resting on the table the five humans stood on. A large giantess, old and saggy, with great amounts of gold hanging from her person tapped her chin.

“So you say. Well, if these small ones can in fact speak, let them do so. We will proceed from there.” She waved towards the five, an encouraging smile on her features. “Go on. You have the floor.”

Richter cleared his throat, and took two steps forward. No more, no less. Otherwise it would be rude. “Thank you, councilwoman. My name is Richter M. Robinson from Ottawa. I was captured a few months ago, spent three in a shelter before I fell under the exceptional care of William B. Heart.” He began.

“Ye, ye, skip the formalities.” The ogre leader spoke, waving an impatient claw. He pointed to Neil. “You. Three thing you like, then your name. Now.”

Neil stammered, confused, before speaking up. “Oh, ah. I like to cook, and I enjoy learning. Not  like academic stuff but practical things. I’m... I’ve found a taste for channelling magic. My Name is Neil Carlos James Sir.”

“That’s a smart one. Red head, you’re up. One thing you like, followed by your name, and two things you dislike.” The ogre continued. Eyes level on the croud.

“Seriously? Okay. I like long walks through the fields in warm summers. My name is Mary Grace, no middle name. I hate snow and Calamari. That enough?” She folded her arms, shifting to her left in an airy way.

The questions continued on to Richters mother and father. Two things his father liked, then name and relation to the group. For his mother, two new facts that none of the five had said before. Then her name. She got bonus points for arguing the fact that her being Richters mother was something no one else claimed in the collective. And that it should be counted because of wording.

In the end, the small band of humans were asked to sit quietly while the council conferred. Eventually the Dwarven councilman stepped forward. “Alright. We’ll get started on a group examination. And we’ll call you in about a month with the results. You lot made it this far, so you can last that long.”

He patted Richters arm fondly. “I’m rootin’ for you buggers. It’ll be nice to have one more non magical race among the council. You’ll have to decide who among you five will stand on the council after this.” He gave a warm grin, nudging the humans towards their keepers.

Bear was the first to scoop his companion up, sitting Richter in his pocket stiffly. They said their thank yous and left the room silently. Richter, however, had a nervous churning in his gut. He knew this part was coming. Knew that he’d be sent away to wait on the social conduct of total strangers to decide what’s to be done with humanity.

Part of him wished he wasn’t one of the forerunners for this examination. If he were part of the test group, he’d be able to influence the results a little more. But there he was, seated in his little shelter, now with extra company. The other four had decided to stay with him. If only for now. Until they had the results.

Things were starting to look up though, and there was hope in his chest. The way the giants spoke of it, it almost sounded like the responsibility act was lifted already. Just a bunch of free humans starting to chat excitedly over their next step. The fact that the council had been so easily impressed made things look all the brighter.

His father turned around in the garden with a whistle. “Damn kid. It’s like nothing ever happened on your end. Got plenty of space away from the big brute.”

“Yeah. You’d think.” Richter smirked, glancing over the wall to where Archibald and Bear were seated at the table. Agatha and Janette left for home a little early. As it was the child’s bed time soon. Mary, on the other hand, chose to stay behind. That way they’d get word at the same time.

Worm could be heard laughing boisterously from somewhere among the china the pair served tea in. From the way Archibald flushed pink, it was apparent that there had been a raunchy joke somewhere in there. Probably didn’t translate for the rest of the house.

Richter led the house in dinner, and bed arrangements. Before sitting on the stairs to the plastic hutch. Waiting patiently for Bear’s nightly visit. A glass of water in hand Nothing changed really. Only now they spoke over tea late at night.

Only, nothing happened. Bear didn’t arrive. He probably didn’t want to wake the house. And so, Richter sat alone. Contemplating. He sipped gingerly from his glass and leaned on the steps. Watching the ceiling.

Something was going to happen. Something was going to change. And he had no idea how he felt about that fact. Hell, he didn’t even have a plan for his desired result. But it was so close within his grasp. Only a month away. He stared at his own hand, humming.

Slowly, he started deciding what he’d do with a free future. Away from this little garden, perhaps. Or he might forgo the idea and stay with Bear as a roommate. Perhaps he’d find love. Hook up with someone special. And regail his children about that time he lived as a pet hamster.

That last thought didn’t quite sit right. His stomach plummeted at the thought of taking on another woman after... No. He might adopt some orphan then. Give someone else the same chance at a better life. Perhaps he’d introduce the kid to Bear.

A shuffling caught his attention. Archibald was attempting to sneak through the kitchen. Buck naked with only a sheet covering his delicates. He was rummaging though the cabinets muttering about water. Richter stifled a laugh. A deeper whisper caught his attention.

“Need any help there bud?”

“You get your ass back to that bed and let me be awesome! I got this.” Archibald made a noise of triumph as he snagged a glass and poured a healthy helping of water into it. Before ‘sneaking’ back into the bedroom... Bears bedroom.

With the giants out of earshot Richter burst into a series of giggles. Muttering to himself. “About time.” Before turning back to his own glass. He rolled it in his hands before standing up, and dusting his knees off. More for effect than anything else.

So Bear would not be visiting tonight. That was probably fine. He was just glad the two were quiet. Hopefully after the glory and rose tinted joy of their passion wore off, there would be an enduring relationship. Richter wouldn’t mind living with Neil for a while.

And wasn’t there an option? Taking on a role as Bear’s Familiar. Neil often loved to show off his little magic tricks given to him through Archibald’s abilities. Richter wasn’t sure what Bear’s magic would bring to him, but it would give him something to do. That was an exiting prospect. He’d ask Bear about it in the morning. After ribbing him about Archibald of course.

Not much important happened over the month. Agatha and Janette visited daily, and the whole house stayed huddled together. Muttering excitedly when the month was up. They gathered around the communication orb and crowded in as it flickered to life. The giantess stood in it’s features.

She hid behind some large paper, and Bear grimaced. “This isn’t going to be good.” He whispered. Richter had no idea what he was saying. But the despair on the woman’s face said it all. She cleared her throat a few more times. Trying not to choke as she stayed firmly behind the papers.

“So... The evaluation is over.” She began hesitantly. “And I’m sure you’re all smart enough not to be fooled by my...Cheery disposition. So I’ll just cut to the chase.”

“We... We are still under the act. Aren’t we?” Richter bemoaned. His shoulders slumping. The woman behind the glass pulled the paper away. Eyes puffy and red.

“It wasn’t an easy decision. We’ve only had to make it once before. There’s no amount of apology that will make this right. But I’m sorry anyways.” She cleared her throat once more, warding away a fresh spring of tears. “You’ve been through so much. All of you. Too many of your people attacked the emissaries and even each other at some points.”

Richter’s father shoved him aside, snarling into the orb’s surface. “Dammit They were scared! Of course they’d lash out. Just... Just give them one more month! Just tell them what all this is about! They’ll cut the act!” He barked, slapping the rounded glass.

“We did. Halfway through examination we gave them the reason behind it. Or. We tried. They wouldn’t have it. In conclusion, humans are suspicious by nature. Timid. There is some good news behind this.” She forced a smile. “There’s a chance for a re-test, in a few generations. After things have settled.”

“Excuse me. GENERATIONS?!” The man slammed his hand on the nearest surface, evidently Archibald’s thumb. “So what you’re saying is ‘the great grand kids will be fine but you’re shit out of luck if you ever want to taste freedom again’ RIGHT?!”

“Evidently yes. On the bright side, there’s going to be some living improvements on your end! Mandatory translation spells, bathing facilities and private areas. A choice through out the adoption process so you’ll not have to live with someone you don’t like, and finally, the ability to join a-” She flushed scarlet. “Well to choose a mate if you so desire. OR NOT. But... Well there it is.”

“In addition, families will no longer be split up, we’re going to make a major effort to reunite children with their parents. Mated pairs-”

“MARRIED COUPLES....Please don’t make this worse than it is.” Richter’s mother interjected.

“Married couples will be reunited as well, at their request. Finally everyone will have access to a communication orb like this one, in order to contact relatives more readily.” The woman sighed, leaning back away from the orb.

“Again. I’m sorry. But some good did come from all this. Right?” There was a hush at the table, a few uncomfortable shifting, and some weak mumbling of complaint. “...Right. No making this better then. I’ll take my leave. Be well.” Her image flickered out. The house sat in a lull of shock and disbelief.

Neil cleared his throat first. Stepping up to speak. “Well. We all knew this was a possibility.” He sighed. Glancing at four faces like his own. Richters parents sat together, holding one another. Mary just huffed, sitting against the glass orb.

Richter, however.

*

“Just shut up Neil.” Richter’s voice sounded so tiny untranslated. He stood apart from the group. Holding his arms tightly to his side. Worry pooled in Bears gut, he almost wanted to reach out and hold the man. Comfort him. All he could see was that frightened little face in a pool of yellow towel.

“Richter? Do you-”

“Ricky’s fine.” The man interrupted. Making his way to the edge of the table, he dropped. Moving to walk away from the group. “I just want to be alone for a moment.” He glanced over his shoulder, nodded, then strode into the living room.

Bear knew exactly where he was going. Richter had a favourite spot under his sofa. Even pulled a few pillows down there. The man would curl up down there on bad days. Which prompted a protocol for these things. “Hey guys? Why don’t we all go our separate ways? I think we all need some time to parse this out.”

Neil gave Bear a long, accusing stare. If the blond man gave him a death glare, the man’s parents gave Bear a full on assault. He heaved a sigh and folded his arms defiantly, glaring down at the humans in a look that bartered no nonsense. “Go. You’ve all known him longer than I have. Yes. But I know Richter just as well as any of you. I’ll look after him.”

Archibald was quick to back the giant’s authority. Something Bear wondered about. Was this thanks to their developing relationship? Or because they’ve always worked as a team. Regardless, Neil found himself scooped back into that rock solid palm. With Worm and company hitching a ride on the growing rock shelves decorating his shoulders.

Mary sighed, before climbing Janette’s pigtails and perching on the child’s shoulder. “Well. At least some good came from that shiiiiiiiiiFT. Shift.” She side eyed the girl she was currently sitting with. The mother giving her a long suffering look.

“Good save.” Neil quipped from Archibald’s pocket.

The guests left the house, and soon it was just Bear and Richter again. The man strode along the house, filling a small saucer with warm milk and honey. A biscuit was dipped in the middle and nudged to the edge. Something for Richter to nibble while he was down there. A few bottles of water were collected as well.

These were all pushed under the sofa, a tiny chirp told him the offering was accepted. “Come on out when you’re ready. I’ll just be reading out here.” With that, Bear was curled on top of the same sofa. Waiting patiently for Richter to have his time. When he emerged, the human would be showered with good things until he stopped moping about.

Eventually he saw the bright yellow of the man’s shirt escape the floral pink of the sofa’s skirt. Attempting to drag the dishes out from under. Obligingly the giant reached down and pulled the china the rest of the way. Using his thumb to scoop Richter in the process.

“Feeling better?”

“No. And I probably won’t for a while. But... I can’t stay down there forever. I’ll depress the dust bunnies.”

“Excuse you? I sweep down there.”

“Not well enough. Seriously there’s a whole Safari down there.”

“Well maybe I should make you earn your keep then.” Bear smirked. There was a moment of laughter. Then a dull quiet. One that hurt. Richter heaved a sigh, shoving his hand through his hair.

“Bear. I don’t... This isn’t going to get better, at least not right away. But. I want to stay here. If that’s okay with you. I don’t think I’d trust anyone else with my existence. At least in a non romantic way.” He slumped. Bear’s thumb ran over his back in a soothing gesture.

“Of course. Though... I wonder how you’d feel... Living with Archibald and Neil? We were thinking of becoming roommates.”

“I think you mean a fuck buddies. And that’s fine. It’s hilarious to watch Archibald’s duck impression.” The look of horror on Bears face was enough to lighten the mood. Richter requested to be returned to his garden. And spent most of his time slumped under the tree grove. Sometimes passing out for a while, sometimes moving in a sort of malaise.

Bear just gave him his time. He had an inkling something was up. Usually an accepting people were excluded from the responsibility act immediately. After only a week or two in examination. It wasn’t hard to spot a species wanting to live in peace. But he’d hoped. He’d hoped and prayed this wouldn’t be the case.

It wasn’t fair. Really. For every pacifist, there was a warlord. He made a point to bring Richter food in the grove. And when night rolled around, a spare blanket and pillows. Honestly there was no harm in him sleeping there. Aside from a crick in the neck or two. Nothing the man couldn’t handle.

Honestly Richter was due some good pampering. And now would be the time. As the giant turned to leave his shuddering charge, the human’s voice piped up. “Bear?”

“Hm?”

“I... I made a promise a while ago. Do you mind if we visit....Avery soon? I know it’s unorthodox, and you both have bad blood between you. But-”

“It’s fair. He kicked this whole thing off. He has a right to know how it turned out.” As much as he hated it. The statement was true. Without Avery’s impulse decision, Bear would never have known Richter was... A person. Well he probably would have figured it out over time. But this was the fastest way. He let his hand fall into the enclosure and brushed Richter’s shoulders gently.

“I’ll call Lev in the morning. And we’ll arrange for a visit in a week or so. I want every one involved ready for this. It’s not fair of me to just drop in on the guy.” Bear huffed. Avery was on the forefront of it all really. He watched friends, perhaps family, become no more than a smear on the giants hands. All from a point close enough to remember their faces. The horror crossing them as realization crossed the troupes, those very hands descending were not to capture. But to kill.

Out of every elf in that whole damn war. Avery had the most right to be bitter. He had reason to be hurt, scared, angry even. As for Bear? If he could take every drop of blood back, he would. A pat on his thumb cleared those thoughts away, and he glanced down at Richter’s warm little eyes.

“Hey. You zoned out for a minute there.” His voice trembled with worry.

A bitter laugh bubbled up from the man. “Yeah. Just remembering.” He shook his head and smiled down to the human with a little shrug. “I’m not going to pretend it never happened. That war fucked us up beyond belief. But Avery and I have found something in common.”

“Don’t you dare get sappy on me big guy.” Richter laughed. Sitting on Bear’s index finger. “I’m happy for you. And Archibald. It took you both long enough.”

“Yeah. I finally got tired of waiting for him. And asked the man myself.” Honestly, things were amazing between them. Though Bear could feel that something was off. Probably the fact that so many people were around them. Maybe they rushed into the physical side of a relationship too fast. He shook those thoughts off. Right now, Richter needed his attention, not Archibald.

“Well. Goodnight.” The squeak of Richter’s voice was enough to shake Bear from his thoughts. It was like he didn’t want to be heard, but was forcing himself to be understood. It came out proportional for his size, but clearly in common tongue.

“Goodnight... Ricky are you okay? Really?”

The man stopped in place, glanced back with a bright smile, and answered. “No.”

“Richter. I’ve been with you long enough to know what THAT means.” He folded his arms, but made no move to grab him. Richter had been through enough that day. He’d probably been through enough to last any human a life time. Reaching out and touching him might make the situation worse.

The human threw a hand up and sighed. “I don’t want to talk about it. I’ll be fine in a few days. Goodnight master.” He strode towards the house and entered. Unwilling to be heard. Unwilling to be understood. The words didn’t translate. Nor did his voice adjust. That posture, Bear had seen it before.

*

Richter leaned on the clear plastic wall of his bedroom. Staring at those delicately hand painted stars. Perhaps he could talk Bear into letting him see real stars again. It wouldn’t actually be that hard. Bear was content to treat him like a small, cuddly person now. For all Richter knew, he probably was always willing to do so.

So, not much changed after all. He was fine with that, personally. However, not everyone would be. Richter knew he was an oddball. He acclimated to domestication like a duckling on it’s first swim. It just clicked. Sure, he was scared for a while. But he knew well this wasn’t what everyone else wanted. Or needed. His attempts to make things better just made it worse.

He’d prefer a silent misunderstanding to a life of false freedom. At least, he wanted that for the others. In truth, Richter was certain he took to this new existence a bit too well. Often he wondered if Bear had changed his mind through magics. But he remembered the bad times. Times that wouldn’t have been fresh in his mind if it had been tampered with.

He sighed, pressing his cheek against the cool plastic. A painful tightening in his throat cued him in, he was close to crying. The man pressed his thumb in the space between it’s matching appendage and forefinger on the opposite hand. Pinching it. A few stray tears made a shimmering trail down to his chin.

There was no holding it back. For the first time since his arrival, Richter let himself sob. Praying Bear stayed in his own room. Just for this night. There was no fixing this. Not in his lifetime. He’d failed, so badly. What was worse was he wasn’t even suffering for his failure. He just made everyone else miserable. Never himself.

And he dragged his parents, best friend, and a total stranger down with him. If the shame were entirely on him, he could live with it. But no. No no no. It had to be set on the backs of three of the people he loved. Mary as well. Though she seamed like she could care less.

He had no damn right to cry for himself. He had no right to speak on behalf of his species. He was fine. But he wasn’t happy. He would feign it, for Bear’s sake, but there would be a stubborn misery in his gut. The man was sure of it.

Richter eventually ended up crying himself nearly to sleep. When a familiar sensation nudged his back. And a comforting rumble sounded behind him. “I know buddy. It’ll be a little bitter at first. But Richter I swear to you. It’ll be okay.” He rolled over, taking in that massive face. In the darkness, all he could see was the blot in the sky that made up Bear’s visage.

Without his consent, Richter was scooped into a cupped hand. He hadn’t the energy to fight it. So he lay there, in Bears palm. Allowing himself to be cradled against his chest, and shushed quietly. No fighting. No fussing.  Just a steady heartbeat, and a supportive warmth. For that night, he was safe. If not a little bothered.

Let someone else worry about the bullshit for a night. For now, Richter was safe. He shut his eyes. Letting the tension fall. The tears didn’t stop. But that was fine. It was all fine. For now, he could just give up. He didn’t have to lead.

[lokisgame]

Rainbow’s End [2]

[part 1]

What a strange man, Dana said to herself and looked inside a box full of dinnerware, knowing that she should wash everything before putting it away into drawers and cabinets but having no time to do that. She picked two plates, and set aside everything else. They probably will eat out of cartons but she wanted to at least have the chance to offer. Fox, what a strange name, didn’t look like someone who stood on ceremony. She cleaned up the table, straightened the chairs, and leaving a carton on one of them, started to take out and rinse mugs, lining them up on a rag to dry. Coffee and tea was all she had around the house for now.

Mulder went downstairs with a silly grin on his face. Talk about small world, fate and fortune coincidences. Her warm smile was just as he remembered, real, he didn’t imagine it. A little angry at himself for not locking the door, he found the menus under the coffee table, took his wallet and stoped holding the doorknob. Calm down, relax. Where’s the fire? You know nothing about her, she might have someone, a guy, a girl perhaps. Don’t get ahead of yourself. Going through this silent rant, he double-backed to the fridge, white wine or beer? Beer, less alcohol, and anyway she can always opt out. He was locking his door when Alex passed him in the hallway, noticing the six-pack under his arm. “Wow, you’re cheap Mulder.” “Maybe for you Krycek,” he turned and went in the opposite direction than the other man, dislike quickening his step. “You know who moved in upstairs?” He called after him, but Mulder didn’t have time to answer. He knocked on the door and let himself in, “I’m back.”

Dana huffed out a small laugh without bothering to turn around, this guy knew nothing about boundaries. But as in other men it annoyed her, he made it feel casual and safe. She heard the clank of bottles and looked over her shoulder. “Don’t you have enough glass for one day?” “Something to wash down the food, totally optional, I’m not counting this into your tab,” he set the bottles on the table and spread out the pamphlets, “pick a place.” “I just moved here, how should I know which one is best?” “It’s like an adventure, come on, they’re all great so there’s no wrong choice to be honest.” “Okay, how about this,” she picked the most subdued design. “Not bad, best egg rolls of them all, mean sweet and sour chicken, but it’s your choice.” “Okay, let’s have that, I’m really not picky, and you seem to know your way around.” “You sure?” “Yup, go wild.” “Such a vote of confidence, I’m touched.” “Oh, just order already.” He picked up the phone, ordered and laughed with the person on the other side of the line, it sounded as if he was a regular customer. In the mean time she went to the box with kitchen utensils and found a bottle opener. “One hour tops,” Mulder said hanging up and took the bottle she offered, lifting it in a small salut, “to new friends.” “And safety glass,” she added and sipped from her bottle then went back to washing and drying the mugs. “So, Fox,” she started and he barked out a laugh. “Please, just Mulder, nobody calls me Fox, not even my parents.” “Alright, Mulder, what do you do for a living?” “I write horoscopes,” he went to his usual joke. A small lie combined with the fact that his novels were published under a pseudonym, bought him at least a few of days to get to know people without signing copies of his books for friends and relatives and answering questions about extraterrestrials. Life of a sci-fi novelist was hard. However the side effect of such innocent lie was her gaping mouth and bewildered smile. “What?” He chuckled, “someone has to do it.” She looked cute, frozen mid-wipe of a blue china cup. “How do you do that?” Dana forced herself to remain calm, “you had some kind of training?” “I took a four year course in Oxford,” he pushed on, wondering how far he could go with pulling her leg, before she burst out laughing, “came back to the states and now I run a little column for Cosmo, I can read your palm if you want.” And that was that, she couldn’t hold it in anymore, she bent over, arms crossed over her stomach and laughed, and laughed, and he laughed with her, marveling at the wonderful sound. “No, seriously, what do you do,” she gasped, siting at the table, wiping her eyes. “I’m a psychologist, not practicing, but I work for the FBI sometimes, mostly consulting jobs.” “And that leaves you with time to read people’s futures?” She teased, resting her chin in the palm of her hand. “Enough to balance dabbling in criminals’ past.” She laid both her hands on the table, palms up. “Okay, what do you see in my future” Mulder chuckled, but took her hand in his awkwardly, his right still throbbing under the bandages. “I see a tall dark stranger, completely harmless, no need to worry,” a wink earned him a smile, “a charming young man who could be a true friend if you’ll let him, well versed in neighbourhood politics, a wellspring of knowledge about best parking spots, local take-out joints and deli stores.” “How many girls did you try to pick up with that line?” Her gaze was honest and she made it clear his BS made no impression, except maybe being slightly amusing. “Not as many as you’d think,” he let go pf her palms and dialled back on the teasing. “It’s not very effective,” she went back to washing the mugs, “so about those neighbourhood politics, are there some unwritten rules I should know about?” “Not really,” he could feel that he crossed some line, but didn’t let it scare him away. Dana Scully didn’t suffer fools and he made note to remember that. “The guy above you, Alex Krycek doesn’t like noise, I don’t mind either way, the couple downstairs, the Petrie’s are away on an extended holiday, haven’t seen them in three months, and I don’t expect them to be back anytime soon.” “Where did they go?” “I didn’t ask, they kept to themselves, and I respected that.” “So you do not make a habit out of barging in on your new neighbours on their fist day?” That stung a bit, he was beginning to regret his forwardness. “No, I do not, and if you like, I can leave,” he pushed the bottle aside and started to get up, “you did enough for me as it is, and I see you have a lot to do.” “No,” suddenly alarmed, Dana turned to face him, “I didn’t mean it like that, please, stay. I’m just not used to being,” she stoped, he wasn’t sure why, but a cloud of shame passed over her face, “called someone’s friend after 20 minutes since meeting them. People usually take me for the Ice Queen.” “You didn’t meet me 20 minutes ago,” he sat back down, trying to bring her back from the shell she was crawling back into, “we met this morning.” “We did?” “Yeah, you passed me when you were leaving the diner at the end of the street, great waffles and coffee, probably the best in D.C.” “I did?” She raked her memory, but pulled blank. “You probably were too busy to remember, with the movers arriving soon.” “How did you know that?” Her eyes grew wide, and she became worried a little, despite his assurances. “Calm down, simple observation, I saw the truck, I remembered your clothes and hair, eidetic memory, just a simple matter of putting two and two together.” “You do work for the FBI.” “Part time, but you pick up a habit or two, I swear I mean you no harm.” “Even if you did, I took a self-defense class, so I know how to take care of myself.” “I don’t doubt that,” he tried to smile his most sincere and non-threatening smile, and she began to relax, still he was curious. “Why do people call you Ice Queen? I see no reason for that.” “You seem like the exception to all rules,” she sighed and dried the last mug. “I guess I’m skeptical of all new acquaintances, you can call it trust issues if you want.” “I’d rather call it reason,” he got up and rounded the table. “You’re going? What about the food?” She sounded anxious but didn’t step back. “No, I’m not going anywhere,” he pushed up the sleeves as much as he could with his bad hand, “put me to work, how can I help?” “But your hand.” “I’ll manage, and if I break anything I’ll pay for it,” he was completely serious and she saw it. “Come on Scully, I’m at your disposal.” “Okay,” she let slide the use of her last name, with what he said about his own name, it seemed kind of fair, “maybe we’ll leave the dishes for now, I don’t want you to get those bandages wet, we could unpack the books, you think you can handle that?” “I’ll hand them to you, and you’ll arrange them inside the bookcase, because I’m sure you have a system.” “Yup,” she smiled and led the way to the stack of boxes in the living room, “I sure have.”

The process went quite smoothly as they waited for the food to arrive. Thanks to her sensible packing, the books were basically ordered the way she wanted them, the only problem was picking bookshelves. He didn’t skip a chance to laugh at some of the titles. “’Inflammatory Bowel Diseases: A Personal View’ now that must be a real page turner,” he laughed handing her another pile of books. “You have no idea, Steven King has nothing on this one.” “Nope, wait, we have a winner, this one I got to read,” he picked a medium-sized volume and started to page through it. “Give it back, Mulder,” she reached for the books but he turned away. “Hold on a second, this is great.” “What have you got there,” she tried to take the book from him but he escaped her again, “a layman shouldn’t read this stuff, you’ll read something and you’ll think you’re sick or dying.” “I’m not a layman, I’m a psychologist,” the book was hidden behind his back and smile, “not a hypochondriac.” “All men are,” she laughed and her arms went around him, searching for the book. Mulder froze and she realized what she was doing. She was holding on to him, her arms around his waist and he was looking down at her with a wicked grin. “Like I said, you’re no Ice Queen,” he took half a step back, still in her space but no longer in her arms, and showed her the title. “DIY Brain Surgery,” he said and gave her the book back, “you have to lend me this one sometime.”

The doorbell saved them. Scully from thinking too much about the hard muscle of his chest, and Mulder from trying to remember when was the last time a woman putting her arms around him made him laugh with excitement. He went to the door and paid the Lin boy, as always, tipping him handsomely. “You want to eat here?” She asked walking to the kitchen, ready to set the table. “Sure,” unpacking the food, he grimaced as she set the plates and napkins and silverware, “I thought we said no dishes.” “I want to try everything, so we’re sharing, I’ll do the dishes.” He didn’t argue, and she did try everything, eating with gusto, as befit someone who did a honest day’s work. The sight made Mulder almost as pleased as if he cooked for her himself, although he never did things like that. “I like this chicken thing, not too spicy to burn you through,” she said around a mouthful of moo goo gai pan. “Easy on the deep fried shrimp then, the sauce is pure fire,” he warned. “Really?” Taking a piece and dipping it cautiously, she nibbled at the end then gasped, “oh-ghod-wha-ish-thish” She covered her mouth breathing deeply, hoping the beer could put out the fire, gesturing with her chopsticks for him to take the shrimp. “Put it down,” he said and she did, the shrimp and the beer, looking down, flushed at being caught taking too much liberties. “You don’t pass food like that,” he said with a smile, picking the shrimp of her plate and dipping it in sauce, “it’s a funeral custom in Japan.” He bit of half without flinching, then licked his lips, and the sight made her feel warmth that had nothing to do with the hot sauce. She wanted to argue that they were having chinese not sushi, but he licked his lips again and she lost her train of thought for a moment. “Try the dumplings,” she heard him say a moment later and time picked up its’ usual pace.

The food was great as promised, and they had a second beer with it, each. “This was probably the best Chinese I ever had.” Scully sighed, leaning back in her chair with a contented smile that suddenly turned into a frown. She looked over his shoulder to the living room, “do you have some strength left in you to help me clean up the couch?” “Sure,” he said looking back to the overstuffed monster he saw before, now stacked with bags, most likely clothes, “you want to unpack or just move it?” “Move it, I’ll do that later or tomorrow.” “‘key.” So they moved the bags and sank into couch cushions, shoulder to shoulder. “I think I’m in danger of falling into a food induced coma,” Scully giggled and pulled her feet up, folding them underneath herself. Elvis record he found and she let him put on, made another circle and the King crooned softly about things that couldn’t be helped. Mulder reached over and pulled down the blanket she left on the back of the couch over her, gently drawing her into his side. “Sleep,” he said quietly, shifting to make them both more comfortable, “I know a good doctor.” Scully half laughed half sighed, but sleep was stronger than either of them. Mulder closed his eyes, and drifted off, rocked by her steady breath and the King’s lullaby.

One floor below, phone woke the answering machine who beeped, startled, and then reciting her line, took a message from the woman on the other side. “Fox, I can’t meet you tomorrow, maybe some other time.”

[sunlitroom]

Gotham – s5e03 – Penguin, Our Hero

As I watched it, and some random observations here and there.

Previously on Gotham:

Selina can walk again. She’s also part cat, thanks to the whole ‘medication may release the darker angels of your true self’ side-effect. Big-eyed orphans flocked to Jim. Tabitha ran into Oswald’s knife. Lots of gangleaders want to kill Jim. Barbara rescued him because she needs his help killing Oswald, because no-one else in interested, because Tabitha was easily one of the most dislikeable people in town. Seriously, Barbara. Have you noticed that Sirens isn’t exactly swamped in floral tributes?  Haven exists in soft focus.  Ed and Tank got rough.  Some very lazy graffiti implicated Oswald in the killing of several gang members.

As always, long post will be long.  There are likely to be rambling digressions. Gobblepot might appear (although I welcome all shippers and non-shippers alike :)).  There will be naked favouritism and naked not-favouritism.  Broader comments at the end on plotlines and parallels and general direction.

Oswald opens what I’m assuming is his bedroom door, or a door to his private rooms. He hears a choir singing a song of praise and smiles beatifically.

(An aside.  This is really dumb and I hate it - I'm not wasting wrist strength on it.  Also - it's really offensive.  Really really offensive)

In summary, Penn gives Oswald good news about production.  The writers feel the need to really hammer home that totalitarian regimes are bad, like we may be somehow unaware of this.  We also learn that people are ‘defecting’ to Haven, and that people love Jim Gordon.  Oswald pitches a hissy fit that’s interrupted when a bunch of bikers break in, looking for revenge for Oswald’s apparent attack.  He explains to the leader exactly how and why he’s stupid, and orders him to be interrogated.

In her hospital bed, Selina dreams about being shot by Jeremiah.  This will be a recurring theme in this episode – Selina has flashbacks later - and I think it’s a good thing that we get to see someone actually dealing with the aftermath of trauma.  I hope they don’t try to attribute this to the nasty seed thing later.

Waking with a start, she gets up and dressed and heads out onto the roof. Closing her eyes and taking a deep breath, she leaps off the side, like she used to do.

At Haven, Harvey is warning about coping with the growth of new arrivals - word spreading like bad case of clap.  He also warns that the gangs will come looking for the slave labour they’ve lost.

Jim seems unconcerned. Let 'em

Harvey says they hardly have any ammo or food to deal with either issue– but Jim still refuses to turn people away.

Harvey then eyes Jim, and asks him when he slept – he’s been going full-tilt for months.  Jim tells him he’s OK – but does seem a little flat as he says this.

They enter a makeshift canteen, where Bruce is working.  They ask him for some good news, and Bruce tells them something about a water purification system that’s small-scale, but still an improvement.

As they’re talking, a fight breaks out over rations.  Jim breaks it up, and then realises people are staring expectantly, and delivers a speech. He tells the new arrivals that they’re all welcome, but they need to leave the fighting outside.  The government thinks they don’t need help, and they need to prove otherwise.  The gangs outside can tear each other apart – but they need to help each other survive.

Harvey is the voice of cynicism – pointing out that Jim’s speech worked now, but that it’s not going to be pretty when they find out that the government has abandoned them.

Bruce tells Jim that he’s holding this place together, and giving everyone hope – but he has more to add to his plate.  Will, the big-eyed orphan, is having nightmares and broke his arm falling from his bed.  Could Jim talk to him?

(An aside.  I get that they’re building up Jim as a more uncomplicated protagonist and father figure.  This is also to emphasise how emotionally invested Jim is in Haven, so that the explosion at the end will have added impact.  However.  It is treacly to the point of becoming sickening.  Maybe it’s setting up another of Jim’s dark paths – where he’ll side with his old army pal over tried and tested allies in Gotham, and have a one night stand with Barbara – but even then, it’s just all felt a little heavy-handed)

In the dormitory, Jim sits down next to Will.  Bruce tells him that they can’t imagine what he’s been through, but that he’s safe now. Jim underlines this by telling him that he’ll never let anyone hurt him again.

(An aside.  Jim, no.  You can’t promise that.  You can promise to do your best – but you can’t promise to keep someone safe like that. Bruce is young enough to have an excuse. You know better.)

Jim offers the boy a treat before he leaves.

I’ve got something for you: pineapple from my rations.  Hang in there – I’ll check on you later

He and Bruce walk away

(An aside – the obvious parallel here is between Jim and Oswald as leaders. Oswald – on an ego-trip, serving himself an elaborate breakfast, literally enjoying hearing his praises sung, slowly leaking followers. Jim – giving his rations away, working himself exhausted for his people, with people endlessly arriving at Haven.

And I suspect that’s how we’re supposed to view it – but, and I know I’m probably overcomplicating, it’s not quite so black and white.  It’s not as nakedly motivated by ego as Oswald’s actions, but there’s no way that this isn’t gratifying for Jim)

Selina shows up in the dormitory. An alarmed Bruce tells her she’s supposed to be resting- but a cocky Selina asks him if she looks like she needs it.  She’s never felt better, and she wants to find the freak who shot me.

Bruce says he’s been looking for Jeremiah, but never found anything.  Selina points out that there’s been an influx of refugees from all over the city – someone must know something.

Bruce says he wants to find him as much as Selina – but he’s had months to fortify, and they need to be careful.  Selina looks askance at him, and asks him if he’s scared.  Bruce replies that of course he is, Jeremiah

Shot you to get to me

He tells her he can’t lose her

Selina tells him she’s not his to lose.  He can’t stop her, but she does want his help.  Bruce stares for a moment, and says that if they’re going to take him down, they’ll do it right.  They’ll bring him back here and he’ll stand trial

(An aside.  Honestly, Bruce?  I don’t see any judges hanging around.  A makeshift court consisting of you, Jim and Harvey isn’t exactly doing it right.  On top of that, do you really want to bring Jeremiah into close proximity with defenceless civilians?)

Selina smiles fondly at Bruce’s naivete.  Reaching up, she touches his face and kisses him.

I was hoping I could count on you

Further in the dormitory, a man sitting on a bed says he heard rumours in dark zone – which is apparently a place of chaos - ruled by those who lost their minds when the bridges went down

(An aside.  Sigh, Gotham.  So the mentally ill are scary again.)

Jeremiah is there, gathering followers.  Selina makes to leave immediately, but the man remonstrates, telling her

You can’t go there: you’ll die!  Jeremiah is the least of your worries.  Everyone there is insane.  Look what they did to my friend

He pulls the cover down, and we can see the man in the bed has had stuff carved into his torso.

Oswald opens his bedroom door, in a snit, clad in underwear this time.  He’s wearing a tight black top and shorts under his white cotton garment. I’m guessing the white thing was possibly a little too see through, and they decided to just let the black underwear show rather than get a headache trying to hide it.

Penn! Where the f…..

His choir is gone, and there’s only Olga singing alone

(An aside – I know it’s not the biggest point in the world: but if people like Olga and Eyepatch Guy consistently come back to work for Oswald, then he’s not as uniformly loathsome as the show likes to paint him)

Oswald interrupts her – asking where his staff and Mr Penn are.  She informs them that they all defected to Haven.  He fulminates before panicking, looking for his dog.

He turns to Olga, teary-eyed

They took my dog?

She looks blandly at him

Rumour say pup went willingly

(An aside – I know Oswald’s scenes are more or less comic relief at points, but I still do get irritated when he takes more of a kicking than any other character in terms of sheer humiliation and being told he’s unlovable.)

He screams in rage and grabs the biker chained to the wall

You're in luck.  Our interests are now aligned – and you may live

He tells him to contact the other deeply irritating petty gangs, and to gather men, vehicles and petrol. He has bullets.  They’re going to pay a visit to Haven.

After he’s dressed, that is.

 At GCPD/Haven, Harvey – accompanied by Alvarez - tells Jim Oswald has made it through the barricade with gangs.

Jim tells them to load up. Harvey points out they’re low on ammo. Jim sends him to someone he hopes with be friendly.

(An aside here.  How much time has passed since last episode? Barbara made clear to Jim when she saved him that this was essentially conditional on him agreeing to plot Oswald’s death with her. Jim said he’d table that for later.  Is she still waiting for this to happen?  Has she just assumed he’s not going to do it? When are we, exactly?  If he’s really just never got back in touch, why assume that she’s going to be willing to help – other than the fact that he has no other options, and Jim has a track record of expecting help from people – no matter whether he’s recently jerked them around.)

Down the tree-lined street where Ivy and Selina once wandered – and which is now the dark zone. Selina cracks a joke about calling it the dull zone, and Bruce gazes at her – telling her he’s glad she seems herself again

Selina says she’s been here before – it’s the posh part of town. Bruce says people with money got out. She points out that he didn’t, and he tells her seriously that he had a reason to stay.

(An aside.  Oh Selina – and it wasn’t staying with you.  Bruce wanted Alfred to evacuate with Selina.  He was going to stay and hunt Jeremiah down.  Does Selina know this?)

A man with a bomb strapped to him runs towards them, frantically asking for help, before the bomb explodes.  We hear laughter and gunshot, as a band of God knows what approaches. Actually.  There was a version of Phantom of the Opera set in a disco in the 70s - called Phantom of the Paradise. They remind me of this, crossed with the slightly naff cenobites from Hellraiser III

Anyway

They turn to run, and collide with a hulking guy who’s not exactly friendly

Selina says they’re looking for Jeremiah

Kill you. Kill Jeremiah

Selina decides the best course of action is to find the schoolyard’s biggest bully and take him down

They all start fighting.

Haven, where Mr Penn is still conducting the choir - who now do hymns instead. We hear the sound of bikes approaching.  Penn nervously asks Jim what’s going on.

It’s Oswald.  Jim tells his men to hold their fire

Oswald gets out of his car – lividly angry.

Well. If it isn’t my old friend Mr Penn, and the Gertrud Kapelput Memorial Choir.  How nice to see some familiar faces!

Jim tells Oswald that he shouldn’t have come to Haven.  Oswald responds angrily that he stole his people and his dog.  

Jim says that the people came here of their own free will.  Oswald ignores him to call on his dog, who doesn’t respond to him

Jim raises his eyebrows at him triumphantly when the dog refuses to come when called.

Oswald reiterates that Jim is to return his people and his dog – and also apologise.  

Jim says no.

Oswald tells him he knows his ammo is used up – he’s bluffing.  

On Jim’s signal – some of his men take down some of the bikers.  Oswald pulls a face, and Jim says his men need some target practice.

Back with Selina and Bruce. The hulking guy tells her that she looks soft – while she tells him he looks 300lbs of ugly.  

Selina gets the man on the ground and starts clawing at his face with her new metal claws – demanding that he tell her where Jeremiah is.

The man protests that they don't mess with him – but then tells her he’s at Hotel North.

Selina’s still going, though, clawing at his face.  Bruce tells her he’s had enough.  She says it’s enough when she says so, and he restrains her.  

He looks at her, troubled, and tells her she won.  It’s over.

Selina blithely replies that it was easy, and strolls off.  Bruce stares after her unhappily.

Back at Haven, an irate Oswald tells the bikers that Jim is bluffing.  The leader asks how he knows.

I know Jim Gordon

Oswald says if they require a demonstration – they should march forward.  The biker says they have guns – Oswald retorts that he does too, and his are loaded.

They march.  As they approach, Jim tells his men to make ‘em count.

They shoot – but run out of bullets, leaving one man standing.

Oswald gloats that Jim is out of ammo, and points out that he doesn’t want his men to die.  

On the count of three, GCPD lower their weapons.

Bruce and Selina head to the church – Selina deftly climbing over cars.  Bruce is not happy at how she handled the big guy earlier, but Selina disagrees – asking whose side he’s on?

Yours. Always

As they approach the church, they see a shrine to Jeremiah.  Selina says she’ll tear his throat out.  They follow some other people up the stairs to the church and enter the building.

A woman in a mask welcomes them to the Church of Jeremiah, where the faithful will become their best selves – after a demonstration of faith.

They’re very oddly dressed. Shirt and tie – and one guy in a kilt (which tends really to be formal wear)

They walk further in. The masked woman stops Selina – and points out she doesn’t look like a worshipper.  Selina insincerely says she witnessed his work first hand, and she’ll never forget it.

She is permitted to pass, and follows the adherents upstairs.  The masked woman whispers in the ear of another guard before removing her mask.  It’s Ecco, in some dilapidated makeup.

Bruce slips away

(An aside - Where are the clean and well-dressed devotees coming from?  I thought the Dark Zone was a terrifying bedlam?  How did they get there without being attacked? Why are they so clean and well-presented?)

Oswald leads Jim to a cage/cell.  Jim tells him he’s going to regret this.  Oswald gloats that those are strong words for someone out of options.  He’s going to have Jim watch while they destroy Haven, and then shoot him and leave him for dead like did to Oswald

(An aside – Oswald – no you’re not.  We both know this.  Jim knows this.  That one-episode biker leader knows this.  Tank knows this.  Those weird English peasants at Ivy’s know this.   Give. It. Up)

Jim tells him when the government finds out what he’s done, he’ll be at the top of the wanted list. Jim – Jeremiah created this whole crisis.  Jonathan is crucifying people.  The government will not share your pigtail-pulling fascination with Oswald.

Oswald tells Jim the only law in Gotham is power.  Jim tells him they have children and families here.  What will happen when the gangs take them back? Oswald blithely says they’ll go back to being slaves.  His people will go back to their lives: bellies full of gruel, with him as their protector.

Jim tells him to take revenge on him – but leave the refugees alone.  Oswald tells him it’s almost tempting – before leaving

(An aside – and here, again, we have the problem with this storyline.  If you can tug on anyone’s heartstrings, it’s Oswald’s.  It’s stupid enough that they have him genuinely believing his people enjoy their life.  The additional notion that he wouldn’t actually care about children and families is stupid.  Let’s not forget – when Oswald was piloting the blimp, the worst outcome he could imagine was the death of thousands of innocent citizens.  It was Jim who felt the need to further incentivise him by appealing to his ambition.  Seriously, now.  It wasn’t that long ago.  I’ve said it several times before – but if your plot demands that the characters are ooc in order to facilitate it, your plot isn’t good)

Outside, Penn is being chained up.  Oswald’s not happy at this, and steps in

Stop - that one belongs to me

He manages to unchain Mr Penn – who smiles happily  - at being rescued, but also maybe at the indication that Oswald actually appreciates him.

One of the annoying bikers grumbles that Oswald sacrificed one of his guys. While Oswald is untying Mr Penn, who’s thanking him all the while – the biker shoots Penn in the gut.  

Penn drops to the floor. Oswald tries to stem the bleeding but it’s no good.  

You should have stayed with me!  Why did you leave?

Penn looks up at him and, without malice, simply tells him

Everyone hated you

Oswald looks down, his face blanched.  

One of the bikers tells him they’ll take everything.  An enraged Oswald says he’ll pay for this, before the biker wallops him hard in the face.

(An aside – sorry, but no. Oswald is cleverer than this. He’s adept at reading other people’s needs and wants.  The notion that he honestly would have no idea of how he was perceived is just silly.

Also – I know there apparently wasn’t time to develop Penn as the Ventriloquist, but I don’t think they had to kill him off.  It feels really unnecessary.  Given that this ‘revelation’ was only needed because they made Oswald temporarily stupid, it’s particularly bitter.  On top of that, if I feel he’s been jettisoned to help make room for the compulsory indigestible lump of Os/Ed interaction we’ve to dutifully swallow later this season, I am going to feel rather cross.)

Oswald is taken to the cage, struggling and protesting.

Let me go, we had a deal!

As he’s shoved in, Jim watches him calmly from the corner.

I take it that didn’t work out like you planned?

Harvey is at Sirens, calling for Barbara.  She sneaks up behind him, puts a knife to his throat and tells him there no men in Sirens past midnight – making it surely a very inconvenient brothel.

She adds that perhaps it’s time golden boy learned to save himself. She asks Harvey if he’s tired of playing sidekick.

Harvey tells her he doesn’t see it that way.  They’re friends fighting for same thing.

Barbara says she remembers when Jim was the idealistic rookie and Harvey was the cynical veteran. Harvey cuts in that she was sane back then.  Barbara snidely says that now Harvey carries Jim’s laundry.

Don’t you wonder what your life would have been like if you never met Jim Gordon?

(An aside - Barbara.  Yes – you have ample cause to deeply resent Jim.  He compartmentalised the bejesus out of his life when he was engaged to you, he moved on indecently fast, and his default facial expression when he’s encountered you since has been a curled lip and a sneer.  You turned to him after your release from Arkham and asked for him simply to recognise you as a person, and he wouldn’t do it.

However, laying the blame at everyone else’s door for your current situation has become tedious. You were placed in horrible situations, but you have also had agency.  Decisions were made.  Paths were taken.  For the actual love of God, stop whining. I’m so bored.)

Harvey replies that he’d be dead, or wishing he was.

(Another aside.  The spectre of Death has hung over Harvey since day one.  I do hope he makes it to the end)

Barbara sneers that he’s delusional – like the saps who expect the government to help.

Harvey tries again – commenting that he knows they’ve had their differences, before mentioning that Oswald has turned up…

Barbara’s tune changes, and she tells him he should have opened with that.

Let’s move

Back in the cell, Jim is trying to cut his bindings.  Oswald is ranting.  Jim’s taken everything from him.  Jim tells him to keep his voice down.  Oswald keeps talking.  His people should have loved him, he kept them safe.  What so special about Haven?

Jim pulls a face at him, and says it’s special because it’s far away from him. Oswald pulls a face of his own

That's rich

People are coming, and Jim hisses at Oswald to be quiet.  We see the head biker and a couple of children come in looking for supplies – one of whom is big-eyed orphan boy, who glances quickly at Jim.  Jim tells Oswald to just act normal, adding

I know it's a stretch

The boy slides a piece of metal under the cage, which Oswald covers with his foot.  The bikers find he booze they were looking for, and leave.

Oswald laughs manically. When they get out – he is going to tear this place to the ground.  He starts to rant – but Jim interrupts him.  That won’t solve the problem.  They need to take the gangs out – right here, right now.

They look down at the piece of metal.  Oswald asks how they pick it up.

They eye each other, and – honestly – the fact that they both wordlessly come to the same impractical solution points to how bizarrely close they are.

They turn back to back and – leaning against each other – lower themselves slowly to the floor, with Jim making some of the best facial expressions ever seen.

(An aside.  OK.  Fair enough, Oswald can’t really pick that up: I don’t think his leg would allow him. But Jim.  Jimothy.  JimJam.  Jimbalaya. I ran a test.  It’s easy to lower down to the ground with your hands behind your back, pick something up, and then stand again.  You saw a chance for some body contact and you took it.  Naughty.)

Bruce creeping about at Jeremiah's lair. He encounters a corridor strewn with the corpses of pilgrims, all with gunshot wounds to the head.

Meanwhile, Selina joins Ecco and the others in an empty swimming pool. Essentially, they play a group game of Russian roulette.  Ecco is very theatrical and Harley Quinn-ish about all this.  Selina scoffs – but, on Ecco implying she’s a coward, places the bullet in the chamber and spins the barrel.

Ecco counts them down – again, slightly aggravating on the quirky preciousness front.  We go quickly back to Bruce, whose head turns sharply when he hears the gunshots.

Ecco strolls round, announcing that she’s disappointed in those who didn’t participate.  Selina says she’s

Just not a mindless idiot willing to get shot in the head for nothing

Ecco glares.  She comments that Curls is here to judge all of us.  She goes on, though, indulging in some wittering about Jeremiah and his methods and how it looks like madness but it’s really liberation, blah blah blah

She then tells them all to leave now – she needs to have a word with Selina. They all got straight ‘As’ and can proceed and be reborn.

Elsewhere, Bruce follows two guards before beating them.  He ascends further up the staircase.

Selina faces off with Ecco. Ecco says she doesn’t want to meet Jeremiah, but Selina insists she does – only she’s not willing to play that psychotic game

Ecco does some more quirky stuff

But baby – it’s so fun!

Selina asks why Ecco doesn’t play.  Ecco tells her she doesn’t get it.  Lifting her hair, she displays a scar at the base of her skull, near her ear.

The bullet’s still inside.  I hear it.  Ping ping ping.  Boy do I feel it when the nights get cold

She pulls the trigger, but there’s no bullet.  She seems to be getting off a little on it.

Selina tells her she’s insane – but she’s indignant at this, saying she was willing to look death in the face and allow the old her to die.  This is the gift Jerome gave Jeremiah – and now it’s the gift he’s giving them

(An aside – interestingly, Jeremiah seems to have rather retconned his past with Jerome again.  The gas wouldn’t have killed Jeremiah – there was no potentially fatal option, as with his gun method)

Ecco smiles

We want you to experience that gift….Selina

Selina’s eyes widen

You know me

Ecco smiles

There’s not a single part of Bruce's life we don’t know about. His joys, his fears, his desires

(An aside.  Wow.  That sounds a like a fun couple activity.)

She adds that Bruce wasn’t ready for Jeremiah’s gift, and nor was Selina.  

Selina grimaces as Ecco points the gun at her face

One thing Jeremiah did teach me.  I hate a gun pointed at my face.

She hisses angrily, and they start to fight.

Oh puddin’.  Aren't you delicious?

(An aside.  I suppose you can’t really blame Ecco for flirting with Selina.  It sounds like most of her evenings with Jeremiah are spent working on the big Bruce scrapbook.)

Ecco says she knew she had it in her – all it took was a kick in the pants.  

Bruce appears.  Ecco sneers that her boyfriend is worried about her.

Selina flashes back to her shooting.  She manages to turn the gun on Ecco – but Bruce yells stop, and Ecco escapes, stabbing Selina in the leg as she goes. Selina screams in rage and makes after her – but Bruce stops her, telling her that she’s bleeding.

Selina cuffs him to the gate.  Bruce protests, but Selina says they’ve done things his way.  Not it’s her turn.  Bruce is left yelling after her as Selina drags herself off after Ecco.

Back at Haven, the bikers eyeing up cops and discussing who might be best for fights.  Jim strolls up

How about this?

He points his gun

The biker says he’s bluffing

I’m afraid not

Oswald appears at the other end of the room

Neither am I

Oswald shoots the gang members.  Jim calls on the cops to come out.  Jim and Oswald face each other across the room.  We hear a whimper, and Oswald’s dog approaches him.  He fusses over him, and reassures him that he killed the bad men.

The crowd behind him overhear this and mutter agreement – he did shoot the bad men.  They start to chant his name.

Oswald smiles gleefully. In many ways, he’s the world's simplest creature.

 Back at Haven, people are arguing both with and about Jim

You promised safety!

He saved us!

Oh boy.  Time for another speech.

It was a hard day - but we won.  

He points out that they’ve got Oswald's guns and ammo now, and that they survived.  Hope survived too – and he thinks that’s worth fighting for.

So do I

It’s the winsome orphan who rescued him

(An aside.   Mercy, Gotham. I can’t take much more of this treacle.)

Jim blinks in response to this support.  He goes on. Now there’s work to be done, wounded to be cared for.

Tomorrow's another day

Jim’s Scarlett O'Hara now.

A cop appears to tell Jim that Oswald is outside.  

Before he heads out, Jim tells the winsome orphan that he did a brave thing, and that they wouldn’t have escaped if not for him.  The boy replies that Jim helped him, so he wanted to reciprocate.  He hands the boy his badge, and tells him he needs deputies. He smiles and thanks him – especially since he’s allergic to pineapple.

 Jim walks towards Oswald, who is fussing over the dog.  He straightens up as Jim approaches, and asks him if the cops are really necessary: after all, he just saved hundreds of people.

Jim adds that he endangered them to start with, so he can be forgiven for wanting to play it safe.  

Oswald looks up at him, his face more sincere

Still - I do hope there’s no hard feelings?

Jim steps closer and looks at him like he’s recently been caught stealing apples, as opposed to putting a bounty on his head and then breaking through the barricade with a gang of bikers.

You did the right thing today, Oswald.  You’re free to go.  Don’t make me regret it.

They stand close and – even with my shipper glasses off, there’s really no other way to describe this – stare at each other fondly, smiles on their faces.

(An aside, before Barbara comes in waving the plot point no-one cares about.

I ship this like crazy. I like writing fic for it. One thing that’s blocked me for ages is how readily Oswald can forgive the worst of behaviour from Jim, and how Jim readily heads back to him for help each time no matter where their relationship has been. But actually seeing this helped me get it.  Oswald thinks he’s capable of doing great things for the city and its people.  Jim also believes this of himself: Jim Gordon, hero of Gotham.  They also both know they are capable of terrible, terrible things.  

To have someone who is not only seemingly willing to forgive you anything, but who also has a seemingly endless capacity to believe in you? That’s about as a big a deal as you can get.  No wonder they keep gravitating towards each other. Who wouldn’t?)  

Harvey hurries in, shouting a Jim in warning.  He’s swiftly followed by Barbara.

Hi Pengy.  Bye Pengy

Wide-eyed, Oswald holds his hands out in front of him, falling back on what he always falls back on in dire straits

Jim!

Jim hurriedly gets in front of him, and faces Barbara down

Barbara, no

Barbara tells him to get out of her way or he’ll get her first bullet.

Jim insists that he’s not moving

We don’t get to see what Barbara does next, because there’s an explosion that knocks everyone to the ground.  Oswald, Barbara and Harvey are unconscious, but Jim stands and looks around to see Haven up in flames.  There’s no scream of rage – just resignation, and weariness.

(An aside - So, I’m guessing that the explosion was Jeremiah’s doing – given that it just so happened to coincide with Bruce not being anywhere near the building?)

 General Observations

A couple of themes here.

The obvious parallel is between Jim and Oswald as leaders.  Jim is the ‘good’ leader, Oswald the ‘bad’ leader.  I don’t think we’re supposed to read more into it – but, as I said, I think you can really dig into a little more.  Barbara comments offhand that Jim wants to be a hero.  They both get emotional gratification from what they’re doing.

Oswald has already been chastened by Mr Penn’s death.  How Jim copes with what has happened remains to be seen.  

There was a little bit of crossover between storylines, if you squint, in the notion of proving yourself under pressure.  Oswald eventually did the right thing.  Oswald and Jim came together when it counted.  On the darker side, Ecco seemed insistent that Selina could step up to the challenge she posed after a kick in the pants.

Given that it lasted a whole two episodes – the Oswald as dictator thing was dumb.  Oswald’s whole thing is his ability to read motivations and needs and exploit those.  He can’t just fall back on a family name, or use brawn to succeed. But suddenly he actually hadn’t realised that people hated him? Really?  Equally – the bit later about him not understanding why people would resent the situation he offered: safety and stability – Oswald’s whole first season is him rejecting the notion of ‘knowing his place’ in favour of clawing his way up, risking his neck repeatedly.

Sorry – but this storyline has been dependent on both ooc-ness and Flanderizing his character.

Hmmm.  See – here’s the thing.  I liked Jeremiah last season – pre and post-gas.  He was different and had his own quirks and complexities.  He simmered icily – a contrast to Jerome’s all-out mayhem.  But I find the whole Cult of Joker thing tiresome – with all the witless, biddable acolytes wittering on about how he’ll open your mind.  It feels even more marked with Jeremiah, who essentially displays almost total contempt to anyone who isn’t Bruce.  I’m guessing part of the reason he stays secluded is that he can barely tolerate them.

I wonder if we’ll ever find out why Ecco was so devoted to Jeremiah.  Because she was – back last season – before all the gas stuff. Fiercely devoted.  It didn’t feel like a romantic thing – and I was curious to find out what it was.  Had he helped her out of a bad situation?  Did his working set-up meet her needs and personality in some particular way?

Thoughts?

[coeurxdor]

✮ ━ top three favorite muses that you’ve played♫ ━ a small playlist for a muse of your choiceღ ━ favorite canon ships for your muse(s). are there any you dislike?✄ ━ do you have any artistic abilities? If so, what can you do?

✮ ━ top three favorite muses that you’ve played 

dorcas is one of my favs lmao but her aside…. uhhh…  honestly i’m someone who generally creates a character for LIFE ( i’ve been writing some characters for nearly a decade now ) so… this isn’t easy. i’ll say  neal brar (oc), kitsey greyson (oc, i never get to write her and it’s such a shame), and valentina salgado (oc) ok fuck also tiberius ogden (oc) and malena bedford (oc) i can’t leave either of them out. 

 ✄ ━ do you have any artistic abilities? If so, what can you do?

[here]

ღ ━ favorite canon ships for your muse(s). are there any you dislike?

dorcas with any of the marauders like………………………. no thanks. never, thanks. ( MAYBE with james or peter in some au, but it’s a pretty massive maybe ). or like ships with death eaters that are completely random and have zero solid/logical foundations. 

otherwise, i’m super open with ships. i’m primarily plot based, even with my ships to be honest. i’ve been in situations where dorcas had chemistry with another character  but the plots me and the other player came up, ship-wise, just didn’t speak to me at all so even though we were supposed to “ship” because our characters had chemistry or w/e, i wasn’t really up for it.

i’ve had some nice ships with ocs from historical verses, modern royalty, and x-men verses. 

in the harry potter universe, i’ve had ships with a bunch of ocs and minor canons. think it, i’ve probably done it. i’ve had ships with muggle characters, death eaters (members or leaning), order members, journalists, diplomats, hit wizards, inventors, celebrities, etc.

all of these are old as shit and i haven’t talked to my partners in ages but thus far my most well plotted out + favourite ships/ship plots have been with:

gideon prewett - it was a friends turned lovers ship, but it was very complicated as it developed over the course of a solid 5 years and with the war gideon developed a drinking problem and there were many other mini sub-plots… it was… great, but MY kind of great with lots of character development and slow burn and it ended with them going “ok we can figure this out we’ll make a proper effort” and then gideon died like a week later lmao. ( we had a star wars au for this too )

evan rosier - met at school. they were just kids. he stopped talking to her when he was 12 because he found out she was a halfblood and she absolutely didn’t put up with his nonsense. two years later they had the chance to talk about it… and they were unable to stop talking since then, behind doors that is. they always had a very peculiar dynamic, meeting in the middle in certain aspects, being ruled by their education and backgrounds in others, and above all showing each other two very different perspectives of what would become a war ( and, in their own ways, they used the knowledge they got from each other as a sort of leverage later on - knowledge is power, so it goes ). after graduation they grew apart, then close again, then he tried to pull some really stupid things after he got married and their dynamic deteriorated considerably after that and as the war progressed. there was always going to be something there even if only given to how much they shared with each other, but i was very open about dorcas not having romantic feelings for him anymore ( and gd knows having them in the first place was an identity crisis as it was ) but my partner at the time told me he would continue to have feelings for her which made the whole dynamic even more interesting. there was always tension, and angst, and power dynamics and one time they did exchange war related information once ( they never said where their affiliations lied, but they didn’t need to at that point, to either of them it was blatantly clear ) but it was on a very particular case concerning the murder of a diplomat where both the order and the death eaters were being blamed when neither side had been involved. 

an oc auror  AND I APOLOGIZE BUT YOU’LL ALL HAVE TO PUT UP WITH ME WITH THIS ONE BC IT WAS ONE OF MY FAV DYNAMICS AND I LOVE AND MISS IT DEARLY. they met while she was still studying to be a healer, he asked her out she said yes but then life happened and they never did get to go on that date. fast-forward a year she’s working at the ministry as a secretary like five desks away from him, huffing at aurors and hit wizards for not filling their reports correctly and no she’s not going to bloody write them for you. he was awkward and self-conscious about it but there were no hard feelings about the failed date (dorcas had literally just joined the order so she had a lot on her plate anyway). very gradually they got talking, hooked up, it turned into a “oh no don’t worry about it it was nothing serious we were just blowing off some steam” which turned into “oh crap im falling in love” and eventually they started dating and it was the most wonderful thing in the world… and then like 6 months into it dorcas broke up with him because it was, like, early 1979 and every time they got together he ended up talking poorly of the order ( they broke up when, one day, he was trashing the order after, unbeknownst to him, the order had saved his ass and his partner’s ass and dorcas was just sitting there with the damn take out he had brought thinking “i really did this to myself huh fuck my entire life i have to end this”. they ended things abruptly and still very much in love. ) fast-forward some months he ends up reaching out to her somewhat awkwardly because he doesn’t know who to talk to ( he was a person of strong convictions but very private and he had grown very used to being able/feeling comfortable talking to her ). what did he want to get off his chest? that he had just discovered he had child. some 3 year old girl. the mother kept him in the dark about their daughter ( her reasons were that she didn’t think he was ever going to make a good father due to how much of a workaholic he was ) and he stumbled on the information. he ended up admitting to dorcas he desperately wanted to have a relationship with the child but didn’t know how to and long story short they started dating again, so painfully gradually and casually. dorcas wasn’t always present when he was with his daughter, but she was far from a stranger to the little girl. however, by mid 1980 the war was at its peak and dorcas was leading like 4 parallel lives and going to too many funerals - she was running on fumes and she did have an emotional breakdown once in front of him one time but it was after his daughter caught dragon pox and he assumed she was just overwhelmed and being sensitive ( he was so thrown off that while he was anxious himself he even went as far as cracking a joke about how she was the one who usually kept it together ). in early 1981 he started seeing his daughter more regularly, there was an unofficially joint custody thing going, and he wanted to take their relationship to the next level. not marriage by any means just, something more tangible and sure and clear, primarily because he didn’t want to have someone in his daughter’s life who would just not be in it for the long run. so they sat down and he told her everything that was going on inside his head, he said that it wasn’t that he didn’t trust her to be around he just needed to have the conversation with her… and dorcas was sitting there thinking “yes, this is something i want, this doesn’t scare me, this makes me happy, i love this person and i love that little girl like she was mine and i want to grow to love her and her father even more.” so she said she didn’t. she said she wasn’t interested; that he had read her wrong. she thought of the two broken ribs she had some weeks prior and how edgar and his wife and their children were six feet under. they parted away, never spoke again, and she was murdered like 5 months later in july/august. i shared ideas and hcs, but, as an active contributing writer, the story ended here for me. however, the way my former roleplay partner wrote what happened after dorcas’ death goes like this:years later, he ended up marrying the mother of his child ( they were able to reconnect in a healthy way because of how much character development he experienced while dating dorcas ). they had two other children.  around twenty years later, the dust of the second war settling and previously private information about both wars was gradually becoming public. one morning his eldest daughter was reading the newspaper and she casually asked mom and dad, sitting at the table with her, if they knew anyone who fought in the first war. they both mentioned a handful of hit wizards and aurors, and that was that - she closed the newspaper dismissively and left to meet with friends. it was summer. i can’t remember if it was later that day or the day after, but he asked her what had prompted her to ask such question and she said there was a face in the newspaper that seemed familiar. he asked her the name of the person, she couldn’t remember only that it was “funny but familiar”, and as she went to get the newspaper she continued that that neither he nor mom had said it. he got his glasses, she opened the newspaper for him in the multi-page article about new information from the first war and pointed at one of the several small moving photographs - the penny dropped as he recognized the face right away.a lot of things made sense after he found out dorcas was a member of the order, it was, in a way a relief for him to discover it because it filled in a lot of blanks ( and it made him feel better in the sense that no, he hadn’t been the problem in their relationship )… but on the other hand it was also highly bittersweet and conflicting, and he had more questions and about a thousand new feelings and emotions to process. the worst part was she had been dead for two decades so it wasn’t as thought he could talk to her about it. i think that ( i can’t remember ) at some point, in anger and frustration, he thought that she should have told him, and then he remembered what he was like and what his views of the order were and he was forced to admit to himself that if she had said anything to him, if she had trusted him with that information, his self from twenty years ago would have been highly judgmental and ended things immediately ( we had an au where this happened and it was the most horrible thing - it was right after an attack and they hadn’t even showered yet and dusted themselves off and he just told her to leave, didn’t even look her in the eye ). eventually he came to terms with her decisions and understood why she had made them and was able to tell his eldest daughter why the women in the photo looked familiar.

i don’t think i’ve had a single ship for dorcas, in any universe, where she ends up happy lmao bottoms up i don’t know how to write happy endings (unless it’s in aus) cheers.

♫ ━ a small playlist 

ok so im really really really realllly bad at playlists and i’ve already done one for dorcas here and i don’t want to make another lmao so can i make two mini ones for two of your characters instead?

for robb stark 

kids - mgmt 

fire - kasabian

everybody’s watching me -  the neighbourhood

seven nation army - the white stripes

howl - florence and the machine

afterlife - arcade fire

bonus: heads will roll - yeah yeah yeahs // pretty fly for a white guy - the offspring

for rose tyler

perfect places - lorde

run away with me - carly rae jepsen

the last of the real ones - fall out boy

drops of jupiter - train

adventure of a lifetime - coldplayp

[allmytwistedshadows]

Sleepless

Pairing: Dan Howell x Male!Reader

Requested: Yes (Anon)

Request: Hey, your writing is amazing 😍 Can you do Dan Howell x reader, where Dan can't sleep, the reader comforts him and they become a couple? Thank you 😘

Summary: (Y/N) is a friend of Dan and Phil’s, spending the night after working on a collab with the pair. When his insomnia is at a high, though, he isn’t sure what to do. Of course, he isn’t the only night owl in the flat that night; and what’s a guy to do when something is troubling the one he cares about?

Word Count: 1,628

Warnings: Swearing, more than probable sardonic humor, rusty writing (Sorry it’s been a while)

AN: I’m not used to writing from Male POV so I’m sorry if it’s sucky.

“I will never be able to look at a spatula the same thanks to you,” (Y/N) said with a laugh, rising from the edge of the bed where he had been sitting next to fellow YouTubers and friends Dan Howell and Phil Lester. Dan thought it would be funny to remake the popular Cards Against Humanity video he did with Tyler Oakley three years ago. “Honestly, I am never making pancakes again because I know I can’t without thinking of--”

“What? No!” Phil cried, cutting the (h/c) haired boy off. “The (Y/N) Specialty Pancakes are the best!”

“Sorry Philly,” he said apologetically. “They’re no more now that I’ve seen the horrors of what Dan thinks a spatula can be used for.”

“That was a card well deserved,” Dan said with an awkward grin as he held up his win cards. 

The three laughed together before making the decision to order a take-away and watch reruns of Spirited Away for the night. While Phil went to go take care of the take-away, (Y/N) decided to help clean up everything. While Dan took care of the camera and the lights, (Y/N) took care of the pile of cards on the floor.

“If I were smarter I’d be making Phil clean this up,” he mumbled as he tried to straighten the cards out. “The sore loser.”

“Yes; but, as the Phandom loves to point out, it’s one of the many qualities that makes him so endearing,” Dan returned lightly, laughing silently to himself. “Not to mention it’s so hilarious to watch when I’m editing.”

“I’ll definitely give you that one,” (Y/N) agreed with a grin. “But can you please leave me falling off the bed out? Pretty please?”

“Nope,” Dan said with a smug grin. “If the world sees my shame--not once but twice--then they get to see your shame as well.”

“I hate you.”

“I hate me too,” Dan said without missing a beat. When he didn’t respond after a moment Dan was quick to add, “Kidding! Look at me: all jokes and grins. Haha great times.”

“Y’know, one day you’re going to meet someone who doesn’t appreciate your sardonic sense of humor,” (Y/N) spoke as he started setting the cards back in their box.

“Yes, but you do get and appreciate it so I’m fine,” Dan counters, pointing at me briefly with a wink.

Stopping what he was doing, (Y/N)’s face went blank as he looked up at the dark haired boy. “Daniel.”

“(Y/N).”

“Please, never do that again.”

“Pft. Okay hater.”

“Oh please. You know you’d have said the same thing.”

“Yes, but I said it internally.” The both of them laughed as (Y/N) sat on the edge of Dan’s bed. “Okay, moving on from my self detrimental mind, please tell me you weren’t serious about not making your specialty pancakes anymore.”

“I don’t even know why you guys love them so much,” he said as he brushed aside some hair that had been hanging in front of his (E/C) eyes. “They’re just my mom’s pancake recipe with carefully timed food coloring.”

“Blasphemy,” Dan spoke, placing a hand on his chest.

With a roll of his eyes, (Y/N) rose to grab the top of the box from Dan’s desk. “Well you can relax, Danny,” he assured him, purposefully using the nickname that Dan not-so-subtly dislikes for being “too American” for his taste. “I assure you that I will make the pancakes again.”

“Good because we took the liberty of buying everything you need to make them tomorrow morning.”

(Y/N) groaned as he rolled onto his side in the guest room. He stared at the window, mentally cursing himself for forgetting his melatonin when he agreed to stay the night. Having gone through this many times, (Y/N) knew better than to try and make himself sleep. So he sat up and pulled the duvet away as he swung his legs over the side of the bed. Jamming his feet into slippers, (Y/N) rose from the bed and began to walk silently to the kitchen. Two in the morning or not, he’d be damned if he didn’t get whatever juice he could find.

When he got to the kitchen he opened the fridge and looked around for orange juice, apple juice, prune juice--any juice. There was soda, ribena, milk but absolutely no juice. 

"You mean to tell me I came on the one night these two don’t have any juice?” he grumbled.

“Have you met Phil?”

(Y/N) jumped slightly, turning quickly to see Dan sitting at the small kitchen counter with the orange juice next to him. Half of Dan’s face was illuminated by moonlight, giving him an almost mysterious sense of whimsy. The sight made (Y/N)’s chest tighten as his heart beat in his throat. Of course, (Y/N) wasn’t sure if that was from the jump scare or from something that he had spent a long time denying for the sake of their friendship. “Bloody hell,” (Y/N) muttered upon settling down. “Why am I not surprised you’re lurking in the dark.”

“I suppose the feeling’s mutual you nocturnal freak,” Dan stated as he slid the juice container towards the other boy.

(Y/N) grabbed a glass from the cabinet and then moved next to Dan, taking the container and pouring himself a glass. “So why are you up?” the (h/c) boy asked before taking a sip of the juice.

Dan shrugged, swishing his juice around. “Couldn’t sleep, I guess.”

The other boy examined Dan with inquisitive (e/c) eyes, seeing the way his fingers fidgeted and how he couldn’t quite bring his dark eyes to meet him. “You’re lying,” (Y/N) concluded. 

Dan bit his lip ever so slightly, the simple motion making something unexpected flutter in (Y/N)’s chest. “Maybe,” Dan admitted quietly.

“What’s really up?” (Y/N) questioned as he set the cup down on the counter and crossed his arms over his chest.

“I just,” Dan started, his eyes searching around as if trying to figure out how to say it. “I haven’t been sleeping well lately.” (Y/N) frowned and looked at the curly haired boy in front of him. Dan took (Y/N)’s silence as he had intended it--as a prompt to go on. “I’ve been having nightmares.”

“About what?” (Y/N) asked softly, not wanting to push him too far.

“A lot of things,” Dan stated vaguely before he received a raised eyebrow from the (h/c) boy and sighed. “Death, okay. I’ve been dreaming about death.”

“Oh,” (Y/N) started, sounding surprised. “Could it have something to do with Spooky Week? You and Phil have been playing so many scary games that maybe it’s just you thinking you guys it’s in the games.”

“It’s not,” Dan insisted, finally meeting his eyes. (Y/N)’s heart ached upon seeing the unshed tears making the beautifully dark eyes glisten. “Because it started before Spooky Week and it’s not me and it’s not Phil.” Dan looked down again before he spoke quietly, as if trying to keep him from hearing. “It’s you, (Y/N/N). You’re the one dying.” (Y/N) was taken aback just from the pure shock of it--the idea that Dan was even dreaming about him. “Every night you’re in trouble and I can’t save you--and I can’t stand it. I-I can’t take it because-because I can’t imagine my life without you in it and the thought of you not being there anymore is--it’s just too much.”

“Dan,” the other boy started softly, moving to stand in front of him, “I promise you that nothing is going to happen to me. You’re stuck with me to annoy you for the rest of your life.” (Y/N) took Dan’s hands in his own, drawing their eyes together.

“I just--I can’t bare seeing you die every night because-because--.” Before (Y/N) could ask why Dan’s grip on his hands had tightened and, suddenly, his lips were pressed against Dan’s. Before (Y/N) could even really react Dan had pulled away suddenly and began stammering. “I-I’m sorry. I’m sorry I shouldn’t have done that, (Y/N/N), I’m--”

(Y/N) cut Dan off in one swift motion, pressing their lips together once again. In that moment he let go of any concern he had harbored in the past about ruining their friendship because, in that moment, he was kissing the boy he had been fantasizing about in secret for the past year or so. So, (Y/N) pulled him closer, wrapping his arms around Dan’s neck. Once the shock had worn off on Dan’s end his hands moved to the (h/c) boy’s waist. 

(Y/N) sighed as he felt Dan’s hands hold him tightly by the waist. The two stood there in the dimly lit kitchen, moving their lips against each other’s slowly. (Y/N)’s fingers curled into Dan’s dark curls, tugging gently. Dan made a small noise of pleasure against (Y/N)’s mouth. The sound made (Y/N) grin slightly against his lips before he pulled away just enough to look into Dan’s eyes--blown wide from what had just transpired between them. 

“I promise you,” (Y/N) spoke softly, “that I am not going anywhere and, as long as I’m with you, I’ll always be more than fine.”

Tears welled up in Dan’s eyes before he pulled (Y/N) into a tight embrace. The two boys stayed like that for a while, finding comfort in each others’ embrace. At some point in the night, neither could tell you exactly when, they had grabbed their juice and went into the living room to lay on the couch together and watch Spirited Away until they inevitably fallen asleep, tangled in each other’s arms. And, when Phil found them like that the next morning when he woke up, he simply smiled and moved to cover his two friends in a blanket so to not disturb what had to be their best sleep in a while.

AN

Okay so it’s reeeaaally bad especially at the end but I really wanted to finish this. I kinda rushed it at the end and it shows but, whomever the anon is who requested it, I hope you like it.