#MARVIN LOOKS SO FUCKING GOOD GOD

[kalcifers-blog]

HELLO JSE EGO COMMUNITY HOW ARE WE FUCKING FEELING

I'm legitimately going insane.

[neonovember]

Oh. My. God. Oh my god but imagine though, waking up around 8 or 9 or so on a day off where both you and Carmy have the day free. It’s a big deal maybe because oh my god Carmen’s in bed at 9 in the morning *affectionate sarcasm* holy moly Carmen settle down!

But just waking up with him, the sun coming through the window through the thin curtains with a little breeze, looking over and watching Carmy’s face form into the softest, most precious smile, his eyelashes fanning his cheeks as he slowly comes to and lets out a little sigh “Morning” his voice is all husky from sleep and lack of use. You smile back with that sweet giddiness and relaxation in filling your body as you softly whisper good morning back to him. Watching him shift as he sits up to lean over and place a long, soft and slow and tender kiss over your lips, still with that little smile on his lips (I am about to exPLODE-)*CRYING!!!!!!*

okay okay, i know i wrote a drabble similar to this idea here, and for some reason my mind fell back to the night before..y'all, imagine the night that resulted in a soft, needy carmen spending the day in bed with you, all sore and a mess of slick and cum-

Midnight Cars

summary: You’re not about to fuck in the car park. So you end up fucking in the car park. Your apartment’s one at least. 

a/n: read @nolita-fairytale fic's about fiance!carmen, and god did that get my gears going. Her series is a mf masterpiece! Fiance Carmen is dirtyyy, even for Berzatto himself. There's public sex, I'm talking Carmen is knuckles deep in you swallowing you with praises whilst a few feet away from Auntie Susie, public. 

warnings; filth, utter FILTH, this is kind of insane even for me, car sex, public sex, fingering, dry humping, cowgirl (yeehuh!) but carmen's doing all the work, fiance!carmen, wrap it before you tap it lmao, 18+ explicit, feral and a little deranged carmen, possesive! carmen

The tangy burst of vermilion and cherry grasps your tongue as you tilt the rounded bowl of your drinking glass towards your lips, gliding your tongue to catch any wayward drops of the wine being poured by waiters dressed down in black and white. 

Your eyes don’t leave the dirty blond tresses that had long broken from their gelled back form through the night's progression sitting atop Carmen’s head. You can’t help the giggle you let out from your position against the bar, watching him join in a very drunk, but surprisingly harmonised rendition of “Ain't No Mountain High Enough" By Marvin Gates.

His tie sits undone around his neck, and his face is sort of flushed from the extended night, his cheeks a tinty rose and his lips turned red from his repetitive swipes of his tongue across them nervously.

All inhibitions are gone now, and you're able to indulge in the site of a carefree Carmen, left unaware of the never ending responsibilities he carried by the honey haze of a night just for him and his award winning restaurant. 

The low lights of the speakeasy room sets the air into a mellow haze, hints of cocoa and aged bourbon waft through the corners of the room, across half finished plates of food on tailored tables, and the stage where your Carmen had won the very award that now sits dangerously close to the edge of your table.

You knew the James Beard Association was prestigious, but god had they truly left you dumbfounded when you stepped into the low lights of the speakeasy.

You didn't even know places like this still existed. 

The speakeasy was tucked in a bricked alley, unassumingly between an Italian and a car park. You wouldn’t have ever guessed it to boast this attraction, with aged vintage black and white photos of late singers who’d sung on that very stage years ago hanging across the walls, polished dark exposed wood and velvet booth seats in corners surrounding round tables, even the parlour looked like it was out of an 80’s  bar house. You think if you shut your eyes and reached out you would have touched the sequence dress of Etta Jones.

Carmen didn't get drunk, not often anyways, and even now, after winning the prestige of “Chicago's Up and Coming Restaurant of the Decade”, he waved off every raise of a glass towards him.

Carmen felt a level of unease at even touching a drop of liquor whilst driving you both home, no, every fiber of his being screamed at him to keep you safe at all times, and the taste of bourbon held nothing against the taste of you. 

That didn’t stop him from enjoying himself, in fact he felt an unnatural sense of bubbly relaxation fall over him as his gaze fell towards you, sipping on a glass, looking the very bit the picture of gorgeous he’d ever seen. 

Carmen had always been horrible at these sorts of things, getting doted on, sucked up to, boasted to. He hated every second of it, but even he can attest to the absolute wonder of a night this has been. He glided you against the dance floor, under the iridescent glass panes of the skylight window, the soft crescent moonlight shining through in a way that bounced against the glitters of low hanging ambient lighting and shimmers of dresses and disco balls. 

The dance floor had been packed with family and friends but then? Then, it had felt like the entire world had stood still, it had felt like it was the both of you, infinitely, you in his arms like it was meant to be, forever.

And now you looked across to him, with those eyes, those fucking eyes of yours, comfortable in the vision of your gorgeous man looking at you under hooded lids, his bottom lip sunken into his mouth. The hint of a smirk tucks at the corner, and it takes everything in you not to jump at him then.

You motion with a manicured finger, and his eyes catch yours in a second, despite being in a group of people currently huddled around him, eager faces hanging onto his every word. He leaves them, in the middle of a mountain of questions they prodded at him, towards you, following your every desire, always, until the very end.

“I see congratulations are in order, Chef” You softly reply, when he makes it close enough that you take in the veins trailing up his forearm, left bare from his rolled up sleeves. The vision shoots straight to the heat building in your belly, and you have to press your drink to your lips to stop the bubbly moan from escaping.

Carmen looks down at you from his height, eyes trailing down the cut of your body hugging dress, lingering on your snug hips catching against the silky black fabric. 

He wanted to feel them beneath his hands as he took you.

“Oh yeah?” Carmen replies, his voice like silk fluttering across your body. Heady in that way it always is.

“Mhm, but I didn’t get to really say anything since you were busy with the rest of them” You don’t have to gesture for Carmen to know about the huddles of people crowding his every move. Another thing he disliked about these sorts of things, they took him away from you.

“Does my girl feel neglected?” 

“No” You draw out. “ I just want to show you how proud I am” You whisper through dark lashes. Carmen trails a tattooed fingers across your jaw, letting glide against the smooth skin until it bumps against your lips. Trailing your bottom lip fervently, his own pulled into his mouth.

“And how are you going to congratulate me hm?”

“That will just ruin the surprise, won’t it?”

Carmen let’s put a chuckle, before leaning into the crook of your neck

“Careful..you know I don’t like it when you keep things from me” 

You can’t help the shudder that crawls up your spine at his words, flashes of being bent over his desk, of being pushed onto your knees corrode your mind and you feel the burning ache travel to your core.

Carmen tilts his head, a hint of a smile on his lips as he watches you, eyes glinting in want.

“No? You’re not gonna tell me?” Carmen replies in a low voice, and as he trails his thick digits across the sides of your dress, bunching up the silk material.

He trails his thick digits across the bodice of your dress, his hands dipping into the spill of cleavage before trailing it to the sides of your dress, bunching up the silk material. Surely he’s not?

“Mhm” Carmen nods, eyes flickering to you, reading your mind as he takes you in appreciably. His pupils are blown out in lust, the familiar ceruleans dipping into a depth only reserved for you.

You let out a squeal when you feel Carmen’s fingers trail up the slit on your thigh, squeezing the naked flesh before tracing his fingers along the lace trim of your panties. You’re up against the bar, shielded by the low ambient lighting and Carmen’s huge back obscuring every manoeuvre of your body to his every desire.

“Carmen-“ You admonish, eyes darting across the room now filled with happily drunk family and friends dancing or laughing amongst each other.

However your admonishment is light hearted, it trails off into the air when you feel Carmen press against you, then, you don’t really care, you miss him too goddamn much to.

“Been watching you the entire night you know? When you were dancing with your friends, god I wanted to drag you from the floor and just take you in the fucking coat closet” Carmen muses, his lips brushing against the pulse point behind your ear. Your drink long forgotten on the bar counter, your hands now gripping his shoulders as you bite back a moan.

“Yeah, just thinking about wrapping these thighs around me and letting that pussy grip me for hours”

“You’d take it all, right honey? You’ll be my good girl?” Carmen grunts out softly

All you can let out is a half hearted nod, your eyes falling dangerously closed as Carmen prods and sucks against every sliver of skin he can get ahold of.

His deft thumb drags along the fabric of your undergarments, cupping your mound as you let out a sharp exhale, making approving noises as the slick that has begun to already begun to drench your panties.

“Already wet for me Darling?” Carm replies, the hint of mirth surrounding his voice doesn’t allude you, and if you didn’t want to keep chasing that sweet friction of Carmens thumb against your heat you would have shoved him.

“Please Carm” You exhale with a sharp breath, trying to grind your hips onto the palm of his hand. He strokes you softly, featherlight touches that barely feel like anything.

And this man, this goddamn man, laughs. A roll of a chuckle rolls through his body and you want to scream at the denial of the pleasures he's keeping from you, before his deep baritone voice replies.

“All you had to say was please”

His rough fingers sink into your heat, it’s silky, and rough and hits you like liquor, straight to the building pressure. He drags your slick through your folds, arching his fingers ever so slightly when he bumps up against your clit. Never fully putting any pressure on that precipice of pleasure you want to dive head first into.

Dipping a thick tattooed digit into your tight hole, Carmen lets out a groan at the way you grip him so tightly, masking your pitched moan at the feeling of him circling his thumb against your bundle of nerves and stretching you out with his thick digits.

Carmen is practically holding you up, his large bicep wrapped tightly around your waist as you sink your teeth into his shoulder, letting the skin absorb the litter of stuttered mewls you let out at the swipes of his thumb against your clit.

The coil begins to tighten, and you can faintly hear Carmen softly whisper sweet nothings, proclamations, declarations, praises. They fall from his mouth like honey and push you further up the cliff. 

“I know sweet girl, taking it so well, just keep taking it, let me make you feel good, yeah?”

A second finger joins the first, dragging your sopping slick up your folds, before dipping into your tight hole. Rough fingers massage up against your walls that grip him so tightly, Carmen knows your body inside and out, and it doesn't take long for him to find the soft spongy patch of skin deep within you, curling a third finger up into that spot, roughly thrusting into relentlessly. 

Carmen watches the way your pussy swallows his thick tattooed fingers, thrusting them out slicker and wetter each time, the image has his jaw and slacks tightening and it takes everything in him not to sink his entire length into against the bar counter, fuck whoever else.

Your hips buckle beneath him, and he grips you harder into his chest, his mouth presses bruising kisses along your neck, jaw, clavicle. Your heated moans fail to reside in you as you begin to cant your hips into his hands, rubbing your clit rapidly on the flat side of his palm. The coil tightens within you, and you roll your eyes back, letting out a bubbling of half syllabus, your brain a mush from the saccharine pleasure curling your toes.

“M’ fucking you dumb baby? You getting off so good on my fingers you can’t speak?” Carmen groans out, he can’t stop himself from canting his hips forward, his erection bumping into your stomach.

The feeling of him pressed and thrusting against you, outlined by his suit pants is a vision that breaks you entirely, and you can’t even blink before you feel the band snap, the delicious white hot burn spreading through you like a wildfire.

“Carmen..s-..gonna” You manage to let out with a breath, and Carmen knows already, of course he does. He’s knuckles deep in you now, and his relentless rutting is inescapable, you can fucking feel him in your bones, down to your goddamn marrow. He continues his rapid thrusts into you, refusing to relent, pushing you further, and further through the waves of your unending. 

Your head lulls back, but Carmen catches it with his arm, his mouth slatted over yours as you fail to keep in the loud yell of his name from your lips. 

Carmen swallows your stuttered mewls, your swears, your please, he swallows it all and keeps it for himself. His tongue darting across the inside of your mouth, swiping along the roof of your mouth, across your front teeth.

His fingers continue to thrust into you, helping you ride through the burst of colours and stars that light your vision beneath your lids. You're pushed up against his hard chest, and it takes some time for your limp body to come back to life, your head a daze of pleasure.

“S’fucken good girl”

Carmen mutters so softly, almost to himself, his fingers are still cupping your heart, whisper grazes of his thumb against your drenched folds. 

as he fixes your dress, smoothing the wrinkles formed, flickering his eyes to yours in a sweet smile.

Through hooded lids, you see a man approach you both, interrupting the heated gaze Carmen imprints down to your very bones. Carmen slinks his hand back, discreetly popping those deft digits into his mouth with a low groan, before wiping them on his suit pants. He carefully fixes your dress, smoothing the wrinkles formed, flickering his eyes to yours in a sweet smile as if he hadn’t just fucked you up into his knuckles, and goddamn tasted you. 

The scene causes a shudder to roll down your back, reigniting the heat deep inside you once again, you never thought you could be this depraved, this-, but the way he sinks into you so perfectly has you nodding to every desire he has. He was a goddamn drug.

Your body is still recovering from the aftershocks of your orgasm, and you feel Carmen's heated gaze on you as you try and coherently respond to the stubby man who’d interrupted you both. The man rambles on, clearly oblivious to your state, too focused on the sound of his own voice. You nod along to his words, something about a farmers market or an Indian restaurant that had opened, but you're jittering in your heels and you can barely stand, opting to lean against the bar counter. 

You look towards Carmen, to find him staring at you, amusement lighting his cerulean blues as he takes in your insatiability. Hell, it took him god near everything to not fling the man to the other side of the room so that he could probably taste you. 

Remind him again why he agreed to this?

It gets to maybe the second inception of an animated story before Carmen is bidding the man goodbye with a shake of a hand, and all you can do is swallow the desire that no doubt has you salivating by the second. God if Carmen had made you wait even one more minute you would have tugged on his shirt like some petulant child.

“Took you long enough” You murmur, when Carmen eases out into the speakeasy car park with a hand against the small of your back.

A soft laugh escapes Carmen, scratching at his jaw as he shakes his head. 

“If I didn’t already know, I would think you're the one that hates these things” Carmen murmurs with a teasing smile, as you make your way to the sleek black car that camouflages against the midnight.

You make a sound that sounds close to a snort, “Not when it keeps me from jumping my fiances bones” Your engagement ring seems to glisten at those words, and you don't miss the way Carmen’s eyes flash with a look of hunger, adoration, glee, even possession all mixed in one.

You’d been his since the moment he laid eyes on you, that was a given. Putting a ring on your finger just gave him something to latch onto, a mark that told the world you were finally his.

It anchored him, it made him feel good. It eased the anxieties that would flood his mind, washing them away like a current every time he kissed that damn princess cut.  

Carmen wasn’t exactly all that sentimental, but with you? God did he mutter till death do us part like it was tattooed onto his tongue. And even then, when he’s a zombified version of his human self, traveling the underworld soullessly he’d find you.

Oh were you Carmen’s, but wasn’t he yours too?

“Language sweetheart, you make me sound like a piece of meat” Carmen murmurs teasingly shuffling so that he’s leaning over your body pressed into the passenger seat door.

“Language? Your talking about modesty after you just-” Your cut off by Carmen's rough finger pressed against your lips

“Would be careful about what you're going to say next sweetheart” Carmen raps in a low voice, tracing his finger against your bottom lip, eyebrows furrowed as if the motion of his fingers brushed up against you was of utmost importance.

You gulp back the words you wanted to say, Carmen's blown out eyes flicker from yours to your lips, and you lift your head towards him. Carmen catches you with a hand wrapped around your jaw, pushing you further against him as he crashes his lips sweet against your own. Swiping against your bottom lip, dipping into the heat of your mouth as he groans against the taste of you.

“So sweet,” Carmen murmurs into the kiss, before pulling back. Amusement clouds over lust filled eyes at your immediate anger against his denial

“What about my surprise?” 

“You can’t really get to enjoy the full experience in a public car park on Michigan Ave” You whisper, suggestivity laces your tone as you feel the heat of embarrassment flood through you. You were not good at this stuff, and yet the sharp sound of Carmen’s soft groan causes you to lift your eyes up to meet him.

“Then what are we doing standing here?” Carmen replies with a growl, it erupts from his chest, and as you stare up at him, you finally take in the wolfish expression on his face. He look’s insatiable, goddamn animalistic as he eyes you carefully, a darkness that prods at his blues.

You let Carmen place you into the passenger seat, the resounding click of the seat belt the only sound in the stretch of silence between you both. A heaviness laces the air in the car as you ride home, a headiness, a lurking desire beneath the illuminating light of the console, and the flashing lights of Chicago sitting against tinted windows. 

Carmen spreads his thighs across the drivers seat leisurely, resting a hand on the steering wheel, whilst the other grips your thigh tightly. There's going to be a bruise there tomorrow, and you can't help but preen at the thought of his mark on you hours later.

You count the seconds that tick by as Carmen rolls into the basement garage of your shared apartment, parking silently as he cuts the engine and remains unmoving, except for his hand gripping your thigh which he squeezes periodically. 

Carmen cuts his gaze towards you, the wolfish expression that overtakes his features and turns him into a predator tells you all you need to know, but his eyes soften ever so slightly, almost telling you the next move is up to you.

Carmen doesn't need to hear the seat belt unclasping before he's tugging you on his lap with rough skillful hands. His erection pushed against the softness of your belly as groan out in blissed relief, Carmen can’t help himself, grinding his hips up into you frantically.

“Need” Carmen breathes out heavily “Need to feel you, need to be inside of you. Right now, right fucking now” Carmen groans.

There is a fumble of clothes being ripped and thrown into the backseat, and Carmen shifts the driver's seat to lean back a little. The position is unforgiving, your back is pressed against the wheel, and the space is too small, but strangely, it’s a tight proximity you crave, too long have you gone without the ecstasy of Carmen’s skin against yours.

You settle your thighs on either side of him, his deft fingers drawing soft circles across your hips, his pressing fervent kisses along your jaw causing you to fall into the crook of his neck.

“Please, sweetheart, let me feel you, let me see you, shh, it’s alright, let me feel you” Carmen hums into the heat of your skin, tasting your sweat with the flat of his tongue as he grips your hips gently.

You lift them, and with Carmen's help, you finally, after what felt like centuries, sink onto Carmen's length, the sobbing slick drenching your folds causing him to slip in easily, eliciting a breathless groan from him as he feels the heat of you wrap around you.

You can hardly breath, all you can feel, all you can taste and see is him, the delicious stretch that comes with the first sink into you is glorious, its fucking ineffable. The entirety of his length sinks into you to the hilt, and you feel every vein and ridge of him graze against your tight walls as you let out a strained whimper into Carmen's shoulder.

“ ‘S Fucking velvet, pussy grip’s like a goddamn vice every time sweetheart” Carmen praises, pressing kisses to your skin, his eyes shut as if he was memorising the feel of you, savouring it in his mind like it was the last time.  

Carmen always gave you a few moments to get comfortable around his thickness, but there was a neediness in the way he held you, like you would turn to dust if he let go, and the restraint he held earlier falls apart as makes that first thrust up into you without warning.

You cry out as the blanket of pleasure courses through you, your heart is in your throat, you can barely breath, and you throw your head back cause god don’t you want more.

You press your nails into his shoulder as you try to lift your hips, eyebrows furrowed at the feeling of pleasure that fills you with every inch of him that glides against your walls, your clit, your slick. You’re a mess, and Carmen tugs at your hips, sick of waiting, and thrusting into you mercilessly, maintaining an unforgiving pace as you quake above him.

“Take me so goddamn well, huh sugar? Doesn't my wife take my cock so well?’ Carmen grunts, his eyes watching the way his length sinks into you and leaves glistening with your slick. The sight nearly tears him into his undoing, nearly causing him to spurt into you, if only he had a damn polaroid.

Your head brushes against the roof of the car as Carmen pistons into you, his hands gripping your hips as he slams you onto his length, rutting into you as the velvet of your walls cling to him. It was like goddam silk wrapped around his length, the gooey slick of your arousal coating his every ridge, dripping down onto his balls and between the space where he’d thrust into you.

A litter of profanities fall from his mouth with every stuttered thrust of his hips, its uncontrolled, and Carmen shows no restraint, no signs of stopping as he chases the wet softness only you have, the decadent caramel, your natural addicting scent, the car fucking stinks of you, and it takes everything in Carmen not to rip you off him and drink from you like a fountain elixir.

His tip brushes against your cervix, thrusting impossibly deeper with every move of his hips, he changes his position, and it causes his length to brush up against that spot that causes stars to burst in your vision. You practically arch your back against him, lifting your hips up when you feel the white hot pleasure that drips down your back, exploding your senses.

“No no no, fucking take it” Carmen snarks, wrapping an arm around your waist to pull you down deeper, further onto his length, till your filled to the brim, your slick gushing out of you.

A shudder rolls through you and the sound of Carmen's low voice, dipping into something untapped, something animalistic and merciless, something that would pull every drop of pleasure from you until you were a sobbing mess.

You roll your hips against his length, a shaking, stuttering mess of gurgling words and cries as you grind your clit against Carmen's length, whilst the girth of his thrust into the spongy spot within you that leaves you heaving.

The familiar burn of a coil tightens within you, and as Carmen presses a thumb against the swollen bundle of nerves, circling it softly. The contrast of his soft feather touches against your clit paired with his unforgiving pace thrusting into causes you to keen, arching your back against him as Carmen murmur below you fervently, like he's chanting something, worshipping every curve of your body.

“Open your eyes pretty girl” Carmen murmurs, the soft voice of his voice comes back, the rough demeanour falling away like dust as he takes in the signs of your closeness.

“Please Carmen” You beg, you don't know what for,  but it seems like everything from the pleading lilt of your voice. Give me everything Carmen, your love, your pleasure, your skin and bones.

“I know Baby, I know, let me see you yeah? Let me see those pretty eyes” Carmen prods gently

You squeeze your eyes open and the vision that finds you almost snaps the coil tightening deep within your gut, bellowing with heat and pleasure that sizzles below your skin like electricity.

Carmen lies beneath you, his cheeks red with heat and blushing desire, his eyebrows are furrowed, and below them, below them lie cerulean blues that glaze over in a daze, hooded lids with curls lashes that brush against cheekbones. It’s like he's in a trance, his pupils blown out in lust and something else as they watch the bounce of your chest against him each time you shealth yourself onto his thick, hard length.

White teeth pressed into reddened lips watch you eagerly, imprinting you into his mind forever, he wanted you like this always, taking every inch, screaming nothing but his name.

“Fucking gorgeous”

The lilt of his voice, grown husky and low from pleasure breaks something in you, and you aren’t able to warn him, before you arch your back impossibly, driving yourself roughly onto his hips as you get the wave of pleasure wash over you. Colours of vermilion, blue, of the wine you had drunk and Carmen's cologne burst under your lids, on your tongue, everywhere. Carmen groans loudly below you, thrusts growing sloppy as he ruts into you desperately, chasing his own release brought on by your own unending. 

Carmen barely controls the thrust of his hips into you, releasing spurts of thick cum, coating your walls endlessly. His arm wraps tightly around your waist, making you take everything he gives you, forcing you into the whirlwind of ecstasy and base desire you can’t escape from.

You both temporarily forgot about where you both are in that instance, the pleasure from the both of you transports you somewhere boneless, and for a second you feel your heart stop, the  wave of pleasure that crashes over you as Carmen continues rutting into you, lengthening the wave as long as possible until you feel it swallow you both whole.

It’s somewhere between a few minutes to a few hours when you resurface, you don't know, your mind is a mess of sound and colour and the ecstatic aftershock of pleasure that still runs through you. You're nestled into Carmen’s chest, the scent of your coupling thick in the air, your thighs and the leather seat are covered with your combined slick.

The only sound between you both is your heavy breathing, you still nestled up to the hilt of Carmen, and when you slightly shift your hips Carmen shoots out a hand to stop you.

“Easy there sweetheart” Carmen replies in tight constraint, over stimulation washing over you both as the buzz of pleasure still hasn't quite dissipated.

“S-sorry” You reply, breathlessly, lifting your head tiredly to catch the soft gaze of Carmen watching you. His hands glide across your naked frame, pressing soft circles, shushing and smoothing out every shudder and shake of your legs. Carmen doesn't tell you the thought of you visibly shaking from him and he only causes his length to stiffen and his mind to reel.

“So..where’s my present?” Carmen’s teasing voice re-emerges, his eyes crinkling as you swipe at him playfully.

“You’re still in me, dick” You reply with a roll of your eyes, falling back against the hardness of his chest

“Mhm, and I didn’t even get to taste you” Carmen murmurs, tracing his fingers along the curve of your waist, cupping your ass as you shudder from his words. There was a finality in it, and you don’t know if you’ll make it to the elevator before he fulfills that very desire.

The obscenity of it, you love it, only Carmen could make you this depraved. And god do you thank him for it.

Taglist 🏷 (send an ask to be apart of my taglist for carmen)

@kpopgirlbtssvt @rooster-bradshaws

[asymm3]

okay so resident evil au where wesker goes "haha whoopsies" at some point and stops being a bioterrorist with plans for world domination (don't ask me how or why, i know nothing) he moves to a small town in the middle of nowhere, USA (probably the midwest) and buys up an old house to refurbish/renovate

cue the nosy neighbors (aka gertrude and her book club) who are very interested in this "nice young man" who has moved in across the street at first gertrude keeps an eye on him because she will. not. stand. for anyone to "flip" the perfectly nice house from 1920s into some minimalist monstrosity

wesker passes her expectations for the house with flying colors. she brings him a peach cobbler as a present after the house is all fixed up. he is perplexed. gertrude wants to know why he's wearing sunglasses indoors but is too polite to question. everyone has their quirks

bookclub because less bookclub and more gossiping-about-wesker club. he's such a nice, "young" man who is always nice to the cashier at the one and only grocery store (charlene's great nephew), and sticks to a meticulous routine. he gets up, goes for a run (gertrude respectfully ogles, because dear heavens that is a fine looking man and her husband, marvin god rest his soul, has been gone for 20 years), drinks his coffee on his porch, and tends to a few scraggly flower bushes.

after a couple of months and nobody else moving in, or even visiting for that matter, they assume there is no mrs. wesker in the picture. matlida wants to set him up with her daughter. gertrude kindly tells her to knock it the fuck off. mildred wants to see if she has a chance. kathy wants him to prune her like his roses bushes. gertrude threatens to withhold all her wesker-related gossip until they calm down and leave the poor man alone. the flock of vultures.

after bringing wesker some leftover chocolate chip cookies one day, gertrude kindly suggests that he might look into getting a companion of sorts. the shelter she volunteers at has lots of puppies and kittens this time of year, and he looks like he could use a friend. wesker just kinda stares blankly at her.

however, the next week he comes back with a fluffball from the shelter. it has to be the most ill-mannered, scrungliest little senior rat-dog that gertrude has ever seen. wesker pleasantly informs her that his name is titan. it's the closest to smiling that gertrude has ever seen him

life goes back to plain, boring normal until wesker is knocking at gertrude's door at 2 in the morning. she nearly has a heart attack. wesker explains that there is a personal emergency he needs to take care of out of town for a week or so and asks if she could feed/take titan out while he's gone. gertrude shushes him as he tries to pay her and tells him to go take care of whatever it is and that titan is in good hands.

wesker is gone for nearly 2 weeks. by day 3 gertrude can't wait for him to come home because titan only likes wesker. eventually they come to an understanding over some deli meat turkey. wesker returns one day but he isn't alone.

gertrude calls cletus and tells him to put mildred on the phone while she watches as a well-built, brown-haired man painfully limps from wesker's black SUV, up the sidewalk, and into the house, supported by wesker all the while.

a couple hours later she brings over some chicken noodle soup (for wesker's guest) and some of her chocolate chip cookes (for wesker). a harried wesker answers the door, his normally perfectly-gelled hair a mess, as if he'd been running his fingers through it, and his sunglasses nowhere to be seen. gertrude notices his lack of shades and says nothing, because it seems the poor dear is going through a lot at the moment, but she does note his beautiful gray eyes.

throughout the next few weeks, she continues to drop off meals every couple of days. whoever wesker's friend is, they'll need their strength to recover from their ordeal. gertrude doesn't ever see the other man, but wesker's house is uncharacteristically messy, strewn about with various medical supplies when he invites her in as he retrieves her casserole dish

after a month or so, wesker's routine finally returns to normal. one morning, the other man is seated on the porch with wesker, sipping coffee with titan curled up in his lap. gertrude whips up a quick apple crisp and casually wanders over, deli meat in hand to bribe titan

she greets the two men and tuts over the other man's injuries, who introduces himself as chris. despite his recovery thus far, chris is still visibly battered and bruised, splinted fingers stroking titan's fluffy back. titan eyes gertrude warily, but seems content to stay snuggled in chris' lap

as she converses genially with chris about the area and a bit of its history. gertrude can't help but notice the soft look on wesker's face and how his eyes never leave chris. she excuses herself after a while, giggling like a schoolgirl as she phones her bookclub later with all the details. chris and wesker find themselves inundated with homecooked meals and baked goods for the next month

gertrude stumbles upon them one night at the grocery store as she makes a late-night run for more butter. chris is doing far better, just some scars and a light limp, and she notices how close the two men are standing as they shop. she turns away to go pretend to look at fruit, but doesn't miss how wesker's hand comes up to rest in the small of chris' back. the smile doesn't leave her face as she drives home

[zephrunsimperium]

Wrote some stuff for my Human Bill AU. TW for religious trauma and brief mentions of suicide and drug use.

Pine trees passed in a blur outside of Bill’s window, the speed of the car on the winding Oregon road turning the forest into a jumbled mess of green and brown not unlike a painting smudged by a careless artist. God was pretty careless when He made me, Bill thought, knee bouncing fitfully. I probably wasn’t even meant to exist. He nodded to himself. Perhaps a few years ago that thought would have seemed frighteningly blasphemous, but he’d since accepted the fact that he was going to go to hell - one blasphemous thought wouldn’t make a difference. And it made more sense than what he had been taught as a child, didn’t it? That he was just a factory mistake, part of a bad batch. God didn’t make mistakes though… Maybe an angel had done it then.

An angel…

Bill turned his attention away from the window, peering up to his left at the man in the driver’s seat. Stanford was bobbing his head along to a quiet Marvin Gaye song on the radio, occasionally tapping his fingers on the steering wheel to the beat. He mouthed the words, but didn’t sing; neither man had spoken since Bill had been discharged from the hospital. A look at the clock on the dash told Bill they’d only been driving for some fifteen minutes, but the heavy silence that had filled that time had made it feel so much longer. At least Ford didn’t look mad at him. That was almost more nerve wracking though; it was inevitable that Ford would get angry at him eventually. Bill would screw up somehow - he always did - and Ford would throw him out and leave him to his drugs again. Only this time he wouldn’t end up in the hospital. He’d make sure of that.

Ford would surely be disappointed in him for his inability to be a good person, but that wasn’t new. He had to know that their reunion wouldn’t end up any different than last time, right?

Well regardless if Ford knew it, Bill knew it. And yet he was still sitting here, allowing Ford to chauffeur him to his house in the woods to eat up his time and income for as long as it took for him to realize that Bill was unredeemable. How fucking selfish.

Ford made a turn and a picturesque cabin came into view - the house he’d been telling Bill about. Look at how well he’s doing for himself, Bill thought, his stomach turning. His sweaty fingers tightened around the cane across his lap. Look how well he’s doing without you. You’re going to screw that up, you’re going to ruin everything and you don’t even give a shit.

The car came to a stop on a gravel driveway and Ford broke the heavy blanket of silence. “This is home!” he said, glancing over at Bill with a smile he didn’t deserve. He tried to offer one back anyway. “I’ll show you around and then you can wash up for dinner?”

Bill nodded. “That sounds lovely.”

Ford got out to grab Bill’s solitary suitcase of belongings from the trunk - a few old pairs of clothes, some math textbooks, and a collection of paraphernalia like marbles and bottle caps and pens that he couldn’t bear to part with for reasons he couldn’t explain - and Bill struggled out of the passenger seat, joints protesting at being forced to move. Joints were supposed to move, he thought sourly, filing the crunching of his bones away as mounting evidence that he was God’s mistake. Maybe that meant he wouldn’t go to hell though. Maybe instead of burning for all eternity he’d just shrivel up in the flames and cease to exist. Or maybe that was too much to hope for.

Bill hobbled inside the house while Ford held the door for him, eyeing his new surroundings. It looked tidier than their dorm had been in college; Ford had probably cleaned up to prepare for Bill’s arrival.

“Your room is down the hall this way,” Ford explained as he led the way. “I honestly never thought I’d use the guest room - I’d been using it for storage before we arranged for you to be here. It’s rather bare for now, but I expect you’ll be here for a few months so we can fix that up as time goes by.” He opened a door and flicked the lights on. “See, it’s not much but, ah- We could go shopping tomorrow perhaps.”

Bill’s stomach churned even more. Not much? This room was nearly the size of his apartment (Not his apartment anymore, he reminded himself. He’d lost his job, he’d lost his home, he’d lost what little reputation he had. All he had now was what Ford gave him and eventually that kindness would run dry.) though maybe that was a poor rubric by which to judge. His apartment had been crowded nearly from floor to ceiling with things he couldn’t bear to throw out, receipts, notes, magazines he didn’t remember when he’d subscribed to, old milk cartons, rocks and leaves that had been pretty when he’d picked them off the ground but had since dried out and turned brittle and brown-

“I’ll leave your luggage here?”

“Yes, that’s fine.” Bill kept his eyes away from Ford’s, inspecting his new space, the window and the curtains, the hardwood floor, the closet, the dresser, the cozy looking bed and its pillows and blanket. “Thank you.”

“Hehe. You’re very welcome. Ah- The kitchen is the opposite way from where we came in and you’re right next to the bathroom. You can use the shower there. Oh and you can change into some of my clothes if you’d like. I thought about getting you some new ones, but I didn’t want to guess your size and you ought to be able to pick out what you like anyway.”

No, I ought to be thrown out now. But Ford wouldn’t do that yet. He would wait until Bill had sapped everything he had like a leech. “Thank you,” he said again. It wasn’t enough, but what else was there to say?

“Yes. I- I guess I’ll leave you to it then? Let me know if there’s anything I can help you with. I, um. I’m glad you’re here, Bill.”

Bill sighed. For the first time that day, he turned around and met Ford’s soft, starry eyed gaze. “I’m glad to be here too.”

***

Bill rested both hands on the sides of the bathroom sink, staring intently at the creature in the mirror. It was a pitiful thing, the kind of sorry vermin you’d swerve to avoid and then wonder if you should turn around just to put it out of its misery. How in the world could God, a being of perfect holiness and light, create this monster with its sunken eyes and deathly pale skin dotted with triangle shaped burns and cuts and bruises? It looked like its pallid skin had been stretched too tightly over its skeleton, like the bones might rip through the thin covering at any moment.

God didn’t make you this way, he mused, staring with relentless disapproval into his good eye. (“good” eye seemed a stretch of a description; any sane person wouldn’t want to look at either, red rimmed and wild as they were) You did that all on your own, Cipher.

Well good. If he got himself into this then maybe he could get himself out again. He’d taken his sweet time in the shower, scrubbing every inch of himself until he was practically raw. Just because he would eventually do something to make Ford throw him out didn’t mean he wanted to hasten that inevitability. Until that time, he would be presentable, he would shower daily, he would shave, he would brush and floss, he would do his hair, he would wear cologne. He would sit up straight, he would be polite, he would eat whatever food he was given, he would tidy the house, and he would most certainly stay clean. No drugs, no cigarettes, he would even limit his caffeine intake.

It would be hard, but he’d try like hell. He ran his bony fingers through his wet hair - thinning already at his ripe age of twenty five - trying to stand up straighter. He’d try like hell for Ford…

[huffle-dork]

Swap Across the CrystalVerse Chapter 19: The Rift

Read Swapboys | Crystal’s AUs| The Rift ARG

Read SITCV | SATCV Masterpost | AO3 Link

Alt lands on a sofa in what looks like a house's living room. It's a nice sofa, its lavender upholstery soft and gentle. The whole living room is nice, actually, though in a strange way. The furniture looks mildly expensive, but it doesn't really conform to a single style. Nothing clashes, but nothing matches, either. Paintings and posters hang on the blue walls, similarly expensive but unmatching. There's a big flatscreen TV across from the sofa, with a couple video game consoles attached. To the left and right are big windows with silky-looking yellow curtains drawn over them. To the left is the house's front door. Turning around, Alt sees a spiral staircase leading up and an archway to the kitchen. To the right is a closed door. Next to that door is a small table with a single object on it. A white cat mask, with the four card suits drawn on its forehead and mirrored lenses over the eyeholes. 

Alt blinks as he lands on the couch. He looks around at the room and whistles quietly. "...this is the nicest place we've ever jumped into oh my god-" He whispers.

Unfortunately, Alt does not land alone. He sees, in the corner of the room, Magnificent land hard, almost knocking over a lamp. 

He glitches in surprise behind the couch as Mag stumbles and almost hits the lamp. The mad magician growls and nearly goes to knock it down himself. 

Alt groans, "What the fuck!! Why did I end up with you of all fuckin-!" 

And then-- EEEEP! EEEEP! EEEEP! The TRVLR makes a shrill noise.

Alt cuts himself off as his stomach drops- hearing the beeping of the TRVLR. 

Magnificent looks at him curiously. "... is that coming from the device?" 

Alt doesn't answer him as he scrambles to pull back out the TRVLR and look.

A message is displayed on the screen. 

WARNING 

Current Location: (!)UA-0829020TR is under quarantine. Jump as soon as possible or risk termination from IRIS employment. 

"Q-Quarantine?? The fuck does that mean??" Alt hisses in panic. Mag has poofed next to him to try to look at the TRVLR, tilting his head curiously. 

As Alt looked at that, the door to his right opens slowly, silently, just big enough of a gap for someone to look out.

Alt flinches and glitches back some more as he notices the door opening. He looks at it with wide eyes.

The door opens fully, and for a second, Magnificent and Alt get the glimpse of a very familiar face--though the freckles mar the resemblance a bit. And then the mask on the small table suddenly flies through the air and into the man's hand, who puts it on so fast that he practically slams it into his face. 

Magnificent's head snaps towards the door as the mask flies- then his eyes flash hungrily. Fresh magic? 

"Who the fuck are you?!" The man hisses. He is wearing some sort of costume. A black suit jacket partially buttoned up over a translucent pale purple shirt, white gloves with some rings on his fingers over it, a black cape with a purple inside, black pants to match the jacket, and boots. His waist-long brown hair is pulled back in a braid, and there's what looks like some sort of utility belt around his waist.

Alt gasps and then holds up his hands. "N-Not robbers if that's what you're thinking!" He automatically says. Then, he winces. "Okay that's dumb um-" 

"You're not good at this Alt, its almost sad to see." Mag snickers. 

"S-Shut the fuck up!" Alt snaps back. Then looks back at the man. "I-I"m Alt- you can just pretend this guy's not here-" 

"Excuse you-?!" 

"We're from... a parallel universe...?" He adds shakily, giving the costumed man a nervous smile.

The man stares at them. "Wh-what the fuck?" he says. "It's gotten to that point?!" He shakes his head. "Wh-whatever. Get out of my house. Now!"

"W-What do you mean it's gotten to that point?" Alt tries to ask. 

"Quite rude to just dismiss interdimensional travelers, Marvin." Magnificent smirks with a raised eyebrow. 

"Would you stop making things worse?!" Alt screeches at Mag.

The man freezes. "How the fuck—Uh, that's not my name. I don't know who you think I am, but I'm not him. As for how it's gotten to that point, well, um, people regularly break into my house with weird stories. Just leave. Peacefully, please."

Magnificent looks surprised at this. "...you're not?" He narrows his eyes then snorts, "I don't believe you. It takes a lot of balls to lie to someone who shares your face." 

"What face? I don't have a face," the man says. "I lost it in an accident at age six, a tragedy really. 

Alt blinks and then bursts into laughter, "w-what??" 

"...if people regularly break into your house- why don't you have like... an alarm?" Alt asks, " or like- threaten to call the police on us." He then narrows his eyes at Mag and hisses to him, "Do you just- constantly go towards scaring your other selves??" 

"Yes- it tends to make things go faster. Also, I like seeing them squirm." Mag giggles. 

“I don't have an alarm because—because I can make you leave myself if you refuse to." He straightens, suddenly flashing a smug smile. "You don't want to mess with me, you know, I'm quite powerful~" His whole attitude had shifted suddenly from the near-panic of before to smirking confidence.

Mag's eyes flash wildly as he grins wide. "Is that so?" He giggles. He then teleports to be in front of the man and gets in his personal space. "Oh I do want to see that- I want to see just what you're capable of~!" 

"M-Mag! Fucking quit it!" Alt shouts, glitches building up around him- just in case he needs to intervene.

The man jumps in surprise--and Mag immediately feels himself shoved backwards by an invisible force.

Magnificent gets thrown back and he skids slightly against the floor. Then, he bursts into mad laughter, his eyes glowing brightly. "That's how you wanna play then! Alright!! Let's play." He shoots green fire towards the man as a distraction before trying to lunge at him again.

The man ducks the fire. "Hey! Watch the art! Do you know how--" And then Mag immediately tackles him, pinning him to the wall. The man grits his teeth. "You don't scare me," he hisses.

Magnificent laughs madly, "You're braver than most... but you should be, Marvin~!" He then tries to steal some of the man's magic. 

"No! Stop!" Alt cries, trying to see if he can glitch over to stop him.

And yet, when he reaches out-- Nothing. Not a single drop of magic or power to be found. But... that's impossible. He felt the man push him, saw him grab the mask without touching it. What the fuck? 

The man flashes a smile. "Should I?" And Magnificent feels something sharp against his stomach.

Magnificent's eyes widen, "T-That's not-" He breathes and then he grunts as he's stabbed in the stomach. 

Alt hurries over and grabs Mag and glitches them both back. "I'm sorry- I'm so sorry-" Alt panics to say. "W-We'll leave- I... fuck! Why do you have to suck so much?!" He shouts at Magnificent. 

Mag just glares up at him. "...its not nice to shout at an injured man-" 

"WOULD YOU FUCK OFF??" 

Mag ignores him with an eye roll then looks at the man. "....how do you not have magic?" 

"...he doesn't?" Alt asks in surprise, looking back towards the man. "but- we saw... him grab his mask and- and he pushed you back! ...how the fuck...??"

The man lets out a breath. Something fans out around him. Blades. No--they're playing cards. Made of thin metal, the edges razor-sharp. 

"Magic?" The man laughs. "So you have heard of the Magician, then. But I'm sorry to say that my special powers are not actually magic. So sorry to disappoint, but if you actually believe that, you should probably go cash in that reality check you just received. Now... get out."

"...like... like a tarot card?" Alt asks quietly. 

Magician flashes a smile. "I didn't make the tarot card connection, actually, but it is fitting." 

Alt’s stomach then drops as he processes what he was just told and he glares at Mag before flicking his hand to put a shield around the magician to keep him in place. "Try to get out of that and it'll shock you, bitch." Alt growls. 

Mag glares at him but stays put, holding his wound. 

Alt then tries to approach the man. "Listen- I'm sorry about him. But i... I'm really lost here. I have no idea where I am or... how this world works." He pulls out the TRVLR and after a moment of hesitating he holds it out to show the warning sign. "...I wasn't lying- we're from another world and... we just want to find a way home. But- we always get separated and... now I gotta find my friends. And now... I just want... anything I can know to find them- to navigate here. Then, I'll leave." He swallows shakily. "Our device is warning us there's a... a quarantine here? Do... do you know what that means? "

Magician sighs, seeming arrogant and annoyed. "I believed you about the other universe part, Michael Vey. I just really don't want you in my house. Unfortunately, I can't give you much to go on. I don't know how to find your friends, or what a quarantine is. I won't be much of help." He hesitates. "But... i-if you see a company called Psyode--they have a logo that's a bit like an atom, and also an eye--stay away from them. They can't be trusted." Then he clears his throat and gives another smile. "Now... if you please. And take your friend with you, if you can."

"He's not my friend." Alt bites back. He glares a bit at Magician but then deflates. "Alright. Thanks... I guess. Sorry for the trouble." 

"Not a problem~" Magician says, smiling. 

Alt then glares at Mag and glitches over to grab him- getting rid of the shield. He gives one last look to Magician before he glitches him and Mag out of there.

As soon as they're gone Magician lets out a breath of relief, slumping. The razor-sharp cards pile onto one another and slide into a pouch on Magician's belt. He hurries over to the front door and peers through a window in the top half to see Alt and Magnificent glitch out onto the street. It's dark out, but well-lit. After all, this is a nice neighborhood, they don't want their citizens driving around in the dark. 

"What the fuck what the fuck what the fuck," Magician whispers, waiting for them to go.

Outside, Magnificent suddenly feels something buzz in his pocket. Oh yeah. His phone. He forgot he had that with him.

Alt throws Mag back onto the sidewalk and then screams into his hands as he paces up and down the sidewalk. "GOD! Why did I get stuck with you of all fucking people! After what you just did to me?! Me and Jack saved your sorry ass from dying you fucking maniac! But noooo you're not humannnn you can just do whatever you want cuz you just- SUCK! FUCK!" Alt yells, glitching in rage. 

Magnificent watches his cub throw a temper tantrum with an annoyed expression. Really it was like watching a child... He then blinks in confusion and checks his pocket. ...oh yeah- his mobile. ....why is it vibrating? He curiously takes it out and looks at it. 

A text message has come in from an Unknown number. I know you're from another universe. I'd like to speak with you. I have an offer. Meet me at Ravenwing Bridge. It's the bridge to the north with green copper railings. Look for the man in a suit. A

Magnificent's eyebrows raise. Hm... what an interesting proposition... one he shouldn't refuse. But... his one sure fire way of getting magic was bust... and after all that virus nonsense...He's starving. And yet Alt- he's not full up but... he's here. And alone... and surely Mag can't go to this meeting alone, right? 

He grins. And then teleports to his feet, grabbing Alt by his wrists and laughing in his face. "Such an attitude, Alt! Did you forget who you belong to?" The mad magician snickers. "And how fortunate for me you've been left here alll alone~" 

"W...What?" Alt breathes, dread cold in his veins. He immediately tries to fight out of his grip- trying to glitch but Mag digs his nails into his skin, pumping a bit of corruption to disrupt it. 

"You're not going anywhere, kitten." Mag giggles. "In fact- you're going to stay right by my side." He immediately drains a decent chunk of the magic Alt has left, leaving the glitch weak but still able to glitch and do minor things for him. As he does this he swirls his eyes and lets magic spiral behind him. 

Alt screams as he's drained and he quickly starts to slump into Mag's grip. The spirals find him quickly, invading his rapidly weakening body and digging into his mind. He doesn't have much energy left in him to struggle, so soon after everything in the last world. Purple and green overtakes his eyes and they glaze over, fight leaving him completely. 

"...y... yes Magnificent... i... will stay right by you..." 

He breathes. 

Magnificent laughs and pushes Alt back down. "That's a good boy. Behave- and I'll even let you stay human~" He giggles. He then starts to walk. "Come now, cub. We're expected somewhere.” 

"Yes, Magnificent," Alt answers hollowly and pulls himself up, weakly following after Mag. 

Mag smirks then starts to make his way north. 

Magician watches from the window in his house, frozen solid. He's not sure what exactly happened there, but he's guessing that the man who looks like him just did something to that electric guy. The same sort of thing he tried to do to him earlier, most likely. And it left the electric one in a zombie-like state. "What the fuuuuuck?" he breathes. 

As soon as they're out of sight, he bursts out of his house, pausing for only a moment to lock the door, then bolts down the street in the opposite direction. He has no idea what's happening, but he knows that they need to know. 

----------- 

Jackie appears in a run-down intersection of hallways. The yellow wallpaper is stained with water damage and there's dust and scuffs on the wooden floor. 

Jackie looks around in bewilderment. “…imma take a wild guess this ain’t home… greattt.”

A door down the hall opens and a woman starts walking towards him-- 

"Whoa!" she jumps, backing up. "Jackie?! When did you get here?! I didn't hear you come in!" She squints at him, walking closer. The woman has darker skin and long black hair pulled back in a ponytail. She's wearing an old brown jacket and jeans rolled up to the knees... because beneath there, her legs are prosthetics, specifically those curved running-leg models. "When did you cut your hair? Are you wearing makeup or something? Why do you look, like, three years younger, man?"

Jackie jumps at the woman’s voice- and his eyes can’t help but widen once he sees her prosthetics but he tries to recover quickly and not look at them too long. Perfectly normal- 

“Those are all such weirdly specific questions-“ Jackie mutters, rubbing at his head. “Just- shush for a second while I process.” He breathes and then starts ticking stuff off while pointing at his fingers. “yes I’m Jackie but not who you’re thinking of- which is why the hair’s different. Why do my other mes all have long hair? Should I grow out my hair?? Zara likes it shorter…” he then shakes his head, “wait off topic- um- do I really look that young?? and also I’m assuming you mean the face paint if it’s the blue stuff on my face- cuz what other makeup are you talking about? And if it is the blue stuff that brings up another question of omg how is that still on my face after this long we were in the ocean what magic face paint did my kids buy???” He shakes his head out again then smiles and waves awkwardly, “but uh yeah- questions… kinda answered? Who are you?” 

The woman blinks, stalling for a moment. "...huh. That's... a lot. And it still doesn't explain how I didn't hear you come in?" 

“Sorry I talk a lot.” Jackie says matter-of-factly. 

She narrows her eyes, looking a bit suspicious as she continues walking over. As she gets closer, Jackie can see a burn mark on her neck--around her neck. "...my name is Xiomara. Call me Xio. And that's all I'm gonna explain until you tell me how you got in here." 

He blinks at her and then steps back at bit with wide eyes as he registers her burn. “O-Oh… I’m guessing it’s kinda quiet when we jump then- I thought it did… ripples or whatever.” He laughs nervously. “Um- I’m actually… from a parallel universe? That’s why I… look so different from the Jackie you know. My full name is Jackie Mann. So… nice to meet ya, Xio?” He ruffles the back of his hair with a nervous smile. “So uh- when we jump into new universes- we don’t control where we go so… t-that’s how I got here. Does that help?” 

"From... another universe?" Xio repeats. Her eyes flick him over. "So... you just appeared here. That... would make sense. A whole ass person coming through, what the fuck..." She's quiet for a moment. "I do know a Jackie. Jackie Brody. And you do sort of look like him. So... I guess that makes sense? But I'm not into all this science shit, I don't know if a person coming through is possible..." Her musings trail off.

Jackie’s eyes widen even more, “Jackie Brody…? …that’s so weird oh my god that… that’s my friends’ Chase and Alt’s last name…!” 

"Chase? Yeah, I know him, too," Xio says. "The Jackie I know is his twin. Dunno who 'Alt' is, though. 

“A twin- woahhh… can’t imagine being Chase’s twin but boy do Alt and him act like that sometimes despite being 3 years apart …” Jackie laughs. 

Then he shakes his head again and waves a hand, “wait wait- the fuck do you mean ‘a person coming through?’ Like- I know dimensions hopping is not normal- but… that… feels weird. Anddd it must be possible cuz- well I’m here. I’m pretty good proof.” He digs in his pocket for his phone. “I could show you pics of my wife and kids to prove it if you want-“

“Well for dimension hopping, yeah, it's fucking weird, isn't it? But we've got some... it's hard to explain. We've had some people's... minds... arrive here from other worlds?" She shakes her head. "All I know is their voices come from thin air. But yeah, love to see family photos."

Jackie looks excited to actually show off pictures and starts to show Xio his phone then stops- processing her words. “Wait- what?” he looks at her with wide eyes. “People’s minds?! The fu- what kinda creepy place is this?? How does that happen???”

"I don't fucking know!" Xio says. "It just happens! They just suddenly appear sometimes! Voices that say they're from another universe and stuck here without a body!" 

“What the fuck!!” Jackie shouts back. 

Suddenly, her head snaps to the side. "Oh perfect timing, they can explain it better. Come on. Speaking of Chase and Jackie, I just heard them come in. Follow me." She starts down one of the hallways.

Jackie stops as she looks over and he deflates slightly. “Ah okay- cool. Meeting other mes is always fun-“ He comments lightly as he follows.

Xio quickly leads him down the hallway until they reach a small lobby-like area. There are some old sofas and armchairs making a sitting area and a wall of mailboxes. The front doors are glass, with big windows. Through them is a cityscape at night. 

Three people are sitting in the sitting area, with one in the process of standing up. Talking to them are two men. One wears an old blue hoodie and has chin-length hair. The other one is wearing a gray jacket and snapback cap, his hair dyed a faded purple. 

The purple-haired one looks over at the sound of Xio's footsteps. "Hey Xio-ohhhh what the fuck?!"

Jackie peeks out from behind Xio and grins, waving. “Hello! I’m Jackie, Jackie Mann.” He blinks at seeing the hair color- “woah- never seen a Chase with that kinda hair before- neat!”

The man in the blue hoodie looks over. He jumps slightly. "Whoa! God it's like looking in a mirror that shows the past!" 

“Do I really look that young?” Jackie pouts, “I was always told parenthood makes ya look older!” 

"Wha--huh??" Chase looks back and forth between the two Jackies. "Excuse me? How? Is someone here a shapeshifter?" 

"Uhhhh nope," says one of the people sitting down. All of those three are staring at Jackieboy with narrowed, suspicious eyes. 

Jackie jumps a bit at all the hostility. He holds his hands up. “Not a shape anything! Just a normal guy!” 

"Guys, calm down," Xio says to the three of them. "I thiiiink he's cool? Put the lighter down, Longwei. Maeve, nope, mouth closed. Sunny? Sunny, sit down." 

"W-well, um, I'm named Jackie, too," the man in the blue hoodie says, laughing. "Who are you? The Ultimate Imposter?"

Jackie blinks at the other him and then laughs, “ayyy danganronpa! Man- I need to play v3. Been waiting on Alt to get that so we can play.” He grins. 

Jackie gasps and grabs Chase, shaking him. "Chase! He got it!" 

"Hell yeah!" Chase laughs. "We want to play it too, I can't believe another one finally came out!" 

Jackie says. "I mean, we were a bit busy in September when it came out--to put it mildly--but next time we get access to a computer or a PlayStation I swear to god!" 

Chase laughs again. 

Jackie grins and then looks confused. “…just came out? Huh… it’s been out for 3 years for me… I think. Hm…” 

“Whoa… someone from another universe that’s in the future,” Jackie says in awe. 

Jackieboythen backs up and sticks his hands in his pockets, trying to make him seem more unassuming. “Anyways though- not an imposter but I am from a parallel universe!”

The two of them suddenly sober up when Jackieboy announces that. 

"Whoa, wait, really?" Chase asks, eyes wide. "You're like... a whole person and everything? Uh, stupid question, I guess, obviously you're a whole person." 

"Yeah, not all of us are," Xio says jokingly. 

Jackie holds back a snort of laughter. "Are--are you sure about that joke?" 

"I'm allowed to make it."

Jackie giggles at their reaction. “You guys keep saying that! Yup whole person and all. At least I hope I got everything- I feel like I do?” He pats himself down as if to check. 

He then snickers at Xio’s joke. “Nice one-“

“Yeah, sorry about that,” Chase says. “I know it’s weird, but we’ve only heard voices from other worlds before.” He looks at Jackie. “Hen is gonna have a field day with this.” 

“Oh, for sure.” Jackie nods in agreement.

Jackieboy blinks in surprise and then grins, "Oh! Hen! Henrik! huh- guess my Hen would be pretty excited about this stuff too- but mostly just cuz he gets to meet new people. He's a friendly fellow." He laughs.

Chase laughs. “Our Henrik isn’t that good with people, but he’d be happy to meet you.” The smile drops. “Okay, serious talk. How did you get here? Are you stuck?”

Jackie sighs and nods, ruffling his hair. "That's... probably the best way to put it? My friends wanted to bring me on a trip to this one universe and then our machine we used to get there broke- and now we keep popping up into random universes... and we get separated every time so... we gotta try to find each other. Especially my friend Alt cuz he has magic and the thing we use- and like also a fucking mad man is here too, name's Magnificent. He makes the whole thing harder."

“Magic?” Jackie repeats. “Like Magician?” 

“25 doesn’t actually have magic, yknow,” Xio points out. “None of us do.” 

“Those are very confusing titles-“ Jackieboy comments.

“No, I know, it was just the first thing that came to mind,” Jackie says. “So… we need to find your friends and this villain, is that what I’m getting at? Do you guys have, like, any way to contact them?”

Jackieboy then hums and pulls out his phone. God… it’s close to being dead. “Uhhh I might be able to text them if the wifi is good- but that’s been hit or miss lately.”

“If you can’t, we can help,” Chase offers. “There’s a whole bunch of us here, we can cover a lot of ground, especially Jackie. We are kinda trying to avoid attention but this seems important enough.” 

Jackie pulls a phone out of his hoodie pocket. “Seems fine to me,” he says. 

And indeed, the WiFi on Jackieboy’s phone is passable. 

“Hm? Avoiding attention? …why?” Jackie asks, looking back up from his phone.

Everyone starts shifting around nervously. 

“Well… there’s this company, called Psyode,” Jackie says. “Really, it’s their Experiment Department. They’ve gone rogue and started experimenting on people. A-all of us in this building have escaped from there. And… they’ll probably be looking for us.” 

“That’s why we’re squatting in an empty apartment building,” Xio mutters. 

“Technically Jackie and I are squatting somewhere else, but yeah, same story,” Chase says. 

“Psyode is probably gonna be reeeeally interested in people showing up from other universes,” Jackie says. “We should find your friends fast.”

Jackieboy’s eyes widen. Just like the universe with the facility…! “A-All of you got experimented on??” He squeaks out in shock. He looks even more worried at other Jackie’s statement and he nods, “y-Yeah okay- lemme see who I can get ahold of!” He quickly gets out his phone and tries to call Bro.

“Yyyyeah,” Chase hisses. “I mean. I wasn’t there for long so they didn’t really… succeed? In whatever they were doing? But all these other guys were.” 

“There are benefits, tho!” Jackie says. Suddenly he’s on the other side of the room. Suddenly he’s back by the door. Suddenly he’s down the hall. He’s running so fast it’s hard to keep track of! Jackie returns to where he was before. “Anyway. Yeah. See if you can call your guys.” 

Jackie jumps then grins wide, “woahhh!! You’re like the flash! What the fuck that’s so cool!” He grumbles slightly as he calls Bro- “all my other mes are so much cooler what the hell…” 

————— 

Bro lands in a room with pale purple wallpaper and a sturdy dresser, table, and armchair. There’s a bed with white sheets and a window with curtains open to show night over a suburban neighborhood. There’s also a furry pillow on the chair. No. Wait. That’s some kind of animal with dark fur. What is that? It’s not a cat or dog.

Bro blinks and looks around the room. Huh- comfy. He jumps slightly at noticing the animal. He blinks at it then tries to wave. “Uh… hi?”

The animal is too asleep to respond, but stepping close reveals what it is. A ferret, dark except for a bit of white around its nose. 

Footsteps rush down the hall. 

“No, I’m not gonna!” A voice shouts—and then someone comes into view in the open doorway. A girl, about thirteen years old, with auburn hair, wearing a T-shirt with that Gravity Falls zodiac wheel on it. She stops short, staring at Bro. “Dad? What happened to your hair?”

Bro freezes as the footsteps come and he stares wide eyed at the girl that enters. He flubbers for words- “okay so… this is could like… get me in serious trouble but uh… not your dadddd?” He cringes. 

The girl looks him over. “Well you’re not Uncle Jackie, either,” she says. She turns and shouts down the hall. “Mooooom! Schneeeeeeep! There’s a guy in here!” 

That’s probably the worst way she could’ve phrased it. 

“What?? No don’t say it like that!!” Bro hisses at the girl. 

Footsteps come rushing down the hall and a woman bursts into view, long black hair tied back in a ponytail and wearing a pink sweater. She’s wielding a long ruler like a weapon. “My friend is calling the police!” she shouts. “They’ll be here—huh?” She blinks, confused. “Chase?”

Bro jumps a bit as the woman enters and holds his hands up with a terrified expression on his face. “Uhhh-! Yes and also no??? I’m Chase Brody yes but- n-not the one you know! And I swear I would not have landed here if I could control where I could go!!”

The woman slowly lowers the ruler but still looks wary. “…probably the weirdest thing I’ve seen but not too weird. Who are you, then?” She demands. 

Bro sweats nervously, "well uh- t-thank you for giving me the benefit of the doubt! I'm... Chase Brody but from another universe- a parallel one.” 

More footsteps. A man pokes his head into view, a wild head of brown hair with big round glasses. 

“Henrik!” The woman hisses. 

“What? I got curious,” he says, leaning more into frame. He’s wearing a dark turquoise sweater and a brown jacket. “…the window is still locked. How did he get in? And it screeches when opened, yes? But Hawking is still fast asleep and that would have woken her even if Veronica shouting did not. So it seems like he walked through walls.” 

“Woooow,” the girl—Veronica—whispers in awe. “You’re so smart, Schneep.”

Bro blinks at Schneep's deduction and raises an eyebrow, impressed. "Woah yeah- that's... impressive!" He sighs and messes with his hair, "But anyways- when we jump we end up in random places- usually drawn to people we know in our universe,,, or their parallels at least. Which is why I'm here... I can't control where I go I just-" He opens up his hand and makes a popping noise, "-pop right in. People usually say it's from nowhere."

Henrik's eyes light up. He immediately rushes into the room, despite the noises of protest the woman makes. "You've come here from another world?! Really?! A-and you are here? You are, like, a physical thing?" He pokes Bro in the shoulder. "You are!" He giggles excitedly. "Oh this is so amazing! This must be like--like a one in a trillion chance--or not, since you are implying this 'jumping' is frequent, but still, this is incredible! The amount of energy it must take to break between universal barriers must be incredible, we looked at it in theories but decided that it would be impossible with current technology--but I suppose other worlds must have other technology, but even still, this is--this is incredible, it is a miracle, oh, how how how did you get here? Please, you must let me know!" 

Bro blinks in surprise and holds up his hands again. He laughs, "W-Woah hey! You're gonna freak even more when you hear I'm not the only one who jumped from my world- I have two friends- well, a friend and my little brother- and then... a bad guy I gotta track down. But they're here too! But uhhh my brother knows sooo much more about all this- and he has the device we use. Cuz he- like has magic that makes it work."

"You have a device?!" Henrik shouts excitedly. "You have magic?!" 

"Henrik, please, the kids," Stacy says, glancing down the hallway. "Op, nevermind, here they come." 

"Sorry, Stacy." 

Another, identical-looking girl peeks into the doorway, wearing a pair of fake glasses to distinguish her. She's followed by a short, younger boy with curly blonde hair and a sixteen-year-old girl with gray eyes and fair hair pulled into two ponytails. 

"Dad?" asks the boy. 

"No, it's not Dad, Evan," Veronica says. "It's a guy from another universe who looks like him." 

"Huh?" the identical girl blinks in surprise. "A whole guy? Ronnie, are you joking?" 

"No, I'm not, Anna." Veronica shakes her head stubbornly. 

The teenager waves. "Hey, Mr. Brody. Uh... can I call you that?"

Bro blinks in surprise at all the kids, "Oh my god so many children-" He whispers. He waves awkwardly, "uhhh you don't need to be so formal...! You can call me Bro- that's easier."

"Ha." The teenager smiles. "Bro. That's kinda funny. It's like. Bro. Dude. My main man." 

"Oh its actually cuz in my universe I'm a superhero! And my hero name is Bro Fantastic." Bro grins wide.

"I like your jacket," Evan says. 

"Okay, that's enough," Stacy announces. "It's bedtime. Or at least go-in-your-bedroom time." 

Anna and Veronica let out identical groans. 

"Phoebe gets to stay up!" Anna says. 

"Phoebe is much older, and she is a guest, I can't tell her what to do the same way I can tell you," Stacy says, ushering Anna, Veronica, and Evan down the hall. "Henrik, take our guest to the living room, would you?" 

Henrik nods, grinning. "Of course! Please, Bro, you must tell me about your device and your magic."

"I can certainly try," He responds to Schneep, "I'm not... nearly as good at understanding it as Alt is."

“You’re a  superhero? For real?” Phoebe’s eyes go wide. “Like the Scarlet Blur.” 

"Oh- that's a much better name than mine!" Bro laughs. 

“Anything you can tell me will be fascinating,” Henrik says. “Come come come, tell me all about your universe and your jumping through them.” He starts down the hallway, leading Bro to the living room. Phoebe trails behind them. 

Once they reach the living room, the sound of Stacy and the other kids’ voices drift down from an attached staircase.

Bro follows afther Schneep and thinks of what to say. "Welll hm... in my world- I know a Henrik- but he's a deaf actor. And he dyes his hair teal. He's a big ol beam of sunshine. And our doctor is Dr. J- Jameson Jackson. Anddd I have a little brother, Alt or I call him Anti. Anddd we have a Jackie too- he's a dad of 3 kids. Big ol' superhero nerd- Him and Alt are here somewhere!" He grins. "Anndd god... we've jumped through so many worlds now- or me and Alt have. It's... insane- to see how different things can be. But also how the same things are too. Like- You're always german." He laughs. "Jay is always uses sign language- oh and has his mustache. Jackie always wears red. My other mes usually wear hats like mine, but that might just be our good taste!"

“Fascinating, fascinating,” Henrik nods along. His fingers twitch and he starts fidgeting with his sleeves. “Some things are consistent but many are not, of course they are. And you are always finding different you’s and them’s of your friends? You must be sticking to areas that are somewhat close by each other, I am sure the farther you get from home the more strange things will become.”

Phoebe flips down on the sofa. “We know all those people. I mean—Jameson Jackson is Mr. Mustache, right?” 

“That is what our research has told us, yes,” Henrik says. 

Phoebe laughs. “It’s not a school project.” 

Henrik chuckles too. “That is true. Perhaps we can simply call it searching, if research sounds too serious to you.” 

“D’you think, like, those two words come from the same root?” 

“Hmm, possibly!”

Bro tilts his head in confusion, "Research...? Are you guys not... friends?" He asks.

"Oh, ah... no." Henrik shakes his head. "If anything, it is the opposite." 

"It's not Mr. Mustache's fault," Phoebe says. "He just got... stuck with someone." 

"Jameson Jackson is a complicated story," Henrik says. "He is a man from the past, somehow brought here. We are pretty sure he was friends with this man who calls himself the Magician, but Magician does not like to talk about himself, so we cannot be sure. And then, eventually, he ran afoul of... something. Or someone. A being who calls himself Anti."

Bro's stomach drops and he then sighs heavily, "Offf course... I swear if I keep meeting motherfuckers who keep giving my Anti a bad name I swear-!" He frowns, "huh... weird though.. usually in these worlds... You guys are all friends. A JJ, a Marvin, A Jackie, A Henrik, A Chase-" He points to himself and then laces his fingers together. "...we're different though cuz we... we're friends with our Anti- even though he seems to be like... a bad guy in all these places. And its weird cuz... we thought we didn't have a Marvin but- that's our bad guy. He calls himself Magnificent. He's bascially our like... bad Anti."

"Marvin? Perhaps that is Magician, he has not told us his name. Hmm. Well, I have been friends with Chase and Jackie for some time," Henrik says cheerfully. "They are great, my good, good friends. Magician and Jameson Jackson have come in later, it seems. Perhaps we will all become friends in time. 

Bro smiles warmly, "Heh... yeah. I hope so- from what I've seen in other worlds, they're great lads." 

“Right now, Magician is very determined to get Jameson away from Anti, and Jackie is the type who cannot let people be hurt, so he will help Magician and pull the rest of us along." 

"He's a hero," Phoebe says, smiling. "He rescued us. I mean, Magician did too, but the news doesn't really call him a hero because of all the things he's stolen--" 

Bro smiles at Phoebe and laughs, "Really, huh? I always to like to meet other heroes- ...wait stealing?!" 

And then Bro's phone starts to ring.

He gets cut off by the ringtone and he blinks, pulling it out. He sees its Jackieboy and he smiles and answers. "Yo Jackie!"

Henrik gasps. "Let me hear let me hear let me hear!" He rushes forward, practically grabbing Bro's phone before suddenly yanking his hand back. "Ah, if that is okay."

Bro jumps but then laughs, holding out his phone, "It's okay- I'll put it on speaker!" 

"Oh! That's a good idea, I should do that too!" Jackieboy says on the other line as Bro puts him on speaker. "Hey guys! I got to my Chase! Chase say hi!" 

"Hiii! What's up?" Bro laughs. "I'm here with Henrik- who you heard all excited." 

"ohhh! Well- hi Henrik!"

"Hen, are you losing your mind?" The Chase on the other side of the phone asks. 

Henrik laughs. "I lost it a while ago, you know that! But yes, I-I am so--it is--do you fucking realize the ramifications of this?!" 

"Oh my god, the rammies," this world's Jackie says. 

Bro giggles. "The rammies- that's a fun word." 

"Wh--hey, don't push!" Chase laughs, having just playfully shoved him. "Wow, so you're me, then? You do sound like it." 

"Yeah dude! I found other me and other you!! Dude- we're brothers in this world! Twins actually! Isn't that insane??" Jackieboy says. 

Bro's eyes widen, "Oh- that explains something Veronica said then-" 

"Jackie, what is it like to see yourself in another world?" Henrik asks. "Is it strange? Did you even recognize yourself when you first saw it?" 

"It was pretty bizarre," Jackie says. "Uh, it was this weird half-second of uncanniness where I didn't get it, but then I realized and it was like, what the fuck, why are you me?" 

Jackie laughs at other him and shakes his head, "It doesn't stop being weird by the way- and I've been to like- a dozen of these now," 

"It hasn't been that many! ... for you at least." Bro shakes his head and chuckles, 

"Where are you two, anyway?" Henrik asks. "At your hideout?" 

"We're with the rest of the escapees," Jackie reports. 

"I thinkkk we're at other Chase's house? His kids are here. They thought I was their dad. Super not weird." Bro says.  

"Sounds like you're at Stacy's house, if Henrik's there," Chase says. "Uh... I don't actually live there? It's a long story. Basically, has to do with the company. Psyode. I need to stay out of their reach, and I'm sure they're looking at Stacy and the kids to see if I show up there." 

"Hey- have you heard anything from Alt?" Jackieboy asks. 

"Not yet-" 

"Well... the guys here think we should probably be fast about finding him. There's a bad company here like... like Sclera or the- facility guys. They think they'll be interested in us- and well... you heard what Sam said about the... the ripples, right?" 

Bro pales slightly, "O-Oh shit... yeah- that... that's bad."

Henrik perks up. "The ripples? Yes, I suppose you arriving would create very string dimensional ripples. Psyode would definitely be able to detect such things, we had these devices called RDDs that were made for just that. There has been a larger number of ripples in this city as of late, but I'm sure the arrival of four people from other universes would--well it could very well be in the thousands of palmers--" 

"Schneep, these guys are from another world, I don't think they understand all the science terms," Chase says. 

"Yeah, I barely understand them!" Jackie adds. 

Jackie and Bro blink in confusion. "Those were so many words and I understood none of them-" Bro comments. 

"The point is, Psyode will know, and I'm sure the Experiment Department will immediately investigate something so strong," Henrik says. "Can you contact your, ah, Alt friend?"

As Henrik explains more- and mentions the Experiment department, Bro pales. He quickly tries to add Alt to the call, "I'm gonna call him right now-!"

"Wait, you can call people while still being on a call?" Chase says, his voice a bit distant. 

"My god, man," says a female voice. "I know you're past thirty, but didn't you use tech for your job?" 

"Hey, shut up!" Chase says defensively. 

"Oh, that's Xio, by the way," Jackie adds. "She's a friend of ours." 

"Phoebe is here, too," Henrik says. "Ah, other Jackie, she is... also a friend? It is difficult to explain." 

"Hi!" Phoebe waves at the phone. "I'm sure Stacy is gonna be back down soon." 

"Oh well- Hi Phoebe!" Jackieboy laughs. 

While they all talk, Bro's phone just keeps ringing and ringing, trying to call Alt. But it doesn't work. 

Bro tries to listen to the chatter- but he's focused on watching the call go through to Alt. But... it doesn't. Alt is usually one who answers his phone like right away. He hardly make them wait. Bro feels dread spreading into his chest. "...Alt's not answering." 

"...what?? he's- that's not like him at all." Jackie replies. "You don't think he's...?" 

"I-I dunno... so we should start looking." Bro stands up and holds his phone in his hand as he looks back at Henrik. "... I'm guessing seeing someone fly isn't a thing around here right?" 

"...i dunno- maybe- other me can run like a freaking superhero," Jackie comments. 

"..wasn't asking you bro but- he is apparently? Phoebe called him a hero earlier." 

"WHAT THE FUCK ANOTHER HERO JACKIE??!" Jackie screeches, "THIS IS BULLSHIT??"

The other Jackie laughs. "Sorry! I can't help it. Trust me. I-I couldn't." 

"Don't worry, other J, I get it," Chase adds. "But, uh, you wouldn't want to get powers the way these guys did. Anyway, if it's really a problem, you could probably fly a liiiiittle? People would flip, but urgency is, uh, more urgent." 

Henrik nods. "Finding your brother is more important than keeping appearances." 

"I can cover ground fast, too," Jackie adds. "It takes me like... half an hour to run from one end of the city to the other."

"Good. You can keep up with me, then." Bro says, determination flaring up in his eyes. "Maybe I'll see you guys out there- I'm gonna go find my brother. Jackie- you can text me updates." 

"C-Chase don't just rush int-!" Jackie tries to say. 

But, Bro ends the call and starts looking for the front door- or a window to fly out of.

Henrik's eyes widen as Bro hangs up. "Ah, other Chase, are you sure--" 

There! The front door, right in front of him.

Bro doesn't even listen- he speeds to the door and hurries out into the hall- rushing to get back out into the night.

"Motherfucker!" Henrik curses, then glances at Phoebe. "You didn't hear shit from me just now." 

Phoebe nods seriously. "Of course." 

"I-I'm going to go tell Stacy to call Jackie so we can continue that conversation," Henrik says, hurrying upstairs. "I hope we do not need to go searching for both those two." 

----------- 

They must have appeared in an already north part of the city, because it doesn't take long before Magnificent sees the bridge with green railings that the message mentioned. It seems that a river partially encircles this city. Ravenwing Bridge goes across a wide, slow-moving part of it, holding a couple pedestrian lanes and a pair of car lanes. There are lamps along the sides, lighting it up. 

Magnificent can make out a single figure on this bridge, leaning back against the railing. A man in a suit.

Magnificent eyes the rivers and surroundings with intrigue. Until he spots the man. He grins and whispers back to Alt. "Stay out of the way and be quiet, got it, kitten?" 

"Yes, Magnificent." Alt nods, staying back. 

Mag smiles then strides over to the suited man. "You're the one who messaged me, then?" He calls as he approaches.

The man looks at him, tensing slightly. Dark brown hair and bright blue eyes, with a dark mustache. He's holding a phone, clutching it in both hands. Carefully keeping his expression neutral, he shakes his head and holds the phone speaker-out. 

"That was me," says a voice from the speaker. "Don't mind him, I need someone to do things for me sometimes. He did text you, but the message was my words." 

Magnificent blinks as he takes in the sight of the man- the mustache giving away his identity. He hums and comes closer to the phone. "I see- so you're A then?"

"Yes. I'm A--short for Anti. Hold on a moment." The air next to the man with the mustache fizzles a bit, and suddenly there's a person there. Or... more like an image of a person. It looks slightly flat, like an artist forgot to do the shading on a drawing. The image is that of a man wearing an oversized green hoodie, wild brown hair sticking up all over the place, a burn scar going around his neck. His eyes show nothing but static, and he smiles at Magnificent. "It's better for you if you have something to look at, right?" he says, voice still coming from the speaker. He leans back against the railing--though he doesn't actually touch it.

Magnificent's eyes widen a bit but then he can't help but laugh, "Ah- I should have guessed. Well- nice to meet and see you then, Anti. I'm called Magnificent." He tilts his head at the image. "You said you had an offer for me? I'm quite intrigued."

"It's quite simple, actually," Anti says. "For as long as you are in this universe, I will help you with whatever you want. I only ask that, when you are done here, you find a way to take me with you to the next world."

Mag's looks surprised. "... I.. have never tried to do that before... I don't exactly control where we go or who to take with us..." Then he grins sharply. "But... I do have who does." He snaps and gestures forward. "Oh Alt~? I think there's someone you should meet." 

Alt dazedly walks forward- and at seeing the image of Anti he freezes, the purple in his eyes flickering. "y..you-" 

Magnificent grabs his wrist and throws him forward though, pushing more of his influence in. 

Alt's brief moment of clarity quickly ends and his eyes glaze over again. 

"Apologizes. This is Alt. He powers our universal device." Mag explains. "Though... I am curious... what is in this world? I'm usually after magic but... a source I thought i could grab from ended up being empty." He frowns at Anti and crosses his arms, "I'm wondering what this deal could give me in turn."

Anti doesn't so much glance at Alt. He hums. "Judging from where your ripples happened, you appeared in the Magician--Marvin Kane's house." 

The man in the suit flinches slightly, distress crossing his face. 

"That's who you tried to take magic from? Well, the experiment specimens don't have 'magic.' Their abilities are a result of their altered physiologies, from an exposure to particles called weltons--“

Mag knits his eyebrows together, "altered... physiologies- huh... interesting."

“—but that's complicated and doesn't really matter. The point is, just because there's nothing to gain from the specimens doesn't mean there's no power to take. There's a source of great power outside the city--in a hidden compound. And they wouldn't be prepared for someone like you. They're good at containing specimens--well 'good.'" Anti makes air quotes. "But they won't be able to deal with magic. Or me. Or us, if we work together."

Magnificent's eyes shine with that mad hunger. He grins wide. "Oh... well- considered my interest piqued again. That sounds like a delightful plan~! I'm more than interested to see what such a compound could hold..."

Anti grins. "Unfortunately we'll need to cross through the city to get there--it's the shortest route. But I could easily guide you there. And I could act as a sort of scout, telling you what's around and where the best things are held." 

"Oh well- that shouldn't be an issue, me and my cub are quick well versed in quick travel." Magnificent chuckles. 

Anti finally tilts his head towards Alt. "And he could help, too, though if he's low on energy--" And he suddenly stops. And frowns. "You said he had the device that allows you to travel to other universes? But... I can only sense one electrical device on him."

Mag blinks and looks at Alt, "Oh huh- you can sense that? ... perhaps the TRVLR is powered off. Alt, show Anti the machine." 

"Y-Yes Magnificent-" Alt responds and starts to dig into his pocket to pull it out but then- he starts to stop himself. He fights the motion- light flickering in his eyes. "n-no...!" He breathes. Alarm bells are ringing loudly in his clouded thoughts. But- his fingers eventually reach into his pocket, despite his fighting and- 

Nothing. There’s… just his phone.

Alt's stomach drops so fast it hurts. The purple almost completely dims completely as he starts to glitch wildly in panic. "I-It's gone-" 

"What?!" Mag questions. 

"It's gone!" Alt answers back, rapidly checking all his pockets but finding nothing. His head is killing him- fighting against Mag's control and the panic that wants to consume him. "W-Where did it- I-I- I've never-! No nonono-!"

Anti's eyes widen. He growls. "Marvin Kane--he's a thief." 

The man in the suit glances at him. A good one-- he signs. 

"His skill level doesn't matter, Jameson," Anti snaps. "You know he's the type to swipe something that unusual--that valuable."

Alt looks at Jameson and seems to register who he is for a second before he glitches over and grabs his shoulder. There's desperation plain on his face and in his flickering eyes. "D-Do you know where I can find him?! I... I need that device! It's our only way to get home!"

Jameson stumbles back, shocked, into the railing. He hesitates for a moment, then acts on impulse. His address is 44 Sonder Street-- 

Anti leans close to Jameson, making his and Alt's hair stand on end as static electricity fuzzes against their skin. "You know he's probably left that place by now," he says. "Where is he going? Where would he go?" 

Jameson freezes, looking more reluctant now that Anti is asking. He doesn't like to leave other than for business, he signs slowly. 

"Agh, fuck it!" Anti leans back. "He's probably going to talk to one of those others, shaken by seeing his own face. That's what most people would do." 

"Where are these others then?" Magnificent growls. He grabs Alt by the shoulder and holds him back at the glitch stiffens, purple starting to flare brighter in his eyes.

Anti grits his teeth. "I'm not sure. Only one of them has a cell phone whose electricity I can track. Just give me a few minutes to look for that." He closes his eyes, the image of him losing some details and fading to half-transparency.

While Anti does that Mag turns Alt back towards him and growls at him. "And you- I'm not letting you slip away this easy and warning your friends about this. You are staying with me." 

Alt gasps and tries to struggle, "M-Mag-" He chokes out. 

Magnificent ignores him and goes to dig his nails into Alt's trigger point on his temple. Alt stiffens like he's been shocked- purple fulling flaring back in his eyes. "You lost your privileges, kitten. Shift." 

Alt dazedly nods and then in a flicker of static and glitches- a black calico cat now sits on the sidewalk. One with glowing purple and green eyes.

Jameson gasps, staring at the small cat in horror. Anti doesn't seem to notice, though some white noise squawks from the phone speaker. 

Jameson glances at Magnificent, a bit wary, then slowly crouches down and scoops up the cat, petting it gently. 

Alt stiffens as he's picked up and tries to hiss at Jameson but... oh... he's being nice. He slowly starts to purr, curling up in his arms. 

After a moment, Anti's appearance fills back in again. "Got it," he says. "They're near the center of the city." He looks down at the cat. "Nice trick. See, that's the exact sort of thing these people won't be expecting."

Magnificent giggles. "They're easier to keep under control this way. Less messy human thoughts~ And well, Alt has made that so much easier for me~!" He grins, "Well- we have a thief to track down then? Shall we~?"

"We shall." Anti grins. "Jameson, carry the cat. We can't waste time with those little cat legs." 

Jameson hesitates, wanting to ask why he had to come, but nods. He knows that Anti will just drag him along no matter what. 

"Now." Anti disappears, reappearing farther down the bridge. "This way."

Magnificent grins and teleports after him. 

Alt looks up at Jameson, glitches running along his body. He can at least help him keep up…

[all-alone-he-turns-to-stone]

Trapped

Soldier Boy Masterlist

Summary: Soldier Boy is tired of getting slowed down by The Boys. Luckily, he has something he can use to his advantage to get left alone… M.M tried to hide her from everyone, but nothing can be hidden forever. Especially not from Soldier Boy.

Pairing: Soldier Boy x F!Poc!Reader

Word Count: 3987

Warning: Violence, brief description of a deadly injury, blood, angst, Soldier Boy being his manipulative self, vulnerable reader, manipulation, kidnapping, drug, needles, anger, guns

Rating: Mature

A/n: Hello people! So this was requested by @duhitzdae​ thank you for the request! I worked weeks on this fic, so I really hope it’s good! Feedbacks are really appreciated!

The Boys were seriously starting to annoy him.

First, they free him from his longtime prison in Russia, and for that, of course he’s grateful. No one from his team came for him, no one looked for him, they fucking put him there in the first place. So when a weird group of losers were the one to break open that door, he was surprised, but not for long. 

The explosion left him enough time to run away.

But now, they were there again, offering him the Countess on a plate to show him they could help him. And of course, Soldier Boy didn’t need help to do anything, especially not killing. He was created to kill, after all. But a little help wouldn’t hurt, or so he thought.

Their little squad broke up in two, the ones that wanted to kill Homelander with his help and the other trying to put nails on their road to stop them. But all it did was slow them down. Because Soldier Boy wanted to take revenge on his old team, and he would get what he wanted. No matter what.

So, while the British bearded one and the skinny scared asshole were looking for the twins, he prepared a backup plan, just in case those annoying bastards showed up again to stop him. 

There weren't only computers and the internet he could use to learn more about people.

First, Soldier Boy asked The Legend, after all, that guy was so scared of him he wouldn’t hesitate to throw someone under the bus if it was to save his ass. But it turned out, he was very fond of the one named M.M. and refused to give him anything. Perfect, The Legend didn’t want to give information on his dearest friend? He would target that one.

While the other two useless twats were out, there was only him and The Legend. And one little magic pill in his drink was enough to knock him out for the next couple of hours, leaving enough time for Soldier Boy to check through his office. Files, evidence, anything he could learn about M.M and then use against him.

It didn’t take long to find the drawer labeled “The Boys Initiative”. It was locked, but nothing is very locked for long for Soldier Boy. The drawer broke when he pulled it hard, and finally, he had access to what he needed. 

A smile crept on Ben’s face as he read everything about Marvin’s life. God, he had plenty of choices to make his life miserable, even more than he already did. According to what he had in his hands, he killed members of his family in the past, not that he remembered it or cared.

M.M hated him. He was about to hate him even more and regret trying to stop him. As Soldier Boy turned a page, his eyes fell on something even more interesting.

“This is fucking perfect.”

The superhero closed the file and walked back to his room to put on his suit. There was someone he had to meet.

-

Four hours by car, that was how far she lived from her family. On a farm, isolated from everyone. It wasn’t such a bad life, actually. Spending her days with the animals filled her days with joy, and filled her head with good thoughts so she didn’t think about…

The cows were waiting for her this morning. She couldn’t hear what they were thinking, but she was starting to understand the meaning behind the colors and the forms she could see in their heads. Animals were closer to humans than most people could ever think. But because they were different… No one cared.

“Good morning Lilly.” A hand on her muzzle to caress it, the other was carrying some grass she offered to the animal. The cow made a happy moo before eating slowly from her hand. Pink and round forms filled her head. Lilly appreciated being seen first and getting the first pat on her head.

“Can you hear them think too?” 

The voice was coming out of nowhere. No warning signs, no sounds alerted her of someone behind her.

And especially… No thoughts. There was barely anything, she could hear mumbling and see static, but that was it.

She turned around quickly, already stepping back. “Who are you?” She asked immediately.

“I always wondered if animals had thoughts as well.”

The man she had in front of her was wearing a weird outfit, all green, with stars all over. The only reason she recognized him was because of the shield he was holding in one hand, a shield she saw one time in a newspaper her dad forgot to hide.

“I think you know who I am, Y/n… And I sure do know who you are. Your dad says hi, by the way. Wait, no he doesn’t. He never talks about you, it’s easier to forget you exist.”

"How do you know my father?" Y/n asked, still backing away. The stable wasn’t very wide, she would soon be wedged against the back wall, but she had to save time until she knew what to do.

"Old friends," the hero muttered, walking cautiously towards her. He cocked his head to the side.“Trying to read my thoughts now? Why don’t you just ask me what you want? Use that power of yours. Show me what you can do.”

Y/n stopped moving. She hated doing this, especially against someone who knew what she was capable of. 

Her pupils dilated as her mouth opened. “What do you want?”

Uncomfortable tingles invaded Ben's body. His whole being stopped working, a cloud of static flooded in his brain, confusing and blocking the path from his brain to his body. So that was the feeling of having your consciousness invaded and your free will stolen. A smile crept onto his face as the answer was snatched from his lips.

“I want you. For your power. To be sure daddy won’t cause me any more trouble as I kill Homelander.”

At this confession, Y/n frowned. It had been a while since she was forced to leave home and her father, so her memories of him were rather hazy, but she did remember one thing. He had that mind wrecking obsession of bringing down superheroes. It was to protect her that he sent her this far, because families of all those involved were in danger. 

So, losing the opportunity to kill Homelander… It wasn’t like him.

But no one could lie under the influence of her power.

“He wants to stop me, Y/n. Just like he didn’t want you around anymore and sent you here, because you were in his path. It wasn’t to protect you, he was disgusted by you.”

Y/n shook her head. No, it was impossible. Her father was a good man, the desire for revenge messed up his head, yeah, but he was good, he would never do that, he loved her, that’s why he sent her here! “Stop lying!”

“I would never lie to you,” Soldier Boy started to approach again, and it was only then that Y/n saw that he was holding something in his other hand. The closer he got, the more she could see what it was, a brown folder. “Everything is in there. He was disgusted that his first child had powers, just like your mom.”

There was nowhere to go, Y/n's back was against the wall already. Soldier Boy made no attempt to attack her, he stood in front of her, his hand outstretched, waiting for her to grab the folder. “My dad sent me here to protect me, because he was fighting you fucking supes… He did that to protect his family…”

“Very respectable,” Soldier Boy nodded. “But then, why is his ex-wife and second daughter still out there, where he can visit them? Sweet little Janine… He must love her less if he doesn’t want to send her away to protect her, right?”

Y/n’s eyes were filled with tears as she reached for the file. She didn't want to believe it, she couldn't believe it. Her father had rebuilt his life, had another child that he saw often, while she... If she saw him once a year, she considered herself lucky. Her hand trembled as she grabbed the papers, the need to know stronger than the crushing pain she was feeling.

Troubled by Soldier Boy's words and the folder, she didn't focus on the fact that it was impossible for her to hear his thoughts. That was the first red flag. Or how he had found her. Her own thoughts were jumbled up in her head, preventing her from concentrating properly.

It was so fast that she didn't realize what was happening at first. It was only when her body was limp in his arms that she realized the pinch she felt in her neck was actually a needle and not a bug. Soldier Boy took advantage of her confusion to get closer, take the syringe he hid in the inside of his shield and stabbed her with the drug. Before she succumbed to the darkness, Y/n tried to operate her mouth, give an order to the superhero, but her tongue was too heavy, thick, like her mouth was filled with paste.

“I’m sorry. But we have a long way to go before we get there. I’m sure you have a lot of questions, sweetheart, and like I said, I won’t lie to you.”

Her body and consciousness may have been paralyzed, but she was still conscious enough to see Soldier Boy above her and feel his hand on his forehead. Brushing. Barely touching her. It was a soft gesture, but her stomach turned with betrayal. She was so fucking naive.

“You matter too much, sweetheart… Daddy abandoned you because for him, you’re a burden… But all I see is a young woman with so much potential. You are perfect. And you’ll never be alone anymore…”

That was the last thing she heard before darkness drowned her.

-

“M.M, mate, please calm the fuck down, we’ll find her.”

“How can I fucking stay calm? I told you trusting him was a bad idea, look at her!! Fucking look at her!”

The two men were at The Legend’s house. The latter had called them immediately when he woke up and expressed his concerns when he noticed a missing document and a locked drawer that had been forced open. The missing document was M.M’s file, so he rushed to the house, only to find Butcher was already there. 

Butcher asked him to stay calm, that it was nothing and that they would find her, but M.M didn’t even hesitate to send his fist in Butcher's face.

That bastard found her, he had Y/n. Soldier Boy had his daughter and he sent a video of her to them. As a warning, a threat, simply. 

The video started blurry, but then the focus was made on a person sitting on a chair. Y/n was bound and gagged, she couldn’t speak or move, but a newspaper was held on her thighs showing today's date. She didn't look hurt, but her eyes said it all, it was a cry for help. Then, the perfect face of the hero they had freed from Russia flooded the screen.

“I found your little secret, Marvin. You sent her far, but not far enough… Now, if you don’t leave me alone while I kill all of my team… I’ll have to damage her pretty face.”

Soldier Boy stepped back to stand behind Y/n. A knife pressed to her throat and he leaned down so his face was level with hers. Tears rolled down his daughter's cheeks.

“One little slice, and goodbye to her voice… For now, I only gagged her, you know how she can be dangerous, that’s why you sent her away and never talked about her to anyone, am I right?” The smile that stretched Soldier Boy's face made M.M.'s hands itch. The urge to repaint him, to butcher him until his pretty face was a pile of blood and flesh was getting unbearable. Taking his family was not enough, now he had his first daughter.

“Stay out of my way. Oh and Butcher, I want the TNT Twins. I think you can speed up the research. Cut!”

Butcher's nose had just stopped bleeding when M.M finished watching the video for the sixth time. He was about to play it again, maybe a detail had escaped him, a sound that would indicate where he was holding her prisoner, anything, but the phone disappeared from his hands as Butcher took it back.

“It's your fault!” M.M rose quickly to enter Butcher's bubble, ready to hand him another one.

"Relax!" Butcher stepped back. At the same time, Hughie entered the room, breathing fast, showing he ran his way over there. The young man was made aware of the situation and immediately began looking for Soldier Boy. It took a couple of hours, some phone calls and favors from people who owned him for Hughie to find a strong lead.

“I think I found them,” Hughie interrupted what was about to become a battle no one wanted to see. M.M let out a breath he didn't know he was holding and turned to the newcomer.

"Where," he growled, ripping the piece of paper Hughie was holding out of his hands. He read quickly what was written there, and already, walked towards the door. "I'm going alone," he specified as he heard the other two following him.

"Hell no," Hughie shook his head. “We’re coming. It’s kind of our fault after all…”

Butcher rolled his eyes. Of course, sentimental Hughie was going to have some regrets. "What I don't understand," Butcher muttered as the trio walked towards the car parked on the street. “Why did I never hear of that gal? You never, ever mentioned her.”

“If you plan on asking me about my past, then you can fuck off,” M.M paused to turn to Butcher, his fists clenched.

Butcher raised his hands in defense. “Just asking, yeh? Soldier Boy kidnaps your daughter we never heard of before, talkin' about how dangerous she can be. Isn't there something we should know?”

The tension got impossibly stronger as the three men were gathered near the car. The air was getting harder to breathe, even the birds seemed to know what was happening, because it was dead silent. 

It got too much for Hughie. "We won't find her if we keep fighting," the young man sighed, rubbing his eyes. “The longer we stay here, the more time she’s with him.”

At that, M.M relaxed his fist, groaned, and took the driver's seat. The other two men got into the vehicle, and then, with a shrill screech of tires, they were gone.

-

Soldier Boy really got softer and careless because the place he was holding Y/n captive was really easy to find. No traps were waiting for them to fall in, the door of the small house wasn’t even locked. Besides, it had been far too easy for Hughie to locate the phone that had been used to take the video. It was Y/n's, and it couldn’t be a coincidence... Location had been turned on a few hours prior.

It was far too easy.

The three men had just entered the house, searching in silence for the room where Y/n was in, when Hughie realized another detail that didn’t make sense. A strong feeling of uneasiness crept up through his back as he stopped moving. “Wait a minute, Soldier Boy doesn’t even know what’s internet, how did he recorded and-”

Hughie couldn't finish his sentence as he was thrown around the room, his back absorbing all the shock as he crashed into the wall. He fell to the ground, knocked out on the spot.

M.M already had his gun in hand and was advancing in the room. The sun was about to set, so it was still bright enough to see inside, yet he saw no one. Butcher had rushed to Hughie's side to make sure he was okay, and when he had the confirmation that the young boy was only unconscious, he joined M.M, his gun ready to use. Bullets wouldn't do anything against Soldier Boy, this was a suicide mission and more than once on the way here, Butcher thought about leaving M.M's daughter with Soldier Boy. He wouldn’t hurt her, she wasn’t on the list of people he wanted to eliminate.

“You found me, and fast, good!”

Like the whole thing was only a set up, a light turned on in the room, finally illuminating the surroundings. It didn’t make sense, they should have been able to see perfectly, but yet, that light showed them stuff that was left in the dark.

In front of them, sitting on the chair, Y/n had her head hanging limply to one side. The gag over her mouth was undone, but she didn't need it with all the blood covering the front of her body, her formerly white shirt now stained with dark red...

Soldier Boy stood beside her and shook his head, a disappointed look on his face. “Not fast enough, I'm afraid.”

“Nooooo!” M.M screamed, emptying his magazine on the hero who didn't even flinch from the impacts. “You motherfucker, she did nothing wrong!!”

“You're right,” Soldier Boy walked towards them, a grin on his face. “She did nothing wrong, and yet, you sent her away. All those years she spent alone in her little farm cause daddy was scared of her, disgusted by the powers she inherited from her mother…”

"What?" Butcher lowered his gun, his head slowly turning towards M.M, but the man didn't even acknowledge his presence. His whole being was focused on the hero in front of him. The murderer who killed his daughter.

“It was to protect her,” M.M spat, his jaw so tight the words hissed between his teeth. “I always wanted to protect her-”

“Then why did you keep Janine so close to you? And Monique? Hm? Why did you never mention Y/n to anyone, not even her own little sister? Sounds like excuses to me,” Soldier Boy crossed his arms over his chest, shaking his head.

"This is none of your business," M.M threw his now empty gun to the ground to raise his fists. They were shaking. His whole body was shaking. With rage, pain, it hurt so bad it was unbearable to live in his own skin. His whole body was hurting, inside and out. If he had to, he would fight with his fists, avenge his daughter's death. Even if it would be the last thing he did.

“All she wanted was her dad,” Ben sang with a soft voice, mocking the tone of a child. “To hold her when she was scared. To tell her she wasn’t a monster. That she deserved love. But instead, all that love, you gave it to Janine.”

“Shut up!” M.M yelled, taking a step towards Soldier Boy. The hero took a step back raising his hands, now grinning with all his teeth.

“That’s why you never told us about her? Your daughter’s a supe?” Butcher asked. M.M completely forgot he was there.

“Yeah, why did you never talk about me?”

M.M's heart skipped a beat upon hearing her voice. That voice he never thought he'd hear again. The tears that had so far failed to fall finally rolled down his cheeks.

Animated like a puppet, Y/n rose from the chair. Her head repositioned itself correctly on her shoulders and she stepped into the light, stopping beside Soldier Boy. Her eyes once so full of life were now extinguished. Heavy. Empty and dark.

Filled with an anger that scared M.M.

“Y/n, please, I can explain, please, step away from him, come here…” M.M held up his hand, prompting his daughter to get to his side. But she didn't move. She kept staring.

“No need to explain,” Y/n shook her head. She ran a finger down her throat to scoop up some of the red liquid and raised her hand to eye level. “I read the file… and Soldier Boy told me everything. He couldn’t lie, I made sure of that.” Y/n's finger disappeared into her mouth as she cleaned it. “Ketchup,” she smiled. “I thought if you saw me dead, the truth would come out easier.”

“Please,” M.M kept begging her. Everything was messed up. He had to tell her… He could explain himself. He could fix things. “Please, just, you can hear my thoughts... If you don't believe me, force me to say it! Use your power on me, I don’t care! Please… I always loved you, Y/n…”

“Not enough, apparently,” Y/n shrugged. “Not as much as Janine. You thought I was a burden, a monster, you were scared of me… you are scared of me. But Ben made me realize I could be so much more…” Y/n's gaze quickly shifted to the right, and before M.M could even intervene, Butcher was already firing into the room towards his daughter.

Bullets hit metal and bounced off the ground as Soldier Boy placed his shield protectively in front of Y/n.

“Stop fucking shooting!” M.M screamed as he pushed Butcher to the ground, both men falling and fighting for the gun. Butcher struggled a bit but eventually, the gun slipped out of his hands. “Are you fucking crazy!”

"She's a bloody supe! And she's with him!” Butcher shouted, trying to get back his gun.

The two men were about to fight again when a voice echoed in the room. Uncomfortable shivers ran through their bodies, like a mist numbing their minds and freezing their limbs as soon as the words reached their ears.

It was impossible to move.

“Stop. Listen to me carefully.”

Frozen in the last position he was in, M.M didn't have the best view of Y/n, but she fixed the situation by crouching down next to them. “Leave us alone. Or next time, I won't only freeze you.”

Tears continued to roll down M.M.'s cheeks. “Please… Y/n, he’s manipulating you…”

To that, the young girl tilted her head to the side, her gaze now filled with sadness. All the years spent apart, alone, were reflected in her big, sad eyes… The loneliness. All those years she grew up alone, without a father or a mother.

“So were you. Take care of your daughter, Marvin. Be lucky he didn’t kidnap her too. Don’t try to find us.”

Those were the last words she uttered to M.M. The last thing he heard from his daughter were threats and the last thing he saw was all of the darkness that was now living in her beautiful eyes.

And it was all his fault.

To this day, Y/n wasn’t his daughter anymore. Even if M.M would forever love her as such, and would always try to get her back. 

Now, she was their enemy. And when Soldier Boy’s vengeance would be done, who knew what they would do. And the chaos they would spread on the world. The hero was already dangerous on his own, but with her by his side, he would be unstoppable.

Butcher didn’t really care about her, it was their fault, yeah okay, he messed up pretty bad. But for him, she was just another supe he had to eliminate. Still, a thought kept hunting his mind forever after this incident: what if… they decided to join Homelander?

The end of the world, that was for sure.

Forever taglist: @nitnat6245 @b3autyfuldisast3r @eevvvaa @fictional-affairs @wickedinspirations @awkward-and-indecisive

Soldier Boy Taglist: @akshi8278

[doppel-dean-er]

this could be common knowledge but im a little dumb and just figured this out: A falsettos theory

the entire musical is from Jason's perspective. THINK ABOUT IT

Jason says "my father says that love is the most beautiful thing in the world, I think games are, I think chess is the most beautiful thing not love" and then the CHESS GAME happens. to me, this is Jason putting Whizzer and Marvin's break-up into something HE can understand. it also doubles as a metaphor for Whizzer's infidelity, but that's not the point I'm makin here

in "Marvin at the psychiatrist" they only talk about things Jason would know about, specifically the part where Mendel says "I hope Jason acts out more". This shows that Jason views the reason Trina is seeing a psychiatrist as purely his fault, whereas in 'in Trousers' it seems more likely she would be going because Marvin isn't a good husband. also act three has him there, so.

In march of the falsettos, everyone but Jason sings in a Falsetto, this could be because Jason already sings in a falsetto (idfk anything about singing, I was a band kid and dropped the class in 8th grade) but I would beg to differ ; he sings normally because he views himself as the only mature person out of all of them, but he's dressed like them because he's being pulled down by their immaturity.

and FINALLY.... THE BIG BLOCK

THAT THING

the big block is only used as furniture in act 1. IN MAKING A HOME, they start PULLING PROPS OUT OF THE BOXES. first off, this is so fucking cool to me, second, holy shit. the boxes are used as mounds of non-descript BORING LOOKING furniture because Jason views his life with Marvin as DULL AND CONFUSING. literally one of the only props pre Making A Home is a chess board because games are the only thing that make sense to Jason at this point; they have more props in Making A Home because Jason finally has a home he feels secure and nothing is confusing anymore. sure, the boxes are still being used as furniture, but that's because what Marvin did to his family changed him FOREVER.

in act 2, when they start using more props like the hospital bed and ACTUAL chairs it shows jason can ACTUALLY GRASP WHATS HAPPENING IN FULL DETAIL. OH MY GOD

WHIZZERS HEADSTONE IS A BOX AGAIN BECAUSE JASON IS STILL CONFUSED ABOUT WHY HE'S DEAD, BUT PLACING THE CHESS PEICE ON THE HEADSTONE SHOWS HE HAS A ROUGH UNDERSTANDING OF WHAT HAPPENED: THAT THE GAMES WHIZZER TALKED ABOUT PLAYING LITERALLY KILLED HIM.

IM JUST SO UPSET

AND JASON WEARS A COMBONATION OF THE COLORS WHIZZER, MARVIN AND MENDEL ARE WEARING BECAUSE THEY'RE THE MOST INFLUENTIAL PEOPLE IN HIS LIFE. I CAN'T DO THIS

[parkswritessometimes]

Escapees Of IRIS CHPTR 6

[Chapter 1] [Previous]

“Marv, come on man!” Jackie’s voice seeps in through the cracks in the door. 

“No, we have to get them involved!” Chase rolls over and pushes the pillow over his ears. The shouting match had been going on for what felt like hours. Debates on what their next move was, getting some organization involved that caused the two to scream some choice words. God is this what it was like for Chole? Hearing screaming matches go long into the night that leave  you exhausted in the morning? His poor baby.

“The magic circle doesn’t want us! When are you going to realize that? They do not care about you or me or James! They won’t help us!” “Yes they do! They have to! It’s Jameson, he-he’s-” “Just because we  care about him doesn’t mean the magic circle does! They’re a bunch of assholes, Marvin! They don’t want people like me, or tainted magicians like you!”

“I am not tainted!”

“They think you are! They said that right to your face!”

“Fuck you, Jackie!”

The screaming match finally comes to a close as the front door slams shut. Chase’s body tenses as the apartment shakes. Nothing those two say ever makes any sense. But to be fair, nothing has made sense for a while. Debates of magic and circles, and IRIS, and things Chase could never comprehend. 

Whatever though, Marvin would go out somewhere and cool down and they’d make up. They always made up. It will be fine. But a sound of pure devastation washes away any feeling of security. A single heartbreaking sob. Every part of Chase broke when he heard it. Like a child trying so hard to hold everything together but breaking at the first chance they can get. 

He was only twenty five after all, a full ten years younger than Chase, so much weight on the poor kids shoulders. He should be out partying, out with girls or guys, having stupid love trysts. Not holding an entire family together. 

Chase throws everything aside and pushes the door open . He doesn’t know if Jackie wants or even needs him to comfort him, but he does know something he can do to help. Cook.  Food always helps, and Jackie hasn’t eaten anything besides a protein bar, a five hour energy and a prayer for the last few days. If he just gets some food in that poor kid, things will be better. He hopes.

 Chase doesn’t say a word as he gets the pans out of the cupboard. He doesn’t know what to say, but he does know that this will help. Veggies from the crisper, eggs taken from the fridge and frozen hashbrowns from the freezer take their place on the counter.

“Hey, I’m making us an omelet and hash browns,” Chase calls  from the kitchen as he grabs the good knives from the back of the cabinet. “And don’t even think about protesting, just sit right there and don’t move.” Chase hears Jackie’s hum of acknowledgment, taking that as an agreement he wouldn’t grab his mask and jump out the window looking for an asshole to beat up. Good. He can’t watch Jackie stumble through the door with blood on his face again. 

“I’m sorry you had to hear all that. I didn’t-We didn’t- I’m sorry.” 

“It’s okay, Jackie. I forgive you. Just, stay there, please.”

“Okay.”

The only noise in the apartment is the music coming from the stereo in the living room and the sizzle of the butters from the pans. But not a word comes from the two of them. The smell of breakfast, of home, spreads throughout the connected rooms. 

Chase watches Jackie from a distance making sure he stays in his place on the worn out couch. Jackie’s eyes continue to fixate on his board, his knees up to his chest and his chin resting in his knees. He watches in horror as hot, angry tears run down his face. Chase knew those tears. He’s cried them far too many times. Usually he’d dully the pain with sweet whiskey and rum. But he had a feeling that Jackie wanted, maybe even needed to feel it.

“You need to eat if you’re going to take down a big bad demon.” Chase plates the two meals and sets one down in front of Jackie and tilts his head towards it.  He watches as Jackie blinks a few times snapping out of his dissociative state.  

“Oh, thanks.” His voice is quiet and monotone, not fully back from his mind. “Of course, Jacks.” 

The knives and forks scrape against the plates and fill the void where a conversation would take place. He watches Jackie wipe his damp face with his hoodie. Chase reaches over and wipes the tears away.

Chase notices how Jackie almost disguises a flinch at the contact, staring down at his half-empty plate. Chase thinks he should pull his hand away but Jackie looks at him with those big sad eyes, and Chase stays.

“Hey, Jacks,” Chase whispers, his hands resting against Jackie’s face. “You wanna talk about it?” Jackie shrugs, but leans into his friend's touch. Chase smiles and waits for Jackie. He’d wait an eternity for Jackie.

“I don’t understand why Marvin doesn’t listen to me.” He whispers, turning away from Chase, “The magic circle doesn’t like us.”   

“Magic circle?”

“They’re a bunch of assholes. And they don’t-they hate people like us.”

“People that were in IRIS?”

“Yeah." Jackie spat, "We become tainted." He explained using his fingers to make air quotes, "Pumped full of chemicals and artificial magic and steroids and so much shit. The magic circle only wants those who are pure.” “Oh,” Chase manages to say, how was he supposed to reply to that? An organization that only wants people who are pure? That was messed up on so many levels he didn’t even know where to start.  

He turns back to talk to Jackie but only sees his eyes locked on the board staring down the scientist. More tears fall down his face as he bites his tongue and shakes his head, leg bouncing under the table. Chase tilts his head as he analyzes the face on the board. He never realized how similar the two of them looked. And then it all clicks.  

Marvin would smile and spin tale after tale about his life before IRIS, what little he lived of it, and talk about his magic, his people. Meanwhile, Jackie has never talked about his life before IRIS, his parents, or his powers- deflecting and laughing whenever someone even tries to bring up the subject. 

“Jackie, how did you get your powers?” Chase asks, each word carefully chosen to not send the hero off the edge. He watches as Jackie chuckles a bit as he wipes the tears from his eyes. 

“My dad was- is an IRIS scientist. One of the best. And I would sneak out of daycare to come visit him in his office. Because I loved him.” Chase slips his hand into Jackies and gives a small squeeze. He was here, he will listen.  “He was all I had. And I was a kid, I was five! How the fuck was I supposed to know not to touch the stupid electric orb and not drink the shit in the refrigerator! I was a kid! And he just threw me away! Like nothing! I was his son, his kid!”

“Jackie, Jackie, breathe. Take a deep breath.” Chase places Jackie’s hand on his chest and takes a deep breath with him. He places his hand on Jackie’s cheek brushing some of the hair out of his face. He’s watched Marvin comfort Jackie through panic attack after panic attack. He knows what to do. Kinda. Deep breaths, contact, and names. His name. “Jackie, hey, Jacks. I’m here. I’m right here.”

Chase presses his forehead against Jackie’s. They sit like that for a moment, maybe two. They sink into each other holding each other tight, as if there was a scientist or a monster waiting for the perfect moment to pull them apart. Chase moves his hand right above the small on Jackie’s back and pulls him close. He needs his friend as close to him as humanly possible.

It was almost instinct when Jackie tucked his head under Chase's chin, the father wanted to scoop up the young man and keep him close to his heart. But Chase wasn't that strong and Jackie was a bit too big, but they did the best they could. A small part of Chase’s mind thought that if he held on tight enough he could crush the crumbling pieces of his friend back together. 

And then he remembers Chloe coming home after school one day, crying her eyes out because she was bullied for bringing her favorite stuffed mouse. He tried shielding her small form from the big world. Giving her the biggest hug he could muster. But the terrible thing already happened, so all he could do now was comfort her the best he could manage. And afterwards they found a sewing kit in the closet and stitched the poor thing together. Chase wonders if he could do the same thing with Jackie. Find something that could stitch him back together and make him smile again.

“You don’t have to tell me anything more. I understand. It’s okay.” Chase breathes.

“No, no, I want to tell you. You deserve to know.” Chase nods and pulls back, continuing to rub Jackie’s back in small little circles. 

“Sparks were flying off my fingers, and I thought that was so cool. I was just like the heroes I’d watch on my morning cartoons. I just wanted to show my dad. And I will never forget the look on his face. That sick smile before he grabbed my arm and dragged me away. He threw me into a cell and left. I wish that was the last time I saw him. I wish he had left me there. But I saw that smile, that evil, everyday.”  

“Jackie,”

“But I had James, and Marv, and they took care of me. They were my family. James raised me. He’s my dad. And Marvin is my brother. And now Anti has him. And I have to help.”

Chase holds him close, his hand going around and around underneath the fabric of Jackie’s hoodie. His head resting on Jackie’s holding him close, as if this was second nature. As if they were two puzzle pieces with a perfect fit. Chase runs his hands through Jackie’s hair, pressing his head deeper into his own chest. He watches Jackie shift until he is practically on top of him. He could feel Jackie’s chest rise and fall against his own. 

“What about your mom? Where was she?” Chase whispers. The sound almost doesn't come out.

“My mom disappeared a few months before everything happened, my dad always said she left us. She left me. But I don’t think that’s what happened.” 

“Did you think he…”

“Yeah.”

“Shit , I’m so sorry.”

“It’s…thanks, man.” 

The quiet, peacefulness lulls over the apartment like a thick cozy blanket. The two of them hold each other close. Jackie sniffs every now and again, bringing all the emotions back into his chest. Chase rubs  one thumb up and down on Jackie’s arm and wipes away tears with the other. 

“Do you want to tell me about James? He sounds great.” 

“James is great. He’s very smart, and clever, I think he’s the reason Marv has such a smart mouth.” “Oh yeah?”

“Yeah. Which is surprising ‘cause he doesn’t talk.” “He doesn’t talk?”

“No, he communicates with his hands. I think it’s British sign language.” 

Sign language. Okay he can learn that. Maybe learn some basic signs, letters, numbers, foods, stuff like that. He was always a quick learner, when he really truly applied himself. He could learn the basics in a few days. 

“What else?”

“...he’s my hero. He kept me and Marv alive. “

“Well then I already like him.” 

“I think you two will be good friends. He was a dad too.” Chase nearly froze at that little remark, but refused to let that little slip keep him from keeping Jackie grounded. “And he had the cutest nicknames for us. He was really good at that, making us feel safe, even when we weren’t.”

“Well I think you’re gonna repay the favor soon enough.” Chases hasn’t even met the man and he feels indebted to him. He took care of his boys, when everyone else in the world had turned their back on them. Wait, when did he start thinking of Jackie and Marvin as his boys? Chase shook that small thought away.

Soft and simple food would have to be a priority for James. He looked so emaciated in the photo the ALTR gave him that food and even water would be near impossible to keep down. And James would definitely have priority for the bed, Chase could sleep on the couch or even on the floor if he needed it. What else, what else? Maybe some new pillows and blankets, something James could call his own. 

“What do you think James will need? I’ll grab it for you while you’re…out.”

“Chase, you don’t have to do that-”

“I want to. You and Marv and soon James, you’re my-we’re-,” Chase doesn’t know what word to pick. Friends? It feels so much more than that, they protect each other, they love each other. But family? Chase has never been good at family. He ruined every family he ever had, he doesn’t want to ruin this one too. He doesn’t want this to fall apart. He loves Jackie. He loves Marvin. He doesn’t- 

“Family.” Jackie whispers. “We’re family.”

Chase feels his breath catch in his throat. “Yeah. Family.”

Neither one of them dared to move, or even breathe after that word left their lips. It was such a precious and beautiful word. Something reserved for only the most sacred of bonds. Family. Ha. Chase thought his last chance for that was buried six feet under an oak tree in the woods. But Marvin and Jackie, yeah. They were family. Chase made sure they ate and cleaned up their shit, covered them with blankets when their magic and hero sessions went just a little too late.  Jackie was always ready with a hug and kind words, and Marv was there whenever Chase needed to talk, or craved a drink. 

They were broken men who needed each other. 

But now, together, they’re slowly becoming whole again.

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Thanks @jellyfishdooter for helping. Couldn't have done it without you!

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Hey do you want a full fic of how Jackie got his powers? Becuase you're getting it.

Also happy comic release day!

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[Chapter 1] [Chapter 2] [Chapter 3] [Chapter 4] [Chapter 5] [Chapter 7]

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[Want more?]

[dapperstein]

Taming The Wolf - Part 3

Words: ~2200

A/N: Also on AO3 under the alias rainy_mind_games. Warnings for possessive behaviour, accidental self-injury.

If there was any one thing about Chase that bothered Marvin... well he hadn't figured it out yet.

Despite his puppy's many attempts at getting his new collar off, and the lack of regard for both their safety if it did happen to become unstuck, Marvin still loved him, wolf and all.

The wolf of which was now trapped behind the enchantment he'd placed on the collar, still existing as part of his wonderful boyfriend, but in a much more tame form that he could call out, interact with, or tone down whenever he pleased.

Chase was obviously not sure what all the fuss was about whenever he touched the collar--to have Marvin basically jump on him and shout was an entirely new experience that he didn't particularly enjoy.

And it wasn't that he was even getting more attention than usual for Marvin to notice every time he so much as laid a finger against the leather, but he did once again, just to test it.

Marvin had gone outside. He was gardening, while at the same time strengthening his magical abilities.

The plants he needed for dinner grew before his very eyes, a squash and some carrots, and some beets for extra colour. Chase could make a nice soup with these, he thought, just before his throat constricted and he ran back inside.

"Don't touch it!" he called for what felt like the hundredth time, carrying the vegetables to the sink to use for later.

Soft footsteps followed him, and arms wrapped around his chest from behind. "Don't touch what?" Chase asked innocently, then pinched Marvin's collarbone. "You didn't even look at me that time, what the hell did you do?"

Marvin frowned and rubbed at the tender spot as he turned. "I told you not to worry about that, and not to touch the collar. Those are the only two things I'm asking of you, are they so hard?"

His frown deepened as Chase's expression hardened into a glare. "Why must you be so difficult?"

"I think I'm allowed to be difficult. I'm the one that saved you, aren't I?"

"Don't you dare use that against me," Chase hissed. "I didn't ask for any of this!" Once again he lifted his hand to the collar buckle and pulled. "Get this thing off of me!"

The magician swallowed against the blockage in his throat and wrestled Chase's hand away from his body.

It took a minute but when the dust finally settled, Marvin was the one in a bind, arm behind his back while Chase held him against the counter. Face to face, Chase took a good look at him.

Aside from the tiredness he'd noticed on his face this morning, there was a magic crazed look in those deep as an ocean eyes as well. All those nights figuring out whatever spells Chase knew he'd been working on had caught up to him. But he couldn't hold that against him. Right?

Sighing, he let go of Marvin and sunk into one of the chairs at their small breakfast table.

"God dammit, Marv."

Marvin made his way to the chair across from him and sat with his hands out for Chase to grab onto. For a moment Chase sat there, dumbfounded, before making the effort to close the gap, joining their hands.

He looked up into Marvin's eyes and, fuck, that was a bad idea.

A rainbow of colours and more swirled in his once solid midnight irises and Chase didn't know what to make of it. He followed the red around before it morphed into orange, then yellow, and so on.

"You're not actually mad at me, are you, Chase?" Marvin mumbled, earning an automatic shake of his boyfriend's head. "Good... now, will you please be a good boy and stop trying to remove your collar, our safety? You understand the concept of safety. It's why you hid your secret from me in the first place."

Was it? Chase recalled thinking only of Marvin's safety for the past several moons, but he didn't remember why.

Marvin could handle himself, he didn't need Chase to protect him, which is why he gave him this wonderful gift. It all made sense. It all made... perfect sense.

If he focused he could almost feel the anger of the wolf wanting to break free, but Marvin was calling his attention back and he's known and trusted Marvin so much longer.

He looked back into his eyes, back to that same midnight colour he'd grown to love.

Dark as the skies at the deepest hour of night, and that deepness was as deep as his love for Marvin went. When he brought his hand up to the collar again, it wasn't to try and undo it, but to touch it gently, lovingly. Marvin smiled.

A few hours later, Chase was cutting the veggies Marvin had picked for dinner. He watched him outside of the window, shooting spells into the sky like fireworks. Man, he missed fireworks.

The spell of hypnosis had worn off and he was angrier than ever, yet there was still that underlying feeling of wrongness when the wolf's anger didn't match the intensity. Of course, the worry lessened now he felt it at all once again, but that didn't null the fact that his wolf could always outdo his human sized anger any day of the week.

Especially when it came to Marvin.

It seemed his magician boyfriend was a special case for the magical wolf inside him, able to decrease his mood just by Chase and Marvin being in the same room.

Chase recalled something about a dog's intuition about a person being unusually correct for something non-magical, so he could only assume that intuition was amplified in something like a were-creature.

Yet, sadly, he hadn't listened before, and now he was stuck, practically chained like a dog.

There had to be some way to get out of this collar without alerting Marvin.

Maybe without touching it? No, because the buckle was at the back and even if he turned it, it'd take two hands to pry the stuck metal open.

That only left one option: cutting it. So long as the spell enchanting it reacted only to human contact, then a pair of scissors would cut the gift off nicely, surely.

It just so happened he had a pair of kitchen shears right next to him. Now if he could only slink away without getting Marvin's guard up...

Marvin looked at the window and smiled after showing off a particularly difficult spell he'd been trying to master. He watched Chase throw up his hands in a double thumbs up motion, before motioning the sign for toilet right after.

"Okay!" Marvin shouted, earning a grin and another thumbs up as he headed off.

The scissors were in his pocket and he had a locked door to hide behind. If this didn't work, then Chase had no ideas left. If this didn't work, he might not be able to come up with more, either, depending on Marvin's state of mind.

He stared into the mirror with the scissors in his hand, and placed the blades against the leather.

No immediate busting down of doors was heard. Was he actually safe?

He tightened his grip and made the first dent. A small sound as the leather tore apart, before he reached a snag.

He hadn't accounted enough cutting space for the other adjustment holes, and cut right into one of the little metal circles, getting the scissors successfully stuck and without being able to touch the collar, trying to pry them back open was useless.

Just as he was about to give up and do it, a knock sounded on the door.

"Chase? You're taking an awful long time in there, love. Is everything okay?" Marvin called.

His hand slipped and the scissors were upside down against his neck, stuck in the metal button, the tip of the other side pressing into his sensitive skin.

"Fine," he tried to respond, but yelped when the scissors all but cut his artery open.

Immediately, magic surrounded his side of the locked doorknob and unlocked it before Marvin swept in, watching as Chase backed away. Blood trailed in several conjoined rivers down the side of his neck.

They stood in silence for a solid 30 seconds before Chase collapsed into a sobbing heap on the bathroom floor, just making the scissors cut into him more.

"Baby..." Marvin cooed, sliding down to the floor next to him and making the scissors vanish.

That still left the triplet trails of blood draining from a spot directly behind the collar, but he chose to ignore it for the time being--as long as Chase wasn't actively bleeding to death.

"I'm... sorry," Chase hiccupped between sobs. "It's all my fault, I'm a screw-up."

Marvin's silence permeated the air in a suffocating way, until finally, "You're not a screw-up, Chase. It's my fault."

Another loud hiccup, and Chase could feel through his distress the wolf's anger kicking back up. He buried his head in his knees and sobbed, allowing Marvin to put an arm around him and rock him.

As he calmed down within a few minutes, Marvin's words still rang in his head. He sniffed and wiped his nose with some toilet paper he'd grabbed. His neck felt stiff.

"How do you figure it's your fault?" he asked quietly. Marvin hummed but let him continue. "It's not like you bit me. Or gave me off to you know who. My own bad decisions led me to those places. You really did save me, Marv."

The wolf settled as a pit in the bottom of Chase's heart.

At the same time, his stomach twisted as he watched Marvin slowly turn to him from the corner of his eye.

"You're right..." he muttered, tilting his head and looking at Chase with those deep, dark eyes. Chase swallowed, muscles tensing like he was about to bolt. "And really, you should thank me again for saving you just now."

"Thank you, truly," Chase spoke quickly, teeth clenched. "And I'm sorry I tried to take off the collar again."

Marvin grinned. "Well, that one's a much unexpected surprise." He leaned in closer. "I'm afraid I can't accept it, though. You've tried too many times today to ruin my gift of freedom to you. That's not really fair, is it?"

"Freedom?" Chase laughed without thinking, pulling away to get to his feet. He backed away again, toward the door this time. "Like hell you know what that's even like."

"Pray tell?" Marvin stayed seated on the floor, as if he was waiting for Chase to rejoin him.

"I'm not falling for another one of your fucking traps," Chase shot back.

And he meant it. Avoiding all eye contact, and not answering a single question Marvin was shooting at him that would give him power like some fae wannabe.

He spun to get out the door, feeling the blood drip, drip, drip down his chest. Marvin's footsteps sounded behind him, appearing just in time to catch him before he fell facefirst down the stairs. He cradled him, even as Chase fought to get away, suddenly ten times stronger than before.

"Let me go, you asshole!"

"Asshole, huh?"

"You- you moron!"

"Keep 'em coming, I'm patient."

"Freak!"

"Ooh, that stings a bit, but the answer is still no. I've given you way too many chances today, no more." Chase froze in his fight but didn't dare look Marvin in the eye. His breath caught in his throat. "I have to clean you up anyway, so you really want to find out what happens if you were to take this off?"

He tugged at the collar gently from the back, and Chase went limp, just letting him.

Now he wasn't so sure about all of this; his rebellions were really just him getting his frustrations out, but Marvin was spiteful. He knew whatever happened, he was not going to like.

Marvin pulled him back up by his arm and dragged him back to the bathroom by the ring of his collar.

Pushing his shoulders down to make him sit on the edge of the tub, he grabbed a washcloth and started soaking it in the tap, before reaching toward Chase's neck and twisting the collar buckle to the front.

Chase watched him hold his breath before he started to undo it; he wanted to fight, but he'd already fought way too much for this.

The leather loop fell out of the metal bit holding the collar closed and Chase felt a rush of adrenaline course through his veins as the still-cool leather left his skin. The adrenaline made him feel warm, like a fresh transformation, and he stood, realising, all of a sudden, he was towering over Marvin.

Marvin let out his breath, a fine purplish mist escaping his mouth with the exhale, and Chase had no choice but to breathe it in, falling backward into the tub dizzily.

As the world spun around Chase, Marvin got to cleaning him up. There was no fur growing in just yet, but it wouldn't be long, and he wanted to get the collar back on before that happened, or before Chase regained himself. Or worse, the wolf did.

[thestalwartheart]

Omg, those physical intimacy prompts are all so so good!! How am I supposed to choose one for you to write *insert actual display pic*

So imma be greedy and ask for 1) nose bops and 2) hugs that last longer than they should xD

Thankies and Happy Fest :D

Hello!

Here's your prompt fill for 'hugs that last longer than they should.' I tried to fit nose boops in here, but it seemed Too Much, and I also have a different idea for it.

Posted under the cut and on AO3. You might prefer reading it there as it's quite long (1326 words - I couldn't help myself).

Anyway, here it is! Enjoy 💖

put your arms around me (i'm shitfaced).

“Oh, I’m absolutely trolleyed,” groans Q, holding his head as he approaches his front door. Maybe if he keeps it steady enough, his brain with all its stupid thoughts will stay in his head, and he won’t say anything embarrassing.

Why did Bond have to be the one to get him home? As if the ramifications of drinking tequila with Moneypenny weren’t going to be torturous enough. He’s over thirty. His hangovers last two days. In fact, realistically, this one’s likely to last three. Doesn’t that seem like enough punishment without throwing James bloody Bond into the mix?

“I’d noticed,” says Bond conspiratorially.

He’s got his arm around Q’s waist now. It’s the size of a fucking tree branch. Ridiculous. How did they even get like that? He’s never once seen Bond use the gym, and surely it takes, what? About six hours a day lifting weights and doing that thing where you make the ropes move until they’re all squiggly—

“Battle ropes,” answers Bond, moving Q through the door like he weighs nothing. “Would you believe me if I said the job is exercise enough?”

“Absolutely not, don’t bullshit — oh, shit. Oh, shit, shit, shit. Did I say all that out loud?”

“Some of it. Did you not mean to?” Bond asks, looking far too amused. Q would be annoyed at it, but he really has got a very nice smile. The smile gets wider as soon as Q thinks it, and, oh, he’s going to stop thinking now, lest he say anything else that’ll have him handing in his resignation on Monday.

“Christ,” Bond laughs, “that last mission would have gone a lot easier if the target was this much of a lightweight.”

“Oh, shut up.”

Bond snorts. He deposits Q on the couch and disappears to the kitchen. “Not so witty when you’re blasted, are you?”

“You try being witty after six tequila shots.”

“Three at the most, surely,” Bond teases, handing Q a glass of water. “Though, to be fair, you were probably seeing double by then.”

Q gulps half the water in one go.

“You got there late, too,” he says around a silent hiccup. “You didn’t see the amount of drink Eve foisted on me before the shots.”

“Poured it down your throat, did she? Gave you absolutely no chance to refuse them?”

Q flaps out an annoyed hand in Bond’s direction. God, he hates when people make sensible arguments when he’s drunk. He hates it even more when they’ve got a stupid little smirk and sparkly blue eyes and a very nice shirt that’s got not one but two top buttons undone—

“Where’s your bedroom?”

“Um, what?”

Bond rolls his eyes. “I want to make sure you don’t give yourself a concussion trying to get to bed.”

“Oh,” Q’s face is aflame. He hopes the alcohol making up half his bloodstream is a good enough excuse for it. “Upstairs.”

“All right. Finish your water, and I’ll help you up.”

“I don’t need help—” Q stumbles as he gets up from the couch. One of his traitorous little cats is right at his feet. "Oh, you twat!"

“Clearly. Come on.” Bond’s arm is back on Q’s waist as he guides him towards the staircase.

“I didn't mean that Marvin. You're not a twat, you're a darling.”

“Of course your cat’s named Marvin.”

“It’s ‘cause he’s paranoid,” mumbles Q, distracted by trying to make his feet work on the stairs.

Goodness, he really should give his cats more credit. They do this with four legs every day, bounding up and down like it’s nothing when it’s clearly extremely difficult. And toddlers! How on earth do they manage with their ungainly, chubby little legs? Oh, he really must call in and see the old 004 sometime. He can’t believe she’s got a baby now. Every agent should be able to retire and have babies. Or not, if that’s not what they want. Babies or fur babies, or furless babies. Whatever, they should all be able to retire and drink a million shots of tequila with Moneypenny and die because that’s what’s going to happen to Q if these stairs don’t ever come to a fucking end.

“God, you’re nothing but dead weight,” grunts Bond as they topple over the last. Q apologises, straightening up. The last of the journey to the bedroom is uneventful, and Bond looks around approvingly at Q’s decor before trying to manoeuvre him into his bed. They are right at the edge of it when Q feels an overwhelming urge to do something stupid.

“Wait, Bond.”

“What?” Bond’s still got his hand at Q’s waist.

Q shouldn’t, but Bond’s been so lovely and patient, and Q knows he won’t blab to anyone about this, except maybe Moneypenny, but he’ll likely be blabbing to her himself, so...

Q hugs him.

Bond’s arms settle around his back, warm and heavy. They squeeze with just the right amount of tightness to make Q sigh. Naturally, Bond is an excellent hugger. It’s unfair. People as good-looking and intelligent as him should at least have the decency to be bad at something. But no, he feels delightful pressed up against Q. And it's been a while since Q’s had a hug like this — a full-body affair that makes you want to weep with the comfort of it.

One of Bond’s hands plays with the curls at the nape of Q’s neck, and at some point, Q thinks — though he might already be dreaming — he feels Bond press a light kiss to the side of his neck.

He lost all sense of time about hours ago, so he can’t say how long they stay like that. All he knows is that he doesn’t want it to end, which is foolish. So foolish, because all things end, especially when James Bond is involved.

“Q,” Bond’s soft, deep voice in his ear brings him back to alertness.

“Hm? Sorry.”

“Don’t be. But I think you’re falling asleep.”

“Am I? Ah. That’s embarrassing.”

“More for me, I’d say.” He manhandles Q into bed with a soft smile. “I’ll do a better job of keeping you awake next time.”

“Presumptuous,” says Q. Or he thinks he says it. It’s probably little more than a useless set of consonants.

Bond laughs, pulling the blanket over him and patting Q’s hip like it’s all a job well done. “Goodnight, Q.”

“‘Night, James.”

In the morning, he wakes with more pressure in his head than the Marianas Trench. Of course, there’s also the embarrassment stinging at him like a physical thing. It’s too monumental to deal with, so he spends ten minutes cringing under his pillow before finally convincing himself to sit up. When he does, he finds a bottle of water on his bedside table, accompanied by a brand new packet of ibuprofen and a note with absolutely terrible handwriting. With his headache pounding at his brow, it takes Q whole, seemingly endless, minutes to decipher it.

Nipped out to get breakfast. Bringing back a full English, so I hope you’re not vegan. J.

Q laughs. It makes his whole brain hurt, but he doesn’t give a shit; he laughs until he snorts. Relieved beyond belief, he downs some ibuprofen and guzzles the entire bottle of water before he goes to have a shower. The water doesn’t even make a dent in his dehydration levels, which feels like the cruellest hit this morning has dealt him. Still, he feels he can deal better with it now that the crippling mortification has lessened a bit.

In truth, none of his usual hangover cures work quite so well as the knowledge that Bond is likely downstairs flipping bacon and sausages in Q’s tiny, cluttered kitchen. It’s an image Q can’t wait to see in reality, and he speeds through his shower to ensure he doesn’t miss it.

He wonders if he’ll get another hug. Maybe. Hopefully.

Last night’s didn’t feel long enough.

[showfallmediacameracrew]

[This post was made using Showfall Media Text-To-Speech. If you believe there's been an error and would like to end Showfall Media Text-To-Speech, please say 'End transcript'. ]

[ Input registered: Ambient background noise. People laughing and chattering indistinctly, the clinking of glassware, tapping of cutlery, and faint country music. Closer to the mic is the squeaky sound of someone shifting around on a cushioned booth. ]

J: "Don’t sit on my tail, you can touch it if you want, but I swear to fuck don't sit on my tail."

M: “I’m not touching your tail!”

[ Input registered: More uncomfortable scooting. ]

M: “I forgot how much I hated these stupid booth seats. Why do they even sound like that?”

J: "Hell if I know, it's the first time I’ve sat in one. I guess it’s better than most seats, since I can just put my tail on whatever side you're not on, but it feels like it's way more full of air than it looks. Unfortunate."

M: “I know some seats at Showfall that are better than these. Christ. I hate that I even said that.” 

[ Input registered: Jasprix laughing, quiet metal clinking sounds closeby as something taps on the wood of the table ]

J: “It smells better though then most of the food the food person makes. Probably will taste better than anything the food court would have had. Did the person asking for our orders look confused to you when we asked for the options we chose, or is that a normal look servers have when they don’t wear masks?”

M: “I have no idea. I was too busy looking at everything that sounded good. Fuck, I haven’t had a steak in years.”

J: “Well, I guess you’re having multiple different steaks, and whatever that other stuff you ordered was. I can smell all the different cooked meats in here, it’s amazing, though I do sometimes wish I could eat pancakes again. Steak, though, is still the best of the food types, hmmm.”

M: “I could actually cry right now. A whole fucking filet. All I’ve been eating for months is fucking packaged foods and those shitty little nutrient things. I just remembered I ordered salmon, oh my god.”

[ Nonverbal input registered: Abrupt cough. ]

M: “Er, sorry. It’s been a while since I’ve had… well, actual food. It’s getting to me a bit. Fuck.”

J: “I was worried you were about to apologize because you thought I was a fish. It’s fine, what sort of wonderful boyfriend would I be if I didn’t spoil you on whatever you desired for dinner? Especially when I can only agree that those leave much to be desired. Hopefully they won’t mind us bringing some back with us, as I don't see how they could possibly expect us to eat it all at once.”

M: “Mmm, leftovers.”

[ Nonverbal input registered: A quiet chuckle, then a curious noise of interest]

J: “Oh, I believe I spy my house host at the door. Did she take her own advice on dinner places?”

M: “Hm?”

J: “She’s headed for the counter for some reason. Hmm, well, if it comes up, she believes my name is Jasper.”

[ Nonverbal input registered: Scoff. ]

M: “Jasper? Why Jasper? You made yourself sound normal.”

[ Nonverbal input detected: shifting of styrofoam containers in plastic, and footsteps approaching getting louder. ]

R: “HEY! Uh- whoops, sorry- hey!”

J: “Hello Ruth, fancy seeing you here. What are you doing?”

R: “Picking up food for me ‘n Chase, uh. I was going to drag him inside with me but he decided at the last second he ‘couldn’t do it’, so. Pick-up. Also…? Oh, is this-?

[ Nonverbal input detected: Quiet metal clinking and quick shifting of fabric ]

J: “My wonderful human boyfriend, yes. Thank you so much for the suggestion to come here. We’re just waiting on our orders.”

M: “Yeah, we are, um… Hi. I’m Marvin. Nice to meet you. You’re… Ruth, correct?”

R: “You told them about-? Oh, well. You did kind of. Sleep in my bathtub. So I guess it would make sense you- Right. Yes. Hi. Ruth Shirbon, Lostfield Reporter. Uhm. Nice… bowtie…?”

J: “It does make him look yummy doesn’t it? Good thing the food here smells so good, or it’d be tempting, he has that effect sometimes.”

M: “We’re in public, man. Shuttup.”

[ Nonverbal input detected: Tail thumping against booth seat as Jasprix snickers. ]

R: “Uhm. Right. The, uh, whole. Cannibalism thing. That’s…! Anyways! Uh. So what’s that like, uh. Dating a demon? Who is also the demon king? Also how did that… happen?? Exactly???”

J: “He flirted with me, so I agreed to his offer of courtship. It was quite fun to participate in the manner he did it in, as well.”

[Nonverbal input detected: Hastily cleared throat and gasp of air before an alteration of pitch to something lower and quicker.] 

M: “Ilostgaychicken.” 

J: “He also loves chicken a great deal, and he was able to order some on the menu here.”

R: “Oh. Uh. Not… entirely sure how that’s relev… doesn’t matter. I’ll leave you guys to your date. It was nice meeting you, Marvin.”

M: “Oh, um, nice meeting you t-”

[Altered Pitch Registered: slightly more hushed tone, but closer to the recording device]

R: “And if you ever see anything strange around Lostfield, you can contact me… uh… crap, did I leave those cards at home?? Did I spend all that time laminating those and forget to fucking- arghhh. Nevermind. Jasper can tell you where I am if you need me. Anyways, uh. Nice seeing you! Bye!

[ Nonverbal input detected: Footsteps rapidly growing quieter, and the opening and closing of a door as Jasprix snickered. ]

J: “I hope you can see why I told her the name Jasper now. I told her the backstory of my character from when I was an actor. The demon king on a date with his human boyfriend.”

M: “That was… interesting, to say the least. Huh. Odd kid. Not in a bad way, just… Odd.”

J: “I might just invite her on a tour of the mall at some point. I think she’d love to see it, and everything that she theorized being wrong.”

M: “Are you trying to get her masked? Absolutely not. No.”

J: “I mean, alright. But the way she was talking about it the day before, I’m pretty sure they’re going to try something on her own. She stands outside the mall every day, darling, they haven’t been killed yet. She’d probably somehow manage to avoid everything and still believe that demons exist and the robots are somehow aliens.” 

[Nonverbal input detected: Fabric shifting amongst metal clinking together, Jasprix sighing as a hand returned to tapping on the wood.]

J: “Apologies if my doing that hurt your arm, I may have forgotten putting my hand around your back to pull you closer wasn’t possible currently. I did my best to not push when I realized, but I apologize if you didn't appreciate my hand pressed to your back with your own hand.”

[ Nonverbal input registered: Quiet chuckle. ]

M: “‘S fine. Don’t worry about it.”

J: “Hmm. Well, I hope whatever she got here for... Chase is an improvement from the constant yogurt she was feeding him before.”

M: “Fucking yogurt? All day? Gees.”

J: “I think he’s very confused, but oddly committed, to playing an idiot demon. He truly got her to believe that demons didn't eat actual food. It’s a mystery how she can believe literally anything either of us have told her.”

M: “Wow. That’s kind of impressive. In a sad way.”

J: “But an impressively active imagination. They could be a writer if they wanted instead of a reporter. Maybe direct something.”

M: “Something outside of Showfall. Very, very far away from Showfall.”

[ Nonverbal input detected: Surprised laugh. ]

J: “Sure, I’ll refrain from mentioning her abilities to anyone important, just for you Honey Bird. Oh look, people carrying fold out tray things. Maybe those are for us and mean our food is done?”

M: “I see my steak.” 

J: “All the food you ordered and you notice the steak first. Goodness, are you sure you’re not also a carnivore, perhaps you’ve been crossed slightly with an eagle and never noticed?”

M: “If I was I’m very sure I would have noticed if feathers started to sprout out of my ass.”

J: “True enough, I did notice the tail rather quickly myself. You should know, when we’re finished, and have the rest of the food secured, we might have to leave quickly.”

[ Altered Pitch Registered: Low whisper just barely caught by mic. ]

J: “The concept of Dine and Dash is something I’ve heard of and wanted to do, and we do not have money.”

M: “Oh shit, we don’t.”

[ Transcript has been manually ended. Thank you for using Showfall Media Text-To-Speech! Posting... ]

[vampir3bitez]

The Hero and Mage

Jse Puppet Au

Jackie and Marvin first meet.

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

The door slammed shut, the hero staring at it for a moment before covering his face. " God fucking danm it Reagan..." he felt soft tears beginning to form until he heard a creek. His head popped up and he looked around, " Shit..." he picked himself up, frantically looking around his apartment. " I'm not gonna hurt you Jackie.." Reagan came walking out from Jackie's bedroom. Jackie put his hands up in a defensive position " Oh now you aren't? But earlier when your buds were around you were completely fine with this!? " Jackie screamed. His own best friend. The sole person he had, the only person he had. Completely betraying his trust, handing him over to the villains. Being a villian himself this whole time. " They don't want to hurt you! They just..wanna know how you got these powers...we all kinda do. " Reagan sighed, Jackie just stared at him. He didn't know how to respond. " I mean..think of how these could help people! You seem to be in good health! " Reagan paused after that, Jackie just giving him a very doubtful look. " Okay. Maybe you aren't. But seriously powers like these are extraordinary...if properly controlled. "

" I can control them. "

" Can you? What if there's more you don't know about? What if you black out when these powers are used? Look Iris isn't gonna like..fuckin kill you. It'd just be..light testing. And you get free housing! "

" A cell. I'm gonna get a cell aren't I? Because I'm gonna be treated like a science experiment. Because this is EXACTLY what happens in the comics. " Reagan groaned, pinching the bridge of his nose " Jaxson life isn't one big fuckin comic book! Life is a lot more serious. Yeah this is gonna be a bit of an experiment. Because they need to know if you're safe or not. " Jackie paused for a moment. " I am safe. Sure I'm not the greatest at it but I help people! I use what I have for good! I've messed up a few times sure, the first time that robot apocalypse wasn't a thing but the second time that guy did have bad intentions!! Probably had bad intentions the first time too..." he sighed " I just..I trusted you. You were the only person in my life who knew. And then I find out you're working for people who have helped villians!? Seriously Reagan how am I supposed to trust you! "

Reagan groaned and slammed his hand into the wall. He paused for a second then sighed, regaining his composure, patting down his outfit. Jackie stepped back a bit.

" I'm gonna keep being a hero. I'm gonna keep being JackieBoy-Man despite how completely unserious that name is, yknow why? Because in a world as shitty as this where people shitty like you can get away with what you do..somebody needs to be a beacon of hope. Because you all sure as hell aren't. " The two stared at each other, Jackie putting himself into a more defensive position. Reagan pulled out his phone, shaking his head a bit " They'll be here soon anyways. You have no where you can go...I'm sorry Jaxson it's for your own good. " Jackie's eyes widened..he got away the first time out of dumb luck, lucky that Chase was willingly to hear him out so randomly. I mean, to Jackie, Chase was just the barista he happened to like at the local Cafe. And to Chase, Jackie was just a regular he happened to get along with. Now Chase knows about Jackie too. Maybe..he'd be willing to help Jackie out a bit? Doubt he works for Iris.

The two stood there as Jackie tried to figure out what to do, until something began happening. Some portal looking thing on the ceiling.."...Yall can make portals? " Jackie questioned, looking up at it. Reagan shook his head " Not that I know of...I thought that was you- " the two looked at each other for a moment fairly confused. Faint yelling could be heard, slowly getting louder until someone crashed down in between the two as the portal closed.

"...I don't think he works for Iris- "

" Definitely not- "

The males head popped up as he looked at the two " Iris?! " he held his head a little as he picked himself up, putting his other hand out a little, " What do either of you have to do with that organization.." he had a bit of a British accident to him, long brown hair too with some green. Looked extremely beat up. " Well apparently my so called 'best friend' fucking works for them! " Jackie used both his hands to point to Reagan, Reagan just glared over at him. " And they wanna run experiments on me! I mean how crazy is that!? "

" YOU HAVE SUPER POWERS JAXSON!! THATS NOT FUCKING NORMAL!! "

" SO?? IVE LITERALLY BEEN GOING OUT SAVING PEOPLE?? I CAN PUNCH A LITTLE HARDER AND IM A BIT MORE...ACROBATIC WITH MY ACROBATICS!! "

The male stared at the two for a moment and sighed " I take it you don't like them then? " he looked at Jackie before there was a bang at the door. The three looked over at if before Jackie turned to the male " You can call me Jackieboy, and if you don't like them either mind helpin' a guy out right now?? " The male looked at Jackie for a moment before nodding. " Marvin. " The two got into defensive positions, Reagan sighed " Great..even more paperwork with portal freak...", Marvin turned around to Reagan with a glare " Believe me, the only paperwork being filled out will be an incident report of your men. " He waved his hand across his face as a Cat mask went across it. Jackie looked over in total awe " Oh my god are you like..a fuckin super hero too!? " his eyes practically lit up as Marvin turned over " Ehh..not exactly. Let's worry about that later. "

Within seconds of him saying that the door busted down, Iris workers practically surrounding the door, flooding into the room. Guns and other weapons were aimed at the two as Jackie adjusted his mask, though in all reality it was a bit useless right now. " Lets kick some ass kitty-cat! " A grin went over Jackie's face, though Marvin gave him a confused look. He shook it off however, focusing for a moment before sending a powerful energy blast towards the employees, sending them all back against the walls. Jackie stood there jaw dropped " I...holy shit man- "

" Come on! I'll fend them off while we run. " Marvin took hold of Jackie's one hand and began running out of the room, jumping over any guards in the way. " WAIT!!! WHERE ARE WE GOING?? " Jackie yelled out, trying to keep up the pace, " Wherever! Anywhere away from here is good! " Marvin looked back for a moment before sending another blast just barely past Jackie. While he definitely knew what he was doing it didn't change how reckless he was being. The two ran out into the streets of the city as guards followed behind them, almost feeling endless. Marvin swiftly ran into an alley, pulling Jackie down along side him by the side of a trashcan. He watched as the guards ran by, leaving out a sigh of relief. " Should give us enough time to find somewhere safe..." he looked at Jackie for a moment " Why would they want you for your powers? That just seems unreasonable..."

" Tell me about it!! I mean...you don't see people every day with powers but I can punch a little harder than normal and they think I wanna like...kill people?? Like hell no!! "

Marvin quick hushed Jackie, looking out from the alley before pulling back and sighing again. " You're awfully loud..." he shook his head a little. " Do you know anywhere safe we could say for the time being? Couple hours at least..." he looked out once more, letting go of Jackie's hand and standing up. Jackie shrugged " Uhm...I know a nice Bar? I don't really go to drink but the owner is really nice. " he suggested, Marvin nodded. " Take us there then. " he said as he took the mask he was once wearing off. He had a rather large scar covering his one eye, with a smaller one under his other eye. Jackie stared at him for a moment then nodded " Yeah! Just..when we get there can ya explain that whole portal thing?? "

The two made their way out of the alley, heading down the streets as the streetlights began to shine. It was getting rather dark. They walked for a little before making their way into the Starcrossed Tavern.

~~~~~~~~

" Wait!? So because you wanted to stop this like freaky demon thing that IRIS made your magic buddies exiled you to another universe!? " Marvin loudly hushed at Jackie before taking a swig of his drink. " Yes..now can you please keep it down?? We don't need other people hearing this.." he sighed. " I need to stop him though. He followed me here last second..I want to stop him before he can wreak any more havoc..." he held his head a little. Jackie looked at him for a moment " Why don't we make a deal? You help me out with Iris, and I'll help you with this demon thing! I may not be the most helpful but..better to do it with someone then alone, plus I'm sure my punches could do some damage. " Jackie smiled, a hopeful smile. Marvin paused

" I..as much as I appreciate the offer it..I don't believe it's safe for someone else to get involved.."

" Believe me dude, I've delt with a lot that IRIS or other villains have thrown at me. Besides you helped me today, I owe you! "

Marvin sat there for a moment, looking off to the side. " Ifff you let me I'll let you crash with me! Though we..probably have to stay at a hotel..assuming I have the money to even afford a room..." Jackie lacked...a lot in the funds department. Marvin laughed a little "...Okay then. A deal. " Jackie smiled happily, doing that little yes pose with his arm. " Great! A deal between Jaxon Ridge and Marvin the Magician! " he held his glass up, Marvin laughed tapping his own against Jackie's " I guess so...though please I am much more than a magician. Much more...magnificent than that. " he said, taking another sip of his drink.

" Fine then! Jaxon Ridge...no...Jackieboy-Man, and Marvin the Magnificent! Hows that sound? "

"...Sounds perfect. "

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

Hiii I hope everyone enjoys this :3 I'll be posting more with this au (especially better ref sheets) soon!! But for now Jackie and Marvin :3

[my-brothers-corrupted]

JJ and the Other Order - Part 3/3

Part 1 here l Part 2 here

tws for violent fighting, past trauma made current again, blood and torture, abuse, and mentions of domestic violence

Anonymous asked:

(Hey Marvin, was hoping to write a poem for you to offer some strength... Turns out I'm not much of a poet? Hold steady, shine bright, you're the clearest star at night... I don't know. That's just one hell of a thing you've offered. We're with you, Marvin the Magnificent.)

Marvin grins at you as calmly as possible, tucking the gun away. “Thank you. I… do find myself glad that you’re all here again. That you don’t mind seeing us, even if it’s not always sunshine and rainbows, here on the other side of the things Anti did to us. I think you’ve all seen us at our absolute worst. It’s strange, really, that you’d want to come back at all, years later. I didn’t expect it. Thank you.”

He turns to see the others joining him at the stairs. Jackie smiles at him and steps up above him, touching his shoulder as he passes.

“Alright, guys, no big speeches - let’s get upstairs and get this done. We’ve faced scarier jack-asses than a magical orphan with a god complex.”

Quintrell gives Jackie an extremely pointed look.

“Jackie,” signs JJ. “Not always appropriate to call people orphans.”

“No? Why not? No, tell me later. In any case, stick close to each other. We can’t let them fool us into attacking each other on accident.” He reaches out to touch JJ’s hair fondly, humming. “Will this make you hallucinate? I didn’t think about that.”

Marvin winces. He’s not sure JJ’s brought that up with Adrienne. Jackie forgets when there are people around who aren’t, well. Them.

“I’ll be no worse than anyone else,” replies JJ calmly. “Maybe better, since I’m used to having to parse through things that aren’t real.”

“Okay, then, that’s good. Everyone’s ready? Come on.”

Jackie leads them back up the stairs.

Anonymous asked:

Rationalizing with Cedar plus JJ showing him how bad it could get definitely seems like it would change his mind. Quintrell, I believe you when you say he’s still in there. He’s been through a lot of grooming and abuse from what it sounds like, and things like that confuse a human’s worldview a lot. Make sure you all can reality check him in a way that brings him back to himself rather than in an aggressive way.

“Maybe that is the best way to think of it,” mumbles Henrik. “Like… Chase, near the end. Completely fucking lost, but still in there. He just needed a chance to see reality again.”

“Okay,” says Marvin. “So we go in as graciously as possible.”

“But don’t let him hurt you, if you can,” whispers Quintrell. “He’s hurt enough people.”

Jackie pushes open the door to the upper level without further fanfare, and they’re back in the bathroom, and then back in the hallway.

Everything looks normal. Jackie beckons them onward.

“Now, that’s quite enough!” a voice calls out, and Adrienne tenses, straightening up. “You all stay right there.”

“Cedar!” she calls back. “It’s time we talked, come out.”

“Mateos already told me what you did! If you’ve killed Creighton - ”

“He’s fine, come off it.”

“He’s raised us since we were kids, and you’re turning on him now?”

“I’ve told you a thousand times what I think about him. Now it’s time we really talked, I mean it. Come here.”

“What do I do with you now?” You hear him ask himself, voice falling. “You’re just one of them.”

“Cedar. We don’t have to fight.”

“Unless you’re going to let Creighton go, that’s not true.”

“Just come here to me,” she says. “Fuck’s sake, Cedar.”

There’s a long pause on the other side of the hallway.

“Come here - alone - and talk to me, then.”

Adrienne swallows, shaking her head. “You know I can’t risk you doing something to me. You’ve come close before, on his orders. No. I’ll stay with Jameson, or I won’t come at all.”

The silence extends again - and then there is a shimmer in the air, less like a heat wave, and more like something moving that you just can’t see. Adrienne grabs JJ’s arm.

scunneredzombie asked:

Be safe, help each other stay grounded if he tries to put thoughts in you. You’ll always be too many to handle!

“Let’s just go to him,” Adrienne says, pulling JJ forward. Jackie holds out a hand in warning.

“That other one is here, too, if he’s spoken with Cedar. You can’t go forward without watching for him.”

He hefts his staff and strikes mercilessly across the length of the hallway, checking for invisible magicians. If all you have to do is touch to make the illusion go away, Jackie isn’t worried - he loves to hit things.

“So the corrupted one is your ally in this, then?” calls Cedar. “You led my sister astray.”

JJ doesn’t even pull his arm out from Adrienne’s to speak, letting her hold onto him. “He’s here to help me with things I had to do one way or another, Cedar. You used to agree with me, you knew things were wrong here.”

“I can start with him, then,” says Cedar.

Jackie swings out and connects with something, and he yells as it grabs his staff and kicks him in the stomach, stumbling him. He reaches up to catch Mateos’s blow - but instead of the dark-eyed magician, he looks up to blue and green.

“Now, now, darling,” says a voice much too familiar, even all these years later. “You are going to get yourself in a lot of trouble with all that, Red.”

“Cheap shit,” Jackie snarls. “You’re dead. And you never get to fucking touch me again!”

He lashes out, but the false Anti is leaping back, and he glitches out of existence, and then back in - a half-dozen versions of him, surrounding all five of them, armed with knives.

“I can see your nightmares,” says Cedar, from somewhere they can’t see. “And Mateos can make them real.”

“No, Jackie’s right, you can’t scare us with this,” Marvin snaps. “He’s gone, and this is all fake.”

“Not all fake,” says Cedar. “One of them is real.”

“I’ll fight all six,” says Marvin, lashing out with fire, driving Mateos’s doubles back. Henrik’s just as steady beside him, gun held low, eyes bright with focus.

But JJ’s eyes are closed, his hand wrapped up in Adrienne’s arm, and it’s as she turns to look at him that the view from the camera closest to him changes entirely.

You’re in a shed, on a mountain in Peru. It’s quiet, and dark, with only slats of gold light striving their way through and falling against the ground. Anti stands beside Jameson, looking perfectly human, even pretty with long hair and silver earrings. “There you go, pet,” he’s saying. “Doesn’t it feel good to let the monster out?”

At Jameson’s feet, Genesis is covered in flowing cuts. She hangs low in her chains. She’s never done anything wrong to him.

He is covered in her blood.

Jameson presses down on the weight of Adrienne’s arm in his own, turning away from the false Genesis. Cedar emerges from the walls of the shed, towering over Anti and Jameson alike, much taller than his sister. His eyes glow gold as molten iron.

“You came here trying to be her hero,” he says, voice quieter and harsher at the same time. “Trying to make things better for other people, is that your reasoning? Who are you to help anyone? All you are is a torturer pretending to fit in with the rest of the world.”

JJ never lets go of her arm to say a word, but he looks up at Cedar, mouth tight.

“You had your chance to make peace with Dapper,” Cedar says. “But I see what you really are - still just his Carver. And this part of you will never find any peace at all.”

JJ closes his eyes, but it doesn’t block the images out as Cedar begins to pull back old thoughts, memories, fears - you can see him coated in blood a dozen times, see corpses, see innocents tortured into screaming, see his brothers begging him to stop.

“Take your hands off my sister,” Cedar hisses. “Or I will show her exactly who you really are.”

JJ does not let go.

Anonymous asked:

You are strong Jameson. You are a good person who is loved by many. You were manipulated and abused into what you’re seeing right now. You will always be Jameson Jackson, and you have slapped evil in the face before.

“Jameson, where’d you go?” Adrienne puts a hand on his cheek and his eyes flash open, searching for her in the whirlpool of torture and death. Cedar shouts something you don’t catch, and then she’s suddenly standing beside him in a room slicked in blood, and she gasps and tries to pull him away, though the vision does not move.

“What is this?” she cries. “Why would you show him this, this is horrible. Stop it, Cedar!”

“He’s no better than Creighton,” comes her brother’s voice, shouting now, but tremulous; he sounds terribly young. Adrienne shakes her head.

“That’s not true, he - ”

In the memory, Anti pierces through the eye of his victim with a nail, cackling, and Adrienne shrieks, hiding herself against Jameson’s chest. Her horror seems to unnerve him worse than the memory, and he grits his teeth, something silver flashing through his gaze.

“Cedar, stop!” she screams.

From the other viewpoints, you can see Marvin grabbing both of them, trying to pull them out of their heads, calling reassurances to them. His attention is yanked away moments later as Henrik appears to collide with something real, lashing out as he’s grabbed.

“I’ll throw you all back into everything you ever escaped from,” says Cedar, appearing at Henrik’s side and getting a grip on his arm. “It will be easy. I’ve rarely met anyone with so many nasty memories to choose from. When I’m done with you, your minds will be so fucking broken they’ll throw you in asylum and leave you there.”

“Get off my brother,” Jackie howls, as Cedar shoves Henrik to the ground with a burst of gold in his eyes. Before he can move forward, however, one of the Antis is on him, and he turns into Mateos the second he touches Jackie - a silver knife still gleaming in his hand, slicing towards Jackie. Jackie grabs the blade with his gloved hand, and despite the extra protection, blood is flooding down his wrist moments later. Mateos shoves his weight at him and Jackie yelps, his hurt wrist wrenching.

Anonymous asked:

JJ, I think you need to use some of your power now. I think if he’s so obsessed with showing you your past, you should return the favor.

Marvin rushes to help Jackie, and Adrienne looks up at Jameson again, panting. “Can you do that now? Can you show him something?”

JJ looks around blindly, trying to ignore the victim at his feet. Where is Cedar? If he could get his hands on him, he could focus, and try to show him what he needs to see. But it’s so hard to stay oriented when he’s in his own past, and also the present, trying to bring his power to bear for someone else.

Anti’s pulling on him, chattering to him about what they’ll do next, and JJ feels winded and sick. He tries to get out of his brother’s grip, so Cedar changes the vision, and Anti’s strangling him instead of playing, shoving him back against the wall. Adrienne screams again and lashes out at him, managing to make the illusion weaken. Anti steps back and starts circling them.

“Did these things really happen, Jameson?” she asks, putting herself between him and Anti. “They didn’t, did they? You didn’t do things like that.”

He looks down at her and his mouth parts, as though he might speak for the first time in his life just to reassure her, but no words come out, and his free hand falls limp. She stares at him, her own mouth parted, her eyes wide, and she’s so present, then, so there to him, blocking Anti from his view. He grabs her face and she grabs his, as though moved by a parallel instinct.

Neither of them speaks, but for a second, locked together in a past countries away, her eyes light up gold with her power: not translation, as she has been told her whole life, but understanding, and she sees him.

scunneredzombie asked:

Are Jackie and Henrik okay??

Marvin practically tackles Mateos away from Jackie - you see the moment he flashes from invisible to visible again, trying to slip away, but Marvin’s got his hands on him too quickly. He doesn’t even pause to use magic, just starts striking, and Mateos yelps as Marvin rains a barrage of punches down on him, and then, when his hand flies out, Marvin bites him, hard.

Jackie’s cradling his injured hand, but he gets back on his knees and tries to grab Mateos’s knife. There’s a moment where all three of them are grappling with it, and it gives a lurch of power, leaping up to cut someone - all you see is the dribble of blood that comes down, but neither yells aloud.

“Truss him up like you did with Creighton,” Jackie calls. “With your vines.”

“Trying,” Marvin pants. “Just working through - a pretty vivid hallucination - of you dying.”

“What? I’m right here, Marvin, I’m right here. I’m okay.”

Marvin sobs and laughs at the same time, eyes burning with blue light.

Henrik’s laid out on the floor at Cedar’s feet, grabbing his head.

“So, you wanted catharsis?” someone asks him, and he can’t tell if it’s Cedar or Anti. “Pretty stupid for a genius. You’ll never get it, Henrik. You’ll never get the chance to kill the monster. You just have to live with his memory.”

He’s locked in a closet. He’s wrapped up in barbed wire. He groans aloud.

Cedar leaves Henrik there, stepping over him and towards Jameson and Adrienne.

Anonymous asked:

You can do this everyone. I believe in you. Quintrell tell him about the damage he’s done. JJ can show him how bad it could get. Communicate to the lost part of him that was horrified by what he did.

Jameson and Adrienne seem unaware of everything else, just for a moment, as words pass between them without either of them speaking or signing one. It leaves JJ flushed red and Adrienne bright-eyed and hopeful, and when she reaches out to touch the wall of the cell that they’re in, it disappears, and they’re in the hallway again, still together. She turns to her brother and sees Henrik left behind him.

“Cedar, you don’t have to fight,” she says. “Creighton’s done for, we’ve got him dead to rights. You don’t have to be his slave anymore. It can just be over. We can both start over!”

Cedar looks panicked as Mateos is subdued in the corner, but she calls to him again before he can intervene.

“You don’t have to hurt people anymore.”

“We’re better than people,” Cedar snarls. “We’re more than other people - more important, more powerful. There’s nothing wrong - ”

“You know there’s lots wrong,” she says. “You’ve always known that.”

“Creighton has taken care of us - ”

“When was the last time he even said a kind word to you?” she shouts. “He treats you like a weapon, Cedar, don’t be his anymore. It can stop, we can go home, Jameson won’t retaliate against you. Cedar! It was Creighton all along. Our parents - he wanted control over you, when your power emerged. It was always Creighton.”

Cedar looks struck in the face for a second, but he’s denying it just as quickly. “Is that what you think? Adrienne, fuck! It’s not true, he wouldn’t.”

“You’ve never seen him do worse?”

“Just stop talking!” Cedar cries. “You shouldn’t have done this, what will we do without him, what will we do? If he wasn’t right, then what have I been doing? Just stop talking!”

“Cedar!”

“I said shut up!”

And Adrienne, for the first time in her life, feels her brother use her power on her. She falls back, covering her mouth, unable to make herself speak.

It’s only now that Jameson lets go of her arm and stands in front of her, eyes alight.

“Don’t try anything,” Cedar snarls. “Sit down.”

JJ winces and nearly falls to the floor, but he manages to stay upright. Cedar’s expression only darkens. “You want to try that again? You want to fight me? There’s no one alive who’s ever been able to. I’ll make you cut your brothers up the same way you cut up everyone else, you fucking - ”

A gunshot goes off like a dozen cars backfiring at once, and Cedar screams like a wounded animal.

Henrik pants from his position on the ground as Cedar crumples. “Memories,” he growls. “Now live with the memory of me in your leg for the rest of your life, arschloch.”

Anonymous asked:

cedar you wanna listen to your sister maybe???

It’s Cedar’s turn to writhe on the floor, sobbing and gripping at his ankle as the blood starts to flood. Adrienne makes a noise, but still can’t seem to speak, and she doesn’t rush forward to help him, either.

“No, no,” Cedar screeches. “It’s all coming apart, everything. I want to go home. I’ve been good, why are you punishing me when I’ve been good? I do everything I’m told. This isn’t happening!”

Anonymous asked:

Fuck yes Henrik, man you deserve to take down at least one monster. Live with that memory, Cedar. Learn something from it. You are not invincible, you are human just the same.

“Yeah, how’s that for catharsis?” Henrik hisses.

He’s shaking hard. He can still feel the wire in his face, his scars aching, but fuck it. He survived it once. He pulls himself to his feet, the gun still clenched in his hands.

“You try that again and I’ll kill you,” Cedar rages, staring up at Henrik with pure hatred in his face. “Stay away from me!”

With the full force of his power, Henrik turns ashen and steps back against his will, shaking his head.

“Why don’t you point that in the other direction?” Cedar hisses, and Henrik’s mouth parts in a silent gasp, the gun shaking in his hand.

Jameson kicks Cedar directly in the head, shattering his concentration in half.

Henrik’s able to stop, but instead of pointing the gun at himself, he drops it. Without the safety on, it goes off again, and somebody screams, but the bullet impacts the wall. Henrik falls to his knees in shock, grabbing his chest.

Anonymous asked:

oh my god guys. alright this is going.... great

henrik are you okay

cedar just. stop for like 5 seconds man. there's really not much more that you can do right now

-🪷

Henrik is tracing the trajectory of his gun with his eyes, following it to the impact spot in the wall, only a couple feet from Jackie and Marvin. They’ve managed to knock out Mateos - don’t look too closely, because they might have strangled him a little gruesomely - and now Marvin’s shaking against Jackie’s side, holding on to his brother.

“I’m good,” Henrik manages. “JJ… would have… would have reversed something bad anyway. Right? Fuck.”

Jameson pins Cedar to the ground, pressing him down hard, his eyes full of warning. Adrienne comes to stand tentatively over them, touching JJ’s shoulder. Cedar’s still cringing and showing his teeth, but getting kicked in the head and shot can start to weigh on anybody’s passion.

“It’s okay, C, it’s okay,” Adrienne says breathlessly. “Stop trying to command them or we’ll have to stop you, do you understand? What were you thinking, you could have killed him…”

scunneredzombie asked:

Cedar, if you can see this then listen. You need to listen to your sister. I think you know, even just a bit, that you have been groomed into this role, into this hate. He killed your parents in order to make you his and he’s been controlling you since. You used your power on your sister, Cedar. You are acting like a monster. But you are only a monster on behalf of another person. You need to make a choice here - do you love your abuser more than your sister? Does your sister matter enough to change yourself? That’s your family, Quintrell is your family. Creighton is the killer of your parents and abuser of your sister.

“What, you think I’ve been here secretly b-beating myself up over everything I’ve done?” Cedar wheezes, eyes rolling as he looks around at all of them, at you. “You think I haven’t enjoyed it? You’ve never had the high of being able to make everyone around you do exactly what you want. Creighton’s trained me. I don’t care if you think I’m a weapon - what I am really is a god, and everyone else is an ant.

"Creighton didn’t kill our parents, Adrienne. He found the people who killed our parents, and he sent me out after them. If that’s why you turned on him, you can still un - un - ” He groans around the pain in his leg, tears leaking out of his eyes. “Can still undo this. Our parents were loyal to the society, and outsiders - like this fucking corrupted changeling you’re letting cling to you - they’re the ones who attacked them. They’re the ones who have always wanted to hurt us. I have tracked, commanded, and tortured those outsiders every chance Creighton gave me - and loved every minute of it.”

Adrienne’s shaking her head at him, her fingers wrapped around JJ’s shoulder. She looks at Marvin for a second, eyes huge - but he looks back at her and nods back at her brother, directing her down to him again. She breathes in deep.

“If he told you that, he lied. He always wanted your power on his side. You know him better than I do, Cedar. You know what he’s capable of. And I know you have had doubts, ones you’ve whispered to me where he couldn’t hear. I know you’ve looked away when he’s hurt me, because you couldn’t stand it. I know you’ve tried to get away with not doing things he’s told you to do it. We can find a better way, Cedar, really. It’s not over. You don’t have to be this way. You could have some peace.”

Cedar licks at his mouth, face getting paler. “There’s no such thing as peace.”

Adrienne sets her mouth and turns to JJ. “Go ahead,” she signs at him. “Please.”

From the way he looks back up at her, she thinks he sees her too.

Anonymous asked:

You sound like a bigot Cedar. That’s what this cult is. Bigotry and hatred. ‘Outsiders’ don’t exist, every single individual person you’ve hurt was a person just like you, like it or not. He’s made you into a real dickhead, bud.

“So, what, then?” Cedar pants. “You can’t take my views, can’t admit that there are people in the world who are just better than others, so you’re going to kill me? Adrienne, you’re going to let him kill me?”

It would be more demanding if his voice didn’t break. She shakes her head at him. “They’re right. This isn’t who you are. But - no. I’m not going to kill you. I would never want to kill you. You’re my brother.”

He looks at her in astonishment, still losing tears to the pain and the terror of the situation. “Don’t let them hurt me, Adrienne.”

“He’s not a corruption, Cedar. He’s an antiseptic.”

JJ’s eyebrows shoot up for a second, but he lets it be.

the-earnest-system asked:

Chase was able to fight him too, though I guess now that technically never happened. You’re all used to fighting off mind magic, he’s never dealt with that before, apparently. He’s got nothing on you

“Get off me,” Cedar tries.

“Dude,” warns Jackie loudly. “I’ll do worse things than kick you in the skull if you try and tell my brothers what to do.”

JJ throws his head for a second, taking in a deep breath. It seems like a moot point - Jameson won’t listen to him. You’re right, of course. They’ve had practice in resistance. It brings back terrible memories, but… that’s all they are. Memories. And JJ’s the one who’s in charge of those, not Cedar.

Anonymous asked:

Ok, ok, things getting calmer. A, does Cedar still need to be able to talk, or can we gag him while you talk or something? For everyone's safety?

Henrik’s already pulling the first aid kit out of JJ’s bag, which is nice of him until he wraps the gauze around Cedar’s mouth. “Should I wrap his leg now?” he asks, without enthusiasm.

“Give him a moment,” Adrienne says. Henrik steps back.

Adrienne sinks to her knees beside Cedar, her hand staying on JJ’s arm.

“Baby, what are you planning?” calls Marvin anxiously, getting to his feet. “Be careful. Timeline stuff - it’s dangerous, and you’ll exhaust yourself worse. Are you sure this is what you have to do?”

JJ smiles up at his brother - and winks with a silver eye.

Anonymous asked:

Paths like this will lead to magical fascism, and this way of thinking will lead to never ending pain for you and all the innocent blood you take - People who wanted nothing but a home, people with the human right to safety. Cedar this mindset will only lead to pain. You will never have peace if you continue to do this. Quintrell is offering you a chance at peace. Appreciate it. I hope Jameson shows you how much you are fucking up.

It’s several minutes later that Cedar is crying on the floor in his sister’s arms, turned completely away from you and buried in her stomach. Henrik finishes wrapping his leg grimly, cleaning blood up with a wipe.

“Think he learned his lesson about magical fascism?” he asks.

Adrienne looks up at him, slightly dazed herself, and definitely exhausted. After a moment, she nods. Henrik squeezes her arm warmly. “Then he could still find that peace you were talking about.”

Jackie and Marvin are tending to JJ in the room the hall leads to, having set him in a big armchair that is now stained with the blood running from his nose. Jackie’s holding a tissue up, helping him stem the flow, while Marvin sets a glass of water down beside him and touches his leg. “Going to be okay, there, kiddo?”

JJ nods, sighing out.

“It really did turn out to be that fucked up,” Marvin murmurs, glancing back down the hall at Cedar, Adrienne, and Schneep. “Like, at first I figured, okay, typical British white people shit. But that… the cameras are right, this was some serious cult hatred, and Creighton was older. He could have been doing this a long time, and no one was able to stop him. Except you, I guess.”

Marvin looks back at his little brother. “You’ve known about this for a long time, huh?”

Jameson nods again, holding his hands up in a shrug.

“How long have you been working on this plan of yours?”

“Months… well, for years I’ve been thinking about it. But it took me a long time to get to a place of stability. It was just so horrible to know it was going on and, like you said, there wasn’t anyone able to stand up to him alone. I just was able to find all the right people to help me.”

“JJ,” says Jackie, wiping at his nose. “Why didn’t you tell us?”

He looks up at them guiltily, twisting his hands together for a moment. “Look… I needed to do this alone. And I know that you think that’s stupid, but - well, Marvin did it, didn’t he? When we first got free, and you were having a hard time - you left us all and found the Lapwings. And that’s - that’s part of your purpose now, being a part of the magical order in your country. Helping lead it, repair it, make it better. I know you guys worry about me quitting jobs so much, but I just didn’t have any feeling of purpose there. And the organization that helps me get jobs is great, but so many of the people I work with will always just know me and treat me as the psycho who can’t talk, and who gets to work here for the tax break.”

“JJ,” warns Marvin softly. “Let’s be nice to ourselves.”

“I know, but I just - there was a problem and I needed to fix it. And I didn’t want to do it with your help, I’m sorry. I wanted you to see me as a leader. As a man. I can be capable too.”

Marvin looks stricken. “Of course you can. Have we made you feel - ”

“You guys have all gotten so much better about it,” JJ cuts him off. “But I have lived for a long time with that feeling that I can’t do it alone, and I… I needed to set this up myself. And I did bring you in when I needed you, you can’t be mad!”

Marvin looks like he could, in fact, be mad, but he deflates instead, reaching out to cup his brother’s face for a second. Jackie pats his head like he’s a cat.

“I think you were kick-ass today, James,” he says. “And if you do decide to lead this order, I think you’ll be a great leader. I can respect you as an adult, but you are also, permanently, my babiest brother.”

“Oh, joy.”

Jackie starts kissing his head exaggeratedly, and JJ shoots you a look of exasperation. Marvin grins and lets him go. “I’m going to go get Max and Chase, and bring that fucker Mateos downstairs to the cells.”

“Have Henrik wrap up that cut first,” Jackie tells him.

Marvin covers the scratch down the side of his chest, having torn through his shirt. “It’s not so bad.”

“Henrik, go, now,” says Jackie firmly. “There, see? No matter how adult you are, I still get to boss you around sometimes.”

Anonymous asked:

We're with you, Jameson!!

“Thank you for that,” JJ signs, as Jackie releases his nose and sits down beside him. “For being here, just because I called. It means a lot. And now, I do want to lead here. Marvin is right. This should never have been allowed to happen in the first place. There was no oversight from anyone outside, and when the ‘outsiders’ were mistreated, they had no one to complain to. I think it’s time that we start talking about communication and unity internationally for magical orders. Marvin will help me establish a relationship between England and Ireland - I know, who would have thought? - and then I want to spread. Even in Singapore, when Anti attacked and killed so many there - we should all care about each other as magicians. There’s so few of us in the whole of the planet. These tiny groups with powerful leaders are dangerous. We’ll make change.”

“And Mateos?” Jackie knocks his head at him. “I’m concerned you can’t keep him permanently in a cell.”

“No. I believe he’ll run into trouble with the law as well from the evidence I’m compiling, but he will have to be dealt with on our terms. When I’ve got my strength back, I’ll offer him timelines too. He can go home to his wife and kids if he likes, but if he causes me trouble, I’ll make sure he knows what I can do to him.”

scunneredzombie asked:

You all did so well at this. JJ you’re the best person I could think of to lead! I know you feel that everyone still sees you as weak and small - as all the stuff Anti ever called you. But I hope you can see how powerful you are & always have been through leading. You’re really badass Jay, and you’re so amazing as a free man!

JJ lights up, a shy dusting of pink coloring his face. Jackie looks down at him proudly for a moment, clucking his chin. “Hey. You know that even if you never did a bunch of bad-ass magical shit or lead a country of sorcerers, you still wouldn’t have been weak or small, right?”

JJ smiles wearily. “Yeah.”

“Even if you did just work at that aquarium for the rest of your life, or if you couldn’t work, and we put you back on disability, that’d be okay.”

“I know, Jackie.”

“And if you have a problem here, Jamie - if your psychosis becomes a problem or if there’s just anything you need - you can ask for help, or you can quit and come home, or anything, and you’ll still be an adult, okay? Same grace you give Henrik when he can’t work.”

JJ waters up for a second, biting his mouth. “Okay, Jackie.”

“I know you can do it. But it’s okay if you don’t, too. That’s all. Okay, give me a hug.”

JJ complies, and they wrap together. Jackie murmurs something to him and rocks him for a moment, holding his head.

“And now, my wrist is really annoying me, so if you don’t mind, I’m going to go sprint in a couple circles of the building before I start screaming.”

“As you do.”

scunneredzombie asked:

Check in real quick, how is everyone and who has what injury?

Max and Chase come rushing up the stairs moments later, with much the same questions. Chase’s face is dark red with crying, and his mouth starts trembling again the moment he sees his twin narrowly skirting a pool of blood.

“Schneep!”

“Chase, why are you crying?” Marvin asks.

Chase nearly starts again. “I’m so sorry, I should have gone with you - I heard the gunshots and thought - I should never have left you alone, I - ”

Henrik gets up to hug him, patting his back. “We’re okay. Only bad guy got shot. And for good reason.”

“Are you sure? You’re shaking.”

Henrik just clutches him harder, shaking his head. “Don’t ask me now or I’ll get stuck.”

It’s what they call it when Henrik stops talking or responding. Although it’s been progressively less frequent since he first came out of the fugue he was in after Anti’s torture, it still happens.

“Marvin, you alright?” Max asks, a little harried.

Marvin looks tired, too. “He scraped my chest up pretty good. I really think it could have been worse, though. We all had visions, but he didn’t command me and Jackie to do anything.”

“And Jackie, he’s - ”

Jackie goes racing past them. “Hi, tiger!”

“He’s good.”

“Yeah, just double-hurt his arm.”

“Oh, great, he won’t be jittery at all for the rest of the week.”

“Pretty sure he’s going to crash for - ”

“About three days? Yeah, we’re going to have a lot of cozy time in bed after this.” Max winks at Marvin. “Hey, I can take care of him too.”

“Oh, you had to prove that before I let him move in, don’t forget.” Marvin shrugs at the cameras. “Jackie’s independent too, but if you think I was going to let him move in with someone who doesn’t even give him a weighted blanket when he’s melting down, you must take me for a fool.”

Adrienne is helping Cedar up onto one foot, and they all pull back in surprise, but Cedar doesn’t try anything. His face is dull and tormented, his eyes fixed on the floor. Instead of tall, he just looks gangly now, and younger, but weighed down.

“Just going to sit him down,” she says. “We’ll get a cab and go home to my apartment. Couldn’t bear to stay in this place.”

“Are you alright, Quintrell?” asks Chase.

She smiles tightly. “Mind your damn business.”

Chase cracks up, shaking his head. “Fine, whatever. Take care of yourself. We can stay in touch, can’t we?”

“Don’t see why we would,” she says. ���But I guess maybe sometime, if you’re in town, we could meet up.”

“Sure thing,” says Marvin, amused. “Hey, uh, I’ve still got your…”

“Keep it,” she says wearily. “I don’t want to ever see it again. And, um… thank you all… very much. I wanted to do this for so long, but I never would have been able to, without…”

She glances at JJ down the hall. “Without all of you. Thank you. For giving my brother back to me, and setting me free.”

scunneredzombie asked:

Jackie mentioned food before this - And I think you all deserve the biggest greasiest take out meal you can order

“So,” calls Adrienne, and they all turn to see her translating for JJ. “He says he didn’t want to be too demanding socially or whatever, but just in case everything turned out okay, he did reserve a whole rooftop at a restaurant near Max and Jackie’s.”

Marvin cracks up. “A restaurant while we’re all looking like this?”

“Who’s going to stop us?” Chase grins. “We can cover up the blood.”

“He says you really don’t have to if you’re just tired or want to crash,” Adrienne adds. “He was just trying to think of ways to end the day nicely, if things went okay. You can definitely get something to go if you prefer.”

“Jackie!” shouts Max.

Jackie comes running up to him again, panting. “What?”

“JJ got us a private place at a restaurant, but he says we don’t have to go. You want to go home and get take-out or do you want the restaurant?”

“What kind of restaurant?”

Adrienne looks at JJ. “Indian food?”

“Yes!” shouts Jackie, so loudly Chase winces. “Unironically, not joking because my husband’s Indian, that’s the BEST FOOD EVER. Do you think Anti ever got me naan?”

“I will get you all the naan you want,” Max offers.

“If it’s private, let’s fucking do it.”

“I’d be up for it,” says Marvin. “Actually, I was going to ask if we can all kind of stick together tonight anyway. I’m, um. I’m kind of shaken up. Max and Jackie, do you think…?”

“We’ll stay in the guest room,” says Jackie, wrapping his arm around Max’s waist. “We can all take care of each other tonight.”

“Thank the Lord, I’m not ready to think about anything,” sighs Henrik. “Let’s go get food.”

“As long as you let JJ pay for it, he says!” Adrienne calls.

Jackie squints. “We’ll have that argument when the bill comes.”

Anonymous asked:

'Ey Quin, in all seriousness, you've got some people here who have some experience in some of what you and your brother are going through. Keep brushing off as you'd like, but they (and us, if we're on!) can be a resource. Take care of yourself!

And goes double for the boys, well done! Time to also take care of yourselves!

Max, Jackie, Chase, Marvin, and Schneep meet JJ, Adrienne, and Cedar in the hallway. JJ grins up at them. “Will you guys wait for the car upstairs? We’re going to have our first meeting of the British magical society for, oh, five minutes.”

“Top secret,” Adrienne agrees.

“Yeah, I need the sun on my face,” agrees Jackie, already moving past. Chase pauses to touch JJ’s shoulder fondly, and then all five of them give them their space.

Cedar’s slumped back in another armchair with his eyes closed and his foot suspended. Adrienne turns to JJ, suddenly looking on the verge of collapse.

He smiles back at her softly, just as tired.

“Going to be okay tonight?” he signs.

She closes her eyes and breathes in, out, in, out.

“Tonight,” she whispers. “I’m going to feel every feeling it is possible for a human being to feel, and then five more.”

He laughs. “Are you sure you don’t want to stay with us?”

“Oh, I couldn’t force you all and him into the same space again, and I won’t leave him until he’s… himself again.”

“The others are right, that’s all. You’re not alone in this. Even the most ridiculous parts of it.”

“Right.” It’s her turn to laugh. “Yes, I… I saw.”

There’s a moment of stillness between them before JJ lifts his hands to sign again. “You know, even my brothers don’t know the full extent of the things I went through with Anti. You’ve seen a lot today that I never told you about. If you don’t want to see me again, I’ll understand.”

“Jameson,” she breathes out.

At this point, you’re pretty sure they might have forgotten that Marvin left a camera next to the armchair where he’s sitting.

“I did see a lot, and I also saw… every moment you fought. And everything you’ve done to fight since. And…”

She pauses herself, eyes watering, covering her mouth. She almost retreats from it, for a second, her expression damming up, but then she lets it go again, looking at him with big eyes.

“I happen to think you’re incredible,” she whispers, and he starts turning pink again, looking down at his lap. “And I hope Cedar can be like you now. Can recover. Can be better. But even when you were with your monster, you never hated anyone the way Cedar does, and I - I just think - ”

His hand reaches out, and she takes it. For the second time tonight, she looks up at him with gold eyes, and they communicate without words.

She breathes in. So does he. They breathe out together.

“That, um, file,” she says.

JJ blinks.

“You asked about it. I know where it is. Let me grab it real quick. Come on, you can just wait here.”

She brings him outside a room and leaves him by the door while she steps inside, both of them out of Cedar’s view for a moment. She re-emerges with a stack of papers for him, and he puts them in his backpack without looking at them. They look at each other for a moment, and he brings his hands up again.

“I don’t mean to overwhelm you, when you’ve had too much to think about tonight already,” he says. “But, I happen to think you’re incredible too - ”

It makes her smile, and then frown because she smiled, and then smile again. “Jackass,” she whispers.

He laughs and presses on, stepping a little closer to her. “Adrienne, do this with me. I need a translator, but you know this society too, and you understand so much that I don’t, and I… need your help the way you needed mine to do this.”

“You’d really like me to lead with you? I’ve been in this order since I was a kid and nobody ever gave me responsibility.”

“That’s just because Creighton was scared of you.”

She looks lighter now, smiling at him. “Okay. I’ll think about it.”

“Good,” he says. “I didn’t want you to feel like I only cared about one thing.”

“What thing?”

Jameson pushes her back against the wall and kisses her, and she grabs him by the hair, and they both wrap together like one person, just for a moment, suspended in time.

yayyyy okay so I will just leave that there for tonight and then tomorrow or this week (I have Memorial Day off so probably tomorrow) the brothers and Max will all go have a lot of naan and talk and take care of each other. so that will be the last scene, but there should be time for wrapping up lots of different things, and it can last as long as we still have questions or things to talk about with them.

thank you so much for today! It was definitely the hardest section to write because I was worried about the mind stuff being tricky, and I might have had to really torture the boys there, but I think everyone kept a level head and things were resolved about as neatly as they could have been. I hope you enjoyed.

Anonymous asked:

(Yaaaay also, thank you Bee!! I can imagine it being a hard section to write, so much of it was in the boys' heads and also from an outside perspective, but it went really well and was awesome to read and be a part of!! Looking forward to cooldown time and naan and samosas for the boys :) )

thank you!! glad it was fun! It helps a lot that this audience feels very low pressure so I appreciate that. I wish there was good Indian food in my town so I could actually eat Indian food while writing about them eating Indian food lol. highly recommend for anyone else

Anonymous asked:

I’m really proud of all of you. Definitely crash for a week after this, a lot of triggering stuff happened.

“It was awesome, Max, he totally threw Schneep down and I was too busy with the other guy to get up and kick his ass, but he started going after JJ and Henrik just pushed himself up and shot him, just no remorse, he’s always been that way - ”

“Jackie, sh, there is a cab driver. And be gentle with your wrist!”

“Marvin hasn’t used his powers like that probably all year, have you, Marv? Oh, what’s wrong?”

Marvin leans against the window, turned away from Jackie and Max, holding his head. The adrenaline’s wearing off, leaving him feeling a little sick.

“Marvin?”

“M'fine,” he manages.

“Are you lying?”

“A little.”

Jackie quiets and looks at Max, who shrugs back at him.

“Still want to go to dinner?”

“Yeah,” Marvin croaks. “That’s all I want, some food and a drink.”

“Okay, honey.”

Marvin smiles faintly. He always calls Jackie honey when he’s overwhelmed. He’s glad they all got tangled up in this together, at least.

JJ’s in another car with Chase and Henrik - they decided not to risk public transport a second time. “Should I not have dragged you all into this?” he asks eventually.

They look at him from either side. “Course you should have,” says Chase. “We’d all walk through fire for you.”

“And we knew we didn’t have to come along to any part of it we didn’t choose to,” Henrik adds. “We’re glad you’re safe, James.”

JJ puts his head down on Chase’s shoulder and closes his eyes til they get to the restaurant.

scunneredzombie asked:

Lots of adrenaline going on for sure back there. Food and drink will help you calm down & recharge, but then all of you remember to rest and take a few days off work. Some of you seem a little retraumatized by the sudden extreme danger, so make sure your brains get reminded that you’re safe!

The rooftop of the restaurant is cool and lit with strings of bright gold light, like a chain of fireflies in the darkening air. Their server is swift, unobtrusive, and decidedly amused by Jackie practicing his Hindi with him. Pretty soon they’ve got drinks fizzing with ice and steaming hot plates of food spicy enough to distract them from just about anything. Jackie’s buzzing, JJ’s pre-occupied, Max is content, and Marvin’s trying to maintain an acceptable volume level for everyone while Henrik and Chase chatter to each other at the end of the table.

“What did you show that guy anyway, JJ?” Marvin asks.

Jameson looks up at him, sticking a samosa in his mouth. Some of the crumbs fall into his beard and he brushes at it before replying.

“Ghost of Christmas Future,” he offers, and Marvin laughs. “A little of what could happen on his current trajectory, a little of what could happen if he went home with his sister… but then I was just thinking about their parents, and… I saw this timeline where they hadn’t been killed. Just for a minute, I pulled them both over there. And they were able to hug their Mum and Dad one more time. See that they were proud of them, that they never wanted them to become like Creighton, that they would have helped Adrienne to make positive changes. That they would have helped Cedar to be… not a monster, and just their son.”

“Shit, Jay,” murmurs Marvin, glancing at him askew. “That’s… quite a gift. The sort of thing that can really change people’s lives.”

Jameson shakes his head slowly, sighing out. “But will they ask me again, someday, and I’ll have to explain that it’s too dangerous, and that it takes too much out of me? Will they spend time, now, wondering about what could have been, instead of what is? And what if I had snapped something on accident?”

He’s quiet for a moment, and Marvin watches him muse, spinning his straw around his drink.

“Marvin?”

“Yes?”

“Do you… remember anything about that spell Anti did to you in Colombia?”

Marvin’s face falls instantly, drawing back from the table. “Don’t ask me about that.”

JJ’s mouth pinches and he shakes his head. “Sorry.”

“Why?”

“I’ve been thinking lately that maybe this is… too much for me. For one person. Too much power.”

He looks down at his hands, and then away again, shaking his head.

scunneredzombie asked:

What do you mean, JJ? That spell could have killed him so I don’t think doing magic like that would be any sort of good…

“Yeah, that shit was fucked,” says Marvin shortly. “I still trace some of my health issues back to that. It couldn’t help with this. And it hurt Anti and me both.”

“I just feel like it might be better if there was some way for me to… siphon some of this off,” JJ says. “I really have done things that have changed the world, and whether or not they were for the best is difficult to say.”

“When you snapped the timeline, you protected Jack from Anti. He was never able to find him again.”

“Yes, and Jack also forgot about us. Even Dark forgot about Anti, who thought of them as an ally and then some. Is that right? I didn’t even do it fully intentionally, I wasn’t even on the right meds then, I - I just wanted something and it happened. It’s too much, Marvin.”

Marvin puffs out a long, slow breath, mulling it over. “Well, darling, I don’t know. We can ask around. Even if you could give some of your power to someone else, though, they wouldn’t be any safer than you.”

He scoots forward to pat his back, trying to grin reassuringly. “You’re a good man and you’re well under control these days. I would be happy to help keep an eye on you. But I really think you might be the safest person in the world to carry this.”

Jameson smiles sadly back and nods. “Thank you. If you could reign me in if I ever needed it, I would feel better.”

“Anything for you, pet.” Marvin steals a forkful of his curry and grins.

scunneredzombie asked:

Is there a reason you feel like you don’t deserve it Jameson? If anyone in the world has to have such a big power, my first choice would be someone like you. You’re so intelligent and kind, so loving with a soulful way of viewing the world despite every bad thing done to you to try and change that. With great power comes great responsibility and all, and you are quite a Peter Parker type.

“Thank you very much,” says JJ, smiling. “That’s sweet of you. It’s more that I’m not sure anyone should have this much power. Feel like I’m carrying the nuclear football.”

“That’s a little dramatic,” says Marvin. “Whether or not you should have it, you do. There’s no getting out of that. The spider bit you whether you like it or not. And you’re handling it just fine. Okay?”

Jameson grins at his plate. “Okay. If you say so.”

“I do. And I’m always right, as we all know.”

Jackie scoffs from the other side of the table. Marvin flashes his grin over to him. “Got something to say, tough guy?”

“You’re so full of it,” says Jackie. “‘Always right,’ my ass.”

“I will fill your chicken with nettles.”

“So, it’s been a full four hours now,” says Chase, checking his watch. “Are we still fighting?”

Henrik tilts his head at him, sighing and slumping back in his chair. “No. Let’s just talk about it.”

“I don’t know, man,” laughs Chase. “I’m not sure I want to hear your opinions on this any more.”

Henrik plays with his glass of water, letting the ice clink. “Even if I admit I might be… a little jealous of Ash?”

Chase lights up, shaking his head at him. “You bastard. Only took you about two fucking years. Dude, I make lots of time for you, don’t I? I just - ”

“It’s not that,” Henrik holds up his hand to pause him. “It’s not because she gets your time or your focus or already knows what you like as well as you do. It’s because she’s what I said - she’s normal, and I’m never going to be. Hearing Cedar talk about outsiders - I guess I learned that from Anti, that outside people weren’t safe. That normal people are boring and can’t understand us, and we need to keep our distance. And that’s what I’ve done. I’ve spent the time since we got away from Anti just… trapping myself in the house. Like you said, in my safety bubble.”

Chase groans. “No, Schneep, I - I shouldn’t have said what I said. I should have supported you when you said you wanted to go to Peru. Of course you have to do that, and if you can get out of that bubble, that’s great! The truth is, I’ve been, uh. Feeling sensitive about Ash because… last month, Stacy gave me my wedding ring back, and now I’ve been thinking about the future a lot. And how you don’t like her, and maybe that means I should end things. You do know me better than anyone. And if you’re going away for six whole months… what if you’re not here to help me figure out what I want?”

Henrik looks at him, aghast. “No, I… I just wish I… I wish I could be a normal person, that’s all. You can decide things yourself.”

“I don’t want you to be anything other than who you are. And I don’t know, can I? I’ve made some terrible fucking decisions about girlfriends and friends in the past. Sometimes, I only feel safe at home too.”

scunneredzombie asked:

You can make your own decisions Chase. Taking away all your own choice is how Anti abused you, he wanted you to feel helpless. Every decision you make for yourself and every way you be your own person is a victory over that abuse.

“Chase,” calls Jackie. “Give me more rice.”

“Come here and get it, dork,” Chase taunts. Jackie comes over to them and steals the rice perfunctorily, pretending for a moment that he’s going to shove Chase’s face into it.

“What are you guys talking about?” Jackie asks, peering at the cameras. “Making choices.”

“Yeah, talking about girls and international volunteer work,” says Chase. “You know, the usual. I want to be able to make my own choices, just… I get nervous. Doesn’t everyone?”

“How’d you decide you were ready to marry Max, Jackie?” asks Henrik, setting his chin in his hand.

“Wanted to. Never wanted anybody else. Knew he wanted to, too. Had the rings already, easy. Easy decision. He’s good to me, I’m good to him, we like to sleep in the same bed. It’s harder now, though. It’s almost like bigger decisions after you get married.”

“Like what?” asks Chase. “You guys still thinking about moving to London?”

Jackie frowns. “I’m not supposed to talk about it because it’s personal. He knows I overshare everything else.”

Chase and Henrik laugh.

Jackie looks back at Max, and Max is smiling at him fondly, eyebrows pressed slightly together.

Anonymous asked:

You did well today everyone. I hope the food is good.

Do you think Henrik going to Peru is going to happen? I hope you two feel a little better about it, as hard as it will be. I really think getting out and fixing people up again will be really good for you Schneep. Avoidance seems to be your brain’s response to distress or triggers, so working through that by being out and helping others is a good idea.

“Yeah, I avoid,” Schneep mumbles, picking at his food. “I avoid and hide in my room, and then everybody worries I’m depressed and makes me pancakes.”

“I make pancakes when you’re happy too,” Chase protests.

Henrik chuckles. “Look. Ever since you got the job in town, I’ve wanted to be there with you. To get my credentials back in order and be able to go be your doctor again, because I know it’s what you wanted. But I am not up for that, and I don’t know if I ever will be. I think I need to go to Peru, to be with people who aren’t my siblings, but who understand some of what I’ve been through. Who can help put me out in the world again. Help me help other people. I’m just… really, truly sorry I haven’t been able to be there with you at work.”

Chase nods, looking away. “You know, Schneep, when I first started working, you still weren’t able to leave the house at all, really. I honestly thought, at the time, that you would never work in medicine again, maybe never work at all. And I think I got too excited when you did start working from home. I’m really proud of you for the work you’re already doing. And I’ll be really proud if you go to Peru too.”

Henrik sighs out, rubbing at his head. “Thank you. I just want to be on the same page as you again.”

“We can be on the same page. We can text everyday, like the cameras said. Maybe I can come out with you for the first week, what do you think?”

“Would you really?”

“I’d love it, Henrik.”

Schneep gets up to hug him, pulling them into each other, where they fit together just right. “You’re sweet, thank you. I love you.”

“I love you too, zwilling. Now good luck telling Jackie.”

“Oh, great.”

scunneredzombie asked:

Are you a little better with food in you, Marvin?

“Yeah, I’ll be fine.”

He sits back, watching the others get engaged in a conversation about pickleball, which, apparently, Chase’s coworkers want him to try. This evolves into complaints about how hot it gets around here, discussion of whether it would be weird to use Marvin’s mirrors to take a whole vacation sometime, and ideas for the fire brigade’s community awareness event, which Jackie is adamantly refusing to help Max plan.

Marvin doesn’t feel like talking.

“Sometimes I really don’t think I’m improving at all,” he mutters to you, taking a long drink. “Sometimes I really don’t.”

scunneredzombie asked:

You are though, Marvin. You aren’t in such a bad way you’re constantly triggered by your family being near you, you’re leading a magical organization, you were brave enough, and had enough healing to, offer to kill someone to spare them what you dealt with. Improvement is not a line, it’s a squiggle, and it’s just as messy as one. You’re happier and more lovely in so many small and big ways, but because you see yourself every day all the improvements are in your blind spots. To us, with such a time jump, it’s very apparent you’re getting better!

Marvin’s face clears a little, shifting in his seat. “Is it?”

He examines himself for a moment. “I know I look better. Not just literally, I present better, I mean. Pretty good about panicking in my room instead of in public. Pretty competent leader. Pretty powerful.”

He slumps again, rubbing his hands together. He lets his fingers grow flowers, blooming into his palms and around his wrists. “Maybe this is just a down day. But I guess there have been some things not going so well lately. Just been tired a lot.”

His brother-in-law is picking his way towards him, evidently having picked up on his mood. “Hey,” Max says. “Doing okay?”

“Fine,” replies Marvin wearily.

“You need to go home?”

“When everybody else does.”

“Jackie thought you maybe saw some bad things, with the magician.”

Marvin drinks again, face darkening a little. “I wish guys were nicer, Max.”

“You don’t have to see that one again, Marvin.”

“Okay. Thank you.”

Anonymous asked:

What did you see Marvin?

“Just - just while we were pinning that jackass down, he was making himself look like Jackie. And I was strangling him. It was hard to distinguish who was who, and - and I could just feel that same itch in my head again, that itch where Anti would get in. How can people be so cruel? Anyone? I always want to believe that Anti was just so otherworldly and plan evil that nobody else could compare. But there are people who do cruel things every day. It’s terrible. How am I supposed to get out of this… fucking cycle of feeling awful when there’s awful people around every day? That whole organization was so twisted. I would never do that to my people. I can’t imagine.”

Max leans down to murmur something to him, rubbing at his shoulder. Marvin just buries himself in his drink, something stronger than soda.

Anonymous asked:

I relate honestly, Marvin. I also feel personally responsible somehow for evil people, and knowing that people are being hurt just like I was every day is horrific. You need to shift your focus smaller, if that makes sense. Focus on your family and community’s safety and joy. Try to be so kind and overflow with so much love to those around you that it makes up for the evil elsewhere. Shine bright enough that those in pain can take shelter and warmth. The cycle will always try to drown you, but if you’re surrounded by love and light and support.. it makes it easier to feel ‘fine’ instead of awful.

“Yeah, that’s right,” Max agrees, sitting down beside him. “You do a lot already, Marvin. You help the magicians in your country out all the time. Aren’t you tutoring like four kids? Only one of them your niece?”

Marvin smiles weakly, nodding his head.

“And now you can help JJ with this other order. So you saw some bad things today, and bad things keep happening in other places. But you do lots of things to put light back in the world too. Even just in this family, you still try so hard to take care of everyone.”

“Anti made that my job,” Marvin whispers.

“No. You did that before Anti. Don’t let him take it from you. Just keep being a light. Not everyone’s cruel.”

Marvin sighs, glancing over at Max. “If I tell you something, can you not tell Jackie?”

Max frowns and looks over at his husband, teasing and grabbing at JJ on the roof, apparently trying to steal his fancy jacket for whatever reason. He looks back at Marvin after a moment. “Just this once, I think.”

“You know that guy I was going out with? Taylor?”

“Yeah, we went to lunch that one time. He seemed cool. Are you getting serious?”

“No.” Marvin clears his throat. “Two weeks ago he punched me in the face.”

Max’s face creases and then stills. You see him stabilize himself, breathe in. Then he reaches out to pull Marvin into his shoulder. “I’m sorry, Marvin.”

Marvin clings to his brother, hiding in his shoulder.

“You didn’t tell anyone?”

He shakes his head against Max’s shirt.

scunneredzombie asked:

Oh Marvin, I’m really sorry. Was it only the punch, has other stuff been going on too? Are you okay/safe?

“He hasn’t bothered me other than that,” Marvin mumbles. “He doesn’t know where I live, of course, because of the whole magic house thing. He threw me to the floor and… yeah. But it didn’t even hurt. The bad part was that I was just Blue, again, in that moment. I didn’t fight him at all. Just laid there until he stopped shouting. And I’m a fucking fire-wielding magician, and I was just - ”

“Marvin, don’t do that.” Max holds him steady, trying to make him meet his eyes. “Don’t ever blame yourself for what he did.”

Marvin shakes his head again, ignoring the others starting to give them looks.

“I didn’t want them to know,” he whispers. “Jackie would be so angry. And I’m so ashamed.”

“There’s nothing - ”

“I know!” Marvin grits his teeth. “Logically, I know, but I still… feel… bad.”

the-earnest-system asked:

Sometimes blaming yourself is easier because the alternative is that something bad happened and it was completely out of your control. Even when you logically know the latter is true

Marvin’s whole face tenses, and his eyes well up. “Fuck. Get me in the jugular, I guess.”

Max laughs weakly and clutches his back, putting one hand in his hair, and for a second Marvin feels totally cradled, like when Jackie used to try and hold him close enough that Anti wouldn’t even see he was there, and they’d hide all night, together.

“It happened and it was bad, and now he can’t touch you,” Max tells him. “Neither can the other magicians, or Anti. It wasn’t anybody’s fault but theirs. And I need you to sit with that truth, okay?”

Marvin whimpers. “Okay.”

“Did you tell your therapist?”

“No.”

“Start there, will you? And maybe think about if you want to tell one of your brothers, in a while, so somebody knows. I don’t want him coming around again.”

“Okay, I’ll think about it,” chokes Marvin.

“What do you need right now?”

Marvin’s eyes flicker around for a moment as he swallows. “I just wanted you to know.”

“I know. The cameras know. Everybody’s just glad you’re safe.”

“Thank you, Max. I think you’re going to be such a good dad.”

It’s Max’s turn to darken, pulling back from Marvin slightly. “He told you?”

“He said he was allowed to tell one person.”

Max is smiling now, despite everything. “I think we’re finally both ready to do it.”

Marvin kisses his cheek. “You are.”

scunneredzombie asked:

You were not Blue, you’re still always you, bud. But your brain did have a major trauma response. It’s called ‘fawning’, and a bit of ‘freeze’ too. Appeasing, surrendering to what they do, appealing to and submitting to the abuse. You learned it was the best way to neutralize danger when you were Blue, and your brain does it in response to any danger now. It’s not your fault and it’s not you being weak at all. It’s the way your mind is protecting itself in the moment.

“Hey.” Chase is coming their way, bringing Marvin another drink. “I just caught the tail end of that, but I do the same thing.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah. I freeze. Half the reason I’m not an ER nurse.”

He leans down to hug Marvin too, because it feels like the kind of night for that. “You okay?”

“Yeah. Do you think we can all just watch movies on the couch tonight? Just together?”

“Course we can.”

Marvin sighs. “How can somebody as powerful as me still freeze up when I could kick the ass of anybody who tried to hurt me?”

“That’s what he taught us, like the cameras said,” shrugs Chase. “But we move forward anyway.”

By the time they’re all done eating, pulling each other into conversations about nothing and screwing around on the roof they have just to themselves, the lights of the city winking around them, it’s started to feel almost like a normal night, and maybe that’s for the best.

Max rubs Jackie’s back as he starts to crash, his head drooping over the table, no longer up for talking at all, but smiling and holding Max’s free hand under the table. Henrik and Marvin are drinking a little too much in one corner, feeling better with a buzz they rarely allow themselves, while Chase shows JJ the latest pics of the kids at the table, picking at the last of the korma set out for them.

“Well, do we head home?” asks Henrik.

“All together,” JJ signs, smiling at his siblings.

“I’ll call a couple cabs yet again,” agrees Max.

“And the cameras?” asks Chase. “Do we… turn them off now?”

Everybody pauses, glancing around at you, and there’s both hesitation and memory there. How many nights have you ended with them, days like this one or even much worse, days when they had nobody else to confide in but each other and the black eye of camera that could talk to them from far away?

“No,” says JJ finally. “We can at least take them back to the house. And when they’re ready, they can… hang up, so to speak. They’ve done a lot for us today. We don’t mind talking a little more. We don’t mind having you back again.”

When they end up strewn about the living room of the magic house, you’re there in the middle of them, watching Fantastic Mr. Fox and listening to them chatter on every side, about nothing, about everything, about the future and the past.

You are welcome to send any asks you like til the weekend, and I’ll wrap things up then or when I feel like everybody’s said everything they want to say. Thanks <3

Anonymous asked:

I hope you do continue to give light Marvin. You shone bright as a star long before Anti, and I can’t see you ever dimming.

Marvin smiles to himself, standing in the kitchen for a moment and looking over his brothers, arranged around on their couches. The house is so full of plant life it seems to breathe with it, the night stars are visible through window on the ceiling, and the cats are slipping through everyone’s legs and rumbling their satisfaction up at them.

“Small confession,” he says. “I was the one who didn’t think it was such a good idea to turn the cameras back on. Sorry. I guess… when we turned you off, I wanted to leave everything Anti in the past. I’ve always done that, trying to push the others to let go of things. And I wanted to let go of you too, because I wanted you to think of me in the sun like I was that day, feeling so much better. I didn’t want you to know that sometimes I still have really hard days. Sometimes I still relapse to bad habits or pick out a guy who treats me like shit because the adrenaline does something to me, I don’t know.

"But I think these days I’m ready to admit that this is going to be a journey I’m on for the rest of my life. Not just recovery, but discovery. Progress and new projects and new insight into myself. It’s hard sometimes, but I do want to keep shining. And I’m never alone, because… they’re here, growing with me.”

He gives you a soft smile in the dark of the kitchen, the TV light illuminating him in white, just for a moment.

“And a group of strangers across the world, who cared about us when no one did - and still do, inexplicably, impossibly, wonderfully. Thank you, for that. For everything. It was nice to reconnect. Now I’ll think of you all too, wherever you are - shining your light to the people around you, helping out somebody in need, with your great capacity to care for someone just because you never want anyone to feel alone. I see you, starlight.”

Anonymous asked:

Hey Henrik, I hope you know how loved you are. I hope you know that these dorks would love you just as much if you were still hiding with dissociation, love you just as much if you could never work, just as much if your recovery takes longer on your journey. I know being ace and feeling unloved for so long probably combine in nasty ways, it did for me. Its isolating, scary. But you haven’t been alone this whole time. Your story isn’t a love story, but there’s love in it, on every page. I really hope you make some friends and get a piece of yourself back on that mountain. You deserve to know how spectacular you are again. Dok needed to forget for survival, but I hope you, Henrik, love yourself so much Chase teases you for your ego for the rest of your life. &lt;3

Henrik’s curled up in blankets in their loveseat, petting Noodle heavily, making him vibrate with satisfaction. Henrik stares down at their cat for a moment before smiling up at you, eyes soft.

“Yeah,” he says quietly. “I do sometimes wonder if they’ll all get married someday and then I won’t be as important to anyone. But things change, and change, and change, and still… they take the time to care for me. To love me. To tell me I’m important. I will never be alone. I will be brother, uncle, friend. My family expands, I fear the changes - and then there are just more people to love, who love me back, who are a part of me, and I a part of them.

"And I do hope to make friends. I - I plan to make friends. I will. I’m tired of hiding away. No more doom and gloom. I’m ready to be in the sun again.”

He pauses, tilts his head, squints. “Although, with lots of sunscreen. Peru is right on the equator, and I am very white.”

scunneredzombie asked:

Thank you for letting us see you again, you are all so beautiful and doing so good. Even in the dark times there will be singing… Even when you’re having lows and hurting, you’ve all grown so much and found pieces of you that were taken. When I look at you, I only see Jackie, Marvin, Chase, Henrik, and Jameson - the things Anti tried to make you into never mattered. Your brains made you shelters and safeguards under those names, sure, but not a single one of you ‘died’. You’ve always been you, just you. And I’m very glad you have the safety to be yourselves freely now!

Everybody’s about fallen asleep by the time JJ gets up and grabs his backpack, signing something about going to put on pajamas. As he rises, he glances around, grinning at Jackie half-buried against Max’s chest, Chase and Marvin covered in popcorn bits from the war they started over the remote, and Henrik drowsily petting Noodle. They’re all bandaged up now, tired and sore, but full, cozy, together.

No, they did not die. Here they are. And JJ, who has caught glimpses of other possibilities in dreams, in fragments, he knows that that is a lucky thing, a beautiful thing - and that you were a great part of it. It’s why he couldn’t leave you behind today. They were created under your gaze. Shouldn’t you witness every rebirth?

Jameson wanders back to his room, putting down his pack and beginning to take out the things he brought: a well-used medical kit, snacks, an extra camera, an old gold knife once melted down to the hilt, and that file that Quintrell gave him, marked with the symbol for the British Magical Order. He pauses to open the file, glancing through it and setting it down on his desk, only then remembering that your camera is still there, looking at him.

“Ah,” he says. “You’ve caught my last mystery. But that we must save for another time. It will take a lot of discussion between all of us to decide what to do. If you see him, though, say hi to him, okay? Being able to keep him safe was the greatest thing I ever did - but I took his creations from him, too, and the more time goes on, the more I begin to feel it must be remedied.”

The first page inside the folder has a familiar face smiling at you, marked at the top with the words “Class Twelve Magician - Non-Native Resident - UNAWARE, DO NOT ENGAGE.”

Beneath it is Sean’s name and contact information, including an address in Brighton, just a mirror’s journey away.

“That will have to be all for now, my friends,” Jameson tells you. “I better get my brothers to bed. Take care of yourselves, won’t you? What would your cameras say to you if they could watch you through the dark times? I think they would tell you to be very kind to yourself. And that better things will come, and come, and come, every time the darkness seeps in again. And have you eaten? And have you slept? And do you know that nothing you have done makes you unworthy of peace and affection and a warm cat in your lap? Those are the things you’ve always told us, no matter what.”

He’s looking away now, looking up at the stars through his window, and you can tell his mind is already drifting to other things. To the future, to his brothers, to the order he will lead and the people he will care for, to his first real girlfriend, who might let her kiss him again if he’s gentle, to everything that could be and will be and stretches before him like a path through meadows and mountains.

“Yes,” he signs distantly. “I’ll have to let you go. It’s bedtime, and then morning will come, and so, so many things with it. Isn’t that exciting?”

They turn the cameras off one by one. In the living room, they are hugging each other good night, and Peanut is licking the popcorn bowl.

End continuation.

Thanks so much for reading. I loved writing this and for @lehhoh7822 to compile it was such a great gift. Thank you!!

[sugarrspice]

"-never seen him so relaxed," Anti hears, and he debates, for one moment, the merit of heaving a completely unnecessary sigh. Instead, he continues to lay still, sprawled out over Chase's lap as he is, Chase idly braiding and unbraiding tiny braids into his hair as he talks with Marvin and Jackie.

Shit, he really needs to cut his hair. But then Chase wouldn't be leaving little braids along the nape of his neck on accident, and-- gods all damn them, they've made him fucking soft.

Used to be he'd cut off someone's hand for touching him. Now he's sitting here preening as someone does his damn hair. The Fell Omen, his fucking ass.

Chase hums in response, and moves on to the next braid, warm hands steady and soft against the coarse strands of hair. "You think so?"

"He's in your lap, looking like he's about to start purring." Anti feels, more than sees, the withering look that Marvin sends Chase, and rumbles a soft laugh. Serves him right for asking stupid questions.

Chase pauses in his braiding only to flick Anti on the head, but his voice stays mild. "You stop laughing. It's an honest question."

"He doesn't let anybody within three feet of his back, let alone his hair, and you're asking if he's relaxed."

"He's pretty," Anti drawls, eyes closed, "but he's not always the sharpest."

Chase sighs, and Anti can feel the sound, lips curling into a smirk. His smirk falters as Chase says, still amused, "I usually leave the sharpness to you and your knife."

"Good. Artemis is a beautiful blade, and she's lasted the longest."

"I forgot how weird he gets about his knives," Jackie mutters, and Chase snickers, dropping the last braid. Anti flips Jackie off without looking; anything else is quite a bit of effort right now.

"Your first superhero name was fucking Jackieboyman. You don't get to say shit about me being weird."

"I panicked," Jackie protests, and Anti's smirk widens as he works himself up into a fit of playful indignation. Marvin groans, loud and pointed, and from the sounds of it, drags Jackie into his lap before he can actually get up.

He cracks open an eye at that, smug as he ever is. "Sounds like someone's coping-"

Chase must take pity on Jackie because he sighs, and flicks Anti again on the forehead, Anti reaches up without looking to catch his wrist. With an air of apparent acceptance, Chase settles back into the couch. "You don't let anybody near your hair, huh?"

"Not just anybody," Anti says, and because he's being indulgent, he figures he'll entertain this line of conversation and let Jackie go. "You're not just anybody. I trust you."

"That, and Brody's too soft to do much more than slap someone," Marvin hums, amused. "Harmless as they come."

Anti's eyes flick to meet Chase's at that; steel blue and bright, venomous green. Steel blue, warm as Chase's weight against his side, but Anti knows how cold those eyes can be, hard as the gun tucked away into a safe, safely out of sight. For the briefest flicker of a moment, they're back in the freezing sleet, a smoking gun in Chase's hand and blood pooling around Anti's feet. There are callouses, well and hard earned, catching against Anti's hair.

Anti smirks, then, and stretches further into Chase's touch. "Harmless," he echoes, almost mocking, and Chase huffs a soft laugh at the shared joke, before leaning down to press a kiss against Anti's forehead.

"For you? Always."

[dragonsarecool]

Febwhump Day 28 - Not Like This

A/N: Playing the guitar is much harder when your hand is passing through it. A in-depth look at Marty's thoughts during the dance in Part I. Content warning for one f-bomb.

He'd never been a fan of 'Earth Angel'. To be fair, he'd only heard it once before, and that was on a shitty VHS taping of his parents' wedding.

But it was a good song to be playing to ensure your continued existence.

He had to fight to keep his paranoid fingers under control, lest they slip and allow a dissonant chord to float through the dance hall.

So when he did realise he'd started playing the next verse it in the wrong key, he couldn't stop himself from hyperventilating. But they're still dancing! Aren't they…? I'm not a ghost yet…

He quickly scanned the photograph, a cold sweat breaking out on his forehead as he realised he had become a silhouette. SHIT NO!

Marty let out a panicked breath. He gazed down hesitantly at his arm and tried to scream, only for no sound to materialise. His whole hand had become translucent to the point where he could see people dancing through it. There were no ligaments, no nerves, no bones; it was like the universe had simply erased it.

Succumbing to the terror of the situation, Marty looked over at where he expected to see his parents, only to find another man had cut in and stolen a loudly-protesting Lorraine. He spotted his father a few metres away, walking away dejectedly into the crowd of teenagers. SHIT SHIT SHIT SHIT NO THAT'S NOT HOW THIS IS SUPPOSED TO-

Marty's knees collapsed under him. It felt like his whole body was on fire and being torn apart at the same time. Every skin particle, every fibre of hair, every blood cell was screaming at him.

George! His throat was closing over, cutting off his vocal cords as he wheezed pathetically on the stage floor. Please Dad, don't…!

The pain in his chest was immeasurable. It was squeezing and kneading his insides, scrunching the alveoli in his lungs into twisted clumps. He tried to inhale, only for nothing to move. No air moved into his mouth, and his chest remained locked in position.

He realised his vision was looking a bit funny, even after blinking furiously. His peripheral vision seemed to be collapsing in on itself. Marvin's smooth vocals had fallen silent, and he could no longer feel the vibrations through the wooden panels lining the floor.

The horrifying realisation dawned on him. My body is gone!

The guitar clattered to the floor. He could just make out the shape of it through the outline of where his leg once existed.

If his heart was even still corporeal at this point, he thought it was hammering so hard in his chest that his ribs would shatter. He gasped and wheezed inaudibly, fighting with every last piece of will to take in some air, only for nothing to enter his body.

Nothing entered, and nothing escaped.

Because there was nothing left there.

No, please, no no no no no…not like this…!

It can't end like this!

Not after I've tried so FUCKING hard!

The tunnel vision was closing in, darkness creeping and twisting its way into place.

He realised he couldn't move anything; his lips remained firmly locked in a silent plea, his hands permanently squeezed into fists of tension that had now dissipated.

He was weightless.

The leather shoes had stopped cutting into his feet.

The uncomfortable shirt and tie had evaporated.

The sweat on his forehead had melted away.

PLEASE, GOD, NO!

He wished he was actually dying.

His consciousness was dissolving.

The world had shrunk to a pinpoint in his vision.

His heart had stopped mid-beat.

….

It suddenly exploded.

It was almost overwhelming at first. All of his senses returned in a violent rush that could've been compared to an instantaneous punch to the head. Marvin's vocals and backing instruments swamped his ears; the heat of the stage lights scorched his skin; the surface of the floor appeared beneath him.

He breathed in, and his lungs expanded in return. It felt good.

Wasting no time, he snatched the guitar from under his leg, jumping to his feet as he worked out where in the song they were up to. He could've cried at feeling the strings beneath his fingertips; how they were leaving small indents in the pads of his fingers. I'll never take this for granted again…never never never-

He scanned the room frantically, his body sagging with relief at finding George and Lorraine in a tender embrace in the middle of the dance floor. His old man must've caught a glimpse of him, for he lifted one hand in acknowledgement.

Lifting a hand to return the gesture, Marty giggled hysterically as he flexed his fingers thoroughly, waving on proudly at George. He wiped his brow as his parents became lost in each other's eyes, dancing away into the depths of the crowd.

[huffle-dork]

Swap Across the CrystalVerse Chapter 8: PW Timeline

Read Swapboys | Crystal’s AUs | Read the PW Timeline

Read SITCV | SATCV Masterpost | AO3 Link

It's an awkward drive to Marvin's house, as Chase and Jackie are still silently digesting the idea of alternate universes, but thankfully, it's a short one. Chase soon pulls to the side of the road in front of an average-looking one-story blue suburban house. "Here we are," he says. "Alright. Out we go." 

Marvin is looking out his front window when they arrive. "Hey Alt? Are those your friends getting out of the car? I mean, I hope they are. If Chase and Jackie ended up picking up strangers it'd be fucking weird."

Alt almost glitches over to the window but restrains himself and peeks through it. He relaxes as he sees Bro and Jackie getting out of the car. "Y-Yeah that's them! Thank god..."

"Nice." Marvin walks over to the front door. "JJ, keep the cats distracted." 

Marvin doesn't need to tell him twice, as he's already busy dangling a cat toy on a string for Luna to play with. Ragamuffin sits in the chair nearby pretending to not be interested, but his eyes are following the toy. 

"Great," Marvin says, and opens the door. "Hey!" 

"Hey!" Chase waves. "Fucking crazy, right?!" 

"Fucking wild!" Marvin keeps the door open long enough for everyone to come inside and then quickly closes it.

Bro waves once inside, "Yo! How's it going?" 

"Thanks for letting us come over, makes this all easier-" Jackieboy says with a timid smile.��

"No problem," Marvin says. "Well... I don't usually like people coming over, but when the fuck am I gonna have the chance to talk to people from a parallel universe? This is probably, like, a one in a million years chance.  "Also, hey Jackie! Good to be out of the hospital?" 

"Oh god yes," Jackie says. "I was losing my mind in there. But I'm all good now!" He notices Alt, then. And he just... stares at him.

Alt blinks at Jackie's reaction and then finds himself glitching a bit around his shoulders. He hunches in his hoodie and then sheepishly waves. "Uh... hi? I'm Alt."

Jackie jumps a little at the glitching. Then he suddenly laughs. "Wow, you don't look anything like Anti. Hi, I'm Jackie." He smiles and holds his hand out for a handshake. 

Alt brightens quickly and grins, going to shake Jackie’s hand. Jackie can feel a bit of a buzz underneath Alt’s skin when they shake hands- like touching a recently on LCD TV. “thank god for that…” 

"Uh, I dunno if that comes across how you mean it to," Chase mutters. 

"Oh, uh..." Jackie’s hand wavers for a second. "I just mean that you're clearly not a bad guy. Does that make sense?" 

Alt laughs lightly, “no I got it. That actually… means a lot. Thanks.” 

"No problem." Jackie looks at his hand after they're done shaking. "Wow. You're... buzzing? That's weird. That's so weird." 

Alt flushes slightly and quickly puts his hands back in his pockets. “Uh… y-yeah I’m… k-kinda electric. Sorry I-it’s weird-“ 

He's very nice, JJ says from where he's sitting on the sofa. He looks at Bro and Jackieboy. He whistles You really do look just like Chase and Jackie. 

"I'm flattered that you think I'm as buff as this guy," Chase says.

Bro laughs, “It’s probably more in the face. I guess!” 

Jackieboy grins, “We’d look even more alike if I remembered my glasses.” 

“Dr. j is gonna scold you so hard for forgetting again.” Bro snickers. 

Jackie rolls his eyes. 

Marvin blinks. "Dr. J...?" He looks at JJ. "That... wouldn't happen to be... an alternate version of you, would it?" 

I can't imagine being a doctor, JJ says, frowning. Too much pressure. I always wanted to be an actor, actually, but stuff happens. 

"Oh, grand, maybe I can put in a good word for you at the theatre," Marvin says excitedly.

“Oh yeah! Dr. J’s our JJ!” Bro grins. 

“Henrik’s our actor,” Jackie smiles. “He’s very good too- despite being deaf.”

Chase's eyes widen. "Wait wait wait. You have a Henrik, too?" 

JJ blinks. And he's deaf?

Jackie nods, “Yeah! There’s… a reason for that but that might be a bit much to get into.” He smiles nervously. 

JJ nods. I understand. I'm similar. Not deaf, but still. The sign language probably gives away some stuff. 

“Where’s your Henrik?” Bro asks with a head tilt. “I don’t think I heard you all mention him yet.”

Chase coughs. "Bit of a sensitive subject. He's... in a hospital called Silver Hills. It's, a, um... special hospital..." 

"It's a psych ward," Marvin says bluntly. 

"Marvin!" Chase gasps. 

"What? You were getting nowhere tiptoeing around it! And everyone in the city knows Schneep's there, these guys might as well know, too." 

"It's not even a psych ward," Jackie mutters. "That's a department attached to a main hospital. Silver Hills is an... institution all its own." 

The swaps eyes all widen slowly. 

“…oh…” Bro says quietly. “Is he… okay?” 

“…sometimes going to a place like that is a good thing?” Jackie adds. 

Alt holds his arms, looking uncomfortable.

"He's, um... getting better," Chase says slowly. "H-he's had some problems for a while, but, uh... a year ago—two years ago now, actually—" 

"Seventeen months," Jackie corrected quietly. 

"—things got... a bit worse, a-a-and then he got..." Chase is noticably not looking at Alt. "...he disappeared... for a while... People thought he was killing people, b-but he wasn't. When they found him again he was... really out of it. A-and a whole bunch of stuff has happened since then that hasn't... helped with that." 

"But it's getting better," Marvin adds firmly. "I'm sure everything will be alright soon. The police just have to do their job." He huffs a little. "Competently, ideally."

“Oh man…” Bro whispers. “I’m… so sorry.” 

"Thanks, other me," Chase says. Then laughs. "God, the absurdity of saying that really does undermine the moment for me." 

“At least he’s getting better!” Jackie tries to add cheerfully. 

"Yeah, he's getting much better," Jackie agrees. "It's great to see, actually." He smiles a little. 

Alt, of course, noticed that Chase isnt looking at him. He grips his arms tighter and squeezes his eyes shut, trying to not let this random guilt eat him alive. He didn’t hurt this world’s Schneep- he wouldn’t. So why does it still feel like this…? 

JJ notices Alt's expression. He walks over and taps his arm, gently getting his attention. It's not your fault, he says. Aneirin is his own person who makes his own choices. Just because you are related to him does not make you the same. And it does not make you responsible for what he does. There's a fierce light in his eyes as he signs this.

Alt slightly glitches anyway, even if JJ is gentle. He watches his signs and feels his vision get a bit fuzzy as he wipes at his face. "...thanks... It's just hard seeing... so many versions of you do horrible things... universe after universe." He grips at his jacket over his heart and takes a shaky breath, "...but I'm trying to remember... I'm not him. I just... can't help... feeling bad. It's like hearing your twin did a killing spree and now you.. have to live with looking like him. Seeing the... fear in people's eyes." He shakes his head, "S-Sorry... that's probably too much... I..."

JJ smiles gently. No, it's fine. I know exactly what you mean. That's literally what happened to me. I mean, Aneirin is older than me, not my twin, but still. The first time I met Schneep, he thought I was him. But I'm not. And you're not, either. 

Alt returns JJ's small smile after a beat. He nods, "... yeah... Thank you JJ... that must be... really hard." 

"Oh shit!" Marvin suddenly shouts. He looks around. "Sorry. I just realized. Don't you guys pop up near, uh, parallels of people you know? That's what you said, right? Does, uh, does Schneep count in that list?"

Alt startles slightly and glitches, looking over at Marvin. Bro and Jackie look at each other. 

"...uh yeah? Probably-" Jackie says slowly. 

Bro goes pale, "...Mag-" 

Alt's eyes widen.

"YeahexactlythatswhatIwasworriedabout," Marvin says, voice squeaking. 

"What, uh, what sort of stuff does your 'Magnificent' guy do?" Chase asks nervously. "H-how worried should we be?"

"Very worried-" Alt says quickly. "He... He does mind games, hypnotism- he might try to-!" 

"Fuckkk that is not something good you should do to a psych ward patient!" Jackie squeaks. 

"Jesus fucking christ!" Jackie goes pale. "Yeah, no, other me is right, S-Schneep's not good with that sort of stuff." He shivers at the memories that come to mind. "A-and that's--that's without all the weird magic bullshit you guys have." 

Bro starts to race to the door.

"Whoa, hey, Chase!" Marvin shouts. "Other Chase! Do you know where you're even going?!" 

"No! But we should hurry! I could fly there and-" 

Jackie quickly grabs Bro and pulls him back , "You can't go flying here, Chase! You'll cause a panic!"

"I-I mean, go ahead and fly there if you want to be all over the news!" Marvin stammers. "But I don't think Chase wants to deal with the fallout of that, considering you two look so much alike." 

"Oh yeah, no, I don't even want to think about the drama that'd happen from that," Chase says. "I'm a, uh, semi-public figure." 

Bro pauses then nods, "Yeah I... I wouldn't want to do that to you... Okay."

Chase, do you think we can all fit in your car? JJ asks. 

"Uh--if you all squeeze in, probably. It won't be legal, but fuck it."

Alt then suddenly glitches as his phone starts to ring. He blinks and then looks down at it with surprise. 

Jackie and Bro give him a wary glance. 

When Alt checks the number- it's just static. He almost feels- drawn to it for a second before he shudders and tosses the phone to Bro. He nods. "...You know who it is." 

Bro nods gravelly and answers the call. It's a video call- of course and soon Mag's face appears. He frowns when he sees who's answering it. "Fantastic. Where is my cub?" 

"Not here, Mag, so just-" 

"Don't~ lie to me hero~! That's not in your moral handbook now, is it?" The mad magician cackles. 

As soon as the guys hear Magnificent's voice, they all cluster around Bro, trying to get a look at the screen. "What the fuck?!" Marvin gasps. "What's wrong with your fucking eyes?" 

"You have Schneep, don't you?" Bro spits. 

Mag gets very quiet at the other end before he sighs dramatically, "Why must you always ruin my fun, Brody?" 

"Fuck your fun!" Jackie bites at the camera. 

"Oh yes- you're here too." Mag drawls with a bored eye roll.

"Where's Schneep, you motherfucker?!" Jackie demands, pushing his other self aside. 

JJ studies the screen, trying to figure out what details he can gain from the background. A warehouse? he says, glancing at the others.

"Yeah that's like- one of his m-o's" Jackie mutters. 

"Oh hello, new kittens! Are you worried about your poor doctor? Well don't worry~ He's right here." He shifts the camera to show he's gripping up Schneep by his hair as he dangles entranced between his claws.

Jackie cries out, all his bravado instantly disappearing. "No! Schneep, no!" he screams. "H-hang on! Okay?!" He starts reaching for the phone but Chase pulls him back, knowing that there's nothing grabbing the phone will do. 

"What do you want?" Marvin asks. "People like you always want something." 

JJ steps out of sight of the camera. There's only one place in the city that has warehouses, he says. We can find him if he won't tell us where he is.

Jackie nods to JJ and Alt seems to pick this up as well- even if he stays away from the screen. 

Bro's eyes glow with anger as he yells out, "What the fuck, Mag! The people here have no magic! Nothing! Why are you doing this?" 

"Because there’s nothing here, hero! So- I want to leave and I need you goody-two-shoes not to get too chummy with your other selves so my cub can come here and take us somewhere better already!" Magnificent giggles. "As fun as it is to see this one so docile and helpless... there's not much here. It wouldn’t even be fun to kill my other self… way too easy. So- Alt, I know you're listening~ You should hurry on down here quickly... before I get bored of this snack of mine." 

Alt pales and curls his hands into fists at his side, shaking slightly. 

"Or you know what? This world's Jackie's screams were so delightful just now~! Why don't I get this started early and-" 

Alt yells and glitches to be in front of the phone, grabbing it from Bro, "Magnificent let him go or I swear I'll-!" 

But, Alt only sees Mag's smug face on the screen for a spilt second before the phone fills with spiralling magic. And Alt is caught right away. His angry expression falls scarily blank as the magic fills his eyes. 

"That's it, kitten. Come here." 

Alt's shoulders buzz with glitches and his hands start to turn to pixels, sinking into the phone- "NO!" Bro yells and tackles Alt to the ground, making the phone go flying. 

The guys from this world all reel back, stunned by what's happening. Chase scoops up the phone, covering the screen with his hand. "Y-you bastard!" he shouts, glaring at the camera. "I-I don't know anything about your magic shit but I know a dirty trick when I see one!" 

JJ crouches by Alt, shaking him, trying to snap him out of whatever this is. 

"You're gonna get what's fucking coming to you!" Marvin shouts.

Alt is weakly trying to fight Bro off him, trying to break into pixels but Bro keeps grabbing him before he can start to glitch. The static is so loud. 

Magnificent laughs loudly from the phone. “You’re only making this harder for Henrik, kittens! Come now, let’s not delay this hm?” 

“S-Shut off the phone!” Bro tries to shout, “Break it if you have to!”

Chase nods. He tries turning off the phone but it won't just shut off with the power button so he slams it against the wall until the screen goes black. He stands there, breathing heavily. There's a crack across the screen but it seems intact otherwise.

Mag’s laughter and the accompanying static cuts off and the room falls quiet. 

For a scary beat, Alt stares out with another blank expression. But then the magic stutters out and he quietly gasps before breathing heavily, looking around in panic. 

Bro slumps and sighs in relief. 

“God…” Jackie kneels down by Alt and pats his shoulder. “You okay?” 

“Y-Yeah… yeah I… fuck-“ Alt breathes.

JJ sighs once Alt comes back to himself. Take deep breaths. In for four, hold for seven, out for eight. 

Alt nods dazedly and follows JJ’s encouragement to breathe. His heart starts to calm down.

Marvin stares at the phone in Chase's hand. "Well. That whole thing was uh..." He hisses. "...bad." 

Jackie laughs. "Understatement of the year. We have to go get him!" 

Chase nods. "Um... Alt?" He holds the phone out to him. "S-sorry." 

Alt looks up at Chase and his phone and then he smiles had shakes his head. “No it’s… it’s okay. You helped me- mag would have…he was g-going to-“ 

“That motherfucker was gonna strand us here in this universe and just take you!” Jackie yells, throwing up his arms. “God he’s such a slimy bastard!!” 

Bro gets up and helps Alt up too, “…I guess we gotta drive to the warehouse district now… we gotta help Schneep.”

"Let's not waste any time then!" Jackie snaps. 

"No, let's waste some time so we can find stuff to beat that motherfucker to death with," Marvin says. 

"Not literally, right?" Chase says. 

"Course not." 

"Okay, in that case I have a tool kit in the trunk of my car, there's definitely a hammer, a wrench, and a tire iron in there." 

Are knives fair game? JJ asks. Can we use the knives from your kitchen, Marvin? 

"Hell yeah. Normally I'd be upset with people using my stuff for what it's not supposed to be for, but this is a special case." 

"JJ, you sit in the front and give Chase directions," Jackie says. "The rest of us gotta figure out places to fit."

The swaps all look to each other and nod. “We have to be careful though…” Alt says quietly, “Mag isn’t above trying to kill someone if he doesn’t get his way.” 

“Well… we’ve faced the threat of death before,” Jackie says. “Unfortunately. So we can deal with that.” 

“Who knows… maybe this’ll be over fast,” Bro shrugs, “Seems like he just wants out of here.” 

“Let’s just focus on getting to Schneep fast- being controlled like that is not easy on the mind…” Jackie mumbles. 

Alt perks up, “Oh- to fit and so… mag can’t get to me right away, I could hide in one of our phones. S’not the most pleasant but probably better than being squished in a car…”

“You can hide in… okay sure, guess this might as well happen,” Marvin says. “This day is already so god damn weird.” 

Alt looks almost embarrassed as he hunches in his hoodie. 

“Ha- John Malaney nice.” Jackie snickers.

“You can use mine, Alt,” Chase says. “Since I’ll be driving I won’t need to look at it. The other four of you can probably fit in the back seat.” 

JJ had briefly disappeared down the hallway and now returns with a pair of chef’s knives from the kitchen, which he shoves in his bag. 

Bro watches JJ and hums under his breath, “It’s always the JJs with a knife- maybe we need to teach Dr. j that…” 

Ready to go when you guys are. 

“Great,” Chase nods. “To the car, everyone. On the way there, tell us everything you know about this guy so we can prepare.” 

Alt nods, “We’ll catch you up.”

———— 

In the warehouse, Magnificent yells in frustration as he loses contact with the others and almost throws his phone but thinks better of it. He sighs dramatically then hangs on the stack of boxes he’s sitting on. “Godddss! It’s so dull here!” He whines. He eyes Schneep and hums in thought then slinks towards him. “Say, Henrik- I saw a most peculiar figure in that head of yours… the man with the dual colored eyes. Why don’t you tell me about him, hm?”

Schneep shudders. He doesn’t want to talk about him, but the hypnotism makes him do it anyway. “A-An… ti,” he whispers. “H-he tricks me, lied to me, pr-pretending to be more powerful than he is. F-forced me to take the blame for him hurting people. Or making me do it. J-Jackie… Jackie was… I-I didn’t want him to hurt Jackie. Or that other man, Jameson. How cruel is it, to hurt your own brother…? Th-they say Anti is gone now, i-is that true? Sometimes I do not remember…”

Magnificent hums in slight interest, “Really? Huh… so my cub is also not extraordinary here… just a delusional killer. Pity.” Mag shrugs, “I don’t know anything about your Anti. Cruelty is often a useful tool against the weak. At least he seems to use that well.” Mag sighs dramatically again. “Maybe I’ll just start taking life forces from sure boredom…”

"Not... extraordinary? S-so many people have died, that is u-unusual." Schneep pauses. "But not like you..."

Magnificent makes a flippant gesture with his hand, “Death means nothing. Human lives are just collateral. Power is the thing that matters most. But, I’m sure I’ve taken more lives than a lowly human has- if we must measure by lives.”

Schneep blinks. "Really? I... only know of the thirteen th-that he made me help with. But I know there were many more. S-Since he was very young." Fear flicker in his eyes. "He told me once he killed Marvin. That was a lie, but Marvin says he did try..."

“Hm- amusing.” Magnificent chuckles, “I’ve lost count. Could be more than that… could be less. Not that many of them mattered. They just got in my way.” He laughs, “The humans at least. Magicians I spare… in a sense, at least.” He eyes Schneep and hums, “I wonder if it would be worth it to kill you- or your friends. Maybe it’ll spare you all this pitiful existence.”

Schneep's eyes flicker, the magic hesitating. "I-I like my existence, I don't want to--please don't--"

Magnificent laughs, and with a quick flick of his finger, magic catches the front of Henrik’s shirt and pulls him closer. “Oh… it is always fun to hear you things beg.” He giggles madly. “But, tell me, Schneeplestein…. What is it that makes you want to continue, hm? You’ll been ostracized, villainized for something you didn’t do. Institutionalized. Deemed crazy. Sure, you might get out soon, but your mind is forever sullied. Is that worth it all?” Magnificent hums with false sympathy.

Schneep breathes heavily. "I-it is not just for me. I don't live just for me. I have friends--and more to do. More to give. I-I don't care what the world thinks, if I know the ones I care about are safe, I-I cannot leave them. If I have hurt them, I must make up for it. I can make a new life. I can make a new life."

Magnificent growls and pushes Schneep away. “Blargh. You’re as bad as my own annoyances. Such human attachments. Disgusting.”

Schneep stumbles backwards and falls to the floor. "Human... attachments? You are not... human?" He shivers. This is all too much. He can't handle this. His mind drifts off and he goes silent. 

Magnificent laughs, his burning green eye lingering in Schneep's mind as he drifts. 

"Oh no child, I am so much more~" 

----------- 

"All these warehouses look the same," Chase mutters. 

There are about six of them, and he drives down the road dividing them into two rows. "How are we supposed to know which one he's in? Not like this evil fucking magic guy has a car." 

"I don't know, do you guys have magic shit to help find him?" Marvin is understandably stressed out by this whole thing. Not only is their friend in danger, but four grown men sitting in the back seat of a car is very crowded, and he doesn't like being close to people.

"Mmm we might...? Honestly we kinda just- stumble into him usually." Jackie mumbles. 

"Or I fly around to look for signs of him. Like- green glowy shit-" Bro comments. 

Alt is lurking in Chase's phone, the screen buzzing with green and blue glitches as he listens. He tries to feel out for Mag's presence- "Maybe... nearer to the edge." He voices calls out, like he's on the other end of a phone call.

"Alright, got it," Chase says. "Near the edge. Hang on." He pushes the gas down, speeding up. "We'll start there. Other me can look around for stuff. I don't think people come out here that much so flying probably wouldn't attract that much attention." 

Soon, the car pulls to a stop and Chase parks it so everyone can get out. 

"You said you had a tool box in your trunk?" Jackie asks. 

"Yeah, go crazy."

"Ah- I hope someone gets Mag right in the face." Jackie laughs. 

Bro chuckles and hurries out of the car, hopping into the air to look around. He seems almost relieved to be back in the air. 

Alt buzzes anxiously and then glitches out of Chase's phone, his shoulders hunched as he tenses up in anticipation for danger. Where could Mag be...?

The others all pile out of the car, too. 

Does anyone want the second knife? JJ asks. 

"I'll take it," Marvin says, and JJ hands it over. 

Jackie opens the trunk of Chase's car. "What in here has the most reach?" he mutters, rummaging through the stuff. "Aha!" He grabs the tire iron. 

Chase joins him, taking a hammer from the box. "I wish Anti didn't take my gun," he mutters. 

"We still need to talk about how the fuck you got that into the country," Marvin calls. "Uhhh anyway let's start looking around." 

Alt starts to look around, keeping himself quiet as he prowls forward. Soon enough he shivers and hears static brimming in the air. He points towards the second to last warehouse. “…there. He’s in there-“ 

Jackieboy whistles for Bro who comes down to join them. He looks at the others and narrows his eyes in determination. “Alright- we out number him but let’s focus on getting Schneep out of there.” He braces himself in front of the door. “Ready?”

The others all quickly gather around.

 "Ready," Chase says. 

"Beyond ready," Jackie adds. 

"Let's kick his ass and get Schneep," Marvin says. 

JJ just grips his knife tight and nods.

Bro nods and then goes to burst open the door. 

Magnificent quickly grabs Schneep from wherever he was before and goes to grip him by his hair. “Ah! The Calvary arrives~!”

Jackie and Marvin are the first guys from this world to run in. 

"Schneep!" Jackie gasps. "I-it's going to be okay! It's going to be okay!" 

Schneep's eyes flicker a little. "Ja...ckie?" he croaks out. 

"Let him go you bastard!" Marvin shouts. Chase and JJ run up behind him. "I don't care what fucking magic you have, we'll take you out!" 

"Whoa, h-hey, don't be hasty, Marvin," Chase says hurriedly. "Just, um... just please put Schneep down, uh, Magnificent..." 

Magnificent looks bored as he sees the others file in. He throws Schneep at their feet with a huff of indifference. "I'm not even threatened by your pathetic bravado. Worst universe yet. Is my cub here? I want to leave." 

Bro growls and steps forward with burning blue eyes, "Stop calling him that! He's not just some tool you can boss around!" 

"Yeah and who died here to make you king, Mag, ya pompous asshole." Jackie snarls. 

Alt sees Schneep thrown and quickly glitches over to help him up- and get him away from Magnificent and towards the others. "H-Here- you're okay..."

The guys are not expecting Magnificent to just hand Schneep over, but they're all relieved. "Schneep, over here," Jackie says, reaching out for him. 

"J-Jackie...?" Schneep whispers. He blinks. "Chase? Marvin?" His eyes land on JJ and he stiffens slightly. "A-An--" JJ quickly moves out of sight. 

"No no, Anti's not here," Chase says quickly. "He's not even in the city. You're fine. This is fine." 

Jackie hugs Schneep tightly, glaring at Magnificent. "Yeah, we want you to leave, too," Marvin mutters. "Hurry up and get out of here." 

Alt moves back quickly, letting Schneep's friends help him. Then, a hand reaches out and grabs him and he yells out, squirming in Mag's grip. "There you are, kitten! Trying to hide from me~?" 

"Hey! Let him go!" Marvin shouts as Mag grabs Alt. 

Alt growls and tries to glitch out of Mag's grip but he digs his claws into his skin slightly, canceling them out with his own magical current. Alt shouts in pain and then slumps though he glares at Mag. 

Magnificent giggles and brings in Alt close. "Why are you fighting me so hard here, Alt? Can't you see someone like you isn't wanted here? You're only haunting these poor pathetic humans~" 

"No-! I...!" Alt tries to argue but quickly deflates. He looks at the crew that's surrounding Schneep and feels his heart clench slightly. The past couple worlds... they all started to feel like friends when they leave. But here... they're all too different, aren't they? He's never felt so detached from people who share the faces of his friends.

"Oh you shut the fuck up," Jackie hisses at Magnificent. "Your fucking bullshit word games and your fucking bullshit power plays. There are people like you everywhere, you're not special because you're magic. All that magic does is give you a chance to act out your worst desires." 

"You... i-if you guys want to leave... we won't stop you," Chase says slowly. "But... don't let him get to you, Alt. You're not 'haunting' us, or whatever." 

"And we're not pathetic," Marvin adds. 

JJ sighs. He rubs his eyes, looking tired. It's clear this man isn't worth our time, or yours. Don't indulge him.

"Yeah Mag! Just because they're human, doesn't mean they're worthless! You are not better than any of us cuz you sold your fucking soul to black magic! You're just a sad lonely loser who uses his power to bully people! Just so you have something to fill that empty void in your chest where your heart used to be!" Jackieboy shouts, and then breathes heavily afterwards. 

Bro looks at him with wide eyes. "... that was brewing for a while, wasn't it?" 

"Sooo fucking long." 

Magnificent growls, looking ready to blast Jackie for daring to speak like that to him but Alt grabs his arm and bites him, making the mad magician scream and let him go. 

Alt glitches away and back towards the others. He hesitates then looks to the side, not really wanting to look at their faces. "... I'm sorry for all the trouble we caused. But, thanks for... helping us. Even if it was strange." He says quietly. He looks to Bro and Jackie and tilts his head towards Mag. "...we should go. Before he somehow makes things worse."

The others glance between themselves, feeling vaguely uneasy. 

"Did we... do something wrong?" Chase asks.

 "I-I think it's just weird for them," Jackie says. "Being in a world without all their magic stuff." 

Alt's stomach drops as he looks up and he quickly shakes his head. "No no- you..." He knits his eyebrows together, seeming frustrated. "... I feel... bad. That we exposed all of this to you all. After all the things you went through and not havin' seen it before I... I just hope we... didn't make things worse... for you." 

Jackie smiles at Alt, Bro, and Jackieboy. "It's fine. It was nice to meet you. Worth all the strangeness, hah. Once Schneep gets back to himself he's gonna go insa—get really excited about the multiverse being real." 

Schneep glances towards the three of them as well. His eyes linger on Alt for a second, confused, but that fades away. "Th-thank you." 

Alt looks at Schneep and tries to give him a smile, but it looks sad. 

Bro puts his hand on Alt's shoulder and pulls him in, 

"Hey bro... we couldn't help it. They'll be okay- they're tough guys, even without all our shit. These guys were ready to beat the ever-loving shit out of Mag! Kinda wish we could have seen that-" He laughs. 

"Maybe--maybe you can come back sometime?" Marvin says, laughing a little. "I-I mean, I'd like to hear more about all your magic. But, uh, if you can't, or even don't want to, that's fine, too." 

JJ looks at Alt and nods sympathetically. Good luck. For what it's worth, I'm glad to have met you, if only briefly.

Alt is quiet for a second but does look a bit more hopeful at Marvin and JJ's goodbyes. "... it was nice to meet you all too. maybe... maybe one day we can come back. ...maybe." 

"We'll have to figure that out another day though cuz Mag is gonna have a conniption-" Jackie grumbles. 

"Heh." Chase gives them a small smile. "It's alright. This was... weird, but it's nothing we can't recover from." 

"Yeah, we've recovered from a lot." Jackie nods. "Least this time no one almost-died." 

"I... don't think I-I understand who you are," Schneep mumbles. "But... thank you for your worry. W-we will be okay. W-we are working on things." 

"We'll explain everything to you later, Schneep," Jackie promises. "I think you need to process it first." 

He laughs. "That is fair. I-I think I need to go back. They will be so worried where I went." 

Alt nods and pulls out the TRVLR. He glares at the screen and whispers, "... let's hope this thing actually works..." 

Bro lets go of Alt and goes to grab Mag by the front of his shirt and drags him towards Alt and Jackie. Mag hisses like an offended cat.

Good luck, JJ signs again. And goodbye. 

"See you again, maybe," Marvin adds hopefully.

Alt nods and smiles a bit more. 

Jackie grins, "Good to meet some normal lads, you all stick in there, alright?" 

"Bye!" Bro waves with one hand. 

Alt grabs everyone and then, after checking again, presses the jump button.

And they fall, as they always do. But their troubles are not over. The ripple happens again, and their course is diverted. Like a hand reaching out and plucking a feather from the air.