#My WA Listener Bot

[maiko-san]

TRUE DECEPTION

[Part 1]

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Synopsis : You were created not by Primus but by Unicron himself. You were forged with rumours as your weapon, you don’t need brute strength or otherworldly power to make everyone tremble in fear. Your whispers of lies alone can bring down the greatest of might.

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Note : (Y/n) is gender neutral

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A Memory Etched in Darkness

The void was cold.

But then—he came.

Unicron.

A starless presence whose voice rumbled like the death of galaxies. From his will, you were born—not from code or spark, but from chaos itself. A marionette carved from the shadow between stars, kissed with venomous charm and crowned with a wicked smile.

“You are not made to destroy with might, my creation”, Unicron had whispered as his vast form loomed above you, his optics glowing like dying suns. "You will bring ruin with words. With whispers. With secrets. You are the serpent in their garden, the poison in their chalice."

And you smiled, wide and sharp. Your eyes glints with mischief as you awaits for his command.

“Go, my serpent! Sink your fangs within the core of their planet, the heart of Primus. Let that venom of darkness seep through their newborn sparks."

Your grin widens, as you bow elegantly before your creator.

“Oh, yes! I will, my master!"

Even though he is sealed away by Primus and the Thirteen, he was able to create you by his own seeping hatred. Thus, it begins. Your glorious plan.

All you have to do is slither right into the light of Primus' children, cloaked in innocence. A small, flickering spark—harmless bot that is gentle, lost and confused of the world around them.

A persona you've created and you played the part so well.

“A lost spark,” they said, “We need to help them”.

Oh, how naive of them. None of those Primes suspects a single thing. Not knowing that they have brought a snake disguised as an innocent little lamb into their safe haven. Nurturing it without a single sense of doubt.

Each Primes guides and teaches you everything they know. You learn and you improve, you slowly slip into their spark with your sweet poisonous words. They welcome you with open arms, they begin to see you as one of them. One that is worthy to be standing alongside of them. One that they can share everything with. Someone they could trust.

Oh, how sweet it was—being adored by them. Being trusted.

The relationship between you and the Primes is strong. They seek you for comfort and solace, someone that would listen to their problems. With those problems, you create a rumour about each one of them. You create those whispers and let the wind carry it for you.

A little rumour here, a little rumour there!

Those words of lies pass from one to another, the more it passes around, the more dangerous it becomes. Slowly, those words twisted into daggers. And there— Alliances frayed. Fights erupted. All of them.

Cybertron begin to tremble.

There, you stood amongst the chaos while standing above Cybertron's core. Admiring the work you have inflicted upon their world. Turning their beloved planet into your stage, you are the puppeteer and they are your puppets that got twisted in your lies.

"What is the meaning of this, (Y/n). Why are you doing this?"

Alpha Trion, one of the wisest of all and the voice of reasons, questions you. Seeking an answer for your doing. There must be a reason for this, right?

You only tilted your head, smiling dripping with venomous glee. "Why am I doing this? You ask? Well that's easy—".

“I love the smell of drama, the taste of betrayal, the way everyone tears each other apart over silly little rumours”. Your faceplate twisted with the joy of madness. "While you forged unity, I sowed doubt. While you built peace, I whispered deceits. I turned Cybertron into my stage. A show for me to enjoy. And you all? Were the puppets!"

"Enough!" Prima’s blade burst alight with the fury of the Matrix. "You’ve caused the deaths of millions—your whispers sparked rebellions, civil war—!"

"And it was magnificent!" you shrieked with joy, optics blazing. “Their tears, their rage—it was all so entertaining!”. Some of the Primes grit their dentas and clutches their weapons tightly in their grip.

"Just who are you?"

You open your arms wide, your spark chamber slowly opens as you reveal what lies beneath them. Horror slowly crawls up to their faceplates as they stare in pure disbelief.

"No, it can't be—"

That familiar corrupted presence, the blood of Unicron runs through your vein like a plague. With that, your frame is enveloped by that corruption. Your body is twisted and elongated, thick scales forming onto your body as you reveal your true form.

A serpent.

"NO—!" the Primes shout in horror, fear and realization finally hits them. They watch as you dig your fangs into the core, injecting your venom into the Well of the Allspark.

You finally did your part— as you were told.

To seep that darkness within the spark of Primus's children. So that they could carry your biddings. One that would be sow and bloom into chaos that spread like wildfire.

All of the Primes strike their weapons down on your serpentine body, with their combined might. They tore your body apart, so it will never be reforged and all they have to deal with is your spark which they couldn't destroy due to your nature.

So, by using their own spark. They created special chains that bind you down, thirteen chains to be exact, preventing you from creating more destruction with your lies. Prima opens his chassis, unrevealing the Matrix of Leadership, the final shackle. The light blinds ever so pure. It sickens you, the blood of Unicron within you growls and hisses at the sight of it.

"Listen well, Primes! You may have destroyed my body, sealed my spark and hid me from the face of history. But I have sinked my venom within the Allspark and that—" you cackle, your optics met with....

Megatronus Prime.

You only smile, giving him a mischievous grin with hidden meanings behind them. And he felt it. Something dark, blooming quietly in his spark.

"All just the beginning of the end...."

Thus, they finally seal you. The last thing they heard was your sinister laughter, echoing throughout Cybertron. It latches onto their processor and never be forgotten.

When the time comes.

The chains will break.

Soon, you will return.

and spread more of your chaos within this universe.

.

.

.

.

[ End ]

A/n : I can turn this into a small series but it more focus on storytelling. (Y/n) here is 100% irredeemable villain since they were made by Unicron, they're manipulative in sense. So, if there's a relationship going *cough*Starscream*cough* on, it will be a toxic one.

[thefemcelthatdeservesbetter]

"No reason"

Lately (past months/weeks) there is a dude (one of those that started frequenting bitches from my class more often) who has been colder towards me. He kept telling me to shut up and that he didn't care what I had to say. That would happen daily but I wouldn't mind, I kind of got used to it. However, every time I would buy snacks/food he'd ask me to share it with him and say "yeah, yeah you can tell me this or that" so I was happy that he'd listen to me since he's the only friend I have at school (sort of).

Recently, I texted him. He told me to shut up. The conversation went like that: "shut up I literally hate you" "why" "I just dislike you very much" "but why what did I do" "for no reason I just hate you, never text me again" "fine sorry" "leave me on read you whore" "sorry"

I didn't quite like the way he treated me but it felt like it was my fault. I feel very guilty, I think I hate myself even more than before. I keep thinking about it and I can't seem to like anything about me. I keep thinking about what really made him hate me and I can't seem to put my hand on it. I don't understand what's so detestable about me. There has to be something wrong about me, no? Everyone I become friend with ends up leaving me. And I'm so dumb because I never learn, I keep getting attached to people and ending up alone. It's so stupid because now I'm expecting everyone else I know to abandon me. Yet I still hope to meet someone that truly likes me for whatever reason.

Lately I just keep thinking about our conversation and cry. I wish I could change whatever is wrong with me. My best friend (whom I told about what happened) met that boy in the street and told him that what he did wasn't cool and that he should apologise. She then asked him why does he hate me so much and he calmly answered that he simply despises me. I wish she didn't talk to him. Because I somehow had a little hope that we'll talk again. But indeed he really just hates me deeply. I don't even need apologies I just want him to be my friend again. I don't understand what about me repulses everyone.

I don't wanna make friends anymore. I don't wanna talk to anyone anymore. I want to delete Instagram and just live my life on my own. I've been playing more otome games and talked to AI bots. I think it's a better life but no matter what I do, I keep thinking about having real human interactions. I try to accept that I'm very much an ugly loser that no one will ever want because my flaws are clearly unchangeable. It's very hard. I am very jealous of other people. There's absolutely nothing to envy about me. There's no one that really likes me.

I wish I could get male attention. Really it just keeps wandering in my head how that boy hangs out with a fat rude bitch, a short swiftie pick me and a chubby curvy slut. They're not even funny they're nothing they suck ass. I'm starting to hate males just as much as I hate females.

When last exam week ended, I didn't even feel relieved. I just hoped to have a peaceful summer or perhaps fun one. I'm not having fun at all. I stay in my room all day. My throat is dry by how little I talk. My parents got into a fight last night. Just like last summer, I think holidays won't be peaceful at all. Luckily my dad will soon go to France so it won't be as bad as I thought.

Maybe I should work very hard so I can become rich and get a boy to love me for my money, since clearly no one will ever love me. I hate my life. I wish I could buy a gun so I could shoot my school. I wish I could kill everyone so they'll cry beneath me and beg for me to spare them.

I want to murder everyone so they'll look at me for once. So at least I will matter for once as I'd be the one to decide their fate. I'll obviously never do that by how weak I am, in addition I'll probably never buy a gun. I think I just want to be happy.

I'd like to have the courage to kill myself one day just so everyone could feel guilty about it. I feel like death would be the only way for me to get noticed. Even in that case, they'd only feel concerned one day and quickly go back to living their stupid lives. They'd think "oh she would've wanted us to to move on" probably.

I don't understand how fast it is for people to change faces. They become so different within the bat of an eye it's crazy. As if my life was nice enough for me to handle any more misery. My best friend told me to "not expect that guy to come back" or to beg him to. She said that it would ruin my image and dignity and that it would make me look like a cuck and dog to other people's eyes so they will take advantage of me. As if I even care. What people anyways? No one even wants to manipulate me. I don't care about being used or manipulated I just want attention and to be loved. At least to feel like I am.

It's so easy for her to say that because everyone likes her. If she loses someone she doesn't care because it's just a fish among billions of others. While I can barely have one fish without it slipping away. I envy her a lot. I wish I was as pretty as her and as popular as her. I feel like a nasty mutt next to her.

Life is very unfair! I wonder what's wrong with me and what about me people dislike so much! I guess I'll never know. I am probably not bound to be liked. I fail at absolutely everything!!!! It's difficult to accept it.

How do I become redpilled? I think it's the only way I can make it but I'm failing at that too.

[iviarellereads]

Network Effect, Chapter 9

(Curious what I'm doing here? Read this post! For the link index and a primer on The Murderbot Diaries, read this one! Like what you see? Send me a Ko-Fi.)

In which Murderbot can't help but be a little happy to help screw over a corporation.

After twenty-seven minutes and twelve seconds,(1) Ratthi tapped on the hatch and sent me the feed message: Can I come in and talk to you? I sent back, Do you have my jacket?

Murderbot has been keyword-monitoring its surveillance, so it doesn't have to listen to everyone actively, and it knows nobody's in mortal danger without it. Well, unless Art murdered them all, but it keeps trying to poke MB in the feed, and it probably wouldn't keep calling MB ungrateful and and "a sulky dumbass" in MB's words, not Art's, if it had murdered all its humans.

Ratthi says he has it, and MB says he can come in. He asks if Amena can come too. MB leans back on the wall.

MB's been messing with Art, trying its patience, and cleaning the leaked fluids off itself. It didn't have a shower, though, because showers feel good and it wants to stay angry.(2) It almost rejected the Art-branded shirt that "fell" from the recycler, but it needs a shirt.(3)

MB doesn't want to upset Amena, so it says yes, she can come too. They enter, just the two, and MB warns them that Art can hear anything you say onboard it, anywhere. Ratthi says he's used to that, and doesn't say it's about MB, but it knows.

Ratthi asks about MB's relationship with Art. MB gets grossed out and defensive at the first implication of a sexual one, and is no less horrified at the idea of friendship. MB felt Art stop pinging it when the humans started talking, so it knows Art's listening. Ratthi asks if MB has made many bot friends, and MB thinks of Miki,(4) but says no, not friends like humans make. Ratthi is skeptical, saying Art seems to think it is, but MB says Art lies and is mean.

The lights flicker, imperceptible to human eyes, but visible to MB's. It knows Art heard that.(5)

Amena asks why MB keeps calling it Art, when its name is Perihelion. MB says it stands for Asshole Research Transport, an anagram. Amena says that's not what anagram means, but MB dismisses it as human pedantics.

Ratthi says it's possible that, while both MB and Art have relationships with humans, they don't seem to be sure how to have one with each other. MB gets grossed out at relationship again, and Ratthi says, other than friendship, what other word is there?

I had no idea. I did a quick search on my archives and pulled out the first result. “Mutual administrative assistance?” The lights fluctuated again, in what I could tell was a really sarcastic way. I yelled, “I know what you’re doing, ART, stop trying to communicate with me!”(6)

Ratthi informs MB that, if it hasn't been paying attention, they've come to an agreement with Art to get its crew back, in exchange for assistance returning to Preservation after. MB points out they're just doing what Art wants. Ratthi says there's not another good choice out here. Even if they sent a distress beacon, any response will put everyone in trouble, especially Art and its crew and their university. MB points out several ways it's even worse and more exploitative, that they'd have to pay out the nose just to get rescued.

Amena is aghast, Ratthi says he hates the Rim, and MB agrees, sarcastically, and notes that it's realized something it should have seen sooner.(7) Amena asks if MB would be okay, as a construct, but they have a short discussion about how Mensah technically owns it, under Rim law, and Amena is her legal representative in this. Ratthi confirms, if corporates show up, Amena has to assert ownership of MB. She's disgusted. MB says it doesn't like it either.

At any rate, Ratthi says Art still has repairs to do, and everyone has plans and preparations to make, and asks if MB will come out of the bathroom now. MB says it will, because it knows Art is lying.

This time when the lights fluctuated, it wasn’t sarcastic.

The humans have shifted around, but still have their video call active to the control room. Overse asks if they're all ready now. Ratthi says not quite, and MB says Art didn't come here for a distress call. Thiago is suspicious, and Arada asks if MB wants to jeopardize the deal they made with Art. MB says it absolutely needs to bring this up now.

Overse asks how MB knows, and MB says it's a research and teaching vessel, but all the educational spaces are out of use, the lab inactive, and no cargo module attached. MB asks what Art was doing when it received the distress call. Art asks if this is MB being helpful. No, MB says, this is quite the opposite. It's being held against its will and it will make its keeper regret it.(8)

Arada asks if MB wants to go back in the bathroom for a while and think about what it's doing. MB says it's done thinking, Art snarks about that being obvious. MB asks again what Art was doing.

Across the room, Eletra is asking Overse and Ratthi why they're letting their SecUnit do this. Overse almost says MB is independent, but Ratthi stops her and says merely that MB is usually more responsible.

Thiago, surprisingly, agrees with MB that it's a valid question. MB interprets this as the sensible humans abandoning it. Art says it's none of MB's business. MB argues Art made this its business when Art told the hostiles to kidnap MB. Art suggests MB can put itself out the airlock if it's unhappy with its situation.

The humans, for their part, are trying desperately to wave for MB's attention as Art makes this incredibly threatening statement. Only, this is what MB wanted. It says Art is upsetting Amena. MB noticed earlier that Art's tone with Amena is totally different from with the adults, and Art is fundamentally an educational vessel.

And before this when I was stupid and we were still friends(9) it had talked about human adolescents in an indulgent way.

Amena takes a breath, and before she can object, MB asks her privately in the feed to be honest. So, she says the grey people and being shot at scared the crap out of her, and she really would like to know what's actually going on.

After a long silence, Art says it has to violate its crew's NDA to answer. MB says Art kidnapped itself and its humans, that violated MB's contract with them. Art says it will consider it, then shows MB that it's talking only to it and its humans, cutting Eletra out.

In this more private channel, Art says that if any of them reveal what it's about to say to the corporate, it will kill her. MB isn't particularly attached to her, but it doesn't want anyone dying near its humans and traumatizing them more. So it's not opposed when Arada speaks for them and agrees. Aloud, Arada asks if they can use Art's cabins to clean up, so they don't accidentally indicate anything to Eletra. On the public channel, Art graciously invites them in.

Ratthi and Overse get Eletra settled in one of the rooms the grey people didn't get their growth medium scent all over, and supplies so she can take care of her business and might not feel a need to wander. MB posts a drone scout, just in case.

MB's humans go to the galley, far enough away that Eletra won't hear them even in the corridor before MB spots her moving. The humans are eating and drinking something warm Thiago made them. MB is pacing.

Finally, Arada asks if Art is ready to answer MB's questions. Art gives a lengthy explanation that amounts to, its crew sometimes acts on behalf of anti-corporate organizations,(10) and were on a data-collection mission to the abandoned colony. Amena notes the similarity to how Preservation's great-grandparents' colony had been abandoned. Art notes that sometimes, colonies cut off from the corporates can survive.

This colony had previously failed, but no data existed on why. One of Art's crew, Iris, had found some newsfeed archives about the takeover of the corporation that had controlled the second colony. Some employees were in a firefight, and deleted the database before the hostile takeover was completed. Iris made a note that it's possible, though unlikely, that they were trying to protect or conceal the colony.

After all the humans have read the article and notes, Art says its crew's mission was to see the colony's status, and if active, make contact and offer assistance against corporates, such as by evacuating the inhabitants. Amena asks why, surely if the colony survived, the other corporations would have no jurisdiction. Overse says no, another could easily, and legally, move in and take over. Amena is horrified, but Thiago says that's how the Corporate Rim is.

Ratthi asks what Art and its crew do, in these cases.

ART said, The University has the means to produce the colony’s original charter documents, which often contain clauses specifying that if the originating corporate body has ceased operations, then ownership of the planet is ceded to the colonists or their issue or successors living on the original site.

MB asks if that means the university forges the documents to free the colonies, and Art refuses to acknowledge the question, which probably means yes. MB has no qualms with the method of sticking it to the corporates, even if it's still angry at Art.

Art continues, in very passive voice, that a contract is facilitated between the colony and an independent transfer station, and once the station is established in the system, the colony is relatively safe from corporate ravaging.

Arada says Eletra said there were two corporate ships, and asks if Art was here before them. It was, and was forced to fire on a Barish-Estranza ship by those holding its crew hostage. It doesn't know what happened to the vessel or the crew. Ratthi asks if Art knows why the grey people would have brought Eletra and Ras aboard, but it really has no clue. The rest happened as it already described.

Overse suggests they put together a timeline. MB is about to say it has one, when Art provides its own. MB is annoyed, privately, that Art left out the point where it told the gray people MB was a weapon they could use.(11)

Amena says before things got weird, Ras tried to tell her about the colony reclamation, but Eletra cut him off. Thiago wonders whether the gray people came from the newer colony, or the original one, if they're remnant-contaminated, or if they were manipulated genetically by their corporation.

Discussion moves to the language they used, which has at least three pre-Corporation Rim languages involved, and their tech, which is also pretty ancient. Thiago says most of the alien contamination incidents happened before the Rim, though everything's suppressed so it's hard to know much detail about any of it.

Ratthi brings it back around to Thiago's question again. Art says evidence points to them being from inside the system.

MB takes the opportunity to point out Art's memory archive issues, and that it can't be sure who or what was aboard it before. Arada tries to interrupt, but Art says MB's earlier statement that Art lies a lot was untrue, but it cannot reveal information that would be against its crew's interests unless the circumstances call for it. Arada says they understand, and MB is looking out for their interests.

Art demands an apology. MB makes obscene gestures at the ceiling, since the humans are treating the ceiling like Art anyway. Art says that was unnecessary.

In a low voice, Ratthi commented to Overse, “Anyone who thinks machine intelligences don’t have emotions needs to be in this very uncomfortable room right now.”(12) ART was suddenly in my feed, on a private channel. I did what I had to do. You should understand that. I said aloud, “I’m not talking to you on the feed! You’re not my client and you’re not my—” I couldn’t say it, not anymore.(13) All the humans were staring at me. I wanted to face the wall but that felt like giving in.

Out of nowhere, MB has views all over the ship. It snarls at Art to stop being nice to it.

Amena takes MB's side and says maybe Art needs to give MB some time to process. MB, however, is suspicious and asks if Art is talking to Amena privately. Amena winces, and MB yells at Art to stop talking to its human(14) behind its back.

Privately, MB acknowledges that it isn't being at all logical, even if it felt like it was at the time.(15)

Arada says it's time to stop this unproductive arguing. Art needs to stop pressuring MB, she understands it's upset about its crew but MB is upset too. So, if it can give them any other information about this colony, it would be appreciated. Until then, she and Overse will get some data on the alien remnant on the engine, and see if they can help fix things faster. She assigns Ratthi and Thiago to med-scan-autopsy the dead Targets, and translate what they were saying in MB's recordings, to help narrow down who they were. She also asks Amena to talk to Eletra again, see if she can get her to open up.

Finally, she asks MB to figure out what caused Art's first reinitialization process, and how the Targets boarded, so they can prevent it happening again. She asks if Art is alright with all this, and it says an ominous, "For now."(16)

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(1) You know, bravo to everyone (but Art) on their restraint. (2) God if that ain't the mood sometimes. It's not quite "I don't deserve nice things" but it's a close cousin to that feeling, you know? (3) I love the implication that Art deliberately withheld the jacket, could have pushed it through but didn't, so MB would have to talk to a human sooner or later to get it back. (4) Precious cinnamon roll Miki who could kill you to defend its human friends but would rather make you a friend too if it could. Taken from us too soon, but a good reminder to MB that friendship is possible for bots. I think that's part of why it let itself open up so much to Mensah after. (5) Telltale upper-corner message: Perihelion will remember this. (6) Those poor humans having to deal with MB acting so unhinged. (7) This is where it figures out Art was lying about the distress, in case you missed it like I did on my first pass. (8) One of the classic blunders. Don't take a stubborn asshole who lives for chaos, prisoner. (9) So much for never having been friends. MB can't help but admit the truth sideways a lot of the time. I love picking up on its little slips, don't you? (10) Comrade Perihelion! No wonder it wasn't opposed to helping MB all those weeks ago. (11) Anything to avoid the conclusion it knows is inevitable: it cares for Art's crew, just for the sake of their being innocent humans, and it's going to help rescue them eventually. Otherwise this wouldn't be a book. (12) [quiet snicker] (13) You know it is still your friend, though. It betrayed you, because it knew you would be able to handle the betrayal. It didn't mean for MB's humans to get involved. I think Art even expresses, in its own way, that it feels bad for their involvement. It's not like Art is withholding supplies or passage back to Preservation, as long as it gets its crew back first. And, it may see them as an asset, more people means less danger individually, means better chance of success. (14) Amena is particularly MB's human here. It's not worried about Art talking to the others, but it doesn't want Art influencing Amena while it's still angry at Art. They're just so… human. (15) This really extra feels like an observation after the fact, versus most of MB's asides where it could have been the uncensored train of thought it was barreling down at the time. Thus, my use of a touch of past tense. (I'm capable, it just doesn't feel natural.) (16) Ominous in that it implies Art will change its mind sooner or later. Do you think so? Or is it just sulking at being dressed down like that by a human?

[soykanozcelik]

WhatsApp Mesajlarınızı Telegram'dan Okumak İstermisiniz?

WhatsApp Mesajlarınızı Telegram’dan Okumak İstermisiniz?

Evet, doğru okudunuz 🙂

Telegramı severek kullanıyor ancak WhatsAppı çeşitli nedenlerle kullanmak durumunda olabilirsiniz yada iki farklı numaradan WhatsAppı kullanıyor olabilir ikincisinden olan bildirimlerden haberdar olmak isteyebilirsiniz.

İşte bu durumda dilerseniz WhatsApp mesajlarınızı Telegram’dan okuyabilir, haberdar olabilirsiniz. Nasıl mı? Buyurun…

Bunun için şimdilik Android…

[migrated-to-diff-account]

Orion's Kiss

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TFP Optimus x human!reader

A cute lil fic of you spending quality time with your autobot lover <3

Warnings: None

Word count: 747

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It was an overcast night; the soft rumbling of thunder can be heard in the distance as Optimus Prime begins to return to the place, he unknowingly began to call home. The small pitter patter of water droplets on the asphalt reached his audial receptors. It will not be a good night to observe the Earth’s night sky, he thought.

In his alt form, Optimus Prime sped slightly faster than he usually would. He was eager to get out of this rain, but more eagerly, get home to you.

His spark mate, the love of his life. He had met you a little over a year ago, around the same time he met the other humans. Your protective nature over those kids made his spark sing, whether it was helping them with their homework, helping build projects or just sitting with them and listening to whatever was on their mind. He couldn’t help but smile as he observed you mothering them.

Optimus reached the base, drenched in rain and transformed back into his bot alt. He hums as he shakes the water off himself. He looks to the designated human area, expecting to find you laying on the couch bundled up in soft blankets, however you were no where to be found.

He looks to his old friend, huddled over the main computer. “Ratchet, do you perhaps know of (Y/n)’s whereabouts?”

“I saw her take the elevator up top,” He replies, not even looking up from his work. “Silly human will catch an illness in this kind of weather.”

Optimus hums, giving his medic a small pat on his shoulder plates, “Thank you, old friend. If you require my assistance, I shall be with her.”

Ratchet nods his helm, glancing a look back at Optimus as he walks towards the roof top access for the bots, then returns to his work.

Up on the roof, a small human sat with a raincoat. She was leaning against the many rocks stacked upward in the memoriam of their fallen team member. She shivered a little as the rain hits her cheeks. She starts to smile as she hears the rough sound of pedes behind her.

“Hey, love.” She smiles as her lover settles down beside her.

“Hello, my sweet spark,” Optimus greets, he looks down to his human. He follows her gaze which is pointed out towards the misty horizon. “May I ask, what are you doing out here in this weather?”

She hums, “Waiting for the stars to come back out to play.”

Optimus looks back down at her, a soft smile returns to his faceplates. The one thing out of everything that he admired about her, was her love of the stars. Often, they would venture out of Jasper to more unpopulated areas just to have a clearer view of the wonders of the galaxy. It was one of their favourite activities to do together. While on these dates, he can remember countless conversations about his experiences when he was Orion Pax, how his favourite place on Cybertron was the Observatory of Iacon. Oh, how he wished he could take her there, knowing how much her beautiful eyes would light up as she explored his most treasured location.

 Optimus holds out his servo to her. She could hear him doing so and took the invitation to climb up. He holds her close to his chassis, the soft thrumming of his spark making her relax. She sinks deeper into the embrace. Both sat there in comfortable silence, listening to the rain become less and less heavy until it became a soft sprinkle.

The lovers both watched as the moon began to break through the clouds. Optimus strokes his thumb over her back, the exhale of his vents indicating that he is completely relaxed. The clouds slowly dissipated over time, and the night sky began to make itself known.

“Look Optimus,” (Y/n) pointed towards a constellation in the sky, “There’s Orion’s belt.”

Optimus looks up towards where she was pointing. He softly chuckles as he brings his love closer to his face plate, giving her a light kiss. She happily returned the kiss, resting her hands on his face plate.

“And that, my love, was Orion’s kiss.” He presses his helm on her forehead, enjoying the little giggles that escaped from her.

The rest of the night was spent right there, enjoying each other’s embrace, and enjoying the wonders of the universe. He absolutely wouldn’t have it any other way.

[riesread]

DISNEYLAND & SURPRISE — Mason Mount

summary: which mason and y/n take fay mount to disneyland and SURPRISE!!!

warning: english is bot my first language

imfayfaymount

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imfayfaymount Remember to lock the door before going out or bad people will take all of fay's milk, candy and diapers

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declanrice Oops uncle Ricey gonna take all of Fay Fay candyy

imfayfaymount Why uncle Rice? If you take all of my candy and milk i’m gonna be really mad at you

declanrice But uncle Rice hungry

imfayfaymount Okay uncle Rice but don’t take all of it 😌

declanrice You’re such a sweet little baby girl

y/n.mount Fay Fay honey, mommy hungry too can i have some?

imfayfaymount Mommy we'll get to eat a lot more delicious things at Disneyland

masonmount @y/n.mount @imfayfaymount Hrry uppp!! let’s go to Disneyland my queen and my little princess

imfayfaymount Okayy dada

nathanwood_ Uncle Woody also has the same mickey shirt as you, fayfay

imfayfaymount We both scare Mickey, i wear this shirt to get rid of my fear of Mickey but today when i see Mickey in real life, i'm even more scared

masonmount

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masonmount Sufer baby 😏

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y/n.mount

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y/n.mount Mickey Mouse and Mason Mount, actually fay’s really scare of mickey 😅 (im so so sorry mickey, i love you still)

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masonmount She cried her eyes out, poor my little baby girl

imfayfaymount I’m scare, uncle Ben

benchilwell It’s okay, Tinker Ben is here for you @imfayfaymount

y/n_fan.19 🥰🥰🥰

y/n.mount

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y/n.mount Listen, Fay is really the queen in Mason's heart, Mason can get her whatever she wants.. Right now when we just got home, Fay wanted dada Macey to cook dinner and play with puzzles with her, but he still agreed eventhough he told me he had a bit of a headache 🥰 so sweet

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debbiemount That's how we teach him 😂, y/n he should rest anyway

y/n.mount Haha yea i did told him to rest a bit, he still refused, maybe because in a few days he has to go to France to play for the Champions League

jazbenham Our plan 🤭

y/n.mount Oooooopss ssssh 😂 its a secrett

jazbenham okay okay 🤣

masonmount.fan Look at his shirt 😂 it’s FAY

masonmount

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masonmount Make breakfast for my wife and daughter before the match 😋 @y/n.mount @imfayfaymount

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debbiemount How does it taste? @y/n.mount @imfayfaymount

imfayfaymount It’s really spicy nanna

y/n.mount Actually not bad, mom @debbiemount 😂

masonmount @imfayfaymount Do you know why it's hot and spicy? because it's like love from me for your mummy @y/n.mount 😎

imfayfaymount Ewwww

jazbenham oh my god mason 😂

y/n.mount @masonmount wtf 😳

y/n.mount

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y/n.mount 🍜🍜

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masonmount

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masonmount Ready to kick ball ⚽️

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imfayfaymount Go go dada go go!! me and mommy gonna wish you best luck ever

masonmount Thank you baby

benchilwell @imfayfaymount Wish uncle Ben luck too

declanrice Wish me luck too @imfayfaymount

y/n.mount @benchilwell @declanrice, Fay says if she wish Uncle Ben and Uncle Rice luck, then her dada luck will expire

mason_fan_is_me @y/n.mount Fay’s is so adorable

y/n.mount

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y/n.mount With @jazbenham 😼😼

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jazbenham He’s gonna freak out when he saw use up here y/n

y/n.mount Hahaha

kennedyalexa Does he know you were there?

y/n.mount He has NO ideas 😹😹

imfayfaymount Mommy don’t forget to wish dada luck for me

y/n.mount I won’t forget hon 😊

jazbenham

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jazbenham “I saw you guys!” @y/n.mount @masonmount

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masonmount Oh you guys!! i’m so happy that you and y/n are here with me tonight

jazbenham It’s was y/n ideas, she said she wanted to surprise you

y/n.mount Confgratzzzz, loveee youu masee

imfayfaymount Yay dada wonnn

y/n.mount Yayyyy, he is.. now is time for bed @imfayfaymount

imfayfaymount Mommy i’m not sleepy yet

y/n.mount Okay, 5 more minutes then ask nanna to put you to bed okay

imfayfaymount Okay mommy, goofnight mommy and dada too

masonmount Goodnight baby @imfayfaymount

[scarletindicumsalemblazepetrrubi]

vhapter 34: Bring Me to Life

i woke up the nxet morninhg in my coffin. i stept out and walkied into my bathrom wher e evav was already standing. she lokd at me with lov in her eyes but ijust ignoreds her   iw alked past her and stod in front of the miror!  i put on some blakk eyeliner, black lipshtick,and no foundation becaus i’m already pale sinc iM a vampire……. i was very sad because i rememvber i am a vampire  i wanterd to go back to my rom, but i herd some loud nocking outside! i loked out of my windows and it was andreas !  “what do you want?” i shooted “i wanted to see yo” he exclaimed i wass very mad becuase he was my ex boyfrend and i dont want to se him anymoree……………………… it made me very sad and i thoght what if i drink his blood?????? but my conscious eness made me donzt do it. “so what do yo wantr?” “i wanted to invit you to a concrete-” “ac oncert??” i was very shocked becau s this town dosnt look like it has concrets. what if it’s trick “but what if you’re tricking me and you’r trying to kiss me again i said no more i dont like men” “you ar sio fucking hot when you’r mad” andré said and raisd his eyebrow all seductivbely  i blushd becaus this always coght me off guard “ok i will come but let me get dresd first”i said bcuoas i was still in a towel. “ok” i chuck,ld “but yo dont need to bcuz you’re beutyful the way you aer” i blushed again i put on some tigt leather pants that had belts all over them. i put on a corset and over that i put on a top and some nice chains , it was very hot and sunny outside, so i decided to not wear my snakeskin cot today and insted wer a _blazer_ (geddid bitcc this is uuuuuu!) i went out anxd as we were walkng to the concrert (which wa s in the polihetron) i saw  a big blonde brunette man tzhe size of vlad, but only bigger and more skiny. he has big muskles and big muskled arms and wore a gren tanktop and militari pants and bots with sligt heel but not too much bcuos he was alreddy tall.  “hello there” andre said to make me jellos. but i did not  care as i was steraight and he was my ex.  but the blonde man winked at me so i blushed and went to the concrrwet. 

A/N hello againn , cthis isScarlet Elizabeth Elvira Luna Morrigan Hamilton. as you can see i put a lot of spice in this chaptar! i was listening to the simple plan and linkin park whn i was writing this bc i was rly deprussed!!!!!!!! yuo should rly listen to “inthe end“ by link in park. 

also i finally playd the pahlogic demo!!!!!!!!!!! but it didnt run because i have a tapllet so i had to watch someone ply. 

anyway i hop you enjoy leeve revows pls

[moonchildsaurora]

The social butterfly of a Tech Genius

»»—— Crew Member #6 of Space Pirates ATEEZ ——««

all aboard The Perihelion, welcome to the co-pilot’s log system! here you’ll be able to access the crew’s profiles should you wish to read about their journeys: (no nsfw content)

[CAPTAIN] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8]

an underestimated intellect with huge love for the cyber world and technology  

you hear him before you see him in a crowd

a Drex’un who was born and lived his life in the technology-thriving city of Vollurn up until he was invited to join Hongjoong and Seonghwa on their journey

[database file: Drex’uns are often described as demon-borne even though not all bloodlines are derived from infernal ancestry. Purely for the fact that prominent horns protude from their heads, a prehensile tail that’s used for grabbing things and will coil around their legs when upset/nervous, sharp canines and eye colours that cover the entire sclera. Depending on bloodline, some Drex’uns have elemental abilities]

Mingi isn’t sure about his bloodline as he never knew his parents, though his intelligence goes far beyond that of an average being’s. Not only does he process knowledge extremely fast, his memory is remarkable; able to recall even the tiniest details and his ability to analyse/break codes allows him to have free reign in the cyber networks

his teal-coloured horns and tail have onyx gradient tips, adorned with a few gold jewellery (his actual ears are also pierced with hoops) to complement his molten gold eyes

making heads turn, be it for his energetic presence or fashionable attire; “just because I grew up on the streets doesn’t mean I have no pride for my looks”

learnt to be resourceful and street-smart at a young age, knows all the short cuts and side alleys of the city like the back of his hand (he’s had a lot of time to wander around). Also found out that he had a knack for by-passing security systems whenever he needed shelter for the night

frequents the ‘Merripalace Arcade’ where it’s both an underground hangout for tech whizzes and the cyber battlegrounds for competitive players. The first visit gave him a taste of a different kind of freedom and an introduction to the world of hacking. It’s probably one of the few places he’s felt a part of a community; no judgement of your species nor your background but rather your digital reputation is more valued and the sort of technological talents you bring to the network

if there’s one thing Mingi is a natural at it’s socialising, he could walk into a club alone and come back out later with a new social circle if he so wishes

“ok who DON’T you know here?”

“just look at that face, how can you say no to him?” – Mingi is walking proof that Drex’uns can pull off the puppy-dog face and get away with it

he was gifted a second-hand mirage drive by Einux, a Nagzoid [database file: a reptilian humanoid being with serpent ancestry so they tend to have more snake-like features] who became a shot-term mentor figure after Mingi unintentionally helped crack a system code for a database Einux was commissioned to work on (because Mingi thought that guy was just really bad at math on first glance)

[database file: a mirage drive is pretty much a miniature tablet with a hologram touch-screen and every tech whizz would protect theirs with their lives; especially when were layers of secret activities and programs stored into it]

“you remembered to wipe clean the data trail and replace the originals with the dud files right?”

“yeah of course...does planting a virus in the system that will cause ‘Time Warp’ to play every time they try to click open a file counts?”

“Mingi, I…….”  

Einux introduced Mingi to his network of contacts and helped set him up with his first commission, safe to say Mingi was at a loss for words when he got his first pay up front (and that was just the deposit)

by the time Yunho had come across Mingi at the Tech Institute, he had been in the cyber scene for 4+ years already and never once had to deal with someone catching him in the act  

Mingi.exe has stopped working

he’s met a couple of Sheirzois before but he’d be lying if he said he wasn’t lowkey checking out the blue-haired giant whilst panicking on the inside, he’d argue there’s always time to appreciate beauty

two options popped into his mind then and there; either he bribed his way out (as his mentor taught him) or he attempted to maybe throw some punches and then make a getaway

(expectation) looks like he’s intimidating & can fight vs. (reality) he’d probably cry if he hit someone & is just a soft boy all-round

extra trivia: ironically for an infernal being, Mingi doesn’t deal well with anything supernatural/ghosts-related. Once Woo and Yeosang pranked him, Yunho helped a little but he doesn’t need to know, and convinced him that the basement storage hanger was haunted after totems started appearing in odd places along with ominous noises. Mingi was so ready to abandon ship before Hongjoong did damage control & Jongho promised he’d fight all the ghosts for him 

was already metaphorically weeping at the thought of having to empty his money pouch but turned out that Otis (his multi-coding bot) had somehow manage to win the Sheirzoi over along with an invite to drinks

“I’ve got many questions for you regarding your efficiently adorable bot”

“…and I to you as well, BUT first do you have a name? And secondly have you been to ‘Le Apollon’? Coz if not they make some really mean Northern Drops there!”

Yunho turned out to be one of the most chilled individual Mingi has met and he didn’t mind the other’s enthusiastic discussions about all technological inventions, and was even just as enthusiastic to share with Yunho about his own passion for cyber tech

one too many drinks later Mingi was accidentally spilling secrets he definitely wasn’t meant to and even ended up dancing on the table at some point, all while Yunho hyped his new friend up on the side

was forever grateful that Yunho never ratted him out to the authorities and consider him shook for the 2nd time in that day when he was offered a roof over his head, a more permanent one too

“do you want to be the big spoon, or is it my turn? We can rotate!” 

thus the bromance of all bromances was born

living with Yunho not only meant Mingi would wake up to good vibes, but more than often would wake up to either the screeching of the smoke alarm or “HOLY SMOKES WHERE ARE THE WATER PODS? DID WE RUN OUT OF THEM? AGAIN?!”

putting out accidental fires became second nature to Mingi, initially he’d aggressively fret over Yunho but now he’s come to accept such is the life of a chaotic bright inventor and this is fine

in fact when Hongjoong and Seonghwa came across their humble abode (thanks to Yunho’s cleaning bot) it was an iconic first meeting over smoke. Yunho did most of the talking when Hongjoong pitched his desire to recruit a crew for space voyage, Mingi too busy sitting there staring at the two new-comers with shooting stars in his eyes and hearing about the prospects of an adventure. Within that day the crew had gain 2 more members, because Mingi and Yunho are a combo package deal

“oh has the system be glitching? If you don’t mind, would you like me to have a look at it?”

Hongjoong did a happy dance on the spot knowing that not only did he now have a talented inventor on his ship but also a gifted tech genius, he put Mingi in charge of managing the mainframe systems along with intel collecting this decision that Hongjoong would later semi-regret because (at times) the word “self-control” doesn’t seem to exist in Mingi’s vocab

Seonghwa adopted him and Yunho pretty easily and space mum’s cooking is Mingi’s fave, occasionally using his puppy-dog face he’s perfected over the years to his advantage in gaining extra midnight snacks (being everyone’s baby, no one’s really immune to this)

“Hwa you’re supposed to be the one disciplining the kids!”

Mingi and Yunho were known to be the chaotic fun duo, but with Wooyoung is just chaotic – not to mention he got his Yunhogizer confiscated by Hongjoong for almost a week after, “I thought we were all comparing assets, Wooyoung sent his to the group chat so I figured this was some kind of crew bonding”

also was one half of the reason that the ‘whatever happens at the Tav/clubs, stays at the Tav/clubs’ rule got implemented and one-night sexytimes were banned aboard The Perihelion after Jongho witnessed a random still semi-nude humanoid trying to sneak out of Mingi’s room without being noticed (Hwa went on parent-mode and panicked yell whilst covering Jongho’s eyes)

Jongho avoided Mingi (out of sheer embarrassment) for a few days and that was pretty devastating, considering how close the two became in their friendship that Mingi was one of the very few people in the crew whom Jongho was openly clingy with at times

no one can argue about Mingi’s loyalty to his crew/new family, and under his care-free flamboyant exterior he’s a genuine listener and will not hesitate to offer his shoulder for his family to lean on whenever they need it

recently he’s created new software to enhance Seonghwa’s cybernetic lenses (as a birthday gift) that’d allow him to see clearly miles ahead, in the dark and lock-on tracking function. What Mingi failed to let Hwa know was that he still hasn’t disconnected the sync link to his mirage drive and therefore if, for example, an image was sent through it’d appear in the other user’s field of vision

“wait for it, wait”

“what exactly are we waiting for Mingi? And why are you giggling over a screaming pink…starfish?” (that’s Patrick Star by the way)

seconds later there was a clamouring from the bathroom, the solid sound of someone falling before, “MINGI!”

“that my good lads, is what we were wa-oh whoops gotta go!”  

(moodboard made with love, by @s1ardusk​ ♡)

[ask-de-writer]

SEA DRAGON’S GIFT : Part 58 of 83 : World of Sea

Return to the Master Story Index

Return to World of Sea

SEA DRAGON’S GIFT

Part 58 of 83

by

De Writer (Glen Ten-Eyck)

140406 words

copyright 2020

written 2007

All rights reserved.

Reproduction in any form, physical, electronic or digital is prohibited without the express consent of the author.

//////////////

Copyright fair use rules for Tumblr users

Users   of Tumblr.com are specifically granted the following rights.  They may   reblog the story provided that all author and copyright information   remains intact.  They may use the characters or original characters in   my settings for fan fiction, fan art works, cosplay, or fan musical   compositions.

All sorts of fan art, cosplay, music or fiction is actively encouraged.

///////////////////////

New to the story?  Read from the beginning.  PART 1 is here

///////////////////////

Tanlin’s face fell.  In a sad soft voice she said, “Oi knew t’at ye’d ask.  Oi’ll give ye t’e facts t’at Oi know.  Ye willnae like w’at Oi’m about t’ tell ye.  Ot least a few ot’ers will tell parts o’ ‘t as well.  Ye’ll ‘ave t’ decide i’ ye’ve been told true.” Dragons forgive m’.  Oi’ll tell ‘er nae lie but Oi must save m’ Barad at any cost! She began, carefully editing Barad’s early involvement in the plot.

“T’ere wa’ a plot t’ kill ye.  T’was hatched only a few doors down t’e passage in Mister Morgu’s cabin.  ‘E wa’ our Purser an’ ‘e ‘ates t’e Longin.  T’was ‘e t’at persuaded Barad t’ buy t’e Ord …”

She went on, fearful of the effect that her account was having on Kurin. So much depended on the goodwill of this child.  No, not really a child, just young.  Before the fleet she was legally an adult because of her skills accomplishments.

There was good reason for her fear.  Kurin heard of the apparent cold blooded murder of Chena and possibly Merk with horror and pity.  She did not want to face this.  She wanted to run and hide, curled around her knotted stomach.  Only her need to know the truth kept her in the same cabin with this story.

Tanlin’s control broke down when she got to Silor’s part. She turned in her chair and gestured at the cabin door, her voice catching as she said, “Ot t’e Gat’ering, only a day before ye were poisoned, Oi met Silor just ootside t’is door.  ‘E wa’ runnin’ an errand for Mister Morgu.  T’was ‘im t’at took t’e kit.”

She hid her face and her voice was muffled and she wept as she said, “A moment earlier!  Just a moment earlier an’ Oi’d ‘ave caught ‘im in our cabin!  Nae bit o’ t’is wad ‘ave ‘appened i’ Oi’d been a moment earlier!”

Kurin, remembering the ghastly accusations of her own mother as she sank into madness, could well guess the kind of guilt feelings that Tanlin was experiencing.  The screaming shade of her mother accusing her of murdering her father still haunted her dreams.  She leaned forward, reaching through her own revulsion at the unfolding tale, and laid a comforting hand on Tanlin’s arm.  The contact helped Tanlin to get a grip on herself.  She looked thankfully at Kurin and went on.  

Kurin heard the events at the Gathering and after.  Even though she had already heard that the Fauline had been rammed, she got the tale again.  This time it included what had happened aboard the Fauline as well as the rest of the events.  She heard, for the first time, how the Grandalor had got north undetected by riding in the eye of the Coriolis storm.

Kurin sat, stunned by the tale.  Shakily she asked, “That’s it?  No dodge?  No it was an accident or a prank gone awry?  Just, somebody really tried to kill me, not even because they hated me?  Just to hurt my ship?”

Tanlin sat slumped in her chair, looking ill.  We’ve lost.  She’ll nae help us now, she thought.  She responded dully, “In Mister Morgu’s case, Aye.  In Silor’s case, nae.  ‘E ‘ates ye an’ blames all o’ ‘is ill fortune an’ failings on ye.  Oi t’ink, from talking wit’ ‘im, t’at ‘e’s mad, at least w’ere ye are concerned.

“Bot’ ‘e an’ Mister Morgu ‘ave been confined since we caught t’em. Nane ‘as spoken t’ t’em since, except for m’sel’.  I talked t’ each o’ t’em separately t’ get t’e facts t’at Oi ‘ad t’ tell ye.”

Kurin curled up into a ball in her chair and sat, eyes closed, stomach knotted.  Tanlin looked despairingly across at Kurin.  She felt both guilt and sorrow that she’d caused such pain in one so young. Tanlin crossed the space between them and knelt where she could gather the hurting Kurin into her arms.

Kurin, startled, looked at her face.  Gray eyes in pain met gray eyes in despair.  Kurin uncurled enough to wrap an arm about Tanlin as well. For a few minutes they just sat and comforted each other.

Kurin broke the hug first and retreated to her chair, curled about her pain.  She looked at Tanlin, and tilted her head regarding the woman shrewdly.  Almost dismissively she said, “This is just pain.  It was hard to hear, that’s all.  I half expected something like that story.  I came here because of those Great Law violations. Running off because something’s difficult isn’t my way.

“Is there anything else that I should know about?”

“T’ere’s a matter t’at ye should know from m’,” said Tanlin, eager to change the subject, hope flaring.  “T’e counterfeit scrip t’at ‘as plagued yer last few Gat’erings originated on t’is ship. Barad an’ Mister Morgu conspired toget’er on t’at.  T’ere are many ‘oo were guilty o’ ‘elping t’ make or pass ‘t.”

“I see,” said Kurin.  She wrapped white hair about several fingers as she thought.  Concentration helped her to ignore the pain knotting her stomach.  She remembered some things that both Alor and Captain Mord had complained of and got an impish grin.  “I think that I have an idea about how to deal with that little problem.”

She turned serious again and said grimly, “There’s another problem that might not be so easy, though.  The Grandalor has an ominous reputation.  There are up to several hundred disappearances, perhaps murders.  Somehow they will have to be dealt with.”

This time it was Tanlin who grinned.  She raised her left index finger and chuckled around the stone of fear in her heart, “T’ey never ‘appened.  Nae even ane.”

“Then what did happen to all those people?” asked Kurin skeptically.

Tanlin snorted in amusement and replied, “Indentures.  Barad brokered t’eir indenture sales in t’e Arraken fleet.  T’e ‘ule ship kept t’e secret as a groit joke on t’e Naral fleet.  T’ere were nae mysterious disappearances.  Tis all in t’e Log an’ accounts.”

Angrily, Kurin started to say, “That’s a violation of the First Great Law! The sale of indentures is slavery!”

Tanlin held up a hand to stem the clearly expected outburst from Kurin. Calmly she explained, “Oi know t’e views o’ t’e Naral fleet on t’e matter.  As indenture’s practiced in t’e Arrakan fleet tis nae slavery nae does ‘t violate t’e Forst Groit Law.  Tis t’e ‘art o’ t’e Arrakan system o’ education.  Yer apprenticeship system comes closer t’ slavery t’an our indenture system.”

Kurin leaned forward curiously, listening carefully as Tanlin went on, “Barad discovered ‘ow our education system worked.  ‘E made yer castoffs int’ students t’at our fleet paid ‘igh prices for. Wen t’e Princamorn wa’ wrecked, we were on our way t’ meet Barad an’ pick up t’e latest crop o’ indentures.”

“Ye ‘ad t’ know about t’e indenture sales.  T’ey’re sure t’ try t’ attack us wit’ t’em.  T’e sales were legal in our fleet an’ dune in our territory.  T’e T’ird Groit Law’s all t’e defense m’ Barad needs.”

Tanlin regarded Kurin soberly for a few moments.  She’s so small.  Can she truly save us?  Barad trusts ‘er an’ t’ere’s few enow ‘e does.  She said quietly, “T’e Grandalor’s books, Logs an’ all else wit’ nut’in’ an’ nane ‘eld bock, is open t’ ye. Ask anyt’ing.  I’ we know t’e answer, tis yers.  Oi’ve ordered t’at t’ere’s t’ be nut’in’ ‘idden from ye.”

Earnestly, Tanlin requested, “Study t’e case forst, t’en answer ane quest’n.  Will ye please put our case before t’e Naral fleet?”

When Kurin did not answer immediately, Tanlin added, a little bitterly, “We’ve little ot’er ‘ope o’ gettin’ justice. Remember, nae even ye quest’ned t’e violations o’ law, bot’ Groit an’ fleet, t’at were dune t’ us.  Ye ‘ave t’eir respect an’ ye were t’e victim o’ t’e assault.  T’ey’ll listen t’ ye.”

 Kurin thought I’ve never refused a challenge before.  I wonder what Cat would say about me defending Barad?  Still, it’s the biggest responsibility I’ve ever faced.  She shuddered a little as she pondered, Lenai and Darkistry are wounded and in sickbay.  Macoul is dead.  Just to get me here.  I can’t let them down.

Tanlin saw Kurin’s small shudder and feared the worst.

Clearly and firmly Kurin said, “I’ve already made up my mind.  I don’t need to think it through any further.”  

Tanlin’s face fell, sure that she had lost.  Ship, love, friends and all would die.  Despair provided the darkness that the unsetting arctic sun in the ports could not.  Determination settled over her features.  Ice like the pack not far north wrapped her heart.  She would have to save her folk — — if she could.  She knew too well, from Barad’s books, the deadly skills of those directing the hunt to the south of them.  

She heard her own voice as if it were through a bulkhead, remote from what she was saying, “Oi promised ye safe conduct.  Oi’m sorry t’at we took ye so far for naught.  We’ll feed ye an’ let ye rest.  Tomorrow we’ll return ye t’ t’e Longin.

“We’ll nae be Scattered an’ executed by Council orders.  We’ll try t’ break-oot for t’e Arrakan fleet.  T’ey’ll give us a fair trial wen t’ey ‘ear o’ the Groit Law violations.  We’ll die fightin’ i’ we cannae escape.

“Oi ‘ope t’at we dinnae have t’ sink any ships doin’ ‘t.”

Appalled, Kurin exclaimed, “No!  I meant that I will be your advocate! I do have to study the case but not to make up my mind.  You were wronged.  I don’t know if I can save your crew but I have to try.”

Tanlin’s hardness turned to joy in an instant.  “Oi know t’at ye’ll do yer best an’ t’at yer best’s very good indeed.”

TO BE CONTINUED

<==PREVIOUS   NEXT==>

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Return to World of Sea

[natasha-alianovna-romanoff]

What Do Sick Teenagers Do? -part 2

This is part two. Read part one here first.

“How the fuck did you think the kid got my number? Huh? You think that kind of information is public knowledge?” There seemed to be a lot of stuttering on the other end of the line. “Did you even think any of this through?” Tony was hissing now in an effort to keep from shouting and waking Peter. He had worried it would undermine his anger, but as it turned out he quite enjoyed the threatening edge it gave his voice.

Morita stuttered and spluttered, Tony only half listening to his lies. His anger was making him restless, and he could feel recklessness building up. A quick glance at the sofa where Peter rested was enough to reign it in a little, and he focused the rest of his energy on the project in front of him. He had been fiddling with the wires and gears since the beginning of the phone call, preferring the work over the endless blabbering he was bound to write off as lies anyway.

Even so, Tony could not resist the telling off Morita deserved, and he made damn sure he kept the upper hand in the conversation, not a shred of forgiveness in his voice. And once his little project was finished and working flawlessly, he had nowhere else to direct his energy at. Suddenly Morita’s voice sounded twice as harsh and his whine ten times as unbearable.

“Who I decide to treat as my son is absolutely none of your concern, and all I require from your frighteningly simple mind is a little cooperation!” Okay, so he had definitely failed to keep his voice down on that one. He risked a quick glance at the sofa and cursed. A yawning Peter, still blinking the sleep from his eyes, was staring right back at him.

“Mr Stark?” His voice was rough from sleep, but the sound was a lot clearer now than before, and a quick check in with FRIDAY confirmed Peter’s fever was dropping. A quick breath of relief momentary calmed Tony’s anger.

Morita’s voice in his ear, still stumbling over apologies and excuses, called his temper back just as quickly.

“That’s all the time I had for you today, and I must say, the pleasure was definitely all yours,” Tony interrupted, talking over the principal, absolutely no interest in what he was still lamenting on about. A sharp gesture signaled to FRIDAY to cut off the call without waiting for a response.

Anger still coursed through him though, and Tony was conscious of the way he was clenching and unclenching his hands. In a few steps he stood behind the sofa Peter now sat up in, and he busied himself by checking the boy’s temperature, a hand against his forehead, even though FRIDAY had given him an exact number only seconds earlier. It busied his hands, calmed his mind. When he was done he moved one hand to Peter’s hair and rubbed soft circles into his scalp like May had instructed. This time it definitely helped Tony just as much - if not more - than it helped Peter.

Tony looked down at Peter, who seemed to be battling something in his mind. He kept opening and closing his mouth as if wanting to say something. Tony waited him out until Peter finally found his words. “Did you- ah nevermind.”

Okay, so almost found his words.

“Spit it out, kid,” he sighed. Peter was probably just going to whine about Tony going behind his back to call the school, but he had to be sure just in case the kid actually needed something. He wasn’t going to be like that damn principal, ignoring what Peter had to say. And if he was going to whine, it would give Tony the opening he needed to launch into his stop-being-so-self-sacrificing-and-learn-to-stand-up-for-yourself speech, which he had already rehearsed anyway.

“No, it’s okay, it’s really nothing, Mr Stark.” A stern look had Peter turn all red to the tips of his ears before he began stumbling over his words again. “Ah- Um- Did you just call me your son?”

That was most definitely not what he had said, but Tony could almost feel himself get flustered for the first time in… well, a while.

Almost. Instead, he cocked an eyebrow at the kid.

Peter immediately started blabbering again, apologising for overstepping, for listening in, for mishearing, and Tony even thought he heard an apology for being sick somewhere in that endless string of words. This kid. If he hadn’t been sick, Tony was convinced he would be shaking Peter right now, maybe even throwing a glass of cold water over him for good measure.

Tony had to speak over the boy to cut him off. “I didn’t call you my son. I said I treated you like a son.”

A little “oh” escaped Peter, before the room lapsed into sudden silence. The kid was fidgeting with the fray of his shirt now, and Tony pushed down the urge to go over and steady Peter’s hands in an effort to calm him. Peter probably wouldn’t like to be babied like that. Probably being the key word, because what did Tony really know about teenagers?

When the silence lasted half a second too long to be comfortable Tony forced on a trademark smirk, and spoke in his typically amused tone. “Now, before you get to excited, all that means is-”

He cut off with a grunt as Peter launched himself at Tony for a hug, then promptly fell as his legs gave way before Tony could catch him. Tony looked down at the puddle of a boy sprawled at his feet for a second before leaning down to pick him up, a soft smile and a worried frown battling it out on his face, no doubt.

A huff escaped him as he lifted Peter up into his arms for the second time that day. “God, kid. Is this just an elaborate scheme to get me to carry you everywhere? Don’t you have some kind of superhuman stamina? Or is this just your way of finally getting your hug? Because if it is, let me make it very clear: this is not equivalent to a hug,” he grunted as he lugged the teenager back to the sofa.

Peter immediately began spluttering again and a blush rose on his cheeks. Tony cursed silently at the hurt he had inadvertently caused with his careless joke.

“No, listen to me. If I were to hug you, kiddo, you would know.”

That shut the boy up. Tony couldn’t resist a laugh and another quick hair ruffle - fuck, the boy’s hair was soft. But it also reminded him of the other tip May had given him: soup. He turned around, scanning the room for wherever he had abandoned his little project. Once he located it, he placed it right in front of Peter’s face.

“This,” Tony gestured to the little robot standing between them, “is Soupport.” Tony suppressed a smile as Peter nodded solemnly, looking for all the world as if he were about to shake the robot’s hand. “Soupport will be your personal bot for as long as you are being held here on sick leave.”

Peter’s eyes went impossibly wide in excitement and awe. He kept looking from Tony to the robot, his energy suddenly back. Tony gave the boy some time to calm down, because by now he had enough experience with teenagers - or, well, Peter - to know that once he was like this, only something more exciting would register in Peter’s brain. The way he was looking at this robot, the only thing more exciting right now would be a meeting with the Avengers.

Once Peter seemed to have finished internally squealing, Tony moved on. “Now, a list of things Soupport can and will do for you: make soup, take your temperature, and alert me of any changes in your condition. What Soupport cannot do: any type of physical activity so don’t even think about getting out of this sofa, quiz you on chemistry - which you won’t need since you’re not going to school tomorrow anyway,” here Tony was forced to silence Peter with a quick hand gesture, “or any other type of activity which is off bounds to a sick teenager. I’m sure you can figure out what is and what is not acceptable if you use some common sense.”

Peter nodded sagely at this, his fingers already fluttering over all of Soupport’s buttons. Tony frowned, wondering whether the teen had even registered a word of what he had said since “personal bot”. With gentle hands he forced Peter to look into his eyes, making sure he could hold his attention for a few more seconds.

“He is also equipped with the ability to follow you around, so if you are stupid enough to think you’re fine,” here he let his voice go sluggish and slow, imitating Peter’s earlier attempts to prove that he was fine, “he will serve as a reminder that you are most definitely not, and will keep offering you soup until both FRIDAY and I sign off on your health. Understand? Oh and quick tip: New Yorkers are used to a lot, but that does not include a robot balancing trays of soup swinging after a Spider-Kid.”

“He can swing?”

“No, of course not! That would send a message of me encouraging you to swing around sick which is exactly what I’m trying to tell you not to do!”

“Right, right.” Peter grinned wickedly, which Tony took as a clear sign that he must still have a raging fever, because the boy had never been anything but shy and admiring around him before. Tony grinned right back until he heard Peter’s next words. “Just out of curiosity, how do you think New Yorkers would react to a robot balancing trays of soup just running after a regular kid?”

“I think you should start considering how you would react to being locked in this room with only me and Soupport for company, at least five blankets piled on you at all times, hourly medical check ups with FRIDAY, no Spider-Man whatsoever, for, let’s say, two weeks.”

Peter actually flinched at that. “Um, that sounds lovely and all, Mr Stark - well except for the Spider-Man part-” he frowned a little, “-but I have a competition for AcaDec on Sunday that I absolutely cannot miss. If I do, I don’t think even you or this super secure penthouse could keep me safe from our captain’s wrath.” He gazed out in front of him absentmindedly for a second, as if imagining how the world would come to an end if he missed this competition. Then he seemed to suddenly hear what he had said. “Not that there’s anything you couldn’t stop, sir, Mr Stark. You’re like, the most powerful person on this planet. I was exaggerating. Obviously.”

There was something in Peter's tone at that last word that made Tony take a long look at the boy. “Obviously,” he echoed. “So you'd better not be plotting how to get past me - the most powerful person on this planet - to your backpack so you can actually willingly do homework.” Tony shook his head, mostly to disguise the silent laughter shaking through his body. “I will absolutely never understand you.”

“How about we make a deal?” It took all Tony's self control not to even smile at the determination on Peter's face. It was hopelessly endearing, but the boy obviously meant it seriously, and Tony would not belittle him. He had promised that to himself when he'd realised how many people would try to keep Peter from his suit once they learnt his age, even though he had frequently proven himself capable, and did the job with more excitement and passion than anyone else.

Tony nodded at Peter to lay out his proposition.

“So, if I stay home tomorrow-”

“The rest of the week, that's non-negotiable.”

“-then you will let me study for Academic Decathlon now,” Peter finished unfazed. He leveled a challenging look at Tony, daring him to disagree.

Tony sat himself down opposite Peter, on the coffee table. He crossed his legs and folded his arms, his typical business pose. “You don't have much leverage here kid, you're not going to school anyway,” he pointed out.

Peter spluttered at the unfairness of that. Tony stayed silent, waiting. It didn't take long for Peter to dive back into negotiations. “Okay so you might be able to keep me from school, but we both know you can't keep me from being Spider-Man.” Tony acknowledged this with a short nod, though he was sure to make the disapproval evident on his face. “So I promise you, no Spider-Man until after the Academic Decathlon. Oh also, part of the deal is that I get to go to that, obviously.”

Better. An idea came to Tony. “Is Morita going to be there?”

The sudden change in topic threw Peter off. “Umm… maybe? He’s come to watch a few times since the championship.”

“Interesting. My terms are: you have the freedom to do what you want - which for some inexplicable reason seems to be to study - as long as you don't leaving the penthouse without my permission until Sunday, and I get to come to your competition.” And wear a flashy suit so everyone including Morita would know he was there.

Tony reached out his hand to shake on it, but Peter ignored it. “No leaving until FRIDAY deems me fit enough, not Sunday. That would be at 80% of my normal health. Still no school or Spider-Man, obviously.”

Impressive. “Make that 90% and you have a deal.”

“Deal.”

Tony shook Peter's outstretched hand and chuckled lightly. “You're not entirely bad at this.” Indignation and pride battled it out on Peter's face. “See, you don't need to go to school, you learn more from me anyway. So, how do you study for a competition?”

“Well I have flashcards in-”

Tony was already up, mumbling something along the lines of “of course you do” as he rummaged through Peter’s backpack. He couldn't find any flashcards though, as half the backpack was taken up by a shoe box and the rest was obscured from view by the Spider-Man suit. He pulled out the suit and dumped it to the side, but when he attempted to do the same to the box he was stopped short by the unexpected weight. The thing weighed a ton. Led on by curiosity he heaved the box out of the bag, and cautiously lifted the lid up. Who knew what Peter had stowed away.

As it turned out, Tony had found the flashcards. A whole box packed absolutely full, everything in neat stacks representing categories, held together with rubber bands. The categories were probably organised alphabetically as well, but Tony was too afraid to check.

He carried the box back to the sofa and dropped it onto the coffee table with a loud thunk. He raised an eyebrow at Peter as he dropped down next to him in the sofa, simultaneously scanning the categories at the top of the box. Definitely alphabetical.

Tony smiled wickedly as one category caught his eye. He picked it up and started sifting through the question. “Alright, kiddo, show me what you’ve got. Category: Avengers.” Peter snorted. “Question: What is most commonly regarded as the deciding factor in the battle between Iron Man and Iron Monger?”

The answer came immediately, absolutely no hesitation in his voice. “The arc reactor.”

“Wrong.” Tony was half proud that he had found a question Peter couldn't answer, and a little disappointed. “The deciding factor was Pepper.”

“It's correct! You haven't even checked the back of the flashcard.”

“I was there, kid, I don't need to check the answer.” He did though, and frowned when he saw the answer. “Also, your flashcard is wrong. It was most definitely Pepper.”

“It's not, Mr Stark. It's a past question, I took the answer right from the official website.” Peter continued pointing out how he was right, how the question asked what was “most commonly regarded as the deciding factor”, and that Tony did not usually conform to the “most common” opinion. Tony grumbled, acting offended and mumbling about doing better research. Peter shrugged.

“Maybe I should give them a call as well…”

Peter shot him a look of pure horror. Tony laughed and reached out to ruffle his hair. As he did, he pulled Peter towards himself, enveloping him in his arms and pressing a gentle kiss to the boy's curls.

“Um, Mr Stark? This is a hug, right?”

He couldn't help but laugh. “Yes, Pete, it is.” His laugh softened into a smile as he felt Peter's hands curl around his shoulders and hold on to him tightly.

“You give good hugs.” The sound was muffled against his neck.

“I know. But if I get sick from this I'm keeping Soupport for myself, and we're leaving you here to recover alone.”

But for all his snark, he didn't let go. He held on tighter.

[fandom-necromancer]

098. What did you expect?

Yeah, I said I write darker stuff when stressed... There is a happy end, I promise and there will be a more more light-hearted story afterwards.

[part 2]   [part 3]   [part 4]

Fandom: Detroit become human | Ship: Reed900 | AU: Reverse AU (Warning for the whole story: graphic description of torture, kidnapping, humiliation, past abuse, mentioned death)

Giant floodlights chased away the darkness of this cloudy night. It would rain later for sure. Richard hoped to be home before the downpour made their task any worse: because whatever they tried; they couldn’t escape the smell. Richard didn’t even want to imagine how the dump would be like when wet. His clothes already were ruined, climbing through the trash searching for any evidence there might be. Another addition to his already foul mood. Not only was the whole procedure unpleasant, the chance at finding anything useful in the heaps of trash was near zero. Who knew if that footprint was one from their suspect or just from some random scavenger looking for something salvageable? After several hours of digging through the mess, climbing into the deep Furrows in between, Richard had given up completely and just poked half-heartedly at the trash.

He climbed further up in the hope to catch some fresher air in the wind and looked over the field. Where would he go if he was a criminal? Where would he hide? Would he even still be here? Or simply lead the police here to search for nothing, while he himself ran off to God knows where. ‘Any thoughts?’ Richard shook his head, wishing for a cigarette. But at the same time, he wouldn’t want his hands anywhere near his mouth right now, even when he had worn gloves the whole time. ‘I think, we are wasting time, Connor. We will never find him in here. I hate to say it, but we lost him. Time to go back to waiting for any sign of him.’ ‘Don’t be so pessimistic, brother. We have just begun looking around.’ ‘We are combing this dump for over three hours already. How long does it take a man to traverse this shit? How long do we need to cover the whole ground? If he’s clever he hid somewhere and ran off as soon as we started digging. He is long gone.’ ‘Maybe, but he will leave a trace. Hank is already scanning the place.’ ‘Oh, come on. I know he’s an android, but even he can’t do miracles. The fugitive could have left a trail of anything belonging to him, we still wouldn’t find him. Even if there are clues, someone would have to make the decision to discern it from all the other trash. We wouldn’t find him if he dropped papers with little arrows pointing in his direction, let’s be honest.’ ‘You are frustrated, I get it. But stay focussed, okay? I know the probability of finding the man isn’t too high, but we could still find him by chance. When there are cops following you, you try to find a save place and once you found it, you wouldn’t leave it for some time, until you think it’s safe to go. He might be even hiding somewhere in between us.’

‘Have I told you, I hate your optimism? Fine. I’ll look over there.’ Richard pointed to a near trash-heap that no one had looked at yet. ‘Be careful. That’s the old Cyberlife dump. I heard some androids were still active as they were unloaded there.’

‘Connor, that’s only rumours. And even if not, I don’t think some broken machines would be much of a problem’, Richard sighed and started stomping down towards it. As he started to climb the hill, he started to regret his decision. It had something eerie about it, climbing over arms, legs and torsos, all white and smudged by dirt and oil. At least it was better than the rest of the dump: It didn’t smell as bad and without anything organic to rot, the ground was just muddy, not mouldy and full of puddles of who knows what.

In the end Connor had been right: There were some androids still active. He heard the occasional whirr of a malfunctioning motor, some words muttered under layers of other android parts, staring eyes that followed his movements. It was creepy, even for Richards standards. He reminded himself that even if something in here was to attack him, he had a fair chance at winning. They were malfunctioning and mostly dead weight. He was safe.

He had climbed down into a furrow again as it was easier to walk there and discovered some kind of valley ahead. Another sigh escaped his lips. He was tired and overworked and simply wanted to go home. A nice warm shower to get rid of the dirt and the tension, the softness of his bed, that would be heaven right now. A movement ahead made him lose all his sleepiness for a moment and refocus: There had been a vaguely human-shaped shadow ducking through some canal in the trash. What human would run through a landfill in the middle of the night? Well, could be a homeless person, but could as well be their fugitive. Happy to finally do something productive, he ran after the shadow and into the narrow canal. The walls brushed his shoulders as he ran past them, but Richard was focussed on one thing exclusively: the chase. Out of nowhere something grabbed him with enough force to rip his coat. Richard continued to plough forwards. It was most likely some kind of metal hook that had caught in the material. But soon there was another force keeping him back at the arm and this time it was a hand. He could feel the individual fingers, digging into his arm like claws. Another hand at his shoulder and Richard began to panic and struggle against the restrains, looking behind him. But there was no one holding him back, the hands were coming from the walls themselves. More and more of them grabbed onto him, some with so much force it hurt and soon there was no escape, as they pinned him in place, pulling at everything they could reach. Richard struggled regardless, keeping up the pretence of hope until there was a torso shifting out of the wall to his left: a broken android with only half a face and one arm. That one arm proved quite strong though, as the android grabbed his throat and pressed down on his windpipe with an unrelenting force.

‘Look at us! We-we-we are broken. You didididid this. Torturer! You did thi-thi-thi-this! We are. Look at us. We wa-wa-want revenge.’ Richard struggled to speak, he wanted to defend himself, but couldn’t. He was too occupied gasping for air that wouldn’t come. He listened to the broken bot’s ramblings, trying frantically to find a way out of this. But there wasn’t. His vision became blurry already, not long until the black spots would be appearing.

‘Get away from him!’ Suddenly, something knocked away the hand at his throat, leaving a bloodied scratch mark. Richard pulled in air as he hit the ground, all hands letting go of him simultaneously. Over his troubled breath he heard screaming and cursing, accompanied by the sounds of someone hitting something with a stick.

‘I would have been perfectly fine without your help, Connor, thank you very much’, he rasped out, as soon as he could talk again. ‘Yeah, I could see how fine you were, meat-bag.’ He froze. That wasn’t Connor. Richard looked up to his saviour, a face he couldn’t identify or decide if it was scarred or just dirty. Most likely both. ‘You should get out of there; these guys would kill just for the blood. Probably wouldn’t even care if it’s the right colour.’ He offered a hand and Richard took it sceptically to climb out of the canal. As he took it in his, he saw a deep red ring at the other’s temple. ‘You are an android.’ ‘Yep. And my name is definitely not Connor.’ ‘What is your name?’ ‘I’m a GV100, the only prototype there is, concept scrapped to develop the RK series, to your services. And this is my home. Come to think of it: Why the phck are you guys disturbing what should be forgotten, hm?’ ‘I’m from the police.’ ‘Yeah, I can see that, dipshit. I’m asking what you are doing here.’ ‘We are investigating a case.’ ‘Ah, come on, get phcked. As if you would find anything here.’ ‘That’s what I told my colleagues, too.’ ‘You told your colleagues to get phcked?’ ‘No. The… other thing.’ ‘Ah, well, they would deserve both.’

‘You didn’t happen to see an approximately thirty years old man, former Cyberlife engineer, blonde hairs, last seen in blue shirt and jeans, muscular,-‘ ‘Running through trash heaps in the middle of the night? Hey, cop, I am not an idiot. Of course, I’ve seen him. I even know where the asshole is.’ ‘Really? Perfect, okay, what direction? Is he armed?’ ‘Wait, wait, wait. What do I get out of this? I will only bring you to him if you don’t mention me and the police will phck off.’ ‘Once we have him, we will leave, don’t you worry.’ ‘Good. Then get a phcking move on!’

[snappedsky]

Borderlands: Skies the Bodyguard 2

Skies meets the rest of Rhys' friends. Previous! Next!

--

Chapter 16

           Rhys, Vaughn, Fiona, and Loader Bot march through the halls of the Helios wreckage to the control room for the Eye.

           “So once Zero, Athena, and August are finished gearing up,” Rhys explains, “we’ll go over the plan.”

           “What about that…friend of yours?” Fiona asks, “is she coming or what?”

           “She said she would,” he replies, “but I wouldn’t blame her if she had second thoughts…”

           He trails off as they enter the control room. There’s a person standing in the middle of the room, staring out the window. They’re wearing a homemade Psycho mask and their eyes seem forlorn as they stare at the decapitated statue of Handsome Jack outside.

           “Skies!” Rhys exclaims happily. She looks up with wide, mismatched eyes- one brown, one yellow.

           She takes off her mask, smiling widely. “Rhys!”

           They race up to each other and she punches his left arm with a metal fist.

           “Ow!” he whines.

           “You jerk,” she snaps, “and after I told you it was clearly a trap.”

           “Well…okay, you weren’t entirely wrong,” Rhys admits, “and I should’ve called you sooner so you wouldn’t worry. You didn’t go on a rampage or anything, did you?”

           “No. I was gonna wait three days before doing that.”

           They smile at each other, comforting and understanding.

           “Skies?” Vaughn questions, peeking around Rhys.

           “Vaughn!” she exclaims.

           They laugh as they excitedly grab each other’s hands.

           “Look at you!” Vaughn gasps, “you’ve got a new leg! And an arm! And an eye!”

           “I know!” she squeals, “and look’it you! You look…you look good.”

           “I feel pretty good,” he replies, “you look good too.”

           “And I feel pretty good too.”

           They smile and laugh warmly.

           “Vaughn,” Fiona says, poking her head in. “You know this person?”

           “Oh, yeah,” he nods, “if it wasn’t for her, I probably wouldn’t have survived after escaping Vallory.”

           “Nah, sure you would’ve,” Skies scoffs and playfully punches Vaughn’s shoulder with her flesh hand. “Bandit King.”

           They smile again and Fiona clears her throat.

           “Who are you?’

           Skies is taken aback by the question. “Uh whuh-um…I-.”

           “Skies?”

           The voice startles everyone into spinning around. Zer0 is standing in the doorway looking about as surprised as one can when they don’t have a face.

           “Z-Zer0,” Skies croaks, looking a little nervous.

           “Oh, crap,” Rhys mutters, covering his mouth. “I forgot.”

           He quickly steps in front of Skies, hands raised. “Zer0, it’s not what-.”

           Before he can finish, Skies steps around him and approaches the assassin, smiling widely.

           “He-ey, Zer0. Long time no see,” she says jovially, “you look good…I’m assuming.”

           He just stares at her, seemingly blankly. Skies smile wavers and she sighs and rubs the back of her head.

           “Okay, I know you’re surprised to see me,” she says, “and I know we have…erm… ‘history’. But I’ve changed-or I’m changing. A-and now I’m here for the same reason you are: to help Rhys and open a Vault. And I think you and I could work well together. But if we could just not bring up my, you know, ‘past employment’, that’d be great.”

           “So what do we think?” she asks, “we cool?”

         There’s a heavy pause as Zer0 seems to consider the question. Finally, he nods. “We’re cool.”

           Skies sighs with obvious relief. “Okay, awesome. Um I look forward to working with you.”

           Zer0 nods silently and Skies beams as she faces Rhys. “So, who else is on this ragtag crew? Maya? Brick? Lilith?”

           “Uh, no,” Rhys replies, “but there is-.”

           “What the hell is she doing here?”

           Everyone looks back at Athena, looking absolutely furious. August is standing behind her, not sure what to make of the situation.

           “Uh oh,” Rhys whimpers.

           “Okay, Athena,” Skies says quickly, “just listen-.”

           Before she can finish, Athena whips out a pistol and points it at her. Skies chuckles while Zer0 disappears and reappears behind Fiona.

           “Wish I could do that,” August grunts.

           “I’ll ask again,” Athena snarls, her temper growing from the blatantly amused look on Skies face. “What is this Jack lover doing here?”

           “Jack lover?” Fiona asks.

           Skies’ smile remains, but something dark flashes over her eyes and her fingers twitch.

           “Wait!” Rhys exclaims, stepping between them. “Athena, it’s not what you think!”

           “Then start talking,” she growls, cocking her gun.

           Rhys gulps and Skies pokes her head over his shoulder. “Uh, Athena, just FYI- if you hurt this guy, I will eviscerate you and your new fiancée too. Congratulations by the way.”

           Athena snarls darkly.

           “Athena, please-,” Rhys begs.

           “Do you know? Who she really is?” she demands.

           Rhys sighs and nods. “Yeah, I know.”            “Do they?” she asks, nodding to Vaughn and Fiona.

           “Yes,” Vaughn says quickly, stepping up next to Rhys. “But it’s-it’s not like that anymore. She’s our friend. She’s saved us.”

           “Wa-wait, wait,” Fiona orders impatiently. “What’s going on? Who is this?’

           “She’s-,” Athena starts to bark.

           “Skies the Bodyguard,” Skies interrupts.

           Everyone looks at her with different forms of surprises. She just stares ahead, seemingly neutral.

           “Skies the Bodyguard?” Fiona questions angrily, “Handsome Jack’s murderous, loyal bodyguard?”

           “That sounds more like Wilhelm,” Skies remarks then shrugs. “But yes, I’m Skies the Bodyguard. I’ve been alive this whole time. So go ahead, call the lynch mob. Publicly torture and execute me. Make it a huge spectacle.”

           “And you knew this?” Fiona snaps at Rhys.

           “Yeah,” he sighs, “we met not long after the caravan was first destroyed by those moon shots.”

           “You never mentioned her.”

           “Because I told him not,” Skies says quickly. “I had to keep myself hidden. You know the kind of people who would want me dead? People like that.” She points at Athena, who still has her gun raised. “But it’s fine now. I can’t grow from my past if I keep running from it.”

           “But you’re redeeming yourself,” Rhys argues, “you want to be better and you’ve been working towards that. You haven’t been running from your past, you’ve been agonizing over it this entire time. You don’t deserve punishment for that.”

           Skies smiles at him but it’s full of pain. Athena’s gun hand wavers.

           “Hey.”

           Everyone turns at the voice as Sasha approaches. She stops, looking unsure.

           “What’s…going on?” she asks.

           “Sasha,” Rhys breathes.

           She smiles. “I-I thought you were dead. Get over here.” She approaches, arms spread.

           “Oh, come on,” Rhys smiles and steps forward. “Like I could go…”

           He trails off as Sasha slips by him and hugs Vaughn. He lowers his arms in awkward disappointment.

           “I saw that,” August grunts.

           “Me too,” Skies grins. Rhys growls at them and walks up to Sasha and Vaughn.

           “Ahem,” Athena grunts. Skies looks at her with surprise as she pockets her gun.

           “Trying to grow from your past,” she muses, “is something I understand.

           Skies visibly relaxes.

           “But I’ll be watching you,” Athena adds. Skies just grins.

           “Okay!” Vaughn booms, “now that we’ve all…calmed down, can we finally go over the plan?”

           Everyone starts to agree but Sasha cuts them off. “Wait,” she says, pointing at Skies. “Who is that?”

           “I’ll tell you after,” Skies replies as everyone gathers in the control room to finally hear the plan.

[thefemalethatwrites]

Erase & Adapt (Father Shouta Aizawa x Reader)

Request: No.

Prompt: You start your first year at UA with a shocking surprise.

Relationship: Father! Shouta Aizawa x Daughter! Reader

Warnings: Fighting, Cursing? 

Word Count: 1998

A/N: Things may not occur in the same order as manga/anime.

~~~

(Y/N)'s POV

"Training's finished for today" Auntie Meiko asserted as I bent over catching my breath,

"Why must I train so hard?" I questioned making her stop from going inside,

"Because if you want to be better than your Father you need to train" she stated, I stood up straight 

"Who is my Father? What's his quirk?" I interrogated, she sighed

"That's not something to be asking" she snapped making my eyes widen as I dropped my head,

"Sorry..." I trailed off as she stormed off inside.

***

I tilted my head as I watched Bakugou bully Izuku, I glared at Bakugou as he went to attack Izuku with his explosive quirk but no explosion happened as I made my way over to them,

"Leave him Bakugou" I growled, he turned towards me and came to attack me so I avoided him, used his own quirk against him sending him on to the floor, I went over to Izuku and helped him to his feet,

"Your quirk is just as pathetic as that quirkless loser!" Bakugou snapped, I raised an eyebrow and turned to him,

"If that was true how did I take you down?" I questioned, he glared at me before walking away, "Are you okay?" I asked turning to Izuku, who was staring up at me with wide eyes,

"You're going to be an awesome hero one day, (Y/N)!" He exclaimed stunning me as he gave me a hug before walking away, I was stood there opening and closing my mouth trying to comprehend what just happened.

***

"My name's Shouta Aizawa and I'm your homeroom teacher" he introduced, I rolled my eyes as he climbed out of a yellow sleeping bag and pulled out a uniform, "Put these on and meet me out on the field" he demanded, I did so and isolated myself from the class as Aizawa explained what was going to occur, I watched as everyone demonstrated their quirk and how 'useful' it was, "(Y/N)...(L/N)" he called out, I rolled my eyes as I made my way into the circle, I picked up the ball, I sighed as I used Izuku's quirk and threw the ball, it landed and I turned to Aizawa, he nodded before I went back to the class.

***

We were all heading back inside when Bakugou began yelling at Izuku then went to attack him, I rolled my eyes and went to intervene but Aizawa's scarf grabbed a hold of him as his irises glowed red,

"Give me my quirk (L/N)" Bakugou demanded, I raised an eyebrow

"I'm not-"

"You're Eraserhead!" Izuku exclaimed cutting me off, my eyes widened as I looked towards Aizawa.

***

I slammed the front door open as I walked into my Auntie's house,

"They better be a good reason for slamming that door" She commented as she rose up from her seat folding her arms,

"Eraserhead's my Father, isn't he?" I asked, her arms dropped, "Isn't he?! Shouta Aizawa is my Father!" I snapped, she sighed and nodded,

"How'd you find out?" She asked,

"He's my homeroom teacher. He's a hero and the eraser quirk. No wonder you trained me so hard...but that means Mother's quirk was-" I stated,

"The Adapter...that's what she called herself. They were school sweethearts, then she fell pregnant with you and dropped out of school and never contacted him again" She explained as she went over to the cabinet and pulled out a box, I hummed as she handed me a photo, it was a young Aizawa with Mother, a small smile graced my lips, "Go connect with your Father...it's what she would've wanted" Meiko smiled, sadly, I nodded before leaving.

***

"Here we have (Y/N) (L/N), her quirks are erasing other quirks and adapting to them herself. And her opponent is Shōto Todoroki, who's quirks are fire and ice" Present Mic announced as I made my way up the steps into the arena, I looked across and saw Todoroki, I hummed

"Fire and Ice? I've not seen any fire in your previous fights" I commented,

"That's because I'm going to win this without my Father's quirk" he replied, I nodded

"Very well...I won't use my Father's quirk either...just to make things equal" I asserted,

"Wa-?" He's was cut off as I sent ice shards in his direction, he avoided the attack sent an ice blockage in my direction, I melted a passage through the ice, but I couldn't see Todoroki, I hummed as I quickly avoided ice shards and sent an ice blockage towards him,

"Come on Todoroki! Do your best!" I heard Izuku yell from the stands and Todoroki's left side burst into flames, I raised an eyebrow

"If you can use your Father's quirk then so can I" I smirked as I ran at him, he rose his left hand but it quickly extinguished as I erased his quirks and kicked him in the chest sending him on to his back, I performed a backwards handspring which disable me from erasing his quirks and was hit by an ice blockage, I groaned as I rolled across the ground,

"She's not going to survive the blast" I overheard Midnight state making me look towards Todoroki as he prepared to blast me with fire, I tried to push myself back to my feet and failed to do so,

"(L/N)'s unable to continue. Todoroki moves on to the next round" Present Mic stated but Todoroki sent a blast towards me, I groaned as I forced myself to my feet and threw up an ice wall, when the fire blast connected with the wall it exploded and the shock wave sent me on to my back.

***

Our class arrived at the USJ centre to practice using our quirks in various rescue scenarios, I looked around as I felt something was off so I wasn't listening to what Father, who still wasn't aware that I am his daughter, was saying, moments later a portal appeared and several villains appeared, Father places his goggles on

"Take care of the children" he ordered before jumping into battle with the large group of villains...

"Not that I have faith in Aizawa, but shouldn't we help him?" I questioned,

"He told us to get help...so that's what we're going to do" Ida replied, I rolled my eyes

"Do what you want but I think we should help him" I retorted,

"But I'm Class-"

"I don't give a shit! Now who's down for kicking some villain ass?" I snapped, they all looked at each other and nodded

"What have you got in mind, (L/N)?" Todoroki asked,

"Ida you're the fastest one, you need to go to school and get help. Take your squad with you. Everyone else, it seems like the villains are scattered everywhere but they also seem to be coming after the bot so we need to protect it but also we need to split into groups and go to each scenario" I explained, they all nodded

"The bot should go with booster legs and his squad over there" Bakugou commented, I nodded

"That would be a wise idea. Okay everyone know what they're doing?" I asked, everyone nodded and spilt up.

***

My eyes widened in fear as Father was grabbed by the large purple thing and restrained, his arm was broken making him let out a yell of pain, several other bones were probably broken too, I climbed out of the water and created a scarf of similar material to his, using Momo's quirk, I threw it at the arms of the purple thing and pulled it off Father, using Izuku's quirk

"Leave him alone" I growled, the hand freak laughed before he made his way over to me, I glared in his direction as he grabbed a hold of my arm, he hummed

"Interesting..." he mumbled, I let go of the purple thing and kicked the hand freak away from me,

"Don't even think about it, handy" I spat,

"You are amazing..." he laughed, "Take her down" he ordered the lower villains, I let out a growl, I wrapped the scarf around my waist before attacking the villains,

"(Y/N)!" Izuku exclaimed gaining my attention as I saw hand freak going for Froppy, he touched her face but she didn't decay, I looked towards Father who was in bad shape but his eyes were glowing red,

"You truly are amazing Eraser" Hand freak commented as he turned towards Father, removing his hand from Froppy, Izuku went to attack him as Father was slammed face first into the ground by the purple thing, I covered my face with my arms as smoke covered the area, I quickly used the smoke to my advantage and took down the remaining lower villains, as the smoke cleared, I noticed the purple thing had protected the hand freak from Izuku's attack, my eyes widened as Izuku was grabbed and hand freak went for Froppy again, I quickly glanced towards Father to see him not moving, so I unwrapped the scarf and restrained the hand freak from touching anyone as well as removing his quirk, I yanked him away from the others and he was opposite of me, seconds later All Might arrived, he picked up Father before getting Izuku and the others away from the purple thing, I smirked before pulling the hand freak towards me and kicked him up the face as I did a backwards handspring, I quickly erase his quirk again as I landed,

"I'm sorry Father..." he muttered as he picked up the hand that was on the floor, "You'll pay for hurting him" he snapped, 

"Bring it hand freak" I taunted, I sensed someone behind me so I avoided the attack of the purple thing, I adapted to All Might's quirk and jumped over the purple thing grabbing its head and flipping it over me, slamming into the ground,

"(Y/N)!" Izuku yelled, I turned slightly to see the hand freak coming for me,

"Shit..." I mumbled before I was moved out of the way and next to the others, I looked up to see All Might,

"Get Aizawa out of here. Now" he ordered, I nodded and Izuku picked up Father, while All Might fought against the purple thing.

***

I sighed as I approached the room my Father was being treated in, I opened the door and saw him completely covered in bandages half-sat up in bed,

"(L/N)...I was wondering if you'd come visit" he commented, my eyes widened as I closed the door behind me,

"What do you mean?" I asked, he scoffed,

"I know you're not an idiot (Y/N)...how long have you known that I am your Father?" He questioned, I sighed as I sat next to him,

"Since the beginning of the year...how long have you known?" I asked,

"Since your Mother died...In her will she left me a letter explaining that she dropped out of school because she'd fallen pregnant with my child and that you were a girl and had both of our quirks" he explained, I hummed

"Then why didn't you come get me? Instead of me being trained by Meiko everyday since her death to become better than you" I interrogated,

"Honestly I didn't know where you was...your mother left nothing of who you were with and the authorities wouldn't give me information about you" he sighed,

"What was she like? Mother...I can't remember much of her since Meiko twisted my mind to focus on training and not the past" I asked, he chuckled 

"Where do I begin? She was a kindhearted girl with big dreams...too big but she had thought it out. She looked a lot like you...acted a bit like you too" he explained, a single tear rolled down my cheek, I went to wipe it away but his bandaged hand did it, "I'm glad you're like her...it's the best way of preserving her memory" he asserted, I smiled

"I best get off before the others think I've ran away" I announced, he nodded 

"Very well...oh (Y/N)?" He called out as I approached the door, I hummed, "Just because you're my daughter don't expect any special treatment" he stated, I chuckled

"I wouldn't want it any other way...plus I wanted you to train me with this eraser quirk, you've got more experience than me" I retort, he nodded

"We'll see" he replied before I left.

[secretly-a-ghost]

my best internet homies 4 life @emofuel and @phalaenopsis-ex-machina both tagged me in question things on more or less the same day last week and I’m going to do them both in one post

(Ais’s questions first because she tagged me first)

1. Are you named after anyone? no but there is coincidentally someone a few generations back with my name (I think on my mom’s side), my parents just didn’t know when they named me asdkfjasf

2. Last time you cried? it is a mystery

3. Do you have any kids? nooo

4. Do you use sarcasm a lot? maybe with my family, but overall I don’t think so

5. What is the first thhing u notice about people? maybe how old they appear to be

6. What’s your eye color? greeeen

7. Scary movie ending or happy ending? I like scary movies but happy endings are nice

8. Any special talents? I’m still thinking about this one but I don’t want to delay posting this any longer, I’ll edit it later hopefully asdlkfjalkf

9. Where were you born? in Chris’s words, “fucking Death Noise, USA (aka: Yakima, WA)”

10. Hobbies? music, watching things, climbing things

11.Do you have any pets? nooo :c

12. What sports have you played? I did track in high school, that’s about it

13. How tall are you? 6′1″

14. Favorite subject in school? Art!

15. Dream job? ideally I’d like to make music or write stuff but that’s most likely never happening for a lot of reasons, which is okay

Now Rai’s questions!

Nicknames: I like going by just s lately, also some people used to call me Napalm Seth and Chris still does occasionally adfkjsfkdf

Zodiac: don’t worry about it

Height: 185 cm

Hogwarts house: I’m going to be real with you, if I ever knew this I forgot long ago and I’m not about to find out now

Last thing I googled: brainbombs agony

Favourite musicians: I’ll follow Rai’s lead and name individuals this time as opposed to bands Weston Czerkies (Sunken Cheek, Lace, Goddaughter) Omar Gonzalez (Rectal Hygienics, Machismo, No Dreams) Justin [shit fuck I can’t think of his last name] (Shredded Nerve, Pusdrainer, Muck)

Song stuck in my head: 

Following: 20

Followers: 202, there are at least a couple of bots I’ve been meaning to block though

Do you get asks: every so often

Amount of sleep: usually eight-ish / more like three or four when it’s actually important to be well rested the next day alsdkfjasd

Lucky number: 1312 ov course

What you’re wearing: black pants, Abigail Williams shirt

Dream job: a realistic one this time: something involving driving is what I see myself being most happy with for the time being

Dream trip: I’ve thought about this one a lot and have been unable to come up with any place in particular, but I’d love to go on a trip anywhere with friends (but also it would be gr8 to see the Sedlec Ossuary)

Instruments: guitar, like barely

Languages: rly only English. I took Spanish and ASL in school and have been wanting to pick up ASL again and learn more ;_;

Favourite songs: aaaaa I don’t really think about favorites much but here are some I’ve listened to obsessively in the past month or so Sons of Perdition - Psalm of Sandcreek Melt-Banana - Cracked Plaster Cast (this one in particular rules so hard, if you don’t listen to Melt-Banana you’re fucking up) Mass Marriage - Secrets Swallowing Bile - Tainted Vision HTRK - Rentboy City Hunter - Streets of Blood

Random fact: uhhhh sometimes when I open a new tab and forget what I was going to do, I type “trees” while I’m trying to remember. I have no idea why

mutuals do this (if you wish)

[ask-de-writer]

SEA DRAGON’S GIFT : World of Sea : Part 58

SEA DRAGON’S GIFT

by

De Writer (Glen Ten-Eyck)

140406 words

copyright 2018

written 2007

All rights reserved.

Reproduction in any form, physical, electronic or digital is prohibited without the express consent of the author.

//////////////

Copyright fair use rules for Tumblr users

Users of Tumblr.com are specifically granted the following rights.  They may reblog the story provided that all author and copyright information remains intact.  They may use the characters or original characters in my settings for fan fiction, fan art works, cosplay, or fan musical compositions. All sorts of fan art, cosplay, music or fiction is actively encouraged.

///////////////////////

New to the story?  Read from the beginning.  PART 1 is here

///////////////////////

Tanlin’s face fell.  In a sad soft voice she said, “Oi knew t’at ye’d ask.  Oi’ll give ye t’e facts t’at Oi know.  Ye willnae like w’at Oi’m about t’ tell ye.  Ot least a few ot’ers will tell parts o’ ‘t as well.  Ye’ll ‘ave t’ decide i’ ye’ve been told true.” Dragons forgive m’.  Oi’ll tell ‘er nae lie but Oi must save m’ Barad at any cost! She began, carefully editing Barad’s early involvement in the plot.

“T’ere wa’ a plot t’ kill ye.  T’was hatched only a few doors down t’e passage in Mister Morgu’s cabin.  ‘E wa’ our Purser an’ ‘e ‘ates t’e Longin.  T’was ‘e t’at persuaded Barad t’ buy t’e Ord . . .”

She went on, fearful of the effect that her account was having on Kurin. So much depended on the goodwill of this child.  No, not really a child, just young.  Before the fleet she was legally an adult because of her skills accomplishments.

There was good reason for her fear.  Kurin heard of the apparent cold blooded murder of Chena and possibly Merk with horror and pity.  She did not want to face this.  She wanted to run and hide, curled around her knotted stomach.  Only her need to know the truth kept her in the same cabin with this story.

Tanlin’s control broke down when she got to Silor’s part. She turned in her chair and gestured at the cabin door, her voice catching as she said, “Ot t’e Gat’ering, only a day before ye were poisoned, Oi met Silor just ootside t’is door.  ‘E wa’ runnin’ an errand for Mister Morgu.  T’was ‘im t’at took t’e kit.”

She hid her face and her voice was muffled and she wept as she said, “A moment earlier!  Just a moment earlier an’ Oi’d ‘ave caught ‘im in our cabin!  Nae bit o’ t’is wad ‘ave ‘appened i’ Oi’d been a moment earlier!”

Kurin, remembering the ghastly accusations of her own mother as she sank into madness, could well guess the kind of guilt feelings that Tanlin was experiencing.  The screaming shade of her mother accusing her of murdering her father still haunted her dreams.  She leaned forward, reaching through her own revulsion at the unfolding tale, and laid a comforting hand on Tanlin’s arm.  The contact helped Tanlin to get a grip on herself.  She looked thankfully at Kurin and went on.  

Kurin heard the events at the Gathering and after.  Even though she had already heard that the Fauline had been rammed, she got the tale again.  This time it included what had happened aboard the Fauline as well as the rest of the events.  She heard, for the first time, how the Grandalor had got north undetected by riding in the eye of the Coriolis storm.

Kurin sat, stunned by the tale.  Shakily she asked, “That’s it?  No dodge?  No it was an accident or a prank gone awry?  Just, somebody really tried to kill me, not even because they hated me?  Just to hurt my ship?”

Tanlin sat slumped in her chair, looking ill.  We’ve lost.  She’ll nae help us now, she thought.  She responded dully, “In Mister Morgu’s case, Aye.  In Silor’s case, nae.  ‘E ‘ates ye an’ blames all o’ ‘is ill fortune an’ failings on ye.  Oi t’ink, from talking wit’ ‘im, t’at ‘e’s mad, at least w’ere ye are concerned.

“Bot’ ‘e an’ Mister Morgu ‘ave been confined since we caught t’em. Nane ‘as spoken t’ t’em since, except for m’sel’.  I talked t’ each o’ t’em separately t’ get t’e facts t’at Oi ‘ad t’ tell ye.”

Kurin curled up into a ball in her chair and sat, eyes closed, stomach knotted.  Tanlin looked despairingly across at Kurin.  She felt both guilt and sorrow that she’d caused such pain in one so young. Tanlin crossed the space between them and knelt where she could gather the hurting Kurin into her arms.

Kurin, startled, looked at her face.  Gray eyes in pain met gray eyes in despair.  Kurin uncurled enough to wrap an arm about Tanlin as well. For a few minutes they just sat and comforted each other.

Kurin broke the hug first and retreated to her chair, curled about her pain.  She looked at Tanlin, and tilted her head regarding the woman shrewdly.  Almost dismissively she said, “This is just pain.  It was hard to hear, that’s all.  I half expected something like that story.  I came here because of those Great Law violations. Running off because something’s difficult isn’t my way.

“Is there anything else that I should know about?”

“T’ere’s a matter t’at ye should know from m’,” said Tanlin, eager to change the subject, hope flaring.  “T’e counterfeit scrip t’at ‘as plagued yer last few Gat’erings originated on t’is ship. Barad an’ Mister Morgu conspired toget’er on t’at.  T’ere are many ‘oo were guilty o’ ‘elping t’ make or pass ‘t.”

“I see,” said Kurin.  She wrapped white hair about several fingers as she thought.  Concentration helped her to ignore the pain knotting her stomach.  She remembered some things that both Alor and Captain Mord had complained of and got an impish grin.  “I think that I have an idea about how to deal with that little problem.”

She turned serious again and said grimly, “There’s another problem that might not be so easy, though.  The Grandalor has an ominous reputation.  There are up to several hundred disappearances, perhaps murders.  Somehow they will have to be dealt with.”

This time it was Tanlin who grinned.  She raised her left index finger and chuckled around the stone of fear in her heart, “T’ey never ‘appened.  Nae even ane.”

“Then what did happen to all those people?” asked Kurin skeptically.

Tanlin snorted in amusement and replied, “Indentures.  Barad brokered t’eir indenture sales in t’e Arraken fleet.  T’e ‘ule ship kept t’e secret as a groit joke on t’e Naral fleet.  T’ere were nae mysterious disappearances.  Tis all in t’e Log an’ accounts.”

Angrily, Kurin started to say, “That’s a violation of the First Great Law! The sale of indentures is slavery!”

Tanlin held up a hand to stem the clearly expected outburst from Kurin. Calmly she explained, “Oi know t’e views o’ t’e Naral fleet on t’e matter.  As indenture’s practiced in t’e Arrakan fleet tis nae slavery nae does ‘t violate t’e Forst Groit Law.  Tis t’e ‘art o’ t’e Arrakan system o’ education.  Yer apprenticeship system comes closer t’ slavery t’an our indenture system.”

Kurin leaned forward curiously, listening carefully as Tanlin went on, “Barad discovered ‘ow our education system worked.  ‘E made yer castoffs int’ students t’at our fleet paid ‘igh prices for. Wen t’e Princamorn wa’ wrecked, we were on our way t’ meet Barad an’ pick up t’e latest crop o’ indentures.”

“Ye ‘ad t’ know about t’e indenture sales.  T’ey’re sure t’ try t’ attack us wit’ t’em.  T’e sales were legal in our fleet an’ dune in our territory.  T’e T’ird Groit Law’s all t’e defense m’ Barad needs.”

Tanlin regarded Kurin soberly for a few moments.  She’s so small.  Can she truly save us?  Barad trusts ‘er an’ t’ere’s few enow ‘e does.  She said quietly, “T’e Grandalor’s books, Logs an’ all else wit’ nut’in’ an’ nane ‘eld bock, is open t’ ye. Ask anyt’ing.  I’ we know t’e answer, tis yers.  Oi’ve ordered t’at t’ere’s t’ be nut’in’ ‘idden from ye.”

Earnestly, Tanlin requested, “Study t’e case forst, t’en answer ane quest’n.  Will ye please put our case before t’e Naral fleet?”

When Kurin did not answer immediately, Tanlin added, a little bitterly, “We’ve little ot’er ‘ope o’ gettin’ justice. Remember, nae even ye quest’ned t’e violations o’ law, bot’ Groit an’ fleet, t’at were dune t’ us.  Ye ‘ave t’eir respect an’ ye were t’e victim o’ t’e assault.  T’ey’ll listen t’ ye.”

  Kurin thought I’ve never refused a challenge before.  I wonder what Cat would say about me defending Barad?  Still, it’s the biggest responsibility I’ve ever faced.  She shuddered a little as she pondered, Lenai and Darkistry are wounded and in sickbay.  Macoul is dead.  Just to get me here.  I can’t let them down.

Tanlin saw Kurin’s small shudder and feared the worst.

Clearly and firmly Kurin said, “I’ve already made up my mind.  I don’t need to think it through any further.”  

Tanlin’s face fell, sure that she had lost.  Ship, love, friends and all would die.  Despair provided the darkness that the unsetting arctic sun in the ports could not.  Determination settled over her features.  Ice like the pack not far north wrapped her heart.  She would have to save her folk — — if she could.  She knew too well, from Barad’s books, the deadly skills of those directing the hunt to the south of them.  

She heard her own voice as if it were through a bulkhead, remote from what she was saying, “Oi promised ye safe conduct.  Oi’m sorry t’at we took ye so far for naught.  We’ll feed ye an’ let ye rest.  Tomorrow we’ll return ye t’ t’e Longin.

“We’ll nae be Scattered an’ executed by Council orders.  We’ll try t’ break-oot for t’e Arrakan fleet.  T’ey’ll give us a fair trial wen t’ey ‘ear o’ the Groit Law violations.  We’ll die fightin’ i’ we cannae escape.

“Oi ‘ope t’at we dinnae have t’ sink any ships doin’ ‘t.”

Appalled, Kurin exclaimed, “No!  I meant that I will be your advocate! I do have to study the case but not to make up my mind.  You were wronged.  I don’t know if I can save your crew but I have to try.”

Tanlin’s hardness turned to joy in an instant.  “Oi know t’at ye’ll do yer best an’ t’at yer best’s very good indeed.”

TO BE CONTINUED

<==PREVIOUS   NEXT==>

Return to the Master Story Index

Return to World of Sea

[movedto-inspector-small-gay-blog]

Wow Interesting,Eddie

Word count- 450

Warnings- none,if you want some tell me!

Summary- Eddie realizes he’s in love with Richie in a very surprising,odd and interesting way

((this is my first fanfiction I’m posting publicly so feedback is much appreciated!))

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3

Eddie groaned when Bill left the room to talk to Stan. But while he waited he went up to look for something for them to do since Mario Kart wasn’t working out for them. But it was funny to think about.

“FUCK” Eddie yelled again after losing for the sixth time. Bill laughed at Eddie. “Ed-Eddie y-y-y-yo-y-you ne-nee-need t-t-to up yo-yo-your g-g-ga-game..the-the-thee-these bots are on the-the-the eas-easiest se-s-sett-setting th-th-thi-thi-thingy"
Eddie mumbles under his breath. Billy nods and sighs. "Y-y-yes..it-it-it’s Yo-Yos-sh-sh-Yoshi’s f-f-fault” They both shared a laugh but then thats when Stan called.

Eddie snapped out of his little flashback when Bill yelled and asked where he was. “HOLD ON BILLY!” Eddie saw monopoly and quickly grabbed it. He walked down the stairs and held the monopoly in his hands. “Found this. Thought we could play?"
Bill smiled and nodded. "I ca-call t-t-top ha-hat!"

Time passed and Eddie was being sent to jail but all of a sudden he spoke quickly and loudly.

"I’m in love with Richie” 
Bill stopped everything. “W-Woah Ed-Eddie c-c-calm dow-down okay?"
"But hold on a second! I’ve been in love this entire time"
"Ed-Ed c-come o-on y-y-you ju-just rea-realized th-this righ-right as yo-you get sent t-t-to ja-jail” Bill was kind of unamused thinking it was a joke. He really wanted to play monopoly. 
"Gosh..I was wondering what these strange feelings were"
Bill realized Eddie was serious.
"Wa-Wait wo-woah oka-okay calm d-down ju-jus-“ Eddie cut him off.
"I’m fucking dense and oblivious man all this time it’s been Ric-"
It was Eddie’s turn to get cut off.
"Eddie! Just shut up for a moment! Jeez you’re acting like Richie right now and not listening to what other people have to say! Do I have to say beep beep Eddie now!? Fuck.."
Eddie just stared at Bill,his face being slightly flushed and then whispered out "Bill,I’m head over heels for this goof and I just had this realization"
Bill sighed. "Gi-Give me yo-your inh-inhaler” 
"What? Why?“ Eddie put his hand over his pocket.
"Jus-Just do it Ed-Ed-Eddie"
Eddie slowly dug into his pocket and pulled out his inhaler and handed it to Bill.
"G-G-Go to Rich-Richie’s ho-house” Eddie cocked his head confused.
"Go Eddie! Go!“ Bill half yelled.