#Rooftop Guardrails

[chemeytechsolutions-blog]

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[mtandtgroup-blog]

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[stainless-steel-stairs]

[frownyalfred]

Fic idea: Ra’s al Ghul grows tired of waiting for Bruce Wayne to come back to his service in the League of Assassins after spurring his offer ten years ago at the end of his training. He can no longer function as the Demon’s Head due to repeated exposure to the Lazarus Pits, and Talia cannot take his place. Ra’s travels to Gotham with his closest shadows/guards, desperate to make a deal. He corners Bruce Wayne as his famed Bat on a rooftop and gives him an ultimatum: one year of service, one year as the Demon’s Head in his place, and Ra’s will spare his city and family.

Bruce, as Batman, prepares to fight the League shadows and Ra’s, defending his beloved Gotham, until Ra’s adds that amid the carnage and confusion of their resulting fight, he will take a son — any son — and force them to the Demon’s Head in Bruce’s stead. Even the Bat cannot run forever, not from the League. Their existence has always been in passive recognition of the other; fighting will draw heavy losses on both sides.

And so, recalling his own days of training under Ra’s and the horror that await, Bruce agrees. He swears to service for one year, and one year only; no more, no less. No killing. Ra’s tells him his moral code may outlast all of them.

Bruce returns with Ra’s and Talia, faking his death for his family to discover. He hides the traces of League activity and follows them back to Nanda Parbat, where he had trained ten years before. As he embraces his year as the Demon’s Head, certain strained seams begin to appear. Ra’s is dying, and will not return to service in a year. There is no clear successor after Bruce. Killing is “off the table” when he meets with his advisors, but everyone gives him an amused, indulgent look when he mentions it. Talia is not interested in him romantically or sexually, but he gets the impression the word soon is floating around somewhere in her mind.

Soon comes around quickly into his tenure and new life. Ra’s orders him bathed in the Lazarus Pits one night. It takes sixteen League shadows to wrestle him into the water. Once submerged, he sinks without knowing how, all the way down. In the waters, he realizes that the Pits remember everything. This cave system knew Ra’s, it held Jason, and it drowned and changed dozens of powerful men over the years. The waters know, and he knows. He sinks past the shallow cove of Jason’s trauma, so blotted out that he cannot remember the Pit at all; he sinks down into Ra’s life, at the very bottom, and it becomes him. He becomes it. There is no line between them down here, where knowledge simply is.

The man who emerges from the Pits is not Bruce Wayne, not entirely. But it is the man he would have been, had he agreed to LoA service all those years ago. He is sharp and uncompromising. He is the Bat without his code, without his guardrails or rules. He is everything the Demon Head had lost, in the last few centuries of existence. He glows with a dark fire so bright, it sucks away the light from every other source in the room. He is dressed in dark, simple armor and black robes that call back to his former life. His face is bare. His eyes are a bright, all-knowing green.

Our fic picks up after this Demon’s Head comes into his own destiny and power. Told from the perspective of the children Bruce Wayne left behind, who find themselves chasing a shadowy figure around the world with the help of the Justice League. The new Demon’s Head is causing problems for everyone, and things have changed at the global level under his mysterious hand — so why does it feel like the Batkids know him?

It all comes to a head (heh) when the Justice League arrest the Demon’s Head and bring him up to the Watchtower. Only for him to be unmasked as Bruce Wayne, a dead man walking, an unfulfilled legacy, the person who built the very satellite under their feet in another life. Batman himself, with glowing green eyes and a Father’s face. Gone, but remade again. All in service of something greater than one man.

[navybrat817]

Hey- if you're still taking prompts for ficlet Friday- Bucky and #31- pinky swear.

Oh, this is sweeet! How about more of our drunk!Bucky before that night out?

Pinky Swear

Pairing: Bucky Barnes x Female Reader

Word Count: Over 800

Warnings: Talk of fear of heights, backstory, slight angst, slight fluff

A/N: Takes place before Pretty Girl.

Bucky deeply inhaled the cool evening air and exhaled slowly. He hadn't moved from his spot on the outdoor sofa since he sat down, but he knew the number of steps it would take to get from his seat to the door. Looking at the rooftop guardrail, he reminded himself it was more than tall and sturdy enough to prevent anyone from falling. He was fine. Everything was fine.

“Bucky!” your pretty voice beckoned to him over the rest of the chatter from the group. “Come look at this view.”

Finding a stable point to look at was always good practice when he was afraid, and who better to look at than you? His pretty girl. You weren't technically his girl, but you were in his heart and you looked extra pretty tonight. He told himself the reason his heart stopped was because of how pretty you looked and not because of how close you were to the guardrail.

And here you wanted him to join you, but his body wouldn't move.

“I’m good right here,” he said, his smile tight. He gripped his beer bottle so tight he almost shattered it.

“You sure?” you smiled over your shoulder.

All he had to do was take a breath, get up, and join you. His head spun at the very thought, and he couldn't do it. He was a fucking coward. “I’m good,” he said again.

There was a frown on your pretty face as you went over to the sofa and sat beside him. “Hey. Are you okay?”

You always seemed to know when he was feeling off and he wanted to remove the concern from your eyes. “I don't…”

“You don't what?”

He inhaled and exhaled again, and he felt your pretty gaze on him as he ran a hand through his hand. There was nothing wrong with telling you. Maybe it would make him feel better. “I don't like heights,” he said above a whisper, feeling some of his anxiety subside.

It stemmed from his childhood when he lost his dad in a parachute accident, and it never went away. The fear only got worse when he fell from the train. When he was under HYDRA’s command, he wasn't allowed to experience fear. They locked it away deep inside with the rest of him. Now that was himself again, his fears came back to the surface stronger than before.

“Oh, Bucky.” You moved a little closer and angled your body as if to shield him from the view. It was sweet of you. “Are you okay?”

His jaw clenched, but he nodded. “I'm fine as long as I don't go to the railing.”

Your eyes widened and he felt like shit when he saw the guilt that swam there. “Oh, my God. I'm so sorry. I wouldn't have asked you to look if-”

“Don’t be. You had no idea,” he said, putting his hand over yours and quickly pulling away when he realized what he did. “I know you wouldn't have asked if you knew.” You were one of the most thoughtful people in his life. If you knew in advance that he hated heights, you not only would've kept him far from the railing, but you would've made the gang move the gathering somewhere else to accommodate him.

“No, I wouldn’t push you out of your comfort zone,” you confirmed, staring at your hand where he touched it.

“You’d somehow widen the comfort zone so I felt okay,” he smiled. That was the kind of person you were.

“Maybe,” you smiled. “May I ask you something?”

“Sure,” he nodded. Anything you wanted.

“If you don't like heights, what made you come up here?” you asked curiously.

You.

But he didn't admit that you were the reason. It would've been the right time or place. “I… I don't want it to be a big deal. Besides, I wouldn't look like a team player if I skipped,” he answered, and he was telling the truth. You were still the number one reason though.

“Well, if you aren't feeling it, we can go to the lounge. Just say the word,” you offered.

“We?” he repeated.

You played with the hem of your shirt, which made him smile. “Yeah, I mean, if you want the company.”

Bucky always wanted your company. “I’ll keep that in mind,” he smiled, leaning in a little closer. “And listen. I know this is silly, but if you could not say anything. Steve’s the only one who knows and…”

Bucky was learning to be vulnerable again. He was trying. And if there was anyone who wouldn’t use his fears against him even in a joking manner, it was you. He trusted you.

“I won't say a word,” you whispered.

“You swear?” he smiled.

You surprised him by wrapping your pinky around his, and your touch would linger long after you let go. “Pinky swear.”

Love and thanks for participating in Ficlet Friday! ❤️ And we still need him to confess.

[suhnandmoon]

beat it!

chapter nine: written part below (900~ words)

pairing: slytherin beater!riki x hufflepuff chaser!reader

you and riki found yourselves back at the astronomy tower yet again. he had managed to find you trembling on one of the moving staircases, corrected your path, and led you up the tower, hand not leaving yours. you let him stride a few steps in front of you as you silently made your way to your intended destination, trying your best to remember exactly where you were headed this time.

his tight grasp faltered once you arrived, something in him not quite wanting to let go yet.

“thank you riki.” you muttered, voice hoarse. you tried to avoid eye contact as you sniffed. you felt a little pathetic, having forced him to guide you here after a breakdown as if you were a child.

but when he looked at you standing there with watery eyes, he could feel a slight ache in his chest as the guilt continued to weigh in. he hated this.

he knew you would hate him too, especially after you unintentionally allowed him to see you so vulnerable. he knew you would’ve never let this happen if you had remembered him at all. but when he looked at you, all he could think about was how much he wanted to see your smile again. even if that meant digging himself a deeper grave.

“anytime.” he breathed out. it was bittersweet, knowing this was probably the final time he’d get to see you like this before he came clean, “you wanna talk about it?”

you nodded as you made your way to the railing, the cool breeze soothing you. you gripped the rusted metal bar, trying to ground yourself to a distant familiar feeling.

“i feel like i’m falling behind.” you frowned. he carefully resumed his place to your right, leaning over the guardrail as he listened, “i know my friends don’t mean to do this, but the more they talk to me, i only feel more lost-”

“-references i don’t remember, personalities i don’t know but i should, getting filled in on weeks and weeks of classwork that i’m sure as hell not going to retain. i feel like i can’t have a moment to think straight, especially when the infirmary wing always has at least ten other sick students coughing their lungs out or something. it’s loud, it’s confusing-” you paused, exasperatedly trying to articulate everything thats on your mind. “-its all too much.” 

that last part came out as more of a whisper; you already wanted to cry again. riki stayed silent and let you continue.

“and when i needed a break from it, i had to go and get myself lost.” you tacked on a bitter laugh at the end of your spiel, causing riki’s brows to furrow.

“i know how you feel- i mean, i don’t know exactly. obviously. but i get it.” he found himself stumbling on his words as you looked up at him speaking. he tried his damn hardest to look away from the way your eyes seemed to shine at him.

he at least caused your smile to shift to something more genuine.

“life moves faster than we realize, and for you to be thrown into the middle of it all as a blank slate sounds so..”

“-exhausting?”

“yeah. i can’t even imagine it.” riki lets out a sympathetic laugh as you giggled.

he glanced down at both of your hands now on the railing, not having noticed how close they were getting. whether you or him was to blame for that, he wasn’t quite sure, but he inched his left hand closer to yours, just close enough to brush your pinky. 

was he an idiot? absolutely. but his heart outweighed the logic in his brain as you took the leap and grabbed his hand.

you both fell into a comfortable silence, gazing down on the rooftop of the castle and the spanning countryside. he didn’t comment when he felt you leaning into him, only grateful that your attention was beyond you and not on him so you couldn’t see how flustered he was.

not sure how much time had passed, you spoke up as you gave his hand a light squeeze, “did we do this often?” there was a familiar tease in your voice as you questioned him. he looked away, trying to think of what to even say.

“this is new,” he squeezed your hand back, but when he moved his head back to look at you, he saw your head tilted up, carefully observing his features. he was frozen as you locked eyes. his heart jumped as yours flickered to his lips for a split second, not in fear but in anticipation? the voice in the back of his mind yelled at him to quit it. 

he had to. this was all too unfair to you, even he couldn’t go that far.

riki tore his gaze away from you and back in front of him before heaving out a hesitant sigh, “its getting late. i think the night classes up here are starting soon.”

he was grateful you didn’t seem disappointed that he cut the moment short, only seeing you nod in acknowledgement.

“c’mon, i’ll take you back to the infirmary,” riki pushed himself up, guiding you back to the stairs. he was a few steps out before he realized you hadn’t followed.

you looked at him with a small, but true smile, “thank you riki.”

he averted his focus back to the ground before spitting out a clumsy, “yeah, of course,” before you started following him down the stairs.

prev / masterlist / next

notes: written chapters. the bane of my existence.

permanent taglist: @sweetiejaeyun @17ericas @jiiyen

taglist: @lo-la17 @tkooooop @hoteldelyoona @who-tf-soddhi @feet4enha

@celli-ohs @kiss4noo @wildtigerlili @bee-the-loser @tasnemluvs

@rikidaze @lunaritex @kkamismom12 @nishiriks @moonshoon

@blvengene @sleepyyujie @yjwxfxr @notab1tchwho @sol3chu

@getoxo @meowmeowjang @dksfml @vixialuvs

[sunsetsandsunshine]

~ 𝚈'𝚔𝚗𝚘𝚠…𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚛𝚢 𝚐𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚝 𝚝𝚎𝚊𝚖 𝚑𝚊𝚜 𝚊 𝚐𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚝 𝚕𝚎𝚊𝚍𝚎𝚛. ~

💙👻🩵👻💙👻🩵

(𝙰𝚛𝚝 𝚋𝚝 𝙶𝚋𝚘𝚢𝟸𝟶𝟷𝟾 𝚘𝚗 𝙳𝚎𝚟𝚒𝚊𝚗𝚝𝙰𝚛𝚝)

̩̩̥͙＊*•̩̩͙✩•̩̩͙*˚𝚃𝙸𝙲𝙺𝙻𝙴𝚃𝙾𝙱𝙴𝚁 𝙳𝙰𝚈 𝟷𝟸: 𝙲𝚁𝙾𝚂𝚂𝙾𝚅𝙴𝚁˚*• ̩̩͙✩•̩̩͙*＊·̩̩̥͙

𝙶𝚎𝚗𝚛𝚎: 𝙷𝚞𝚛𝚝/𝙲𝚘𝚖𝚏𝚘𝚛𝚝 (𝚕𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝 𝚊𝚗𝚐𝚜𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚘𝚞𝚐𝚑, 𝙸 𝚙𝚛𝚘𝚖𝚒𝚜𝚎 💗)

𝚆𝚘𝚛𝚍𝚜: 𝟸,𝟼𝟷𝟾

𝙻𝚎𝚎: 𝙻𝚎𝚘 🐢🩵

𝙻𝚎𝚛: 𝙻𝚎𝚘𝚗 🐢💙

𝚂𝚞𝚖𝚖𝚊𝚛𝚢: 𝙻𝚎𝚘𝚗 𝚊𝚌𝚌𝚒𝚍𝚎𝚗𝚝𝚊𝚕𝚕𝚢 𝚙𝚘𝚛𝚝𝚊𝚕𝚎𝚍 𝚑𝚒𝚖𝚜𝚎𝚕𝚏 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚋𝚛𝚘𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛’𝚜 𝚝𝚘 𝚊𝚗 𝚊𝚕𝚝𝚎𝚛𝚗𝚊𝚝𝚎 𝚍𝚒𝚖𝚎𝚗𝚜𝚒𝚘𝚗 𝚠𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚢’𝚛𝚎 𝚊𝚕𝚕…𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚢 𝚊𝚜 𝚏𝚞𝚌𝚔. 𝙰𝚜 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚢 (𝚖𝚘𝚜𝚝𝚕𝚢 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝙳𝚘𝚗𝚗𝚒𝚎’𝚜) 𝚏𝚒𝚐𝚞𝚛𝚎 𝚘𝚞𝚝 𝚊 𝚠𝚊𝚢 𝚝𝚘 𝚐𝚎𝚝 𝚑𝚘𝚖𝚎, 𝚜𝚖𝚊𝚕𝚕𝚎𝚛 𝙻𝚎𝚘 𝚍𝚛𝚊𝚐𝚜 𝙻𝚎𝚘𝚗 𝚘𝚞𝚝𝚜𝚒𝚍𝚎 𝚝𝚘…𝚝𝚊𝚕𝚔.

(𝙰/𝙽: 𝙱𝚞𝚝 𝚖𝚘𝚜𝚝 𝚒𝚖𝚙𝚘𝚛𝚝𝚊𝚗𝚝𝚕𝚢: 𝙳𝚘𝚗’𝚝 𝚋𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚐𝚞𝚢! 𝚃*𝚌𝚎𝚜𝚝 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝙺𝚒𝚗𝚔/𝙽𝚂𝙵𝚆 𝚋𝚕𝚘𝚐𝚜 𝙳𝙽𝙸!!!)

𝚆𝚊𝚛𝚗𝚒𝚗𝚐𝚜: 𝚃𝚒𝚌𝚔𝚕𝚒𝚗𝚐, 𝚌𝚞𝚜𝚜𝚒𝚗𝚐, 𝚜𝚎𝚕𝚏-𝚍𝚎𝚙𝚛𝚎𝚌𝚊𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚑𝚘𝚞𝚐𝚑𝚝𝚜, 𝚢𝚎𝚕𝚕𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚊𝚛𝚐𝚞𝚖𝚎𝚗𝚝𝚜! 𝚁𝚎𝚊𝚍 𝚊𝚝 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚘𝚠𝚗 𝚛𝚒𝚜𝚔 ☺️🫶🏾!!

𝙸.𝙸. (𝙸𝙼𝙿𝙾𝚁𝚃𝙰𝙽𝚃 𝙸𝙽𝙵𝙾): 𝚁𝚒𝚜𝚎 = 𝙻𝚎𝚘𝚗, 𝙼𝚞𝚝𝚊𝚗𝚝 𝙼𝚊𝚢𝚑𝚎𝚖 = 𝙻𝚎𝚘!!!

＊*•̩̩͙✩•̩̩͙*˚𝙻𝚊𝚞𝚐𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚘𝚞𝚝 𝚕𝚘𝚞𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚜𝚎 𝚝𝚠𝚘 𝚊𝚛𝚎 𝚜𝚞𝚙𝚎𝚛 𝚜𝚒𝚕𝚕𝚢😙🩷🙌🏾˚*•̩̩͙✩•̩̩͙*˚＊·̩̩̥͙

“Yeesh…you have a deeper Raph chasm than Raph himself…” The red eared slider lightly joked as he caught a glimpse of his smaller counterpart. 

The younger counterpart in question didn’t even seem…remotely phased by the remark, looking over the city of NYC like it was going to be his last time doing so. 

But the smaller turtle felt like he was being slightly watched…(which, he in fact was) he then looked up and locked eyes with his older counterpart. “…Huh? W-Were you talking to me?”

“Nope. I was just talking to my imaginary friend Mr. Snoozle— of course I was talking to you.” Leon said sarcastically, raising an eye ridge at the other teen. 

Leo blushed slightly at the elder’s sarcasm, rubbing the back of his neck nervously, “Sorry…I-I was spacing out…I do that a lot.”

“Yeah…no kidding. I’ve been talking to you for the past ten minutes and all I’ve gotten from you were six 'mhm’s', three 'yup’s' and seven 'dang that’s crazy's'.” The older one snorted, “If I didn’t know any better, it seems like you don’t wanna talk to me.”

“No! I-It’s not that!” The smaller turtle immediately protested, fiddling nervously with his fingers as he gazed at the streets of NYC once more. 

Which…was really the only thing he could do right at this moment. 

Besides…the city always looked so…pretty in the evenings. 

Well, if there wasn’t crime happening…

…Which was, like, a good 40-50% of the time but still.

“So…what is it, then? Why did you take me to a random rooftop in the smack middle of NY? 'Cuz, no offense…but I was having a nice first place winning streak in Fashion Famous before all of this.” The taller turtle said.

The honey brown teen raised a doubtful brow, “…You play Fashion Famous?”

“Psh…who doesn’t?” Leon scoffed, “But that’s a question worth discussing for another day…” He said as he leaned his shell against the rooftop guardrail as he looked up at the afternoon soon to turn to evening sky, “So tell me..what’s going on, dude?”

“…I…I needed to talk to you…” Leo mumbled. 

“I…can see that.” The elder giggled, “But, what did you wanna talk about?”

The younger fiddled with his fingers nervously again, picking at his thumb’s hang nail slightly as he avoided the other’s gaze entirely now, “…How…H-How do I become a good leader…?” 

Leon blinked in confusion, darting his eyes around the rooftop looking for someone else before letting out a humorless laugh, “Uhuh…whahahat?”

“I-I said…how do I become a good leader…?” Leo repeated, a bit quieter this time.

“…You’re asking me that?” The slider asked incrediously.

“Yes…!” Leo emphasized, getting off of the rail to look at the taller turtle, “How do I—”

“U-Uh…this is…flattering and all, b-but I reheally think you should talk to my Raph about…that.” The red eared slider interrupted, rubbing his arm anxiously and tensing up a bit as the other mutant looked at him with confusion and distraught.

“What? Why!?” Leo asked, getting up from the ledge to look fully at his older counterpart.

“Well, I’m not the oldest turtle in the family like you. I’m the second youngest. Raphalla has more experience, more wisdom and aaaaall that good stuff.” The lime green eyed turtle said as he grimaced awkwardly, picking at a hangnail as well.

Great minds think alike, I suppose…

The honey brown eyed mutant blinked, “I…so? Your still the leader of your team—“

“Welp…this conversation has been fun but I gotta go—”

“But—”

“I have a toooooon of stuff to do now that I think about it…”

“B-But I—”

“And besides, I’m sure your leadership skills aren’t as bad as you think they are—”

“PLEASE!!” The younger shouted as the older tried to leave, making the other flinch slightly at the sudden and random yell, “…Please. J-Just a small piece of advice! A-A hint…! Anything!” 

The taller mutant sighed inwardly, turning around as he crossed his arms— not in a malicious way…but it was really the only form of body langauge he could do at the moment other than picking more at his skin…

…Which, he promised Donnie he would try to stop doing…

“…Why do you want my input so bad…?” The lime green eyed teen asked, mentally cringing at how weak and fragile he sounded.

“I…I don’t know.” The younger mumbled quietly as he sat down against the ledge on the building, hugging his knees to his chest, “I just…figured you would know some stuff…”

“Some…stuff?” The other pressed.

Leo rolled his eyes, “You know what I’m taking about; being a good leader and all that shit!” 

“Pfft— HAH! Trust me, dude…I’m just as lost as you are with this whole 'being a good leader' thing.” Leon chuckled, sitting down next to his counterpart.

“…What are you talking about?” 

“I just became a leader, like…two-ish weeks ago? I dunno…the past weeks have been a complete blur.” The red eared slider explained, holding in an amused snort as he saw how genuinely shocked the other turtle was by his new lore drop. 

“My Raph was originally the leader of the team but after my family defeated the Shredder…my Dad was just all like: 'Blue, you’re the new leader now' and the rest was history…” 

“…Just like that?” The honey brown eyed teenager asked in pure surprise. 

“Just like that.” Leon confirmed. 

“Well, fuck me, then…” The smaller teen grumbled in defeat, burying his face in his knees as the other let out the amused snort he’s been holding in, “I’m good, thanks.” 

“You know that’s not what I meant.” The younger grumbled at the older’s immaturity. 

…He needs to make a mental note to himself to never let his own Mikey and Leon be in the same room with one another…

“I personally think you have nothing to worry about, though. You seem like you’re doing a pretty good job—” Leon tried to say. 

“But I’m not!” Leo exclaimed as he interrupted the older, mentally punching himself for making a loud outburst again, “I-I’m…not…”

“My brother’s don’t listen to me.” The smaller teen explained, his voice either demonstrating frustration or self-depreciation…

…Leon couldn’t tell.

“They always assume I want to be bossy or I want to be controlling but in reality I just wanna protect them!” The honey brown eyed turtle seethed, “I-I just want to be there for them a-and help!!! I knowthat we’re all the same age and I guess it seems like I’m babying them but I kinda have to because they aren’t responsible! They wouldn’t know responsibility if it walked up to them and punched them straight in the face!!”

The lime green eyed mutant rubbed his arm, tapping his fingers on his knees to try and calm himself down; getting overwhelmed was not a good look on him. 

Plus, it clashed with his autumn shade. 

“…Just, uh…trust yourself…?” The elder tried. 

“But I don’t!” The younger shouted, “I’ve tried and tried and tried to lead but they just. don’t. listen! I-I can’t lead people who don’t want to be lead!” 

“…Your Dad picked you to be the leader for a reason—”

“Well I don’t even know what that damn reason is! ” Leo seethed, burying his face into his arms, “My brother’s want Raph to lead…they don’t want…me. They want someone collective and strong and dependent as their leader; someone who they can be relient on…s-someone who they can trust…”

The smaller mutant let out a wet scoff, looking to the side of himself, “…I’m none of those things…” 

Almost on cue to the emotional moment, Leon slapped his younger counterpart upside on the head…hard. 

Leo let out a small squawk, rubbing the back of his head as he glared at the other. 

“What the freaking hell was that for?!” Leo seethed. 

“For saying a bunch of dumb shit!” The older seethed back, “Y'know that’s my job, right?” He said as he crossed his arms, glancing straight ahead as he saw the sun peeking out from behind a building….

…It was honestly giving the Attack on Titan intro and Leo wasn’t complaining one bit.

“Look…I’m not going to lie to you; being the leader isn’t easy.” The lime green eyed teen exclaimed knowingly. 

“Gee, I wonder what gave you that idea.” The other grumbled under his breath. 

“Just let me cook!”

“Well, right now you’re burning.”

Leon just rolled his eyes at the smaller’s sassy remark, continuing, “I get it, okay…? Being the leader is…challenging. Especially when you know the people your supposed to be leading don’t…want your leadership— or at the very least aren’t used to it.”

The lime green eyed teenager got up, brushing his legs off as he looked over the building’s rail, seeming like he was…trying to remember something, “It’s…a lot. Your still a kid but you’re literally forced to manage all of these responsibilities and high expectations everyone has for you…”

The older sighed, playing with his mask tails as he glanced at the ground, wishing it had an answer to his and Leo’s predicament, “A-And you don’t…you don’t know what those expectations are…” 

The taller mutant sighed, looking back at his younger counterpart, “But you just…gotta keep going…y’know? Your Dad picked you to be leader for a reason, I’m sure.” Leon assured. 

“But my brother’s—”

“'Want Raph?'” The red eared slider said, “Wehell, you aren’t Raph, now are you?”

“…no.”

“Exactly. So stop trying to compare. You’re Leonardo. Lead how Leonardo would lead.” The elder smiled softly.

God, he sounded so freaking…wise right now!!!

“But…I don’t know how Leonardo leads…that’s why I’m asking you…!!” The younger said. 

Leon snorted, “You gotta figure it out, then! Only you can determine how Leonardo leads. Yes…we’re both Leo’s in a sense but we’re different people…you feel me?”

“I…I-I feel you.” The honey brown eyed teen nodded slightly, “I just…I just don’t wanna mess anything up, I guess…”

“Hate to break it to you…but you 100% will. That’s the great thing about being, well…you. I don’t need to be an alternate version of you to know you fuck things up constantly.” The older Leonardo joked lightly, his soft smile turning to a smug grin as he saw how appalled his younger self got at the comment. 

“And you’re going to fuck up a lot of things when you’re leading your brothers…I’d be lying if I said you wouldn’t. But…overtime you’ll get better…you won’t be perfect…but you’ll get better.” The elder announced, looking over his shoulder to lock eye’s with Leo, “And sooner or later your younger brother’s will learn to trust you to lead them…but you have to trust yourself first.” 

Leo’s eyes widened slightly, looking back at his older self with nothing but…respect and compassionnow. 

His advice actually made…sense. Which is an actual shock because all the things he usually says is just plain old gibberish. 

“So, you gonna pay me?” Leon asked as he sat back down. 

“Huh?” The younger said as he tilted his head in confusion. 

“I said: Are you gonna pay me?” The older asked again, “Advice doesn’t come for free, y'know.” And in a result to the random question and statement, Leo scratched the side of his head, glancing away nervously, “I mean…I have some Jolly Rancher wrappers in my pocket if you’d like that.” 

The older Leonardo raised an unamused brow, biting back a genuine smile at the younger’s attempted transaction. 

“…I’ll…take that as a maybe…?” The shorter mutant quietly guessed. 

“I’ll pass…but I appreciate the offer.” The red eared slider laughed, wrapping his younger counterpart in a hug as he rested his hand on his side, squeezing it comfortingly, “With you and me as our brother’s leaders…there’s absolutely nothing we can’t solve!” 

The older mutant faltered, scratching his chin in sudden realization, “Besides girls…I still haven’t decoded them yet.” 

Leo randomly let out a laugh at the joke, shaking his head as a couple snorts and squeals followed. 

The older Leo raised an amused brow, chuckling lightly at the other’s giggle fit, “Ohoookay…it was never that fuhunny.” 

“Ihi nehehever sahaid ihat— snrt! Yohour hahahand!!!” The younger Leonardo squeaked, holding the other’s wrists loosely. “Oh.” The lime green eyed teenager hummed, his amused eyeridge raise now becoming…smug, “You don’t happen to be…ticklish, do you?” 

The smaller mutant gulped as his counterpart muttered out…the word; and so casually too?!

“N-Noho! N-Nohoh I’m nohot!” The honey brown eyed turtle squeaked out despretley, letting out a city-wide squeal as Leon pinched his hips with his free hand whilst still trapping/wrapping him in a hug. “Really? Well, last I checked, people who 'aren’t ticklish' don’t usually squeal when their hips are squeezed, bud.”  

“Ihihat’s— snrt! Juhuhust stahap!!” 

“If my memory serves me correctly, you said you 'weren’t ticklish', right?” The elder said as he wiggled his free hand near the other’s stomach. 

Which, in fact, was enough to keep the other boy completely howling with laughter. 

Leo screamed, twisting and turning to try and steer away from the tortuous fingers, “N-NohO nohOHO snrt WAHAIT-!!!” 

“Soooo…you obviously don’t mind this, right?” Leon smirked as he used his left hand to scribble around the smaller turtle’s tummy while his right hand wrapped around his shell and tickled his underarm. “IHI MIHIHIND! IHI snrt MIHIHIND snrt AHA LAHAHAT!” The younger mutant squeaked out in panic, flailing and shouting about. 

“But why~? You’re obviously not ticklish.” The red eared slider shrugged casually. 

“IHI SNRT SNRT AHAM!!” The smaller mutant suddenly confessed, pushing on the taller’s chest, “IHI AHAM SNRT  IHIHI AHAM SNRT SNRT IHI SNRT AHAHAM!!” 

“Oh! So…you lied to me?” The older mutant questioned as he clamped Leo’s thigh repetitively.

The complete audacity of this kid…

It was impressive, honestly…

Leo hiccuped, burying his head in the elder’s shoulder, “NOHO! IHI— snrt! GYAHAHA PLEHEHEASE!!” 

“Noho! You lied to me, you little twerp! Ugh…the betrayal! And here I thought we were having a nice little bonding moment!” The red eared slider cried dramatically as he stuffed his hands in Leo’s underarms.

The younger Leonardo loudly squawked, snorting up a storm as the elder continued to relentlessly tickle him to pieces, “L-LEHEEEEEEEHEON!!”

“Hm~? Yeah~? What is it, bud?”

“PLEHEHEASE!! NAHAT SNRT SNRT THAHAT!!!” The honey brown eyed mutant squealed, his yell bouncing off the walls of the buildings of New York. “Why~? Is it your tickle spot~? Your tickle tickletickle spot~? 'Cuz your tickle tickle ticklish~?”

“SHUHUT UHUHUP!!” The smaller turtle howled as Leon scribbled his nails along the other’s plastron patterns, “OHO MY GAHASH YOHOUR SOOHOH MEAN!!!”

“Mean?” The lime green eyed teenager repeated innocently, “I’m not mean~! I’m just asking you a couple questions.” 

“I-IHIHI CAHANT SNRT SNRT SNRT BREATHE!!” 

“That sounds like a yohou problem, but hey! That’s just me…” 

“OKAHAY!!!” The younger wheezed, happy tears pricking out of his eyes; awaiting to fall, “STOHOP! STOHOHAP!!” 

“Stopping stopping…” The elder teenager giggled, doing as he promised and stopping. He wrapped his younger counterpart in a hug, letting the shorter turtle snort and snicker in his shoulder once more, “You got this…okay?” He assured. 

“W-Whahat…? Whahat snrt snrt doohoo I snrt hahahave??” Leo questioned through his giddy laughs which Leon couldn’t help but huff fondly to, “The…Thehe leading thing, dude. You got it, okay? Just remember what I said and you’ll be fine.” 

“I dohon’t eheheven remember whahat yohou said toohoo beehee honest..” 

“I can tickle you again to help you remember—“

“N-NONOHO IHIHI’M GOOD!” Leo emphasized, hugging his middles and burying his head into Leon’s shoulder deeper. The elder just hugged him tighter, resting his cheek on the top of the younger’s head.

The two didn’t know a thing when it came to leading…

But they were going to try…they were going to try leading…

…Because that’s really all anyone could ask for…

Their best. 

·̩̩̥͙＊*•̩̩͙✩•̩̩͙*˚𝙵𝙸𝙽˚*•̩̩͙✩•̩̩͙*˚＊·̩̩̥͙ 

(𝙿.𝚂.: 𝙸𝚏 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚎𝚗𝚓𝚘𝚢𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚏𝚒𝚌, 𝚙𝚕𝚎𝚊𝚜𝚎 𝚛𝚎𝚋𝚕𝚘𝚐!!!)

[ladykailitha]

Around the World Part 6

Hello! And welcome to another chapter of this very underrated fic. Thank you to everyone who has given it love in the way of comments, reblogs/tags, and likes.

It's London calling! And we meet a Murray Bauman in the wild. Eddie and Steve get a little introspective and Steve does something rash.

Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5

~

Their trip through the haunting and beautiful Ireland was amazing. So many tales and history. This is why Steve wanted to do more than just America like Eddie had originally wanted, because America just didn’t have the history Europe and other places did. Not unless you wanted to disturb actual First Nation people and that was something he wanted to avoid at all cost, thank you.

They were on the ferry from Northern Ireland to Scotland and Steve was looking out over his shoulder at the water as he leaned against the guardrail. He tilted his head back and closed his eyes, allowing the wind to blow through his hair.

Eddie slid his arm around him and Steve laid his head on his shoulder.

Today Eddie had his beard and faux-dreadlocks in a light blue button up shirt and cream colored wide-legged pants. His chunky sunglasses covered the his face.

“You know,” Eddie murmured, “until we reached this leg of our journey and you started to disguise me, I didn’t realize how much I missed just being Eddie Munson, regular guy. I can really see the appeal of you and friends’ way of doing it.”

“Yeah,” Steve said softly. “Of course it means that we can’t go all out and buy everything we want, stay in fancy hotels, show up at restaurants without a reservation and get in. But I can go into my local grocery store and buy two tubs of mint ice cream because I felt like it.” He lifted his head to look Eddie in the eye. “Like some Karen would judge me, but it’s not going to go up on TMZ that I’m letting myself go.”

God, Eddie had had that happen more times than he cared to count. Like once Chrissy was on her period and he went to go get her chocolate, Ben and Jerry’s, and pads. Before he even got to his car it was all over the internet that he was letting himself go, just because it was 2am and his best friend needed something to help her feel better.

“You think you’ll ever come out?” he asked, pulling Steve in closer.

It was a familiar and well-worn topic of theirs; whether or not Steve would ever come out as bisexual at least.

He ducked his head and looked away. He didn’t know. He didn’t like hiding parts of himself for those he loved. He would like to tell people this is the love of my life.

“Would you leave me if I said no?” he mumbled, not daring to look up.

Eddie placed his finger under Steve’s chin and lifted his head gently. “Of course not, Stevie. There are literal actors who have been married for years and no one knows. It’s just between them. We could do that too. Just a quiet ceremony, Robin and Chrissy as the witnesses, and a justice of the peace.”

Steve let out a weak sort of watery laugh and shook his head. “I want all our friends there, famous and otherwise. I want a full tilt party with music playing into the early hours of the morning. I want fancy tuxes and flowers galore. I know I might not get that, the absolute coward that I am. But if I marry you, it be to scream from the rooftops that I love you.”

Eddie bumped their shoulders together. “Softy.” Steve blushed. “Besides there is nothing in the world that says we can’t have it both ways. Have a quiet little ‘just us’ and then go full tilt when you come out. You don’t even have to tell anyone. Just a little comfort that I’m not going anywhere.”

Steve pressed a gentle kiss to Eddie’s cheek. “I’ll think about it.”

Eddie kissed him deeply and then tucked his head under his chin and they stayed like that until the ferry docked in Scotland.

~

God, Scotland and England were beautiful countries Eddie decided as he watched the rolling green hills from his train window. That was another thing he really liked about Europe in general, just all the different ways to travel that weren’t a car.

He looked over at Steve who had his glasses on and reading a book. He smiled at the title. His boyfriend wasn’t a fantasy fan or science fiction either, really, but put a clever mystery in his hands and you would have to pry to the book from his cold, dead fingers.

He glanced over at Chrissy and Robin who were playing Go Fish! They had asked him if he wanted to join them, but he passed. He rarely got time to just relax and watch the scenery go by when he was on tour. He was always doing something related to the band. Writing music, practicing, talking about the next venue, interview, or TV spot.

Him and his friends had fun, because of course they did. But it was nice to just let his mind wander. Currently he was sad that they were going to have to miss Wales this time. He really wanted to buy some Welsh gold jewelry. It’s super rare and absolutely gorgeous.

Maybe he would have to come back later and get something special for Steve. Just something simple like matching bands even if it wasn’t on the left hand. Or necklaces. Just something simple to prove they were it for each other.

“I made an appointment with a well-known tattoo artist in London,” Steve said nonchalant, but like he was reading Eddie’s thoughts.

Everyone stopped what they were doing and turned to Steve. Robin nearly giving herself whiplash in her speed.

“As your friend, manager, and platonic soulmate,” she said darkly, “I advise against that. You can cover it up but someone, somewhere will see it.”

Steve looked up from his book and leveled her with his best bitchy glare. “Not if it’s on my ass.”

Chrissy and Eddie’s eyebrows shot up and they shared a shocked glance. Eddie always loved tattoos, he had a couple of stick and poke style ones from when he was young and stupid and couldn’t afford to pay for an artist to do the job, but there was one place, well technically two if you included his dick, which he absolutely did, that he refused to get a tattoo on and that was his ass. Not being able to sit down properly for what would probably be weeks was not his idea of a good time.

“Not really, though, right?” Chrissy asked with a grimace.

Steve took off his glasses and rubbed the bridge of his nose. “Of course not really. Sheesh, you guys. But I hid fucking hickies from the both of you for a year and you never noticed, so I’m pretty sure I can hide one fucking tattoo.”

Robin and Chrissy shared their little ‘manager’ glance and Chrissy folded first.

“You’re right, Steve,” she said calmly. “Not once did you forget or slip up and you should be applauded for that. But is there a reason you’re deciding to get a tattoo now instead of waiting until we’re back in the States and you can use Eddie’s personal artist?”

He looked over at Robin and their little telepathy thing went off again and this time Robin folded first.

“It’s for Eddie,” she murmured. “They can’t be out as a couple and with Steve being the romantic that he is, wouldn’t want to get married without all his friends there, so this is his way of telling Eddie he isn’t going anywhere either.”

Eddie blinked for a moment. “Do you think they take walk-ins?”

“I booked it for both of us.” Steve smiled at him and took his hand. Eddie beamed back at him.

“They are so disgustingly cute,” Robin huffed, crossing her arms. “I bet Steve has this really sweet idea for a tattoo that even if people do notice it they won’t be able to tell the meaning but he and Eddie will know and be so sickeningly precious about it.”

Eddie gave him a huge kiss on the cheek. “I love my super clever boyfriend and can’t wait to see what this brilliant plan is.”

~

Steve’s brilliant plan was half of a white mask on Eddie’s inner wrist and half of guitar on Steve’s and when they held hands it formed almost heart.

The tattoo artist was really impressed with the idea and was more than happy to implement it. Steve walked out of there, completely smug as Chrissy pointed out. Deservedly so.

They were to stay in London for three days because of all the haunted places in London alone, there were so many worth visiting. They were going to start at Jack the Ripper tour and move onto the tour of London.

The tour they learned with deep dismay had accidentally been scheduled at 2pm and not 2am like Eddie had thought it said. It was so boring and their tour guide so dull, Eddie accidentally tripped of one of those concrete pillars they had in the middle of the sidewalk to prevent cars from driving up on it.

“Oof!” Eddie wheezed as he straightened up. “Why do they even put those things here?”

“Chrissy Cunningham,” a nasally voice said from behind them. “What are you doing in my neck of the woods?”

They all turned slowly to see a weaselly little bald man with thick horn-rimmed glass.

“Holy shit,” Chrissy said slowly. “Murray Bauman, as I live and breath. What the hell are you doing in London?”

He shrugged. “Eking out a living doing tours for bored tourists. When the biggest metal band in the world drops you, so does everyone else.”

Chrissy and Eddie shared a grimace. Corroded Coffin had deliberately did that to Nancy after the shit she pulled with Steve and trying to be The Fallen’s agent. But this one was a complete accident.

“Oh fuck off,” Robin said with a grin. “You love it. I can tell. You have actual notes written down, you have a map marked with all the spots the murders take place. I bet you have all the great stories.”

Murray flushed and cocked his head to the side. “I mean I didn’t want to brag. But yeah, certainly better than Molly over there.” He jutted his thumb at their tour guide. “Most of the good ones are from tour companies and then you get people like Molly who make it look legit online and trick people into taking day tours.”

“God, I was so bored,” Eddie huffed, shoving his hands into his pockets, “I felt jet lagged.”

Murray’s eyes instantly narrowed and cocked his head to the side and instantly everyone else tensed up. He took in their reactions and mimed zipping his mouth shut.

“I’ll tell you what,” he said, “if you’re still in town tomorrow, meet me here at 9pm and I’ll give you a proper tour.”

Chrissy licked her lips slowly. “Or what?”

“Huh?” He was confused for a moment before he smacked his forehead. “Oh! No, no. I’m not going to blackmail you. Holy shit. If people want to enjoy a vacation without all the publicity, good on them.” He looked Eddie up and down. “Looks good on you kid.”

Eddie was suddenly glad for the large sunglasses and beard because it hid the blush on his cheeks.

“No, I’m just saying,” Murray continued, “that if you wanted to experience a proper Jack the Ripper tour, I’m willing to do it. I don’t have a tour currently booked and beside I like her.” He pointed at Robin, who grinned back him.

The four them all shared glances at each other.

“I’m down,” Steve said with a shrug. “If you’re as good as you say you are and aren’t trying to actively ‘get back’ at Chrissy for taking your job, I know I’d be interested in seeing what Whitechapel has to offer after dark.”

“I like him too,” Murray said brightly, rubbing his hands together. “So what do the rest of you say?”

“Aye, aye, Captain!” Steve’s three menaces said together.

He just smiled fondly and shook his head.

~

Part 7 Part 8 Part 9

Tag List: CLOSED

1- @mira-jadeamethyst @rozzieroos @itsall-taken @redfreckledwolf @zerokrox-blog

2- @gregre369 ​@a-little-unsteddie @chaosgremlinmunson @messrs-weasley @val-from-lawrence

3- @goodolefashionedloverboi @carlyv @wonderland-girl143-blog @irregular-child @blondie1006

4- @yikes-a-bee @bookworm0690 @anne-bennett-cosplayer @awkwardgravity1 @littlewildflowerkitten

5- @genderless-spoon @y4r3luv @dragonmama76 @ellietheasexylibrarian @thedragonsaunt

6- @disrespectedgoatman @dawners @thespaceantwhowrites @tinyplanet95 @garden-of-gay

7- @iamthehybrid @croatoan-like-its-hot @papergrenade @cryptid-system @counting-dollars-counting-stars

8- @ravenfrog @w1ll0wtr33 @child-of-cthulhu @kultiras @dreamercec

9- @machete-inventory-manager @useless-nb-bisexual @stripey82 @dotdot-wierdlife @kal-ology

10- @sadisticaltarts @urkadop @chameleonhair @clockworkballerina

[twipsai]

its finally done! happy wsatw everyone <333

word count: 1,817

At 10:39 PM on Saturday, every single person anywhere on either coasts of the continent, and people looking to cross either border of the United Federation, felt a harsh gust of wind.

Commotion ensued, but Sonic, of course, didn’t stick around to see it. When he arrived back at Emerald Coast, he cut back into the city and zoomed past cars cruising along Speed Highway. He ran in front of a few of them, daring them to hit him before swooping away at the last second. Before the fifth exit whizzed by, Sonic bounced over the guardrail and took off through the bare-bones forested area, hopping up and jumping from rooftop to rooftop before he hit the ground running. He passed through lots more cramped neighborhoods on the outskirts of Central City until he made it to the Night Babylon district, where he ran up the side of some random building, speeding up to the top—

And tripped.

And fell.

He just laid there for a moment, before flipping himself over as rapid, shallow breaths racked his body.

Running didn't get tiring. Not normal running, anyway— when he had food in his stomach, water in his blood, and eight hours of sleep.

In the moment, though, with his limbs sore and shaking, he thought this must be like how it felt if the average person ran just a hundred miles. Or maybe even only ninety.

The world kept spinning. It always did, and it wouldn't wait for him to get over whatever funk he was in. He hit his fist dully on the concrete ground. 

He should go back to Mystic Ruins. To make sure Tails was okay, of course. Not to sleep or eat or anything, really. Then he would go back to running— patrolling. He was patrolling to make sure no one was causing trouble while everyone else rested. Of course. He pushed himself up.

Sonic didn't cry that day. Not once. Because if the only person who saw him cry was dead now, then no one had any proof.

And now, running back to his little brother's workshop, he could chalk the tears in his eyes up to the wind beating at his face.

The trip was just a bit slower than it probably would have been normally. It was like his body was protesting against moving his legs, one after the other. He almost collapsed on the porch once he reached it when a wave of exhaustion hit him upon seeing the home, but pushed through the door and shoved himself up the stairs. A chill shuttered through his body, forcing him to realize just how cold he was now that he was inside, and he made a quick pitstop in his room to yank his comforter off the bed and bundle himself in it.

Tails’ room was just down the hall, but he already knew the kit wasn’t in there. For one, the door was open, and Tails hates it when his door’s open. And for two, his self-imposed bed time when he thought Sonic wasn’t around was around three in the morning (but, more recently, it had started stretching to four). So, he begrudgingly hauled himself back down the stairs and through the Tornado’s hangar, giving her a pat on the wing for good luck, and arriving at Tails’ workshop door. A strange sweet smell emanated from the room. 

He gently pushed open the door, the sweet and somewhat nostalgic smell becoming stronger. The moment he stepped through the door, Tails’ ear flicked, and he spun his chair around, yipping in surprise. “Sonic! You’re back!” His face then morphed into a bright smile as he waved him over and spun back to continue his work. 

The plan was to just check in for a bit, maybe send his brother to bed, but now… Well, maybe he’d rest for a bit. Just a bit. He leaned over Tails’ shoulder. “For a bit, yeah. What’s that smell?”

“Oh, uh, blowtorch s’mores.”

“Huh?”

Tails held up a stick with a jumbo marshmallow at the end and a blowtorch. It was only then that Sonic noticed the graham crackers and chocolate bars where mechanic tools should’ve been on the workbench. “Blowtorch s’mores,” he repeated.

“Uh, yeah, I heard you, heh. What’s the occasion?” Sonic hopped up and sat on the workbench, blanket draping over the corner and barely touching the ground.

“Science.”

“Okayyyyy… Can I have one?”

“Sure! Here—” he picked up a second blowtorch that was haphazardly thrown under the table— “just click that button and it'll turn on, and release it to turn it off.”

Sonic yoinked a marshmallow from the package and stuck it on the end of one of the roasting sticks Tails had rested on the side of his workbench. “Ssso, whatcha—” He got cut off by his own throat spurring into a coughing fit. Turns out 24 hours without a drop of water in his system did some real shitty things. Tails immediately shoved a water bottle into his free hand that was about to pick up the blowtorch; he downed the bottle in all of 3 seconds and mumbled a quick ‘thanks’, wiping his mouth. “Whatcha been working on?” he finished.

“Well, before I got distracted by this,” Tails set his perfectly toasted marshmallow aside and turned to the graham crackers splayed out, lightly melting the chocolate laid out on top. “I was fixing up the Cyclone! She got really damaged yesterday…”

“Oof. How bad?”

“Not too bad, I think I did a pretty good job back there,” Tails said with a smug grin. Sonic mentally cheered him on. “But I have to fix up and replace a lot of her casing that got too dented to be safe. And some quick repairs to her engine, ‘cuz Eggman kinda busted it up with his bullets…”

“Wait, what? When did Eggman shoot at you?” He put the blowtorch to the marshmallow, letting the flame consume it until it lit up the entire room, burning so bright the fire’s image was seared into his eyelids.

He knew he didn’t have enough power to save him and fly the both of them back to the ARK. Had he succeeded in grabbing hold of Shadow, they both would’ve died that day. He reached out anyway.

“Maria, this is what you wanted, right? This is my promise I made to you…”

As his hand was waved away, his fingers accidentally curled around the golden bracelet. It snapped off.

The last glimmer of white faded from his fur, and he fell.

He swallowed the lump in his throat and clutched the bracelet close to his chest.

Sonic blew out the flame once it had charred the outside of the marshmallow.

“Yeah, after he tried to blow you up.”

“And did you show him what for…?”

“Hehe, maybeee…”

“Hell yeah!” He set down the blowtorch and ruffled the kit’s bangs as he constructed his s’more. “That’s how I know I raised you right!”

“Pffft— Sonic, stoppp!”

“Okay, okay,” he let up and took out his own crackers and chocolate, smushing the ingredients together and taking a big bite. Gaia, he hadn’t realized how hungry he was… “But,” he said through a mouthful of sugar gunk, “I’m still proud of you, little bro.”

“R– Right! Thank you!”

Sonic practically scarfed down his s’more and went in for another one. “But the Cyclone’s gonna be okay, right?”

“Hm? Oh, yeah! She’ll be okay, but I might take it easy on her for a little while… Those chaos drives got me thinking maybe I put a little too much focus on offense? I mean, it’s mostly for fighting, but if I took out the extra propulsions for rockets and slimmed down the auto-aimer, I could make some more room to add a holo-shield, plus I’d have even more room if I used just one chaos drive to power my ammo rather than what I have in there now!”

Tails rambled on, his explanations becoming more and more weird and sciency with terms spliced in that Sonic had no hope of understanding. A fond smile made its way on his face as he burnt his second marshmallow, looking at the kit.

“—But I think I can make it work! If I rework the leg hydraulics to be lighter, then the rocket boost can—”

“You know I love you, right, little bro?”

Tails stopped, half his s’more in his hand. “...Huh?”

“I said—”

“I heard you. Of course I know, hehe… I love you too, big bro!” Tails bonked his head against Sonic’s arm.

“Heh, just checking.” It was no use to dwell too much. His entire body ached with grief, but if he let it drown everything around him out, he’d never hear the wind when it called to him with the promise of adventure.

It hurt so much, but he had to keep going. For his own sake, of course, but…

But also because Shadow, in his brief time on Earth, didn’t get that kind of freedom. So he’d live for him, if that’s what it took to get him out of this weird funk.

“Hey, how about we hit up the Station Square Diner in the morning? My treat!”

Tails’ eyes lit up. Maybe not at the prospect of the food, but more likely at the suggestion to hang out. “Yeah, that sounds awesome!” Tails finished his first s’more, while Sonic finished eating his second.

“Then it’s settled! C’mon, let’s head to bed now so we can beat the morning rush tomorrow,” Sonic said, standing up and stretching with his comforter’s edge balled up in his fists.

“Aw, but I wanted to work on the Cyclone—”

“Nope! Sorry, but you’re under contractual obligation now, Mister Prower!”

“That’s not how contracts work— eek!”

Sonic grabbed him and bundled the two of them in the comforter, carrying the kit awkwardly on his hip as he struggled. “That’s why you gotta read the fine print, heh.”

“Stoooop! Let me gooo!”

“Nope! It’s sleepy time for geniuses and speedsters!” Sonic dragged both his aching body and the kit’s struggling one up the stairs to the house part of the lab and flopped down on the couch.

“Sonic?”

“Tails?”

“Are we sleeping on the couch tonight?”

“If you don’t mind, then yeah.”

“Hehe, I don’t mind. It reminds me of when we’d sleep outside.”

“Oh?”

Tails shifted so he wasn’t awkwardly pressed against the back of the couch. “Yeah, that’s why I was making s’mores, too. ‘Cuz, u– um. I kinda missed you just a little bit today…”

A small laugh managed to slip out of him. “Aw, bud… maybe I should give phones another try so we can talk while I’m on the go.”

Tails yawned. “That’d be nice…”

Sonic adjusted to make sure his neck wouldn’t hurt like hell in the morning. “G’night, little bro.”

“Good night, big bro.”

[queen-of-gotham]

Chapter One: The first Three Months

Word count: 3,907

Chapter One | Chapter Two | Chapter Three

Hizashi walked in to 1A, plopping into his seat at the back of the class between the other two dumbigos. An exasperated sigh escaped his lips, curious to how his friends would handle the news he’d discovered the night before.

“What’s up Hizashi?” Oboro asked, leaning towards him, Shouta’s head turning slightly, curious.

“I’m a dad.” He waited for their reaction, sure the questions would be flooding in, but nothing.

“Yeah right, what’s really going on?” Oboro finally said with a roll of his eyes.

“I’m serious!” Hizashi yelled recounting the events of the night before.

-

“What do you mean it’s mine!?” Hizashi’s voice was loud and confused as he held the tiny baby in his hands awkwardly.

“If you don’t believe me get a DNA test, or hand it over to get adopted or whatever. I don’t really care, Hizashi. I just don’t want her. I can’t do it.” His summer fling from the year before stood before him, arms crossed, carseat on the ground, and had just shoved the tiny thing in his arms. He had just started at UA and got into the hero course and she shows up and shoves a baby at him? “I thought you deserved the chance to raise her if you want… but I just don’t care. I tried and I can’t. She was born on April 6th… I named her Haru. Good luck Hizashi.”

No sooner than the ghost of months prior appeared, she disappeared, leaving him with a tiny reminder that she had existed… and his parents were going to kill him.

-

“Holy shit, zashi.” Shouta spat out.

“And here we thought you lied about getting laid!” Oboro yelled.

Hizashi though was still too stunned to even handle the teasing his friend was throwing at him. How was he supposed to handle raising a child and being in the Hero course? His parents were taking care of the baby for today… but it was a temporary solution since she had literally just been shoved into his arms the night before.

To say he was distracted more than usual was an understatement, his mind racing back to the tiny infant at his home. Haru. She said her name was Haru… spring. Hizashi looked out the window, of his school, it was spring time so he guessed the name to be appropriate, even though it lacked creativity in his opinion.

His mind wandered to her… to his fling. She was American and had moved to Japan for her fathers job. He remembered seeing her for the first time, standing at the guardrail staring at the ocean. He thought she looked so beautiful, stunning even. Long dark brown hair gently blowing in the wind, piercing green eyes, deeper than his own, that seemed to be lost. Amber Jameson. Amber. He loved her name, and he quickly fell for her, and her for him.

“Yo… it’s lunch. Ya coming?” Oboro asked him, snapping Hizashi out of his thoughts. Grateful for the break.

“Hell yeah!”

The 3 dumbigos of class A found themselves on the rooftop of their school, a calm silence among them although Hizashi knew that his friends had to have so many questions. He scrolled his social media accounts when a text came through from his mother.

It’s positive. She’s yours. We will talk after school.

“If I wasn’t sure the baby was mine, it’s confirmed. My parents got the DNA test back.” He felt his friends eyes on him, as a photo came through of the little girl. He really didn’t have any doubts after seeing her last night. She had his blonde hair; his green eyes. It was like Amber simply cloned him and made it a girl.

Hizashi turned the phone to his friends, showing them the baby… his daughter. HIS daughter. That was wild to think about.

-

Hizashi sat down on the couch, his mother was pacing the floor with the baby, bouncing her and patting her butt. His dad sat across from him, a glass of whisky in his hand. Hizashi wasn’t sure what his parents were going to say, so he sat there quietly, waiting for them to speak.

“Son, your mother and I are not raising this baby for you.” His dad started first, his voice was deep, unwavering. “You’re going to be a man and raise her yourself.”

Hizashi didn’t argue. He knew that he wanted her. He wanted to raise this little girl that was part of him. It wasn’t a question in his brain at all.

“Yeah, yeah of course I am.” Hizashi states, watching his mom pace back and forth.

“You’re going to get a job, she’s going to have to go to daycare, and that’s a fortune, and I expect that your grades won’t suffer anymore either.” Hizashi nodded his head as he listened to his dad, watching him sip the whisky in his hand. “Can’t believe you were stupid enough to make a damn baby.”

Hizashi lowered his head, breaking the eye contact he made with his dad, knowing that his life was changing forever, a soft whimper left Haru’s tiny body and just as quickly his mom put her in his arms.

He stared down at her, taking in every tiny feature on his daughter. Her chubby cheeks, golden tufts of hair, and the way his chest fluttered when she stopped whining, looking up at him with big green eyes. “We’re going to be just fine, Haru.”

-

It was barely a few days later when the dumbigos gathered at that Yamada residence to meet the newest member of their friend group. Hizashi watched with careful eyes, almost surprised at how easily Oboro held his daughter.

“She’s pretty.” Oboro said gently, his blue eyes taking in every tiny detail on the tiny girl, little fingers that wrapped around his finger.

Shota hummed in agreement, sitting beside Oboro, his dark eyes looking over the infant as well. “Does it sleep?”

Hizashi laughed a bit, leaning back in his desk chair. “As long as she’s being held. It’s kind of exhausting.”

Oboro leaned over, gently putting the baby into shota’s arms. “Let me tell you something little one. Your Uncle Oboro is going to spoil the absolute shit out of you. I’m going to take you to concerts, and shopping, and buy you everything your little heart could desire.”

“With what money?” Shouta asked blandly, sitting stiffly with the infant in his arms.

“You know, when we’re pro’s and running our own agency and the three of us have more money than we know what to do with!” Oboro retorted, pulling a laugh out of his friends.

Hizashi’s eyes moved to his daughter as the laughter died down, watching her wiggle a bit in his friends arm, making a face like she was about to cry. But before he could move to take her back and console her, Shouta had already moved to pat her butt, even though his body was still stiff, pulling a soft smile from Hizashi.

“Have you heard from what’s her face at all?” Oboro asked, plopping back onto Hizashi’s bed.

“Nah. She said she didn’t want anything to do with her and left. It’s been radio silent since.” Hizashi stated, pushing his glasses up his nose and spinning in his chair. “What kind of parent just abandons their kid like that? I swear to god I hope she rots in hell for just straight leaving her like that.”

“But Haru’s got us, man!” Oboro said excitedly, startling the baby girl, making her arms flail into the air In surprise, but thankfully there were no tears. “Between the three of us, she won’t miss that bitch of a mother.”

Shouta nodded his head in agreement as he watched Haru wrap her tiny fingers around his index finger.

Hizashi smiled at his friends words. They were right. He wasn’t alone. He didn’t have to do any of this alone. That was a bigger relief than he could ever convey to his friends.

—

“Oh, she’s beautiful Hizashi!” Mrs. Aizawa gushed, holding the barely two month old baby in her arms, fingers twirling the blonde tuft on top of Haru’s head. “She looks just like you sweetie.”

Hizashi sat the babies diaper bag down in her car seat, rubbing the back of his neck nervously. “T-thank you. Are you sure you don’t mind watching her while we train?”

Mrs. Aizawa simply waved off Hizashi’s question, as if it was the silliest thing she’s ever heard. “Please. I love infants. Makes me miss when Shouta was this tiny. He was the best little baby. He’d alway-“

“MOTHER.” Shouta shouted from behind her, face red with embarrassment not knowing what story his mom was about to info dump on his best friend.

The woman laughed, gently bouncing the very awake baby who was just starting to smile at people. “Your Uncle Shouta is so grumpy.” She cooed softly, making Hizashi feel a bit odd.

His own parents barely spoke to him anymore, they didn’t even acknowledge the presence of their granddaughter unless she was crying for too long. Hizashi only made that mistake once when his father back handed him and screamed to ‘shut the mistake up’.

So standing here and watching an adult dote on his daughter lovingly brought a warmth to his chest he wasn’t sure was possible. Especially when she referred to Shouta as his daughters uncle. That made his heart swell more than he knew was possible.

“She’ll probably be ready to eat in about an hour, her bottle is in the bag on the side pocket and if she’s a bit red she’s got some butt paste in the front pocket. She also gets a bit-“

“Hizashi, sweetie. I got it.” Mrs. Aizawa said sweetly, reaching to hold his cheek for a moment, reassuringly, and he nodded. Of course she had this. She raised his best friend, after all. “You boys go work hard. She’ll be fine in here with me. Won’t you sweet girl? Yes, ma’am.”

Hizashi thought about how his friends mom cooed at his daughter throughout practice. Should he be cooing? That didn’t seem like a very cool thing to do. At the same time though it made his daughter smile, so maybe that would make it worth it? He wasn’t sure. He made a mental note to google the benefits of cooing at babies later that night.

He had Googled most of the things he needed to know. He had an array of questions at her first pediatrician appointment to make sure he was doing the right thing, and the vaccines that the doctor gave her and the way she wailed, he cried with her. Not that he would ever admit that to anyone.

He knew skin to skin contact was important for her. He had a nightly routine, where he bathed her, warmed up her lotion before putting it all over her little body, and laid with her chest to chest while he sang Blackbird by the Beatles. It was a classic after all and no daughter of Hizashi’s wouldn’t know the classics. After the song he’d dress her in her pajamas, and feed Haru her nightly bottle until she passed out for a few hours.

He also always googled her milestones, to see whether Haru was on track, although some of the parenting blogs claim every baby grows at their own pace and not to be concerned if the baby isn’t hitting milestones right at a certain age. Easier said than done.

At the end of their training, Shouta and Hizashi were exhausted, out of breath, and curious to why their third dumbigo had never showed. It was practically tradition at this point that the boys spent Saturday night training together, then binging on pizza in Shouta’s room, (although it took a bit to convince Hizashi to start coming again after Haru).

The teens walked back inside the Aizawa home, the smell of pizza immediately hitting their noses, making both boys drool a bit. The sound of baby giggles filled the air next, along with the all too familiar laughter of Oboro. The two quietly approached the living room to see the scene before them.

Oboro hovered over Haru who laid on her back on a soft blanket on the floor, the baby giggling, and once her little breaths evened out he’d rear back out of her line of site, her little head turning slowly to look for Oboro. After a moment he’d gently put his hands down on either side of her, so he wouldn’t startle her, and place a bunch of kisses under her chin, causing soft giggles once again.

“That’s my pretty girl! Listen to those little laughs!” Oboro cooed over her, Shouta simply rolled his eyes, and Hizashi found a familiar grin creeping onto his face. Oboro had yet to realize his friends had come into the room, plopping over on his back beside the baby, her little head turning to follow his movements before he carefully lifted her and placed her on his chest, gentle fingers caressing through her hair, not quite long enough for a ponytail yet. “Think your daddy will let Uncle Obo kidnap you for awhile? No? Yeah, me either.” Oboro laughed, talking to Haru as if she could answer, looking at him with her big green eyes before finally realizing his friends were in the room.

“Oh shit, did I miss all of training?” Oboro asked them with a smile on his face, feigning innocence as he kept a hand on the tiny babies back, gentle fingers patting her soothingly.

“Too busy playing with the baby?” Shouta asked, unimpressed with how their friend chose to spend their training time.

“How could I not be, man?! Have you seen this thing?” Oboro asked, standing up carefully before holding Haru out like the lion king. “She’s the prettiest girl in the whole world. She asked me to stay with her so obviously I wasn’t going to deny my favorite niece that.”

“Uh-huh.”

“Haru said that, huh?” Hizashi said grinning, knowing his friend was obviously fibbing.

“Yeah. I believe her exact words were ‘Uncle Oboro, stay and play with me please, training is boring.’” Oboro nodded his head and frowned as Hizashi took his child back, pulling her close to his chest.

“She said all that, the baby that’s like 10 weeks old, said ALL those words?” Shouta said blandly.

Oboro grinned sheepishly, before wiggling a finger at Haru who seemed interested in trying to grab his finger but simply grabbed her own fingers, making Oboro and Hizashi laugh.

—

Hizashi was exhausted. He had been a dad for almost 3 months and his daughter was sick for the first time. His mother insisted it was just her teething. He bounced the little baby, trying to soothe her as she whined, congested and obviously tired.

“Hey, hey, daddy’s here…. It’s okay, kid.” He said in hushed whispers, holding her close to him. “I’ve got midterms tomorrow, I need sleep…” her soft whines hurt his heart, not being able to make her feel better. He bounced and paced his room, trying anything to soothe the upset baby in his arms. Slowly, her whines turned into small whimpers, and finally, stopped all together. He paced his floor a bit longer, scared to lay her down in the crib that now took up part of his room. He didn’t want her to wake up again, He had to get some sleep. So he did the next best thing, he carefully sat onto his bed, propping himself up with pillows and let her sleep on his chest.

His alarm went off too soon for his liking, he had spent most of the night consoling his little girl, thankfully she didn’t seem too mad to be woken up by the hard rock melody coming from his phone.

“That’s my girl. You like this music?”

He watched her lift her little head up, smacking him a bit with her hand, a big grin on her face. His grin. It seemed like everyday that she grew, she grew to be more like him. Honestly he was thankful, he spent so much time being angry at Amber for being absent, the less he saw of her in his daughter, the better as far as he was concerned.

Hizashi smiled at his little one, enjoying her for a few moments longer as she cooed and seemed generally delighted to be with him. He ran fingers back through her hair and wondered for a moment if it was long enough to finally pull up before his second alarm chimed and a giggle escaped his daughter.

“Yeah, you’re your daddy’s girl alright.” Hizashi said happily, placing a tender kiss on his daughters head before placing her in her crib on her back while he got ready for school.

Hizashi rambled to his daughter as he got ready, talking about his midterms and what they meant for him at the prestigious school he attended. He knew that she didn’t understand. She was just a baby after all, although he was thankful she was in a much better mood than she had been the night prior, seemingly feeling a bit better. Maybe his mom was right, maybe it had just been her teeth coming in.

He straightened his tie, turning to see his daughter laying on her stomach, holding her head up and trying to grab the little music notes printed on her bed sheets.

“Haru! Did you roll over?” Hizashi’s voice was excited as he looked at his daughter, despite how sleep deprived he felt, he walked over and turned her back on her back just to watch her fuss and wiggle until she was back on her stomach. “HELL YEAH! That’s my girl!”

Hizashi rolled her back over onto her back this time with his phone at the ready to record her as she furrowed her little brows frustratedly before wiggling and then expertly rolling back onto her stomach.

-

“Man that video was cute. I can’t believe she’s rolling around now.” Oboro stated as the three dumbigos ate lunch on the roof top after their midterms.

“I’m so tired, man. She’s been so… fussy at night And I’m… exhausted.” Hizashi admitted, ignoring his friends comment as he laid back on the rooftop.

“Stay the weekend with me. I’ll help you with her.” Shota stated nonchalantly, taking a bite of his sandwich and glancing at Hizashi.

“Do I get to come? I want to take care of my baby too!” Oboro pouted looking between his two friends. They both gave him a strange look but continued on with their conversation.

Hizashi looked back at Shota, for a moment before pulling his glasses off his face and covering his eyes with his arm. “You guys… would do that?”

“Yeah.”

“Of course, dude!”

Hizashi let out a soft laugh, wondering how he lucked out enough in life to get such great friends.

-

The sounds of baby cackles fill the room as Oboro laid on the floor with Haru, blowing raspberries on the infants stomach while Shota and Hizashi sat on the couch, a movie played in the background that no one was really watching.

“Here you boys go!” Mrs. Aizawa said, sitting down a tray full of snacks on the table and taking a moment to smile at the baby that laid on the floor with Oboro. “She really is just the most precious thing, Hizashi. I bet your mom and dad are just smitten with her.”

Hizashi paused half way to grabbing a pizza roll from the tray at the statement his friends mother had made and cleared his throat. Did he tell the truth? Did he play it off? He didn’t have to make the decision.

“His parents aren’t like you and Dad.” Shota cuts in quickly after Hizashi gave pause. “They haven’t done shit to help him.”

Hizashi takes in the look on Shota’s face, unbothered by the information he just spilled, Oboro simply glanced up at his friends mother, also deeply aware of Hizashi’s home life. Mrs. Aizawa thought, she looked almost… sad, if only for a moment.

“They don’t help you? They don’t watch her or anything?” Mrs. Aizawa askes, her red eyes resting on Hizashi’s face, but this time, Oboro speaks up for his friend.

“Nah, they make him work, to pay for daycare, while he’s in school, and then he has to work after school to pay for her necessities and stuff.” Oboro lifts Haru into his arms as he sits up, leaning his back against the coffee table as he looks at Mrs. Aizawa.

Her face was a bit solemn as she looked between the three boys and the small baby in her living room. Her mind racking with thoughts as she took in the information. Red eyes settled on Hizashi once more as she reached down to take the baby girl out of Oboro’s arms.

Haru cooed up at her lovingly, big green eyes shining under the light in the living room. Hizashi watched his daughter carefully as her little hands grabbed in Mrs. Aizawa’s hair, and he started to get up, to take her back, as a similar memory slipped into his brain of the same thing occurring with his own mother and how she behaved as if someone had been killing her. Mrs. Aizawa however, simply untangled her long black hair from the babies fingers and smiled at her, before letting her gaze land on Hizashi’s.

“Why don’t you let me watch her for you?”

The offer caught Hizashi off guard, he sat back against the couch, tilting his head slightly as he looked back at Mrs. Aizawa in disbelief. Why would she offer that? Was she just this kind? Surely some lingering alternative motive had to be there. In his experience, adults, especially parents, just weren’t that nice.

“It really wouldn’t be a problem. I’ve been a homemaker my entire life, and I think it would do me some good to have another little one around. And if you weren’t paying daycare costs you’d be able to put a bit of money back as well.” Mrs. Aizawa explains

“What? No. I couldn’t-“

“Hizashi. I love you and Oboro like my own sons. Which means I love your daughter like I’ll love Shota’s kids one day. Let me help you. You’re so young. You don’t have to do this on your own.” Mrs. Aizawa says gently, sitting beside him on the couch with his daughter still in her arm as she pulls him in for a gentle hug. “If your parents won’t help you, Mr. Aizawa and I will. Let us take on that grandparent role, yeah?”

Hizashi hesitated for a moment, stiff in the older woman’s hold. Could it really be that simple, that someone wants to love and care for him and his daughter out of the kindness of their heart? That they willingly want to fill a a role that his own parents refused to take on?

His mind raced for only a few moments before he relaxed into her hold, grateful would be an understatement. What he felt was a sensation of relief wash over him. The burden parenthood had placed on the young dad was lifted a bit as he nodded, agreeing to Mrs. Aizawa’s offer. He wasn’t sure he’d ever be able to repay her for her kindness.

Next Chapter >>>

[crossxworlds]

The Pocket Rift

A CrossXworlds story

© 2025 - Kevin W. Burke

Act 2 - Tryl

Episode 17

__________

Moving quickly, Aiani adjusted her outfit to be suitable for climbing. She used the leather cord of her enchanted crystalline pendant to tie up her hair. She unfastened her belt, removing it along with her tunic, which she draped on the guardrail. Then she replaced the belt at her waist, where her high-waist, wide-legged linen pants met her embroidered, sheer-sleeved undershirt. Her lace-up flats wouldn't be the best for climbing, but at least they weren't heels.

She scaled the half-wall of the guardrail and slid down carefully onto the ledge near the Comm. Hanging on the edge of the rail with one hand, she had just reached the Comm device when she heard the doors of the rooftop stairway clank open. 

Someone had arrived on the roof.

Councilor Gallwraith! She thought in a panic. Cursing, she snatched up the Comm and flung her arms back over the railing. 

Problem. The ledge was lower than the rooftop, putting the guardrail at around shoulder level, instead of at her ribcage.  From the ledge, Aiani couldn't see the stairway doors or who had come through them. But she couldn't afford to miss Gallwraith again, if he had actually shown up this time. 

“Wait, wait!” she cried out. “Don't go, I'm over here!” 

She rested the Comm on the guardrail. With a grunt, she used all her upper body strength to hoist herself up on her arms, waist high to the guardrail, while crying out, “It's an honor to meet you, Sir…?”

Coming from the doorway was a young man– human, tall and wide-shouldered, with reddish blonde hair and a stunned look on his face.  He was carrying a pack of beer.

“Uh… Katwyk? Davin Katwyk. I'm not a Sir. I just live in 4D.”

As he stared at her wide-eyed, Aiani became conscious of how strange she must appear to him– pointed ears, half dressed, hanging over a ledge.

“Oh!” Aiani said. “I'm sorry to startle you, I dropped my Comm over the railing. Would you mind hanging on to it for me?” 

Davin fetched it, but Aiani could see that he was conspicuously trying not to look at her elven ears. 

Great. Not only had Jornaton Gallwraith skipped out on her again, but she'd have to navigate another awkward Tryl human encounter. Humans of Illia were accustomed to all kinds of creatures that were different from them, but for the humans of Tryl, they were the only sentient life they had known about, up until a few months ago. They seemed to be struggling with the adjustment.

 She swung her legs up onto the guardrail and stood up. As she did, she saw him taking in her whole figure, both of them realizing at the same time that she had underestimated how sheer her undershirt would be under the rooftop lighting. 

Davin averted his gaze– a bit reluctantly, she noticed– and she crossed her arms over her undershirt. She pointed at her tunic, draped over the rail. “Would you mind?”

 He nodded and handed it to her, head turned. Well, at least he wasn't staring at her ears anymore.

Turning away from him, Aiani removed her belt and put the tunic back on, while Davin busied himself with putting her Comm device and his case of beer on a table. The rooftop held a small set of patio furniture off to the side, two chairs and the table. Some small electric lights were strung along on a wire, atop a couple of poles at the perimeter of the patio set, giving a warm glow to that part of the rooftop.

She pulled the pendant out of her hair, letting it cascade down around her shoulders, and hung the pendant back around her neck. Why had she been so careless not to use the pendant while in public? But there was no point activating the enchantment on it now, he'd already seen her elven form.

She had started to desensitize herself from the stares of humans with the public relations work she'd been doing in Tryl for the Council since the Pockets had been exposed, but it was still tiring. Most of them didn't point any more, at least. Though a few of them had asked to touch her ears.

As she replaced her belt back over the tunic, she took in a breath, staring out over the sparkling cityscape of Gloomsburg. It made her pause to remember how she had felt the first time she had seen a Trylian city all lit up at night. There was a sense of wonder and curiosity she had felt then, not only for the technology, but about the people who lived there. 

Looking over the city lights, she found herself suddenly nodding in a newfound resolve. She had lost herself in the last few months. She was going to choose to look at things with new eyes and chase that sense of wonder again. Starting now.

She cleared her throat and turned around in Davin's direction, finding him once again trying very hard to not look like he was watching her. 

“One more thing?” she asked, smiling in his direction. 

Davin nodded, returning to her without hesitation. When he neared her, she held out her hand. He looked at it, looked up at her, and blinked. 

“This is where you take my hand and help me down. Do you do that for ladies here in Tryl?”

He shook his head, realization hitting him. “Oh, I’m sorry,” he said, taking her hand. “Of course.”

Aiani stepped down next to him, a breeze ruffling her tunic and hair as she did. Their eyes met as she came down to his level. He was staring again– his jaw even slacked for a moment until he became aware of it, closing his mouth again abruptly. But his stare was not like the eyes of the cynical journalists she'd interviewed with, greedy for novelty. Or the politician's eyes, shifting back and forth from fear to opportunity. 

If she didn't know better, she might have thought his stare was something close to… wonder? Were there humans on Tryl capable of such a thing?

She realized that he was still holding her hand, and that he had practically stopped breathing. She tugged at her hand, and he blinked again, releasing it. He turned his head, cheeks reddened. Was he actually nervous around her?

__________

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[friendlylocalwhumper]

Wavy hair dangling and tickling their cheeks, brown eyes wide, freckles stark against paling cheeks, Quinn struggles to take in the sight before them. One hundred and twenty stories up in a massive tower in the city, the firm grip of a furious businessman at the back of their neck to pin them bent over the guardrail on this rooftop. If they fell from this height… well, they need to make sure they don’t fall.

[batkidd]

[ starter for @arkhambird ]

Up on a rooftop, Kira would overlook the city streets, watching out for any sighting of Batman. She'd notice a fight going on in one of the alleyways, a group of henchmen overwhelming what seemed to be Red Hood...

THE Red Hood? Kira wondered. Interesting,

She'd climb down from the rooftop, hanging on one of the guardrails above the scene, wanting to watch the fight closer. She had never really seen Red Hood this close before, there had been a level of caution Kira had when it came to observing him -- especially since he had no reservations to using guns during combat.

She continued to watch despite this, sounds of grunting and yelling filled the alleyway along with gunfire.

Then suddenly,

SLAM!

A larger man would dash through the alleyway, another henchman to assist the group, would slam himself into Red Hood, sending him into the wall.

Kira would widen her eyes at this, it caught both her and Red Hood off guard - he had no time to recover from the slam, which allowed the other henchmen to overwhelm him.

It would take a minute or so for Kira to come to the conclusion that she should help him, in the back of her mind she thought that this could allow her to get some information on The Red Hood, and possibly bring her closer to Batman.

She'd take the chance.

Throwing down a home-made smoke-bomb laced with shrapnel, it would cause a distraction that would disorient the henchmen, allowing for Kira to swoop in using her grappling hook, grabbing onto the injured Red Hood with as much strength she had, then escaping back to her base.

Dragging his unconscious body down the steps to her basement that acted as a scuffed medical bay decorated in posters of Batman (as was the other rooms in the dilapidated building), she would strap him onto a stolen dental chair, making sure the belts and cuffs would be tight enough so he wouldn't escape; she had questions for him.

She wouldn't forget to disarm him as well, his weapons would be placed on a table that was far away enough he wouldn't be able to sneakily grab.

".. And just in case," she would unload the guns, removing the magazines, "Wouldn't want him to shoot up my humble abode." She scoffed, walking back to the unconscious Red Hood's side.

Kira let out a sigh, "Now, time to wake you up."

She'd send a slap onto Red Hood's face here, in an attempt to wake him up.

[majormeilani]

got to thinking about fallen stars au again and.

and maybe one night, mu is on the rooftop of the studio, looking out at the sky, her arms resting underneath her chin as she leans on the guardrail. grooves was looking for her but finds her there and she looks so focused on the sky but is able to sense him there. grooves doesn't interrupt her and looks up too. as they're watching the sky, a meteor shoots across it and mu does a dull laugh at it. she doesn't turn to face grooves as she speaks.

she says "y'know.... i once thought those were shooting stars... real stars..." with no innocence in her voice anymore.

".... but they're just meteors. just... junk... falling from the sky..."

and grooves says somberly, his hands together "i know. i used to wish on them too."

mu responds rather soft, her voice cracking as she speaks,

"they're not even real stars... we wasted wishes on them..."

and mu turns and looks at him, her hands still resting under her head and says in a crestfallen manner:

"guess that's why none of 'em ever came true, huh...?"

[water-pokemon-appreciator]

♘ - a memory of their sibling(s)

Sidon is about 12-13 in this memory. He's sitting on a rooftop of an abandoned building with Greninja. They talk for hours, having hilarious conversations.

At some point, some officer or something catches them breaking and entering

Sidon puts on his best pleading face and begs the officer that they'll never do anything like this ever again! While the officer is distracted, sidon manages to pickpocket his handcuffs and sneakily handcuffs the officer to a guardrail.

Sidon then books it with Greninja, laughing the entire time