#Ship's Deck Sta

[loggiepj]

To Love A Lannister

chapter 13 | chapter 14

"We'll arrive at Sunspear in a week's time," Oberyn announced, approaching you leaning against the railing on the quarterdeck, facing the vast ocean ahead.

Darkness had started to loom around the ship, waves almost as black as a squid's ink. The sun was almost a quarter visible as it was being consumed by the horizon, obliterating any light. The only thing shining across the distance was the red patch of sky encircling the edges of the sun. If it weren't for the torches surrounding the deck, you wouldn't be able to see the Dornishman standing beside you. "How do you feel about that? A lot has changed since we left home."

"Indeed," you said. "I thought I'd look forward to my warm bed and the fresh air of Dorne back home. Now, it seems like I'm terrified setting foot on some land I thought was my birthplace."

"You don't have to be," he assured you. "You're not alone, you know. And your sister is the Queen—"

"She doesn't even know who I am, does she?" You turned to look at him.

Oberyn shrugged. "She will. In time."

You sighed, avoiding his gaze. The sky had turned blood orange. "And I . . . I don't think I'm worthy to be a Targaryen as much as I'm a Martell."

"Don't be so hard on yourself-"

"I'm a bastard, if any, I'm just good at being a bastard. That's all I'll ever be. You know, I think I probably prefer being a bastard, with no one expecting me of anything—"

"The blood of Rhaella Targaryen runs through your veins," Oberyn interjected. "You don't know yet of its importance but you will in time."

"I—" You immediately stopped talking upon seeing Cersei walk around the deck, with a handmaiden following behind her, her eyes on the horizon beyond, witnessing what little of the sun left before it was devoured by the ocean.

"Because of her, right? You've grown fond of her," Oberyn said, sighing. "You're even wearing her damn necklace."

As if she knew you were looking, Cersei turned towards the quarterdeck, her eyes meeting yours in a tensed gaze. Your hand grabbed against the wooden railing a bit too hard. Oberyn was far from wrong. It was because of the Lannister woman.

This was all too easy and perfect if you were just you — a bastard from the Martell house. You would serve Cersei, even if your family would despise you. But sometimes, people fall in love with someone they can't have.

You missed the Queen Mother terribly, her striking green eyes piercing right through yours, observing what you two could possibly be talking about for making you frown that bad.

All you wanted to do at that moment was hold her, and tell her that you still wish to marry her if she also felt the same about you.

"I . . . I do," you confessed softly, avoiding Cersei's eyes. "She's . . . She's my weakness."

"It will pass, Y/n."

You then turned to glare at Oberyn. "What's that supposed to mean? When you fell in love with Ellaria, did it pass too?"

"That's different, Y/n. You think Cersei will feel the same about you if she only knew?" Oberyn scoffed. "The Lannisters were one of the houses that ended the line of Targaryens. They even paid mercenaries to assassinate Queen Daenaerys herself and she's in another continent. If Cersei knew you were Daenaerys' sister, bastard or not, she'd kill you herself. Did you forget what they did to Robert's bastards?"

Cersei had now walked towards the stern, staring into the darkness ahead. Her golden hair billowing against the wind was the only brightest thing in that ship.

"All I'm saying is," Oberyn went on. "You ought to be careful. End it while it's still early. Cersei is a woman of ruthless nature. She wouldn't see you through."

Oberyn then placed a hand on your shoulder before he left.

You sighed, right hand curling into a fist on your side, mind fighting between leaving and heading towards the woman down below. Yet, the heart wanted what it wants as you began to climb down the stairs leading to the stern.

"You said you'd always want to have your own ship one day," you started, approaching Cersei, her perfume infiltrating your nostrils. The wind gently blew the Queen's hair against all directions, and it was such a wonderful sight.

Cersei raised a hand towards the handmaiden, making the latter bow before leaving you both alone.

"You remember," she replied, her eyes still on the dark horizon.

"Of course." You smiled, walking closer. "How could I not? Did it meet your expectations then, Your Grace?"

"It's not my first time riding a ship, although a lot has changed. The waves are somewhat smaller than I remember years ago. And the sunset has never been that red before."

You were now standing side by side with the Lioness, your hand on the railing, at least an inch away from where Cersei's hand was.

"It hasn't for a long time. People in Dorne believe that red skies are often associated with warnings or change. That whenever a sky is as red as blood, any decision you put forth on that day should be carefully done, unless you don't regard any bad omen coming your way."

She chuckled softly. "And what do you say to these beliefs?"

Cersei turned her head to look at you, expecting your reply, a glint in her eye.

Your eyes never left hers, travelling from her mouth back to her eyes. "I . . . I just think that it's such a beautiful occurrence to see. And I don't care about the consequences."

Cersei stopped smiling, understanding you weren't talking about any Dornish myths or beliefs anymore. Both of your fingers were barely brushing, distance diminishing each second. It would seem apparent that you two were leaning forward to each other.

Until Ellaria coughed behind you, stopping you both. "Supper is ready."

~~~

Being a Martell, you thought travelling by water would have made you immune against seasickness, but maybe it was the remnants of The Mountain's strength that had weaken you.

The trip to Dorne would take almost a week, and it only took three days before you started feeling nauseated. Going back and forth to the head just to eradicate the upset churning in your stomach had drained your energy. Ellaria had took mercy, bringing you a bucket to use beside you.

Cersei's presence was the only thing that made it bearable. You would join her at the dining cabin at night time, talking for hours that even Oberyn had almost fallen asleep on the table.

On the fifth night, you had excused yourself from dinner and surrendered to the confines of your cabin. Maybe it was the way the ship was swaying against the huge tides from the forecasted storm or the stale food you ate during breakfast. Either way, you had secluded yourself to recover.

The Queen Mother was having none of it though, knocking against your door some time later that night and bringing you a steaming hot bowl of soup.

"It's Venison," Cersei said, as she sat on the side of your bed. "I had our cook made it. Hot liquids can help calm an upset stomach. Tommen would always have them when he's sick."

"Thank you, Your Grace," you replied, straightening yourself as you leaned your back against the headboard of your bed. "You shouldn't have troubled yourself."

But instead of giving you the bowl, she insisted to feed you with a spoonful, leaning closer to you. With cheeks flushed from the act of endearment, you let the woman coddle you.

"You never come to me as someone who gets sick travelling by sea," she teased, a smile on her face.

"Well, I normally don't," you argued, making the Queen laugh.

"Quit being cocky and let yourself be taken care of."

One of the Dornish servants suddenly barged through the door, eyes wide upon seeing you not alone. There was a crate of supplies for your wound on her arms.

"Leave it," Cersei ordered, making the servant drop the crate unto a table nearby.

After you have finished the bowl, Cersei brought her hands to the hem of your tunic, attempting to pull it off you. Heart skipping a beat when you felt her fingers brush against your skin, you immediately stopped her, wrapping your hand around her wrist. "What are you doing?"

The Lannister woman smirked as she stood and walked away instead, taking the crate of supplies from the doorway. "I'm changing the dressing of your wound."

After a few moments of hesitation, you finally let Cersei get rid of your tunic. Her eyes softened upon the sight of her necklace's golden lion pendant on your chest and the bruised skin, now had gone purple close to healing.

She then began delicately cleaning the wound on your chest, her thumb purposefully brushing your nipple, every touch bringing you shivers. You swallowed, cheeks red as you attempted to move away from her.

"Stop moving," Cersei said, giggling.

"Stop teasing me then," you countered back.

After she had managed to change your dressing, you noticed a tent growing under your breeches. Everything seemed to freeze at that moment as you quickly took one of your pillows to hide it when Cersei was looking away.

Yet, there was nothing the Queen could miss as her curious eyes began wondering why there was a pillow on your lap. She sat back on the side of your bed, leaning forward and closer to your body.

Her sultry voice near your face made you harder than you were before, your cock straining painfully from the weight of the pillow. "Do you also need help with something else, My Lady?"

"Your Grace, I don't think—"

"Stop thinking," she whispered into your ear, her hand slipping inside your breeches and stroking your hardening cock. "Just breathe, Y/n. Let yourself go. Take pleasure in my hand."

Letting out an embarrassingly loud groan, you threw your head back against the headboard, eyes rolling deep into the back, hands clutching against the sheets on both sides.

Cersei's eyes darted towards your cock when she managed to pull it out from your breeches, twitching against her touch. It had never looked this painfully hard before, you thought you wouldn't last a second longer.

"You have a pretty cock, you know," she cooed, her lips nipping the skin on your jaw and neck. Her hand moved expertly, squeezing you tight as if milking you, and she did manage, her thumb tracing over the small cum leaking from your head then spreading it on your entire length.

"Cersei. . ."

The sound of your whimpers made Cersei turn to stare at you, observing your every reaction, with your eyes shut close and mouth agape. "You looked so prettier under my control."

"Cersei, I'm close. . ."

"Good," she said.

You opened your eyes to see what she meant, but what you saw only made you lose it. The Queen took the entire length of your cock into her mouth, bobbing her head up and down in a fast pace. The sight itself, the wetness and warmth from her mouth and the moan she let out when she took you made you explode right into her.

And she took it all, swallowing everything there was to milk. You cursed profanities into the silent night, grunting your release, releasing a lot more when she took you deeper.

It seemed like eternity when you had finally come down from your high, watching Cersei clean your shaft before licking the side of her lips from any residue. She then tucked your cock back into your breeches and leaned forward back to you.

"I would have hated wasting a single drop," she finished with a smug smile on her face.

I truly appreciate your continued support in reading my stories. You can help me create more stories by supporting my writing thru this link. Thank you so much ❤🥰

[spacebaby1]

Okay hear me out. OK so yn and Ace been best friends in their childhood (sweethearts). But when yn set out to see she got into a fight and loses her memories. So later on yn joins whitebeard crew and she doesn't recognize Ace at all. Just imaging his sad face 😞. So he tries to get yn to remember him.

I could write a whole series of this! Enjoy!

The last thing you remembered was falling in the deep ocean as everything went black.

Blinking awake, you tried to figure out where were you, it was a ship indeed, but who's ship?

The door opened, letting the sunlight in, which made you groan in annoyance as you tried to shut your eyes. "Ah, you are awake. How are you feeling?" A man in glasses asked, placing down water glass. "Where i'm I?" He helped you sit. "On the whitebeard ship, do you remember what happened to you?"

With a groan, you held your head, trying to remember, "I-I don't remember anything, who I'm I?" You asked, looking at him. He was taken aback by your question, "You don't remember anything?"

You shook your head, not able to remember anything at all, not even your name. A meeting was held and you sat in front of "pops" as he spoke about how you were welcome to stay if you'd want to because he saw great potential in you and you're also welcome to leave if you feel uncomfortable being around pirates but not a minute you felt uncomfortable. "If it's not a trouble, then I'd wanna stay until I find out who I'm I?" You asked. And he smiled, "Absolutely."

Everyone treated you like you were their little sister since you were the only girl and the youngest of them all. You had figured out that you were great with drawing maps and sometimes would have vivid dreams about faceless boy saying something or calling you certain name but it always went unheard and you'd always wake up in the middle of the night. They all named you, "Aya!" Because everytime you'd get annoyed or messed something up, you'd say, "Ayy!" In an annoyed tone. It was fine since you didn't even remember your own name; there were nights you'd stay awake thinking about what your name was? Do you have a family? Is there somewhere someone out there looking for you?.

It was just another day for you on the ship when Marco had asked you if you'd like to join the others on the deck since they were playing ""fight"" with the new member. You groaned, then shook your head, "I'm reading this book." It wasn't strange for pops to suddenly find another crewmate out of nowhere. You could hear them cheering outside, but it wasn't anything new.

After a few hours, you decided to go back to completing the sketch of the ship, putting your goggles on, and you picked your parchment papers and pens. You saw them on lower deck playing fight with the rest of the crew gathered around in a circle. Not minding them, you started to work on your drawing. When you were halfway done, you saw the crew disturbed as they took a break, so you went on drawing the side of the ship. "Another sketch?" Marco ruffled your hair as he walked past you, making you nod, not taking your eyes off your drawing. You heard a new voice talking and turned to find a dark haird guy talking with one of your crewmates. All you saw was his back, so yoy shrugged and turned back to continue drawing.

The guys behind you didn't see you, so they accidentally bumped into you, causing your things to drop from your hand. "Oh, no. I'm so sorry I didn't see you there - " Ace immediately got down to gather your papers, and his head dropped when he looked up as you were still gathering the pen of the deck. You smiled, "it's okay. I shouldn't have just sta -" You didn't get to finish talking when he dropped the papers and wrapped his arms around you, taking you by surprise. Everyone on the deck was looking at Ace and you now. You blinked in surprise and immediately pushed him away with a yelp. "What are you doing?" You screamed at him, Ace reached for you, but you were quick to get up as Marco reached you two before grabbing Ace, stopping him from approaching you, "what are you doing, man?" Marco asked before turning to you, "Aya, are you okay?" Nodding, you gathered you things and turned to leave when Ace called out, "Aya? No! Y/n! Wait!" You stopped at the name. It sounded exactly like the name you heard in your dreams, but you just stood there clutching your things closer as you looked at Ace with a confused look.

"Stop it man, you are scaring the gi-"

"No! That's my girl, that's my Y/n! Y/n, it's me!" Everyone was looking at you now, Marco turned to look at you as you shrugged, not knowing what to say. "Y/n?" You asked, and Ace nodded. Marco turned to talk to Ace, "Don't approach the girl like that. Stay here." Ace didn't listen, but he only walked a few feet in front of you, his eyes begging you to recognise him as he reached his hands for you, but you only stepped back, and he immediately stopped. "Y/n, please, it's me. Don't you remember me?" You shook your head, making Ace's lips quivered. "I'm sorry." Was all you said before rushing away to your room and shutting the door.

You didn't leave the room and fell asleep before being awakened by the nightmares in the middle of the night. After calming down, you went outside for fresh air but stopped on top of the stairs when you saw Ace standing alone looking at the night waves. You were about to get back to your room, but something in you told you to talk to him. If he was lying about knowing you, then why would he be so desperate for you to recognise him. Slowly approaching him, you stood a few steps away, hugging yourself. You cleared your throat, and he turned immediately, gasping, holding his steps from reaching you, but the look in his eyes was yarning for you to approach him. "I uh, I don't really know what to say actually," you spoke honestly, "can we sit down? Want me to make you tea? Coffee? I drink tea when I can't sleep. I wanna talk." He just nodded, following you to the kitchen. He stood by the fridge watching you make the tea, "Don't stare like that." He chuckled, feeling embarrassed, "I missed you, I-I I'll sit down there." He took one of the seats on the table, and you placed the tea cup in front of him before grabbing one for yourself. You reached for the sugar, but he pulled the small jar away, and you looked at him, "suger makes you cough. You don't - "

"How did you know?" You blinked at him. You didn't tell anyone that, but it was true. However, you'd still sometimes eat it. Ace didn't know what to do because he was on the verge of tears, "I know, of course I know. I know a lot about you. We grew up together. I lo -" He stopped talking and looked at his feet, not trying to overwhelm you. But you needed to know, taking the seat beside him you pulled it closer till your knees were almost touching, "I don't remember what happened, I woke up on this ship one day with injuries and barley remember who I'm I. Marco said it's probably because I hit my head or something that caused my memory loss. Please don't lie to me, if you know me please tell me who I'm I?"

He smiled and nodded frantically, "I-I we lived in the same village, foosha village. It's a very small village and there wasn't much but me, you, Sabo and Luffy were always running around to find things to do."

"Sabo? Luffy?" You asked. "Yes! Luffy, uh, how do I describe him he was a handful and really loved being around you. He was a little mouse," he laughed, making you smile. "And Sabo?" You asked as you saw his smile drop slowly, "he was a good friend, my brother. Very smart, ambitious, and always taking your side. He's not with us anymore. You cried for days when he passed." You gasped, "I'm so sorry, I wish I could remember him. Tell me more, please." Ace smiled a little, "well, I can lie and say that you liked me the most as kids, but I was always head over heels for you." Your cheeks burned as you chuckled nervously so did he as he continued, "I well- what I mean is that we've liked each other a lot like we uh what I want to say is th-"

"That you're my boyfriend?" You asked even though you were dying of embarrassment, but he nodded, ear and cheeks bright pink. "Oh," was all you said before both of you just sat in awkward silence, not knowing what to say. Your heart was beating so fast and loud that you were sure Ace could hear it. "If you still think I'm lying about it all then I know something else, if I'm lying then I won't know that you have a birthmark in the shape of heart on your right side." You shook your head forwarding your right arm, "I don't have any birthmark, see?" He blinked before pointing at your stomach. You both blinked at each other, and once again, you could feel your face burning before you asked, "o-on my stoma-HOW DID YOU KNOW THAT? I DO -" You sat down, looking at your hands resting on your lap. "I know because I just know. I'm your boyfriend." He whispered the last part."It could be a lucky guess, " you whispered.

He shook his head, "You have two moles together on your inner t-"

"ACE!" You said and gasped, slapping your mouth with your hands and wide eyes as he looked at you concerned, "Ace?" He blinked, waiting for you to speak. Then it hit him. All this time, he didn't tell you his name, nor did anyone else.

"Ace?" Your lips quivered.

"Y-yes, beautiful."

"ACE! OH ACE" You jumped in his arms as he held you tight, "Ace, Ace. Mine, Ace." He chuckled with tears filled eyes holding you tight. "Ace, it's you. Ace, I remember, A-Ace."

"Don't stop saying my name, please." He held your head with one hand and squeezed you closer with the other as you kept mumbling his name, afraid that you might forget everything if you stopped. Suddenly everything came back like a wave, You remembered it all.

"Ace,"

"My heart"

"Ace"

"My beautiful beautiful girl"

"Ace, I love you."

"I love you more than anything in this world."

[heartpiratedrabbles]

Buggy's love

Prompt: Buggy has given you more and more freedom until one night he forgets to lock you up.

Buggy X Reader

You weren’t sure how long you had been on this ship, the last time you had been on land. You were sure that at some point the crew had docked, the ship got quiet at times, much less rocking than normal. But you weren’t allowed to the deck. With the clown captain taking particular interest in you, you were kept close to his quarters, barely venturing further than the kitchen or his office.

         Most of the time chains kept you to the confines of the captains’ rooms, long enough to reach anything you could need but short enough to not be able to get anything to escape. At one point the shackles had allowed you access of the entire room, but one daring attempt of breaking them had been reprimanded with a punishment and a shorter chain.

The silent anger he showed when he had come to find you wondering his room, looking for a way to escape the room after breaking the chains. Binding your wrists together behind you and blindfolding you for hours positioned in a way that you could only kneel comfortably, not letting you feel any sort of comfort, always on edge.

         He made it very clear he wouldn’t sleep with you until you asked, yet there were times when you wished he would cross the line, make it easier to hate him over the gentle caresses that made your mind dizzy. His words filling your mind before disappearing for god knows how long, the silence and lack of sight driving you insane before you’d feel a ghost of a brush against your thigh to make you aware you weren’t alone. You didn’t think the punishment would rock your mind when it began, but the longer you were deprived of anything, the more you craved the sweet touches you had groan use to at night. The gentle massages and cuddles being heaven compared to wondering if you were going insane or if someone was actually watching you suffer.

         The topping on the cake was when you had woken up, still in the same position, and thrashed a bit, crying at the lack of anything before you heard the broken words from the man you shared the room with. “It hurts me doll, to see you like this,” The soft whispers sending your head whipping in the direction of the noise until you started begging him to touch you, to hug you, anything, that you promised to be good as long as you could feel him, and he’d always comply.

         Every punishment came praise and sweet kisses to your temple, gentle rubs on anywhere that ached. Buggy would often spend the next day with you, ignoring work to make sure you were alright. And you were more than happy to have to company, the comfort of someone.

         Every now and then you were permitted to roam with someone watching you, and with good behavior you had convinced Buggy to allow you to roam with at least the illusion of privacy. IE whoever was in charge of you at the time would keep their distance but still had you within their sights. It had taken some questionable tactics.

         “Buggy, please?” You ask, your legs straddling him, your arms wrapped around his neck. “I promise I’ll be good,” You whispered into his ear, before nibling his earlobe, trailing your lips down his jawline before finding their way to his lips, “Isn’t it a hassle to have to dismiss them when I’m with you? Why not have them far enough that it wouldn’t matter?”

         The clown had his hands on your hips and was trying to ignore your behavior, but he was turning to putty quicker than he could think. Agreeing as long as you remembered the rules of your new found freedom. You could tell he truly did care for you in his own weird way.

~~~

         The memories flowed through you as you rested your chin on your hand, “Hey babe?” you soft whisper as you glanced over at the pirate captain who had somehow convinced you to love him. Sure, the beginning of the relationship was rocky, with all the confinement, but he did keep his word, and clearly stated things that had to be followed. Not a single time had he lied to you, nor did he ever mistreat you in the confines of his rules.

         Buggy was snoring in bed, still in his clothes for the day. You perked up at this, it wasn’t a normal occurrence that he’d pass out so quickly, much less before making sure the door was locked and your anklet was on. He trusted you, but he had admitted to trust issues himself, so it would remain at night when he couldn’t watch you.

         Yet here you were, door unlocked and no chain connecting you to this room, no warden keeping you in place either. Your heart beat faster looking around, this certainly wasn’t normal. You walk over to his sleeping body, his face paint starting to get on the pillow underneath him before you grabbed a damp clothes to get most of it off him.

         You learned a while ago, when Buggy started trusting you with more freedom, that he loved to be taken care of. And something in your heart made you want too, his praises of how good you were made you tick happily in your daily life, and seeing him sleep softly was a sight for sore eyes, a vulnerability few if any saw.

         You look around for a second after getting most of his makeup off. The bags under his eyes revealing just how tired he truly was, you whisper his name to see if he’d wake up to no avail. Eyeing the door before taking the steps out of the room.

~~~

         Buggy woke up with a loud snore, startling himself into an up right position. He didn’t remember when he fell asleep but by the looks of it, it hadn’t been too long. Glancing around the room to find his doll his heart stopped realizing it was empty. He immediately stood, running to the bathroom door in the corner to see if you were just out of view.

         His anxiousness rotating from fear to anger and back to fear as he thinks of all the possibilities. Ripping the door to the hallway open and running towards the stairwell. Cursing himself for not locking the door, for falling asleep, for not keeping you locked up as he took the stairs two at a time.

         If he finds you. No, when he finds you, he’ll make it clear just who is really in charge here. He must have given you too much freedom to quickly, you must have pulled some stupid trick. He was to trusting of you, fell to easily for your weak promises and sweet words to listen.

         It wasn’t too long; you can’t have gotten far. If he was lucky, you were probably still stumbling on deck looking for a way to escape. It’s a place he had never allowed you to explore. The thought eased his mind slightly as he rounded the corner, nearly running into someone.

         “I’m sorry, I wasn’t looking where I was going,” Your soft words gripped him as he finally looked down to see you, holding a trey of snacks and two drinks. “Buggy? What’s wrong? Why are you in such a hurry?” Your questions hitting him like a brick wall as he finally breathes out again.

         “Doll, where’d you go?” He whimpered out slightly, grabbing either of your arms as brought his head closer to yours to make sure it was really you. Your doe-like eyes staring right back up to him, without a single realization of what you had done to him, without realizing what you could have done, a hand floating to your cheek.

         “I was grabbing us something to eat, you seemed more tired than normal and I didn’t want to wake you.” Your words like honey as you lean into his touch, “Was I gone for too long? I’m sorry…”

         Buggy seemed to relax at the sight before him, his sweet little doll coming to get him snacks. It was more than his heart could take while your head rested in his hand, a gentle gaze towards him. “Just had a nightmare darling, nothing for you to worry about,” He hummed while grabbing the trey from your hand, “Lets head back yea?” You nodded in agreement, trailing in front of him until you reached your shared room once again. He supposed maybe he could allow you to roam around a bit more if it made you happy.

[aylinvail]

How do you come home to a place that no longer exists?

I got lost in the sauce of Heinrix nostalgia and ended up worldbuilding a whole planet.

The moment Heinrix stepped on Dargonus, he had been struck by a sense of nostalgia so powerful it would have brought a lesser man to tears. 

Okay, apparently someone does wonder what's going through my head with this fic. For me and for them, here we go.

From Talavera, With Love is momma's most self-indulgent fic yet. And I have Heinrix's Starseeker longfic nostalgia to thank for it. What does it mean to want to go home to a place that you can never go back to? Not just physically, but the idea that that home may have changed and is no longer your home because that home exists in the past. A.k.a the diaspora whiplash of reverse culture shock and Nick Joaquin's lamentations in the Woman with Two Navels.

Sometime between June - August, I got completely overtaken by Noli Me Tangere and El Filibusterismo brainworms while obsessively playing and taking screenshots of WH 40k Rogue Trader. In Noli Me Tangere, a young man returns from Europe only to discover that his father is dead after his political enemies conspire to imprison him for challenging the abuses of Dominican friars (Hello Rogue Trader surprise ascension, hello Kunrad oust plot, hello Ecclesiarchy drama with Incendia Chorda) and he spends the entirety of the novel trying to do an Iconoclast playthrough in a game that demands he play Dogmatic. In the end, he is labeled a heretic and has to escape. Fast forward to El Filibusterismo, the opening chapter is on a fucking ship that is used to show the division between the Upper Decks (Upper class society) and the Lower Decks (Voidborn, hello!).

Which is how ya girl ended up here.

The Love Letters to the Philippines

The Maw and the Embocadero: The Maw is equated with the Strait of San Bernardino, one of the most treacherous passages of the Manila-Acapulco galleon route.

Folk Catholicism and variances on the Imperial Cult: Calligos Winterscale's lucky charm, the Talaveran (Guisorn III) cult to Sta. Rosalina de la Soledad who is associated with sea-faring because of Nuestra Señora de la Soledad de Porta Vaga, the Lady of the Manila-Acapulco galleon trade who is the patroness of Cavite, a region that used to be a Spanish military base and the shipyard that produced most of the galleons for this route.

The cult of St. Drusus v. Sta. Rosalina: The age old rivalry between the Dominicans and Jesuits in Manila. The conflict between local "Filipino" priests (at a time when Filipino really meant insulare, a Spaniard born in the colonies. Rana and Heinrix, if we want a real 1:1, would count as insulare) and peninsular priests after the opening of the Suez Canal. More below.

Geography: The high sierras of Talavera are a nod to the Alhambra (This city is a bride whose husband is the hill), The Sierra Madre of Mexico, and the Sierra Madre of Luzon, the island home to the Tagalogs. A lot of the place names in FTWL's Dargonus are chosen based on whether they exist in Spain, Mexico, and the Philippines.

The Temerian phoenix: Initially a silly reference to Ibong Adarna's mystical bird of Piedras Platas. By chapter 8, equated with Calligos Winterscale. A wild beautiful bird that is forced to become a feral beast for bloodsports. Also, just the irony in cockfighting being one of the surviving pieces of native cultures in a lot of colonized places even though it's a sport that kills.

A Mixed Bag

What does it mean to be one of ours?: Tagalogs keep it simple. If you are born there and raised there, you're one of theirs. If you assimilate fully, you can belong too. Rana genuinely thinks Kunrad should be Rogue Trader, despite him stepping away because of the Life Changing Commorragh and Epitaph fieldtrip, because he is Dargonus native born and raised and she writes Abelard off for the same reason. None of the conflicts in FTWL are linked to race (that's for the Drukhari and Aeldari), but to cultural assimilation. Nick Joaquin's Question of Heroes is a window to a point in time when being part of a people moved from "we look like each other" to "we share the same culture". A lot of Filipino ethnic groups apply this logic quite consistently. When in Rome, do as the Romans do and if you do not do as the Romans do, do not call yourself a Roman. Gaining your local "punto"/accent is a "Wow, you finally assimilated!" between the many Tagalog regions, just to name an example. Tagalogs can also be... quite xenophobic for the same reasons. The whole "Sandara Park is more Filipino than Vanessa Hudgens" national agreement after the latter was made a tourism ambassador.

The Hate Comments for the Philippines

Language: Talavera as a rediscovered Imperial world develops its own language. Heinrix's derogatory attitude to Dargonian creole (brought over by the first Lady von Valancius) is a nod to Filipino native hispanophone attitudes towards the Ermitense, Caviteno, and Zamboangueno creoles.

Calligos' sideye at Dargonian culture: Calligos is a native of the Koronus Expanse and so is Incendia... but so are the natives of the von Valancius protectorate. That said, they have a varyingly hostile relationship with Dargonus, a nod to how "indigenous" in the Philippines doesn't mean "native", it means you come from a culture that has never been Catholicized or hispanized.

Rana's side eye at Incendia's insistence on adopting a more familiar and widespread cult and culture: "When Manila sneezes, the Philippines catches cold." or so Joaquin writes. Rana's resistance to Incendia is a combination of personal trauma and a mash-up of the rest of the Philippines' resentment of "Imperial Manila" (The Tagalog, catholic, hispanized culturally and politically centered ethnic group), the complicated relationship between Folk Catholicism and the Vatican.

The Dinner Party: Incendia argues that Sta. Rosalina's cult and Dargonian culture are too foreign and not well-known to subjects outside of Dargonus. Rana argues that St. Drusus and Calixian culture (Incendia's camp) are just as foreign to the Koronus Expanse as she is. A nod to the demonization of hispanic creole cultures in the Philippines in the wake of 70s... after the Philippines wholeheartedly embraced Americanization. This isn't even about colonization, this is about loss of identity. There are a ton of unused "Filipino" words that came out of the nationalist movements of the late 1900s that were meant to replace loan words that were naturally adopted into local languages. The removal of Spanish from the curriculum while English is retained. The portrayals of colonization in history books as "bad colonizer and good colonizer" (as if there is such a thing LMAO) by comparing Spain to America, with the argument that the former was far far worse and could never be "ours". Never mind, of course, that after 300 years of colonization and the Filipino panuelo birthing the Manton de Manila (a Chinese creation based on the former and spread world-wide through the galleon routes coming out of Manila), the creolized cultures of the Philippines are a conversation between native culture and Spanish/Mexican culture, or that a lot of the Virgins of the Philippines absorbed ancient worship practices for older gods, or that the friars --- so often the villains of this story --- are responsible for the preservation of the Baybayin script and local languages (Why does the Philippines not speak Spanish? Aside from resistance to Old World disease, the friars who were wary of Muslim influence creeping up from the south in Mindanao just LEARNED the local languages and went crazy because that's what happens when you're fresh out of the Reconquista and your new colony, which is litered with sultanates, is discovered in the mid 1500s).

So, how do you come home to a place that no longer exists? FTWL Heinrix refuses to embrace change much like the "nationalists" who insist on creating an exoticized orientalism lite pastiche of Filipino cultures (much to the annoyance of actual IPs), clinging to a vision of distant Talavera (Guisorn III) that only exists for him. He mourns it while Rana celebrates a rebirth of it on Dargonus where Talaveran culture has creolized with the local Koronus Expanse culture. For Calligos, who has never had a real home or family, coming home is adopting a home and he embraces the cultures of the Rykad system in their entirety.

[fanartlover1234]

SPACER APOCALYPSE

Y/n a ruthless thief, raised by Silvers pirate crew.

Jim an Intersollar academy graduate and spacer.

Childhood friends split in enemies.

3 years old:

Sarah placed her hands at her hips when she heard the voices in Jims room, how the younh boy laughed and the girl giggled.

"James Hawkins" Sarah said as she opened the door looking at the two kids, both putting on their best puppy dog eyes.

Jim laughed bit when his mother lifted him in her arma before the woman turned to Y/n.

The little girls young doe eyes looked at her, her greyish eyes being amazed when the book of pirate storys opened once again.

The kids played before Sarah led the young her back to her room and tucking her in.

"Do you think pirates are real?" She asked while the woman turned her night light on.

"I think, everything is possible if you believe it strong enough" Sarah said before closing the door.

22 years later:

And boy did the girl believe, as one of the most feared pirates in galaxy, her crew quite large but she only trusted few people and her black ship with the old sails drew attention and fear in any dock.

When Jims father left, he draged her with and soon she was on her own untill Jhon Silver found her and raised her.

She had seen Jim at the search for treasure planet but refused to get on the ship.

Of course she felt bad for never returning or even writing a letter to note she was okey but she had a life, a reputation.

So when the pirate meet was now right behind the overwhelming doors of the Inn she so dreadfuly wished she would have played sick and not come.

The black dress reached above her ankles flattering her greyish blue skin tone and tje blacl boots made of same lether as her belt and pirate hat that sat on her grey hair.

She entered after few bug breaths making her way straight upstairs to the bathroom only to pass her old bedroom on the way.

She moved to the door, a small crack left open the same way it was when she was draged away by the man she barely ever spoke with.

She opened the door steping inside, it was exactly the same as it was when ahe left.

The pink walls and white forniture with all her stuffed animals and as she picked up her pink teddy bear with an eyepatch and a pirate hat that Sarah had made for her she was reminded of the days she tried to be a good pirate the type thay stole for the poor and suported everyone and her gaze fell to the mirror and she closed her eyes shut.

"Hello?" Sarahs voice ringed in her ears as she slowly turned to the woman, the teddy bear in hand "oh Y/n"

The woman didnt waste a second to take the girl in a warm embrace, though in her own eyes Y/n has changed much, her skin covered in scars one marking her collor bone and another her lip but in Sarahs eyes she was still the little girl with doe eyes thay dreamed of pirates and adventures.

"Just wait untill Jim, knows you are-"

"Im not. Im not back its just for tonight" Y/n said looking down before placing the bear back and leaving to her ship.

"Captain, look what we found snooping around the deck" one of the men said beforr steping away to make a clear view for their boss.

"Leave" she ordered the men and all scattered away to the party, she was not sure if it was fear or exitment for party that made them move so quickly but her mind didnt dwell on it too much when she looked at the man tied to her main mast.

He was clearly taller and the usual pony tain was now oddly suiting him as he stared right at her, his blue eyes surely burning holes in her tinted skin.

"What are you doing here" she asked as she untied him.

"Is that anyway to say hi to an old friend" Jim asked as he watched the girl lean on the railing of her boat taking her hat off.

"A friend? You have been making my life a shit hole for past few years with your whole intersollar acadamy graduate bullshit" she sais harsly crossing her arms as he leaned on the main mast his usual smirk still there.

She could have bet he had the same one while he was watching her strugle to start the ship after he messed with wires on it a few months back.

But boy did that smirk had an effect on her.

"Yes cause a friend would have at least sent a note to let people know they are fine"

"Well i thought you guys thought that i- oh whatever just leave" she said trowing her arms up before leaving for her bedroom in captains room earning a chuckle from the man as he followed her stoping her at the steps traping her between his hands.

"No no no, i deserve an apology, i was very worried" he said leaning in but she sliped away fastly before she mumbled something among the lines of an apology her voice nervouse as she tried closing her doors but he went in anyways now backing her slowly up "and another one, cause i was so hurt when i saw you were okey but no note" he pouted his hand flying to his heart in a mocking way before he caught the girls waist when she triped over her own feet.

His forhead touched hers while his free hand was on her neck as he tried to find her eyes.

"Im sorry" she mumbled

"Its okey, i forgive you" he said before kissing the cornor of her mouth and moving to centre but she pulled back.

"This is-"

"Wrong? Yeah i know, it like spacer apocalypse but since when do we care" he said before smashing his lips on her.

His lips.

Her lips.

Apocalypse.

[the-starship-athena]

Hey, guys! Welcome to the Q&A for Star Trek: Athena.

This will be the first of many Q&A’s for STA. I’ve gotten a few questions that I hope will clear up things. Let’s get started!

Q1: What is STA?

It’s pretty much what it says on the box.

In keeping with Star Trek tradition, I’ve named this project Star Trek: Athena. It’ll be following the adventures of the crew of the USS Athena over the course of their three year mission.

Q2: When does STA take place?

So…here’s the thing.

We know that Star Trek has two timeline, TOS (Prime timeline) and AOS (Kelvin timeline.) The relationship between fans and the timelines…well it’s complicated. You either love it or you hate it or you begrudging like both of them. I’ve been fan since I was kid thanks to me discovering Star Trek while bored during the summer and looking for something to watch.

The problem is the story that I wanted to tell didn’t fit into the prime timeline because there is already so much packed in there so I ultimately gave up on it but then when I watched the 2009 Star Trek movie I realise that maybe I could make my story but still keep it Star Trek. 

Thus, the idea for STA was born.

To answer everyone’s question, yes, it takes place in the Kelvin timeline. The story takes place in 2264 immediately after Star Trek Beyond.

Q3: Who is the crew?

Okay, so the crew is different. I kind of wanted a mix of both bridge crew and lower decks crew because I thought maybe it would be more interesting story wise. Star Trek Lower Decks did kind of influence a little bit of it but then so did The Next Generation.

I plan to release a crew profile soon so like you can get a preview of who is who and what their ranks are and what they do on the ship.

I had to do a lot of research both into the prime timeline and the Kelvin timeline about ldifferent ranks and ship classes and positions on the ship. So like I had a consult both memory alpha and beta, which was fun.  

Keep your eyes out in the future because I will post a full post about our new characters - 8 of them in total - and then the minor characters.



Q4: What do you mean by ‘episodes’ being released?

Okay, I think we’re all familiar here with the format of Star Trek so I aimed to do something similar but in a writing form. It’s not a script or a fan made movie or anything like that. Think more on the lines of the novelisation of certain episodes of TOS, kinda like that but in a shorter format.

It’s going to be a three-year mission, so I am dividing this up into three seasons. I have everything already planned out and drafts are written. Each season will most likely have 10 to 12 episodes and I’m thinking of adding like a little short mini episodes probably like in between seasons just know small little stories or maybe like deleted scenes that I didn’t think made the final cut.

The first episode of STA will be posted on April 10. Hopefully there will be no delays but I look forward to everyone reading this because I’m really excited.

Q5: Why did you start this project?

For fun.

I’ve always been a very big fan of Star Trek, ever since I was kid.

It’s the kind thing that shaped me as a person. So it’s natural that I want write something as a tribute towards it

So came up with the idea of here’s my little star starship crew and they go off into space and there’s all these cool adventures but then they also learn these important lessons… i wanted it to be in spirit of the original Star Trek while adapting some of the newer aspects of modern day trek.

But then I was like okay this might be a stretch and I realised, is this just like me day dreaming or is this something I actually wanna do and then I formed the idea of STA.

Then you know they came with the whole hammering out all the details and deciding what I wanted to do and then finally I realised let’s put this in the kelvin timeline because you know there’s a lot of unknown about this timeline so it makes sense to have this crew in this timeline.

I hope I haven’t lost anyone on this but you have question, dont be afraid to DM me.

[laurelsofhighever]

One Last Song

Fandom: Dragon Age: Origins Pairings/Characters: Bryce Cousland/Eleanor Cousland Rating: Mature Warnings: Gore, Violence, Character Death Summary: With her last child fled to escape Howe's attack and her husband dealt a mortal wound, the Seawolf makes her last stand. 

Read on AO3

--

A last glint of light sparked off metal armour as the figure disappeared into the shadows, down the narrow path behind the false wall that led through the passages of the old Alamarri tombs, to a hidden cleft in the rock on the lip of the sea. In the night-time dark, the chance was good that Howe’s men, focused instead on their plunder, on withering Highever’s power at the root, would miss the shape of a lone straggler not worth the sport of a chase.

“Eleanor…”

The Teyrna of Highever straightened at the sound of her name. The midst of battle was no place for softness. Death, she had been taught, was steel-hard, inflexible as stone and as inevitable as the sea. And she had been Death for so many. Drawing in a breath of the stale, brackish air that exuded from the tunnel, she pressed the hidden switch to block it off again, and turned to gather barrels and laden crates, anything that might be shoved against the pantry door to keep it fast against whatever soldiers might come. The sounds of fighting were muffled still, distant, but the gate would not hold for long with enemies on the walls. Still, it offered enough of a breathing space for her to see to the one sharing the room with her. In the moments since she had left him to watch that last trace of hope vanish from sight, Bryce had dragged himself upright to rest against a pile of grain sacks, though the cost of the action shone clear in the new, blue tinge to his lips, the fever-brightness of his eyes as he watched her.

“They’ll be alright, love,” he panted, as she wadded up a spare cloth to staunch the blood pooling around him. “Our children will live – how can they not, when they – when they have such a formidable mother?” He tried to laugh, but the sound escaped only as a wheeze.

“We’ve done what we can for them,” she agreed. “And Howe will regret it.”

For a moment, quiet seeped in around them, with the stench of hot iron rising from the stones and acrid curls of smoke wafting down from the floors above. Their hands pressed together over the wound in Bryce’s side, but though the bleeding slowed, the stain in the surrounding cloth betrayed the futility of the effort.

Unsteady, he raised his fingers to brush her face, to trace the fine bones of her cheek, the wrinkles time had left so lightly at her jaw and the corner of her eye. “You – you should have gone too.”

She caught his hand and held it against her skin. It was already so cold.

“I do not run,” she growled, and stood.

Soot had settled on her armour during the mad dash through the castle; with the first two fingers of her left hand she gathered it, then dragged the digits in unwavering stripes down her face so that one passed over each of her eyes. Her husband’s blood gloved her other hand to the wrist; she took her thumb and drew it first over her knuckles, then just as deliberately smeared the red across her teeth. The taste woke the mettle slumbering in her veins, the old ritual meant to draw down the power of the gods, to make her the calm eye at the centre of the storm.

“To the Lady, for the Lady,” she intoned in Clayne, the language of her people. “My blood and the blood of my enemies this night.”

Her husband’s breath rasped harsher in the stillness as she moved into an archer’s stance before the door. Even after so many years, her feet still expected the phantom sensation of a ship’s deck pitching beneath her feet.

“Did I ever tell you – the moment I fell in love with you?” Bryce asked, as she drew the first of her arrows.

“Tell me.”

“The officers’ moot,” he answered, shallow. “After that disastrous introduction.”

“When you made a tit of yourself. Aye.”  The quiver at her belt only held twelve shafts.

He hummed. “You stalked into that stateroom. Full armour and warpaint – just to teach me a lesson. It was that moment. And every moment after.”

She nocked one arrow, and kept two more held between nimble fingers to follow the first. “You’re lucky I didn’t let you drown.”

Behind her, his usual hearty laugh erupted as a weak, bubbling cough that made her fingers clench on the bow. They had shared the same joke for years now, fondly or with exasperation as the situation required. This would be the last.

Tears clouded the vision. She couldn’t afford them. Above the pulse of her heart, beating in her ears like the wings of some great creature, clashing metal and the shouts of dying soldiers became clearer – closer – as the castle’s last defenders were pushed back from the main door.

“Eleanor…”

“I’m here, mo ghràdh,” she said.

“Are they close?” Another laboured breath. “I can’t see anymore. The torches must have – must have gone out…”

“Bryce?” Her heart clenched in her chest. “Stay with me.”

“We must – draw them down. Thin them.” He coughed. “They should consider it – an honour to die at – at your hands.”

“What do you suggest?” she asked, to keep him talking.

He wheezed again, drunk on blood loss. “A song.”

She almost missed the first notes. In earlier days her husband’s voice had been a rich baritone, fair as a harper’s though not trained to anything more sophisticated than an army’s marching songs, and though now his breath was growing more ragged by the moment, the tune hummed true as it ever had in lullabies over their children’s cradles.

Her eyes closed as she recognised it. “I always hated that one.”

“Oh, drop him, Lady, drop him…” A hiss forced its way between his teeth as he shifted to find more comfort. “Liar. Or you’d – never have married me.”

“I took you for pity,” she retorted, without bite, but without her hands shaking either.

“It’s fitting.” His breath hitched. “Sing it with me.”

Howe would not suffer them to live. But she was the Seawolf, and she would make sure he remembered it. She would cost him.

“Eleanor? I can’t see you –”

“The Lion’s ships were Denerim-bound – Oh, drop him, Lady, drop him!”

In the tiny chamber, her voice rang like a struck chime, thick with the tears she held at bay but battle-hard, defiant, the kind of voice that could shout clear orders over the roar of a storm and be obeyed.

“Let the true king’s call for aid resound – Just drop him, Lady, drop him!”

Beyond the door, the noise lulled, and then she heard an echo taken up. The defiance spread as they sang, the chaos of the attack bridled and reined in and turned back on the dogs who had thought to butcher them in their home. Highever’s soldiers had mighty voices, even in the face of defeat, and to a one they knew the words well.

Turn him loose and let him go – Oh, drop him, Lady, drop him! Down to the rocks and sand below – Just drop him, Lady, drop him! The depths can have that scurvy knave – Oh, drop him, Lady, drop him! For brushing off our Seawolf brave –

She made it to the second repeat before the latch rattled on the pantry door, with a voice raised in consternation a moment later on finding it immovable.

“If it won’t budge, break it down,” came the gruff command. “His Lordship wants his prizes and we’re running out of places to look.”

“‘His Lordship’,” she spat, baring her teeth. “A stolen title he won’t enjoy for long.”

A hatchet was brought to try the door, and long moments passed measured in the thud of steel on wood. Belatedly, she thought she should have poisoned the barrels of Antivan wine standing around her, placed in the pantry to be under Nan’s fierce and unrelenting watch.

“Bryce?” she called, as the gleam of the axehead broke through the wood. “Bryce? Are you still with me?”

The axe withdrew. A chunk of the door went with it, the bright torchlight from the other side blocked almost immediately by an eye shoved against the crack.

“It’s them! Call Captain Lowan, it’s th– aaagh!”

Second arrow nocked.

“Break it down – break it down now!”

Three more arrows found their mark before the hole was widened far enough for Howe’s archers to return fire, but by then she had moved to an oblique angle out of range, and sank two more into the most careless who gave her soft spots to target. They rammed the latch. Two more at the chink of light it exposed. The night grew long. A sergeant barking orders sent man after man into the breach, and when she finally ran out of arrows, daggers did well instead to slice throats and find those same soft, weak points as they tried to widen the opening of the barricaded door.

“When the Soldier met the Mistral’s crew, not a word of their great deeds he knew –”

She gasped the words now, exhausted, the rhythm flowing with the strikes of her blades, and they drew back.

“And the Seawolf he took for a servant lass, great Andraste, what an ass –”

Too used to an open field, their swords swung wide and struck sparks from the walls, while she, who had fought on the confined deck of a ship for almost half her life, wielded death with more precision, striking at any opening they left until the bodies piled high.

“’Fore the Seawolf’s ire no man could stand, Soldier felt his death was close at hand –”

A bright bloom of pain opened in her gut, parried downwards from a stab that would have taken her in the heart.

“Two great steps back did he retreat,” she snarled, holding the hilt to her belly, “And the cliff side crumbled ‘neath his feet.”

Her attacker’s eyes widened as her dagger crossed his throat. Blood sprayed onto her face. A cry tore from her lips as the man slumped forward with a grip gone slack on the hilt and wrenched the sword from the wound, but as she turned to face the next she was met with only silence. It rang as only the aftermath of a battle could ring, harsh with breath and beating blood, deadened by the limp weight of the score of corpses at her feet. Others would come soon, looking for the treasury once the riches of the upper floors had been pillaged, and when they did…

The wound in her side bled deeply even after she pressed hard to try and halt the flow. As the battle lust drained away with the warm seep over her hands, a gnawing pain stole in, spreading through her side like cracks in a frost-weathered cliff.

“Bryce…”

As she turned, the room swayed under her, dimming at the edges so that for a moment she lost him in the gloom. But he had not moved. He lay against the sack of grain as still as an iced-over pond, his head rolled slightly to one side.

“No…” The grey eyes looked on nothing. “No, you cannot do this, you cannot –”

Her bloodied hand reached for his face and found it cold, his life nothing but a puddle beneath him, sinking in a slow drip through the flagstones into the ancient bedrock, and she had not noticed. Her own movements weakened; her arm felt cased in lead, her spine no longer rigid enough to support her as she sank down next to him in a pale shade of the intimacy they had shared for so long. Death would take her. Wings would take her. Tears – a useless waste of fluid – sprang to her cheeks and washed away the Lady’s marks, but it did not matter. Voices hovered on the edge of her hearing, though whether it was Howe or the whispers of the Fade she could not tell, and did not care. Instead, her thoughts drifted to the tunnel beneath the castle, to Fergus marching south unaware of the loss of all he’d ever known, to the last glint of light sparking off metal in the darkness.

Gradually, it seemed, her Soldier’s cheek no longer felt so cold.

[asexual-spongebob]

The Waves That Lap The Shore - Chapter 25 - Cockle Fever

Notes:

Poor Kwazii. Love putting that guy through the wood chipper. Also fun fact: this is based off an actual H2O episode! This one specifically https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=zTWYnIr_3Fs&pp=ygUKRmlzaCBmZXZlcg%3D%3D also sorry abt how short this one is. next chapter will be longer . (Also it’s a full moon chapter btw. I’m trying to space them out better. Cuz the full moon every four chapters thing was I bit fast paced for me 😭)

Chapter Text

Chapter 25 - Cockle Fever 

“Hey so me and Peso found this stuff.” Shellington announced, placing an old looking compass on the table.’

“Shiver me whiskers! It can’t be!” Kwazii gasped. 

“This is the compass that belonged to Edda the fish tailed!!!!” Kwazii said  as he pulls out a book of pirate myths.

“Who?” Paani questioned . 

“Edda the fish tailed! She was a pirate cat who was said to have a fish like tail when in water.” Kwazii began, then flipping to a page in the book. 

“Legend has it that she was a gray tuxedo cat who sailed the seas of South America, she was considered strange and unusual, she was said to steal goods off the decks of unsuspecting, ordinary sailors.” He continued.

“From swords to raw fish, she was said to steal anything. She was said to have a strange lime green fish tail as she disappeared back into the water. She was also said to have long bangs that covered her eyes, which were, when seen described as roomy and orange.” Kwazii explained 

“She was said to have a compass that was washed away when her ship sank.” Kwazii finished. 

“Damn- we might have the compass of a pirate.” Shellington remarked “wait… when did the compass get washed away?” Shellington asked “around 1905” Kwazii answered, pointing to some additional information in the book.

Shellington looked closer at the compass, “when did she get it?” Shellington asked “around 1899” Kwazii answered “that’s when this compass was made!” Shellington beamed, pointing to the date on the back as it was under a magnifying glass.

“Wow! We found a relic!” Peso smiled “what should we do with it?” Paani asked “hm… keep it. I have a feeling there’s more to this story then meets the eye.” Kwazii answered under his breath. 

“Anyway, I’ve got places to be. I’ll see ya later.” Kwazii meowed, sprinting out of the room “damn-“ Shellington remarked, then realized Tunip was standing beside him 

“Oh- sorry Tunip. Just forget I said that-“ Shellington said embarrassed. Paani stood there awkwardly “so uh- wanna hear me play a song?” Paani asked, pulling out a guitar. “Yeah sure, let me go get something real quick.” Shellington mumbled, rushing over to his closet and pulling out a drum set.

Peso then whipped out his xylophone, Shellington started banging on his drums, Peso started bonking its xylophone and Paani started playing powerchords aggressively on his guitar.

Paani started singing 1990s Billie Joe Armstrong style, Shellington and Peso had trouble figuring what the hell they were singing. 

•••

Kwazii was swimming in the coral reef. 

He noticed some coral and took a closer look.

He touched it. “Ouch!” Kwazii yelped, feeling a stinging sensation in his paw “Ugg. I’ll be fine.” Kwazii grunted, trying to convince himself he’d be fine . 

They were wrong. Dead wrong . 

Kwazii returned to the Octopod “Hey Tweak. Do ya have any fish biscuits?” They asked, glancing at the rabbit “Nah, sorry Kwaz. I’ve only got carrots..” Tweak sighed “oh- that’s fine matey. I’ll go get some meself then.” Kwazii mewed with a nod, propping themself up and scooting up the Octo-Chute.

“Do ya need some help there Kwaz?” Tweak asked “Nah matey. I’ll be fine.” Kwazii echoed as they crawled up the Octo-Chute. 

Once Kwazii got back upstairs it was all dry.

It burst into the kitchen FBI style and broke into the fridge. It stole some of Peso’s cockles.

Kwazii ripped the meat out aggressively, like a rabid animal.  “Damn Kwazii-“ Shellington remarked, he’d been watching the feline from behind, Kwazii then stared at him with a creepy stare. 

OH SHIT ! Shellington knew what happened. 

Shellington ran to the sick bay, “Peso! Peso!”

He called out frantically, then bursting into the penguin’s medical office. 

“Peso! We have a problem!” Shellington panted, catching his breath “Flappity flippers! What kind of problem?” Peso exclaimed. 

“Kwazii was stung by poisonous coral Peso! If a mermaid gets stung by it, it makes them extremely hungry and over time, discolors their tail and makes them very sick!�� Shellington explained. 

“THEY NEED THE ANTIDOTE! IM GONNA GO GET IT!” Peso gasped with a scream, scrambling to the storage in the sick bay to find one, after some frantic scrambling, he found one.

“Kwazii is gone! We better find him!” Paani said sternly, standing behind the Launch Bay pool, Peso and Shellington nodded in agreement.

The three merpeople sped swam around the coast, looking for Kwazii.

“Look! There he is!” Shellington said as pointed to the cat in the distance. 

Kwazii had went up to a fishing boat he was  lurking with his head out of the water. “Hey, Kwazii. Get out of there! We don’t want you to get spotted!!” Shellington yelled, but to this horror, Kwazii was getting very sick already.

His shortfin mako shark tail was discolored and he formed discolored scales on paws this is what Shellington had feared.

“Give him the Antidote Peso.” Shellington whispered urgently, Peso responded with a nod, fishing the antidote out of his medical bag  .

Peso swam up beside Kwazii, showing the cat the antidote. 

Kwazii tried to make it seem like they were okay, but Peso knew they clearly weren’t. 

“Take this Kwazii. It’ll make you feel better.” Peso said softly, handing the antidote to the cat.

Kwazii drank it like he hadn’t drank anything in ages. He then started to return to normal, his paws no longer scaly and his tail no longer discolored.

“Huh?” Kwazii breathed, glancing at Peso confused. “You had been stung by some poisonous coral, but we gave you the antidote.” Peso clarified “oh um- thanks?” Kwazii mrrped “now let’s get out of here before we get spotted.” Peso whispered, Kwazii nodded in agreement

[thefandomcassandra]

Schrödinger's Cat Chapter 2: Dreamland Clocktower (ft. ANRI) — Matthias Harlow

Content Warnings for This Chapter: panic attacks, vomit mention, anesthesia, descriptions of corpses

Like Junpei figured, the kitchen let out on the other side of the metal grate in the B-deck hallway by the cabins. He pulled the map out of the file folder and tried to find where they were. Grand staircase...2nd class cabins...kitchen. "Here!"

Lotus, Santa, and June leaned over the map and looked where he was pointing.

"We don't have a lot of options, do we?" Lotus mused.

Junpei nodded in agreement and gestured along a line. "Here's where we came from, where we went. Here's where the group in door 5 went. And here's where we probably have to go." He tapped the staircase.

"Probably?" Lotus looked unimpressed with his vague statement. "Why not here?" She pointed to an L-shaped room down the hallway.

"The doors are locked. Both sets." Santa huffed, irritated. He had tried only moments before and the sound of rattling was only drowned out by him hissing in pain. His hand hadn't quite recovered from his stove touching incident, it seemed.

"Plus," Junpei pointed to the staircase down the hall, "Do you see anything interesting about this?"

They all looked at the unimpeded staircase, pondering what he meant. Then June let out a soft noise.

"Oh. The gate!"

"Exactly!" There had been a gate across the staircase, cutting off access from it. They'd seen it before they went into the kitchen. Now there wasn't. "I'll bet that the others opened it and are looking around upstairs or wherever."

"So should we go up or down?" June tilted her head at the stairs.

"Isn't 'down' flooded?" Santa asked.

"We are on B-deck," Lotus pointed out. June's eyes widened in realization. "There's at least one un-submerged deck between us and D-deck. Does the stairwell even go up?"

Everyone looked at the curving stairwell, its carpeted steps, its polished railings. No stairs went up. Just down in a lazy curve. Asked and answered.

"Alright, downstairs it is then." Junpei folded the map up and shoved it back in the folder, which he tucked under his arm again. No one objected so they all jogged down the stairs to C-deck. The floor they found themselves on was similar to the one they had just left, a hallway branching to either side, a hallway in front of them, polished floors, dark wood accents, and the emptiness of a haunted house.

Junpei looked down one of the hallways at a near impossibly long series of doors. Right, the doors. The REDs.

It was almost nauseating to get used to remembering—or predicting—things that hadn't happened. What even was going on with him? It wasn't just that he knew what was happening. It was something...more. Worse. If it was memories, remembering, and if he remembered entire conversations, then what did that mean about his death? That moment he coughed like water was in his lungs...was that because it had been? Or would be?

Junpei swallowed heavily and exhaled, long and slow. No bad thoughts, no worries about what was and what will be. Just what is here and now. Here and now.

While he was having a Certified Moment, Santa and Lotus had poked their heads down a floor and seen what the deal was down there. June had stayed with him and was hovering about, almost worried to touch him but still wanting to offer him comfort. Her presence was...it was nice. Comforting, like she wanted it to be.

"No good," Lotus worried at her hair decoration as she looked back at the stairs, "D-deck is still flooded."

"I don't know why we bothered," Santa huffed, "It's not like the water would drain."

"Maybe the ship had sealable bulkheads?" Lotus shrugged at him. "Was worth a shot, anyway, because it let us know the water level didn't rise."

"That way is all doors, I don't know if anything useful is there." Junpei pointed at the hallway to their right with the doors. "The other way looks like it has something bigger?"

June nodded at that then pointed to the left of where they were standing. "There's double doors that way so it's probably a larger area? A conference room?"

"It's not like we can take the elevators." Everyone looked at them with Junpei. They were the same as the floor above, and likely just as locked, though the symbol on the card reader looked a little different from the Saturn one. Mercury, was it? It didn't matter, it's not as if anyone else looked close at it.

"Do you think those go below D-deck?" June asked. She gently drew the Mercury symbol on the floor with water from her shoe. Never mind. June had seen it.

"Doubtful." Santa looked down the hallway June had pointed out. "Anyway, you wanna check out that way?"

"It's not like we have any choice, unless you want to take a dive?" Lotus thumbed the stairs. Nobody volunteered so she started her way towards the double doors. Everyone else followed her. When they finally reached them—a short walk, all things considered—she stopped, unsure. Even though he couldn't see her face, Junpei could read the tension in her back and shoulders. She was worried, scared even.

Ah well, he couldn't die just yet. Junpei opened the double doors to the surprise of everyone.

Was he the only one who knew they weren't locked? Probably.

A large room filled with metal cots stretched out before them. The other double door was there, along the wall to the right, and on the far side were four large metal doors. Three of them were numbered—3, 7, and 8—and the fourth—the one between numbers 3 and 7—was blank. Iron plated sealed windows, the bolts facing inwards like snarling teeth. They were trapped. They were trapped. They were trapped.

Junpei took a deep breath and exhaled. Sighed. They were trapped but he didn't need to dwell on it. They could escape. It's fine. His nightmare about drowning, about being stabbed and falling into the water, wasn't anything more than that. It wasn't premonition. It wasn't something that had happened or would happen, it was a dream.

They were safe right now. Snake was safe, alive. Nobody was dead.

(Except the ninth man.)

"What the hell is this place?" Santa cupped a hand over his eyes and peered at the multitude of beds.

"More numbered doors?" Lotus was more upset about the doors than the eerie haunted hospital vibe of the area or the fact that they were trapped still. Junpei couldn't really blame her. If—when—they got out of here, seeing a door with a number on it—red paint or otherwise—was going to haunt his waking hours.

"Well, it's not a conference room." June mused. "Maybe a hospital room?"

Santa wrinkled his nose, his eyebrows pinching in some vague, unhappy emotion. "Smells like one."

The stench of antiseptic was dry and clinical, bitter and permeating. It made Junpei think about blood and other less...pleasant things. Elevators that went to hell. Electrodes against skin. Fists against red-hot iron, begging to be let out. A snarling lion, claws cutting skin. Scalpels. Eyes watching hungrily. Death.

The four of them looked at the various cabinets around and beds, trying to find something of use. When nothing immediately came to mind—save Junpei finding a few vials of some kind of clear liquid with worn paper labels—Santa and Lotus turned their attention to the numbered doors with grim determination. June was sitting by them on one of the cots by the doors, her face set and pale but not flushed.

"Three, seven, and eight, huh?" Santa looked at the 3 door, barely disguising his sneer. "Lucky us, we get choices."

"It's not like we could open one of these without leaving someone behind anyway," Lotus pointed out. June seemed to startle at this, eyes going wide.

Junpei did some quick math. If it was him, Santa, and Lotus, that made a digital root of seven if you excluded June. June, Santa, and Lotus made eight without him. June, Lotus, and himself was the only combination that didn't produce a proper digital root.

"We're not leaving anyone behind." Junpei had never heard June sound so stern. No, not stern, sure? Firm? Or something tinged with desperation and heat?

"Calm your tits," Santa waved a hand at her, still staring at the door like he was trying to think of the best way to make Zero eat it, "I wouldn't stay alone in this haunted-ass hospital room if you paid me a king's ransom. Plus they're broken."

"What?" Junpei watched with mild confusion as Lotus closed the distance between her and the number 3 door. She slapped her hand against the RED and swore when there wasn't a beep or an asterisk. "Son of a bitch!"

"They're broken?" June asked. Junpei, too, had closed distance with the numbered doors, sticking close to June in case she started getting feverish again. She pressed her hand against the RED and, when nothing happened, frowned.

"Really? Can't even be assed to keep up the hardware?" Santa kicked the wall next to the 3 door and winced as he obviously hurt himself. He leaned against the door to keep his weight off his injured foot, idly shaking the hand he put on the grill.

Maybe, Junpei thought to himself as Santa started poking at the door frame in an attempt to busy himself, you'd be less mad if you didn't injure yourself every three minutes.

While Santa was trying to see if the numbered doors could be taken off at the hinges, Lotus sat down on one of the hospital beds and sighed, the weight of the Nonary Game settling on her shoulders. She suddenly seemed much older than she looked, her shoulders bowing under the pressure. Everything seemed like it was finally catching up to her. Junpei could understand the feeling. He also felt like he was being run through a pasta press.

June eventually started poking at the RED by door 3 with scrutiny. She ran her hand over the RED and frowned, then turned to Junpei and waved at him. "Here." Junpei walked close and she gestured at the bottom of the RED. "Put your hand here, on the back of it, toward the bottom." He fumbled around for what she might be talking about. When his fingers brushed the right spot he looked at her in surprise.

"That's such a small piece!" It couldn't be any bigger than a credit card, about as thick as a leaflet. "And all the REDs are missing them?"

"Probably." June pulled back and let Seven and Lotus near the RED so Junpei could show them what she had found. "I don't know why though."

"Lazy," Santa hissed.

"Do you really think Zero would have removed that part without a reason to?" Lotus asked.

"Well what reason would they have to gut the REDs?" June wondered. It was a fair question.

Santa rolled his eyes. "To waste our time, of course!"

In all honesty, he was probably right. At the best, this was a way to buy time for Zero. At the worst, it was a way to make them panic. The longer they couldn't progress, the more likely it was tensions were going to rise and the more likely it was someone was going to do something rash.

Not as if Junpei didn't trust the people he was trapped on this murder puzzle ship with. He did, for the most part. But, like the sword of damocles, there was this heavy hanging reminder that death was an imminent possibility at all times. The ninth man had a knife he had threatened Clover with. They all had bombs in their guts that would splatter them across the walls if they didn't play nice. Never mind the constant threat of the ship capsizing—which was especially dangerous because a sinking ship displaced enough water that any life raft or fleeing person close enough to the mass of it would be sucked into the event horizon to be smashed to bits by the water—they could drown just as easily.

Just before the conversation could devolve into another argument between Lotus and Santa—as entertaining as watching her get her energy back by yelling Santa into submission might be—one of the two sets of doors behind them opened. Everyone startled and whipped back to see who it was.

It was Ace, Seven, Snake, and Clover!

They looked confused and surprised to see everyone standing there by more numbered doors. Clover was the first to speak.

"What are you doing here?!" She didn't sound glad to see them, but she didn't sound surprised either.

"Oh, uh, both of our doors lead out to the same general hallway." Junpei began fumbling in his file folder to pull out the map of B-Deck. "We found the gate by the stairs open—"

"That was our doing," Ace interjected.

Junpei nodded and put the map on one of the beds, pointing out what he meant as he continued. "So we came down the stairs to here. The hallway with all the doors looked like a wash."

"It was." This time Clover did sound mad. Snake put a hand on her shoulder and she sighed. "We only looked at one door apiece but they were just...empty. Nothing for the Nonary Game, anyway."

"Why haven't any of you gone into the doors?" Seven waved a large hand at the numbered doors.

"We weren't going to leave anyone behind." Again, June's tone was harsh and strangely stony. Again, Junpei watched her closely.

Ace looked down at the map, fingers brushing the paper as he double-checked Junpei's story. He frowned, brows pulling his face into something that looked strangely harsh. "Well it's good that you decided to wait then."

"Not like we could've gone anyway. Zero ripped parts out of the REDs. They're all broken."

Snake's head turned so he was facing Santa directly, almost staring at him. "Are you certain?"

"You wanna check this yourself?" Santa snapped back.

"We're certain," June intervened. "It's a small card, probably, that's inserted in the bottom of the hardware. Whatever it is might act as a primary power source for the RED, or even the wireless transmitter?"

"Maybe it's like a wireless monitor," Lotus mused.

Junpei looked at everyone as they talked. Seven was by the doors, staring at the numbers as if he was having some kind of epiphany. While June had been talking about the possible nature of the missing pieces, Snake had gone to investigate the REDs himself and seemed to agree with her. Ace had walked off to investigate one of the cabinets as if they had the pieces they needed. Clover was busy glaring at the doors. Lotus was sitting down on one of the beds as she talked, one leg crossed over the other. And June was standing between the numbered doors and the doors to the hallway, hands folded as she thought out loud.

"Anyway, why the hell is this some kind of hospital room in the first place? Many people get their asses kicked on a cruise ship?" Junpei had long lost track of whatever they had been saying, deep in thought, but Santa's loud, bitter snark was a lighthouse beacon that drew him away and out from his mental fog.

"Oh, that's 'coz this is a hospital ship." Everyone stared at Seven. He wilted under their gazes. "What?"

"What do you mean 'this is a hospital ship'?" It would be easy to read Lotus' shrill questioning as furious but she was terrified and confused. Stressed. They all were, really.

"Well, uh, I mean...I think this is the Gigantic?" Seven flinched away from Lotus, logically a little scared of her.

The Gigantic...the Gigantic...why did that sound—? Junpei winced and nearly bit his tongue as pain lanced across the back of his eyes. Right, right. Ow. Don't press that thought apparently.

"What the hell is the Gigantic?"

Seven scratched at his head and pulled his beanie off, wringing it in thought before he answered Lotus. "Well, y'see, the Titanic had two sister ships. Both of 'em were supposed to be passenger liners like the Titanic but, y'know, World War II happened. The Gigantic got made into a British hospital ship and served for a while until she ran aground after hittin' a mine in the Aegean Sea. The Aegean Sea is shallow, right? So she didn't take too much water and retrievin' her wasn't hard." Seven put his beanie back on and waved a large hand around at the room they were in. "After that, some guy named Lord Gordain bought her up and that was that. Something 'bout him having been on the Titanic and survived. Trauma response or whatever. Big Titanic fan, in a way."

"And buying the Titanic wouldn't have been feasible because it was at the bottom of the Atlantic." Junpei added. Everyone stared at him but he nodded his chin at Seven, corroborating his story. "Because the Gigantic had been grounded and retrieved, it's the closest thing he could get."

"Exactly. The Gigantic was identical in design to the Titanic. So Lord Gordain bought it up and here we are."

Santa rolled his eyes. "Yeah, okay, so we're on some hundred year old ship? If so, it's in pretty good shape for something that supposedly sank." He opened his mouth to continue but was cut off.

"Not now, the adults are talking." Lotus waved her hand in front of Santa, her steely gaze locked on Seven. "Where's your proof?"

"My...proof?" Seven blinked at her, obviously confused.

"Proof that this is the Gigantic. Where is it? Or do you only have theories?" Lotus glared at him.

"Uh..." Her pressing left Seven at a loss for words.

Lotus jumped on that opportunity like a hunting dog. "So you have no proof. We just have to take you at your word? Trust your memory?" Okay, that was rude.

Seven winced. "I mean...yeah?"

Lotus snorted and shook her head. "If all you can remember is trivia about boats and rich Englishmen, then we should probably give you more time."

His shoulders slumped and he broke eye-contact with her. The floor became so much more interesting than Lotus. "Yeah...sorry."

Her sharp expression softened and she sighed. Again, it was a noise full of tension and frustration. She hadn't meant to take out her stress on him but, in the end, intentions didn't matter. "It's fine."

Before that conversation could pick up again, the clock in the grand staircase rang out. Junpei—and a few others—counted the bells. "...ten...eleven...twelve..." Silence. Twelve chimes.

"It's midnight." June looked worried. They had already used three of their nine hours.

"We've got six hours left then." The speed at which Clover did the math was impressive. Even though it was incredibly simple, Junpei's first reaction was to tick them off on his fingers, but she did it all in her head.

Seven sighed and looked back at the doors leading to the hallway outside. "We should get moving."

"Moving?" Ace sounded confused. "The REDs are broken, are they not?"

"Well, yeah, but we can try and find the parts, can't we?"

He had a point. "Where though?" Junpei pressed.

"The hallway with all the doors. We already looked at a few of them, so if we split up, dividin' and conquerin' as it were, we can go through the remaining...however many—"

"Forty-eight." Clover supplied.

"Forty-eight rooms. Six each for the eight of us, we should have 'em done in an hour or so." Seven nodded at Clover, glad she had done the math for him.

"So, what, we waste an hour poking around in rooms and then, in the off chance we do find the parts of the RED?" Santa glared at Seven, then the REDs. "What if we don't find them?"

"Well, remember how we were talking about how there's no chance Zero didn't do this on purpose?" Junpei tried to not sound condescending but, really, Santa was proving to be a really dumb guy for all the trivia about gambling and numbers he had rattling 'round in his head.

"Yeah?"

"Oh!" June seemed to have realized what Junpei was trying to say. Her eyes sparkled. "They won't stay broken forever, will they?"

"Probably not," Seven agreed. "Even if we waste time lookin' for the parts, we won't waste any more time than Zero wants. Not by a mile."

"Then let us split up. Six rooms each, you said?" Snake turned to face the area Seven was standing in.

"Yeah. That should cover all of 'em."

"Forty-eight rooms," Lotus groaned.

"Could be worse!" Clover pointed out. Lotus just huffed in response.

"Let us meet up in this room when the clock rings out."

"Call out if anyone finds the parts, okay?" Everyone seemed to agree with Junpei's suggestion and they parted ways to look for the missing RED parts.

As Junpei searched a handful of rooms on the starboard side, he thought about what was going on with him. Not just the Nonary Game—because that was something everyone was dealing with—but the whole...memory issue. Precognition? Deja vu? Whatever.

Thinking about those things, those moments of foresight and understanding, always hurt. It was a pain that burned behind his eyes and dug its claws into the back of his skull, like the worst headache he'd ever had, and yet he couldn't tell when it would strike him. If he could map the pain to a pattern—one that wasn't just 'knowing things he shouldn't'—he could avoid it but...as it was he just had to grin and bear it.

The parts to the RED weren't in his rooms. Strangely enough, upon leaving when the bell rang one, Junpei found Santa, Ace, Clover, June, Seven, and Lotus standing in front of the numbered doors in the hospital room. They were whispering among each other, confused, nervous. The aura of the room was oppressive.

And Junpei was the last person to show up.

Wait— "Where's Snake?"

Clover flinched but remained silent. It was June who answered him. "Jumpy...look." She gestured at door 3's RED.

Oh. It read: VACANT.

"Who found the parts?" Junpei was confused. "Didn't we say we were going to yell out if someone found them, so we could all go through the doors as soon as possible?"

Nobody answered. They all stood there, the air of discomfort and confusion thick and stifling. Nobody knew. Nobody knew who had repaired the REDs or where the parts had been. Like Junpei, they came back to the hospital room and found their path open again. Junpei ran his hand under the bottom of the RED, feeling for the piece that had been missing before. Yep. There it was.

"So nobody knows what the hell happened?" There was no vitriol in his voice, just confusion. He had, after all, been the last one to arrive.

"I got here first, before anyone else. There was nobody here, nor did anyone leave through the other door." Lotus waved at the two sets of doors, her voice flat. "At that point the REDs were fixed. I could see the lights of the VACANT notification. It was...I don't know."

"Yeah," Santa said in agreement. "Ace and Seven got back before me so I saw them looking at the REDs like they personally offended them. So I asked what the deal was and, well, no luck."

"I was the second to last one to arrive," June continued. "So I know about as much as you do."

Nobody knew who had fixed the REDs. Everyone came back to them being repaired and operable. Everyone was in the dark.

Maybe not everyone. Junpei winced as a lash of pain struck him.

Clover, as she had the entire time they had been talking about the REDs mysterious repair, remained silent. Sullen, even. Or, no, not sullen: scared. Scared and angry.

The first question Junpei had when he entered the hospital room resurfaced. "Where's Snake?" Clover flinched.

"No clue," Santa shrugged.

"Everyone else arrived before you did and we didn't see him. Perhaps he repaired the REDs and went back to find Clover to inform her?" Ace posited.

"I didn't—" Clover started to say, then cut herself off.

"He's gotten himself lost if that's the case." Seven stared at the doors leading to the hallway.

"He's blind. Of course he's gotten lost." Santa's callous remark finally got a reaction from Clover. Unadulterated fury contorted her features. Anguish coated the edges, softening the harsh lines of her frustration. It painted her in sharp tones, all directed at him.

"That's not true!" Her raised voice echoed in the large room, cutting off every other possible conversation as everyone looked at her, all wearing looks of concern and confusion. "My brother might be blind, but his hearing is really good! He can get around as easily as any of you! So he couldn't be lost! He - he couldn't..." She trailed off, folding in on herself. Her fury was burning out, leaving behind only hollow fear. As she stood there, fists clenched, drawn to her full height, she shook slightly.

Junpei didn't know what to do, nor did anyone else. They just stood there, eyes flicking between the distraught Clover and the numbered doors, weighing their options. Stay for Snake and waste time or go now and come back for him. Which was the better choice?

Junpei wanted to look for Snake but it would be futile, wouldn't it? There would be no point in looking for him, just fuel on the fire. He wanted to spare Clover the anguish but...some things were fixed events, like June had said.

Realizing nobody would back her up, Clover snarled, angry tears welling up in her eyes. "Well fine! I'll go look for my brother and you assholes can go ahead and leave! I don't care!" She spun towards the doors leading out and dashed off, her heels beating a rapid pattern on the floor.

"Clover, wait!" June tried to stop her but didn't move fast enough. None of them did. She was gone, the doors slamming shut behind her. Only Lotus and Ace didn't react, their faces furrowed in confusion and thought, but not in concern.

Junpei stared at the doors leading out of the hospital room. Then he sighed and moved to leave as well.

"Hey! What're you doin'?" Seven grabbed him by the arm, halting his progress. Junpei winced in surprise but didn't try to tug free. Seven might be keeping his grip loose but the man was an immovable mountain.

What did it look like? "I'm going to find Clover. I'm not leaving her behind."

"If you're doin' that, we need a plan, like before." Seven let go of Junpei, aware of the discomfort he was expressing at being held in place. "We can't just split up like idiots. We gotta' be smart about it."

"Sure, we'll be smart about wasting more goddamn time." Santa snarled and gestured in the general direction of the main stairwell and the clock that marked their limit with every hourly chime. "I say: fuck her. Fuck both of them. If she wants to run off and find her missing brother, that's her prerogative. I don't wanna die 'coz she got upset."

"Santa!" June wheeled about and glared at him, standing on the balls of her feet so she was at his eye-level.

"What the hell is wrong with you?" Even for Santa, even with tensions running as high as they were, that was...

"I'm just saying!" He held his hands up defensively. "I don't plan on dying, do you?"

"Her brother is missing!" June continued to press into Santa's personal space. She was radiating fury and indignation. "She's scared, same as you! We can't just—"

"We can," Lotus pointed out, "But you're right. We shouldn't."

"While Seven does have a point about the dangers of splitting up, considering Snake's disappearance, we should do it." Ace offered up a solution. "So long as we communicate with each other as to where we will be and reconvene here, in front of the numbered doors within a time limit, I believe all should be well."

"It shouldn't take that long to find Clover," Lotus pointed out.

"We should use that time to help her look for Snake too." June wasn't taking any suggestions. She wanted to do this more than she wanted to leave. She wanted to reunite the siblings; wanted Clover to hold her brother again. She needed it.

"Okay," Junpei nodded. "That sounds like a plan."

"I'll stay here in case Snake actually got lost or if Clover gives up." Santa leaned against the wall near the unmarked door. He sounded irritable and more than a little bored.

"I'll take B-deck," Lotus offered. "The only places she could go are the kitchen or that big L-shaped room."

"The casino?" Seven asked. Lotus' eyes glittered.

"A casino. Yeah, I'll go there and see if she tries to backtrack to the main hall, not that she could..." That last bit was muttered under her breath. Seven winced for some reason.

"I will look in the hallway with all the doors. Perhaps one or both of them are still searching there." Ace offered. That was a fairly logical choice.

"June and I will search as many places as we can." Junpei looked to June to see if she was okay with that plan. She was still puffing her cheeks out in frustration, her narrowed eyes locked on Santa as if she could set him on fire with her ire alone. "Is that okay, June?" He asked her, calling her name again in order to get her attention. She jumped a little and looked at him, anger slowly fading.

"Hm? Oh, yeah. I'll go with you, Junpei. That sounds good." She still seemed a little distracted, but she didn't seem like she wasn't willing to search at least.

"Then I'll also do a bit of searching across the ship. I gotta' good eye for things like this." Seven shrugged. "So let's meet up here in, what, thirty? Make a lap and meet up. No wastin' time, alright?" He got nods in response. "Let's go."

Everyone scattered to their respective areas with Santa staying behind, looking irritable but unconcerned. June and Junpei stood in front of the stairs and tried to figure out where they should go. Junpei pulled the map out of the file folder and pressed it against a wall. "So where do you think Clover and Snake might be?"

"Well," June traced the map with one finger, "Lotus is up on B-deck by the casino and the kitchen. Ace is off in the hallway here. Santa is in the hospital room so there's no reason to go back just yet. Maybe up by the 1st class cabins on B-deck, where door 5 went through?"

"You think Seven is going there too?" Junpei asked, folding the map up again to put it into the folder.

"It looked like he was helping Ace search the hallway with all the doors." June tilted her head in that direction. It seemed a logical thought. Junpei nodded at her.

"Then let's go to B-deck and see if Clover might've tried to backtrack." Junpei gestured for June to take the stairs before him and followed her. While his weird premonition headache kept coming and going in waves, the pain latching to his brain like some kind of tick or a furious dog, he was still somehow able to think clearly. His mind was running a million miles a minute, trying to figure out where they could have gone, what could have happened, how everything had gone to shit so fast.

Zero, for all it might be obvious to blame them, couldn't be the problem. The Nonary Game—this whole fucking kidnapping situation—was meant to be a game. It was winnable, albeit dangerous. So far, save for Snake disappearing, the only other human loss was the ninth man, who had done himself in by breaking rules. Snake disappearing was...there was no purpose to it. It was an outlier.

But also...Zero could very well be one of them. There was a possibility, no matter how small, that Zero was a player in the Game in their own right, in some kind of equilibrium or balance. 'It's not fair if only you are putting your lives on the line! I will bet myself on your skills as well, so that I can make a point.' Or something like that.

It was all speculation anyway.

Upon reaching the gate that separated the 2nd and 1st class cabins from each other, Junpei and June caught a flash of bright pink. A sense of relief flooded Junpei's body and they both walked towards her, slowly, leaving space if she wanted to leave. Junpei was reminded of a feral kitten he saw once or maybe even a scared rabbit. He kept his hands up so she could see them. Beside him, he could see June do the same.

"Hey Clover?" Junpei kept his voice even as he could.

"Everyone is looking for you and Snake," June added.

Clover didn't answer—or if she did, it was too quiet for them to hear—and her small frame trembled as she stared at the door leading out of the 1st class cabins. Her shoulders were slumped, hands clasped at her chest, eyes blank and dead. Her cheeks were streaked with tears that ran her makeup. It made her look younger than she already did.

For a moment, Junpei didn't know if he really wanted to talk to her or just leave her be. He caught a glimpse of June's determined expression and that cinched it. He wasn't going to let Clover suffer alone. She didn't deserve to think she wasn't cared for, brother or not.

It would make things harder later if she thought nobody cared.

"Are you alright?" Junpei tried to keep his voice low so as to not startle her.

Clover didn't respond. Her shoulders hunched and she tucked her head down, turning so neither Junpei nor June could see her face.

"Everyone is helping now." It felt...hollow and fake, saying this now. He should have helped earlier. He should have stood up for her. Should should should.

But he didn't and now this girl—Junpei wasn't sure how young she was but she definitely was younger than him—was without her brother. He might be a single child but he wasn't so divorced from reality as to not know the bond between siblings, never-you-mind siblings kidnapped for a puzzle murder game. She was suffering and, while not equivocal, if Junpei found himself without June he might fall apart in a similar way.

"You should...we're going to reconvene in a little bit. You should head back when you've—"

Clover said something. It was inaudible, so quiet he couldn't make it out.

Junpei frowned, as did June, and he asked her, "Huh?"

"—lone..." More of what she said was understandable but it was mostly muffled. She was speaking while facing a wall and all.

"Clover—" June started but she was cut off when Clover whipped around and screamed.

"I said: leave me alone!" She was crying again. While at first glance it might be mistaken for anger, she was genuinely distraught and terrified. She bared her teeth at June and Junpei and waved her hand at them both as if she was going to hit them. "Fuck off! I hate your stupid faces! I don't wanna see you anymore! Go away!"

June flinched but walked back. Junpei did the same, keeping his hands up in a placating gesture.

"Are you ignoring me? I said: fuck off!" Clover continued to yell, stomping her way towards June and Junpei, her finger pointed at them like a knife. Neither of them could bring themselves to speak—June out of confusion, Junpei out of shock—and that seemed to only irritate her further. "If you won't leave then I'll—"

"No, that's alright," Junpei cut in. Clover blinked at him in confusion. "Me 'n June will leave. We just wanted to make sure you were okay and to let you know the plan, alright?"

June nodded. "Yeah. You stay here if you want, okay? We're going to go see what Lotus is up to, right Junpei?"

"Right." Junpei noted the way Clover's stance changed, the fight leaving her body. Her anger was posturing and, without that, she was just scared and tired and scared and terrified and scared. She was scared.

Junpei was too.

June and Junpei turned and left the 1st class cabin hallway and hung a right towards where the casino was. Lotus was leaning against a wall, examining her nails and not at all looking for Snake or Clover. Actually, scratch that last one, she probably saw Clover and did the smart thing by not talking to her.

June frowned. "Lotus!"

Lotus looked up at them, unimpressed. "Hm?"

"What are you doing?" June's tone was harsh, like it had been when Santa had suggested they leave Clover. She was angry, not on her own behalf, but on behalf of Clover and Snake. She was good at being angry on others' behalf. "You said you'd look for Clover and—"

"I found her." Lotus gestured towards where Clover was by the 1st class cabins.

"You're still not looking for Snake though!" June argued.

"You don't know that," Lotus countered. June puffed her cheeks in frustration and stomped her foot. That only seemed to amuse Lotus, who rolled her eyes. "Anyway, I have a thought if you're willing to hear me out?"

Were they willing? Junpei glanced over at June, who was still angry. She met his eyes, brows furrowed, and he tilted his head in a silent question. She didn't say anything in agreement but she didn't say anything in refusal either. She was letting him choose.

Junpei looked back at Lotus and nodded. "Shoot."

"We should make an alliance." She gestured between the three of them.

"Huh?" Was she suggesting what he thought she was suggesting?

"The three of us should go through one of the numbered doors."

"Without everyone else?" June was angry again.

Lotus huffed and rolled her eyes. "Yes, of course. If the last set of doors was any indication, it's very likely that all the numbered doors meet up somewhere. Us going ahead won't ruin anything, it'll just give us an advantage to finding the 9 door."

Junpei did some math. Between the three of them, their digital root was one, which left a group of four with a digital root of seven. The remaining group could go through a door and they wouldn't be able to. That's not even taking into account the 9 door or Snake.

"We physically couldn't go into a door with just the three of us, never mind morally." June pointed that fact out for him. "Our digital root is one. The doors we have access to at the moment are 3, 7, and 8. We'd need one more person, even if we were going to betray everyone and do what you want."

"Betray is such a harsh word," Lotus sighed, "But yes, you're right. We'd have to add Seven to go through the 8 door."

"And leave everyone else. They'd have a remaining digital root of eight, which is the door we'd be occupying. If they find Snake, they'd have a digital root of one. If we go through a door without them, we leave them behind regardless."

"You sound like you're morally opposed to escaping."

"I'm morally opposed to sacrificing people for my own safety!" Why was June so upset about this? It was puzzling to even Junpei, who figured he knew her pretty well. Righteous anger was more his deal than hers, unless things had changed in the past nine years, but she had always had a strong sense of justice. She also was more likely to plan things out for fairness' sake than anything else. Lotus' suggestion was not only unfair, but also more than a little morally ambiguous. Their safety and freedom for everyone else's. But also...

"We couldn't escape even if we did bring in Seven." Lotus and June looked at Junpei so he continued on with his thought. "With Seven, we have a digital root of eight, sure, but that's not nine. If we wanted to escape then, we'd have to sacrifice one more person: you."

Lotus gaped at him but she was smart. She was doing the math, figuring the odds. If she was so willing to sacrifice others, she should take into account that others would sacrifice her too. Really, it was a scare tactic on Junpei's part. He, like June, didn't want to leave anyone behind, but he knew Lotus' fear was manifesting as cold logic with no room for feeling. He, like June, wanted to prove to her it was a bad idea to discard morality like that.

Also, to be fair, it wasn't nice and, yeah, it might be childish, but he wanted to scare Lotus a little.

"Fine." Lotus conceded. "Fine. It wouldn't work. You can't blame a girl for trying."

You very much can, Junpei thought but he wisely kept that to himself.

"Jumpy and I are going to go see if Ace and Seven found Snake and tell them where Clover is." June was still a little angry with Lotus. She probably didn't want to be around her at this time and, frankly, Junpei couldn't blame her. He understood Lotus' thought process but it still felt...bad to say out loud. "Please make sure Clover shows up by the numbered doors in a few minutes." She wasn't asking.

Lotus seemed to know that because she nodded. "Understood."

Junpei and June left the area by the casino and slipped down the stairs, hanging a right into the hallway with all the doors. June was still huffy.

"The nerve of her!" She stomped her foot again. "Suggesting we leave someone behind—multiple someones! And then she backs down when you point out that she'd have to be left behind for the group to open the 9 door!"

"She's scared, just like Clover." Junpei tried to point out.

"Well it doesn't excuse her actions! People aren't pawns in a game. They're living beings!" Something about that seemed...personal. Or, maybe in the nine years between elementary school and now, June had gotten more passionate? Who knows.

"Yeah, but I think she got the point." Junpei acquiesced.

June continued to fume. "Even if we did get out, even if we did get the cops or the authorities or whatever, we have five hours as of now. It's incredibly unlikely that we'd be able to come back and save everyone else."

"True." Junpei hummed in thought. Then something occurred to him. Something horrifying that sent his stomach deep into his feet. "Only five people can actually leave."

"Huh?"

"Only three to five people can go through a numbered door. Even the 9 door is subject to those rules, I'm sure."

June's eyes went wide and she stopped walking. Junpei stopped as well and stared at her, worried he had upset her. When she finally spoke, her voice was thin, as if she was using every ounce of strength she had in her body to not cry or scream. "Even if we all got to door 9, we..."

They would have to leave behind two or more people to escape.

What the hell?

Junpei chose to speak first. "I'm sure there's another way." He was lying, trying to placate June. She probably knew it as well but...can't blame him for trying.

She gave him a thin smile. "Y-yeah. There has to be." She tugged on her hair, eyes downcast. "Let's go find Ace. See if he or Seven managed to find Snake."

Down the hallway, they both saw Ace leave one of the rooms and move down the hall to another. They started jogging forward and waved at him. "Ace!"

He turned back to look at them, brows furrowed, but stopped walking so they could catch up.

Huffing, June and Junpei stopped in front of Ace and took a moment to catch their breath. Ace gave them both a smile. "Hello there. Have you had any luck locating Snake or Clover?"

"We found Clover," June said. She was disguising her prior discomfort and anger with her delight at having actually found Clover. "No luck with Snake though. Lotus hasn't found him either. How about you?"

"I have been looking best as I am able but nothing yet. Seven and I have crossed paths on occasion but if he had found Snake, I would know before anyone else." Ace put his hands in his pants pockets, his coat fluttering out slightly. "I assume Clover knows to meet back in the hospital room?"

"Yeah. She's really worried." June tugged on her hair again, eyes downcast. "She misses her brother."

Something occurred to Junpei in that moment. "Hey, do you think it's weird?" Ace and June both looked at him. They were confused by his sudden non sequitur. "Clover and Snake, I mean. Are they really siblings?"

"They could be half-siblings or step-siblings," June offered as an explanation.

"I'm afraid I don't know what you mean?" Ace frowned, his face more lined than usual. "They said they are siblings, so they're siblings, are they not?"

"Well, I mean, they look nothing alike." Snake was tall and thin, pale, with dusty brown hair that looked almost ashen. Clover, on the other hand, was shorter and, while her pink hair might be dyed, the odds of her having Snake's hair color naturally was low. They looked so different and acted so differently. How could they be related? Why was Ace so willing to accept that when June had to come up with an explanation.

"Clover also dyes her hair and might even use color contacts." June added to her explanation.

"True."

Something strange and confused passed across Ace's face then was buried under a thoughtful frown. "I suppose...now that you mention it: it certainly is strange."

Now? Now he's confused? Why now? Junpei stared at him, trying to figure out what he was thinking.

June, however, had less reservations about Ace's statement. "Yeah! There are loads of siblings who look nothing alike! Plus I think Clover is pretty fashionable. She probably spends a lot of time on her hair and makeup and clothes to stand out. Not sure if Snake always dresses like that but he's a little..." She paused, then waved her hand in a roundabout gesture. "Regal? Like one of those handsome capture targets in dating sims."

Junpei blinked at her in confusion. "Wh—dating sims?"

"What, can't a girl have hobbies?" June giggled.

"I just didn't...expect that." From you.

"Shows what you know." She bounced in place, amused. Her mood had taken an upswing, which was nice. "But, no, they're not my personal favorite. I just know someone who likes them a lot."

Ace seemed almost amused by the whole exchange. "Regardless, we should find him as soon as we can. Even if we do reconvene and enter the numbered doors, being without Snake will leave us disadvantaged."

"Yeah..." Junpei didn't know what else to say. "We're running out of time."

"I will continue to search over here until the specified time. If I see Seven again, I will inform him about Clover." Ace placed his hand on the doorknob of the door he was heading to.

"Thank you, Ace." Junpei turned back to June. "Shall we?"

"Mmhmm," June nodded and started back to the large hospital room while Junpei mulled over his thoughts.

Why was he filled with such unending dread? What about searching for Snake was making him so nervous? Why did he feel like all of this was - was futile? Why was he so certain, deep in his heart, that they weren't going to find Snake? Not yet, anyway...

His head hurt but he pushed through that to clutch at whatever premonition about Snake lay behind the burning blinding pain of it all. Snake was...Snake was...a door. A door and Snake was—

"Are you okay?" June's question startled him out of his deep thoughts. He let out a little squeak of surprise and, while she did stifle a snort, she didn't pull away from him. "You look sick."

"I mean, I did throw up earlier," Junpei admitted, "But also you had a fever. I guess you and I are destined to be sick today."

"I hope not." June broke eye-contact and stared at the doors to the large hospital room. Her shoulders were tense again. Junpei had upset her.

"I'm fine. Don't worry. I'm just...worried." That wasn't a full lie. "Why don't we see how ol' Krampus is doing."

"You think he kidnaps naughty children?" June asked, her eyes glittering with amusement.

"I think he's more mean than Santa Claus has any right to be." That made her laugh so it was worth it. They push open the doors.

Santa was standing by the 3 door. He was frowning so hard Junpei thought he might hurt himself. He didn't even turn when they opened the doors and walked in. He did, however, speak without looking at them. "Hey, you said that Zero wouldn't do something without a reason, right?"

"Hm?"

"Junpei. You said 'there's no chance Zero didn't do this on purpose'." Santa mocked Junpei's tone and way of speaking. He still was staring at door 3.

"...yeah? I did, didn't I?" He wasn't sure if that was exactly what he said and how he said it but...that seemed about right. "What about it?"

"So you think Zero is the one who put the REDs back together?"

Junpei frowned. What was he getting at? "I...guess?"

"You 'guess'? Can't be more sure of yourself?" Santa sneered.

"Look—! It's...it's been a rough day, okay?" He didn't mean to sound defensive but, really, he felt attacked. Or, not attacked, prodded at, like a kid poking at a pillbug or centipede to see what it'll do. Treated like a joke and toyed with. It set his hackles up.

"Sure. Rough day." Santa sounded weary, like he, too, was struggling beneath the weight of memories that burned at the touch. He took a deep, loud breath then exhaled out his nose, almost frustrated. "But really: who do you think put the REDs back together?"

Junpei looked at June to see if she had some kind of thoughts about this line of questioning. Her eyebrows were invisible beneath her bangs, eyes wide like she was the one being put on the spot.

He looked back at Santa. "Well, Zero, obviously?"

Santa snorted. "Yeah? What makes you so sure, hotshot?"

Good question. "Like I said back in the hallway by the 2nd class cabins: if the Nonary Game wasn't fair, we wouldn't be alive. There's a reason, a pattern to this whole deal, right? Not just nines but puzzles in puzzles. Solutions that give keys that solve other puzzles and so on. The kitchen gave us a keycard for the elevators by the grand staircase which means we have to be able to go back there. Something in the door 5 area gave them the key to open the gate to the stairwell in the shared hallway. There are no accidents insofar as the game design is concerned."

Junpei wasn't sure why he felt so strongly about this but he did. The Nonary Game, no matter how fucked up and awful and filled with math it was, was a game. A fair game. No dead ends in a labyrinth, no unsolvable puzzles in a good game.

Undeterred and with nobody stopping him, Junpei continued. "The REDs missing parts is suspicious, sure, but not unheard of or impossible. The REDs near the hallway with all those doors was probably planned. We needed to waste time to force us to...to..." He paused and frowned, a wave of pain licking at the back of his eyes, clawing at the meaty parts of his brain. "To..." He gasped, breaths coming in panicked, weird bursts.

"Junpei?" June asked. He could barely hear her. His ears were full of water. The pain in his back hurt less than the pain in his heart. He couldn't breathe through the iron-and-salt in his mouth.

"So that we..." He tried again. He knew why the RED was broken, didn't he? He knew what the time wasting was for, didn't he? It was to put pressure on them and to obfuscate that—

"Junpei?" Santa this time. Why was he worried? His body was laying on the stairs in a pool of blood with everyone else. Everyone but Junpei. Everyone was dead. Everyone was—

The next thing Junpei could remember—aside from the feeling of a plume of fire venting out from a point in his back and ice water filling his lungs—was the sound of June and Santa holding some kind of muffled conversation. He could feel June's voice reverberate through his body, starting at his skull. What was—?

He stirred and felt a weight lift off his head. The conversation stopped and he tried to make sense of his surroundings.

Junpei was lying on one of the thin hospital beds with his head on June's lap. She had been stroking his hair. She looked like she was going to cry and, for all they might not get along, Santa looked concerned too.

"You said you were feeling better!" June puffed out her cheeks in frustration. By the tears in her eyes she was worried for him. He had made her worry.

"Sorry." Junpei sat up and ran his hand through his hair. There was a dull ache there, physical, like he had bruised something. "I'm sorry, what happened?"

"You spaced out then passed out. Smacked your head on the RED, of all things." Santa—who had been standing by the bed Junpei was laying on—waved a hand at the offending device. "Thankfully you didn't break skin or anything. June screamed loud enough as it was. If you started bleeding I think I might've needed to wear earplugs."

"I was worried!" June chided. She hadn't moved since Junpei sat up, playing with her hair as she watched him—probably for any kind of indication he was in danger of passing out again. "Forgive me for screaming but he collapsed. I didn't know what the problem was since he puked earlier!"

"Maybe he's got brain damage." Santa still seemed like he was unaffected by—or even completely unbothered by—Junpei's accident but...something about his guarded posture made Junpei think otherwise. "Maybe the puking is a concussion thing."

"Aren't you not supposed to let someone with a concussion sleep? Because they might die?" June's eyes widened in horror.

"You're supposed to monitor them. The whole thing about not sleeping is an old wive's tale because they'd conk out with red flag symptoms and not wake up." Junpei rubbed at his eyes to try and chase away the worst of the pain. It didn't work. "Besides: I'm fine."

"You stopped making sense after going on a weird rant about the Nonary Game being fair and then passed out. That's not fucking fine." Santa actually reacted to that.

Junpei blinked in surprise. He hadn't expected him to be so upset. Huh...

"Besides, everyone is on their way back anyway. We've wasted all our extra time." He waved his hand at the doors leading out to the hallway. "I can hear Lotus and Seven fighting from here." They couldn't but the point stood regardless. Junpei passing out had wasted what precious searching time they had left. Good going...

All because of the damn REDs.

Junpei glared at the door 3 RED for a moment, then looked back at Santa. "Hey, uh, about your question?"

"What?" He looked uncomfortable.

"Why did you ask? Not that it matters or anything, I'm just...curious." And he was, though it sure did matter to him. There had to have been a reason why Santa had asked. Everything these days had a fucking reason and he was sick of being in the dark.

"Oh, uh...," Santa looked at the floor, his posture shifting from casual to defensive. His shoulders tensed and he shoved his hands in his pants pockets. "It was about...trust, mostly."

"Trust?" Junpei didn't know what the hell he was on about.

"You said Zero repaired the REDs, I was gonna' say it was one of us, maybe Snake. And in that case, they didn't say shit, right?" Santa continued, seemingly not sure of what he was saying after Junpei had collapsed. Like the point didn't matter any more. "I wanted to point out that you can't trust anyone right now, no matter how well you think you know them."

"And I ran my mouth about how I trusted Zero to run a good game, huh?" Foot in mouth. "Man, I'm such a jackass."

"You're not feeling well—!" June tried to argue.

Junpei didn't care. "I'm not saying it to be self-deprecating or anything. I just made a jackass of myself there. Nothing more."

Neither of them said anything as everyone else filed into the hospital room in pairs. Ace and Seven, Lotus and Clover. They all stared at the three standing and sitting near door 3.

Seven spoke up first. "You guys okay?"

"Yeah, uh, I just...hit my head is all." Junpei didn't want to worry them. There was no need to worry them. They had more worrying things to deal with than his possible brain injury or precognition or whatever was going on with him. The ghost of ocean water clawed at his lungs and he stifled a cough into his elbow. It brought tears to his eyes. "Sorry."

Nobody said a word for a moment, then Ace spoke up. "In the end, I couldn't find Snake."

"Me neither." Seven wrung his beanie.

"No luck on my end." Lotus didn't sound too put-off but she was tapping her fingers on her leg, a strange tell or self-soothing motion for the woman.

Clover said nothing. What was there for her to say? Her brother was missing and she had to be drowning in despair. The fact that she was walking and, to some extent, talking was a miracle. If someone close to Junpei—if Akane died—he wouldn't be this put together. He would fall apart like a puppet whose strings were cut. Like a doll whose thread was coming undone.

Clover was immeasurably strong in comparison.

A heavy silence blanketed the room again before Lotus cleared her throat and waved a hand at the numbered doors. "So let's stop wasting time, huh? Who's staying behind?"

"What?" Seven bristled. June and Junpei, who had already considered the door options and various digital root breakdowns of the current group, were less surprised. "What the hell is that supposed to mean?"

"We have very few options regarding who goes through which numbered door with our current bracelet combinations. With one, three, four, five, six, seven, and eight, we have a total digital root of seven while the doors here have a digital root of nine. There's no way for all of us to go through these doors. Either we leave behind three people or we leave behind four people." Sometime between when June and Junpei had talked with Lotus and now she had given a lot of thought to the doors and who all could enter them. Hearing her logic was interesting, however.

Getting the digital root of the total group and comparing it to the digital root of the doors they had access to was an unorthodox way to quickly calculate how this would work.

If we had Snake, we'd have a digital root of nine, which means nobody would be left behind. Junpei must have made some kind of face because Lotus' eyes narrowed and she nodded towards him.

"Like some of you have realized: without Snake here, we can't all go through the doors. But we can minimize the quote-unquote 'casualties' by choosing to leave one person behind so that the remaining six can split between two of these three doors."

June was, as before, not happy about the idea of leaving anyone behind. "I already said we aren't going to—"

"I don't think we have a choice!" Lotus cut her off, her tone steel-edged. "I've been doing the math and we can't all go through the doors. Either some of us make it or none of us make it. If we leave behind one person, we can open the number 9 door and at least some of us can escape."

Santa pointed at June with an accusatory finger. "You can't keep going on with this righteous tirade every time we try to minimize the damage. I'm not a huge math nerd or anything but the hag is—" Lotus made a sharp noise of protest but Santa continued, refusing to wait for her to get genuinely angry at him, "—and if she says there's no damn way all of us can go through then there's no damn way all of us can go through."

"She's being pragmatic," Ace seconded Santa's point. "If we can minimize the amount of losses—"

"We can all escape! I know we can!" June protested. Junpei wanted to tell her she was right but...

She wasn't and that was the worst of it. He wanted her to be right but the math didn't work out. With Snake dead gone it was pointless to try and save everyone. And it's not as if whoever was staying would even be in any danger anyway.

He winced and swallowed the noise of pain that wanted to escape through his teeth. He had only just gotten back up. Being hurt in any way might make them choose him to stay behind and he couldn't—

As Junpei tried to collect himself again, everyone else was arguing. June was adamant that everyone could make it through a door while Lotus, Ace, and Santa were certain they wouldn't. Seven was quiet, opting to stay out, and Clover was silent like a roiling storm. Junpei was the last vote in this matter to push it to a majority.

"June," she turned to look at him, frustration evident by the way she was pulling on her hair, "Lotus is right. We can't all go but—" he cut her off before she could interrupt him, "—I don't think that we won't see each other again. I'm pretty sure things loop around."

"What do you mean?" Everyone turned to look at him in confusion. Had they not figured it out either?

"The unmarked door?"

"What about it?" Santa looked back and forth between the door and Junpei.

"What do you think it's supposed to be for?"

"Does everything have to have a meaning?" Santa's derision was palpable but beneath that was a weird hint of confusion and curiosity. Maybe he wasn't half as dense as he pretended to be.

"Door 4 and 5 both lead into the same hallway that gave us access to C-deck, right? Why give us elevators to nowhere and doors that can't be opened from either side? The 2nd class cabin doors were bolted shut with plates and yet this door isn't altered in any way. It probably opens from the other side like how the numbered doors only open from our side." Junpei walked to the unmarked door and knocked on it. It rattled and made the same sound as the numbered doors did. "So my theory is that the doors here all dump into the area behind this unmarked door. Inside those numbered doors are keys and keycards for all the places we couldn't access at the start. No dead ends."

"That's an impressive theory," Ace said slowly, "but why does that matter when it comes to who stays here? True, if the doors do loop back around, there's no worry about leaving anyone behind in the long run, but it does mean that one person will be forced to wait out the entirety of the second group of numbered doors. What do they do then?"

Junpei shrugged. "Iunno. Whatever they want. Take a nap even." God knows I could use one.

"I still—" June started but she bit down on the thought. Her jaw worked while she figured out what she really wanted to say. She settled on, "Lotus, what do you think is the best option for who stays?"

Lotus tapped her fingers on her legs as she thought it over. "You, Junpei, or Ace."

So their options were:

June stayed behind; Santa, Junpei, and Clover went through door 3 while Lotus, Seven, and Ace went through door 7 or Ace, Santa, and Lotus went through door 3 while Clover, Junpei, and Seven went through door 7

Junpei stayed behind; Ace, Santa, and Clover went through door 8 while June, Seven, and Lotus went through door 3 or Ace, Santa, and Lotus went through door 3 while Clover, June, and Seven went through door 8

Ace stayed behind; Santa, June, and Seven went through door 7 while Junpei, Clover, and Lotus went through door 8 or Santa, June, and Lotus went through door 8 while Junpei, Clover, and Seven went through door 7

Six total permutations. No matter who decided to stay behind, one of the three numbered doors couldn't be opened. It all depended on who wanted to stay as to where the rest would be going.

"I volunteer." Ace didn't give anyone time to discuss it among themselves. The moment that the option came up, he spoke. No question. Or, rather, no question from anyone aside from June.

"No, I will!"

Ace smiled at June. For a moment, Junpei was filled with a sort of dread that he couldn't name, but it passed as Ace refuted June's offer. "June, I am old and my body is not as used to running around like you might be. Let me be the one to stay back. As Junpei said: I can take a moment of rest."

"Ace—"

Ace's face hardened and his hand moved quickly, something in his grip. Lotus yelped and moved away from him but whatever he had done, he had done to himself. June let out a sharp cry as he sat down on one of the beds, wobbling slightly. His breathing hitched and he placed something on the bed next to him; whatever he had been holding.

An empty syringe and a small glass vial.

"What the hell?" Santa and Seven both put themselves between June and Ace but she shoved past them.

"Ace!" She knelt down beside him, horrified and confused by his actions.

Ace gave a wan smile. "There. Argument solved."

"What the fuck did you do?" Santa snapped the vial up and stared at the label. Then his furious gaze turned back on Ace. "Soporil-Beta?"

"It's a generalized anesthetic. I found some..." Ace gestured at the shelves. "I figured it might have a use. Just not this one."

The idea of Ace carrying around a syringe of what was obviously a rather fast acting intravenous anesthetic made Junpei feel slightly ill.

"So you fucking shoot up and take a nap? What is wrong with you?" Santa remained standing over Ace, even as he yelled. June, still sitting next to him, pulled on her hair, nearly crying in frustration and worry.

"We don't have forever," Ace pointed out. His speaking was slowing, words becoming syrup in his mouth. His blinking stuttered and desynced and he seemed as though he was losing vision, confusion evident. "With myself out of the running, the rest of you can go through the numbered doors. If Junpei is correct, I will simply sleep off the Soporil and you will come back to me bright-eyed and bushy-tailed. If Junpei isn't..."

June was scowling so hard that she looked like she might develop a tension headache. Still, her frustration seemed more worried than angry.

"If I'm wrong," Junpei offered, his voice more sure than he felt, "then we'll make sure to come back for you without our bracelets. I promise."

June moved as if she was going to clutch at Ace's jacket but drew back. Ace gave her a soft smile, his breathing slowing and evening out. "Exactly. I look forward...to seeing you...again." Then he was asleep.

June's breathing hitched too, caught, stuttered, then returned to normal again. She stood up and stared at the numbered doors like they offended her personally. "Fine." She sounded frustrated and, really, Junpei could hardly blame her but...they needed to keep moving. Altruism, heroism, that was all well and good when you had all the time in the world. They didn't, so they had to make difficult decisions and choose selfish options.

"So who's going where?" Santa asked.

"I can only go through door 8 while Seven can only go through door 7," Lotus said. She, like Junpei, had already done the math. Clover and Junpei's digital root was nine as were Santa and June's. One of those pairs had to choose who they wanted to spend that room with. Only one.

"Clover?" Junpei looked at her to see if she had any opinion but she wasn't speaking. She was standing by Ace's sleeping body, looking down on him with an unidentifiable look on her face. After a few moments, he turned to June and Santa instead. "Either of you have a favorite?"

"I'm fine either way." June didn't sound fine but maybe it was more that she was upset about Ace than being forced to pick her poison.

"I've spent enough time with Lotus to know I shouldn't hang out with her again." Santa, however, did have an opinion. "Bad for my health." Lotus glared at him but he flashed her an amused and cheeky grin. "Prove me wrong."

"Junpei?" Lotus chose to, instead of engaging with Santa's nonsense, ask him. "What about you?"

What about him? Door 8 felt...familiar and familiar thus far was good. He could only go through a door with Clover and either Lotus or Seven so it's not as if there was more complicated math to do. It was a binary choice. Door 8 and Lotus or door 7 and Seven.

Junpei...Junpei liked Lotus. She might be loud and easy to anger, she might not take anyone's shit, she might be a little violent at times, but she was honest. She wasn't hiding anything about who she was, what she wanted, and why she didn't want to be here. She didn't lock them into the freezer, despite it being an easy way to eliminate people. She even went so far as to reconsider her stance on leaving people behind—or at least softening her word choice—when June got upset about calling it a 'sacrifice'.

"If it's alright with you, I'll go through door 8 with Lotus. Clover?" He looked over at her for confirmation but she was still standing there, looking at the floor, so tense she looked like she might fall to pieces if he so much as touched her. "Clover?"

"...don't care..." She muttered. Junpei noticed how Lotus frowned but neither of them said a word about it.

"Santa, June, and I are goin' through door 7," Seven recounted, making sure everyone else was in agreement.

"While Junpei, Clover, and I are going through door 8," Lotus finished. Nobody said anything to the contrary. Everyone was fine with the plan.

Santa looked at June, scratched the back of his head, then nodded at Junpei. "Don't die."

"Santa!" June chided but Junpei could only laugh.

"That's the third time someone's said that to me today." It felt silly, all things considered, but it was comforting.

"Well then don't die then, dumbass." He was concerned. Santa was worried and, in his own right, he was showing concern for Junpei.

"Yeah, yeah, I'll try my best. You too, okay?" Junpei watched Santa's face to see if there was any reaction. For a moment—a brief moment so quick that if he wasn't paying close attention, he would have missed it—Santa smiled. It was soft and fleeting, a bit like a baby bird, but it softened his face and made him seem younger.

June nodded at Junpei too, her own expression more serious than usual. "We'll do our best!" Seven nodded in agreement as well.

With that said, Junpei turned to Lotus and Clover, gesturing at the number 8 door. "Ready?"

"Yes." Lotus authenticated her bracelet and stepped aside so Junpei and Clover could.

Clover, still silent and grieving her missing brother, authenticated next. The RED display showed two asterisks. Two numbers. Junpei's was the last. He authenticated and pulled the lever. Door 8 swung open, screaming for them to abandon hope and enter. Junpei caught one last look at June before they would be separated for a while.

Fear, frustration, and hope. Things would be alright, but at a cost. June ducked in her door and Junpei did the same. Door 8 swung closed behind him with a thunderous noise.

"Eighty-one seconds!" Lotus reminded them as she tore down the hall and swung left, disappearing around the corner.

Clover staggered into a run behind her and Junpei followed suit. With every beep of the detonator, Junpei was reminded of the death of the ninth man. The blood. The viscera. The smell. The idea of it happening to one of them now made it hard to breathe. Beep. Beep. Beep. Like a death knell.

Where the hell is the DEAD?

Clover, like Lotus, flew despite her heels. She moved like she was being hunted, like the specter of death was just behind her with its scythe. As the two of them rounded the corner, they saw Lotus standing at the end of the long hallway, placing her hand on the DEAD. The sound of verification was like an angel's choir.

She turned to face them and stepped to the side, waving them to hurry. "Found it!"

Clover managed to get there before Junpei and quickly verified, then Junpei placed his own hand on the scanner panel. The third asterisk appeared, the third electronic noise sounded, and Junpei hurriedly yanked the lever down. The skull on their bracelet display faded, the ominous warning of the detonator fading into the hungry silence of the ship.

Junpei gasped as he tried to catch his breath. Lotus and Clover also panted, though not as audibly.

"That was...such a long run," Junpei griped.

"You didn't have to do it in heels."

He rolled his eyes at Lotus, who was smirking at him. "And you still...got to the DEAD first."

"I've had practice running in them, obviously."

"Obviously."

Clover remained silent, though the veil of grief had not lifted yet. The adrenaline lightened it a little, her expression less despondent and more angry, but she was still mostly unresponsive. While Lotus and Junpei were trading verbal barbs, she didn't speak.

When she did, her voice was barely audible, her words like globs of molten lead falling from her mouth to the floor. "Let's go."

"Uh, right." Junpei swallowed a lump of guilt and sympathy. "Yeah."

Near the DEAD was a set of large double doors labeled 'Laboratory' leading into what was probably the puzzle room. Clover, without waiting for either Lotus or Junpei, stepped into the laboratory beyond the doors. The two left behind exchanged heavy and pointed looks.

"She's—" Junpei didn't know how to explain his feelings on Clover's behavior. She was grieving for her brother, even if they might meet again. She was worried she might be in danger too. She was...angry and had every right to be.

"I know." Lotus' expression was something new to Junpei. He had seen her be angry and defensive and even manipulative. He had seen Lotus exasperated and delighted and prideful. Now she was...she seemed worried, yes, but something more personal. She looked like a mother watching a child suffering, unable to fix it. "We just have to be patient with her. Even if—"

Even if Snake is dead, she didn't say, but Junpei knew. He was thinking about it too.

He swallowed heavily. "Yeah." They were on the same page here; Clover came first. Together, they entered the laboratory.

What awaited them behind the clinical, almost elevator-esque doors, was something even more clinical. A large metal room, a quarter-circle of it partitioned off by glass and metal walls that made some kind of viewing chamber. Outside of the sectioned-off area is filled with old and chunky computer systems as well as sets of lockers. From where Junpei was standing, he could barely see the inside of the viewing room and what he could see seemed to be more clunky machinery.

"It's some kind of...experiment room?" Junpei wondered as he stared at that section of the laboratory. He moved so he could see into the viewing chamber easier and startled at the sight of a human figure lying on an examination table of some sort. He must have made some kind of startled noise because Clover looked at him. Her expression was still dull and sour but she had reacted.

"...yeah. See the mannequin?" She pointed one finger at the human figure on the examination table. It was, in fact, a mannequin. Its wooden head was riddled with electrodes, the wires leading back to one of the large machines. "It's meant to be like an EEG. They were experimenting on it."

Poor Science Boy.

Where had that thought come from?

"Well, we can't just stand around with our mouths gaping," Lotus clapped her hands once, the sharp noise drawing Junpei and Clover's attention to her. "Split up and start solving."

"Why should I listen to you?" Clover snapped at her. While this was the first time she had expressed any strong emotion since they decided to enter the numbered doors, the vitriol and anger was surprising. Or, no, maybe not. Maybe this was just a long time coming. She had been biting her tongue for almost an hour now. "What did you ever do for me aside from stand in a hallway and clean your nails?"

"I—" Lotus didn't have an answer for her. Of course, she was already aware that she hadn't done much to try and find Snake but it didn't mean she didn't care. Not that Clover knew that, however. To her, Lotus' lack of care in the search was as damning as if she had shoved Snake into a numbered door herself.

"Clover—" Junpei tried to mediate but she was having none of it.

"No, shut the hell up!" Clover turned to snap at him too. She was like an agitated dog, cornered and willing to bite anyone who tried to pity or comfort her. "I don't wanna hear it! She didn't look for Snake, she doesn't care about anyone but herself! I heard you yelling! I know what she wanted to do! If June hadn't told you off you would have taken Seven and—!"

Lotus flinched. Her mouth opened, then closed, as if she was trying to say something but was unable to put it into words. She couldn't refute what Clover was saying. She had wanted to leave everyone behind to leave. She had to be told it wasn't possible on top of being wrong before she dropped it.

And Clover had heard the whole conversation.

"Why the hell should I do anything you say? You probably...and I'll—!" Clover struggled to express herself. Tears gathered in her eyes as she shouted at Lotus. "Stay away from me! If you come near me again I'll—!" Unable to finish her thought, she dashed into the viewing room to put distance between herself and Lotus.

Junpei didn't have time to warn her.

The metal grate slammed down, the portcullis locking her inside the viewing room with Science Boy. She turned on her heel to see what the noise was, fury melting into terror as she realized she was trapped. Finally, she started crying. She slammed herself against the bars and shrieked in horror, choking silent sobs.

"Clover, calm down!" Junpei was the one who moved to comfort her. He reached out to grab her hand through the bars and, as his fingers brushed hers, he could feel how cold they were. She drew back, clutching at her face and hair in fear as she leaned against the wall for support. "Clover. Clover, listen to me, okay? We're going to solve the puzzle here and get you out of there, okay? Just...just calm down. You have to be strong, okay? You're going to get out of there. I promise." He tried to keep his voice from shaking, relying on the weird niggling thought in the back of his head that said it would be okay. He needed to be strong for her. He needed to be calm so she would be calm. If she didn't trust Lotus, she could trust him.

Clover swallowed and nodded, staggering away from the wall to grab Junpei's hand. She was shaking but Junpei squeezed her hand once and held eye contact. He nodded back at her, slowly, and took a breath.

"Can you be our eyes and hands inside there?" He asked. He hoped she couldn't hear how terrified he was, how genuinely not okay he was in this moment. She nodded at him. "Okay. Lotus and I are going to solve the puzzle out here, alright?" She didn't let go of his hand. Her eyes widened and flicked to look at Lotus. She didn't trust Lotus to do anything. Alright. "I'll solve the puzzle out here. Better?" She let go and pulled back. "You can sit down to rest. Don't worry about being too active. I'll call out if I need you to do something. Just...breathe."

Junpei stepped back and looked around their side of the room, heart hammering. Lotus was leaning against a series of lockers, her face pinched with worry. Junpei tilted his head towards what had to be the exit from the room, trying to communicate that he wanted her to go there so they could talk. She picked up what he was saying and made her way over.

Clover wouldn't be able to see them there. Not if she was sitting down on the stairs. They could have a talk while she collected herself.

Lotus radiated guilt. It wasn't too hard to realize that what Clover said had gotten to her. She wasn't wrong, obviously, but it didn't make it easier to hear. Fear made people act selfishly and this place thrived on fear. Lotus had only been more...overt in her selfishness—her fear.

"She doesn't trust me." She kept her voice low so Clover couldn't overhear them.

"She's scared." It wasn't an excuse but—

"I just...are you going to be okay doing everything?" A pivot. She didn't want to talk about it. Understandable.

"Yeah. Not the first time." Junpei didn't want to talk about how, like everything else that had happened today, this room felt eerily familiar. "I'm pretty smart."

"If you get stuck, I'm here." Lotus leaned against the door, obscuring the red light indicating it was locked, and waved her hand at herself. "Just...hurry."

Junpei nodded and walked back towards the center of the room. It was time to solve this puzzle.

None of the machines in the room were responsive. One of the computers—what appeared to be some kind of central control system—needed some kind of key to activate it. That was fine. He could find the key later. The lockers...half of them were locked and the other half contained...some rubbing alcohol?

What the hell could they need rubbing alcohol for?

By the lockers was a computer monitor and keyboard but no computer. When Junpei poked around, he realized the monitor didn't have a cord. Where had he—? Oh! Right. There was a power cord by the central control system. Junpei pocketed the rubbing alcohol and jogged over to grab the power cord. It was a thick, black cord with three prongs which...didn't fit the monitor. "Of course." Junpei sighed and put the cord in another pocket, then moved so he could see Clover sitting down on the stairs. She had stopped crying, her eyes and nose red, and was staring despondently out at Science Boy. Her mouth was pinched and frustrated but a lot of the vitriol was gone. She was tired. They were all tired.

"Hey, Clover?" Even though Junpei tried to be quiet, she jumped. She must have been deep in thought. "Sorry."

She stood up and walked over to the grate. "Yeah?" Her voice was crackly from crying and once again quiet. The fight had left her at last.

"I need you to look around in that room. Can you do that for me?" He didn't want to make her do anything she didn't want to but...if she wanted to escape there—if she wanted to escape the Game—they needed to move. Thankfully, she nodded at him in agreement. "Thank you."

Junpei walked to the viewing window and watched as Clover poked around in the experiment area. She toggled switches on the machinery attached to the electrodes coming out of Science Boy's head but nothing happened. Next to the operating table was a table that had some surgical instruments and something that caught Clover's attention. She peered at it, leaning over the table in a way that made it hard for Junpei to see what she was doing.

"What's up?" Junpei shouted so Clover could hear him.

"There's some kind of...writing? Marker? It's on this table," Clover shouted back. "It's a bit smudged but...I think there's something else written beneath that? Like they covered up something."

"I have some rubbing alcohol if you want to try and remove it?" Junpei held up the bottle so she could see it. "Looks like there's a rag nearby so maybe that's the solution?"

"Yeah...maybe." Clover moved to the grate and Junpei met her there, handing her the bottle of rubbing alcohol. She lingered there for a moment, as if she wanted to ask Junpei something, but chose not to. That was fine. Whenever she was ready. Clover disappeared out of sight and, presumably, scrubbed the table. Then, from somewhere out of sight, she called out, "Do you have something to write with?"

"Yeah, uh, I have a notebook and a pen I found in the third class cabins." Junpei pulled them out of his hoodie pocket and offered them through the grate. Clover took them and disappeared again, then came back with them in her hand. On the paper, she had written down a tic-tac-toe style grid with the numbers one through four in a few grids. "Huh."

"I dunno what that's supposed to mean but..." Clover trailed off.

"Thanks." Junpei gave her a soft smile. "Uh, while you were in there, did you see any power cords? There's a monitor out here but the one I have has the wrong number of prongs."

"Uh...I think one of the machines wasn't plugged in. I can check that?" For all that it was bad they were separated, apparently it was doing wonders for Clover's mood in some ways. She was becoming more talkative, even if it was only in a puzzle solving way.

"Yeah, I'd appreciate it." Junpei followed her this time, walking his way to the viewing window. In his peripheral vision, Lotus was still standing there, concern evident. Junpei gave her a smile to ease her nerves as best he could and tilted his head toward the room, trying to communicate that it was okay. She seemed to pick up on that.

Clover knelt down and struggled with the cord then yelped and fell back on her butt. In her hand was a small black object. When she stood up again and turned to face the viewing window, she brandished the object at Junpei. "It came off!"

"Is it an adapter?" It looked to be the right size.

"Uh...I think so? The one you put things in has three prongs and the one you put into things has two." She frowned at the object.

"Yeah that's what I need." Junpei and Clover met at the grate again and she passed the adapter to him. He slotted it into the prongs of the cable, satisfied that it did its job. "That should let me power up the monitor. Thank you, Clover. You should be good to sit down for a bit. Maybe chat up Science Boy?"

"Science Boy?" Clover blinked at him, put off by what appeared to her as a non sequitur.

"The, uh, mannequin?" Junpei realized he might be blushing. His face felt warm for sure. "I - I named it."

Against all odds, Clover laughed. It wasn't mean-spirited, more startled and delighted. It was nice to hear after...everything.

"Hey!" He couldn't help but feel a little defensive about it. "Don't make fun of Science Boy!"

"I'm not making fun of Science Boy," Clover giggled. He'd take her laughing at him if it meant she was laughing.

"Don't make fun of me either." Junpei huffed, only slightly put off. Hearing her happy, even at his expense, really was wondrous. She deserved happiness. She deserved it all because—

Junpei winced. Clover's laughter trailed off. "Are you—"

"I've been fighting a headache all night," Junpei waved her concern off, not wanting to get into it. "It comes and goes. If I'm lucky, we can leave this room before I hurl. Now go sit down while I mess with this computer. You wanna borrow my notepad?" So you're not bored. She didn't move to sit down so Junpei passed her the notebook and pen after tearing the page Clover wrote on out and stuffing it in his pants pocket. She took it and sat down, immediately scribbling something on the paper, her face screwed in concentration.

Junpei plugged the monitor in and tapped a key on the keyboard. The monitor lit up and a string of numbers and letters scrolled across it in some sort of booting process. From where she was standing behind him, Lotus made a noise of interest. Junpei waved her to come over and she closed distance quickly, leaning over the keyboard to peer at the monitor with a strange intensity.

"You good with computers?" Junpei asked her.

"You could say that." Lotus continued to stare as the characters stopped scrolling and left only a single truncated word and a blinking cursor. "There we go. Password."

"Password?" Junpei stared at the monitor. Computers weren't his forte. All things considered, he was pretty bad with them. But if a computer was asking for a password they didn't have...

"Well the bad news about this is that I don't think we have any way to figure the password out the easy way." Lotus pulled out the chair in front of the monitor and keyboard. "The good news is that I'm here so we don't have to."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Junpei was about to continue asking her what she was on about but suddenly her fingers started flying across the keyboard. The sudden motion startled him into silence. What else was he to say to a woman who could hack. "Ah."

"Like I said," Lotus preened, "You could say I'm good with computers."

"'Good' is an understatement."

"Well it doesn't do anyone any good to brag about this kind of skill." She continued to type as she talked, undeterred by any external stimuli.

"So, what, you're hacking the computer?"

"Close enough. I'm building a program to crack the password. We don't have time to manually try every possible iteration of characters—especially considering we don't know the length of the password—so I'm making the computer do all the work for me. As any good gentleman should for a lady like myself." She was deflecting in a way.

Junpei didn't blame her. He was putting on a brave face too.

Something occurred to him at that moment that he hadn't asked about yet. "Hey, so, this monitor is wireless, right? Same with the keyboard?" Lotus gave him a dry look. "Alright, stupid question. I'll go chat with Clover then. Leave you to it."

"Thank you." It wasn't just for her benefit, really. She wanted him to make sure Clover was alright in the same way that she wanted to crack the password. "I'll call you when it's done."

Junpei walked over to the grate and knocked on it. Clover jumped a little and glared at him, scrubbing away frightened tears. He gave her a moment to collect herself while he listened to Lotus tap away at the keyboard. "How're you doing, Clover?" No response save a flat look. "Fair enough. Lotus is busy cracking the password so I thought I'd come and say hi, since you're all alone."

"It's only been a few minutes." She sniffed.

"Yeah, but still...," Junpei shrugged. "Figured I'd ask since you're in science jail." The withering glare she gave him made him chuckle. "So how have you been spending your time?"

"Math." Probably door math.

"Couldn't be me."

"Yeah, well, it's that or strike up a conversation with Science Boy, which is just sad." She rolled her eyes at him.

"Now you're being mean." Of course, he wasn't upset or anything, but the point remained. "But really: how are you?"

Clover gave it a long period of thought before she answered him. Her expression was rather unreadable, her tone as devoid of emotion as she could make it while sounding conversational. "How do you think?"

Good question. Fair. "I think you're worried about Snake, among other things. You're upset and angry. You have every right to be, of course, but you...trust me for some reason."

"Aren't you some kind of therapist?" She tried to affect bitterness, a sharp edge to her words, but Junpei wasn't buying it.

"I'm just making an educated guess." What else could he do? "I'm scared too, so that's not a reach. If I had a sibling—or if June went missing—I'd be angry too. Angry at Zero, angry at anyone who didn't take my concerns seriously. Worried is a given. I still don't know why you trust me though."

It looked as though Clover was going to answer his question when Lotus let out a triumphant shout. She clammed up immediately and warily looked at where Lotus was sitting. Junpei shook his head in amusement.

"I'll be back. You think you can hold on a little longer?"

Clover snorted and moved back to the stairs. "I'm not nine. I can be patient."

"Alright." With that said, he walked back to Lotus. "Got it?"

She grinned at him and pointed at the monitor, which now displayed a three-by-three grid of squares. "Done and done. Nothing to it."

"If you say so." Junpei peered at the grid. It looked...familiar. More familiar than simple deja vu. Wait, the thing Clover wrote down. He fished the note out of his pants pocket and clicked the squares in the order they were labeled in. One, two, three, four. All nine of them were green. Something to the side clicked.

The other set of lockers—the ones that were lit with red before, indicating they were locked—were now unlocked. Inside were two things: a small metal key marked with the symbol for Earth and a small key for some kind of electronic device. Junpei put the Earth key in his pocket, balled up and tossed the note Clover made, and inserted the second key into the keyhole in the control center. It turned without issue and the monitor on the control center lit up.

"Power restored to experimental device." Junpei read aloud. "Emergency system will activate in the event of abnormal subject behavior." What the hell did 'abnormal subject behavior' even mean? Well, if the control center was on, then that meant the machines in the experiment room should be working. He turned around and rapped his knuckles on the glass of the viewing window. "Clover?"

"What?" Clover stood up quickly and popped into view. She shoved the notebook and pen in her jacket, worried.

"The main control system is on now. Try messing with the machine hooked up to Science Boy again." It felt silly to say that name out loud, where Lotus could hear, but it worked. She moved to the knobs and fiddled with one. Nothing happened.

Her shoulders tensed and she looked back at Junpei through the window. "Nothing! I'm gonna try max voltage!" Before Junpei could warn her against that, she twisted the knob as far as it would go. The electrodes on Science Boy's head sparked dangerously, then caught fire. In fact, all of Science Boy's head caught fire. Clover shrieked.

So did Lotus as the fire alarm in the room shrieked. Through the viewing window, smoke began to obscure everything. Clover ducked down and kept her sleeve in front of her nose and mouth so she didn't inhale too much smoke. Junpei looked at the exits, trying to see if this was considered 'abnormal subject behavior'. Judging by the way the system informed them the emergency system was activated, it was likely.

The lights on the doors—both the one leading out of the room and the one that linked the experiment room to the viewing chamber—were green. Unlocked.

"Clover! The other door!" She looked at him through the glass then her gaze flicked to the door he was talking about. "It's unlocked! Head that way and we'll open it."

Lotus was way ahead of him. She grabbed the doorknob and threw it open, stepping to the side as Clover stumbled out, coughing. It swung closed as Clover got out of the way and Lotus opened the exit, holding the door for her as they filed out one after the other, free to breathe fresh air at last.

[xplrvibes]

apparently colby deleted a lot of pictures with shea, stas and amber from his socials and untagged them in others...very weird behavior if you ask me

Well, Amber came out of this...system restore activity largely unscathed (save for one picture, but he left a few other pics and a tiktok featuring her up), but Shea and Stas?

Yeah. They got the old heave-ho across both instagram and tiktok.

Is it weird behavior, though, when you really think about it? Shea especially has been talking shit for ages now; I figured someday her chickens would come home to roost (as the saying goes). I don't know what in particular set him off where she is concerned but 🤷‍♀️. She's lucky he didn't go any farther than he did with erasing her.

As for Stas, I honestly thought he took that tiktok down ages ago, after whatever went down between them where he had the shits of being shipped with her. The fact that it was still up until yesterday is the only thing that surprised me about that lol.

But honestly, even if he didn't go on this clean-up spree because of any private ongoing drama- fans won't stop using these girls against him as if he cheated on them with big bad mean Malia. Supposedly, there was a fan at the m&g who referred to Malia as Shea to her face (on purpose). Edits are being made comparing all these people and I'm sure his dm's are a shit show. If he wants to erase them cause he's sick of hearing about them or having his current girlfriend be compared unfavorably to them...I mean, I get it.

And if he did it cause he's trying to move on, or to prove his loyalty to his new girlfriend? Well, that's between them. As long as he isn't being forced into anything and this is what he wants to do (and knowing how he is, I guarantee if he didn't want to clear thr decks, they would not be cleared), then it is what it is.

[nyc-uws]

https://www.vikingrivercruises.com/ships/europe/index.html

Welcome to our Viking Longship 360° Our small, modern Viking Longships are elegantly designed for discovery and comfort. Each longship is identical and features all outside staterooms, serene Scandinavian spaces and light-filled public areas. To begin, select an area to explore from the menu on the right. Narrated tours are available by pressing the audio button at the bottom of the menu. You may also access a deck plan from the tab on the left. Welcome on board...virtually.

[stupid-hoe-shit]

hii, can u write another luffy smut? (also fluffy) i just felt that ur write w him is very accurate!!

In love with the feeling

luffy x fem! reader

- fandom -> one piece

- word count -> 2,725

- tags -> monkey d. luffy, monkey d. luffy/reader, vinsmoke sanji, mutual pining, established relationship, first-time blow jobs, first time, blow jobs, face-sitting, cunnilingus, porn with plot, porn with feelings, cowgirl position, teasing, fluff.

- ao3 link -> https://archiveofourown.org/works/37239892

-> i'm so sorry for not posting. hopefully, this will make up for it lol. thank you for requesting!! i made luffy extra needy in this one😉enjoy and let me know what you think!!

______________________________________________________

“Please! Just one bite!”, Luffy begs as Sanji gives you a cupcake.

“No Luffy! This is for her!”, Sanji yells. “Here you go, sweetheart”.

“Thank you, Sanji.” You say with a blush. You never got used to the attention Sanji would give you. He would always say sweet words and call you nice names. You couldn’t help but feel flattered.

Luffy pouts as you take a bite. You hum at the sweetest of the cupcake, making Luffy even more upset. As Sanji walks away, you look at Luffy with a sneaky look. You watch as Luffy sits there, grumpy.

“Hey, Luffy,” you whisper, trying to get his attention.

He points at himself, then looks behind him to see if you were talking to anyone else, even if you said his name.

“Yes, Luffy, I’m talking to you”, He walks over, wondering why you called him over. You hold out the rest of your cupcake for him, asking him to take it. He has hearts-for-eyes looking at the cupcake, staring at it with love. He grabs it and immediately shoved it into his mouth, loving the sweet taste of it.

“Thank you so much!”, he says with a big smile, “You’re the best!” he shouts.

You’ve had a thing for Luffy for a while now. You couldn’t help but have a soft spot for him. His determined eyes every time he seems an enemy, the way his smile lights up the whole room, everything. The crush you have on him has been innocent. Staring at him longer, blushing if he compliments you, etc. He has a way of sending butterflies to your stomach like no one has ever before.

Your heart flutters at his smile as you smile back. Suddenly, Usopp and Chopper call him over to fish. He smiles at you one more time before going over to them.

The moon shines in the dark, stars scattering throughout the sky. You watch the moonlight as it reflects upon the dark ocean water, cascading onto the ship.

Luffy watches you from afar as you sit on the edge of the deck. Your face is lit up by the moon, smiling up at the sky. You have always told the crew how much you love the stars and the moon. However, Luffy didn’t quite understand why. You told him something along the lines of ‘beautiful things are meant to be admired’. He didn’t quite understand when you first said it. But now…yeah, he gets it’s.

He understands because he’s looking at you.

His chest tightens and his stomach flutters. For the first time in a while, Luffy blushes. He stands there, eyes wide, mouth agape. He hasn’t really thought about you like this before. Hell, he hasn’t thought about anyone like this before. He doesn’t understand. He wants to hold you by your face, look at you in the eyes and tell you that you’re beautiful.

You hear footsteps approaching you as you watch stars. Before you can turn around, Luffy is grabbing you by your face, staring you straight in the eyes. He is inches away from your face, making your face hot. Your eyes are wide, shocked about the position you are in with your captain.

"You're beautiful," he says with his innocent tone. You audibly gasp. Luffy, the guy who has the attention span of a goldfish, called you beautiful. And you absolutely loved it.

You smile at him with hooded eyes, "Luffy...you're beautiful too", you tell him. He straightens his back, now sporting an intense blush. You have never seen your captain flustered before, let alone for you. Luffy slowly starts to form his signature wide smile, and giggles. Before he can say anything, you move in kiss his cheek. He stares in disbelief as you walk away, heading to your bedroom.

This was just the start...

——————————————————————————

After that night, you guys considered yourself a couple. It's been a couple of months since that night and everything is going better you could have imagined. You didn't even think Luffy knew how to be a boyfriend. But, surprisingly, he's a pretty good partner. Is he embarrassing in front of the crew? Sure. Does he choose food over you? Sometimes. But you make each other happy, and that's all that matters.

Right now you are cuddling in his room. His arms are wrapped around you tightly as he snores. As you try to fall asleep, however, you feel something poking at your back. You wiggle your hips to investigate but all you get is a groan from Luffy. He wakes up, upset.

"Hey! Why are moving around so much! I was having a good dream...", he complains.

"Luffy, you're poking me."

"No, I'm not!"

"Yes, you are!", you wiggle your hips once more, trying to show him where. However, once he realizes, he goes silent.

"Uhh...Luffy...?", you call out. You turn around to see his face bright red, eyes wide. You inspect further, looking at his body language. He looks stiff, almost uncomfortable. As you look further, you see something poking in his pants. The material of his pants is being pulled, making it obvious that he has a boner.

You and Luffy haven't done anything sexual. The farthest you have gotten was making out. You haven't even had the conversation yet. Sure you make jokes about it. However, it always goes over his head. Of course, you have thought about it. But you didn't think Luffy would be the type of person to even have sex. He seemed too focused on his dreams so you never brought it up.

In actuality, it was quite the opposite. Luffy's dreams of becoming king of the pirates will always be his top priority. But, he's a guy. And you know what guys are? Horny.

Luffy thinks about you sexually a lot. Like, a lot a lot. He never really thought about it before until he had a dream about you. It started off innocent, just you and him cuddling. Then, all of the sudden, you were on your knees sucking him off as he played with your hair. After that day, he couldn't stop thinking about you. He wanted to ask you, but the last thing he would ever want to do was make you uncomfortable. Also, he's content with just thinking about it. He doesn't really mind.

But he just couldn't help himself but think about you lying next to him. He couldn't help but just think about that dream again. He wanted to make it a reality.

"Luffy...are you hard?" you ask, your face burning up out of embarrassment

"Um, maybe?" he responds. You raise your eyebrow at his answer. Maybe? To a yes or no question? C'mon Luffy. However, he quickly gives in.

"Okay, okay! Yes, I am. But it was an accident, okay? I'm sorry." he says. You don't blame him, obviously. He couldn't control it. You just weren't expecting a tent in his pants.

"...well...do you...need help with it?" you ask before you can even think. You can't believe the words that leave your mouth.

“Yes”, he says as soon as the words leave your mouth. You turn over completely, facing him. You hesitantly kiss him, your lips clashing together. He moans into your mouth shamelessly, raking his hands in your hair. You break the kiss and move on top of him, straddling his waist. He feels the heat from your cunt on his cock and grabs both your thighs with his hands, stabilizing himself.

"Luffy I didn't know you were so...sensitive", you say, looking at him with a smirk. He grinds into you, unable to stop his hips from rutting. You whine at the feeling of his hard cock brushing against your clit.

"Mmm, please...just... do something!", he whines. You give in, moving your body downwards so that you are looking up at him with your face near his cock. You slowly unbutton his pants, pulling down his boxers with it. His cock flings out of his pants, precum dripping from his tip. It wasn't small, that's for sure. You couldn't help but lick your lips at the way the veins on his cock throbbed with need. Luffy let out a breath he didn't know he was holding.

You grab the base of it while watching Luffy, looking for a reaction. Even the smallest touch of your fingertips has him writhing. He couldn't help it. The way your small hand looked wrapped around him made him dizzy, the feeling in his gut intensifying. You stroked him up and down, looking at the way his precum just slips out of his tip and onto your hand. His heavy breathing and whines were all that took up your brain as your mouth made its way to his tip. As soon as your tongue hits his tip, he moans, grabbing the bedsheets. You suck on his tip, bobbing your head up and down.

"Yes, that feels so good", he praises, "Please go faster, please," he begged, chasing his release. You did as he said; since he asked oh-so nicely. As you quicken your pace, you also move your head down deeper, going as far as you can.

Luffy whines, "Yes, yes, oh my god, yes". His heavy breathing quickly becomes pants as you run your tongue on the underside of his cock. The sounds from him go straight to your core, soaking your underwear.

"I think- I'm- gonna cum!", he exclaims. You look each other in the eyes as he waits for you to move. However, you don't. In fact, you go deeper, wanting to feel his cum go down your throat. His eyes widen, realizing you want him to cum in your mouth, to swallow it all. It's this thought that has him cumming. His back is arching off the bed, his head tilted back, hands gripping the bedsheets as hard as he can.

You take your mouth off of him slowly, letting his cock fall limp. You look up to see him with a blissful smile. Luffy suddenly looks at you and says,

“Your turn!”

…Huh?!

“But, Luffy, this was about you,” you reason.

“Okay, well…now it’s about you!”, he says with his signature smile. Before you can react he’s sitting up, grabbing your arm and waist and situating you onto his chest.

“Lu-Luffy…are you sure?”, you gulp.

“Yes! Now come on!”

You hesitantly get off his chest and take off your shorts. As you do, you feel his stare on you. No shame, no embarrassment, just pure lust. You put your legs around his head, your pussy right above his hungry mouth. Luffy hums.

“There’s a wet spot.”

“Luffy!“, you cry out. You are about to die of embarrassment and nothing has even happened yet. He chuckles and loves your panties to the side to expose your wet, pretty cunt.

He put his hands on the back of your thighs and the feeling has you shivering. His warm fingers against your skin have you forcefully shutting your mouth to not let any noise out.

He tentatively licks against your underwear, his tongue bumping against your clit. You whimper, falling forward and catching yourself against the bed.

He continues to lick just like that. Soft, almost gentle. You let whines unintentionally, but you're slowly losing your will to care. He grips your thighs harder when your head falls back, moaning into your cunt. This sends a wave of vibration through your clit, like a shock of electricity.

“Oh my god, Luffy”, you breathe out. He continues to laugh at your reactions, having the time of his life watching you fall apart. But, he wants more. And if Luffy wants something, he gets it.

He puts his mouth around your clit and sucks.

Your eyes open wide as you moan into your hand, covering the noises. He hums onto your clit, sending more shockwaves through your body. He lets go of your clit, catching his breath.

“You look so pretty,” he says as he put his mouth right back onto your cunt. You whine, grabbing his hair and shoving his face closer to your pussy. You have never been this wet before. The way his tongue swipes across your clit has your head spinning, and soon enough, you're about to cum.

“Luffy, I- 'm cumming!” Your confession makes him go faster, moving his tongue in every direction. You throw your head back as you cum, the knot snapping inside of you.

Luffy can’t look away. The face your make, the noise you make, the noises your pussy makes, god. It's just too much for him to handle. He’s now rock hard again as you cum, swallowing it all. As you come down from your high, you move off of his face and onto his chest. You see your slick all over his face, making you even more embarrassed.

You lean down and kiss him, both of you smiling. Your taste yourself in his mouth as you swipe your tongue across his lips. You separate your lips and smile at him. However, Luffy seems to avoid eye contact with you again.

“What’s wrong Luffy?” you ask, nervous that you upset him in some way.

“…I’m hard again…”, he confesses. He thought you would be upset, however, you just laugh.

“Do you… need my help again?” You look at him in a way that makes him rut his hips. Your eyes, your smirk, everything.

“Yes,” he quickly responds.

You move your body down, shimming until you’re at his cock. Your rock your hips back and forth, dragging your pussy across his cock, teasing him. He moans, gripping the sheets.

He can’t wait any longer. He just can’t. Your warm cunt right above his cock, sliding in-between your folds.

“Put- put it in,” he stutters breathlessly.

“What do we say?” you tease. You can’t help it. The way he looks right now is something right out of porn. He looks so…needy.

“Please?” he whines, wanting, no, needing your pussy. Your face heats up at his begging, not expecting him, your captain, to beg for you.

You give him what he wants- and what you want too- by sinking down on his cock. The tips just slide in as you both gasp. The stretch is painful but good. So good that you sit

|completely down on his cock.

Luffy is in love. With you or the feeling? He isn’t sure. What he does know, however, is that he needs more.

He quickly grabs the back of your thighs, lifts up your hips, and starts going slow. His cock hits the spot that has your eyes rolling back.

“Lu- Luff- y,” you stammer out his name, “fe-feels so-o good.”

Hearing you choke out his name like that has him thrusting faster, pounding into you so fast you feel like you are about to break. The way your walls are fluttering against him has his cock throbbing.

“You feel so good around me like this,” he groans. He watches the way your breasts bounce in your shirt. He moves one of his hands under your shirt and gropes your breast. You moan at the feeling of his rough hands against your soft skin, his fingers brushing against your nipple.

“Luf- Luffy, I’m gonna- gonna cum!” You warn him. Your cunt clamps down on him, feeling so utterly full.

He brings the hand on your breast down to your clit, rubbing it back and forth. You cum, covering your mouth with your hand to hide your moans. Luffy cums shortly after, filling you up. It leaks out of your pussy, spilling all over your thighs.

You lay together, catching your breath. Your head lies in between in his neck, breathing in his scent and watching the sweat fall from his forehead and along his neck.

“Can we…do it again? Another time?” Luffy asks, looking in your eyes with hope. He’s basically bouncing up and down with excitement.

“I’d like that very much, Luffy,” you say smiling.

After you both clean up and head to bed, you cuddle, as you do every night. However, you feel Luffy clinging to you like a dog, his boner poking you in the back again. You can already tell this Is going to become a daily thing, but you’re not complaining.

——————————————————————————

[cherryswritinghub]

I Am James Vega

Mass Effect | James Vega | Shega | TW: Language

Chapter 2: Fallen Hero

(Previous Chapter)

The ship was still carrying the Cerberus logo, but Alliance crew members manned the stations. The guard presence was heavy. The air was tense. Vega looked around in disbelief as he followed Admiral Anderson through the command deck, wondering if this really was the infamous Normandy. Every man and woman in the Alliance knew about the Normandy. She was probably the most famous human ship ever to fly. She was the vessel that had responded to the distress signals on Eden Prime, back when the prothean beacon had been discovered. She had flown her crew to safety amid the volcanic eruptions of Therum, outran the nuclear destruction of Virmire, passed the never-before-survived Omega-4 relay, and left behind the smoking remains of the Collector home world. She had carried some of the most noteworthy aliens in galactic history, not to mention the single greatest hero of humanity's interstellar existence.

The men walked in silence. They stepped in to the elevator and waited, with nothing but the low hum of the mechanism making a sound. Vega watched the display panel with rising anticipation. Deck one. The door opened. Captain's Quarters. He followed Admiral Anderson past a pair of armed guards into the room beyond the sign. The cabin was dimly lit, with the main source of illumination coming from the tranquil aquarium. The room was large, sterile, and blandly furnished. A set of steps led down into the main bunk area, where a double bed stood coldly against the far wall. A bedside lamp was on. Vega's eyes fell upon the figure slouched over the edge of the bed, hands joined by shackles, hanging down between military boots. Dark hair obscured the individual's face in an unkempt, boyish style.

Vega stared. He could barely believe what he was seeing. Was this really...?

'Commander... Shepard?' he breathed.

She looked up. Soft light fell across her features as she appraised the stranger before her. But she was no stranger to him. This round, porcelain, child-like face with large hazel eyes and a pert little mouth, the slender shoulders and the tightly toned arms, the deceptive fragility of this petite form... it was unmistakable. This was the woman whose strength and courage had saved the galaxy from certain annihilation when no one else could. Her image had filled the inter-galactic media for the past two years unceasingly. She was a stranger to no one.

Her bright eyes flickered to Anderson, uncertainty behind them.

'Shepard,' said the Admiral, standing before the foot of the bed. 'I'd like you to meet Lieutenant James Vega.'

Vega remembered to blink. He saw the woman's gaze settle on him, and he gave her a sharp salute.

'Commander,' he greeted her formally.

Shepard's expression did not lighten. She looked utterly defeated, lost, alone, and so angry. She was the victim of incredible injustice, and it was painfully evident in her eyes. Without acknowledging Vega, she returned her attention to the Admiral, and said in a bitter voice:

'I told you I wouldn't try to escape.'

Anderson shifted uncomfortably. 'I know, Shepard. But the brass aren't going to just take your word for it – not after you commandeered the Normandy in lock-down two years ago. They want you under tight watch twenty-four-seven, and Vega is the man I've chosen for the job.'

'You're not staying?' she asked.

'I can't. I've got to arrange the defence case for your hearing. It was difficult enough getting the morons in charge to allow me access to you, and I almost had my request denied to put my own man on you during your incarceration.'

Commander Shepard stood up, still facing Anderson. Vega, seemingly forgotten, was struck by how small Shepard was in person. On the vids she had seemed so mighty, indestructible, larger than life. Never seen outside of her N7 armour, always armed to the teeth, ever ready, her daily life like an action movie, she had always appeared like some kind of superhero. Standing before him now was a mere girl. He could do nothing but stare.

'Anderson,' the Commander said softly, reaching out to take her old friend's hand. She gripped it tightly. 'Listen, I appreciate everything you've done for me. I really do. I know this isn't your fault.'

Admiral Anderson gave her a tired smile, forcing a glimmer of hope to shine through. It fell short of convincing. 'I will keep fighting this, Shepard,' he promised her. 'Just stay strong.'

'You may be fighting a losing battle, sir,' she replied sadly.

'I won't accept that. We need you, Shepard – not just the Alliance, but the entire galaxy. When the Reapers come, we won't stand a chance without you.'

The Reapers. A mysterious race of sentient machines supposedly responsible for purging the galaxy of organic life fifty-thousand years ago. Lieutenant Vega knew the stories. Every fifty-thousand years, when the races of the galaxy advanced to their evolutionary and technological peak, the Reapers had appeared from beyond Dark Space, obliterating billions, leaving only a few primitive forms of life to continue and repeat the cycle. No one knew what the Reapers actually were, their origin, their motive, or their purpose. Commander Shepard was the only living person to have actually spoken to a Reaper, and there were very few who actually believed her.

'Forget about me,' said Shepard firmly. 'You have to prepare for the Reapers. You have to convince the Alliance, convince the Council, get the races on your side. You need to build some kind of defence.'

'You know as well as I do, that's not going to happen, Shepard.'

'Damn it, Anderson, you've got to get those stupid SOBs to move their asses! The Reapers won't care that no one believes in them – they're coming anyway!'

'What do you expect me to do?' Anderson snapped. 'You were there. You've seen the way the Council dismissed your testimony. They doubted you back then, when you were a hero who had just saved the Citadel – you think they're gonna trust you now you're a damned war criminal?'

'I destroyed the relay because I had no other choice!' flared Shepard. 'I am not a criminal!'

'Try to see it through their eyes, Shepard. You join a known terrorist group, stir up trouble in the Terminus Systems, then blow up a major relay, killing tens of thousands of civilians in the process. Yeah, you did it to stop the Reapers getting through the relay, but when nobody in the galaxy even believes in the existence of the Reapers, that's a defence without a hope in hell of succeeding...'

Commander Shepard clenched her fists at her sides, her jaw tensing with the surge of frustration and anger. Lieutenant Vega observed in awkward silence. He felt like he was imposing, but there was nowhere for him to go, and he had not been dismissed. He watched Anderson and Shepard stare down at the ground in silence. He wondered what was going to happen. He wondered why he was here.

The Admiral straightened his suit jacket and took a deep breath. 'I have to get up to the bridge,' he announced wearily. 'We'll be leaving orbit soon.'

Shepard nodded. She glanced at Vega, as if she was only now noticing he was there. Her eyes skimmed his entire form, focused on the gash above his eye, and traced the line of blood that was dripping onto the floor.

'What did you do to him?' she asked Anderson half-amused.

Anderson smiled. 'He needed some convincing to take the job.'

Vega caught the flow of blood with his hand, looking down at the stain on the carpet. 'Hey,' he protested, 'don't take credit for someone else's work, Admiral. No way did I get messed up by you.'

The Commander gestured for Vega to leave, shooing him towards the door. 'Go get patched up in the med-bay,' she said. 'I don't want you bleeding all over my cabin.'

'Yes, ma'am.'

The two men walked away, leaving Shepard alone in the room that had become her cell. Vega felt a pang of guilt as he stepped outside. The Commander didn't deserve this. If this was galactic justice, then he wasn't even sure he wanted to be on the side of justice any more. Handcuffs? Armed guards at the door? Were they really necessary? The indignity of her situation was maddening.

They entered the elevator and Anderson paused, holding off on pressing the button. He faced Vega seriously.

'Lieutenant, I can see that you hold Shepard in high esteem,' he said. 'But you should remember that she's not your CO any more. I can't have you obeying your prisoner.'

Vega stared at him, surprised. 'But, sir-'

'By all means, take her advice to go get your injuries seen to,' Anderson continued. 'Just so long as you understand that she can't give orders.'

The young man frowned, concern crossing his scarred face. 'Permission to speak freely, Admiral,' he requested.

'Go ahead.'

He hit the door release key on the elevator controls and the doors slid shut, blocking them from the eyes and ears of the armed guards.

'This isn't right,' he blurted, the words rushing out. 'This is loco! The whole thing is. Commander Shepard saved the galaxy more than once, but she's been stripped of her rank and title, and clapped in chains like a damn criminal. While the brass and the aliens are all up in arms about some pointless trial, the Reapers are heading straight for us. It's totally messed up! You got me in here policing the hero of the century, while big evil machines are scheming to squish us like bugs – and she's the one who can deal with it! I'm expected to keep her from escaping? Hell, sir, I'd remove the cuffs and escort her off the ship myself the second you turn your back on me.' The Lieutenant rubbed the back of his neck self-consciously, heat flushing his features. He was drowning in the silence as his superior officer pinned him with his gaze. 'All due respect, Admiral...' he added. 'I'm the wrong guy for this.'

Anderson pursed his lips thoughtfully. He considered the young soldier before him for a long moment before responding simply: 'You're the only man I can trust.'

Vega's brow furrowed even deeper. 'Uh... didn't you hear what I just said?' The ridiculousness of the situation was beginning to make his head spin. 'Admiral, if you put me here, I'm going to help Commander Shepard escape. That's the bottom line.'

'James,' the officer addressed him frankly. 'You wanna know why you're the right man for this?' He pointed a finger at him. 'Because no soldier in the Alliance would have dared say to me what you just said. When I met you after Fehl Prime I felt like you reminded me of someone. That was the day you dropped out of the military, and the statement you gave sounded familiar. I read your files. I noticed something interesting: three words kept appearing again and again, in mission briefs, psych analyses, assessments by your commanding officers...' His dark eyes glinted in the light. 'Stubborn. Outspoken. Loyal. Those were the very same three words that had been used again and again in the files of Marie Shepard. The way you felt when you got promoted for Fehl? The same way she felt after Torfan. Soldiers like you and Shepard don't just obey orders – you believe in the cause. You do what you know is right, and damn the consequences. What Shepard did might have landed her in trouble, and it might have been a little extreme – might even have been wrong – but that's exactly what you would have done in her situation, and it bought us time to prepare for the Reaper onslaught. Without Shepard's extreme actions, without her conviction and courage to act outside of her orders, we wouldn't be here right now. No living person in this galaxy would.'

Vega was stunned. He had always been a supporter of Commander Shepard's choices, and he respected her more than any other Alliance officer alive. She was practically his hero. To be told by her mentor and closest friend that he was just like her was incredible. He couldn't believe Anderson was saying this.

The Admiral placed a hand on his shoulder, lowering his voice to a very focused level as he held the young soldier's gaze. 'James, I agree with you completely. I'd bust that woman out of here in a heartbeat if I thought it was necessary. But you have to understand something: the threat that faces us is not something that can be stopped by a single rogue soldier. I believe in Shepard, but there's no way she can fight these things alone. In order to stand a chance, she needs the support and aid of every species in the galaxy, all the governments, all the leaders, all the armies – working together to mount the biggest defence in history. You and I helping her escape isn't going to cut it. What we need to do is to help her and support her, fight for her, and argue her case. I intend to make the Council and the Alliance listen. I will make them see the bigger picture.'

'And me, sir?' asked Vega, conviction rising in his eyes.

'I need you to keep her safe,' Anderson told him firmly. 'She is a target right now, from many different directions. The batarians want her head. She's got a lot of enemies, even within the Alliance. And she just screwed over Cerberus big time. I need you to make sure that nothing happens to her while she's being tried.'

'So I'm not just here to keep her from escaping,' he realised. 'I'm stopping anyone getting in, just as much as I'm stopping her getting out.'

'Exactly. I've arranged for you to have sole direct access to her at all times. No one else gets in to her cell except you. I have to be able to rely on you while I'm out pursuing her case through official channels. Do you understand, Lieutenant?'

Vega nodded, a renewed sense of hope and determination filling him. 'Yes, sir,' he said sharply. 'Sorry I doubted you, sir.'

'No problem, James. And... just so we're clear: no break-outs?'

'Sure. Definitely.'

'I knew I could count on you.' Anderson activated the elevator controls and set the car in motion. 'Now let's get off this godforsaken space station...'

[georgiesdarling]

LET IT SNOW

— A CELEBRATION

i’ve decided to host a celebration, in the name of the christmas spirit, since the 25th is one week away. from now, until the 31th of december, my inbox will be open; go ahead and send in requests, and i will get back to everyone. happy holidays!

🎄: underneath the mistletoe

send me four or more facts about yourself and i’ll ship you with a character from harry potter, grey’s anatomy, percy jackson, or outer banks. please specify which gender you would prefer.

🎶 : fa la la la la la la

send me one of your favorite quotes. based off of your quote and your page, i’ll give you one of my favorite songs that reminds me of you.

🎥 : deck the halls

based on your page, i’ll tell you which aesthetic i think fits you best. (mutuals only)

📜 : i’ll be home for christmas

send me a character and a prompt, and i will attempt to write for it. (please see character list and writing guidelines)

🛁 : eggnog, please

send me any thirsty thoughts about characters and i’ll react. remember, i am a minor, so please be considerate.

— tagging mutuals

@siriuslynotdoingokayrn @missdowney94 @msblackx @stargazedmoony @fullmoonhate-club @canibeoneofthepogues @imarriedthemarauders @alwayscoldlady @bookishblueberry @dracoslittlesunflower @lupiningwolves @fairydxll @anythingforourmooony @fuckboyevan @moony-likes-hot-choc @carolinesalvawhore @couldibeanymorechaotic @thesecretwriter @accioroyals @o-rion-sta-r @siriusblklftv @dead-james-potter @wplfstar @weasleycore @mrs-brekker15 @mr-brekker15

[vilovebot]

♡~Blossoming Chaos - Prologue;

a genshin fan story by me~♡

A/N: I made this OC, then put them into the canon story and they got their own story. If it seems close to canon, thats because its literally my character's story events in the universe lolol

WARNINGS: tad bit of angst, fluff, comfort here n there, abuse, obsession, dissociation (?)

Inazuma. The land of eternity, and what was supposed to be a tranquil and picturesque place; however, since the reign of the infamous Raiden Shogun began, it only appeared that way to outsiders. To civilians of Inazuma and anyone who dare make it to this closed nation, it was an unofficial death wish. Due to the dangers that lie within the land known for wielding electro, you would only hope that making it here was an awful nightmare.

And unfortunately, it was where the Crux Fleet were heading. With the unexpected request of the traveller, and another temporary crewmate seeking refuge, the Alcor set sail as soon as possible. While for the others it was a normal expedition, Saiki didn’t realise what chaos was about to commence.

As Saiki helped other members of the crew throughout the day, they temporarily abandoned their duties and approached the traveller. A grin grew on their face to match the warm, welcoming eyes and personality they carry around like a pet, “Hey traveller!! It’s so epic to finally meet you, I’m Saiki!!” Traveller attempted to put a word in for herself, “My name is actually Lu-” Saiki interrupted enthusiastically, “Traveller is A LOT easier to remember, so I’ll stick with that! As I was saying, I’m the first mate of the Crux Fleet! And ‘cause the captain’s usually busy as hell, you’ll have to come to me for help!! I ain’t complaining though, means I get to know ya more!!”

As Saiki continued rambling, a certain cloudette bard snuck up behind them. He tapped Saiki’s shoulder, “I find it quite pitiful how I haven’t had such a warm-hearted welcome since I boarded.” Saiki wheezed, wrapping an arm around the well-worded gentleman, “Oh, c’mon Kazuha! I gave you a nice hello before the rest of the crew said theirs. Oh, speaking of introductions! We should head off to show ya around tra-” Saiki turned around, only to see Lumine looking out from the bridge of the ship, staring in awe at the blue abyss surrounding her. “Well, it seems that you’re dear traveller friend has different plans,” Kazuha chuckled, “I may as well join him. Farewell, first mate Saiki.”

Throughout the rest of the day, Saiki upheld their overly cheerful spirit while helping out the others on board. As for Kazuha and Lumine, they were bonding over the scenery they passed by until the sun was partially visible and the sky was a beautiful shade of orange.

As the captain of the fleet, Beidou, left the wheel in the hands of another crew member, Saiki rushed over to Beidou’s side. “There’s my girl!” Beidou exclaims, quickly grabbing Saiki’s hand and holding it tightly, “how were the crew today? I know I can trust you to tell me, first mate!” Saiki smiled, “They all worked really well, honestly better than usual, captain!” Saiki giggled, and proceeded to kiss Beidou’s cheek, “which I think means we should all enjoy a couple drinks tonight, wouldn’t ya say?” Beidou laughed, “You never fail to amuse me. However, I do agree with you.”

When Saiki first met Beidou, they were discussing plans on what to do after the destruction of the Jade Chamber, in which belonged to Ningguang, the almighty Tiaquan of Liyue. When Saiki first made eye contact with Beidou, it was serendipity; they never thought they’d meet someone who made their heart flutter immensely, and their head go light with admiration, let alone over a meeting with their superior.

After a night of getting tipsy with Saiki’s colleagues and guests, they all departed to their rooms, in which everyone went to peacefully sleep the night away. However, Saiki stayed on deck, in a dazed state. For them, nothing felt completely real in this moment of time. They stared at the necklace wrapped around their neck, grasping it in their left hand. As they felt along each and every indent, Saiki felt a cold hand on their shoulder, sending a sickening chill down their spine.

“It’s sickening how these people don’t treat you with enough… importance. Isn’t it, amica mea?”

Saiki recognised that voice.

They had no choice but to throw the golden retriever personality away in the sea below them. “My dearest, I don’t find it very welcoming of you to surprise me like that.” The unknown woman chuckled, somewhat amused at Saiki’s sudden state of shock and manner, “Sakura, you always know how to amuse me,” She caressed Saiki’s cheek, “You know what I’m here to discuss though, don’t you amica mea? You know our goal.” You nod, trying to bring a subtle smile upon your face, “Yes, Signora, I’m very much aware. Before you know it, I’ll have a gnosis within my grasp, as well as the blood of many stained to my body.” Signora kissed them, as Saiki silently sobbed. They didn’t want to hurt anyone. They didn’t want to hurt Beidou. Even just thinking about it felt like someone had put a dagger of sculpted ice through Saiki’s heart, and the hot blood trickling down their body rapidly-

And with that, Saiki awoke. They felt cold and hot at the same time, with sweat running down their forehead. Beidou was next to them, a concerned look on her face. As Beidou and Saiki’s eyes locked together, Saiki fell into Beidou’s arms, sobbing uncontrollably. “Was it another nightmare about her again?” she whispered, attempting to keep her tone as soft as possible. All Saiki could do was murmur a “mhm”, and that’s all that Beidou needed to know. Calmly trying to console Saiki, Beidou spoke softly, “I’ve got you sweetheart, ok? As long as I’m here, Signora won’t be able to merely glance in your direction.” Saiki hugged her tighter, before Beidou tilted their chin up and kissed them gently, “I love you, K? I always will, no matter what.” Saiki rested their head on Beidou’s shoulder, burrowing their face into her neck as Saiki slowly fell asleep once more. It truly was as if they we’re made for each other, seeing how they so easily melt into each other’s touch.

After multiple days of the same cycle, Saiki and the rest of the fleet made it through the usually fatal storm, and had finally arrived at Inazuma. Little did any of them know that chaos was blossoming, and the flames of crimson were ignited as they started to slowly form into a raging phoenix.

[ragingbookdragon]

Before You Go, Was I Someone You Loved? PT. 4

A Shay Cormac x Reader Story

Word Count: 1,765 Warnings: Slight Angst, Explicit Language

Author’s Note: I wish you could see the scene in my head. And God knows I wish I could write it as well as I can imagine it. Enjoy! -Thorne

“Mister Finnegan, if I had a pound for every time you groaned like that, I’d be a very, very, very, rich woman.” She grinned at the older man sitting beside her on the sofa, watching as he rested his head back against the seat.

           Barry let out another groan. “Come off it, (Y/N). I’ve a right to release my frustration.”

           She snorted, folding the blanket into a neat square. “I think you’ve been releasing frustration for about fifty years.” (Y/N) set the blanket across the back of the sofa and quipped, “How have you not run out of it yet?”

           He glared at her. “Because for some reason I keep collecting fools in my home.”

           A laugh sounded in her throat and she rose from the couch, resting the basket on her hip. “Not the first, certainly not the last.” (Y/N) grinned as she walked to the stairs, hearing Barry let out another groan.

           When she reached the top of the stairs, she stepped into her room, beginning to empty the basket. She quietly hummed to herself, glancing over her shoulder as footsteps sounded behind her.

           “Here you are, (Y/N).” Cassidy walked over to her, busying herself with organizing the clothes. “I was wondering where you’d gone.”

           “I’m here, there, and everywhere, Cassidy.”

           The older woman huffed a laugh. “That you are, dear.” She paused a moment and looked out the window. “Such a beautiful sunset.”

           (Y/N) shifted her gaze to the glass panes as well, hands halting as she stared. “Agreed.” She glanced at Cassidy. “Would you like to take an evening walk with me? It’s not too terribly warm out.”

           A smile grew on the older woman’s face and she nodded. “That sounds like a fantastic idea, (Y/N).” She set the folded tunics in a neat pile. “I’ll go ready our shawls.”

           The younger woman watched her leave before sighing pleasantly, following moments later.

***

           “Sometimes I feel as though New York comes alive more at night than it does in the day.”

           (Y/N) tipped her head in acknowledgment, gently tugging Cassidy’s arm to guide her from the battalion of redcoats coming their way. “Has it changed much since you were a young woman?”

           Cassidy nodded, pausing to look both ways down the street before they crossed over. “It has…I remember when many of the roads were still dirt and not cobblestone.” She smiled, and for a moment, (Y/N) thought she looked younger than she had in years. “I met Barry on that road over there.” Cassidy nodded her head towards a corner. “Drunkenly stumbled into me coming out of the tavern with his friends one night.” She met the other’s eyes and grinned, “I slapped him sober and the rest is history.” (Y/N) couldn’t help but practically cackle at the mental image of a younger Cassidy Finnegan slapping Barry Finnegan silly.

           They walked around the other side of the neighborhood and suddenly Cassidy went still. (Y/N) glanced over, slightly concerned, but saw a smile growing on the woman’s face. “Cassidy?”

           “He’s back!” she replied happily.

           (Y/N) tipped her head to the side and followed her line of sight, seeing the main mast of a ship coming into a harbor. Fort Arsenal’s harbor, to be exact. “He’s back then? The owner of the fort?”

           Cassidy stared at her with confusion. “You know him?”

           She shook her head. “Not…exactly?” The woman cocked an eyebrow and (Y/N) admitted hurriedly, “I heard you and Mister Finnegan talking about the fort some time ago and all those nightly walks have actually been a cover for going over to clean the mansion.”

           The older woman’s eyes grew large and round. “What? You mean you’ve been out every night to clean the fort?” (Y/N) nodded, and Cassidy pulled a satisfied look. “Well then, I guess we should go over and introduce you to the owner.”

           As they passed through the gates and neared the mansion, (Y/N) halted, pointing at the basket. “Wait, let’s give those muffins to the sailors.”

           “Of course, but why?”

           “Well, they’ve probably been out for a while. I figure a nice carrot muffin would taste fantastic compared to biscuits and salted pork.”

           “Oh, that’s a fantastic point.” She handed (Y/N) the basket. “You should be the one to, since it’s your idea.”

           The younger woman nodded, and they started back on the walk over. They neared the ship and (Y/N) cocked her head to the side, catching sight of the lettering on the back of the ship. “The Morrigan?” she whispered.

           “Did you say something, dear?”

           She shook her head but felt something sharp grind it’s way through her chest as they neared the gangway. (Y/N) waved at the sailors beginning to look their way. “Hello gentlemen! Is your captain aboard?” A few of the sailors started speaking at once and she snorted. “Please, one at a time.”

           A young man, couldn’t have been older than eighteen, stepped up and pointed towards the cabin. “Aye Miss. He’s talking with the first mate and their boss.”

           (Y/N) nodded, raising the basket, and gently tugging at Cassidy’s arm. “Your captain is a friend of Miss Finnegan’s, and I’ve been taking care of Fort Arsenal in his absence. Might we come aboard to greet the captain? You can have some of these muffins if you do.” The sailor’s faces lit up and they nodded excitedly.

           Before she could even lift her foot, one of them shouted, “Don’t step with—”

           “With your left, I know!” (Y/N) placed her right foot on the gangway and helped Cassidy up as well. “I know how the superstitions work.” Though her words had a bite, she smiled all the same, and soon she and the older woman stood in the center of the ship, talking to the sailors who had started stuffing their faces with the muffins. “Easy, gentlemen. Save some for the captain and first mate.”

           They offered her smiles and the one who’d addressed (Y/N) turned to Cassidy. “It’s good to see you again Missus Finnegan. How’s the old husband?”

           The older woman snorted. “He’s just as oafish as ever, Michael.” She shook (Y/N)’s arm. “Picking on Miss (Y/N) all the time. Rude.”

           “He’s not so bad, Cassidy. Just being a grumpy old man.” (Y/N) laughed. “Imagine if he wasn’t grumpy.”

           Cassidy pressed a hand to her chest. “Perish the thought! It’d be as if I’d married a stranger!”

           The sailors around them laughed, and Michael turned his attention to (Y/N). “Miss (Y/N), was it?” She nodded and he smiled. “How’d you come to start cleaning the captain’s home?”

           “Oh, I needed a place of employment and Cassidy and Mister Finnegan had mentioned that your captain didn’t have a staff at Fort Arsenal.”

           “Aye,” Michael agreed. “Captain Cormac spends most of his time here than he does there.”

           (Y/N) blinked, suddenly unsure as if she’d heard him correctly. “I’m sorry, did you say Corm—”

           A door opening cut her off, followed by, “Far be it from me to tell you how to do this, Captain, but I would go the other way.”

           “Why not?” said a familiar Irish voice. “I don’t see the harm in taking a few risks. Don’t you?”

           She saw a man in a navy-blue tricorn pass, followed by a man in frontiersman leathers. Then, he stepped to the side, and the sight of the third man made the basket fall from her grip, slamming into the deck with a thump.

           The contents spilled across the deck, causing them to look in the direction of it, but only one reacted, taking a step forward, voice laced with disbelief. “(Y/N)?”

           Ignoring Cassidy’s worried gaze, (Y/N) shifted on weak legs, whispering, “Shay?” There seemed to be a stretching silence growing amongst the crew who quietly watched the two stand before one another. (Y/N) raised trembling hands, gently placing them on his biceps, squeezing. “You…you’re here.”

           “Aye,” he murmured, feeling her hands drift up his shoulders to cradle his face.

           She ran her thumbs across his cheeks, and huffed a watery laugh, feeling the tears threatening to spill over. “You’re ali—” she went silent, swallowing the lump in her throat as she met his stare, lamenting, “I watched you…fall. I—” Her grip became a little tighter. “I saw you go over the edge.”

           A frown grew across Shay’s face and he reached up, placing one of his hands over hers. “Aye…you did.”

           Her lower lip trembled and she breathed, “But you’re here…you’re in front of me.” She laughed and caressed his cheek again. “And you’re clean shaven and looking like a gentleman.”

           His eyes narrowed with a certain fondness, revealing a warm smile. “Amazing what a shave and haircut can accomplish, eh?”

           (Y/N) grinned, then suddenly remembering, she faltered, questioning, “You’ve been alive all this time?” He nodded and her hands left his face for a moment, then with a sharp snap, her palm sent his head turning sideways. Gasps sounded from behind her, but she paid no mind to them, watching Shay grab his cheek and stare wide-eyed at her. “Two years,” she hissed through her tears. “Two years I have still grieved your loss and you’ve been alive all this time?” She shook her head in disbelief. “Why didn’t you try to contact me?! Let me know you were alive!”

           “I—” He started but she wasn’t having it.

           “A letter, Shay! You could’ve sent me a letter to at least to let me know you were alive! Hell, a simple message would’ve sufficed!”

           Trying to defend himself, he simply returned, “I’ve been busy!”

           (Y/N) glowered and him and reached out, shoving him backwards. “Oh! You haven’t hanged a bit, Shay Cormac! You—you Irish bastard! Always making excuses!”

           “That is not an excuse, (Y/N).” He defended.

           “Oh, piss it’s not! If anything is your specialty, it’s making excuses!” She spun on her heel, stomping towards the ramp. “And messes!”

           “Where are you going?!” He called.

           She turned and glowered at him. “I’m going to Fort Arsenal to start your dinner!”

           “You’re what?”

           “I’m going to make your dinner!” She repeated. “And when you fall over from the botulism, I’ll be happy to know that you’ve keeled over for good!” (Y/N) audibly growled as she stomped down the gangway.

           The crew and Cassidy stared at the retreating woman, and Shay trotted over to the portside and shouted, “I’m glad to see you again, lass! I’ve missed your lovely self and cruel words!”

           “You are a bastard and I hope you fall overboard!”

           Shay grinned, placing his hands on his hips. “Aye, she loves me though.”