#WAIT BARK IS A POLAR BEAR?

[theramblingsofadork]

Look at these three mooks 💖

[lunastars21]

Honestly, I don’t think that Bean and Bark will split up from Fang forever. Because in the letters squad section from issue 4, while it states that the Fang gang are at a sorry shape at the end of this miniseries, it also suggests that they can patch things up and become a team again. Plus it states that it seems like they are taking a break suggesting that it is temporary. I do wonder what media will have them show them reuniting together again whether it is a new classic game, an update/Plus edition of Sonic superstars where it takes place after the main campaign, as well as Trip’s campaign and the final section of the game. Or even in a new comic.

Yeah I did see that when I got my physical copy. And if they worked so hard to seperate them they should work twice as harder to reunite them together, I want an apology so good from fang that I start crying DAMN IT!

And we'll since sonic mania and sonic origins got plus versions, why can't superstars have one right? Each plus version came out a year later after the original games release, so if we are still going by that pattern, I assume superstars plus will release in October. But that's just my theory!

[koiiiji]

just short sketch that came to my mind when i saw this pics that are so juhwan coded, i swear🤣🫡

pure fluff 🫧𓇼𓏲🦈🩵

───── ⋆⋅ *🦈* ⋅⋆ ─────

in the corridors of your high school, tranquility eluded you ever since encountering the members of the trident crew. each day started with Jason's jovial scrutiny of your sneakers, "nice kicks, but are you sure they can handle the hallways today?" Jason quipped, a grin tugging at his lips. you chuckled, rolling your eyes. "they'll survive, unlike your taste in music." banter and camaraderie enveloped your morning ritual as you traversed together, exchanging greetings and jests with other members of the crew. however, discord invariably erupted upon encountering Juhwan, igniting heated debates on the powers of sharks versus crocodiles.

"seriously, mate, croc would tear a shark apart in seconds," you argued, leaning on a desk behind you, a mischievous glint in your eyes.

"you're delusional if you think a crocodile stands a chance against the sheer power of a shark's jaws." Juhwan scoffed, his expression incredulous. and Jason interjected with a chuckle, "alright, guys, let's not turn the hallway into a battlefield." he remembered the last time Juhwan took your banter too seriously and they had to drag you two to different ends of the corridor, since you didn't figure out who would be stronger in the water - a polar bear or a shark.

yet, beneath the facade of rivalry, it was a playful way to catch Juhwan’s attention, albeit he often took the bait too earnestly.

───── ⋆⋅ *🦈* ⋅⋆ ─────

after the final bell tolled and obligations were fulfilled, you were on your way to home with the trident crew. but by a strange coincidence, the guys were running away somewhere along the way - someone was remembering sudden classes with a tutor, someone was talking about a date with a girl (one bro was dumb as a tree stump and the other couldn't even connect two words next to a girl) , and Jason left for a meeting to buy another new pair of sneakers as the group dispersed. leaving you and Juhwan in a secluded moment, the air crackled with anticipation.

"hey, Juhwan, did you know that orcas actually—"

"don't you even dare to start that again," Juhwan interrupted, his tone laced with amusement yet a hint of warning. you stopped where you were and barked at him "hey!! why do you mean don’t you dare??! who you think you are to shut me down!! hey!! Juhwan i talk to you!!" you scream at his back as he kept walking forward. deciding to resort to extreme measures, you threw your sneaker at him.

"hey! are you insane?! why are you throwing your shoes" he shouted back at you, pretending to rub the bruised place, of course your shot wasn’t so serious and didn’t cause any harm to him.

"actually, we didn't finish talking that afternoon!! you're a fool Juhwan if you think sharks can beat orcas." you were still standing where you left off, and when he turned around, Juhwan caught his breath. you looked so beautiful in the light of the night city, when you were surrounded by night lights and neon banners. you were so cute, it seems that you are now taking your own jokes too seriously as your eyebrows furrowed so sweetly when you were waiting for his answer. there was no negativity in your eyes, on the contrary, it seems a little more and you would have managed to make puppy eyes.

suddenly he came closer to you, and stood right in front of you, staring straight into your eyes. in fact, despite his relaxed expression, the greatest battle of doubts and fears was going on inside him in those seconds. he hesitated, but some force (trident crew in the bushes behind him) pushed him, and he abruptly hugged you and kissed you timidly on the cheek.

"y-you see, no orcas can d-defeat a shark," he smile fussy, his eyes sparkling and he start blushing nervously as you stared at him with wide eyes.

"you know…" you trailed off, a playful smirk dancing on your lips. grabbing him by the collar and pulling him towards you, his eyes widened in surprise, his breath catching in his throat as you closed the distance between you.

in one bold move, you pressed your lips to his, the kiss catching him off guard but in the most delightful way. for a moment, there was nothing but the exhilarating rush of adrenaline coursing through your veins as you savored the sweet taste of his lips against yours. as the kiss deepened, you felt Juhwan's hesitation melt away, his arms wrapping around you instinctively as he responded to your embrace.

breaking away from each other, you whispered into his lips, "you see, it seems like orcas will be stronger than sharks." he chuckles softly.

───── ⋆⋅ *🦈* ⋅⋆ ─────

*real footage of Juhwan and its so cute!! my boy deserves all fights with Monster that he craving for☝🏻😙🌊🦈

[alexazucchie]

STH Rarepair Week 24 - Day 1 - First Encounter - Amy x Bark

HAHAHA I DID IT

I WROTE IT

FOR THE SWEETIES

Thanks to @sonicrarepairweek2024 for the event that got me writing in English for the first time in my life!! (And to The Art of Letting Go EP by ANA that bangs as hell and kept me alive through the writing process)(I found out this music randomly and it turned out to be great)

The IDW comic shows the first encounter of Amy and Bark (I guess? I read it like a year ago,,, but now I think it did), but I got the vibe and reimagined it. This entire event will be severely vibe-based because I’m still unaware of the most of the Sonic lore :D

Fic under the cut! TW: amateur writing and possible grammar mistakes (I’ll fix it tomorrow after a good sleep)

The sun pours its light down on hills. It’d be hot today if there wasn’t a chilly breeze.

Another gust drags an umbrella from Amy Rose’s hands and makes it float away. She, who’s been trying to set it up, lets out a cry and follows it, but fails to catch it. With her eyes fixed on the umbrella she doesn’t watch her way and almost trips—but bumps into someone soft. 

Amy looks up and sees a bear. He holds the umbrella awkwardly with both hands, like he doesn’t know what to do with it. 

Few moments past, he hands it over to Amy, murmuring, “Here it is, ma’am.” 

“Thank you!” she chirps. “You are so strong—would you please help me to get everything ready for a picnic?” 

Amy’s been waiting for Sonic and Tails. Three of them always have picnics on Sundays, but today they seem to be late.

“We haven’t met, but if you joined us, it’d be a great chance to get to know each other! I’m Amy Rose, and what’s your name?” Amy inquires when watching the bear set up the umbrella effortlessly. 

“Bark. Bark the Polar Bear,” he mumbles in reply. 

He has to go, actually, but he doesn’t know how to put it to not offend the young lady. He’s on a mission—Fang and Bean, need him to complete his part of their plan. How has he ever managed to appear in the girl’s way?.. He sighs into his scarf and kneels to help her.

But it feels nice to unroll the colorful blankets and fill them with all kinds of snacks while listening to Amy’s sweet rumbling. It feels much better than doing what they call mischief-making—as soon as Bark listened to the Hooligan’s plan for today, he didn’t like it, considering it nasty. The girl would be upset to know that he was a part  of something like that.

“Won’t you stick around? Are you sure?” Amy asks when they are done. 

Bark shakes his head and gets up. He is both flustered and strangely happy, and both of the feelings make him want to walk away. 

“Okay… Thank you for the help anyway! I’ll be looking forward to seeing you again!” 

Amy waves goodbye to Bark until he’s not in sight, and soon after that she turns around to Sonic’s loud greeting. 

“Sorry for the lag, Am—we’ve got in a fight with guys who call themselves the Hooligans. Luckily, something went wrong on their side, so we’re here alive and well.”

“I’m just happy to have you here! It’s a pity though that you didn’t see the guy that has just gone away… He was so nice and helped me!”

✨

Thank for reading this far! I’m a better writer, I promise, this piece is mid because I was focused on simply putting words together rather than making it good. But I hope it’s any good! Not too bad for the first time I think!

[azuredragoonterra]

Alright fuckers time for the most cursed shit you've read today.

Sonic characters replacing the Berserk cast.

Its litterally just Berserk but instead the characters are Sonic dudes. Fuck my brain for coming up with this.

(Also to clarify, I'm not trying to draw meaningful parallels between the characters here, I'm just tossing them into the fiction blender and setting it to 10)

Alright so Guts=Shadow is so fucking obvious I don't even have to say it. Who the fuck else is gonna be that angsty and tragic.

This means logically we need to make Griffith=Sonic. It might hard to imagine the blue blur in such a villainous role, but like, he's pretty hard-lined about his ideals of freedom and independence. I could see him wanting to build a kingdom outta that. (Also he was voiced by Jason Griffith like c'mon this shit writes itself)

Casca=Amy is probabaly hella controversial but hear me out. She needs to idolize Sonic but still be able to form a strong emotional connection to Shadow. Take the badass leader role she took up in the IDW resistance/restoration and she fits like a glove. (Before you ask, I'm not writing this to ship shadamy, I'm just sick in the head.)

Ok so Rickert has gotta be Tails right? Like we've got our little inventor fox, idolizes Sonic, but ultimately has to find his own strength. Oh and can you imagine the slap?! Oblitetate that blue twink you funky lil fox!

Nearly forgot Puck! Initially I thought all the elves would just be Chao but then I realized... he's Chip from Sonic Unleashed. Chip as Puck is nearly 1 to 1 honestly.

E-123 Omega can be Zodd, why not. Big murder man who wants a good fight...

Shit wait maybe he should be Zavok... fuck that makes so much sense...

The Godhand are all just gonna be various eldritch super sonic bosses. Chaos, Iblis, Dark Gaia, etc. Make Void=Infinite for bonus irony points in the name.

The idea of evil is The End

Femto will be played by Neo Metal Sonic. I love the idea that Griffiths transformation made him cold, inhuman, not himself. While still obviously being who he always was underneath. Also keeps with the rest of the godhand being final bosses. Jumping forward a bit, I think when he reincarnates he oughta appear as super sonic constantly.

Ok we got the ever-green characters outta the way let's get granular.

The band of the hawk as Sonic bitches

So I don't wanna put too many iconic characters in the band and the actually relevant characters are sparce so real quick...

Corkus can be Fang/Nack. Cus he's a weasley little bitch (affectionate)

To that end let's keep team Hooligan connected and have Pippin be Bark the polar bear.

Gaston as Bean? Dude I got nothing gaston was kinda just there

Judeau however? Espio. Knife throwing.

While we're in the golden age...

Minister foss is Orbot

Charlotte's uncle, the guy Guts assassinates? Dr. Starline

Queen of Midland... Rouge? I deadass have nothing else for Rouge.

You can probabaly guess who the king and Charlotte are but they are at the bottom of the list for dramatic / comical /gross out effect.

Guts JRPG party as Sonic bozos.

Farnese shall be Blaze. They've got an affinity for fire, confidence issues, noble status, and a religious affiliation (blaze as guardian of the Sol emeralds, close enough)

Serpico is definitely Silver then. His close relationship to Farnese/Blaze as well as somewhat whimsical attitude all line up well. And Silver's telekinesis lines up well with Serpico's eventual wind powers.

Speaking of religious affiliations, Azan can be Knuckles! Hes goofy but strong and devoted to his cause.

Isidro has gotta be Charmy Bee. No not JUST because hes an annoying little shit... also cus his bee stinger subs in well for a dagger.

Shireke is gonna be Cream the Rabit. Mostly this is an in-joke on Creams high power in gameplay, and it also let's her elf Comapnion be played by Cheese the Chao.

By extension to the above. Flora ends up being Vanilia. I ALMOST decided skullknight would he vector just to continue the milf-hunter crocodile joke but came up with something better.

Ok if you've survived this far let's get into the dumb shit cus ohhh I've got some dumb shit.

SkullKnight is Big the Cat. I want all of his ominous warnings in the dopeyist voice possible. Also when he pops his helmet open to eat a Behliet (chaos emerald) it turns out it's actually just froggy in there.

Eggman is the King of Midland, SAGE is Charlotte. I'm sorry for all of the mental images this may have conjured.

Speaking of awful mental images, Gambino is Gerald Robotnik tortured over the death of his Granddaughter Maria when she caught the plague after taking in Shadow. This of all things is the one thing my brain automatically re-writes to make less weird. They ain't fucking.

That said? Gerald did make a deal... a transaction one might call it, with a certain Black Doom in sonic itself... I'm not elaborating yall can figure it out, yuck.

Elaine, aka broken Casca, is mid 2000s Amy when she had no good character traits. (Except elaine is still somehow like a million times better.)

The moonlight boy is a sonic Chao

[mercurygray]

Could you do 13. Picture (One-Word prompts) for Isabel Corbett?

Isabel Corbett comes to us from All Creatures Great and Small, where her father is the Darrowby GP and she herself has just finished medical school and is now navigating the heavy world of job hunting.

Norfolk certainly wasn't Yorkshire.

But a job was a job, and small towns in England were the same the whole island over, even if the folks down here looked at her funny and called her accent strange, and asked a second time exactly where she'd done her schooling, as if they weren't sure what folk knew about anything up 'up north'.

It was London, if you must know, and Doctor Harrison hired me to be his locum, so if you have some issue with it I suggest you take it up with him in three months. But until that time, I'm rather afraid you're stuck with me.

That was what Isabel wanted to say, but sharp words made terrible neighbors, so she kept her opinions to herself, and focused on things she could control - the state of the surgery waiting room, and making sure Mrs. Mendel, the secretary, was paid on time so that she'd at least have that to say when it came to recommendations.

"You sound lonely," her dad remarked, as she made her weekly call from the phonebox in town. "Are you getting out at all?"

"I walk Poppy twice a day!"

"That's not what I meant, Iss. Are you meeting people? I thought there was supposed to be a - an RAF base thereabouts or something. Norfolk's supposed to be filled with fliers."

"If you're trying to find me a boyfriend, Dad, I have to tell you -"

"I'm telling you you need to find some people your own age, Iss. Have some fun! You're only young once and there's a war on."

She'd never been more grateful to hear the tones go. "That's the pips, Dad. I'm out of change. Love you!"

"Love you too, Isab-" and there was the tone, indicating that the call had dropped. Isabel sighed and hung the handset back up on the phone, pushing the well-thumbed book back into its slot under the and trying to rearrange Poppy's leash, which had wrapped around her owner's body twice while she'd been standing there talking.

"Come on, Pops, let's get home."

It wasn't just finding a fellow, was it? It was going out and being seen with him, when she was supposed to be the doctor, supposed to be above reproach. If she were seen in the pub they'd say she was loose, that she was young, that she shouldn't be trusted with such an important thing as the general health of Brockdish and Needham and Thorpe Abbotts. Well, I'm terribly sorry, but there's a war on, and most of the young men are being snapped up by the army, and most of the older men are what's left, and they need vacations the same as anyone, so I'm about all that's left.

Her father was right - she was lonely. She was on her own, after they closed the surgery for the day, and there wasn't much doing in Needham that wasn't the pub. She was reading a novel and trying to get better at darning. There was always the Lancet to catch up on. The BBC had a very good hour of music after dinner, and she was getting rather good at cottage pies, after she scorched a good half-dozen of them and nearly destroyed a pan boiling the potatoes. Poppy was just about the only source of conversation - and being a dachshund, she wasn't saying much.

She was glad she'd brought the dog, though. People liked Poppy - and how could they not? She was small and different and mostly friendly, once she'd had a sniff around.

Poppy let out a bark, and Isabel looked up to see what was either a large white dog or a very small polar bear bounding down the walk, tongue lolling in perfect pleasure, straining at the leash. "Meatball, calm down, will ya? Maybe she doesn't want to meet you, you big dummy. Sorry, miss, he's a bit - of a one track mind today, if you follow me. You might want to keep her back a bit."

"How very American of him," Isabel replied, feeling more than a little prickly at the moment. One of them, Dad? Is that what you want for me?

The American looked for a moment like she'd punched him, and then smiled, wrapping the dog's leash around his hand to rein him in a little. "Fair enough, miss," he allowed with a shrug. "She have a name?"

"Poppy," she offered, not really sure why she was answering his questions. "Like the flower. Dare I ask how he came by Meatball?"

"Not really sure, miss, he came to me with it. But sometimes a meatball's a - a dumb guy, you know?" He was smiling about it. "And he's smart, when he wants, but he's - he's dumb, too. Kinda like his owner." He pressed his lips together for a moment,thinking about something. "Does - ah - does her owner have a name, too?"

"Not one she feels like sharing at the moment."

His face fell a little. "Oh. Well, ah - if Poppy is free on Saturday night, there's a - a dance at the base. Meatball's probably gonna be outside. If she wanted she could, ah. Could join us. Since she's better behaved than he is. There's snacks, kitchen's doing a whole spread, and a bar."

Her stomach almost rumbled at the thought of what a full stocked American spread would look like - there were already tales in the surgery of unheard wonders from the kitchen at the airfield over at Thorpe Abbotts. And there was something endearing about the question, about the way he'd ducked his head and reined in his smile, as if he, too, perhaps, were from a small town, and knew something about how people could judge, and all the things he'd probably been told by the army about first impressions.

"And a lot of guys would be - be real glad to talk to a girl for a change," he added, which somewhat soured the picture as her father's words came back in full force. You're only young once and there's a war on. "Especially a pretty one."

Don't push your luck. "I'll see if she's free," Isabel offered, still feeling prickly. He nodded, feeling that this was a fair answer and touching his cap so he could tug Meatball on their way,the dog still straining on the leash, trying to get a sniff in at Poppy.

The dog watched the pair go and then looked up at Isabel as if to say, with her woeful little brown eyes, "Well, mom, can we?"

Isabel frowned. "Oh, not you, too."

[yanderes-galore]

Hi there, I hope it's not to early for you, may I request a Team Hooligans X Adventurous Darling?

I'll see what I can do, yeah. I hope this works for you :) Did them seperate to make it easier. Sorry for the long wait! Aged up as usual.

I'm not too familiar with them, lol, except for the Sonic aniversary comic from IDW.

Yandere! Team Hooligans with Adventurous! Darling

Short Concept/Reaction

Pairing: Romantic/Platonic

Possible Trigger Warnings: Gender-Neutral Darling, Possessive behavior, Clingy behavior, Manipulation, Obsession, Overprotective behavior, Stalking implied.

Fang The Sniper

Fang was never one to care for much.

Well, except for riches and his bike.

He's greedy and selfish, taking what he wants even with violence and cruelty.

He probably met you by chance and wanted you ever since.

A treasure he wants to catch no matter the cost.

You're focused on exploration and seeing the world for all it has to offer.

He's more into pillaging the world for its treasure.

With a darling such as you it's got pros and cons.

You like to explore which means he could have you join mercenary work with him, Bean, and Bark.

It would also help Fang justify his sudden attraction towards you.

Then there's the whole getting you to stay put thing.

Fang likes the idea of keeping you to himself.

He wants people to know you are his.

You always wanting to leave his side for adventure frustrates him.

The good thing about being a mercenary with a bike is he can track you easily.

Don't worry, his frustration is solved if you bring him back treasure.

Fang is a yandere easily bought with material goods.

As long as you stay by his side as his and utilize your craving for adventure to benefit the both of you, he'll be okay with this type of darling.

Bean The Dynamite

Bark The Polar Bear

Bean is an unpredictable character a lot of the time.

He'a overly eager and can be friendly one moment while aggressive the next.

Towards his darling, Bean tends to act extremely hyper and excited.

Meanwhile with rivals he's deceptive and aggressive.

He also has a dangerous obsession with bombs.

When he meets you he's all excited to speak with you.

Especially if you have shiny things on your person that you found during adventures.

Bean would probably want to go on adventures with you.

Your craving for adventure is something he enjoys and encourages.

Plus, it keeps him close to you at all times!

Then no one would steal you from him!

Even if you declined him there's no telling how he'll react.

He'll either be very angry with you or follow you anyway.

Bean has a ton of excitement bottled within him.

The idea of going on adventures with his living treasure sounds amazing!

You are going to have a hard time getting rid of him.

Bark actually has some good in him compared to the other two members.

He's mute and strong, sometimes intimidating when he needs to be.

But Bark is softer towards his darling.

When he meets you and your craving for adventure, he's a bit hesitant at first.

Bark is probably overprotective of his darling and is worried for you.

When you say you're going away or something, the bear feels his heart drop.

He'll either try to nudge you out of it or be adamant on following.

He's fierce when fighting and feels he should be his darling's guardian in a way.

Bark cares for your safety but also your happiness.

He'll fuel your need for adventure if you can be kept safe during it.

He also doesn't like the idea of someone else being around you....

While you make him shy at times, he'll quickly turn hostile towards others around you.

Bark will reluctantly come with you on adventures...

Just stay close to him and don't be so friendly towards anyone else.

[silver-rings-and-rabbits]

Open Heart - Chapter 8

The PITA

A few weeks later, Matthew woke up very early and went into work with Landry, who apparently always got in an hour before his shift was due to start. The hospital was surprisingly peaceful, the break of dawn giving it a layer of tranquillity. Matthew had a good feeling about today: a glorious August day, he had woken up naturally for once, he’d had a run of successful cases, and had even remembered to cook in bulk last night and now had a supply of leftovers to last several days. To top it off, the latest rankings had been posted and Matthew had risen to eighth position. He read his name happily.

“What the—” Landry spluttered. “How did I drop to seventh?” He gaped at the list in shock.

“Have you made any mistakes this week?” Matthew asked, and Landry looked awkward.

“I guess I almost mis-diagnosed a case the other day…but that was only because I didn’t know the patient had changed her daily routine!” He added, indignantly.

“Wait,” Matthew frowned. “Don’t you talk to the patients? It’s fairly easy to keep track of their routine.”

“I talk about symptoms and medical history, of course. But small talk is such a waste of time,” Landry tutted. “If I spend ten extra minutes to hear about grandkids, how many more people have I missed out on? I’d rather cure them and have them out the door.”

“I like talking to my patients. Everyone has a story...”

“Well I’m not here for stories.” Landry shook his head and Matthew raised an eyebrow. “Good thing I got here early: I have to get to work!”

He beetled down the corridor without a second glance. Matthew watched him sadly. Even Dr Ramsey knew that a patient’s personal life could contribute to a diagnosis as much as their symptoms could. Landry needed to relax every so often.

Still, he didn’t let it bother him and dove into his casework. His good mood seemed to rub off on his patients who chatted and joked during consultations. Matthew took a little extra care to listen. One of his patients had her wife and little girl staying the night; Matthew snuck a pudding cup for the daughter. He even had the chance to grab a cup of coffee with Danny, who had heartily enjoyed hearing about the bachelorette party. August’s film was Casablanca, which was more promising.

Around lunchtime, Matthew was sought out by Dr Mirani.

“Valentine! New admission in room 712. Dr Ramsey wants you to handle it.”

“Dr Ramsey asked for me?”

“By name.”

That sounded very promising. “Really? Why?”

“Gee, I dunno, Valentine!” Zaid’s smile was straight out of the uncanny valley. “Maybe I should be like you and badger my superiors with incessant questions.”

Matthew took the hint.

He checked over the patient’s chart before putting on a smile and walking into the room.

“Good afternoon, Mr Platt! What can I do for—”

The patient in bed burped so loudly that Matthew nearly jumped. He was a middle-aged man, overweight and balding, with a round, red face.

“You can start by turning down the AC in this goddamn hospital! I’m not a polar bear!” he barked. “Then you can send in my doctor. Enough nurses, show me some goddamn – buuuuurp! – respect!”

Matthew was slightly taken aback but kept up his smile.

“Mr Platt, I am your doctor—”

“Like hell – buuuuurp! – like hell you are! You’re a teenager, you don’t look qualified to wipe my ass! Get me a real doctor!”

“Mr Platt, I am highly qualified—”

“Anyone can be certified in anything now, thanks to the – buuuuurp! – internet!”

“Mr Platt, I’m one of the best doctors in my year, nationwide,” Matthew said, firmly, remembering his final grades at med school and his Edenbrook acceptance. “You’re in good hands.”

Matthew smiled through gritted teeth as Mr Platt glared at him. He couldn’t help thinking that if Mr Platt didn’t shout so much he probably would have aged better.

Despite Mr Platt’s distrust of the internet and Matthew’s medical degree, he was convinced that his chest pain was a sign of a heart attack because that was what the internet had told him. Not even the definitely-not-a-heart-attack-symptom of hair falling out could convince him otherwise. Matthew referred him for an ECG to rule out the heart attack and finally stepped into the hallway, trying to relax. He ran a hand through his hair as Mr Platt’s belching echoed down the hall.

Matthew found Dr Ramsey a little while later in the ER. He had an amused smirk, clearly aware of the kind of patient Mr Platt was.

“Ah, Dr Valentine. How’s Mr Platt getting on.”

“He’s…a little difficult,” Matthew said stiffly. “He won’t listen to me, he’s calling my credentials into question, and he’s kind of…rude.”

“People are rude, Rookie,” Ramsey shrugged. “You won’t be best friends with every patient who walks through the door.”

“I know that. But I couldn’t help wondering if you had assigned him to me for a reason.”

Ethan looked at Matthew, his eyebrows slightly raised. Matthew realised he was expected to elaborate and wasn’t sure why he might have been assigned this particular patient, but it couldn’t have been anything good.

“Maybe…as a joke,” he offered lamely.

Dr Ramsey went very still as Matthew realised he had chosen the worst possibly phrasing.

“Do I strike you as someone who uses patients as a joke?” He asked. His voice was dangerously calm; Matthew was in danger.

“No, Dr Ramsey,” he said humbly.

“Good.” Ramsey nodded and the danger passed. For the moment.

“I did assign Mr Platt’s case to you for a reason,” he continued. “You need to figure it out.” He left the ER.

Matthew cursed under his breath, ripping a hand through his hair. His good mood from this morning was almost gone.

“Hey, are you ok?”

Matthew turned to see Rafael, which just about salvaged his mood. At least he wouldn’t judge him for being annoyed.

“I just…I kind of feel like Dr Ramsey’s punishing me.” Why the hell hadn’t he given that reason to Dr Ramsey a minute ago?!

“Why on earth would he be punishing you?” Rafael asked in surprise.

“Oh man, I don’t know. He has a temper, maybe I annoyed him without realising.” Matthew’s brain searched for possibilities…and he came up blank.

“Do you need to vent? Not to toot my own horn, but I’m a fantastic listener.” Rafael smiled at Matthew encouragingly until Matthew’s lips flicked upward. “Want to grab dinner after work?”

“God, I’d love to but tonight I’m going out for dinner with a bunch of other interns.” Just his luck. Except… “Do you want to come with us?”

“Me? And a bunch of hotshot doctors?” Rafael forced a laugh, scratching the back of his neck. “I’m not sure that’s really my scene…”

“Come on, it’ll be fun! You can meet my awesome friends.”

“Haven’t I technically already met them?”

“An emergency situation doesn’t count. They’re a great group of people. They’ll love you,” Matthew said earnestly. He very much hoped Rafael would come with them. He wanted them to get along, for Rafael to share his support group. He wanted Rafael in the inner circle of his life so badly.

Rafael hesitated, but agreed with a smile on his face.

Matthew stumbled home at the end of the day, tired and frustrated. The first thing he did was collapse along the length of the couch, face first.

“That good a day, huh?” Elijah laughed at him.

“Want to trade patients?” Matthew moaned into the cushions.

“And take that PITA in room 712? No thank you!”

Matthew propped himself up on his elbows. “The what?”

“PITA. Pain in the ass. The nurses say it.”

It was a very apt description of the man who had spent the day belching, shouting and belittling Matthew as every test came up negative. Still, he had it better than some of the nurses. Mr Platt believed they were all beneath him, especially Sarah who was a black woman (though he had had no problem when a blonde woman had walked past his room; Matthew had closed the blinds). Ramsey had no problem with taking Sarah off the case if she wanted, it was just Matthew he wanted to suffer.

“Roomie dinner! Roomie dinner!” Sienna chanted as she came out of her room. “You two lazy boys need to get ready if you don’t want to miss our reservation. The others are meeting us there.”

Matthew tumbled off the sofa, suddenly energised. “I invited Rafael to come tonight as well.”

“Your paramedic friend! Nice!”

Matthew quickly changed into a light blue silk shirt and black pants, and brushed hair. He’d pulled at it so much that he now looked like he had been dragged through a hedge backwards. Sienna kept pace with him as they left the apartment.

“Don’t feel obligated to stick with us if you and Rafael want some time together or anything.”

“Let’s just see what happens,” Matthew said, airily.

The restaurant was just off back bay, an independent Italian that was draped in flowers outside and had a rustic interior with soft lighting. An elderly gentleman crooned Italian songs from the piano in the corner.

“It’s so cute!” Sienna gasped as they went in. “It’s smaller than in the pictures.”

“The portions better not be,” Elijah grinned, thanking a member of staff who moved a table out of his way.

The door swung open and shut: Landry and Jackie had just joined them. Matthew tested the ice by asking Jackie if she was looking forward to dinner…only to receive an eye-roll and sarcasm in response.

“Geez, Jackie,” he groaned. “Can’t you at least pretend to care that we used  to be friends?” He was starting to lose hope that they would actually go back to normal.

“Matthew, we’re still—”

“Your friend’s here, Matthew!”

Matthew looked over to a large table in the corner where Rafael was sitting and his hurt was forgotten. Rafael was looking nervous – his eyes darting, his fingers restless – but when he saw Matthew he sat up a little straighter and gave a bright smile. Matthew walked over as he stood to greet them.

“Hey! Sorry, I was afraid I’d be late…and ended up getting here half an hour early,” he admitted with a chuckle.

Matthew laughed with him and introduced his roommates. Jackie and Landry were polite enough, Elijah lead him in a fist bump, and Sienna beamed up at him as her hand was swallowed in the handshake. They settled into seats, though they were still waiting for Bryce. Matthew had Sienna on one side of him and indicated for Rafael to sit on his other side, which he did gratefully.

“How did it go with your patient today?” he asked, relaxing a little.

“Don’t ask,” Matthew winced.

“Sorry,” Rafael smiled, contritely. “Let’s pretend I didn’t.”

“Am I late?”

Bryce had just strutted over, flicking his hair out of his eyes and taking the spare seat opposite Matthew.

“Hey Rafael, I wasn’t expecting to see you here,” he said, in pleasant surprise.

“Matthew invited me.”

“Excellent!” Bryce announced, as the server came over and they all ordered large pitchers and mounds of food.

“So, hang on,” Elijah said as the server walked away. “Do you guys know each other?”

“Rafael brings a lot of patients who need emergency surgery so we end up seeing each other in the ER quite a lot.”

“Bryce comes over to say hi if he sees me in the cafeteria as well,” Rafael added. Matthew thought of all the days he hadn’t seen Rafael, when Bryce had apparently seen him quite often. He suddenly had an odd wish that he had trained in surgery.

“Anything cool happen to anyone today?” Bryce addressed the group. Landry opened his mouth to say something but Bryce answered his own question. “I rejoined a large intestine. Solo. It was insane.”

“Sienna and I got to work on a paediatrics case. We diagnosed a little girl and now we’re working on a treatment plan,” Elijah said.

“I hate all of you,” Jackie groaned. “I had two bad cases of the flu and a weird rash that turned out to be poison oak. Eight years of Harvard to smear cream on a guys ass because he pooped in the woods.”

Matthew had gone quiet, not wanting to talk about Mr Platt, but couldn’t help sniggering with the others at Jackie’s statement as she took a large gulp of wine. Rafael had gone quiet as well.

“Rafael, did you have any interesting call-outs today?” he asked, when the table went quiet. Everyone turned to look at him.

“Oh, not by your standards. Most of my call-outs were for non-emergent problems.”

“What, like people who can’t tell the difference between a panic attack and a heart attack?” Jackie asked, and Rafael nodded.

“That’s actually a common one.”

“Doesn’t that bother you?” Landry asked.

“No,” Rafael frowned, looking a little wary. “Why would it?”

“Well, it delays the system, doesn’t it? Ignorance delaying aid to people who actually need help.”

Matthew bit his lip, his stomach squeezing a little. Bryce, Sienna and Elijah looked on with caution, but Rafael seemed to take it in stride.

“I see what you mean, but they never do it maliciously. They’re just scared. And it’s like you said; they don’t know. Not everyone has a medical degree.” He held Landry’s gaze, but Landry seemed too surprised to say anything else. He hadn’t thought of that angle.

Luckily the silence was dispelled by the arrival of food: Bryce had ordered steak, Jackie had a pepperoni pizza (with jalapenos), Sienna had a chicken calzone, Elijah ordered carbonara, Rafael had butternut squash risotto, Matthew had lasagne, and – much to Matthew’s disgust – Landry had ordered salmon. At least he was sat the furthest away.

“So!” Sienna announced, as they dug in. “I did some research last night and found…this!”

She presented them her phone, showing an old photo of Landry dressed in an elephant onesie, passed out drunk. Everyone laughed as he blushed a deep red and admitted it was the result of trying to down nine jaeger bombs. The conversation moved onto everyone’s med school experience, where Bryce had joined the Stanford tradition of playing a drinking game the night before each exam: one shot for every question you got wrong. Consequently, he had thrown up during his first exam and had to pass it off as food poisoning. Sienna told them about the parties she and Wayne had attended at Princeton, going above and beyond for fancy dress. Stiff, snobbish Wayne was the last person Matthew would expect to see at a fancy dress party, and from the looks on everyone’s faces, they agreed.

“What about you, Matthew?”

Matthew shook his head, good-naturedly.

“I was at University of Colorado, med campus. I was focused on my studies, mostly just going to post-exam celebrations.”

“Wait, you didn’t go Ivy-league?” Bryce asked.

“I could have done, but I didn’t want to go out-of-state at the time.”

“Shame you didn’t come to U-Chicago with me,” Elijah said. “You could have watched Rocky Horror at midnight with us!”

“What was your school like, Rafael?” Sienna asked.

“I was just at Beacon Hill College Campus. It has a good EMT program. Plus it let me live at home whilst I was studying.”

“That sounds nice. You must be close with your family?”

Rafael suddenly laughed. “You’d think so, but my grandma will still tell you I’m not around enough.”

Conversation flowed easily throughout the rest of the meal. Apart from Jackie, who had studied at Harvard, and Sienna, who had visited Wayne in the city plenty of times before moving in with him, no one knew a huge amount of the city. Bryce liked to explore and had discovered some secret spots and of course Rafael was all too happy to provide recommendations. He didn’t mention the night market, but he gave Matthew a private smile: it was their secret.

After dinner, they piled onto the street. Matthew glanced back at the restaurant, bathed in evening glow, and reached for his phone to take a picture. He turned around to find Rafael waiting for him.

“Fan of architecture?” he asked.

“I want to draw it later.”

“You’re an artist?”

“Well…”

“That’s so cool! I had no idea!”

Matthew was flattered. “It’s just a hobby. I mostly draw still-life, or from photos. I drew one of our group selfies and Sienna got it framed for the apartment.”

“Could I maybe see it sometime?”

A small thrill rushed inside Matthew that Rafael wanted to see his drawings, though he was worried Rafael’s expectations might be too high.

“You two coming or what?” Jackie called. The two of them had fallen behind the main group.

“Donahue’s are having a karaoke night. Landry and Elijah are gonna sing ‘The Room Where it Happens’ with me!” Sienna added.

Matthew looked at Rafael hopefully, but was concerned at the apprehension on his face.

“I’ve got an early morning, but you guys go on ahead. Matthew, thank you for inviting me tonight.”

He lightly touched Matthew’s elbow as he walked away. His head was bowed slightly.

“Rafael, wait.” Matthew hastened to catch up with him. His friends looked on, slightly impatient. “Did we do something to upset you?” He didn’t think they had, but maybe he hadn’t noticed. Maybe he had been so desperate for Rafael to fit in with his friends, he hadn’t stopped to consider that Rafael might be too uncomfortable with everything.

“No, of course you didn’t! Your friends are really nice people,” Rafael said, surprised at the suggestion. He swallowed, scratching the back of his neck. “It’s just…I don’t have much in common with a group of doctors.”

“What?! Of course you do.”

“It’s OK, I’m not looking for pity, honest. We come from completely different worlds. But…if you ever feel like seeing how the other half lives…” He tapped on his phone with a smile, and Matthew’s phone pinged a second later: Rafael had texted his address.

His breath caught as he tried to figure out what Rafael was getting at. Jackie called him over again.

“You should go.” There was a touch of sadness in Rafael’s voice. “Have fun with your friends. I’ll see you at work.”

Rafael turned and started walking away towards the station. His eyes were cast downward as he tried not to be too disappointed. It was only the natural way: Matthew was a good doctor who would go on to do incredible things, and Rafael had his humble community. He had seen so many incredible doctors passing through Edenbrook…just none of them had been so warm and accommodating as Matthew. No one had smiled at him quite so tenderly. Rafael just wished he had more to give.

“You guys go on without me!”

Rafael turned to see Matthew walking towards him, the rest of his friends going in the opposite direction.

“What are you doing?” he asked, hardly daring to hope.

“You’ve seen my world. Now show me yours.”

Before he could stop it, Rafael broke into a smile and hope had blossomed in his heart, practically lifting him off his feet.

“Come on. There’s someone I want you to meet.”

The two of them hopped onto the half-empty subway carriage and sat side-by-side. Matthew was excited that Rafael had wanted him to meet someone, anxious as to who it was, but before he could ask more, Rafael turned to him.

“I meant to ask – and sorry if I’m intruding here – but did something happen between you and Jackie?”

“Not really. We just made out in a supply closet, but that was on our first day. There’s nothing…” Matthew trailed off at Rafael’s surprised, amused look and broke into a sheepish smile. “You didn’t mean romantically, did you?”

“Actually it looked more like you’d had a falling out. But now you have to tell me that story,” Rafael smirked.

Matthew laughed as he recounted his disastrous first day and how he and Jackie had cleared the air with a make-out session.

Rafael laughed with him. “I’ve heard of doctors getting overly-friendly in enclosed spaces…is that what they meant?”

“Apparently it’s an Edenbrook tradition. Rumour has it, Chief Emery did it once.”

“Where did you here that?”

“Just around. Hospital rumours, nothing confirmed of course.”

Matthew would have loved to stick with hospital gossip, but his face fell when he thought of Rafael’s original question.

“Honestly though, Jackie’s been freezing me out. Have you heard about the rankings for a fellowship competition between the interns?” Rafael nodded; he had seen the lists. “Jackie’s very competitive and once said part of the fun of the competition was the satisfaction of beating me. Except I outranked her once and she gave me the cold shoulder and has barely spoken to me since.” The hurt was rising up again. “It’s getting annoying now, especially since she doesn’t seem to have a problem with the others.”   

“Surely she’ll come round. Maybe try talking to her in a situation she can’t back out of.” Rafael looked sympathetic. “You deserve an explanation after all.”

Matthew nodded thoughtfully. Maybe he should try talking to Jackie at home. But he didn’t want to waste time with Rafael by thinking about things that upset him so he asked Rafael what he thought about the rest of the group.

Rafael had been surprised at Bryce’s forwardness: medical staff didn’t usually interact with paramedics beyond patient care, so he was surprised when Bryce decided to sit with him in the cafeteria, and now a genuine friendship seemed to be forming. There was nothing to suggest he and Bryce were more than friends, and Matthew was a tiny bit relieved.

Rafael thought Sienna was lovely – Matthew whole-heartedly agreed – and he got on well with Elijah. Rafael had played Castle Crashers with his college friends, which turned out to be one of Elijah’s old favourites. Matthew suggested Rafael join them for a game night sometime and when Rafael said it sounded fun, it sounded like he meant it. However, there was something else Matthew had noticed that night.

“Did I detect a bit of awkwardness between you and Landry?”

“I’m sorry, I know he’s your friend but I felt like he was implying that some patients are more important than others and I hate that way of thinking.” He looked almost apologetic. “Don’t get me wrong, if someone’s in a life-threatening condition, they will take priority. But if an ambulance is called, the bottom line is that someone is in need of help, and probably scared, and my job is to provide that help. Besides, if someone’s confused their panic attack with a heart attack, we can teach them how to deal with it and they’ll be able to handle it next time.”

“I think you’ve got the best perspective,” Matthew said softly. “I’ve worked with Landry, and I’ve had to tell him to be careful with how he speaks to patients: truth doesn’t need to be cold and harsh.” He smiled at Rafael. “I’m sure your patients would be glad to have you fighting for them.”

“Well…” Rafael dropped his gaze, flustered, but Matthew caught a shy smile. He grinned back.

“Right, so, who am I meeting? This isn’t the part where you tell me you have a wife and child is it?” He was joking, but suddenly had a panicked thought about what he’d do if that were the case. Luckily, Rafael burst out laughing.

“Oh, god no. I haven’t been with anyone in…over a year, actually.” He pulled himself together and said shyly. “It’s ok if you don’t want to but…I was hoping you could meet my grandma.”

“Is this the grandma who says you’re never around enough?”

“That’s the one. She asked if I wanted to come over but you had already invited me out. She said I would be welcome to bring a friend over afterwards.” He rubbed the back of his neck. “I’ve told her about you.”

There was something almost magical in the train carriage as Matthew pictured Rafael telling his grandmother – who was clearly so important to him – about Matthew, and Rafael wanting to introduce Matthew to his life.

“I’d love to meet her.”

The two of them left the train and Rafael led them to a residential area of small houses and apartments. Matthew looked around with interest. People of all ages were socialising in the streets. Someone sat by their open window, playing a guitar whilst her neighbours listened. Every so often, they passed an open window that had a delicious smell wafting out of it.

“So this is where you live.”

“All my life.”

Rafael would cheerfully greet people in Portuguese as they passed, more relaxed and confident than Matthew had seen him. He even got to meet Lucas, Rafael’s friend who volunteered with him at the civic centre. Tonight would have been samba night had Rafael been able to go. Apparently there were a few old ladies who loved the handsome young men, and had been disappointed that Rafael hadn’t been able to make it. Lucas casually mentioned that Matthew would be popular, though Matthew doubted that: he was standing next to Rafael of all people.

He wasn’t the least surprised that Rafael would volunteer his evenings to keep the elderly company. He liked learning about his life, everything he had heard so far made him better. Matthew himself had only volunteered once: the Christmas after his sister died and his parents were separated. His mother had had some wine and started getting upset so Uncle Tony left her in the care of his partner whilst he took Matthew out of the house. They had just driven around aimlessly until they drove past a soup kitchen, where they stopped to ask if they needed any help. Matthew had spent the afternoon with people doing the best they could in horrible situations, and it had overall been a good experience, though he wished it hadn’t come as a result of looking for a distraction.

“We’re here,” Rafael said happily, snapping Matthew out of his thoughts. They were standing in front of a small, red-brick house, with a couple of steps leading up to the front porch. They walked up and Rafael pressed a buzzer and said something in Portuguese that Matthew couldn’t understand.

“Hope you saved some room for dessert,” Rafael smiled at Matthew over his shoulder as the door opened to reveal a small, wrinkled woman. She had shoulder-length grey hair and large glasses, and beamed up at Rafael with a huge smile.

“My gorgeous boy!” she said happily, as Rafael greeted her with a warm hug.

“Ola, Vovó,” he said, kissing her cheek. As he straightened up, he pulled Matthew forward. “This is my friend, Matthew. Matthew, this is my grandma, Juliana.”

Juliana eyed Matthew curiously as Matthew smiled and held out a hand.

“It’s nice to—oh!” Juliana had ignored his hand and gone straight in for a hug, reaching up to pinch his cheek as she pulled away.

“No, no,” she said, knowingly. “He’s too lovely to be just a friend.”

“Vovó!” Rafael groaned as Matthew laughed nervously, a blush heating his face. Juliana winked at him before waving him into her cosy living room and pushing him onto a battered loveseat.

“Do you want some tea?” Rafael asked him, with his kind smile.

“Please.”

As Rafael joined his grandmother in the kitchen, Matthew glanced around the living room. The furniture was old and well-worn, and the hardwood floor was covered with a large circular rug that had roses patterning the edges. Family pictures adorned the walls and Matthew’s eyes settled on a professional one of Rafael at his college graduation, his proud parents on either side. His father was tall and broad, but his face was the image of his mother.

“So Matthew, how do you know my grandson?” Juliana asked him from the kitchen.

“From work, Vovó,” Rafael said, patiently. Juliana rolled her eyes.

“Of course, the hospital. His whole life is that hospital.”

Matthew laughed; Juliana couldn’t keep the pride out of her voice.

“I’m afraid he and I have that in common,” he chuckled, with a pointed look at Rafael who gave him a sheepish smile as he handed him a mug of hot tea and sat beside him.

“Well, you’re in luck today, Matthew. I made brigadeiros in the hope that my Rafael would show up tonight.”

“What’s that?” Matthew whispered to Rafael.

“Chocolate truffle desserts. I really like them,” Rafael whispered back.

Juliana came into the living room, carrying a plate filled with little chocolate balls in paper cups, which she set on the coffee table.

“Eat!” she encouraged, settling into an armchair. Rafael instantly took two of the chocolates and handed one of them to Matthew, who popped it into his mouth.

“Oh wow,” he gasped as the rich, creamy chocolate flooded his tastebuds. “Juliana, that’s incredible.”

Juliana beamed at him. “Thank you, darling. It’s a recipe I perfected years ago.” She took a sip from her tea and had one of the chocolates herself. “So, Matthew, you’re the nice doctor Rafael keeps telling me about it. How does it work, are you still in training?”

Rafael flushed a little at Juliana’s suggestion – he had told her a lot about Matthew – but Matthew didn’t appear to notice as he started telling Juliana about his four years at med school and his three-year residency at Edenbrook. Rafael sat back comfortably as Matthew answered Juliana’s questions as much as he could, his face lit up with enthusiasm. His love for his work couldn’t have been clearer and it was a joy to see.

“There may be further study after three years, depending on what we want to specialise in,” Matthew was saying.

“Do you know what that would be?” Juliana asked. Matthew frowned in thought.

“Maybe oncology…” he murmured.

“What would that entail?”

“The study of tumours. But it also includes the study and treatment of cancers.” He cleared his throat and shook his head. “Honestly, it’s just an idea. I haven’t thought about it deeply. I’ll probably change my mind several times.” He brushed it off with a laugh, though Rafael thought it sounded a little hollow. He gently touched his arm and asked him about life in Colorado.

Matthew remained a little cagey when he talked about living with his uncle and his mom, but he perked up when he talked about the horses; horse riding was something he had missed since moving. This then led to a conversation about pets.

“Has Rafael told you about Coco?”

“Who?”

“My cat.”

Rafael flipped eagerly through his phone and showed Matthew a picture of a fluffy black cat, sitting up majestically on the counter.

“I was ten and I found her in the park, where she’d hurt her paw, so I rescued her.”

“He’d been out longer than usual and we were starting to worry he had been kidnapped,” Juliana said. “Instead he surprised us all by turning up at the door with a kitten in his bag and begging us to help her.”

“Dad took us down to the vet and I stayed with Coco during her treatment. My parents agreed to keep her until she was better…”

“And she’s been with you ever since?” Matthew guessed.

“She grew very attached to her rescuer,” Juliana explained. “And no one had the heart to separate them in the end.”

Rafael flipped through a couple more photos: Coco stretched out in a patch of sunlight, an adorable one of Rafael laughing as Coco sat in his arms, licking his face, a selfie of Rafael lying on his stomach with Coco sat on his back, and another sweet one of Rafael sleeping on the sofa with Coco curled in his lap.

“I miss her, but my current landlord doesn’t allow pets,” he sighed. “She still lives with my parents, but I visit often.”

“If anyone was going to rescue and adopt a sick kitten it would be you,” Juliana said. Rafael looked slightly embarrassed, but Juliana had a twinkle in her eye as she turned to Matthew. “My Rafael is always ready to help someone in need.”

“I know,” Matthew said tenderly, meeting Rafael’s eye. Rafael couldn’t help giving him a soft smile back.

“He’s never hesitated to help us in the family. He’s stepped in to look after his young cousins if a babysitter was needed last minute. He spent a weekend helping my daughter and her husband move house, then built them a shoe-rack as a welcome gift.”

“I didn’t build it from scratch, I bought it and assembled it,” Rafael pointed out. Juliana ignored him.

“You know, Matthew, my husband passed away six years ago, and Rafael stayed with me for the entire week.”

“I didn’t like the idea of you being alone,” Rafael said, playing it cool.

“It meant the world to me,” Juliana said lovingly. “You have no idea how much it helped.”

Matthew was extremely touched by the interaction. He had known Rafael had a heart of gold but, somehow, hearing Juliana’s account was even better. He glanced at Rafael with an impressed smile, wondering how someone like him could be real.

Later that evening, the two of them sat on Juliana’s porch, watching the world go by. The westward sky had faint remnants of sunset, but the streetlamps gave good light. Further down the street, a group of kids played rambunctiously. In another direction, upbeat music was playing.

“Is it always this busy in the evening?” Matthew asked.

“I guess so, when the weather’s nice. And the school’s are off for the summer so I suppose some families relax their curfews a bit.” He turned to Matthew with a smile. “Anyway, thanks for being so great with my grandma.”

“Thanks for letting me meet her. And for letting me see your neighbourhood.” It was very uplifting to know that Rafael had specifically wanted him to see this part of his life. It felt sacred.

“Pretty different to yours though, right?”

“Well, yeah,” Matthew admitted, thinking of his intimidating apartment block that, sat in the city centre, most definitely didn’t allow for kids to play safely in the street. In fact, he didn’t recall seeing many children living there. Perhaps he was wrong, but most of the people he had seen around his apartment were childless couples, or singles like him and his friends.

“By the way, is everything alright?” Rafael asked delicately. “You seemed a bit off when you talked about studying oncology.”

“Right.” Matthew’s face fell. “I genuinely haven’t thought about it deeply but…I guess that came from the fact my sister died of leukaemia.”

Rafael froze in shock as he realised why Matthew might have handled certain conversation topics cautiously.

“I had no idea…”

“I’m sorry I didn’t tell you before, there was never really a good time. It’s not exactly an easy conversation.”

“I understand. You need a time and place.”

Matthew smoothed his hair flat as he turned to Rafael.

“Can I tell you about it now?”

“Of course.”

They sat close together as Matthew explained how his sister’s illness had slowly infiltrated his family life, causing irreparable tension between his parents and a lot of heartache over his sister’s suffering. He had been pulled out of school early the day she died. As soon as he got to the hospital, he had climbed straight into Holly’s lap and they held on to each other tightly as Casey’s life slowly slipped away forever.

“Dad…took it badly,” Matthew muttered, his eyes darkening as he remembered. “Maybe it was the grief talking but he essentially blamed Mom for what happened.”

“What?!”

“Yeah. He seemed to get it into his head that she should have noticed the signs earlier. But none of us noticed, not even Casey!” Matthew swallowed hard. “Besides, sometimes it doesn’t matter. Casey was a young Caucasian female, in good health and fitness. She even did gymnastics! Everything was in her favour but…” His voice trailed off and he wiped his eyes. Rafael rubbed his back, providing a small source of comfort.

“What happened after that?” Rafael prompted.

“Mom and Dad weren’t staying together. I mean, would you stay with someone who blamed you for your child’s cancer?” Disgust coloured Matthew’s voice. “Mom went to live with Uncle Tony and I wanted to go with her, since Dad just started working super-late all the time. He didn’t even argue.” Matthew rolled his eyes. “So we left. Practically started over completely. But Tony and his girlfriend were extremely accommodating and were even willing to cover the costs of a course of therapy…and we got through it, somehow.”

“I’m glad you did,” Rafael said gently. “Do you still live with your Uncle?”

“He actually helped build a small house for us near where he lived. I think it was just after the first anniversary when Mom had finally started working again and he gently suggested we should have a place of our own again. So we had a cottage built near where he lived and she’s been there ever since.” He smiled. “She’s got a couple of part time jobs in the town and then they started up a riding school together. I’m really proud of her.”

“I’m sure she’d say the same about you,” Rafael said, warmly. “Are you…still in touch with your dad at all?”

“No. He never apologised for how he treated Mom. I think he preferred to pretend it never happened. Last I heard, he had a new girlfriend and I figured I’d let him start over with his new life; I got this far without him.”

Matthew went quiet, twisting his fingers together. Rafael waited patiently for him to continue.

“I actually made friends with a cancer patient,” Matthew said quietly. “Kyra. She came in with a broken arm that I had to cast and we bonded. And then it was terrifying knowing that she was having to have a cancer operation that she might not survive.”

Rafael felt sick. “She didn’t…?”

“Oh god, she survived the op, no problem! But if I couldn’t handle her case professionally, what hope do I have if I did want to specialise in oncology?! I really want to prevent people from suffering the way my family did…but what if I can’t?”

“Don’t think like that,” Rafael said desperately. He wrapped his arm tightly around Matthew’s shoulders and Matthew leaned into him. “You’re a brilliant doctor and you care so much about your work. I’m sure you give your patients the best care you can.” He sighed. “God, I’m sorry. I just wish I could comfort you properly.”

“You are,” Matthew said, quietly. Sitting and sharing his warmth in Juliana’s bright home was a comfort he hadn’t imagined. He thought of the empty days that followed his sister’s death, that he could barely remember. He remembered Sienna curled up next to him as she listened to his story, and how his roommates had offered gentle sympathies when they learned about his sister. And now he was sat with one of the sweetest people he knew and it didn’t hurt quite so much anymore.

“Thanks again for inviting me out tonight,” he said.

“You’re welcome, but I should be thanking you,” Rafael smiled. “Your friends are good people.”

Matthew was glad to hear that, but frowned slightly.

“Do you really believe you don’t have much to offer us?”

“Oh!” Rafael looked surprised. “It’s just…you’ve come from all over the country with these crazy impressive medical backgrounds and now you’re at the best teaching hospital to learn from top doctors. I’m just a paramedic who applied to a nearby hospital and got in by luck of the draw. You were hand-selected on merit; you’ve got the brains and the talent to go as far as you want.”

Rafael was looking at Matthew earnestly, but Matthew shook his head.

“Rafael, you’re the guy who ran into a burning building to save a pregnant woman, and you think you’re not good enough? Forget school. You’ve got more courage and strength than anyone I know. And you’re humble, and down-to-earth and you take care of your family. Your grandma clearly adores you.” Matthew squeezed Rafael’s arm. “That’s what makes a person, not where you went to school.”

“Well…” Rafael looked surprised, but genuinely pleased. “I guess you’re right. And…when we’re together, it never felt like we were that different.”

He dropped his gaze. Matthew felt a little jolt of excitement.

“That’s because we’re not that different where it counts. I wouldn’t have told you all that stuff about my family if I didn’t trust you.” Matthew spoke in a gentle voice. “Please don’t ever feel that you’re not worthy. Because you are.”

Rafael met Matthew’s eyes, wide and vulnerable. He couldn’t speak for a moment, trying to process the fact that Matthew Valentine held him in such high regard.

“You are more than enough,” Matthew said, quietly.

Rafael blinked, his heart pounding. He had a lump in his throat, but the last thing he wanted to do was start crying so he didn’t even try to speak. He would have happily stayed on that porch just gazing at Matthew forever.

A shout came up from the street, where the children had started a rowdy game of tag. Rafael cleared his throat, and Matthew dug his phone out of his pocket to check the time, sighing in relief.

“You good for time?” Rafael asked.

Matthew nodded, and then gave a sly grin. “You mentioned samba dancing earlier…there’s still time for a lesson.”

Rafael laughed and stood up, offering Matthew his hand.

“Come on. We’re doing this.”

“What about music?”

“We don’t need music, trust me. We’ll feel it in our movements.”

He put one hand on Matthew’s waist and guided Matthew’s hand to his shoulder. Their spare hands were linked together.

“So we’re in position?” Matthew asked, trying to focus on Rafael rather than their proximity. “Now what?”

“Usually the man leads, but in the case of two men it comes down to who’s better at it.”

“That would be you,” Matthew grinned. “Lead away.”

“OK. First rule of samba, it’s all about the hips.” Rafael started counting a beat and rolled his hips expertly. Matthew did a double-take. He was really good at this.

“Try and copy me,” Rafael was saying.

Matthew blushed and started trying to match his step.

“Sorry, I’m not exactly god’s gift when it comes to dancing.”

“You’re doing great,” Rafael reassured him. “Everyone starts somewhere.” He shyly started to sing to help Matthew keep time, his voice rich and smooth.

“Holy crap, you can sing!” Matthew said in surprise.

“I haven’t had lessons or anything,” Rafael shrugged bashfully. “It’s just a little fun.”

“Maybe you should take lessons. I reckon you could go far with that voice.”

Rafael blushed again, but shook his head.

“Keep up the beat and I’m going to spin you. Ready?”

“Go for it?”

Rafael pulled Matthew into a spin. Matthew stumbled, Rafael instantly caught him round the waist and steadied him, both of them laughing now.

“Sorry, I’m so clumsy…” Matthew grinned, then looked up at Rafael’s face, inches away.

It wasn’t a massive height difference between them, and they were close enough for Matthew to see his brown eyes sparkling with pleasure under the light of the streetlamp. His lips were full, his teeth pearly-white. Matthew couldn’t quite remember the end of his sentence.

“Something’s on your mind, I can tell,” Rafael was saying, with a cheeky grin. “What is it?”

“I…” Matthew couldn’t help wondering if Rafael’s lips were as soft as they looked. “I’m thinking about kissing you.”

Rafael’s eyes widened. He inclined his head ever so slightly. Matthew leaned forward and gently pressed his lips against Rafael’s for a brief moment before pulling away.

“Better now,” he whispered, glancing up at him anxiously to gauge his reaction.

Rafael let out a rush of breath as he broke into the biggest smile Matthew had ever seen. He dropped his hand to slide his arms around Matthew’s waist.

“Do that again?”

Matthew barely had time for his own smile before their lips met again hungrily, more passionate than before.

To Matthew’s delight, Rafael’s lips were in fact softer than they looked. He tasted faintly of chocolate and smelled of home-cooking. Keeping one hand on Rafael’s shoulder, Matthew ran the other through his thick, curly hair, kissing him hard. He had wanted to do this for so long, and it felt like Rafael had wanted it too.

Rafael was holding Matthew close to him, kissing him tenderly, not quite able to believe that he was kissing such a talented, clever, handsome man. Matthew had a scent like coffee and old books and the chemically clean smell of hospitals which – somehow – smelled good coming from him.

Matthew finally broke away from Rafael’s lips to leave a trail of tiny kisses along Rafael’s jawline. He laughed quietly and nuzzled Matthew’s neck.

“I’m so glad you came after me tonight,” he sighed.

“Me too.”

They continued to just hold on to each other for a few minutes. Everything suddenly seemed to be glowing in a way that Matthew couldn’t describe. Just like the setting sun washing the city in gold, Rafael brought with him an exquisite light that just couldn’t be put into words.

“Will you show me that hip thing again?” Matthew asked shyly.

“Of course.” Rafael resumed their samba position. “It’s like this…”

The two of them continued to dance, laughing together as Matthew slowly got the hang of samba basics. The sky grew darker as the stars twinkled above them. Samba music played only in their heads…

[auroraicefield]

I W A N T to feel the emotions To F L A M E my brooding H E A R T I W A N T to feel the emotions @ofsnarkandmagic Will look out in P R A I S E ! CAN'T WAIT!

>> ❄️ <<

Honestly. The things people would do here for a cup of tea.

The polar bear was in a café, though he was more interested in the coffee than the tea. But someone was raising a ruckus, all because an order was supposedly wrong. He couldn't help watching the spectacle for a few moments, before, coffee in hand, Bark walked over and took one of the seats by the window.

The weather was rainy, definitely his kind of day.

Rain brought a relief from warm temperatures. Of course, it was only after he'd seated himself that he realized he'd chosen the wrong place to sit. Social skills weren't exactly his best ability, so sitting across from someone could have been a really awkward experience, especially if they didn't know sign language.

All he could do was stare at the man, eyes slightly widened, mouth, for the moment, covered by his scarf.

[guaranteedlover]

Unnamed for now (Korrasami vampire)

I shuffled a bit through the heavy white blanket of snow, though cold outside, my heavy clothing felt warm. I blowed into the air, my breath making visible air. I finally made it to my destination, a spot in the woods by a lake. The lake was surprisingly not frozen so I whipped out my fishing rod and hooked a bait to the hook. After that, I threw the line into the lake. My nose ran, feeling the warm liquid running down, I wiped it.

I sat, watching and feeling carefully for a tug on the hook.

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

Sometime later, I got 6 fish. A smile appeared on my face as I ripped off the head of one of the fish. I dug my teeth into the fish and sucked the blood out of it. I did that to two different others before I noticed something moving in the snow. I flinched, holding my fish close to me and backing up.

A whimper escapes from the snow as I noticed a black nose and brown eyes appearing in its white blanket. "Who's there!?" I snarled, quickly stopping before seeing the polar bear puppy. "Oh hey, little buddy, want a fish?" I wagged a fish in it's face before throwing it at it. The puppy jumped and caught it.

"Well, what are you? Boy or Girl?" I smiled. The puppy run up to me and licked my face. I picked it up and noticed it's a female. "Alright girl, what's your name? Do you have an owner?" I asked. She barked. "How about Naga?" she panted, though she shivered. I frown. "Aw. Here, let's go." I put my hat on her and my glove on her tail. Then I picked her up and brought her home.

"Mommy, mommy. Mommy?" I looked around the outside of the house then cautiously went inside.

---

"Yes, Korra?" Her mother appeared, kneeling down. "What is that, a dog?"

"A Polar bear dog. She found me while I was fishing." Korra answered. She looked down at the named dog she just picked up then back at her mother.

Senna frowned but covered it up with a smile. "You know how your dad feels about dogs..I suppose he'll allow it. But keep her outside, okay?"

Korra grinned ear to ear. "Yay, do you hear that, Naga?" Her mother perked up to the name. 'She named it already.' She smiled.

Korra took Naga outside near their sled hounds. The sled hounds were particularly nice to Korra out of everyone, especially Tonraq.

She laid Naga by the fire and left to hunt food for the dogs. Once she came back, she saw the sled dogs cuddling around Naga and keeping her warm. Korra fed them all and played with them before it was time to sleep.

"What the fuck does that have to do with me?!"

"Tonraq, please!"

"Shut your mouth, you don't get to do that anymore! I should be the one crying right now!"

-----

Korra abruptly woke up from her sleep in a cold sweat. She breathed semi heavily before quickly calming herself down.

She laid back down and glanced up at her open window. "Morning, Naga." Korra smiled weakly. Naga's head filled the space of the window in only seconds before letting out a small bark.

"I know, today's a Wednesday. I switch into Kuvira's school today." Korra sighed. "I've missed those idiots." She sat up once more and got off her bed.

Naga licked her, which caused Korra to giggle and pet her. She then watched as her owner left the room and went to the bathroom to take a shower. Korra stretched once she got out then put on a black tanktop, white shirt and a white hoodie along with black jeans. She put her earbuds in then put her hood over her head. 'Time to get out of here.'

Korra grabbed her book bag then her phone and walked downstairs. She noticed her step adoptive father sleeping on the couch. He must have had a drunken night and is missing work. Korra ignored him and every thought to wake him up and went outside after grabbing a donut from the fridge.

Naga greeted her with a wagging tail outside, panting. "You ready to go?" Korra asked. Naga barked. "Shh, Alec is still sleeping." She used airbending at her feet to push her up so she could sit on Naga. "Remember the school we passed the other day?"

Naga waited till Korra was situated on her back then started running down the side of the road. As she rode, Korra started to remember bits of her past flooding back in memory. She could barely remember her parent's faces.

Korra had known she was the avatar since she met with Tenzen. Nobody knows except Alec, since he's taking care of her, The chief of the police force, and the chiefs of other places such as the southern and north poles. Korra had been training under Tenzen for some time now, she stopped Amon, in the end learning air bending, however she did so anonymously. Nobody knows who it was that stopped him, but they do know that they're the avatar.

Ever since everyone had learned she was a vampire and could possibly bloodbend, the police force had put a thin collar at her neck. It asked her vitals and adrenaline, when sensing she's in danger or at risk of putting others at danger, the police force and Tenzin will be alerted.

Naga stopped abruptly once they reached the coffee shop, throwing off Korra. Korra yelped as she fell onto the ground. As she was falling, Korra turned the ground beneath her into soft dirt.

She groaned, sitting up. A shadow casted above her. "Hey, you alright?" A foxy woman's voice said. Korra looked up.

A beautiful woman with long wavy raven black hair and emerald green eyes. She wore a nice leather Future Industries jacket and black pants with boots. The woman put her hand out. "That was quite the fall. I hope you didn't damage that pretty face of yours." Korra cocked an eyebrow and gave a nervous chuckle before taking her hand. "Thanks?"

"Don't mention it. Asami Sato."

Korra hummed. "Korra Smith. Sato? As in the Future Industries people?" Asami nodded. "You sure you're okay?"

Korra shrugged. "I have a hard head, I think I'll be fine." She turned the ground, that she had turned into soft dirt, back into hard concrete.

Asami smiled. "Alright then. We're in the same school right? Wanna get coffee together?"

"Sure..Naga, stay."

Naga huffed, sitting near the outside seating. Korra smiled and tossed her a treat from her pocket. Naga hurriedly snatched the treat out of the air and laid down comfortably, biting on her treat.

Korra and Asami walked into the Cafe. They spoke lightly or not at all, Korra was comfortable in the silence, used to it even. Asami, not so much.

"So what classes do you have? I'm not sure if we have one together." Asami asked.

"Are you in advanced?" Korra replied.

Asami nodded. "I am, yes."

"Then we probably have a couple together."

"What about your electives?"

"I have gym, bending classes, self defense. A lot of stuff that has to do with physical."

Asami perked. 'So that's where I remember her from. She's the one that I saw the coach sparring with while I was going to the bathroom.'

"Do you have self defense for 4th period?" She asked.

Korra nodded. "Yeah."

Asami noticed how sharp her canine teeth were. Like a predator's canines. Animal teeth. She also noticed how Korra responded and how she acted.

"Then we have the same class together."

Korra stared at her, Asami feeling like prey underneath her gaze. "You can't bend can you? Sorry if I'm being rude."

Asami shook her head. "No it's alright, I'm a normal person. I can fight though, don't underestimate me." She gave her a challenging look. Korra chuckled then smirked. "Wouldn't dream of it. You look like you can handle yourself."

"Hey, you're the one with the private trainer at school."

"...You know about that? Then you're stalking me?" Korra cocked an eyebrow. Asami blushed a bit, flustered. "Uh no, I'm not stalking you, you just happen to catch my eye when I pass the bending class. 4 at a time is cool."

Korra sighed. "I guess. Wu has told me about you. You're his little crow, aren't you? Cause of the black hair?"

Asami laughed a bit. "Yeah. I didn't know you spoke with Wu? He's a bit crazy, but he makes friends mostly wherever he goes."

"I know." Korra smiled.

The two spoke more comfortably. But Asami felt like Korra was hiding something. Not that she shouldn't, the two aren't friends yet. But it felt like something serious. After having their breakfast and grabbing some drinks, Korra offered Asami a ride, to which she agreed.

Asami held on tightly, never riding a polar bear dog before. Once they made it to the school, they walked inside together then went their separate ways.

'Korra Smith...When you fell, you thought I didn't notice...I didn't hear any thud, nor when you got up, only dirt came off of you, you weren't injured at all. We were on hard concrete sidewalk, I know, I watched my dad help build this sidewalk.' Asami thought. Though she seemed to not be, she was very perceptive. 'You could have earth bended the floor beneath you..but you're not an earthbender are you? Earthbenders don't particularly wear blue. They have a liking for green, like Bolin.'

'Could she be the..Avatar? No..that's too rash. But it has been long enough since Avatar Aang has died..and she resembles Katara, maybe she's of the same family? There's been a rumor that the avatar resembles the last avatar's lover, maybe that's a myth though.'

"Asammiii"

"Asami!"

Asami flinched out of her thoughts. "Y-yes Mako?"

"Get out of the clouds already, can't you see Bolin is trying to talk to you?" Mako scoffed. He wore a red shirt with black jeans. "Mako, chillax, it's not serious." Bolin sighed, holding his sandwich. He wore a dark grey shirt with a green jacket and black pants. Asami glanced over at Bolin. "Sorry Bolin, what's up?"

"Don't pay any mind to him, he's just salty because the coach benched him. Anyways, I saw you came to school on a polar bear dog! That was Korra right, the closed off girl?"

"The weird loner." Mako added. "I heard she fought Beifong, didn't hear the results though. I bet she got her loner ass kicked."

"Right cause if you can't beat her in a spar, nobody can." Bolin said sarcastically.

"Exactly. You finally get me."

Asami shook her head. She doesn't know why she even began dating Mako. He was a sweet guy, now he's just cocky. 'Come to think of it, I met Mako kind of how I met Korra. Except Mako, I nearly ran him over.'

"ASAMIIII!"

Asami looked behind her. "Wu?

He jumped in Asami's lap. "Asami, Joseph touched me!" He said. "What?"

"Jospehhh! He acknowledged meee! Asami, I think I'm in love!" He shook her. "Calm downn." Asami shook him as well. "So you two are talking?"

"Yes!! And its all because of that hot water bender."

"Who?"

"Forgot her name, but, I think she saw me tweaking over him and went over to talk to him, then suddenly he started talking to me and we got along pretty quickly."

"...Was it Korra?" 

Wu cocked an eyebrow. "Uhm..something like that. You know her?"

"Basically just met her." Asami shrugged. 

"Korra? Stay away from her Asami, you too Wu." Mako said in a serious tone. "She's not someone you want to be around. A wolf in sheep's clothing if you will, she's crazy strong. I remember some kid in our grade had tried to fight her and he ended up dead. Another kid that fought her on school grounds was bloody all over. His face was bashed in with a fist." 

Asami and Wu stared at him in a bit of confusion and concern. 

"Try not to interact with that demon at all. She has a short temper, anything you say could tip her off." Mako warned.

'She didn't seem like that...but maybe Mako's right? No, don't judge until you know completely. Korra Smith, I'll find out about her on my dad's laptop..'

[mortemoppetere]

TIMING: june 25th PARTIES: @honeysmokedham, @chasseurdeloup, & @mortemoppetere LOCATION: the wicked's rest zoo SUMMARY: when an innocent man is framed for murder, axis investigations is on the case! hey, wait, what's animal control doing here? CONTENT WARNINGS: none!

"Wake up." Nora burst into Emilio's bedroom, door banging against the wall, Perro barking at her heels. "We've got a case." Nora scanned the ground of his bedroom. Neither of the Axis employees could claim to be neat in their lifestyles. Nora picked up two of the less aggressive-smelling articles of clothing and tossed them at the sleeping figure. "It's urgent, come on." Nora also dropped the three-legged dog onto the bed, hoping the little guy would go right for Emilio's face and force him to wake up. Nora slammed the door behind her as she left his room. While she waited for her boss to get it together, she paced a trail in the office space. Back and forth, hands shoved in her pockets. 

Nora had been in the office late that night. It wasn't for work. Sometimes she came in when Emilio wasn't home to use a working bathroom. She was pretty sure he knew but never said anything. Nora liked that arrangement. Nora loved her crypt and the freedom it represented, but she missed the utility of running water. Now that she had added a training routine to her night that left her covered in sweat from pushing herself with exercise, access to a shower was life-changing. Since Nora was playing a game of pretending not to need help, she kept a rotation of places she went to shower. Sometimes it was Van's, Thea's, Metzli's. A gym membership would probably help but the ten dollars a month needed to come from a bank account which she didn't have access to. 

Anyway, she'd been about to leave when a man knocked at the door. He'd been older and looked nervous to be there. "You're the private investigator?" He'd asked upon seeing her, Nora could tell from the look in his eye he didn't believe it. Probably because she looked like a child and knew it. Instead of answering the man, Nora had pointed to the cheap Private Investigator sign on the desk. The man must have been desperate enough to need help because he went right into the story. 

As soon as Emilio came out Nora went into recounting the story. "There's been a murder." Nora kept pacing while she spoke. "They think they know who did it, but our client wants to prove it wasn't who they think it was." Nora started stating the facts she knew. The body was discovered three days ago in the morning when the zoo opened. The cameras were down that night, so there was no video footage. "We won't be able to talk to the suspect. He's a polar bear." Nora stopped her pacing to look at Emilio. This was where she thought the grouchy old man might say no. But, despite her own hatred for her own bear, Nora had a deep fondness for bears. Especially the polar kind. Nora grabbed a file she'd prepared for Emilio off the desk and tossed it to him. "That's everything I know and found on Google." She'd gone to the library to print it off this morning. "Our client is a keeper at the zoo. He says he knows for certain the bear didn't do it." 

Blood on the floorboards, in the dirt, on the walls. The stench of it was overpowering, all iron and rust. He was running, but the ground under his feet was moving in the opposite direction so no step he took actually projected him forward. But he could see her ahead, anyway — dark hair tangled in every direction, tiny body curled into a ball, blood pooling all around her. He’d get there too late, because he always did, but he could see her. He was so close, he just needed to —

A voice cut through the silence of the bedroom, and Emilio started awake, eyes wide and wild. His heart was pounding in his chest as he shifted on the mattress, not yet sitting up but far from sleep. He probably ought to thank Nora for waking him; he’d only been asleep an hour or so, but the nightmares only ever got worse the longer he let himself stay in them. More than an hour of sleep and he woke up screaming his throat raw, shouting out names of long-dead ghosts that had never found him worth haunting. 

Nora was saying something about a case, and then there were clothes being tossed at him, and then a dog. Perro licked his nose once, a very intentional kind of move, as if he, too, was urging Emilio to wake up and listen to Nora. The detective grumbled, pulling on the dirty shirt and sweatpants she’d tossed his way as she exited the bedroom. It took him a moment to get off the mattress; it always did. His knee was stiff, hurting more than usual after the ‘rest’ he’d granted it. He did his best to ignore it as he limped into the living room.

“Do you live here now?” It was only half a joke. Inviting her to move in and forgetting about it wasn’t entirely outside the realm of possibility to Emilio. Nora accepting such an offer, however, seemed entirely unlikely. He moved into the kitchen as she spoke, starting the process of making a cup of coffee in his ancient, moldy coffee maker. 

Murder wasn’t Axis’s usual fare. That kind of thing was better left to the police, if only because Emilio attempting to take on such a thing seemed like a short walk to a prison cell for him. But apparently, the police hadn’t done their job. He listened as Nora told the story, finding it entirely unsurprising that the cops had the wrong man behind bars for this one. The police liked easy answers, most of the time. They tended to go with whatever suspect looked the best without digging into the evidence. Sometimes, that meant the wrong person got caught up in things. And sometimes, that wrong person had the funds and determination to hire Axis to help them. Not the worst case, really. It was nice of Nora to take it for him, nice of her to…

Wait. 

“Did you say a polar bear?” He caught the file she threw his way, looking down at the printout of some webpage about a polar bear. “A bugbear? It’s a bugbear, right? We can get them to transform and talk to them then?” He wanted, so badly, for the answer to be yes. The more Nora spoke, however, the less likely that seemed to be. “It’s a bear.”

"Live here? In this sty?" Nora rolled her eyes. "Never." It wasn't that Nora hated Axis. It was the opposite. Nora loved Axis. Nora loved how the noire feel of the office space made her feel like a star in a detective movie. She loved that blocked off from prying eyes was Emilio's home, a place where she was welcome to traverse, making her feel welcomed and like she belonged somewhere. There was joy in being able to come in, wake up Mimi, and get to work. No harsh words, no yelling. No demands to keep to a schedule. Axis was the easy and simple life she loved and always wanted. 

But the Crypt was everything to Nora. The Crypt was the symbol of freedom that she'd fought tooth and nail for. An oasis unto herself where no one could tell her what to do, how to exist, and what to be. There was nothing in that Crypt that demanded she twisted herself into different shapes to fit a box that wasn't designed to fit her. The Crypt was someplace she couldn't see herself giving up ever. She knew Emilio hated the Crypt. All of his mentions of the place came with reminders that there were creatures there that wanted to kill her. He was convinced that one day something would claw its way out of death and attack her down there. He was probably right, but her freedom was something she'd discovered she'd die for. 

Nora wasn't done pacing. Her boots slammed a steady beat against the worn wood floor. "A bugbear? It’s a bugbear, right? We can get them to transform and talk to them then?" Those words came with a sting of pain. Nora kept her eyes fixed on the ground in front of her, one boot in front of the other. The hope that it could be a fellow bugbear had crossed her mind when she first heard about the case, but further research into the bear had revealed that the bear was born and raised in captivity. The true sting came from the knowledge that even if it was a bugbear, Nora would have no clue how to tell. As far as she was aware, she was the only bugbear in existence at this current time. Despite her efforts to find others, there had only been one in her life. Her. It was blatantly apparent to her that she lacked something. Something to tell her where the other bugbears were. Something that could answer a question like "It's a bugbear, right?" 

"A bear." Nora repeated. Her voice and face remained as impassive as ever. "It can't defend itself. Someone has to do it." As Nora spoke her hands started fumbling through her pockets. Change. Ham. Snake. Some string. Finally, they came across what she was looking for. Nora pulled out two all-access zoo passes, tossing one at Emilio. "He gave us a way in." Not only did he give them a way in, but the man had also said these would be good all season. Unlimited zoo trips. Nora wasn't going to admit it to Mimi, but she was stoked. She was going to use this pass to try and free all the animals. Sometime. Not now. Right now they had a murder to solve. 

"He said we'd be able to use this to get into where they are holding the bear too." Nora stopped pacing, turning to look at Emilio. "He's sure the bear didn't do it. The bear doesn't have a history of violence. He was originally supposed to be picked up for rehabilitation and then release, but after she was healed her caretakers declared she was too dependent on humans that they didn't think she would survive in the wild." 

“It’s better than your place,” Emilio huffed, though he wasn’t entirely sure that was true. Axis and the Crypt were probably equally terrible for different reasons. Sure, the Crypt was in a graveyard that was potentially full of undead, but Axis was in a building of potentially dangerous people. The guy across the hall had come at Emilio with a switchblade more than once, and it was a lot harder to fight off crazy neighbors than it was to kill spawn vampires. Spawns were easy. You hit them in the chest with a stake and they turned to dust. But people were complicated. You kill one, even in self defense, and you’ve got a world of shit coming down on you. Especially if you were Emilio, he suspected. An undocumented Mexican murdering his neighbor probably wasn’t going to be given any kind of benefit of the doubt. People not turning to dust after dying was, frankly, a little rude of them when you threw that into consideration. 

Still, Emilio was a stubborn bastard. He’d die before he admitted that Nora might have a point about the Crypt being a step above Axis. He’d also never try to convince her to leave it. For whatever reason, she seemed to genuinely like being there. And Nora wasn’t the kind of person who seemed to genuinely like many things at all, so Emilio figured he ought to let her keep whatever she could find. He thought she might do the same for him. 

The coffee machine finished, and Emilio poured the liquid into a reasonably clean mug he pulled out of the sink, pulling a bottle of whiskey down from the cabinet to add a bit of that into the mix as well. With both the cup and the bottle in hand, he walked over to his desk and settled into the rickety chair, leaning back to watch Nora pace.

She was worked up about this. That much was obvious from the way she moved, stress coming off her in waves. It reminded him a little of Rosa when she got herself wrapped up in something, the way she’d walk and talk while making gestures with her hands, frustration clear in her expression. (He and Edgar used to make bets on who she’d take a swing at first. The bets were stupid. It was always Emilio. As the youngest brother, it was his God-given right to be the more annoying of the two.) 

But while Rosa often got worked up over things Emilio could relate to, Nora’s reaction seemed a little more foreign. If it was a bugbear, he’d get it. Even with his disconnect from the life, he’d still feel some sympathy for a slayer wrongfully accused of something and suffering the consequences of it unjustly. But a bear? Nora had admitted that she hadn’t even spent a large amount of time in that form, using it only when she needed to. Did she really feel such a connection to this animal? 

He thought, unwillingly, of Teddy and the way they’d spoken to the animals Joy had trapped away, the anguish in their face when they’d saved Emilio’s life at the cost of letting the baukbear die. He thought of Perro, of the anger he’d felt when he’d seen the condition the dog had been living under in the home of the vampire he’d taken him from. Maybe Nora’s frustration wasn’t as perplexing as he’d first thought. It was just a bear, but it was still something. Something that couldn’t look out for itself, something that needed someone on its side. Emilio bit back a groan. 

Reaching out, he caught the lanyard she threw his way, making a face at it. A zoo pass? Christ, he’d never even been to a zoo. He could only imagine how overwhelming it would be for a man who disliked crowds and had trouble maintaining a strong hold on his own mind. But this was clearly important to Nora, and she’d done plenty for him without protest, so he wrapped the string around his wrist and held the little piece of plastic in his hand. “Okay,” he agreed. “We’ll go in, and we’ll find out what happened. But if we find out the bear did do it, kid, I don’t know what we can do.” It seemed unfair, punishing a bear for doing what bears did. It wasn’t like the vampires Emilio took out who killed with intent; it was a fucking animal. It shouldn’t be punished for that. But how could they stop it? They couldn’t exactly sneak a bear through town and release it into the woods. Emilio didn’t even think polar bears lived in Maine. 

If they had to, he guessed, they could go to Teddy about it. The very thought filled him with irritation, but Teddy had proven to be useful when it came to animals. They’d probably know what to do with a polar bear. With a backup plan that he desperately hoped they could forgo, Emilio forced himself to his feet. “I know someone we can call if we have to,” he said, “but I’d rather we not have to. So tell me everything you know about the murder, and why they think the bear did it. We’ll start there.”

Emilio’s face was a carousel of emotion. With each passing bit of information Nora imparted his face contorted into different shades of what the fuck. “The bear didn’t do it.” The bear probably did it, but Emilio didn’t need to know about Nora’s internal monologue over this case. Nora wanted the bear to be guilt-free, and if it wasn’t well, “If the bear did do it, we can break him out.” Nora always had a straight face; it was part of the emotionless exterior she wore on a day-to-day basis. But this time? She meant it. She wanted it said with a straight face because if the bear did do it, then she would break out the bear. Like for fucks sake, it was a bear not a badly behaved human. Of course, it didn’t know better than to eat a human. “He can live in the crypt with me and Babs.” Nora continued. “We have the space.”

Babadook was taller than Nora while standing on hind legs, and the bear would be taller than Babs and together they would be raising the bar. Ha. That was an old commercial, why did she even think of that? “Who do you know? Mimi, do you…” Nora lowered her voice, as if what she was about to say was the most sacrilegious thing that came out of her mouth today. “Do you have a friend? I’m impressed, Mimi. I was starting to worry that you sat around wallowing by yourself when I’m not around to kick you into gear.” A tease. Her mentor may have the attitude of an ostrich, but he was a good guy. Anyone would be lucky to be his friend.

“Come on, I’ll tell you about the case in the car. I got us a ride.” Neither of them had a car. Nora walked everywhere, and she wasn’t sure how Emilio got anywhere. She wasn’t going to ask him to walk, not with that limp. That’s why she arranged for Mrs. Penelope to drive them. Nora knew basically nothing about the woman except she was very easy to scare. In fact, for the last three months she’d been showing up to Mrs. Penelope’s house at three am on the 18th of every month. Recently she’d approached the woman and told her she knew all about her little monster problem. “I want to help,” Nora had told the woman, “But the only way I can help you is if you drive me and my friend to the zoo.” The fact that it worked was truly a testament to the stupidity of humans.

Nora slid open the soccer van’s door, holding it for Emilio to get in, before following in and slamming the door after them. Mrs. P was a shivering shaking mess in the front seat. Her mascara stained her face, and her hands couldn’t keep a straight grip on the road. “To the zoo, Mrs. P!” Nora announced, slapping a hand against her shoulder. The woman practically jumped out of her seat at the contact, but at least she listened. The car slid out of its parallel parked spot, and they were on their way.

Mrs. P had five kids which meant there were snacks somewhere in this van. Nora rummaged around until she pulled out fruit snack baggies. She threw one at Emilio. He didn’t eat enough. “The bear’s name is Nanook.” Dumb name for a polar bear, considering it was polar bear in Inuit. Almost as dumb as someone naming their dog Perro. “The body was discovered three days ago, but they think he was killed four days ago around midnight. There was an electrical malfunction causing the cameras to go down.” Nora popped fruit snacks in her mouth and kept talking. “The guy killed was the polar bear trainer. He’s been working with that bear since it was born at the zoo.”

Nora had been doing extensive research about the polar bear all night, but what was the information that Emilio would find useful? Nora tapped her foot against the driver’s seat as she thought. Mrs. P let out a startled yelp, increasing the speed of the minivan. “No one saw it happen, and no one knows why he would have been there that late. It was after hours, he should have been home by then. Oh, the dude is married. She’s alive. Maybe she did it.” Wasn’t that what they said on crime shows? The spouse was always the one who did it? Nora figured the chances of being killed by your spouse were probably higher than being killed by a polar bear.

More fruit snacks down the hatch as Nora tried to dig some more information out of her brain. “The man loved his polar bear, and from the articles I’ve read the polar bear liked him.” That was the real shame about Nanook, he could have been so much more terrifying. “The body’s cause of death was assumed to be a bear attack because it was super shredded. Like the kind of shredded that if something else was the cause of death no one would know.” At least that’s what the zoo director had told her when he’d hired them for the case. "That's it, I think." Nora looked over to Emilio. "Do you think we should steal the body to do our own examination?" Nora had never stolen a dead body before, but if she had to guess that would be her greatest triumph yet. Body thief would sound so good on her resume of accomplishments.

This had to have been the stupidest case he’d ever agreed to take on. Stupider than the otter trapper, stupider than the cases that weren’t cases at all, stupider than the line of divorce lawyers who wanted him to help their clients come out on top. Polar bear wrongfully accused of murder really took the fucking cake here, but what could he do? Nora wanted this case solved, and Emilio wouldn’t deny her that. 

But… he wasn’t sure he could allow her to keep a polar bear in her crypt. Especially not a polar bear that might or might not kill people. “What would you feed it?” As if that was the biggest question here. “Look, if we break it out, the guy I’m thinking of probably has some way to get it to… wherever polar bears live.” It seemed like the kind of thing Teddy would know. Asshole. “But they’re not my friend. I have friends. Just not this guy.” Teddy had said as much themself. Do you think we could have been friends in another life meant that they weren’t friends in this one, meant that they never could be. And that was fine, because they were annoying. But he didn’t want Nora… worrying that he didn’t have friends. She had other things to worry about.

She had a ride? Emilio tried to decide whether or not he wanted to question that. It felt like the kind of thing he should probably be concerned about — either they were about to catch a ride from one of Nora’s friends, who would probably be another kid, or they’d catch a ride with someone she’d met and coerced on her way here, which would mean someone from Worm Row. Neither option was entirely appealing. He was about to suggest they just steal Jeff’s car instead, but Nora was already on her way down the hall. Great. Her ride it was, then. 

It wasn’t what he’d been expecting, in any case. The minivan was at least easy to get into, with enough room for him to stretch his leg out in the backseat. The woman driving it looked terrified, which did answer some questions. He nodded to her as he settled into the seat, inspecting her carefully to determine that she wasn’t a threat before saying, “Appreciate the ride, señora.” She didn’t acknowledge him. He slid back against the headrest, shooting Nora a half-amused glance. 

The ride to the zoo was uneventful, with Emilio listening as Nora filled him in on the case. He caught the baggie she threw his way, glancing down at the packaging and making a face, but opening it anyway and popping one of the candies into his mouth. It tasted far too sweet, and he held it back out towards Nora with a shake of his head. She needed it more than he did, anyway, and she certainly seemed to enjoy it more. “Maybe she did,” he agreed when hearing about the wife, nodding his head. Wives and husbands killed each other all the time. As someone who’d been married once, Emilio couldn’t quite understand it. He and Juliana fought sometimes, but he’d never had the urge to feed her to a polar bear. Maybe she’d felt differently about him, though. Who knew? “Anybody talk to the wife? Maybe she can at least tell us why he was there so late. Think that’ll be important to know.”

Despite the outlandish nature of the case, he found himself being sucked in by the evidence all the same. A man, a zoo, a polar bear. If the bear knew him, why would it have attacked him? It had never attacked him before, and he’d presumably been in the enclosure plenty of times. What were the odds that it would only choose to break that pattern when the cameras were down and no one could confirm it? It wasn’t as if the bear would have seen the need to hide the nature of the man’s death from anyone; it was a bear. Stuffing the body in the enclosure would have been a smart move, too, had the killer been of the non-bear variety. When authorities found a corpse in a bear enclosure torn to shreds, they didn’t tend to ask any questions beyond that. They let the obvious answer be the thing they believed, even if it wasn’t true. Which it very well might be — despite Nora’s evidence, which was compelling, Emilio wasn’t entirely sure that this wasn’t just a case of a hungry bear taking a bite out of the wrong meal. 

But Nora was right, he figured. Even if the bear had eaten its trainer, it didn’t really deserve to die. Not if it could be placed somewhere where it wouldn’t be a threat to anyone instead. If they could get it back to its natural habitat, or to some sanctuary somewhere where no humans would bother it, that was what they were going to do. 

As they pulled into the zoo, he considered Nora’s question. “I don’t know how to examine a body,” he admitted. “And if I call the ME, she’s going to be pissed at me.” If Regan found out he’d stolen a body, she’d definitely turn him in. He had no question about that. “Better to just… look at the things we know how to. Like the polar bear’s, uh…” He struggled for the word. “Home. Cage? Where it lived. Can your contact get us in there?” Mrs. P parked the car, still trembling. Emilio glanced between her and Nora before deciding, “You can wait in the car. Only got two passes.” She looked relieved. Emilio decided not to ask.

There had been a time in Nora’s childhood where her life was filled with research of Polar Bears. Each new fact she collected on her Polar Bear board went into her plan to run away one day to the Artic so she could meet her birth family of Polar Bears and ask what went wrong. It was a funny memory, now that Nora knew she wasn’t actually a polar bear. But her fondness for the creatures persisted. “Food.” Nora answered Emilio’s question as if it was the dumbest thing, he could ask her. Like what? Was she going to feed a polar bear trash? What kind of animal did Emilio think she was? “We’ve got a lot of honey at Axis.” Nora commented. They had a lot of honey at Axis because she kept filling Emilio’s kitchen with it.

Emilio was going on about how he knew a person, a person that wasn’t his friend, but could probably help. Also, that Emilio had friends. Nora side-eyed Emilio as she let himself talk his way through that one. “Whatever, sure. You have friends.” Nora rolled her eyes. An exaggerated movement made for Emilio’s benefit. “Just not that friend. At least this not friend can help.”

“Did anyone talk to the wife?” Nora repeated back at Emilio, shooting him a look. He was making a disgusted face over the fruit snacks. God. That man had absolutely no taste when it came to anything. Nora accepted the bag and ate his share of fruit snacks as well. “You think the cops did anything that wasn’t blaming Nanook?” That was a big assumption. The zoo wanted to do something, and they did, by hiring Axis. Talking to the wife was going to be their job. Everything was going to be their job. Humans hated animals. Nora shifted in her seat, her feet slapping against the back of Mrs. P’s seat causing the woman to scream again in absolute horror. “Chill Mrs. P. I’m just moving.” Nora found herself rolling her eyes again. Perhaps it was time to stop scaring the lady so much. She looked like she hadn’t slept in years.

"What do you mean you can't examine a body?” Nora had seen two dead bodies in her life, and she knew how both of them died since one was killed in front of her and the other, she’d killed herself. “You just look at it.” She was also filled with the endless confidence of youth that told her there was nothing in this world she couldn’t do. “You know the ME?” Nora had pulled out her phone and was lounging in the chair scrolling through some social media website as the ride dragged on. This got her to look up from her phone. “Is she one of those friends you keep telling me you have?” Nora went back to scrolling. “Maybe if she’s a good friend of yours she can examine the body for you and tell you what she finds.”

“Habitat.” Nora supplied the word while not looking up from the phone. “Cage works, but I think they want the enclosures to feel like a house and not a jail.” Nora stopped replying long enough to leave a long and scathing comment on something Elias had posted. She knew she was probably still blocked by him, but for some reason Elias liked to unblock her every now and then to see what she was up to. Those were the moments those reviews were for. With that done Nora shoved her phone back into her pocket. “That’s what our passes are for. He said it’ll get us wherever we want to go.” Nora hoped he hadn’t been lying. “He said he’ll meet us behind the polar bear exhibit, or send someone to meet us. I don’t remember.” Nora had to get better at listening when people were giving her direction.

As soon as the car was parked, Nora was slamming the door open and jumping into the nice morning breeze. Normally Nora wasn’t a morning person. They were the worst times to be awake. This morning was different based on the intent. Today Nora would free an innocent Polar Bear. Emilio was saying something to Mrs. P, and taking his sweet ass time about it. “Come on.” Nora called, joining the crowd headed to the gates. Nora made sure to not get too far ahead of Emilio, tracking him by scent in the crowd instead of turning around to look.

At the gates Nora presented her pass and was given a map and ushered in. Nora unfurled the map as she waited for Emilio to finally catch up. The arctic wasn’t that far from where they were. “We can stop by and see penguins on our way there.” Nora told him, pointing out the location on the map. Nora worked very hard on keeping up her tough cool girl exterior. When people saw her, she wanted them to have no doubt in their minds that she was cool, calm and collected. Unfortunately for her, there was something about animals that made her want to lose control and scream for joy like a fucking child. Nora wanted to see those penguins so badly.

The walk through the crowds made their proceedings slower, but they got to the polar bear exhibit eventually. The arctic area was a collection of motifs all designed to look like they were in a snowy paradise. Years of use had caused the once white snow mounds and igloos to turn a shade of gray from wear. A sign hung on the polar bear exhibit that said the animal was currently unavailable. Nora spotted the employees only access tucked away and led them back there. The door was unlocked, and no one was there to stop them. In the center of the employee only area was a polar bear, locked in a cage too small, obviously under supervision from cameras pointed at it. 

“I don’t think polar bears eat honey.” Though, really, what did he know? It wasn’t as if anyone had ever taught Emilio the ins and outs of nonsupernatural wildlife, especially when it came to creatures no one imagined he’d ever come face to face with. Why did a hunter growing up in Mexico need to know anything about a polar bear? His mother certainly never would have guessed that he’d be trying to clear one from a murder charge one day. If she had, maybe she would have added a fact or two into the curriculum. 

Then again, she’d always known he’d be dealing with people, and she’d never taught him much of anything about those, either. If she had, maybe he’d be a little better at understanding friendship, and what did and didn’t qualify as such. “I think they can probably help. They’re good with animals. And they care about them.” And they were a demon, which would probably come in handy somewhere. Maybe Teddy could open some kind of a demon portal to the bear’s natural habitat and let it go there. Or shrink the bear so it would be easier for Nora to keep in her crypt. Whatever.

All right, so Nora probably had a point. Cops, as a whole, were lazy. When they found an answer they liked, they didn’t spend a lot of time looking for alternatives. Even if their answer was wrong. It was why there were prisons full of innocent people… and why guys like Emilio tended to wind up picking up the slack with the ones who got away scot free. The police had decided the bear was to blame, so they wouldn’t talk to the wife. That’d be Axis’s job. And Emilio hated that. Talking to spouses, in cases like this one, was second only to talking to parents on the list of things he couldn’t stand. There was a chance the wife had done it, sure. But if she hadn’t? Then she was someone preparing to bury the person she’d thought she’d spend the rest of her life with. And Emilio could relate to that a lot more than he wished he could.

“I mean I don’t know how to examine a body,” Emilio replied dryly. “There are going to be a lot of wounds on it. I don’t know how to tell if those were there before he died, or if they happened after. And I have a…” He trailed off, trying to think of the right word. “Working relationship with the ME. We’re not friends. She doesn’t like me. But she helps me out when I find a body. I don’t think she’ll help us with this one. She’s weird about corpses.” He tried not to think about it, because if he thought about it, he was going to start trying to figure out what Kavanagh was. A hunter’s mind was a hard thing to shake, even when you were a shitty hunter. He didn’t want to be a man who went around having conversations with people and spending the whole damn time trying to figure out what kind of beast they might be. 

He nodded as Nora provided the correct term, filing it away for later. And he liked the way she did it; casual, without looking. Not like he was stupid, not like he should have known. English was a slippery thing, and there were times when Emilio couldn’t grip it quite right, despite his best efforts. Some people would make you feel stupid in those moments, but Nora didn’t. For all that she liked to poke at people, she never seemed to actively try to hit the buttons that would really hurt. Not with him, at least. “Maybe the bear had a pass,” he said dryly, flipping the little piece of plastic between his fingers absently. 

It was clear that Nora was in a hurry, so Emilio didn’t waste too much time conversing with their reluctant driver before following the kid towards the entrance. She seemed to know where she was going, and he trailed along as quickly as he could without setting himself up for a day of discomfort. They’d probably be on their feet for a while as they trekked through the zoo, so he needed to make sure he didn’t overexert his damn leg. This case was clearly far more important to Nora than she’d admit, and he wasn’t going to risk dropping the ball on it. 

Getting in was easy enough, though he’d figured it would be. Nora had clearly done her due diligence here. It was the first time she’d gotten this involved in a case, though Emilio knew better than to get used to it. This case was special. Raising a brow at her request, he nodded. “All right,” he said. “Never seen a penguin before. Those are birds, right?” Maybe he was playing up his ignorance a little bit, but he figured Nora’d probably get a kick out of it. Maybe she’d like to make fun of him and look at penguins. That seemed right up her alley. 

By the time they finally made their way to the arctic exhibit, Emilio’s leg was aching a little more than he’d like to admit. He trailed a little ways behind Nora, jaw clenched a little as they slipped into the employee’s only section. The sight of the bear caged in the center of the room did fill him with more anger than he’d like to admit, but he was careful not to let it show too much. They’d need to keep a level head here. As much as he’d like to just open the bear’s cage and let it loose, it wasn’t feasible with the crowds outside. “What, they think it’s gonna do a jailbreak?” He scoffed, glancing up at the cameras. “Seems like a little much.” He walked over to the cage carefully, stopping just before he got to the bars. The bear only watched, looking incredibly docile all things considered. It certainly didn’t look like the kind of bear that had killed someone. “Not violent,” he observed. Carefully, he grabbed one of the bars with his hand. The bear still made no move towards it. “What do you think, kid?”

Texting on her phone in the car, body positioned in a way that car seats were not supposed to hold human bodies, Nora dropped her phone as Emilio said something odd about the ME. Nora looked up, turning to face him. “What do you mean she’s weird about corpses? Weird how?” Thoughts were racing, none of them good. Nora swiveled back, resuming her optimal phone position. “I’ve thought about it, and I don’t want to. She’s not your friend, she’s friends with the corpses. Got it.” This had a lot of implications, and all these implications were being saved for a day Nora wasn’t busy trying to save a polar bear’s life.

It was unfortunate that they hadn’t gotten a look at the penguins, but Nora’s one-track mind had forgotten to lead her boring mentor there. What kind of man had never seen penguins before? Was this his first time at the zoo? If Nora could retain any thoughts that didn’t revolve around saving Nanooks life, she would try to remember to take him around to see all the animals. She could tell him that she wanted to show him her favorites, but her favorites were all of them. Besides, Nora had never been to this particular zoo.

Nora had been to a lot of zoos. Nora had made a point of visiting the polar bears every single time she went to zoos. But that didn’t change the feeling she got every time she saw one. The feeling of wonder and longing and confusion all bundled into a tight package presented with a bow. This time it had something new, it had the knowledge that she wasn’t a polar bear but a bugbear, but the old feelings still remained. Nora followed Emilio’s approach to the cage and watched as his hand touched the bars and did nothing. “I told you he didn’t kill anyone.” Nora shoved her own hand through the bars, palm forward hand outstretched. The polar bear sniffed in her direction. Could he smell the sameness on them? That in a different life their roles could have been reversed?

For a brief moment, Nora considered transforming. Maybe if she was a bear then she could talk to a bear. A glance around the room reminded her that was a bad idea. Too many cameras. First, she’d have to take off her clothes, and transform, and then that would turn into a viral sensation, and then she’d be found out as still alive. Better to not tempt YouTube fame over a bear to bear she didn’t know would work. Instead, Nora moved Emilio, positioning him so his back was blacking a camera and then moved herself so her back was blocking another. Reaching inside herself she found that thread of power within her and tapped it.

An illusion bloomed in front of the bear, the perfect image of the man who he’d killed. The bear did nothing. The illusion shifted, showing Nora turning into a bear and the two of them hugging because she wanted the bear to know they were friends and honestly didn’t know how to convey that in bear terms. The bear did nothing. “I don’t know how to talk bear.” It sounded frustrated, even in her monotone voice. Once more she was lacking at something she felt she ought to be able to do. Nora was having the illusion of the bears shake hands when the door swung open, and a familiar scent filled her nose.

Nora flipped around, dropping her illusion, but she was aware that if the man had been paying attention there was no way he would have missed it. “Well, if it’s not my ex-lover.” Because Nora was nothing if not confident that this man wasn’t paying attention. Everything always worked out for her, after all. “You’re a lot shorter than I remembered.” Nora pointed over at Emilio. “This is inspector gadget, John Brown, world renown private investigator and bear fanatic. We’ve been hired by the zoo to clear this bear of all charges. Why are you here?” 

When Kaden heard the talk going around the station about the case where a bear killed its handler, he knew something sounded a little off about all of it. There’s no way someone who worked with this bear day in, day out would be stupid enough to get himself killed by it, not without anyone seeing it. And he wasn’t even mauled? There were too many fucking weird things about it all for him to ignore it. Thankfully, the detective on the case was fine with his suggestion to have animal control go give an inspection of the situation and report back. Probably because there were so many other bullshit cases on his plate for him to want to babysit the glorified dog catcher. Which was fine by Kaden.

That was, until he remembered where the polar bear was located. And what happened the last time he’d been to the zoo. 

Putain de merde. For once in his goddamn life, he opted to wear his uniform. Maybe no one would recognize him as the idiot who fought a mascot with an umbrella if he looked moderately professional. He also made sure to park by the back and use the employee entrance, hoping to avoid as many people as he could manage. When he explained why he was there, the guard let him in and took him to the back office where the coordinators and managers were. “Officer Langley,” he said when he approached the coordinator. “I’m with Animal Control. I’m here to look into the polar bear for Detective Peterson.”

A knowing smirk was spread across the coordinator’s face when he looked up at Kaden. “Here to fight another one of my mascots?” he asked.

Putain. He could feel his cheeks getting red. “I’m, uh, not sure what you’re talking about. But if you could just point me in the right direction, I’ll get to work.”

The zoo employee was clearly not fooled by his attempt at subterfuge and raised a brow. Still, he decided to let it go, nodding towards the direction of the door. “The bear’s being held behind the exhibit. We already have a team of PI’s looking into it. I’m not sure if they’re here yet, but one of the zookeepers can lead the way if you insist. Just so long as you’re not armed with an umbrella, it should be fine.”

Kaden didn’t have to be told twice and rushed out the door and towards the polar bear exhibit. When he reached it and was let into the back, he’d hoped to be alone in the room, just him and the bear. Only when he entered, careful to be quiet and not startle the animal, he saw two figures standing by the cage. Must be the private investigators. He opened his mouth to say something, but shut it closed when he felt the hair on his arms all stand on edge – a shifter was in the room. Beyond that, he recognized both the man and the young woman there. It took everything he had not to curse aloud right then and there. These were the PI’s hired by the zoo? He refrained from cursing and stood back to watch what the fuck Emilio and Nora were doing when they thought no one was watching. 

The hunter thought he was imagining things, slightly worried he’d been hit with some ballybog toxin again when he saw the illusions conjured in the cage with the polar bear. He thought he had a lot of questions before he walked into the room and now they’d all but tripled. He was about to speak up when the kid turned on her heel to face him and had to fucking remind him about the incident at the coffee shop.

Wait. His brows knit together. Did she just call him short? “Putain de merde, first off I’m not your ex-lover or lover of any kind so don’t fucking start with that shit. Second,” he turned to Emilio, “What are you doing here with her?” Kaden crossed his arms against his chest. “And I’m here because I’m animal control, part of the WRPD. Trying to examine the case, report on the bear.” He hoped that sounded convincing since, while he was there on the job, it was hardly at anyone’s request. “I take it you’re the crack team of PI’s they hired. You, I should have guessed,” he nodded to Emilio. “You,” he said, looking at Nora, “not so much. And both of you, get your hands away from the bear, for fucks sake.” 

Whatever conclusions Nora seemed to have jumped to, Emilio wouldn’t correct her. Regan would probably prefer it if Nora thought she was weird enough to avoid, anyway, given how weird she got online any time anyone even suggested friendship in her general direction. They had bigger fish to fry right now, anyway. Or… bigger bears to fry. Or not fry. Bigger bears to free?

This was stupid.

But it wasn’t stupid in the kind of sense that made him think Nora’s insistence that the bear was innocent was wrong. The more time he spent by the cage, the more he figured the kid was onto something. He watched as she made illusions appear, marveling at how different these were than the last ones he’d seen her put up. In the graveyard, that first day they’d met, she’d been trying to scare him. It was clear that her intentions were different now. There was some attempt at communication, but Emilio didn’t know enough about bugbears to know if it would be successful or not. Emilio’s marriage to Juliana meant he knew more about shifters than the average slayer might, but hunters didn’t tend to know much more about what they hunted than they had to. He didn’t know if bugbears could talk to bears; neither did Nora. They were both just taking guesses here. 

“That’s all right,” he told her lowly. “I don’t know how to speak bear, either. We’ll figure out another way, okay?” He could tell she was frustrated, even if she wasn’t one to admit to something. Emilio had spent enough time with the bugbear to read her blank expressions, to notice the minute differences between one and the next. Despite what people tended to assume about him, he was a half decent detective. It was one of the only things he was really good at. Other things, he thought, were much harder to accomplish.

For example… this. The door behind them opened, and Emilio spun around so quickly that he ached with the movement. He was expecting some zoo employee to tell them to keep their hands out of the damn cage, which probably would have been fair. Instead, there was a familiar face in an unfamiliar uniform. And Emilio had a thousand thoughts at once.

Kaden was a ranger. He’d be able to sense a shifter in the room. Kaden knew Emilio was a hunter. He wouldn’t mistake the slayer for the beast that was making his hair stand up on end. Emilio had asked him enough about bugbears to make him at least a little suspicious. Nora had been positioned to hide her illusions from the camera, but not from the door. It didn’t take a half decent detective to string all those things together and realize that Kaden probably had enough to know what Nora was now, and it didn’t take a man as paranoid as Emilio to fear for what that might mean.

His eyes darted between the two, listening as Nora spoke. They’d met each other before. Kaden must have known she was a shifter from the start. Was he planning on targeting her? He wasn’t here for her now — the uniform said he was probably here on official business — but did that mean she was safe later? Andy said that she and Alex didn’t hunt anymore, but Kaden said he killed ‘dangerous shifters.’ How much weight did that qualifier carry? Was Nora dangerous in the eyes of a ranger who seemed to think not everything was? 

He was tense as Kaden turned to him, trying and failing to school his expression into something neutral. “She was hired by the bear,” he replied dryly, a hint of something like a threat in his tone. “I thought the police were finished with this one. We were told you weren’t coming for the bear yet.” They were supposed to have time to actually look at this case before wrenches were thrown into it. But a ranger stumbling into the room with Emilio and his bugbear assistant? That was one hell of a wrench. 

You're not supposed to speak bear, I am. Nora had wanted to snap out the words. Lash out for her own failings. Instead, the words choked in her throat, swallowed down by her own feelings of self loathing. "Fine. Yeah." Nora reluctantly agreed. But wouldn't it have been easier if Nora could figure out how to work the bear part of Bugbear? Fuck. She didn't even know if speaking to bears was something that bugbears could do. Could werewolves talk to wolves? It was another one of those 'fuck you birth parents why couldn't you've given me to another bugbear so I could at least understand something basic about myself.' moments. 

Some people were experts at reading a room. They could look at people's body language and parse out exactly what was happening. Those people could react accordingly to keep tensions at bay. Nora was not one of those people. It slipped by her completely that Emilio had become tense with recognition the moment Kaden entered the room. Nora was too busy caught in the mirth of meeting the man that was the target of so many funny rumors. "Don't start with that shit?" Nora lay a hand over her mouth in mockery of someone who might actually be offended. "Kaden, don't tell me you're here because you're continuing your crusade as the zoo's most invasive species." Nora's eyes raked up Kaden's body. "At least you're wearing clothes today." 

Seeing Kaden there was the perfect redirection for her frustration from moments before. There were many quips and jabs Nora wanted to toss at the man. He was funny. There was something about him that made people want to lie. She'd noticed it online. How did he create such an interesting conundrum he kept putting himself into. Oh, Nora wanted to scare him. Her fingers itched and twitched at the thought. There was a second where she almost reached into the power deep within her and unleashed it, creating a massive creature coming at him. Nora took a deep breath and composed herself. Because she was mature, and this wasn't about her and her love of tormenting Kaden. This was about a polar bear named Nanook and his right to live a long and happy life. 

Because Nora, at this point, and if she was being honest with herself, probably at any point of time, would back up anything Emilio wanted to say to fuck with Kaden. Nora may not have been the proudest of bugbears, it was taking work for her to even become on, but she was a proud fan of bears! They were large, scary and, well, scary! They deserved to eat people if they wanted to. Nora particularly didn't like the way Kaden called them the crack team, or the tone he took with Emilio. Nora could take all the smoke Kaden wanted to throw at her, but Emilio was a good man and a good detective who was here helping her. Nora hadn't believed it at first that he was a good detective, and he'd already proved Nora wrong. Since revealing that he'd known who she was this whole time and had just been keeping it quiet cause he'd detected she didn't want to talk about it, Nora believed the man could solve anything. He didn't deserve Kaden's insults.

Kaden seemed mad that they weren't supposed to be here and it took everything in Nora's trembling body to not make fun of him for being bad at his job. But she refrained. Because she was here to help Nanook. It was a herculean task, holding back the barrage she had for him. Nora forced herself to turn away from Kaden's stupid face and to look at Nanook. The polar bear caught her eye. He looked so sad in the small little cage instead of being in his large habitat, allowed to walk around as he wanted. Nora took a deep breath, centering herself. "If you don't believe us, you can always call the zoo director." Nora tugged at the pass around her neck. "He's the one who gave us these to investigate." Clasping her hands behind her back, she turned herself back towards animal control. “We’re going to prove he’s innocent. You can’t take him.”

Nora's body trembled as she kept back the rage within her. The tongue that wanted to lash out every single insult and rumor she knew about this man. The way she wanted to see his sad and pathetic life made fun of in that moment. He'd go 'stop please I'm so old and tired and I didn't actually want to fight' just like the last time he'd engaged her online and thought he could play her game.  But she refrained. Because she was here to help Nanook. It was a herculean task, holding back the barrage she had for him. Nora forced herself to turn away from Kaden's stupid face and to look at Nanook. The polar bear caught her eye. He looked so sad in the small little cage instead of being in his large habitat, allowed to walk around as he wanted. Nora took a deep breath, centering herself. 

With a quick glance at Kaden, Nora stuck her arm further into the bear cage. "We know he's not a man eater, is that what you're trying to cover up, cop?" Nora asked, a tone of accusation melded into her monotone. It had just been the way he'd added get your hands away from the bear for fuck sakes. Like he, on the team condemning the bear, knew better than them, the heroes of the story. "You're just jealous because if you stuck your hand in here, he'd bite you and it'd be deserved." Nora looked back at Nanook. "It'd be self defense, right buddy?" 

Hired by the bear. Hired by the fucking bear? “Putain de merde,” Kaden muttered to himself. This was going to be a long fucking day. “I’m not coming for the bear. I’m here to investigate, alright.” Alright, sure, he came because he didn’t really believe the reports. Detective Peterson might have thought this was an open and shut case, but Kaden didn’t buy it. Animals in captivity sometimes exhibit aggressive behaviors to their handlers, but rarely was it out of nowhere with no history. And if anything it would be out of boredom or frustration and that would be the fault of the zoo, not the goddamn polar bear. 

“Very fucking funny,” he said, rolling his eyes. “You know I was never naked here in the first place.” Not that it would matter to her one way or the other. He hadn't been sure that Nora was the shifter in the room when they met in the cafe; it was nearly impossible to narrow down in that sort of crowded space, but now there was no mistaking it. And the illusions. Hired by the bear. 

Ah. Bugbear. Had to be.

Wait. Kaden side-eyed Emilio, the guy who had been asking a whole lot of questions about bugbears. And his “apprentice” (if that was even the truth he couldn’t tell with these two) was a bug bear. Was he asking because he was planning to kill her? Seemed like a lot of wasted effort for that. Did that mean he was helping her? Or using her? Strange. He’d taken the man to be the kind to stab first, ask questions later. That still didn’t make him comfortable with the idea of him hanging around Alex. Last time that he’d talked to her, it sounded like Emilio didn’t know what she was. He didn’t plan on changing that anytime soon. But he sure had a lot more questions for the other hunter now. He’d have to figure out when to ask them because here and now wasn’t the place or the time.

“I’m not trying to cover up shit.” Kaden sighed and got closer to the polar bear, keeping his eyes on that seemingly docile predator. His cage was way smaller than it should be – the enclosure was barely large enough and that was far larger. And even so, the bear was calm as ever, even with all these strangers staring at him and sticking their hands in his cage. He tried to look for any signs that the bear might have been sedated, any signs of tranq darts, dilated eyes, anything. There was nothing like that he could see. It was funny that the last time he’d been here, he thought the damn golf cart was a polar bear and he was petting it and now he could practically reach out and touch the creature for real. No illusions. Not anymore, at least. 

It was stupid, but her last jab that the bear would bite him hurt a little. He didn’t care about a lot of things and he wasn’t good at a whole lot of shit, either, but he was good with animals. Someone accusing him otherwise always stung. The other shit she said, about being her lover or being naked at the zoo, that was frustrating, sure, but it didn’t hit quite the same way this had. “I don’t think he’d bite anyone, kid,” he said, unwilling to meet her gaze lest she caught sight of the hurt that might be lingering in his own. “If he’s this calm with no stimulation, I don’t buy that he did anything to the handler.” Kaden crouched down to get a better look at the bear’s paws and legs. “I don’t see any blood stains, either. I would expect those would still be there even if they cleaned him.” 

Kaden rubbed his face with his palms as he stood back up. He had no fucking clue what to do here, he doubted the detective wanted to hear from him, the animal control officer, that he’d fucked up or at the very least had gotten lazy. “So what’s your plan for clearing the bear?”

It was clear that she was frustrated, even if she was trying to hide it. There was a large part of Emilio that wanted to offer her comfort, somehow, wanted to put a hand on her shoulder or share some sage words to help her accept that these things took time or whatever, but he didn’t have much of a chance because there was a ranger in the room staring at them both like they had two heads a piece and Nora was talking to him like he wasn’t built to kill her. It was probably just as well, anyway; Emilio would have been shit at the ‘words of wisdom’ thing, anyway. Losing his daughter was never going to make him a better father, and he’d already been a pretty shit one.

But that didn’t mean he’d repeat all the same mistakes. He might not know how to comfort Nora about her inability to communicate with the bear, but he knew how to protect her from Kaden if he had to. Subtly, he positioned himself with his shoulder between the hunter and the bear, ready to step in if Kaden made a move. He probably wouldn’t do anything here — his reputation at the zoo was already bad enough — but Emilio wouldn’t bet Nora’s life on a logical hunch.

“Nora,” he said quietly as she began mocking Kaden, “not now.” She’d probably have questions about that later, he knew, because it was uncharacteristic of him to stop her. Typically when she went in on someone, Emilio was content to watch and allow himself to be entertained. He doubted she’d assume it was because they were on a case, given the fact that he tended to let her do whatever while they were working, and he wouldn’t have lied to her, anyway. When they got out of here and she asked, he’d tell her. Outing a fellow hunter felt wrong in a way that made his insides twist, but Nora deserved to know this. Especially given how much she seemed to enjoy driving Kaden out of his mind.

Speaking of which… Emilio glanced down to see Nora’s fingers twitching, and he could practically feel how much she wanted to craft some illusion or another against the ranger. In all honesty, Emilio didn’t even know if it would work. Were rangers immune from bugbears’ illusions? He was kicking himself now for all the things he’d never asked Juliana about, though given the fact that she hadn’t tended to hunt bugbears, he wasn’t sure even she would have known. And it wasn’t as if he could ask Kaden now — he’d already made the other hunter suspicious with his questions regarding bugbears the last time they’d had a conversation about it.

In a subtle attempt to communicate to Nora that she should not, under any circumstances, try to scare Kaden right now, the hunter knocked his wrist against hers. He wasn’t sure if the lack of illusions was because his message got across or if she really was so focused on saving the bear that she decided to forgo her usual level of shenanigans, but he was glad for it either way. Less glad that she seemed unwilling to forgo all shenanigans, but she wouldn’t be Nora if she didn’t cause at least a little bit of trouble.

Even without the bugbear of it all, he expected Kaden to argue with them. If he really was here on police business — and given his last experience at the zoo, Emilio couldn’t imagine anything else that would drive him to return — then he shouldn’t be on Axis’s side here. The police had already decided the outcome of this case; it was the zoo that wanted a different answer. Emilio was expecting Kaden to insist that the police’s official stance was the correct one, that the bear had killed the handler and would be put down as a result. Instead, he took a surprising turn, and… agreed with Nora? Emilio blinked, trying not to let his surprise show.

“No shit he didn’t bite anyone,” he replied, though the words weren’t as harsh as they normally might have been. “Look at him. I’ve got clients I’d be more worried about taking a bite out of me than him.” Throughout it all, the bear remained calm behind them. 

Emilio tensed as Kaden approached, but all the ranger did was crouch beside the cage to inspect the bear further. The lack of blood was an important enough observation, though it hardly cleared the bear of any wrongdoing. The presence of blood wouldn’t have condemned him, either, given the fact that the body had been in the bear’s original enclosure. It was a tough case to prove in either direction; without cameras, and with the only ‘witness’ to the case being a bear they couldn’t talk to, there was really only one solution. “Only thing we can do is find out who actually did it,” he replied with a shrug. “Clear the bear by finding the actual killer. The one the police aren’t looking for.”

Two hunters and two bears enter a room. There was a punchline here, but Nora didn't know it probably because she was unaware of the joke's existence, with Kaden firmly remaining a frail and easily targetable human in her mind's eye. The only thing Nora knew was Emilio acting weird. Her favorite thing about the man who'd taken to helping her was his proclivity to play along. "Tell Gael, if you speak to him, that I broke your kneecaps." "Let me scare the shit out of that suspect so he talks." and not even questioning why Mrs. P was crying the whole way here. So why was this a not not situation? It wasn't just a no mocking situation, it was a no illusions situation, his wrist knocking against her as if to say 'knock it off.' Fine. Nora could play the human. 

Kaden wasn't making it easy. Didn't she know he was never naked there? God. The words stung her lips as her teeth bit down to try and keep from retorting 'Oh yeah? Is that what the orangutan said?' Her eyes shifted to the side to Emilio, as if to gauge how serious he was. How far could she push this? The answer was she couldn't. Emilio had already won her steadfast and unwavering loyalty. If there was a reason for this good behavior, it was probably good. Once again she was reminded that her biggest curse in Wicked's Rest was knowing that this sad sad man was basically always right. Nora swallowed back her other retort of 'Oh, was that why you're here today? To strip off for the bear and set the record straight?' This was some shit character development. It would be much more fun to bully the French Canadian. 

As Kaden called Nora kid, she let her normal mask of indifference slip into a death glare. It was an easy step. Instead of looking bored, her eyes burrowed into Kaden. He didn’t get to call her that. “My name is Penny, not kid.” Nora informed him, using the identity of Inspector Gadget’s niece. Not that he expected any of the men to know who that was, or remember that Nora had introduced Emilio under the Inspector’s name. It was disappointing that they’d already known each other. What was the point of fake identities if they already knew the real ones. This was ruining her noir detective experience. 

As the two discussed what they were going to do, and to keep her mind off the burning need to bare her teeth and dig them deep into Kaden's metaphorical hide, Nora turned her attention fully to the bear. The bear looked back at her. They looked at each other. Then the bear stepped forward close to Nora's hand and sniffed her hand. Did it smell the bear on her? Did it smell that they were comrades? The bear rubbed its head against her hand and Nora found her heart shattering into ten million pieces before repairing itself into the face of Nanook. If anything happened to this bear she would burn down the whole town. "Jailbreak the bear." Nora told them. "Come on. We won't need to solve anything, and he'll be free to return to the wild." Or Nora's crypt. Either one. 

Nora reached into her pocket and pulled out a bit of the ham she was saving for later and gave it to the bear. Building trust started like this, right? Giving up what she loved for something she suddenly found herself loving more. "Or we could go talk to his wife." Nora mumbled, knowing already that breaking the bear out was supposed to be their last option. It was worth the try with 'I'm on your side', bootlicker animal control Kaden here.

Either way there was no point in remaining here. Except to talk to the bear. Which Nora still hadn't figured out. "I'll be back for you, I promise." Nora whispered to the bears, in a hushed voice that she hoped the two men couldn't hear. They didn't need to know how invested Nora was in this case. Not that she hadn't made it glaringly obvious already. Nora turned away from the bear, and pointed at Kaden. "You've been no help. At least you know you're playing for the wrong team." Not the cease fire she’d been instructed in, but like Hoobastank’s hit song “The Reason”, Nora was not a perfect person.  Her finger moved to Emilio. "Back to Mrs. P? I've got a home address in the file." 

Kaden tried not to turn his head or furrow his brows or make any sort of visible reaction when he heard the slayer whisper to the kid. Had to wonder if Emilio forgot that rangers had super hearing. Or if he just didn’t care one way or the other if Kaden heard him tell Nora (was that her name?) ‘not now.’ There were too many possibilities as to what that could mean considering that Kaden still didn’t understand the dynamic here. It almost felt like he was being protective of the kid. But from what? Wait, from him? Kaden couldn’t help it, his brows knit together at the thought alone. He had to be wrong about that, there was no way that was what was happening here. He knew he was playing by a different set of hunter codes than most but he didn’t expect anyone else to. There was no way a slayer was knowingly protecting a bugbear. It was weird enough that there were two rangers in town living with a werewolf. 

“Penny?” he asked, looking at the kid. “Here I thought it was Nora.” Probably wasn’t the best idea potentially clueing in Emilio that he’d heard the man before but Kaden couldn’t help himself. “But fine, I won’t call you kid, connasse. That better?” He didn’t know what the fuck he’d done to make himself her target but he was fucking sick of it. Fucking baffling that she was nice to Emilio, maybe even respected him, and all Kaden got was insults and coffee thrown at him. Just for being in the wrong place at the wrong time. He sighed and crossed his arms, watching Nora interact with the polar bear. A smile found its way onto his face even though he tried to keep his countenance flat. “No jailbreaking the bear,” he told her. “None of us have anywhere to put it and no way to feed it.” That said, if the worst came to worst, well… he didn’t have any better ideas. And he would volunteer to help.

Kaden rolled his eyes as the kid pointed at him. Why was she so fucking obnoxious to him in particular? “Putain, I’m not playing for any team, alright. Other than the bear’s. And I’d rather not have to help you two find it a new habitat if you fuck up the investigation and have to jailbreak the goddamn bear.” He looked back at the polar bear in his cage, as calm and quiet as he had been the whole time. There was no way Kaden was letting anything happen to that bear, whether or not the other two in the room believed him on that front. 

“Anyway, you better figure it out quick. Best I can do is put in my report about the bear and let Detective Peterson know the behavior profile doesn’t match up with the assessment of the crime. But I doubt he’s going to put a whole lot of weight on the dog-catcher cop’s word.” It probably wasn’t wise to clue Nora in on the fact that his job wasn’t exactly respected at the station, but it didn’t seem like it was worth it to hide the reality of things. It didn’t bother him much, to be honest, he knew that if any of those idiots had to work half a day in his job, most of them wouldn’t survive it. They fucking knew it, too, even if they acted like their jobs were more important. The last thing Kaden needed was to be respected as a cop so that was fine by him. The only time it was a problem was in the rare situations like this where he needed the WRPD to listen to him for once. “Hopefully I can help stall things long enough for you to do the rest.” Emilio better be as good a detective as he said he was. He really didn’t want to have to help jailbreak a bear if it came down to that.

 Emilio bristled as Kaden responded with Nora’s name, kicking himself internally. Of course he knew that rangers had enhanced hearing — he’d been married to one for years. He couldn’t grab a beer from the fridge without Juliana hearing him from across the house and asking him to get her one, too, and he couldn’t whisper Nora’s name without Kaden hearing it and taking advantage. He shot his assistant a look that was half an apology and half a promise to explain everything just as soon as they were out of Kaden’s very impressive earshot. 

But first, they had to deal with this. “I told you,” he said at the same time as Kaden’s protest, “that is the last option.” Maybe not the best thing to admit to a cop, even if he was just a cop for animals, but Kaden didn’t seem to disagree. Emilio still didn’t trust the ranger around Nora, but he thought he might trust him around the other bear in the room. “We have a plan for that,” he told Kaden, eyeing him carefully. “We won’t be telling you.” Wasn’t plausible deniability a good thing? They were doing Kaden a favor by keeping him in the dark. If it did come down to breaking the bear out of the zoo and convincing Teddy to help them transport it to wherever it needed to be, Kaden could lose his job for knowing about it. And as much as Emilio distrusted the guy, he didn’t particularly want to be responsible for that. Finding another job that he was similarly suited for would be difficult at best, impossible at worst. 

With a faint smile, he nodded at Nora. “First we talk to the wife,” he agreed. She was either going to be a prime suspect or a potential witness to the discrepancies of the story and, as much as Emilio disliked the process of dealing with other people’s grief, he was good at telling when that grief was genuine. If the wife was lying, he’d be able to sniff it out. She’d be easier to read than Kaden, in any case. And as an added bonus, there was no way the animal control officer would insist on joining them on that leg of their journey considering there were no animals. 

Looking back to Kaden, Emilio tilted his head a little. Dog catcher cop. And here he thought the ranger was still trying to sell his ‘I’m a respected member of the police force’ lie. He’d have to remember this the next time Kaden threatened to arrest him for something. “We’ll let you know what we find out… probably,” he told Kaden with a brief shrug, looking amused. To Nora, he added, “I’ll take the lead with the wife. You can snoop around her house while we’re talking. See if you can find where she keeps her food or something.” The instruction was half in hopes of distracting her from pissing off a ranger… and half genuine. Nora snooping around the house really would come in handy. He began ushering the bugbear out of the room, turning on his heel to offer Kaden a lazy half-salute. “Officer.” 

Kaden said her name, her real name, causing Nora’s eyes to narrow in a glare that attempted to strike Kaden dead on the spot. Had this man recognized her? Did he know? Nora missed the Emilio was giving her as she contemplated Kaden like she could cause him to spontaneously combust if she focused hard enough. What did connasse even mean? Nora made a mental note to google it when they got back to the car.

Emilio often let Nora take point on interrogations because he knew she enjoyed it. He knew she loved scaring people until they told them the truth. But telling her he was going to take the interrogation part so she could snoop also wasn’t odd, because he knew she loved snooping through their houses. Especially the part where she got to eat their food. Her stomach let out a loud grumble just thinking of her next meal. Honestly? Maybe Nora was born to be a private investigator. This work was very conducive to her hobbies. Anyways, those words had been enough to distract Nora for a moment, but then Emilio was shuffling her out the door and Nora realized it was her last chance to bully Kaden.

Looking over her shoulder, Nora winked at Kaden. “Officer.” Her tone oozed with mocking disrespect. “I’m sure they respect you as much as I do.” Nora added, flashing the ACAB badge sewn into her jacket. Before Emilio could weirdly tell her to stop again, Nora walked herself out the door. At least the bear was safe for now. Even if it came from an unlikely ally.

[oakfathers-embrace]

Okay… you’re right I’ll try and talk with him but that will have to wait until he’s back…

*I sigh again and draw circles in the ground with my claw, not sure what to say or do*

What’s your plan for tomorrow?

*I think for a moment before grinning as I suddenly stand on all fours and a yellow light with leaves and vines cover me and I turn into a polar bear, grinning at you*

Now we both can be bears!

Halsin barks out a laugh at your sudden comment- no he literally barks, you can hear it despite now also being a bear and understanding him.

"We can both be bears indeed! As for tomorrow...I had planned to do some baking. One of the Dragonborn friends I told you about left for a while to gather some special fruits and herbs from the city, should they return tomorrow, you're welcome to come join us?" He says, purring quietly at the thought of the fresh, baked goods.

[bitter-sweet-coffee]

unpopular/popular opinion? ok uhhh, hmm lemme think,,,,,

oh wait ive got one!

they should bring back the hooligans. idw please I am begging you I AM BBEGGING PLEASE BRING THEM BACK---

seriously, they should bring them back.

also, fang deserves to be a bit more of an actual villain. like, solo, before he teams up with bean and bark, he should be at least be a little bit like, actually dangerous. after the team up he definitely deserves to be a total dork, but before that? i think it would be funny if this semi-scary bad guy got brought down a level by a soft hearted polar bear and a clinically insane little woodpecker.

FULLY AGREE LIKE TOTALLY AGREE i fucking adore the hooligans but i’ll do you one better: put them in a game. not comics, GAMES.

[agirlwithmagicpals]

The mistake 

After the incident at bean’s cousins wedding let’s just say fang has been overwhelmed by his own personal guilt even if bark jr were to comfort him(which is something he does a lot) and thus takes things more personally now than ever so whenever bark found out later on the week afterwards that a certain pregnancy test he took was positive he kept this well….to himself…. for a couple of reasons actually mostly involving fang boi’s family especially nack he really doesn’t deserve a grandchild after all the egotistical nonsense and narcissistic behavior he’s been using against his own son for so long.

Bean was of course offended by the fact that they were late but fang did indeed apologize to the guy although that didn’t seem to change the fact that bean was being a heck of a lot more supportive towards snowy now more than ever as the spent a lot more time together going around robbing jewelry stores, blowing up other baddies secret lairs, breaking and entering when nobody’s home, realizing that snowball has been vomiting 🤮 in the morning while also gaining tons of weight and sometimes just not feeling well.

WAIT A MINUTE-

Oh boy did things go down hill extremely fast….after quite a couple of weeks to a few months(5 months at the most)fang found out about bark’s strange symptoms and automatically suspected that the lack of protection in bed may have resulted in the poor polar bear’s misfortune.

next thing you know after bean went ahead and told fang about his concerns for the big fella let’s just say that a click went off in his head and my god almighty was he fuming 😡 although bark knew he could’ve just tried to prevent this from happening via protection in bed or have a discreet discussion with planned parenthood about ending the pregnancy 🫃 before things got out of hand or maybe even adoption but no he didn’t want to do nether one of those things cause he really really hoped they could somehow keep the baby when in reality it was already too late to reconsider from the get go due to both intersex related issues and karma not doing bark jr any favors whatsoever.

That wasn’t the only other thing that was not doing them any real favors cause next thing ya know a tiny unknown spy of egg man’s rats team hooligan out to the king of the acorn kingdom (which is a guy called king ray in my au) who was shaking with disgust at the thought of these dastardly people procreating to which bark jr defended himself and co. via letters which eventually became public knowledge ruining the reputation that they kept on for so long.

These guys were the first few mobians to find out first besides the king, and as well as sonic jr/flash wave although it wasn’t too long until these three told a certain witch the “good news” involving said scandal they’re the ones responsible for spreading it like wild fire 🔥.

you can only imagine what kind of chaos went down after that….

as the two knuckleheads needed to be there for one another now more than ever regaining there support system after all that guilt and frustration washed away any façade present and showing each other what kind of people they actually are before making up afterwards.

[lea-andres]

Okay so, Oliver, my rat man who serves as Vector's adoptive father in my headcanon backstory stuff (he was never meant to be such a major OC, but just like Candle he got way out of hand) has a subtle self comfort habit of draping his tail over his shoulders, sometimes wrapping it round in a proper little self-hug. He acts antisocial and standoffish (mostly as a defence mechanism because he's hyper aware that he's considered a menace) but this sentimental sucker is touch starved and craves affection. Gives the vibes of a man who will bite you if you get too close but is very soft and loves hugs. And on the subject of sentimentality, post reconciling with Vector he keeps one of those crayon drawn Chaotix posters Charmy makes on his wall, as well as a photo of them (the Wasp-Moth alliance unfortunately find the Chaotix through this despite Oliver's many stubborn lies) (This may count as more than one fact about the rat sorry)

🥺🥺🥺 I love him!

I'll trade you a dad for a dad: Bark's dad Seymour the Polar Bear is a wet paper bag (affectionate). He's just so soft and wimpy, but an awkward sweetheart.

He was in love with Bark's mom Ursa, but she was using him, sadly, mostly as a means to an end to have Bark.

Opal coincidentally was the one who convinced him that he deserved better and that he should leave. Which he did eventually take her advice... Unfortunately without knowing Bark was on the way. If he had known, he would've waited until Bark was born and taken him with him so he wasn't being raised by a monster Ursa.

He ends up marrying a lovely woman (Willow the Mouse) and having two kids with her (kids being worked on). They learn about Bark WAY later, and get back into his life at that time.

[wickedsrest-rp]

NAME: Baukbear

RARITY: ★★☆☆☆ 

THREAT LEVEL: ★★★☆☆ | Physically strong, stealthy, and resilient, but these shadow bears have easily exploited weaknesses and rarely kill outright.

HABITAT: Caves, abandoned buildings, tunnels and other very dark areas.

DESCRIPTION: Baukbears are grizzly bear sized ursine predators that manipulate darkness. Unlike the bugbears they are distantly related to, baukbears are not shapeshifters. Bestial and aggressive, they emerge in the night to drag prey back to their dens, sometimes habitually announcing themselves by barking “bau bau bau”. Being bears, they have impressive physical strength, but are also clumsy and blinded by bright light. Baukbears rarely kill their prey outright, and instead prefer to eat them alive in the safety of their dens. Baukbears are strictly nocturnal and burn in sunlight similarly to vampires.

ABILITIES: Resilient and physically powerful creatures, baukbears can potentially overpower even paranormal beings with enhanced strength. They are also unnervingly stealthy for such big predators, as they seem to magically meld with darkness and shadows. As long as it’s sufficiently dark, a baukbears can move completely unseen past groups of people despite some of them being larger than many cars.

WEAKNESS: Baukbears are disoriented in bright light and are destroyed in sunlight. A flashlight will typically blind them long enough for a victim to get away. They aren’t agile enough to make sharp turns and will run into or straight through walls if someone gets out of the way of their charge. Their habit of capturing prey alive gives time to rescue the victims from the baukbear’s den.

OTHER VARIANTS:

Glarebear: A subspecies found in colder regions with a stark white coat like a polar bear, so bright it hurts to look at it directly. Glarebears also take prey back to their den to eat, but instead of melding into the shadows, glarebears use and manipulate the light. They’re named for their tendency to inhabit snowy areas and seemingly appear out of nowhere from the reflection of the sun on the snow. Their dens tend to be on high peaks, usually in shallow depressions within the ground but with no ceiling or obstruction above.

Dropbear: Originally described in Australia and thought to be a joke, dropbears are baukbears that lie in wait on high locations, jumping on the unaware victim as they pass underneath. These baukbears are unusually hardy, not often being harmed by falling from great heights. They knock their prey unconscious and eat them right then and there, without bringing them to the den. Usually dropbears will have their cubs nearby to watch the hunting technique and share in the meal.

(Art credit: Jenna Barton)