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beerecordings · 3 years

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Marvin's Cage

Story One l Story Two l Story Three l l Story Four l Story Five

This is part 1 of the sixth story, where Marvin's secret comes to light. Tws for extreme distress, imprisonment, Anti's general creepiness, and mentions of human trafficking.

Thanks for reading! Let me know if you love to hate it. I'll hopefully have the next part fairly soon. But also this is quite long, as a heads up

Okay, here we go...

They stack cards in terse silence, racing through decks, climbing up to Jacks, Queens, Kings. They both grab at a black seven of hearts at the same time and end up slapping at each other's hands, JJ yanking the card back just before his opponent. Anti cackles and keeps flipping cards, waiting for the next one to snatch.

“Peanuts,” signs JJ suddenly, and Anti swears and laughs and starts picking the cards up to re-deal, doling them out in piles, and they're playing again, without a word, stacking decks, up and up and up.

After a few rounds, JJ reaches for a bottle of water at his side, sucking it down and brushing at his sweaty hair. Anti rocks on his thighs, chewing at his nails. “Where's your sweet Big Brother today, child?” he asks.

“Comes and goes,” signs JJ, setting his bottle down and getting a granola bar out of its box for lunch. “Birthday week. Celebrate, family. But he will come see me soon. He loves me because I've been very good.”

He stacks up a fresh set for another game, yawning.

“He ought to let you come play with me in the real world,” purrs Anti, stroking his thumb across JJ's chin. Jameson shivers, but he does not protest. “He's so mean to keep you from me. Now all I get to do is come visit you and play silly games. My warm flesh... don't you know I miss you?”

JJ sorts his cards quietly, avoiding his eye. Anti reaches forward and grips his neck, squeezing gently.

“My warm flesh,” he repeats softly, licking his lips.

Jameson breathes through his mouth as Anti begins to strangle him, keeping calm. The easiest thing is just to get through it. If he talks back or makes Anti angry, then he'll really get hurt, and there will be nothing he can do to stop it. Anti gets up on his knees and crawls into JJ's space, pushing him down onto the floor of his cage. He straddles his waist and increases the pressure on his throat. JJ gazes up at him, still.

“We had such a good time together,” hums Anti, feeling his thready human heartbeat beneath his hands. “Didn't we?”

JJ doesn't remember much good about his time with Anti. He knows the taste of a human heart in his mouth. He was once chained against a wall so tightly he couldn't protest when the rats began to gnaw at him. At one point, he was so delirious and hurt that he believed he was dead for two weeks straight.

That's the good thing about his Brother. Not being allowed to leave this box doesn't matter, and neither do the occasional beatings or possessions Anti causes him, because Brother would never let anything half as horrible as the things Anti used to do to him happen anymore. Brother protects him from Anti – and protects everyone else in the world from Anti using his body.

He shudders at the memory of his teeth clamping down around the beating muscle his hands pulled from a stranger's chest. Blood leaking onto his tongue, warm as it filled his mouth. He was laughing. His fingers dug into soft, squishy organs, the filth filling up his broken nails, and his heart beat like the wing of a hummingbird beneath his ribs, making him dizzy with Anti's sick delight.

Yes. Brother protects him. Brother protects everyone. That's why he's here.

He's just beginning to lose consciousness from the cut-off of his oxygen when something stops Anti.

His head tilts and his ears perk up as he stills, paying attention to something JJ has not sensed yet. His mismatched eyes flicker back and forth as he thinks – and then a wide smile grows on his face.

“Please let go,” signs JJ, squirming.

“Someone... other than Marvin,” Anti mumbles. “Oh, this will be really good.”

JJ stills, blinking. Anti creeps to his feet, gazing through the front of JJ's box from the corner, trying to look without being seen. His eyes light up with a venomous light. He turns his smile towards JJ, eyes gleaming.

He crawls back into JJ's space, tucking a strand of his brother's hair behind his ear. JJ holds still as Anti leans close to him, whispering against his ear:

“Things are going to change for you now, my darling. But I'll see you again soon. I promise. So don't forget about me, child – not even for a moment.”

A cold kiss presses against the side of JJ's head.

Then Anti is gone, leaving only a faint and fading trail of glitching colors behind him.

JJ waits for a few moments, but he's so used to Anti's mannerisms he can't even be unnerved. He sighs, scattering the cards across the floor. Well, if Anti is gone, he'll have to find something else to do.

He reaches for his violin, getting to his feet and stretching a little before setting the bow down. Still, he can't shake a feeling that something in the air has changed for good.

Jackie treads on the solid floor of the endless mirror, his head tilted as he listens to the music.

“What the hell is this?” he whispers, creeping forward.

It's certainly not a portal to anywhere, not like it used to be, or at least this isn't the door. Instead there's some kind of box, a shed or a tiny house like on TV or maybe just a really weird puppet theater. The words “JJ's Jolly Jaunts” is spread across the top of the inside layer, behind bars, and it makes Jackie's stomach do a weird, foreboding turn that he doesn't understand.

Something about this is fucked up, that's all he knows. But if it has something to do with his missing brother – well, why wouldn't Marvin tell him? Has he been trying to find him? Is this some freaky memorial to him? Does Marvin think he's dead?

His next footstep lands heavily, echoing a little in the expanse. The music that he thought must have played from a speaker cuts off with a timid release of the violin bow from its strings, and he stops dead in his tracks.

Something is in here.

Someone is in here.

Being alarmed and weirded out, however, is only a catalyst for Jackie's curiosity, and the not-knowing becomes almost unbearable. He races towards the box, setting his tense fingers on the side of the barred window as he looks in.

There are decorations like fairy nights and pinned-up drawings of animals overhead a big red rug and a mattress with blankets and pillows disarrayed on top. A small curtain covers a corner in the back, stuffed animals stack against the wall opposite, and there are tupperware containers and cardboard boxes full of granola bars, dried fruits, cookies, and more. Art supplies scatter across the floor – paper and charcoal and bits of fabric and buttons. Jackie leans a little farther over the sill, his face nearly pressing against the bars around the outside, and he sees homemade puppets among the felt and sewing materials.

“This is fucked,” he mutters, turning to the left. Pressed closer, he can see some cleaning supplies. He turns to the right and –

Jackie rears back with a shout, his heart leaping into a double-time march.

Silence in the mirror realm. Nothing moves.

Deep breaths, Jackie. Deep breaths.

“Jameson?” he whispers, stepping cautiously back towards the cage. “I... is that you?”

It looked like him, for the moment where Jackie's eyes landed on him, a figured pressed against the closest corner of the box, clutching a violin like a shield and staring back at Jackie with wide eyes. But it couldn't be. Why would he be here? None of this makes sense, but the idea that comes closest – of course.

“Not Jameson,” he realizes, face darkening. “Anti. Right? Marvin caught you, didn't he? And he's... trying to get you out of Jameson's skin. Trying to make you let him go. You fucking parasite.”

There's a slight scraping of cloth on wood. Jackie tenses, licking his mouth, and waits for Anti to start laughing and step out to see him.

But nothing moves.

“If you're trying to get me to come closer, you missed your opportunity,” snarls Jackie. “Fuck, I can't believe – why wouldn't he tell me about this? It must have been just the last couple weeks that he caught you, since we fought just before. You've been possessing him this whole time, then, bastard? You're a creep. When I figure this out with Marvin, you'll never touch him again.”

And Jackie waits again, but... nothing.

This isn't like Anti. Not taunting? Not snarling and snapping or teasing Jackie over every failure he's ever been haunted by?

Why the pictures on the wall? Why all the stuffed animals? What the hell is going on?

“Forget you, then,” Jackie scowls. “I need to go talk to Marvin.”

He turns to walk away, back towards the portal, mind racing. He needs to talk to him before he gets more confused.

He touches the portal to leave.

Why the pictures? Turtles and bears and butterflies?

That's not Anti.

It must be.

Why the stuffed animals? A well-loved puppy, ratty with hugs and petting?

Anti wouldn't do that.

It only looks like Jameson because it's Anti. It has to be Anti.

Why any of this? The obvious time that's been spent in that box even though he saw Anti not a month past? The scared look on Anti's face as he hid from Jackie, something he's never done before? The violin music? Does Anti play violin now?

That is not Anti.

But it has to be, so –

“I need to talk to Marvin,” he repeats to himself, heart racing again. “I need...”

Marvin lied to me.

Marvin didn't tell me about this. Hid this. On purpose. Denied all of it a hundred times.

No. That's my little brother. I can trust him.

He lied.

And that –

It's Anti.

It's not Anti.

It has to be.

It isn't.

Looking back at this moment, Jackie will wonder what would have happened if he went through that portal and asked Marvin what was going. What he would have said. If he would have lied, if he would have made excuses. If he would have just been silent.

It doesn't matter now.

He knows that something is not right, and he can't trust Marvin – shit, he's never had that thought before, not once in his life – so he has to figure this out on his own.

He walks back towards that cage in the middle of the endless reflections of himself. In the mirrors, he can see himself walk towards the box from behind – steady, tentative steps, tense shoulders beneath a red jacket, hands in black gloves squeezed into fists. He can see himself from the side, with his mouth parted and his eyes fixed ahead. He can see his own face, looking into his own eyes, looking into the face he shares with his younger brother, the first younger brother he had, the one who made everything else worth having.

As he comes back towards the box, he realizes that whoever is in there must have thought he left like he said he would, because now he hears soft sobbing coming from inside. He hears the moment the violin is set aside with a slight thud, and cloth slides against the wood as the prisoner sits down on the floor. Jackie stands outside, listening, his eyes beginning to burn.

Not Anti. Not Anti. He knows. In his heart, yes – in his heart he already knows.

“Hello?” he calls.

The crying cuts off. Jackie closes his eyes. Deep breaths. Deep breaths, Jackie, even if this can't be true.

“Look, Anti,” he says. “If that's you, well. I hate your guts, but I still don't think you should be trapped in a box like this. Nobody should be. Come out and tell me what's going on and we'll figure this out.”

The prisoner doesn't bite.

“Okay,” sighs Jackie. “Um. Listen, I... I'm sorry I yelled. If you're not Anti, please let me know. I'm not going to hurt you. I was just surprised. And scared, I think. I don't know what's going on.”

A soft, shaky breath moves through the air.

“I'm going to come closer now,” says Jackie, straightening up. “I'm going to look at you again. Please don't scratch my eyes out or anything. Okay.”

He leans in for a second time, bringing his head close to the bars.

There he is. The prisoner in the corner. He's sitting down now, arms wrapped around himself. His face is mostly hidden in the knees drawn to his chest, but his eyes –

Big blue eyes look up at Jackie from beneath overgrown, mousy brown curls.

Jackie has never claimed to be good at reading others. He actually tends to miss plenty that other people seem to find obvious in mere expressions and gestures. But this...

No. He could never forget this exact look, these exact eyes. The eyes of the little brother that stared up at him for hours that night so many months ago when he lost him. The eyes that were looking at him when he lost consciousness and woke up to an empty bed and a missing piece of his heart. The fear and the confusion and the hope and the love all at once.

His Jameson.

Jackie bows his head and cries.

For long minutes he's bent over the side of that ledge by the box, one hand clinging to the bars behind which his youngest brother has been kept as a prisoner, and he can't seem to stop no matter how hard he tries. There is no noise from Jameson. Jackie can't look at him again. Can't bear it.

And then the soft brush of something against his hand startles Jackie from his breakdown, and he looks up to find a tissue pressed against his fingers.

JJ has brought him a tissue.

Jackie stares at him and Jameson looks back, ducking his head shyly now, even as he pulls Jackie's fingers around the Kleenex, plucking gently at his hand. Jackie takes the tissue. JJ backs away again, still holding that battered violin to his chest like a shield.

“Thank you,” croaks Jackie.

Jameson nods just a little, eyes fixed on him.

“Do you... remember me?” asks Jackie. “We were... it was so short. Just that night. And you were sick and confused. He'd been possessing you a long time and I just – do you remember at all or...?”

Jameson scoots a little closer, chewing at his nails for a second.

His fingers reach out to touch Jackie's again. Curl around the back of his hand and settle there. Soft.

He nods just a little a second time.

Yeah. He remembers.

“Jameson,” breathes Jackie.

He reaches for his hand in return. Their fingers lock together through the bars.

Laughter bubbles up in the empty coldness of the mirror realm, and after a moment Jackie realizes he is the one he's laughing.

“Yes,” he laughs, squeezing his hands, and JJ looks back at him in awe, letting his violin fall to the side. “Yeah, Jameson, my little brother. You remember me. You're alive! You're here! JJ, JJ... how do I get you out?”

He wants to be holding him. Now. Wants to wrap him up like the kittens Marvin used to sneak into the house and take him back to the world and never let him the fuck out of his sight again.

Jameson glances to the right of his box and Jackie goes racing around the side to find the opening. There's nothing but a half-door carved into the side and this is locked by a padlock with no keyhole. Jackie grabs the chunk of metal, frowning, and there – carved into the back of the metal are sigils that burn with heat even untouched in the coldness.

Magic.

He returns to JJ, taking his hand again.

“I'm going to get you out of here,” he says, and it's so true and so important in his chest that it hurts somehow to get the words out. “I'm here now and I will not let anything more happen to you.”

He wishes JJ would smile or nod or anything like that. But he just stares at Jackie with that big, starry awe in his blue eyes, and squeezes his hand softly, shuffling closer to him, staring. Jackie holds his breath as Jameson leans his head against the bars of his prison so his forehead almost touches Jackie's. He picks up the discarded tissue and presses it against Jackie's reddened cheeks, mouth parting.

Jackie clings to his hands and closes his eyes, letting his little brother brush his tears away.

“Jameson,” he says, just soft, though everything seems loud in the silence, in the emptiness, in the endless cold. “Tell me who did this to you.”

JJ draws away. There is a pause where he looks down at his toys and his animals and his art. His hands wrap around each other. He shrugs his shoulders weakly.

“Tell me,” says Jackie, reaching for him again. “Jamie, my Jamie. Tell me.”

His head already knows, but in his chest –

No.

Jameson chews at his nails for a second, big eyes flashing up to Jackie, and then he turns and points at the picture pinned to the wall above his mattress.

In JJ's charcoals, Marvin is thin and tired, but whoever drew the curve of his sorrowful mouth and detailed the light in his eyes loves him.

Jackie's heart stays steady. His eyes do not burn. His lets out just one more shaking breath.

Very well, then.

“Jameson,” he says. “I will be right back.”

“No! No, not even like that.”

“There's no scenario in which this works, Chase.”

“Guys, hear me out!” Chase cries, re-adjusting on the couch between them and snagging popcorn from Marvin's bowl. “Okay, so the earth is round – ”

“Well, he's got that much right,” says Marvin.

“Already better than I was expecting, to be fair,” agrees Henrik.

“The earth is ROUND,” re-iterates Chase, shoving them both. “So theoretically, if I got enough momentum, and there was a path that went all the way around... I could Heely the whole way round the earth.”

“No,” groan his siblings, throwing popcorn at him. “No, that still doesn't – ”

“Haters! Haters, the both of you!”

Marvin's laughing and antagonizing Chase by pushing him with his socked feet, trying to throw him off the couch while Henrik shields the cat from the fighting on the other side of the cushions. They've been talking about stupid shit for so long he's completely lost track of the plot of the movie they're watching, but it doesn't matter.

Nothing matters but them. And you know what, he feels good today, feels light and painless for the first time in a long time. For them to actually set aside the time for his birthday... well, that's the only thing he could have asked for. That and some earrings. And food. And a couple other things he wanted. But really the time together is the important stuff.

And here comes Jackie to complete them.

“Good afternoon, my darling, and will you be joining us?” he crows, letting his feet fall into Chase's lap instead of continuing to try and shove him off the couch. “Sit down with us and let's – um, Jackie?”

Why is he standing like that? Too still on the stairs. Wild, bouncy Jackie frozen stiff with his palm spread out against the wall, steadying him like a statue with a weak foundation. In his other hand: his fighting staff, extended and clenched so hard in his fingers that they have gone red with blood.

“Jackie?” asks Chase. All three of them are staring up at him by now, the TV playing loudly in front of them. “Everything okay?”

Jackie blinks at him a couple times, his face blank.

Henrik and Chase look at each other, eyebrows raising. Marvin's eyes are just fixed on their oldest brother. He realizes that his body has gone just as tense as Jackie's, his legs swinging off Chase's lap and setting firmly against the carpeted floor, a hand pressed against the cushion beside him.

Jackie starts shaking his head. Head low, eyes haunted.

“What's the matter?” asks Marvin.

Jackie shakes his head at him. His mouth is taut and his eyes narrow, angry like a wounded dog.

Marvin's throat is dry.

“What's the matter?” he repeats.

“Chase, Henrik,” says Jackie. “Go to Stacy's and stay there til I say you can come home.”

Chase pauses the movie, gaping at Jackie. Beyond the bizarre suddenness of the request, he never calls Schneep 'Henrik.' After a second, he moves to rise, but Henrik reaches across them to grab his arm and pull him back down.

“I don't think we're going anywhere, my friend,” says Henrik softly. “What's going on?”

“'Maybe Marvin can tell you,” Jackie answers.

Marvin can almost feel his own neurons firing. In a second, he has made the decision to lie through his teeth.

Because this isn't happening. He won't let this be happening. Jackie does not know – you've been scared that he does a million times before and they've all been false alarms, don't overreact, this is just some kind of misunderstanding – and he will never know. He will never, never know.

“Jackie, I don't know what's going on,” says Marvin sadly. “Tell us, please.”

“Yeah, Jackie, shit, you're freaking me out,” Chase agrees. “You want me to turn the lights off? You can lie down and – ”

“I'm fine,” says Jackie. “Marvin, you know, you – ”

“I don't know what's going on.”

“I went in your room.”

He laughs. Doesn't know why. “Okay?”

Henrik and Chase just look between him and Jackie. Jackie starts coming down the stairs. Heavy footsteps on the wood.

“Let's go look together.”

Marvin's smiling at his brother, his lip snarling a little.

He nightmared over this moment so many times. Is it really here? He always thought it would make him scared.

It just makes him angry.

Jackie doesn't know shit and it will stay that way. Stupid, naive Jackie. Marvin will lie his way out of this if he has to gaslight Jackie til Chase and Henrik call him crazy.

“There's nothing in there,” he says.

Jackie grabs him by the arm.

“Jackie!” calls Henrik, getting to his feet and setting his hands indignantly on his hips. Marvin wants to laugh again. Schneep is using his big, bad doctor voice, just like he would with any other argument in their house. Like they're fighting over who flooded the sink or whether to keep the kittens Queenie's pregnant with. Like it's just any other day.

There's no inkling in either him or Chase that this is Marvin's apocalypse. Somehow, it makes him feel powerful. Even if Jackie does have some idea of what's going on, only Marvin knows how deep this really goes.

“Don't grab him like that,” Henrik is scolding. “Now tell us what's going on or – ”

“Don't bother, Schneep,” says Marvin, staring right at Jackie. “He's angry. And you know Jackie when he's angry. He doesn't listen to anyone.”

Jackie's ears draw back and his mouth clamps tighter. He's gazing right back at Marvin. Heat like a geyser in his blue eyes.

“Let him drag me, whatever,” Marvin continues. “He'll realize he was wrong with whatever he's talking about later and come sobbing to me for forgiveness. 'Oh, Marvel, I was so mean, I'm sorry, I'm really sorry...'”

Jackie yanks him hard towards the stairs, ignoring Chase and Henrik shouting at them. Marvin lets him march him towards his room, but it's becoming less funny. His eyes burn and it seems difficult to breathe. His heart pounds against his ribs hard enough that Jackie might be able to feel it from his grip on him.

He can see Anti under Jameson's skin in days gone by, signing slowly at him, promising him that he'll regret what he's done. He laughs weakly as Jackie tears open the door of his room and shoves him inside.

“Jackie, don't push him!” shouts Chase, tugging on the back of Jackie's sweatshirt. “Hey, look at me!”

“Tell them what's in the mirror, Marvin.” Jackie advances on him. Marvin tries to move past him, but he won't let him. Pushing him back towards Jamie's mirror. “Tell them.”

“You've lost it, Jackie,” snaps Marvin.

“Jackie, what's gotten into you?” cries Chase. “Leave him alone! Marvin?”

Marvin wants to call to him – baby, it's okay, amata, don't worry – but how is he supposed to say that now, with Jackie pushing him towards that prison he created? In his heart, he wishes Chase would save him.

“Tell them what's in the mirror!” screams Jackie, and he lunges forward as his composure breaks, slamming Marvin into the wall beside the mirror. Marvin shrieks as his brother's hands wrap around his throat and pin him hard to the plaster. One of the cats is yowling in the doorway and Chase and Henrik are both yowling too, grabbing at them and trying to pull Jackie off, but he will not be moved.

“Tell me you're Anti!” Jackie howls. “You're possessing Marvin! Or he's blackmailing you! Tell me, tell me! My little brother! Tell me you didn't do this to him!”

Marvin does not know if he laughs or sobs in that moment.

Jackie throws him hard to the ground when he does not answer, his staff striking the ground beside his head. “You let him out of that cage, Anti! Now!”

“I don't know what you're talking about,” chokes Marvin.

“Jameson's in that mirror,” shouts Jackie, whirling on their younger brothers. “He's locked up like a fucking dog! Like an animal! This isn't Marvin, it's Anti!”

Marvin stares at the ceiling, writhing beneath Jackie's hands as Chase and Henrik back off, asking questions and exclaiming at Jackie as their oldest brother starts to relate what he saw. Marvin can't breathe.

A little box. A box with bars on the front and a magical lock on it. Him just lying all small inside, with his toys and violin and drawings and snacks. Jameson. Jameson.

Jackie knows.

Jackie knows!

A nightmare – it's a nightmare. It's a nightmare!

“Get off!” he screeches, and when Jackie doesn't budge Marvin opens his mouth and sinks his teeth into the hand holding his chin down.

Jackie yelps and draws back. Henrik jerks forward to keep Marvin down, now, clinging to his clothes.

“Marv, Marv,” chants Henrik, holding him carefully. “Hey. If you're in trouble, we'll figure this out. Just let's be calm. And if you're Anti – there's no point to running.”

“But Anti can't get in here,” Chase puts in, frustrated. “You guys know that. Marvin warded the place to hell and he doesn't know where the mirror that comes to our house is.”

“Chase, go check the warding,” orders Jackie. “Anti might have compromised him instead of possessing him. He must have been at it for months. That's why he's been acting so weird. Blackmail or something. I didn't think it was Anti because I thought you would have come to me if he were hurting you!”

No, no, no! Marvin grips at his head, giggling again. This is just a half-truth and their disapproval and fear and distrust is already too much to bear. If they find out the truth – if they know –

He was right, though! He had to do it!

“Come, my brother, up we get,” says Henrik, wrapping an arm gently around his waist. Jackie still looks like he wants to beat the demons out of him, but he lets Henrik handle him. Marvin slinks to his feet with his brother's arm around him and Henrik sits him down on his bed.

“Okay, now, tell us what's been going on,” he murmurs, brushing a few strands of hair from his eyes.

Marvin grips his wrist, dizzied. He doesn't want him to step back. He wants Henrik to stop this from happening.

“Has Anti been talking to you?” Henrik asks in a hush. “What has he done, my dear? You can tell us now. Is Jameson really there?”

His Schneep. He's as feral as a rabid squirrel most of the time, but then, when he needs him, his brother melts into soft touches and a quiet, even voice. Unflappable, reliable, steady Henrik. Marvin cups his chin, staring up at him.

“Don't touch him,” says Jackie darkly, standing posed like a toy boxer behind Henrik. “Don't put a hand on him.”

“The warding is fine,” calls Chase, coming back into the room. “Nothing smudged or anything.”

“Anti may be manipulating him from a distance,” says Henrik. “Threatening and holding things over him. Jameson... did he threaten to hurt him? Marvin, you were trying to protect him, yes?”

Jackie's stance slackens, his fingers loosening around the staff, and Marvin sees the moment where his eyes soften for him. Chase comes close too and stands beside Henrik, rubbing a hand along Marvin's shoulder.

“Breathe, amata,” he says. Sunny, starry Chase. His Chase. “It's gonna be okay, Marv. I promise. What did Anti do? He hurt you, huh?”

Marvin stares up at him, mouth parted. His eyes flicker towards his own figure in the mirror.

He knows JJ is back there. At this time of day, he's probably napping or playing his violin. Anti could even be in there with him now. He can see him now, black eyes and a wicked smile twisting up Jameson's mouth. He'd bite his teeth at Marvin behind the bars of the cage or coo threats and dark promises. He'd leave Jamie bleeding and ill and laugh about it.

He can see Jameson helpless in the middle of everything. Months and months of Jameson's helplessness. Curled up around himself, silent and dead-eyed in the corner, begging for Marvin's attention, scared and crying, playing with his puppets and toys like a two-year-old, writing music for Marvin, praying devout rosaries on his mattress, sleeping the day away. Hollow eyes. A big smile and then nothing on his face. Eating noodles with his hands and looking over new llama-patterned socks like they're a gift from God. Nosebleeds and fevers and coughs, enough to shake his whole chest.

And on the other side of that mirror, on the other side of the helpless intruder and the mad spirit that wears his flesh like an outfit: Marvin's family.

Chase. Jackie. Henrik.

Yes. Yes. He did what he had to do.

For months it has tormented him. Now Jackie knows. Lies won't help. Even this one, this tempting lie being offered to him by his hopeful brothers – the lie that Anti made him do it. They're looking so gently at him, but it's just another web to tangle him up and choke him for months. In the end, it won't protect him.

He did what he had to do.

He will make them see that.

JJ sits in his box, chewing his nails down to the bit. He takes a hangnail between his teeth and pulls it til the blood runs down his thumb.

He doesn't know what's going on.

He decides to pick up his violin again, setting the bow down and trying to breathe in and out, in and out, in and out, steady. Marvin always makes him take three deep breaths when he was beginning to freak out. Marvin hates it when he freaks out. So he will be calm. He will breathe – one, two, three – and play his music.

He feels that he can hear Marvin in the movement of his improv. M-Brother. The only person other than Anti he's ever really known.

His voice started out stern and hot and distant. His eyes would flash and he would stand at a distance as though afraid of Jameson biting him. He stayed with him very little and never touched him.

Marvin became scared, later. Jameson remembers the first part of his illness, when he was so sick he could barely stand on his own, but the second half, when he stopped being coherent, is lost to him. The only thing he recalls is the frantic rise of Marvin's voice, thinner and louder as the days went on.

Scared Marvin. Screaming Marvin. Cold Marvin. Comforting Marvin.

Flashes and glimpses. He rarely stays more than an hour.

Jameson plays long, sweet notes across the violin.

My brother protects me. Because I'm dangerous. Because I'm bad. If I'm good, maybe someone will hold me for just a few minutes.

Long, sorrowful notes.

He realizes he has transitioned from improv to the tune he wrote for Marvin's birthday. He lets the long notes pull across the violin. He will play it til it's perfect, so that, when Marvin is finally ready to hear it, it will be so excellent he will have to like it.

He misses a note and re-starts. He draws a rest out too long and restarts. He plays it too lifelessly and restarts. Restart again, again, again, one, two, three. It must be perfect. For Marvin. For his brother. His brother who protects him, and the only person in the whole world whom JJ loves.

He cannot see or hear anything beyond the mirror realm, but a part of him hears when Marvin starts to cry.

“I locked Jameson up to keep you safe,” says Marvin. “That's all.”

Large eyes looking back at him. Chase and Henrik exchange looks again, passing thoughts between gazes. Jackie's just staring at him.

Marvin raises his chin and stares back.

The tears are running down his face, but he doesn't sob and he doesn't wheeze and he does not let his expression break.

He did what he had to.

“Keep us safe?” Chase repeats.

“It's not his fault,” says Marvin. “I know that. But Anti uses him as a weapon and there are few few things we can do about that. The two of them are connected – Anti can find him anywhere and Jameson has no defense against that kind of power. He's just a mortal kid. I've been looking for a way to protect him from Anti's interference, or at least stop Anti from being able to locate him, but it's complex magic. In the meantime, I had to keep him away from you. That day he stabbed you...”

Marvin's eyes flicker to Chase's chest. He remembers the dark wound in his shoulder and the ache in his brother's movements for weeks. The fear as the blood poured out and Jackie dragged the thrashing monster off Chase's body and choked him til he passed out.

“I couldn't let that happen again.”

They still don't say anything. A part of him screams at them to speak, begging for anything in reply, but the other half of him is desperate for the quiet. If they tell him how they feel it could break him in half.

“I didn't tell you,” he continues. “And I lied to you about it many times. I'm sorry. I don't know how to express to you how much it has hurt me over the time it's gone on. I know that doesn't make it right, but I want you to know I have always wanted to tell you. But I knew that if I did... you wouldn't agree.”

A faint, thin laugh from Chase. “This is a joke, yeah? Of course we wouldn't agree. How could you think that – ?”

“Because none of you have the guts to make this call,” replies Marvin before he can even finish, voice raising. “Don't you see? You all wanted him to just live here with us, hoping we'd be able to restrain him if Anti came! But that's not realistic. He would have fucking killed you! Jackie, you're too empathetic, Chase can't even kill a spider, and Henrik – ”

Henrik is staring at him, face unreadable. Marvin deflates, shaking his head.

“Henrik didn't deserve to have to make that call, even if he could. I'm older. I was the one with the means to hide him away. I – ”

“This is a lie,” Jackie interrupts him, sudden and loud. “This is a lie.”

Marvin says nothing. Meets his eyes and waits.

“Marvin?” asks Chase. “This isn't true, right?”

Chase – well, his eyes Marvin can't meet.

Chase looks to Henrik and Jackie, mouth open, bewildered.

“My little brother?” he asks in a small voice.

“Boys,” says Henrik, sighing. “Okay, deep breaths. Let's not get worked up. Of course it is not true. Anti is... he still has something over him. Marvin cannot speak freely. He is protecting us I would guess. Anti has made threats, perhaps cast spells or things like this. Forced Marvin to cast spells. Or he has a way to possess him. We must find Anti and deal with him before we can get anywhere.”

Henrik's voice is sure and cool, but Chase and Jackie don't respond to his call to action. Henrik turns firmly back to Marvin and cups his chin, stroking his thumb across his beard. “We will make this right, my brother,” he says. “I promise.”

“You said Anti didn't have Jameson, though,” says Chase, pushing forward. “Anti told you that, the last time you fought.”

“The second to last time we fought,” Jackie corrects. “Yes, he said that he didn't have Jameson. Then I saw him not a month ago. He didn't say anything about Marvin. But... right after that was when Marvin had that encounter with him.”

“Guys,” Marvin offers wearily. “It's not – ”

“Marvin wouldn't do this to our younger brother,” scoffs Henrik. “Locking him away! It's terrible.”

“I've taken care of him,” cries Marvin. “I have, he – ”

“Can I see him?” Chase's voice seems to be fainter with every sentence he speaks. “I never got to meet him, just Anti. We've talked about him for so long.”

“You – you used to help me go out looking for him.” Jackie whirls on Marvin again, eyes burning. “No, tell me this isn't true.”

“He would have killed you,” hisses Marvin, his eyes watering again.

“So that means you caged him like an animal?”

“Marvin can't have done this,” Henrik insists. “Marvin can't have.”

“I don't know what's going on,” says Chase, starting to cry. “Can I please see Jameson?”

“Maybe Jackie's the one possessed,” says Henrik, backing suddenly away from his oldest brother and putting a hand on Marvin's shoulder. “Maybe that's why Marvin is acting this way. Anti will blame him for what he's done to Jameson.”

“He's in a cage in there! When was the last time he's been out of there? How long has it been?”

Jackie's question seems to quiet everyone again. All eyes turn back to Marvin.

“How long what?”

“How long has it been since you let him out of there?” asks Jackie, voice dangerous again. Stance dangerous.

Jackie has never looked dangerous to Marvin before this moment.

Marvin breathes in through his nose, trying to find an answer. He wants to come clean – wants to show how justified he was – but it sounds so cruel when it's said out loud.

“He's been missing for seven months,” says Jackie, voice trembling. “If this is true, what you're saying, then he's been your prisoner for seven months. Right?”

“Yes,” says Marvin softly.

“Marvin. Has he been inside that box this whole time?”

Silence. Silence. Silence.

Jackie turns away from him, breathing thinning out. Chase is just shaking his head. Henrik's still at Marvin's side.

Jackie looks back to them, poised like he's about to pounce.

“Jackie,” warns Henrik, holding a hand out. “It's not true, it – ”

“Just let him out of the box,” whispers Jackie.

Marvin licks his mouth.

Draws a breath.

Shakes his head.

Jackie cocks his head at him, frowning. “What? What was that? Are you saying no?”

The disbelief in the air seems heavy on his shoulders.

Helpless Jameson. Snarling Anti.

Chase. Jackie. Henrik.

Had to.

Has to.

“Yes,” says Marvin. “I said no. Jameson is a threat to you. I won't let him out of the box.”.

Jackie has a grip on Marvin's shirt collar in a flash, shoving him down onto the bed. Henrik yelps and tries to pull him away again, and now Chase is sobbing openly somewhere in the background, and the cat starts to mewl again. Jackie's screaming. Jackie's screaming at him. Jackie's screaming everything Marvin was ever afraid that he would say.

“Like an animal, you locked him up like an animal! You knew I loved him and you took him away from me! You – you knocked me out that night! Fucking traitor! Marvin, Marvin! How could you do this to me?”

Marvin cries against the bed. Jackie slams him back, once, twice.

“Jackie,” Henrik wails, and honest to God Marvin has never heard him that scared.

“How could you do this to him?” Jackie screeches, squeezing his shirt til the buttons below pop. “He didn't deserve it. He was just a victim! You lied to me so many times! I wanted him, you knew how badly I needed him back! You let me think that Anti had him, and then that he was missing from everybody! Do you know how many sex trafficking rings I busted looking for him? How many times I spent my nights under bridges or in drug dens looking for him, trying to make sure everyone was safe?”

“Jackie,” sobs Marvin. “Love, you do all that anyway.”

“But I didn't use to wonder if it would be my baby brother when I found homeless men dead in the streets,” Jackie answers, and it's now that Marvin realizes he's sobbing too. “I didn't use to carry teenagers to the emergency room after they'd overdosed because they just got mixed up with the wrong people, people who should have looked after them, and then spend the rest of the week wondering if anybody would carry my baby brother like that if the same thing was happening to him. I didn't used to clean up trafficking victims and see every one of those bruises and cuts and markings and diseases on his skin too.”

Marvin's crying too hard to breathe. He takes hold of Jackie's sweatshirt and cries, shaking his head up at him.

“I love you,” he manages, choking and sobbing. “I love you, I love you.”

“I searched for him! Cried over him, nightmared about his little body washing up on the beach! That one night I had him, he looked up at me like I made the world spin, just because I showed him a few minutes of kindness. He had just finally in his life gotten some kindness. Why did he deserve this?”

“I love you,” Marvin chants, because what else can he say? Jameson never deserved it. He always knew that. It's just that his brothers also deserved better – deserved to be safe from Anti – and that was all that mattered.

That is still all that matters.

“Let him out of there,” wails Jackie. “Now, now, fucking traitor, let him out!”

But Marvin keeps shaking his head. No. No!

Jackie screams in frustration and draws his arm back. Marvin flinches and jerks his head away.

And in the middle of all the chaos and all the turmoil inside his chest, he thinks that that moment is clear as day to both of them, because they realize at the exact same time that Jackie almost hit him.

Marvin gapes up at him. Jackie still has his fist drawn back.

His big brother almost hit him.

Marvin lies there, breathing thick, wet breaths. Jackie holds that fist up, shocked.

Then his hand lowers, and for just one second, his fingers stroke down Marvin's cheek.

It's bizarre, later, that Marvin knows exactly what Jackie is seeing in that moment – his little brother. His only little brother, back before any of this. Bright green hair and a silly Game Grumps cape. A cat mask and a blue shirt. They go racing through the city causing trouble together and come home laughing like wild. They make Old Fashioneds and drink while they watch comedy specials on Netflix til the sun comes up. Marvin brings his first cat home and they both spoil her rotten, spending hours playing with her or just watching her run on her wheel, til their phones are both full with pictures of her. They cook together, setting the fire on kitchen more than once, and they catch bad guys like real life superheroes, cackling with triumph as they review their victories over sweet wine and take-out. When they get sick, they look after each other, even if they do make fun the whole time. Marvin runs away once and then comes home again, and Jackie squeezes him so tight it actually leaves a couple bruises on him, and Marvin allows himself, for the first time in his life, to be loved.

He promises Jackie he will never run away again when his hair is still bright green, and Jackie hugs him again, and the world is right there – the world is that place where their hands wrap around each other. The world is the syncing of their heartbeats and the vibration of Jackie murmuring his thousandth “I love you” into Marvin's ear, and Marvin giving his first one back.

There was nothing else that mattered.

A young man with green hair and a blue cape. His baby brother, smiling.

Marvin.

Jackie's fingers pull away. The spell breaks.

“Get out of my fucking house,” Jackie whispers, releasing him with shaking fingers.

Marvin shakes his head, letting out a long breath. “What?”

“I said get out,” says Jackie.

His voice is tight, and it trembles just a little, taut with stress, but he forces it calm.

“You've lost it,” says Marvin. “It's... Jackie, it's me. I'm not going anywhere.”

Jackie doesn't look at him anymore. He straightens up, wiping his hand down his face.

“Jackie,” Marvin repeats. “I'm not going anywhere.”

“If you stay here,” says Jackie, voice very low. “I'm going to lock you in the garage with a box of granola bars and a pile of stuffed animals. Then we'll see how 'justified' you were.”

Marvin stares, a faint laugh coughing its way up his throat. He looks to Chase and Henrik, but Henrik seems to have gone numb, just listing between the three of them with his hands held out like he's not sure what to do, and Chase is turned towards the door. His face is scrunched up and furious, and there are hot, swift tears running down his face.

Marvin's heart aches. “My little brother, amata,” he says. “Look, I'll make this right. Just tell Jackie – ”

“I,” says Chase, very clearly. “Am not your brother.”

Even Jackie winces a little. Henrik stares blankly at Chase, unable to register the words.

And Marvin –

Oh, he's been punched in the stomach. He can't get any air in.

“And I think you should get the fuck out,” spits Chase. “Cause I never want to see you again.”

He leans down, scoops up Queenie, and vanishes through the door of Marvin's room.

Marvin might honestly collapse. He's taken back to every time he's gotten so stressed over holding JJ captive that it made him sick, and suddenly, all of those moments seem like a cakewalk, and he knows that he could more easily have lived with the guilt and the crushing weight of what he did for a hundred years more rather than hear Chase say that to him even once.

It leaves him so hollow that he can't seem to think of anything else, and the pain of everything else fades too, like he's reached the max of some limit he didn't know he had and now he'll just be a confused zombie for the rest of his life. Before he knows what he's doing, he's packing a few of his things into a bag. Henrik is gone somewhere, he doesn't know. And Jackie is standing there like a prison guard, in silence.

Marvin's in the entryway of their house in what seems to be a half-second, staring at the mirror that will take him back to the realm of the world. He manages to regain just enough awareness to turn back to Jackie behind him, dizzy.

“Call me in a couple days,” he manages. “Let me know where we're at. I'll find someone to stay with for a little while. But once you talk to JJ and see that I've treated him well, that I loved him – and once you have time to think about why I did what I did – you'll understand.”

Jackie doesn't say anything. He's staring at the wall.

“Promise me,” Marvin chokes. “Promise me you'll call.”

“Fine,” says Jackie quietly.

Marvin turns to the mirror, and then looks back again.

Jackie walks away from him without another word.

Marvin steps through the mirror. He's taken the portal that's closest to Henrik's hospital without thinking, and now he's practically in the middle of the city, standing in an alleyway with a single bag over his shoulder and a crushing weight in his chest. The people are rushing by around him. Everything is loud and bright and bursting, but he can't seem to take any of it in.

“Marvin.”

Just... just this terrible combination of dissociation and debilitating pain.

“Marvin, Marvin.”

Hands cup his face. He blinks and looks up.

Henrik. His Henrik. He followed him through the mirror.

“It's okay, I'll go with you,” promises Henrik, pressing their heads together, a bag of his own packed up on his back. “We'll figure this out. I know it wasn't you, Marvin. I know you wouldn't really do that. We're going to be okay, my poor brother. Here I am, Marvin. Here I am.”

Marvin collapses into his arms and weeps.

#marvin's cage #bee writes #jse egos #writers of jack

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enapouyou · 3 years

Text

My little stone guardian

(Sorry if there are spelling mistakes, english isn’t my language. The story is translated from French )

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

He had succeeded.

Well, almost...

Puddles of paint littered the floor, their various colours contrasting with the black that was slowly taking over the place. The gentle warmth of the universe gave way to a cold, icy wind, making the bones of those who dared not move tremble. But was it really the cold that made them tremble... ?

A thud broke the silence, the sound of a heavy object falling to the ground. Then came the sound of footsteps, slow, uncertain. They seemed to go on forever, as if the goal to be reached was constantly receding. And finally, a scream, a howl, tearing apart the time that seemed to have stopped. A scream, a single word, a single name...

- DREAM !!!!!!!!!

Frozen in the middle of what used to be their battlefield, amidst bones stuck in the ground, paint soaked into the grass, blasters that had come to rest, the guardian of positivity had returned to a state no one thought possible.

Arriving first at his side, Ink's hands were shaking, slowly coming to rest on the cheeks of a stone statue, feeling a few tears slide down the cold surface. Behind him, Blue stood still, replaying the events, trying to understand how this umpteenth battle against the bads sanses could have ended this way.

On the other side, a laugh finally rang out. That of the brother of the new stone statue. Nightmare hadn't planned this, wanting instead to kill his brother to get the golden apple, but... Now that he thought about it, it had taken his brother two hundred years to come out of the stone the first time. So he had plenty of time to plunge the world into chaos. Plenty of time to create a world full of negative feelings. Plenty of time to prepare to welcome his brother back and come up with a plan to finally catch that apple that was currently trapped in the stone as well.

Beside him, his three faithful henchmen were also staring at the scene, exchanging a few glances. They too did not think that this time their fight would surely be the last. They were pulled out of their thoughts when Nightmare snapped his fingers, looking at them with a huge grin before opening a portal to DreamTale, inviting them home to celebrate. Dust and Horror did not hesitate, passing through the portal with their boss, but Killer remained still for a moment. He watched as Blue joined Ink and mourned their friend's condition. Within him, the feelings were quite contradictory as he looked at the guardian of the golden apple, frozen with his arms open and that sweet smile on his face despite the tears, having tried to reason with his brother again... Without success... A call from the portal snapped him out of his thoughts, turning to Nightmare who was staring at him, ordering him to return with a single dark look. Killer felt his soul clench, taking one last look at the stone statue before rejoining the gang, the portal closing just as he passed, the sound of Ink's threat of revenge.

In the distance, he watched his colleagues fighting. Once again, their mission was to go and fill a universe with negative feelings and once again, stars sanses had come to try and stop them. It was becoming a habit, a game... But a dangerous game. The attacks were real and their intentions were to really hurt them... But still, stars sanses continued to just want to reason with them, only attacking in case of major force and always with the aim of immobilizing them, with the least damage possible. And he knew that it was Dream who asked them to do this... Because Dream really believed he could save them.

- Don't you fight, Killer?

The voice had sounded behind him and without even turning around, the madman knew that the guardian of positive feelings had arrived behind him.

- I don't feel like it. He replied calmly. I already know how it's going to end. It's getting boring.

Not detecting any aggression in the skeleton with empty eye sockets, Dream approached to level with him, observing in turn the four others fighting nearby.

- Why do you keep obeying Nightmare then? Dream tried.

Beside him, Killer remained silent for a long time, his gaze fixed on his colleagues.

- Because he saved me. I owe him, whether you like it or not, little Guardian. Maybe if you'd been the first to come for me that day, I'd be with you.

He turned his gaze on the golden-pupilled skeleton, who felt no dominant emotions. He seemed neither happy nor sad that Nightmare was the first to take him out of his world when he wanted to RESET him by erasing himself from his own world.

- This war is none of your business... Dream whispered. This is between Nightmare and me... You should be neutral to all this, but he had to make you feel like he saved you to get you on his side...

Deep down, Dream blamed himself for not being the first to find them. That he couldn't have saved them otherwise. But while he was lost in his thoughts, Killer laughed beside him.

- You're wrong, little Guardian. We don't just do this out of debt. We love it too.

Dream remained silent for a moment, watching Killer with a feeling of contradiction. He felt nothing, not even a little joy. His voice was neutral, tired, without much conviction.

- Is it true?

- Of course it is. Look in front of you. Dust and Horror take pleasure in knocking you off your feet.

- No, Killer. I was asking for you. Are you really enjoying this?

Time seemed to be getting longer and longer. Each day was repetitive, boring. Since Dream had become a stone statue again, the days were boring. Nightmare was at full strength, making Ink and Blue's fight almost futile.

They beat them every time, watching the last two stars retreat to avoid serious injury. And that was every time they crossed paths. It had no interest, no flavour anymore...

But on the other hand, as Killer watched his colleagues, he saw himself as the only one who found the moments boring. Nightmare was getting stronger all the time, Dust loved to go out and attack universes, and Horror was happy to have more time to go hunting for food. But Killer was bored... Taking no pleasure in attacking others. He just wanted to get away from those darned repetitive days.

Many universes had sunk into fear, hatred, the inhabitants no longer having any remorse to fight to maintain an illusion of security for their families. Bads sanses were names that made more and more people tremble, causing chaos and terror. And despite Ink and Blue's best efforts, the number of universes controlled by fear grew steadily, as if hope had vanished.

Everything was too easy.

Sitting on the bed in his room, Killer played with his dagger, twirling it on his knuckle before throwing it to catch it by the handle. He let out a long sigh, beginning to lose interest. The missions had no flavor anymore, Ink and Blue were a shadow of their former selves, too weakened by their search to save their friend.

Eventually the madman dropped his knife and got up to grab his jacket, slinging it over his shoulders and walking out of his room. As he moved through the corridors, he dodged the Papyrus of corruption that were the servants and that were growing in number, witnessing the growing power of their master. These lifeless puppets did not interest Killer either. He was too bland, far from being able to fill his boredom.

Through the window, the round-souled skeleton could see the red sky of DreamTale growing stronger and stronger. The shadows were also taking more ground, turning the place a little more into a universe where negativity was king.

He had won...

Eventually exiting the castle, Killer opened a gate, wanting to take a moment to wander off. Yet, while he was sure he had no idea, as he passed through the gate, his gaze fell on the stone statue.

Dream had not moved. Too heavy but at the same time too fragile to be handled by Ink and Blue. Even Nightmare didn't want to break it, fearing he would lose the golden apple if he killed Dream like that. So he stood there with his arms open and a welcoming smile on his face. Only his tears had disappeared since that famous day.

Killer stood still for a moment, staring at this being trapped in the stone. The images of the fight of that day came back to him. He could hear Dream's pleas for peace, for change. Then came the attack, sharp, almost invisible. No one had seen it, but the sound of stone beginning to freeze Dream had stopped everyone. The guardian had first looked at his feet and then straightened his face towards his brother, holding out his arms and smiling at him despite the tears.

Killer had to give him that. Dream was strong, much stronger than they were. He hadn't been afraid, not for a moment. And even as he turned to stone, he continued to hold out his arms, his hand. The same hand that Killer had gently agreed to take from time to time, when Nightmare wasn't looking.

And he'd discovered an entirely different Dream. A guardian consumed with worry, fear, but not of dying, no... Fear of losing those around him. Even those enemies.

- Why do you want to help us?

Killer sat atop a hill in a nearly destroyed universe. His legs dangled in the air as he watched the last of the survivors being pulled out by Ink and Core!Frisk. Behind him, Dream had sensed his presence and had joined the madman, knowing full well that he was not responsible for the state of this universe. For once, it was only the game's fault.

The question posed by the madman had caught the little guard off guard. How had he guessed that he had come for this? Wasn't it because Dream was talking to Killer more and more and Killer was getting to know him well.

- Is it because we're destroying the world you want to protect? Killer continued. You think it's better to save us than to destroy us, don't you?

Once again, Dream remained silent, unsure of how to respond. But he finally sighed, slowly coming to sit beside the madman, looking in the same direction as him.

- Of course I don't want to destroy you. Because that's not my role.

- So what is your role, little guardian?

-Bringing joy... Just being there and letting people be happy with my presence.

For the first time, Killer had sensed sadness in the guard's voice, but also deep resignation. He had not done this for himself for years. Had he ever done it for himself...

- And what would you like to do?

This time, Killer had turned his head, looking at the smaller man next to him. The latter lowered his head a little, as if unable to answer. At least, unable to answer without thinking, without searching for words.

- I don't know... I would just like to find my brother... Not to have to fight him anymore because he wants to kill me and not to have to face him because the inhabitants of the universes are waiting for us to come and save them.

Slowly, Dream lifted her head, planting her golden pupils in the madman's eyes.

- I would like more moments like this... More moments where we can talk without having to fight... I'm sure we have a lot in common that we could share.

Killer had finally approached the statue, his gaze lost in front of those hands stretched out before him. He knew they weren't meant for him, but he really wanted to take them...

He was right... They had a lot to share. Much more than he had expected. How many times had they found themselves away from the fight, talking about their common weariness to fight. How many times had they ended up talking about something else, slowly opening up to each other. How many times had they lowered their weapons in front of each other, refusing to fight the one who brought them a little novelty in these repetitive confrontations.

Far too many times... And yet, now that he was facing this stone friend, Killer regretted never having told him how happy he was to have spent so much time with him.

- Did you know that Nightmare loved to tell stories when we were kids?

- For real? Then again, I once heard him talking to himself at night in his room. Like he was actually telling something. Of course, he flatly denied it when I asked him what he was doing.

The sound of their laughter filled his memories, prompting him to come a little closer to the statue, placing a hand on the outstretched one. The coolness of it contrasted with the usual warm hand, but Killer had no desire to let go of it now.

- Yesterday I saw a cat near the castle. I would have kept it, but Nightmare doesn't allow animals...

- It's a shame, I'm sure you'd take good care of it. And even if Dust and Horror are your friends, having a furry friend could be good for you.

Slowly, Killer curled his knuckles against the stone one, looking at it sadly. Thoughts raced through his mind, reminding him of all the sweet moments that had seemed timeless. Like a little moment just for them, away from everything.

- Killer... Your soul... It has taken on the shape of an inverted heart!

- ...I haven't seen it like this in a long time.

He placed his second hand on the guard's, passing his empty gaze from one hand to the other. It had been so long since he'd had a moment with him... In addition to his petrification, which must have lasted for the better part of a year, Killer had been distant with him for the past few months. He had felt a real change coming on with Dream and he had been afraid that Nightmare would eventually see them. So he had distanced himself, but in the end, now that he was facing that stone statue, he regretted it.

But what he didn't know was that far away, someone else was regretting this situation too. Not for the same reasons, but for a lot of things that everyone else didn't know. For many things that he kept locked up, refusing even to admit to himself. But this doubt, however small, was present in his heart and for a moment the spell wavered.

Unaware of this, Killer let his hands slip from the stone guardian's, his gaze dropping to the ground. His arms fell limply to his sides, drained of all energy, filled with the weariness and remorse he could no longer change. Slowly he turned, preparing to leave, telling himself that he would come back tomorrow and praying that he would not tire of coming here either.

- You're leaving already... ? a voice whispered behind him.

For a moment, Killer felt the voice come from his mind and he shook his head, needing only to speak, even to a hallucination.

- There's nothing more I can do... I could have prevented this... I should have prevented this. He didn't deserve this...

- I already told you, Killer. The voice continued. You didn't have to get involved in this war, so you're not responsible for what's happening.

The madman took a long breath, really feeling that the voice was real, but he knew it... Nightmare's spell was powerful enough to last for centuries... But even if it was fake, hearing that voice did him a lot of good. Much more than he thought it would, and he couldn't help but say:

- I miss you...

The voice seemed to have disappeared, and Killer felt his soul clench. Not even a hallucination seemed to believe him. What would happen if he told the real Dream? He didn't even want to imagine that.

Yet, as he was about to leave, he felt two arms go around his waist, squeezing him gently as a head rested on his back. The presence startled him and he was ready to attack. Until he looked at the two arms, seeing the two yellow gloves with their jade bracelets. His soul stopped beating for a moment, not daring to believe that this could be possible.

- At least have the courage to say it to my face, Killer.

Against him, the arms tightened a little more, pushing him to turn around, to see for himself that it wasn't a bad dream. And it wasn't... When he turned, his gaze met the golden one, making his soul purr softly.

- I... I missed you... Killer repeated.

Gradually, a smile came over the guard's face. A sincere smile, far from the many, many fake smiles he had taken in his life. And that smile was contagious, causing Killer to return it as he put his arms around the body that was slowly regaining its warmth.

- I missed you Dream... Killer whispered again, wanting to anchor that sentence to show her how serious he was.

Small black tears rolled down his cheeks, but soon he felt Dream's thumbs come to caress his cheekbones, banishing the worry that had been eating away at the madman. Killer closed his eyes for a moment, enjoying the moment, feeling the little guardian's body snuggle and warm against him. Then when he opened them again, one of his empty eye sockets had regained a small gleam of a white pupil, gently confronting the golden one that wouldn't let go.

They were so happy to be together again, but no more words came to them. Gestures were enough. There was no need for more, they understood each other perfectly. So much so that when Killer felt the hands on his cheeks gently tugging at his face, he let himself go. Without needing a single word, they brought their faces closer together, granting each other something they had dreamed of on the other side but never dared to speak. But this time they knew they could, and in sweet silence their teeth sealed together, stopping time around them, making their souls beat as they had never felt before.

The kiss lasted only a few seconds, but it seemed like an eternity, but also too short for them. The closeness of their bodies made them feel how sincere the other was and they couldn't help but blush when they looked at each other again.

But this moment was short-lived. The guardian's awakening had taken its toll and they were soon separated by the sound of portals opening. Behind Dream, Ink and Blue had just arrived, while behind Killer, Nightmare had arrived.

The two sanses stars grabbed their friend, coming to hide him behind them as they began to insult Nightmare, the latter growling that his spell hadn't lasted long enough. But Dream and Killer didn't seem to care about the quarrel, not taking their eyes off each other, smiling at each other.

The guard was then grabbed by the arm by Ink, wanting to take him to rest, and he didn't object, following his friends to the portal. Nightmare had also summoned a portal, shouting at Killer to return, as the war was about to start again.

But before leaving, Dream and Killer took one last look at each other. They were looking forward to the next battle. They were looking forward to the next battle, looking forward to slipping away like before, even though from now on their time together would have a completely different flavor.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

English is not my language and if you understand French, I encourage you to read the story in its original language : here

I hope you liked the story

#dreamkiller #driller #Dreamtale #dream sans #killer sans #oneshot #fanfic

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unit-zero-two · 3 years

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I'm cutting it close and finally exchanging all of my chocolates. I've got 29 new chocolates to aim for this year (since Demon King Nobu has 2). And 20 Lock-On chocolates. Using those first then going to spend some time gambling to try to get the new skits. So, we’re going to do a Valentine’s Round-up post in the order I get them. Below the cut for length.

Summer Hokusai: Not as interesting as Foreigner’s which was one of my favorites. I liked the small skits with Toto-sama.

Santa Nightingale: “Alexa, play ‘Paper Planes’.” Nightingale vs Chocolate makes a nice, funny skit. Great use of machine gun fire as the scene fades to black.

Gareth: I love the inclusion of her brothers and Lancelot eating up her cupcakes. A cute scene. Also, Jekyll was there.

Lambda: We get an extended conversation with Protea about Melt, which is cool. This one went all out in using sound effects and voice modulation. I got the bad end the first time and just fucking died. Went back through and got the good end where soft tender music plays as she blanks your mind and confines you for the day so you can't receive any more chocolates.

Kagetora: I like how this expands upon her inhumanity and searching for answers to relate to other people. The introspective bits were the most interesting to me. Good monologue.

Car-milla: Her scene was super sweet and adorable. Although all I could think of through the whole thing was the SImposon’s gif “*chuckles* I’m in danger.”

Reines/Sima Yi: Reines is feeding me Mercury Chocolate. Really trying to test that poison resistance... Reines and Sima Yi are taking turns being in charge and you can tell based on the tone who is speaking (and the name listed). Reines is complaining about things being too peaceful and dulling her senses, and Sima Yi is like, "Competition is good, but peace is better." I like how different the pair are in their outlooks.

Charlotte: Cute shit. Charlotte craves violence.

Gray: Love hearing Add yell. And the bits about Gray’s mother are cute as hell. And Goredolf helping her out is cute as well. And how she plans to give some to Waver and Iskandar. Reminds me of how much I like it when these scenes are not just about the Servant and the player, but also about that Servant’s relationship to others. Much more interesting to me.

Okita J.: Another scene where we almost die and become a cyborg. Her earnestness is a fun, unfortunately I just don’t find Okita that interesting in general, so the cutesy bits kind of just dragged on for me.

Salome: LOCAL WOMAN GIVES HEAD. I love how this scene makes Salome and Scheherazade friends, and has Salome look up to her. Her speech on just wanting a friend like she didn’t have in life was a great little expansion on her character. And it ends with her going to try to make more friends. Perfect.

Demon King Nobu: Opened a portal to a hell dimension, you know how it is with chocolate. Demon King Nobbu almost devours us before Standard Nobbu wakes us up. I like how they’re in competition with each other. Ends on a very threatening note as they both consider devouring us sometime soon...

Okita Alter: ACTUALLY REALLY GOOD AND COMPELLING. The only time I’ve found the character interesting. She gets to be mature and have a personality instead of being a boring baby chick. The first part of the scene should've been the epilogue for her initial appearance in GudaGuda.

Space Ishtar: Three simultaneous date invitations from the three Ishtars. Featuring Chaldea being totally destroyed, Fou inserting us into a timeloop, and Rin doing a Tokiomi impression. This one is all about Ishtar, but considering Rin is my favorite character, it works for me. And it’s super funny.

Yang Gufei: My favorite V-Day scene this year. Possibly ever. It’s more like an Interlude. She’s going to get her own post because it was that good. Probably two posts, one with amusing screenshots. Her fire spirits can talk and have their own personalities.

Lobo: We bring him meat instead of chocolate. But, “the wolf is indifferent. It is said he would never eat any meat that was given to him.” So, he sends us out to bring back chocolate. Not to eat. but to smell. To experience something new. Something that doesn’t remind him of his past. Enkidu and Nursery Rhyme are here too. Love this one.

Oda Kippoushi: He gives you his old gourd and has a heart to heart. This is my favorite scene with Nobu in the game. It’s super honest and open and really strips away the “Fool” persona and lets us see the many layers of Nobu underneath. Which is funny considering this Nobu is explicitly the Fool.

Mori: LOCAL MAN DEMANDS HEAD. I love this man, and I like how he respects and likes Chacha. “There’s no denying that Lady Chacha is my Lord’s better half!” is such a great line to help characterize him, beyond his blood lust. "If you're sweet on someone, just capture or kidnap 'em to get together!" And then he holds a tea ceremony. Love the contrast of this man.

Kiritsugu: Man sneaks into our room, puts a gun by our pillow as thanks, and leaves, praying we never need to use it or follow in his path. Short and sweet.

Merlin: Short and sweet, he enjoyed the flavor of our emotions as we handed him over the chocolate. Pretty sentimental for him.

Bartholemew: He gives us a wig to satisfy his fetish. Got to admire this man’s audacity and commitment. And he does this before we give him chocolates. And we wear it. We blow him up with our Command Seals. This one made me laugh.

Mandricardo: He thinks we’re about to lay him off. He gives a good farewell speech while we try to give him chcoclates. I love this bro. Archer helps him by making a replica Durendal to give to us. Archer is mentioned in so many of these. It’d be great to get a Cupid alt Servant for him.

Paris: A socially awkward cutie. “Mister Blackbeard told me that cuteness makes things Lawful-Good.” Honestly, that would go a long way towards explaining FGO’s jank alignment system.

Jason: He tries to play off that he doesn’t know what a return gift is. Jason is the tsundere who actually does just hate you. I like how committed he is to the concept of a ship needing a crew. He may be the captain of a great ship, but it’s the crew that makes it, even if it’s just a model in a bottle. Yet another scene where the Servant “dies”.

Chen Gong: I like that he likes sweets. Neat trait. He made a laser pen with EMP feature. Always the tactician.

Lan Ling: We catch him training. I love how earnest this man is. He gives the chocolate back so that he can receive it properly. Prim, proper, politely and unmasked. And we ask him for the mask in return. “The only thing I received from my previous lord was a poisoned chalice...”

Tristain: “The Best of Tristain”. Da Vinci is always short of running a con. I like seeing Tritain hanging out with Da Vinci and Lancelot. They’re actually pretty consistent on him hanging out and drinking with people.

Asclepius: He totally misses the point of being given chocolate. The man might as well be a berserker with how singularly focused he is. Is he the only return gift that is also chocolate? He gives us a chocolate super drug.

Tell: Took me clearing out all of the return gifts to get this one. This one is cute. It’s all about his son and seeing him in us. He gives us a hunting set and an invitation to go hunting, or just on a hike if we don’t like the thought of killing or blood. He’s a good dad. It ends on the memory, “Okay, got it, Dad! I’ll make sure to listen! So teach me a lot about hunting, okay?”

#fgo #not tagging all of these characters

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notanathleteslungs · 4 years

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So, I am almost finished with rewatch number I Don’t Even Know At This Point of Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood. I just noticed something that I find pretty interesting, partly because I never picked up on it before now.

(I am very sorry if this seems to go all over the place, I woke up at 5AM yesterday and couldn’t get back to sleep, I got a massage so I’m a little sore and I wrote the majority of this at 10PM last night when my eyes were trying to unfocus themselves. I still don’t know if there’s any cohesion to it or if it’s as rambley and rant-y as I think.)

TLDR; the presentation of alchemy in Fullmetal Alchemist makes it spiritual as well as scientific.

So when you ask someone what Fullmetal Alchemist is, they will probably think about it before saying it’s a sci-fi/fantasy show. Because alchemy is fake but also is an early form of science. And they’d be right. Alchemy was basically an early form of chemistry with all the talk of elements and what makes up what and yada yada yada. It also is mainly thought of alongside fantasy worlds coinciding with potion-making.

However, there is an inherently spiritual quality to how it is presented in Fullmetal Alchemist.

Let’s start with the transmutation circles. The transmutation circle is a symbol by which an alchemist is able to do a transmutation. There are many different ways to make a transmutation circle, but the base is always, say it with me: a Circle. Circles are the perfect symbol of unity, of togetherness and equality. The reason King Arthur made a Round Table was so that even though he was the king of Camelot he was of the same rank as the knights he allowed at the table. When we did icebreakers in choir, we always made a circle so everyone was included and no one was left out. Circles are the symbol of a whole.

Everyone used a circle to perform a transmutation. If you’re a hobby alchemist, just doing it for funzies in your basement, chances are you carry chalk with you to draw a circle if/when you need to. But a career alchemist—especially the state alchemists—always carried a specialized circle with them somewhere on their bodies. Mustang had his circle sewed into his gloves so he could make a spark and also do the transmutation. Armstrong had his circle engraved on his gauntlets, so with every strike he could activate the circle and make what he wanted. Kimblee, Isaac MacDougle, and one guy in the Star of Milos movie had their circles tattooed on their skin, Kimblee and MacDougle on their palms and SoM guy on his arm. They carried their circle everywhere. It gave them a connection to their alchemy so they could always do a transmutation if they found themselves in a situation. Now on to our human transmutation people.

Ed, Al, and Izumi are rare cases in FMA in that they are able to do transmutation without a circle. It is explained that this is because they performed human transmutation. It is safe to assume that the reason they are rare is because everyone else who did it probably did not survive, so yippee, our three favorite alchemists beat the odds (especially Izumi). As the reward for surviving the rebound, they don’t need to draw a circle; however, they do still make a circle, by clapping their hands and making a circle with their arms. They are still whole. And when Ed was trying to get himself, Ling, and Envy out of Gluttony’s stomach, Ling said it looks like Ed prays when he transmutes.

Here is what actually prompted this idea.

Even though Ed, Al, and Izumi don’t need to draw a circle, they are forced to humble themselves when doing transmutation. The most common thing for them to transmute—and most readily available—is the ground beneath their feet. Unless you’re a contortionist, there’s no way you can touch the ground without bending your knees. So alchemists who perform human transmutation—an act that defies God—and manage to survive the rebound are forced to humble themselves for the rest of their life when they perform a transmutation. They are forced to their hands and knees to look up at their target, a pretty vulnerable position. They are punished for their arrogance by being lower than everyone else as long as they live.

Now, connections. Each alchemist has a connection with whatever they are transmuting, whether physical or symbolic. Mustang has a flame and (probably) a salamander on his circle. Fire is easy, but salamanders got their connection with fire both from their red skin and that when a piece of wood with salamanders in it was thrown on a fire, the salamanders would crawl away as the wood burned, leaving the assumption that they came from the fire. Mustang’s connection with his transmutation of fire is symbolic. Armstrong’s connection is more physical, because his circle is on a gauntlet. Said gauntlet protects his hand as he punches, and when he punches stone, he transmutes that stone. Ed, Al, and Izumi are even more physical than Mustang because they physically touch whatever they’re transmuting. Armstrong has a metal plate between his skin and the stone, but our human transmutation folks have bare contact.

In a way, this bare contact gives them an even deeper connection with their transmutation. Not only are they themselves the circle, they also directly influence what they transmute. In performing human transmutation, they have forged a deeper connection between themselves and the world. Ed is the perfect example of this, because when he gave up his portal, he gave up his connection to the alchemy, and therefore his connection to the world. It’s like humans looking at Mars. We know exactly what it’s made of, whether or not the air is breathable, but we have no true connection to the planet, not like we do Earth. It is this connection to Earth that gave rise to all the myths from different cultures. Ed is kind of like the astronauts in The Martian, or whatever that Matt Damon movie was. He is on the planet, he understands it, but he doesn’t have any real connection to it anymore. It’s kind of heartbreaking when you realize it.

BACK ON TRACK!

Father and Hohenheim are kind of the worst case scenario. They are examples of what happens when you play god and win. They don’t need a circle, a unity. They don’t need a symbol to connect them with their transmutation. They can just be god and make something from nothing. They have no connection to their transmutation or the world despite having this god-like influence over it.

In gaining the philosopher’s stone, Father and Hohenheim were able to ignore what makes alchemy spiritual. Hohenheim doesn’t want to—he has always regretted what happened in Xerxes to the point that he worked with the souls in his stone to get to know them and pay them back as individuals. He got to know them so he could recite name, occupation, and quirks of their personality at the drop of a hat. I can go on a whole other rant about that being a trait passed to Ed and Al based on what happened with Nina but I won’t right now.

This is getting rant-y and I’m losing my train of thought, but basically, the way people do alchemy in FMA has incorporated aspects of a spirituality that you might not notice on your first watch if you’re the kind of person (like me) who watches or reads something for the enjoyment, not the analysis. First, there is a sense of connection between alchemists and their transmutation; they carry a circle—a symbol of unity—everywhere they go to act as a bridge between themselves and their transmutation. Second, people who do human transmutation almost have a deeper connection than other alchemists because they are able to make themselves the circle (and in the act of transmuting, almost pray to the very God they attempted to defy) but in exchange are forced to humble themselves before God and other people. Third, there is a contact between alchemists and their transmutation, but human transmutation takes away a barrier that other alchemists can enjoy between themselves and their transmutation. While other alchemists have the opportunity to distance themselves through a medium, Ed, Al, and Izumi made themselves the medium so they can never distance themselves. Lastly, people who have/are philosopher’s stones have destroyed the connection between themselves and transmutation because they don’t need a circle and they don’t need to touch what they’re transmuting. They don’t need to fear being struck down by God because they believe they are God and transmute as God would, standing tall and proud. Arrogant. I have a feeling if they tried doing human transmutation with a philosopher’s stone, the rebound would be even worse. If their body were taken and someone tried getting their soul back, I don’t think Truth would let them go. Whoever tried saving them would be sent back empty handed if Truth was merciful or wouldn’t go back at all if they were not.

Now that I have well and truly gone on a rant, do with this insight what you will.

#Fullmetal Alchemist #Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood #FMA #FMAB #meta #no joke I put this down because I knew it wouldn’t make any sense even to me and woke up at 6 this morning and still think it’s rambling #the reason I woke up is because one of my sister’s cats was playing with the light cord and clattering it against the wall

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eclecticstarlightconnoisseur · 4 years

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EDINBURGH TO BOSTON - CHAPTER 19 - THE KING’S GAMBIT

Good evening all. So now that we are all caught up with the previous two chapters, I am posting the most recent chapter called The King’s Gambit. This one also is NSFW. It will be the last of this type for a while, since are many other things these two babies need to do, like go back to work.

Why did this chapter take so long? I don’t know. All I know is I couldn’t get it right. So thank you to @scubalass who kept on me until it become something worth posting.

I appreciate any thoughts, comments, suggestions, recommendations that anyone may have. Any questions anyone has fire away.

So without any further delay, I give to you, for better or worse:

Edinburgh to Scotland

Chapter 19

The King’s Gambit

The pale cold light from a winter sun came through the bedroom window. It was the type of light that illuminated but did not lend warmth. It was, however, warm and cozy in bed next to Claire. Jamie didn’t want to get up by a long shot, but the reality of life would intrude today and there was no sense in postponing it.

He quietly got up rummaging through a drawer finding an old pair of sweatpants and a tee-shirt; he dressed quickly turned and looked at Claire sleeping.

Her hair was a wild mess, like a dandelion puff that exploded. She’ll hate it, he thought. He, on the other hand, rather liked it as he thought it suited her, ferocious and untamed. Maybe that was what he loved about her. She reminded him of the Highlands, fierce, unrestrained, yet warm, loving, and tender as a spring flower. And beautiful. He gently brought the blanket up to cover her properly and silently left her to her slumber.

Claire turned onto her side searching for Jamie only finding a cold empty bed. Cracking one eye open she scoured the room for any sign of her Scot. To her dismay, he was nowhere to be found. She wiggled her bum intending to burrow down into the inviting bed for a few more minutes of sleep when the enticing smell of fresh coffee wafted under her nose pulling at her like a doomed sailor to a siren’s song.

Standing up, Claire smiled at the pleasant soreness between her legs remembering their amorous activities of last night and earlier this morning. Thinking she would find him in the kitchen, she wrapped her robe around herself and padded off in search of her Scot and coffee.

She found him seated at the island, a coffee mug in hand staring intently at his laptop. Leaning over, Claire wrapped her arms around him resting her head on his shoulder.

“Good morning,” she murmured, placing a delicate kiss on his cheek.

Jamie took her hand lovingly kissing her palm, “Ye slept well then, lass?” he inquired.

“Very well. Better than I have in a long time,” Claire replied sounding pleased.

She turned her head to observe the screen realizing he had logged in to the hospital’s portal to review their upcoming OR schedule.

“I see you’re busy checking our calendar.”

“Aye, I have. There’s a CABG followed by a mitral valve repair/replacement as soon as we get back. The remainder of the week is just as busy.” He was crestfallen at not being able to help her. “Ye ken I canna help ye. So I was looking tae see who was free.”

Claire poured a cup of coffee and sat next to Jamie to review the surgical roster. “Look, I think Pound is free all week. He’s getting ready to graduate and could use more hands-on time. And he is quite good. I trust him. I think we have our problem solved,” Claire said as she sipped her coffee. “Do you think you could cover my other duties while I’m operating? That should ease the burden on the two of us.”

“I can. Now I just need to tell the Chief,” Jamie rolled his eyes and grimaced with the prospect of having this conversation with the pompous old windbag.

“Then I shall leave you to it,” Claire grabbed her cup and stood as if to leave wanting to give Jamie some privacy for the phone call.

“No, I dinna want ye to leave,” he reached out grasping her hand. It was strange how he had come to rely on her in such a short time. Claire became his pillar, his strength.

“I dinna like the man. He may be Chief but…there is just something about him that’s no’ right.”

She looked at him with sympathy. “I know what you mean. I have thought him to be rather Janus-faced, friendly and kind but insincere and unscrupulous. I have heard rumors about how he treats other surgeons,” provoking a shiver to run down her spine. “But, he likes you. I don’t think there should be much of a problem.”

“Aye, that's what I fear. “I dinna like his attentions,” he huffed.

“You are very talented and a much better surgeon than he is. He knows it and I have a suspicion he doesn’t like it.”

Jamie blushed at her praise. That kind of praise coming from Claire Beauchamp meant something.

Tightening his grip on her hand, he pulled Claire closer. He looked up at her beseechingly. “Besides, mo nighean donn, this affects you as well. We have been partners long before we became…more.”

He didn’t know how to define what they are. Boyfriend and girlfriend? That sounds rather like high school. Lovers? That they were. But it did not encompass everything. Companions, partners? That still did not cover what their relationship was. He was at a loss to explain what their relationship should be called. What would explain it enough without demeaning its significance? Did it really matter how they referred to each other? She is the love of his life. And that’s what mattered.

“Ye need to be part of the discussion and the solution.” He looked at her encouraging her to stay.

“You’re right, Jamie. We need to face things together.”

“Aye, there’s the two of us now,” he smiled with the thought. Whatever they faced they would present a united front.

Taking a deep breath, Jamie placed the call.

“Good day to ye Ainsley. Dr. Fraser here, would the Chief be available?” Jamie inquired almost hoping that he was not. Get it over with Fraser. If not now then it will be later. Jamie heaved a large sigh.

“Aye, Dr. Fraser. Let me connect you.”

Soft nondescript music played as he waited for his boss to pick up the line. He puffed out his cheeks and rolled his eyes toward the ceiling with impatience, anxious to get the call over with.

“Jaamie,” the honeyed voice drawled. “How is my favorite surgeon? Hum? Ready to come back with all these new techniques that will improve our department?” The avarice was apparent in his voice. His greed extended not only to money, but to position, fame, but most of all power.

“Weel, sir that’s the reason for my call. I had a wee accident while in Boston injuring my right hand and I’ll no’ be able to operate for a few weeks.”

Claire placed her hand on Jamie’s thigh giving it a gentle squeeze in support.

“You what!?” The Chief sputtered. “Where was Beauchamp while all of this was going on??” He muttered under his breath, but obviously not low enough not to be heard, “Damn the woman! You think she could control one man.”

Claire’s hand went to cover her mouth to smother her laughter. She expected nothing better from him. “Utter arse!”

Jamie scowled at her, for laughing. Claire shrugged her shoulders, leaned over and kissed his cheek.

“She was no’ there when the accident happened. I should be fine in a few weeks. In the meantime, Dr. Beauchamp and I have assessed the situation and devised a plan that will allow for our caseload tae go on unimpeded. I believe that Dr. Elias Pound is available to assist Dr. Beauchamp with the surgeries while I assume the teaching, rounding, and clinic duties. We believe this is a satisfactory solution.”

“It seems you two have everything sorted. I can always count on the two of you to rise to the occasion.” There was a brief pause in the conversation accompanied by some soft muttering from Sandringham’s end. “Jamie, I want you to see our hand surgeon, Dr. Hildegarde de Gascogne to manage your care. As you are aware, she is world-renowned and I want only the best for you, my lad. You are a very valuable asset to our department, ” he wheezed. ”Ainsley will call you with an appointment.” Sandringham’s feigned attempt at concern was easily heard in his voice as it was hollow lacking sincerity for Jamie’s well being.

His tone became unctuous and slick, “Are you in much pain, dear boy? Is there anything I can do for you?”

“Ah, no. Thank ye, Dr. Sandringham. Dr. Beauchamp and I have this well under control. I’ll be expecting Ainsley’s call.”

“Very well then. Oh, and Dr. Fraser do be more careful, hmm?”

“Aye, sir. Good day tae ye.” He exhaled heavily now feeling able to draw a deep breath.

“That wasn’t so bad was it?” Claire said with a smirk.

“Easy for you tae say. Ye dinna have tae speak tae the man.”

“No, I didn’t. But, he thinks I should have prevented you from injuring yourself.” Little did Jamie know that Claire did blame herself for his broken fingers and that he re-injured his hand a second time.

“Dinna fash, Sassenach. I promised ye I would beat Frank into a pudding if I ever saw him. ‘Tis an honor tae care for ye, protect ye.”

She looked up at him as if he were her knight in shining armor, “I don't know if I ever thanked you for coming to my rescue that night, but thank you.”

Claire sat on his lap snuggling up against him resting her head in the crook of his neck. Jamie wrapped his arms around her waist bringing her closer to him. She relaxed into him feeling safe and loved in his strong arms. Her fingers wound their way through his ginger curls. His hair had grown and was longer than he usually wore it. “I like your hair a little longer, especially when it curls. I don’t want you to cut it.”

“As ye wish mo leannan.”

They sat enjoying the peace between them listening to each other's breath.

Jamie leaned down placing a soft kiss to her forehead. “Do ye ken how much I like to hold ye?”

“No, I don’t. Why don’t you tell me?” sighed Claire.

“I do it because I like the nearness of ye.” He smiled at her shyly as if he were going to impart some great secret. ”There is a hole here in my chest,” he said letting one hand go from around her waist and pointing to his heart. “’Tis been there my whole life. I dinna ken what it was or what caused it, this hollowness there. Now that I found ye I kent what ‘tis. ’Tis a chasm that only ye can fill, Claire. Ye are the missing piece of my heart. And when I hold ye close tae me, ‘tis no’ empty. It doesna hurt anymore when yer near me.”

She kissed his eyelids, the tip of his nose, cheekbones, finally finding his mouth. She kissed him lightly. Growing bolder, she allowed her tongue to trace his lush sensual lips savoring the taste of him.

Jamie groaned deeply. “Claire,” he whispered her name reverently as if saying a prayer. He looked at her as if she was the embodiment of all that is holy. As if she was sent to him by the gods for him to cherish and love.

Leaning forward her mouth pressed near the tender lobe of his ear as she breathed, “Do you want me, Jamie?”

“Ye dinna ken what ye do tae me mo chridhe. How am I tae resist ye? My body is here tae serve ye as ye wish.

Jamie lowered his face, bringing his lips to hers. His tongue caressed the seam of her lips, seeking entry. Her lips were soft, warm, and yielded to his desire. She opened to him like a flower in full bloom. Their tongues twinned together engaging in a ritual courtship dance.

His cell phone rang and vibrated on the table. He saw it was Sandringham’s office and pushed the phone away with annoyance expecting the message to go to voicemail.

“So, where were we?” He queried as his tongue licked the sensitive skin at the juncture of Claire’s neck and throat. Using his teeth he bit her causing Claire to erupt in chill bumps as she moaned in pleasure.

His hand slid between the folds of the gossamer fabric that covered her. Her skin was warm, silky. And her breasts ah...they were full and heavy. He ran a finger over a nipple making it harden and round just like a perfect pearl. How he longed to take it in his mouth and suckle like a babe at her breast.

His mobile began to chime and vibrate. It skittered on the slick granite top, pulling their attention to the offending little device. Sighing Claire picked it up showing Jamie the home screen alert. Clarence Sandringham.

“I think you should take the call. He’ll keep calling. We can always pick up where we left off later.”

Jamie grudgingly answered the call. It was Ainsley with the information about his appointment.

“Thank ye kindly, Ainsley. I will be there,” as he placed the information on his calendar.

“I’m seeing Dr. de Gascogne Monday at 1 pm. Do ye think ye will be free tae come with me?”

“You want me to come with you? Why ever for?” She wanted to tease him asking if he was afraid of going to the doctor, but held her tongue.

He looked at Claire with soft sweet imploring eyes, “I would feel better with ye by my side ‘tis all.” The tips of his ears pinked as he thought of his need for her by his side supporting him.

“Well if you wish that I come with you, of course, I will.”

Jamie let out a breath he didn’t know that he was holding, “Thank ye Sassenach.” He didn’t want to admit he was nervous and afraid. Afraid his hand would not heal well and he would never be able to operate again. Worse yet, he feared he would not be able to care for Claire, love her, or serve her as she deserves. And she deserved a whole man, not a broken one.

Claire sensing a change in Jamie’s mood cleared her throat feeling that the moment between them had broken. The fire in their bellies had been smoored but not extinguished. She gave Jamie a light kiss on his lips, “Shall I make us breakfast?”

“Nay, lass. ‘Tis my turn to make breakfast. How about I make ye some of my famous parritch with berries? I can do that one-handed.”

“ Alright. Then I guess it’s my turn to make a phone call.”

“Tae who, Sassenach?”

“My dog sitter, Mrs. Bug. I think I should let her know when I’ll be home and pick up Ginger.”

“Aye, that would be a good idea. Ye go on and make yer call. I’ll let ye know when breakfast is ready.”

Claire dialed the number and the phone was picked up quickly. In the background she could hear the cacophony of a television playing, children laughing, and a dog barking. Her sweet girl.

“Ethan, ye wee gomeral, put that down afore ye break it. Hello,” shouted what sounded like an exasperated Mrs. Bug.

“Hallo, Mrs. Bug. It’s Claire. It seems I have caught you at a bad time. I just called to let you know I would be by to pick up Ginger on Sunday evening if that’s alright with you?”

“Claire, ma dearie, och ‘tis not a bad time.”

“Caleb, dinna make me come over there. Be a good lad and eat yer parritach. Dinna put it in yer brother’s hair.”

“Sunday would be fine. Shall I make ye some soup? I’ll wager ye dinna eat properly while ye were away.”

“No, no, that’s not necessary, Mrs. Bug,” Claire sighed with exasperation. Mrs. Bug was always trying to feed her up.

“Yer too thin, lass. Ye need to put some meat on yer bones. Gives a man something tae hang on tae. Ye ken what I mean?” Claire swore she heard Mr. Bug snicker in the background.

Before she could respond to Mrs. Bugs’ latest attempt to meddle in her life, there was the sound of pottery crashing accompanied by loud wailing in the background.

She seized the opportunity to end the call. “I think you are needed at the moment. I’ll see you on Sunday, Mrs. Bug. Give my regards to your husband. Take care.” Claire clicked off the call and exhaled a deep breath. She did not know how the elderly couple managed to babysit children, pets, and find the time to pry into other people's lives. She was exhausted just listening to the carrying on.

“Is everything alright, Sassenach?”

“Yes, fine. The Bugs are a sweet elderly couple. They are really grandparents to the entire neighborhood. But they take on so much that I just don’t know how they manage.”

“It seems they enjoy it. Everyone needs to feel useful,” Jamie pointed out. “Now, come and eat. Breakfast is ready milady. ‘Tis no’ as fancy as you make it, but it will fill ye up.”

He pulled out her chair waiting for her to take her seat.

Claire lowered her eyes and a small smile flitted across her face. No man had ever done that for her before.

Jamie served her the parritch topped with strawberries, sliced almonds, and drizzled with honey.

“‘Tis no’ gourmet, but ‘tis no’ lumpy. I dinna like lumpy parritch,” he grimaced with the thought. He stood next to Claire anxiously waiting for her to taste it. Anxious being the operative word.

Claire dove in tasting his offering. It was delicious. Creamy with a bit of cinnamon in it as well.

Jamie watched intently as she ate it. He didn't know why he was so worried if she liked the parritch, but he was. Well if he was honest with himself he knew she was a better cook than he and he wanted to please her. He felt foolish worrying so, after all, it was only parritch. But he couldn’t help himself. “Do ye like it Sassenach? Is it too hot? Maybe ye would like a bit of cream. I dinna want ye tae burn yer tongue. Would ye like more honey? I could make ye something else if ye dinna like it,” he worried chewing his lower lip.

Claire smiled, the tip of her tongue slipped out and caught a golden drop of honey on her lip, “Jamie, it’s delicious, really. Please sit down and eat before it gets cold.”

Pleasure lit up his face at seeing her enjoyment. Hurriedly he sat down and began to eat with great enthusiasm.

They chatted amicably enjoying their meal and each other’s company.

“Why don’t ye take our coffee into tae sitting room, Claire, while I clear the table?” Jamie stood at the sink rinsing the dishes then stacking them in the dishwasher.

“Alright.” Carrying their mugs of coffee into the sitting room, Claire placed them on the wooden trunk he used as a coffee table. She wandered around the room looking at the objects that occupied the space as if they would reveal the secrets of the man she loved. She came upon a striking antique mahogany table that stood near the fireplace that was inlaid with white and black marble squares. Two elegantly carved chairs were situated so they sat opposite each other at the table. She ran a hand lovingly across the tabletop admiring its fine craftsmanship.

“‘Tis magnificent, is it no’?” he inquired, wrapping his arms around Claire’s waist nuzzling at her neck. “‘Tis a family heirloom. It belonged to a great, great, great uncle who lived in Paris in tae 18th century. He was a wine merchant and a Jacobite as weel.”

“It’s truly beautiful. Do you have the original chessmen that go with it?” asked Claire.

“Aye, I do,” he replied, opening a side draw revealing the chess pieces. He pulled out the black Queen handing it to Claire.

She stroked it lovingly appreciating the fine detail of the carving. “It is an exquisite piece, a work of art.”

Jamie looked at her hopefully, “Ye wouldna happen tae play would ye? ‘Tis hard for me tae find an opponent. No’ many people want tae play against me.”

Claire brightened, “I do play. Lamb taught me when I was a child.” Her face misted over with the memories of nightly chess games with either Lamb or Firouz by the campfire. Each man taught her what moves to make, strategies to employ, and tried to instill in her the value of competition, of being a good winner. But more importantly, the virtue of losing gracefully. “Lamb believed that it would make me a logical thinker and develop strong problem-solving skills. And he was quite right. It’s been invaluable to me as a surgeon.” But Claire knew that playing chess had increased her already present competitive spirit. She liked to win.

His heart gladdened with the news. “Might I entice ye tae play a game with me?”

“I would love to. It’s been so long though, I might be a bit rusty.” Claire stopped remembering what he said. ‘Tis hard for me tae find an opponent. No’ many people want tae play against me. Curiosity got the better of her. “Um, Jamie? Why can’t you find anyone to play a game with?”

“Sit Sassenach, make yerself comfortable,” he offered. A sly grin spread across his face. “Ladies choice, which do ye prefer, the black or the white?”

“White. No, I’d prefer black. I don’t like making the opening move.”

“Having the opening move can give ye an advantage and ye will need it. I was Captain of my chess club in high school and in Uni. I’m no’ being bold when I tell ye I have won many competitions. I am offering ye a chance tae win.” A cocky look spread across his face as he went about setting up the chessboard.

So that’s why no one will play with him. He was a chess prodigy. “No, I didn’t know that.” Tapping a finger against the table, Claire carefully weighed this new piece of information deciding how to use it. She played well but simply was not in Jamie’s league. Her competitive nature rose to the surface with his challenge. If she wanted to win, and she did, she knew she would need an edge. Just, not the one he was offering.

”No, I stand by my choice. I’ll take black,” she smiled coyly. There’s more than one way to win this game, my lad, she thought.

The first mistake, he mused. By allowing him to open it would allow him to play aggressively. He wanted the game over in twenty moves or less. And to do that he would make use of the King’s Gambit. Bobby Fischer defeated an opponent in eight maneuvers. Jamie knew he was good but not that good.

He opened by moving his pawn to e-4.

Claire countered by placing a pawn to e-5.

A white pawn moved to f-4.

Smiling smugly, Claire accepted the challenge by taking this pawn.

Just what I want, he thought as his lip turned slightly upward. Not wanting to appear aggressive and moving too quickly, Jamie sat rubbing his chin in concentration.

Looking up he watched as Claire’s fingers lightly stroked her arm up then down. Her fingers eventually traveled up, over her shoulder then down to graze over the edge of her breast. Slowly. Touching herself just with the tips of her fingernails the outline of her breast became visible beneath her silk robe. She followed the same pattern over and over. His mouth hung open hypnotized by her. He shook his head like a wet dog to dispel his thoughts. And oh what thoughts he was having.

“Knight to f-3,” he announced.

Claire smiled taking in his chosen placement.

She licked her lips jutting out her plump bottom lip as she considered her next position.

Surreptitiously, Jamie looked at that sweet voluptuous lip peeping out at him. What he wouldn't give to suck it into his mouth and tease it with his teeth and tongue. Christ, the woman was driving him mad. Get yer mind back on the game, he told himself.

“Pawn to g-5.”

Jamie looked pleased with her play. He bit the inside of his cheek while considering his next strategic move.

Claire studied the board intently waiting for Jamie to place his piece. Her index finger gravitated to her lips gently gliding over it. Lips parting, her fingertip entered her mouth and she began to lightly suck it. Her finger floated across her lips making them glisten with the dew from her mouth. She smiled coquettishly as she dropped her hand to caress the black Bishop. Her movements were sensuous, sliding over the chess piece from top to bottom, bottom to top. She made a slight twisting motion as she stroked the piece.

Jamie’s eyes never left her hand. His mouth went dry.

“It’s still your turn” she whispered demurely.

“Pawn to h-4,” he choked out his words. Small beads of sweat appeared on his lip.

“Pawn to g-5” she stated sweetly.

Jamie refused to look up at her, “Knight to g-5.”

“Hum, interesting, Pawn to h-6.” Jamie’s hand rested next to the board. She placed her hand over his and began to trace patterns over the back of his hand.

He burned from the contact of her skin on his. Gently he removed his hand, immediately regretting the loss of her caress. Rubbing the side of his nose he tried to clear his head from the sight and feel of her. He meant to win this game and she was doing her best to distract him. Weel, he wouldna let her.

“Knight to f-7,” Jamie countered hoping Claire would expose her King.

Claire brought her King forward taking Jamie’s Knight.

“Queen to g-4,” Jamie grinned, setting up his advanced attack.

“Knight to f-6,” Claire defends her King.

Jamie smirked, after this move, he was three moves away from winning. “Queen to f-4.”

He looked at Claire, finding her absorbed pondering her next move. Her hand followed the V of the neckline of her robe. Leaning forward, her hand gracefully began to trace her décolletage exposing more and more skin with each pass of her hand. Soon the curve of her breast was exposed.

His eyes darkened with just a sliver of blue iris exposed. A deep rumbling noise rose from the back of his throat, dangerous, predatory.

Stretching, Claire reached for her King placing it on f-8 enabling Jamie to see her hardened nipples straining against the filmy fabric.

He rose walking to the side of the table bending over as if to examine the position of the pieces in play. Straightening up he turned and snatched Claire’s arm pulling her impossibly close to his heated body.

“Let’s play something else,” he growled, capturing her mouth as he had planned on seizing her King. His mouth was hungry for hers. He licked, nipped, and tasted her mouth with kisses slow and erotic. One hand reached up and cupped her head while the other drew her closer against him, jealous of the space the air between them occupied. His kisses deepened, searing her lips. His hand buried deeper into her curls, as his kisses became more demanding.

Claire melted against him, her mouth open to him as her robe gave way leaving her exposed. He palmed her breast roughly feeling the puckered nipple under his hand. He rolled it between his fingers causing her to whimper.

“Yer a right dodgy player Claire. Ye dinna play fair teasing me, distracting me throughout the game,” he snarled. “And for that, yer coming with me. We’re gonna play a new game.”

He lifted her, threw her over his shoulder, and strode with single-mindedness toward the bedroom.

“What the hell do you think you’re doing, Fraser? Put me down this instant!” Claire bellowed kicking her legs, hitting him in the back in between fits of laughter.

“Haud yer wheesht, woman!”

Jamie unceremoniously dropped Claire onto the bed. Standing at the side of the bed he loomed over her. His breath harsh and his chest heaving. His eyes were glazed over with lust. She lit a fire in his belly that needed to be put out. He licked his lips anticipating what was to come next.

Claire scrambled to her knees backing away from him just a little.

Raising her chin in defiance, “What do you plan on doing to me?”

His lips curled into a smirk, “I’m going to kiss ye.”

She blinked. “We’re going to play a kissing game? Isn’t that childish?” she asked in confusion.

“Oh no, lassie, ‘tis a verra good game. ‘Tis one where I get tae devour ye and leave ye with naught but yer cries for mercy.”

Claire studied him, trying to puzzle him out. She eventually gave it up as a lost cause.

“Um, well I do like kissing you.”

“I ken that.” His eyes gleamed.

Jamie crawled up onto the bed. His body radiated so much heat it could be felt from several inches away. He was a blazing inferno.

He sat back on his haunches fixing her with a piercing look.

Claire’s spine tingled under his scrutiny. It was unnerving her.

“Give me yer mouth, Sassenach,” he requested sweetly.

Claire leaned forward and placed a quick peck on his lips.

“Ok, so we’re done, right?” she asked nervously not quite knowing what to expect.

“And ye call that a kiss? Tsk! Nay, we haven’t even started yet,” he grinned wickedly.

Jamie removed his shirt then sat back to remove his sweatpants.

He shifted himself to sit so his back rested against the headboard. “Come here, sit beside me,” he requested, patting the space next to him.

Claire hesitated for a moment then moved to sit beside him.

His arm came up wrapping around her shoulders, pulling her closer to him.

“See, that’s so much nicer, is it no’?”

“What are you up to Jamie?” she asked one eyebrow quirked in question.

“I told ye, a nighean I just want to kiss ye.”

He cupped her face, turning it toward him. His tongue slipped out to wet his lips. Slowly he lowered his face until their lips were a breath away. He placed a kiss so light it felt like the wings of a dove floating across her lips

“‘Tis pleasant?” he whispered into her mouth.

“Yes,” Claire replied breathily.

“Good. May I kiss ye again?”

“Mmhm.”

Brushing an errant curl away from her face, he tilted her head back seeking out her mouth like he did that morning. Still sweet from the honey and berries he ate for breakfast, he fitted his lips to her’s. Slowly he increased the pressure on Claire’s mouth molding them together creating delicious friction.

Jamie pulled away momentarily giving her a sinful grin. His eyes engulfed her, finally settling on her mouth. He felt like a man drowning and only her kiss and her breath could save him. Her mouth was his lifeline. Jamie lowered his head and began to rain kisses across her mouth lightly at first then deeply, possessively.

Jamie broke away, resting his forehead against hers. Tenderly he brushed his lips across her cheek, then to her ear to nibble at the shell. Finding her succulent earlobe, he drew it into his mouth caressing it suggesting things yet to come.

Claire dropped her head back whimpering, making an offering of her alabaster neck to him. She pulled at his hair, dragging him closer.

Jamie plied his attentions to the long column of her neck, nibbling, sucking her sensitive skin. Using his mouth he gently nudged her robe off her shoulders letting it drop off her shoulders, and slide down her arms pooling around her hands and bum.

Claire sucked in her lower lip gently biting it.

He grinned. Softly, he placed tiny kisses along her shoulder working his way down her arms until he reached her hand. He kissed her wrist, her palm. Raising her hand so she could see, he took each finger into his mouth and sucked each digit in its turn.

Claire began to shudder and breathe heavily by the time he finished with her thumb.

Jamie repeated his ministrations to the opposite hand, arm and shoulder. Dropping his head, he lowered his lips brushing them across her chest down to her breast. Finding her nipple he began to suckle one then the other making each one harden and pebble. He scraped his teeth gently against the tender nipple as it slipped from his mouth.

She became restless, shifting her body arching her back needing to come closer to him. Claire gasped at the sensations running through her.

“Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth; for your love is more delightful than wine,” Claire whispered.

“Quoting Scripture are ye?” Jamie smiled broadly knowing what he was doing to her.

His mouth and tongue trailed kisses down over her belly, slowly, languorously. “Beautiful, yer so beautiful mo nighean donn.”

“Jamie, I... I... ah...Oh, god.”

He chuckled, as he felt her melt with each kiss he pressed on her. She deserved every slow torturous one he would give her. After all, fair’s fair.

Jamie continued his downward trek, kissing the soft skin of her inner thigh, behind her knee, down to her toes. Using the opposite leg he began his ascent toward his ultimate goal.

“Jamie, please, I need...I want...more. Please, Jamie.”

“Do ye no’ like my kisses? Do ye want me tae stop?” he asked, giving her a soulful look. His voice was full of hurt and disappointment.

Leaning up on her elbows to look him in the face, “No, no. I mean I want more. Christ, I don’t know what I mean.” And she flopped back onto the pillows, biting her lip and began uttering odd throaty sounds.

He smiled smugly, “Then ye shall have it.”

Reaching her core, he blew softly over it causing Claire to buck.

“Hush now, Sassenach let me kiss ye.”

His mouth settled into its work, beginning to kiss her most intimately. Lightly at first then pressing deeper lavishing all his attention on her sensitive flesh.

Claire moaned and whined. Her hands tangled in his hair sliding down to cup his face. Close, she was so close. “Jesus H. Roooosevelt Chrissst,” she hissed.

And then he stopped and rose up to sit next to her. He was hard as stone but was determined to see this through. She needed to learn it wasn’t nice to manipulate someone especially someone who loves them. “What would ye like to do now, Sassenach? Watch a movie? We could read a book, perhaps? Maybe a nice brisk walk instead.”

“Whaaat? What do you mean what do I want to do? I want you to finish what you started,” she snarled with frustration.

“Oh, but I did, my own,” he said as he leaned over to kiss the crown of her head. I said I wanted tae kiss ye and I did. I also said I would leave ye with naught but yer cries for mercy. And I did that too.” A satisfied grin plastered over his face.

“Mac na galla,” she shouted at him as she picked up a pillow and swung it at him beating him ferociously wherever she could reach him.

He laughed at her use of Gàidhlig to swear at him while trying to deflect the blows of the murderous pillow.

“I surrender madam, I surrender, ” he laughed. She looked so fierce his wee Sassenach lassie. Eyes flashing, skin flushed with anger, all pink and rosy. She was glorious.

“That isn’t very nice of you, Jamie Fraser. To leave me all worked up wanting, needing…” He raised an eyebrow questioningly. “Now ye ken how I felt during the chess match.”

She looked abashed as she clutched the pillow to her chest. “Well, I wanted to win,” she muttered petulantly as she gave him a sidelong look. “I mean you were bragging about what a great chess champion you are, so I resorted to using my womanly wiles. I had to do something to even the playing field,” she retorted. Claire turned her head away as she picked at an imaginary loose thread on the pillow slip, “I shouldn’t have done that. It was very poor sportsmanlike behavior on my part,” she blushed. “But you set me up, Jamie Fraser. You didn’t tell me you were some great chess champion until after I agreed to the match. That wasn't fair either,” she glared at him.

“Aye, yer right, and I’m sorry for it. Forgive me, Claire?”

Her facial expression softened from annoyance to tenderness, “Yes, forgiven. Forgive me too?”

Jamie tipped her head up and looked into her eyes that reminded him of liquid honey fresh from the hive. “Forgiven, mo ghràdh.”

“We could have a re-match if you like.”

“I dinna think so, ye’ll cheat. Ye canna help it,” he glowered at her. “Let’s just leave it as a draw, hm?”

“You’re right about that,” Claire laughed. “I don’t like losing. A draw it is.”

“Come here mo chridhe, ” he beamed holding open his arms to her.

Claire eyed him suspiciously, “What are you planning to do?”

“I want tae kiss ye, ” he chuckled.

“Oh no, you don't. You're not going to get me all riled up again and not finish the job. I'm no fool you know.”

“Never thought ye were. I just thought we could start at the beginning and see where it takes us,” he proposed as he wiggled his eyebrows suggestively. “Sound like a plan?”

Claire launched herself into his arms, ”Aye, that sounds wonderful.”

***************************************************************************************

CABG - Coronary Artery Bypass Grafting - Treatment used for blocked coronary arteries. Open heart surgery.

Mitral Valve Repair/Replacement is a treatment used to repair if possible the mitral valve. If it is not repairable, it is replaced either with a tissue valve made from the lining of a pig or cow’s heart or a metallic mechanical valve. It is possible for any heart valve to be repaired or replaced, not only the mitral.

Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth; for your love is more delightful than wine - Song of Songs 1:2 New International Version of the Holy Bible

#edinburgh to boston #Chapter 19 #the king's gambit #an arousing chess game #sandringham is the chief #vacation is almost over #back to work soon #mrs. bug #outlander fanfiction #My writing #Here Goes Nothing

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3laxx · 3 years

Text

Babysitting a Human: 101

“Hi, little one. And who might you be?”, the baby giggled and reached for her green hair but she leaned back, instead offering her necklace. In an instant, the baby was fascinated by the gem and grabbed that instead, making Amity chuckle, “Aren’t you a sweet one.” Through a potion, Luz is aged down to a baby and Amity luckily is at the right place, at the right time. Shenanigans ensue.

I literally just wanted to write Luz as a baby and Amity babysitting her. It's that simple sometimes xD I also just wanted to explore Amity being a confused teenager who's good with babies, because in "Lost in Language" she definitely seemed to handle the small kids really well! Please have as much fun reading as I had writing this story, and have a wonderful day <3 3laxx~

Ao3 / FF.net

---

“Ah, Minty green! You came at the perfect time, actually!”

Amity was almost offended by the nickname Eda had given her on the fly if it hadn’t irritated her more that the wild witch seemed to be on the way to leave.

“What-”, she already wanted to ask, but the witch just wrapped her arm around her shoulders and began pushing her towards the Owl House.

“I actually gotta run real quick to do-… Business. You gotta watch Luz. Okay, bye!”

The teen just merely managed to furrow her eyebrows as King jumped past her, onto Eda’s staff, and the witch began flying off.

“Wait! What do you even mean?!”

But Eda already waved and flew off, yelling something that Amity couldn’t quite make out, something like “Don’t let her die, will be back tomorrow!”

This was getting weirder and weirder by the second. Amity huffed, pulling her bag tighter around her and furrowing her eyebrows at the house. The door was open, and that bird tube was doing something inside, which involved very questionable sounds.

Did she even want to go inside now?

She had known becoming friends with Luz was going to be messy and weird and definitely sometimes out of her comfort zone, but she had just wanted to come by to give Luz back her copy of The Good Witch Azura novel three since she had claimed she had lost hers and just wanted to spend time with Luz outside of their weekly book club meetings.

But now she suddenly wasn’t sure how urgent this was. She could give her the book back tomorrow, too, right?

Eda had just talked nonsense, and Amity wouldn’t – absolutely wouldn’t – get involved with Hooty. She could just go, right? Huffing, she fastened the strap on her bag again and nodded, turning away from the Owl House. She had no obligation to stay after Eda had just recruited her for-… Something. Watching Luz?

Amity rolled her eyes. Luz was older than her, by a few months, and could very much look after herself. Well, not always, but she didn’t need a babysitter, and especially not Amity. Shaking the blush off her face, she started leaving again, when suddenly, she heard Hooty doing some noise and a baby crying.

This made her stop dead in her tracks and she could feel her heart jumping at that.

Eda didn’t have a baby. Luz didn’t either. She knew Eda had babysat the Bat Queen’s children once, but their screaming sounded different. This hadn’t been a demon cry or whatever else.

Slowly, Amity turned back to the house and slowly approached it.

Whatever was inside, Hooty was probably not the best company for that thing. She already cursed herself for investigating, but Titan, she couldn’t just leave a child alone with that bird tube.

Hooty just retreated when she entered through the door, talking to himself in his annoying, high-pitched voice.

“Geez, okay! I get it, you don’t want to play ‘Catch the mouse’, hoot!”

Before the bird could even start to talk to Amity upon noticing her, she shot him a glare that was enough to make him close the door after her. Now she heard it clearly.

A whimper sounded through the room, then a cry. She furrowed her eyebrows at that and put down her bag, before looking around.

Sure enough, there was a crib. Amity didn’t know Eda and Luz would be babysitting again.

“Luz? Are you here?”

Nobody answered so Amity assumed Luz was still upstairs. Why would she leave a baby alone here, though? Luz was the most caring person she knew, and while still being a child herself most of the time, she would never just leave a baby in Hooty’s care.

Carefully, she approached the crib and looked inside, only to stumble back with a red face, landing on her rear and stretching out her arms in a fighting motion. This had just activated her fight-or-flight reflex.

The baby inside the crib looked exactly like Luz. Had she missed the last thirteen months or something? And wasn’t Luz a little young to be a mother? And-… Did that mean Luz wasn’t single?

Amity breathed for a moment, then she got back up again, her thoughts running a mile an hour. This couldn’t be, right. Was that Luz’s little sibling? But how would they have come here? The same way Luz had managed to end up here? Amity knew it involved a portal.

If Luz had a little sibling, though, why bring them here?

She once again peered into the crib and sure enough, there was a little baby, not much older than four months maybe, but definitely not a year yet. It was crying, kicking helplessly, and crying.

Motherly instincts, that the teenager hadn’t known had existed inside her, suddenly took over. She reached inside and softly cradled the baby in her arms, then she lifted it up and began bopping it, helplessly looking around.

She was in this house now, alone, with a baby and a dumb bird tube, and Eda was apparently leaving for the entire night? She had babysat before, sure, Boscha’s little sister for example while her friend had wanted to go to some party for older kids. And she managed the children at the library every week. But this was a little rushed.

Huffing, she took the baby with her and started exploring upstairs. She knew where Luz’s room was, so she went there first while keeping the baby close, but her friend was nowhere to be found. Nor was anyone else.

After searching through every accessible room – some she didn’t want to open, who knew what Eda was hiding behind closed doors – she returned to the living room and sat down on the couch with the baby in her lap, furrowing her eyebrows.

The gem was round and too big to fit in its mouth so she didn’t mind the baby playing with her necklace while she tried to figure out what she was doing here.

“What are we gonna do now, little baby? I know how to babysit, but I don’t even know who you are and why you’re here. You do look a little like Luz, though.”

Squinting her eyes, she watched the baby in her arms. She knew that face. That baby looked so damn similar to the teenager she knew from school.

But it couldn’t be Luz herself, right?

Eda had told her to watch Luz and she had thought that was weird. Was it possible that-…?

The baby looked up to her and once again tried to reach her hair while Amity watched it closely.

“Luz?”

The baby seemed to listen up at that. Amity’s eyes widened.

“Oh my Titan, Luz, is it actually you?!”

In an instant, the baby began sniffling again at Amity raising her voice, so she quickly got back up again and started rocking the baby, Luz, to try and soothe her.

“Shh, shh, I’m sorry I didn’t mean to get loud. Is it really you, though?”

The baby slowly stopped crying again and Amity’s heart began racing. That meant she was holding her crush in her arms right now. Her crush turned into a baby.

Luz brabbled something and once again reached the gem around Amity’s neck, starting to drool all over it, but Amity couldn’t care.

Eda had to explain some things to her once she got back.

Oh Titan, when she got back. She had said she’d only be back in the morning. It was afternoon right now, which meant Amity would have to watch over Luz for at least eighteen hours?!

Except if she called Willow.

She knew her former friend was incredibly good with babies, she supposed that came with understanding plants so much. It wasn’t that much of a difference after all. Don’t drop, don’t squish, feed regularly, and keep it clean and free of bugs.

Right, what was she going to feed Luz, anyway?! Did human babies have some special things they couldn’t eat? Oh Titan, this was going to be a nightmare. Amity didn’t even know if Luz was allergic to anything.

A squeal let her listen up again and she realized Luz had tried to get her attention for quite a while now, while she had paced through the living room.

“Yes? What do you want?”, again, the baby reached for her hair and Amity rolled her eyes, “Fine. But if you tug, I’ll never let you touch it again.”

The tiny Luz went quiet at Amity’s hair starting to fall over her small baby hand, and she clumsily tried grasping some strands, making Amity giggle.

“You like that?”

Out of instinct, she leaned down to the baby and shook her head, tickling Luz with her hair hanging into her tiny face. The baby squealed in joy and kicked joyfully, making Amity laugh as well.

“You know, you’re actually super cute like that. I mean, you’re also cute when you’re all grown up, but this is another level of cute.”

The baby Luz once again giggled and squealed while Amity continued shaking her hair into her face until the baby grabbed a handful of her strands and ripped with all its might.

With a yelp, Amity stumbled back but tried to keep her balance, not to drop the baby.

“Ouch! Ouch ouch ouch, let go, let go! That hurts, stop!”

Untangling Luz’s tiny hand from her hair proved to be more difficult than she had anticipated and she grumbled when she actually saw a few ripped-out hairs in the baby’s hand.

“That wasn’t nice.”, she chastised Luz, pouting, “Don’t do that again.”

The baby was too engrossed with the hair she had ripped out, though. Amity merely rolled her eyes, then she decided to create a war plan.

First, she had to find out what human babies ate and if Eda had anything here that she could feed Luz. Secondly, she would have to look for some diapers, because while it looked like Luz was wearing one in her onesie, she wasn’t sure how much longer it was going to hold. Amity already grimaced at that thought. But a baby wouldn’t be able to hold it in for eighteen hours, right? And she supposed Luz wouldn’t remember anything anyway. Plus, it was probably less traumatizing to wash Luz than to endure her full diaper until the next morning.

Carefully, she set the baby down in her crib and entered the kitchen next door, to see if Eda got anything edible.

After a minute of searching, Luz began to feel lonely and Amity couldn’t help but roll her eyes.

“I’m right here, Luz, everything’s alright! My Titan, how did your mother raise you if you couldn’t even stand being alone for five minutes?”

The baby seemed to calm down at Amity talking so she just continued monologuing while continuing through the cupboards and finding some troubling things.

“I mean, I’m literally just next door. You can relax, promise, I’ll be right back. I just need to find something that you can have as dinner and breakfast. Does Eda even have milk around here? Wait, do babies like you eat anything already, or do you just drink milk? How am I supposed to know, I’m fourteen!”

At that point, she’d probably have to call an adult who had ideally already raised a baby, but nobody came to mind. Except, yes, her old nanny! Her mother hadn’t done much of the raising, just a lot of the chastising, so her nanny was probably the closest she’d get to any helpful advice. Summoning her scroll phone, she walked back into the living room and propped herself up on the crib so Luz could see her and play some more with her necklace, something she had apparently grown very fascinated with.

Dialing her nanny’s number, she held the scroll phone to her ear and waited for the witch to accept the call while watching the tiny baby drooling all over the gem. A small smile grew on her lips.

This was actually kinda nice.

It was sweet to see Luz like this, so young and absolutely fascinated by everything, much like her teenage self, just a lot simpler.

“Hello, Amity!”, her nanny answered the phone and Amity heard the telltale cry of babies in the background, making her grimace.

“Hi, Nana!”, she greeted her old nanny and rubbed over her face, trying her best to formulate the following story as harmlessly as possible, “Uhm, what do little human babies eat when they’re maybe, four months old?”

The line remained silent for a little, until Luz squealed at the gem, making Amity flinch.

“… Why are you with a human baby?”, her nanny asked and Amity grimaced.

“That’s a long story that nobody needs to know about. In short, I’m babysitting. She’s four months old and liked to pull my hair. So, what do they eat?”

Her nanny remained quiet for a second again and Amity started fidgeting.

“Well, I suppose human babies aren’t that different from witch babies. If the baby can sit, and seems interested in solids, you can feed that to it.”, she explained and Amity nodded, making a note to test if Luz could sit already.

“Okay, got it. Can I call you again if I need more advice? I’m kinda alone with the baby right now and the uh-… Mother didn’t leave me any hints.”, Amity pulled a face at calling Eda Luz’s mother, even if she supposed that they had grown quite close ever since Luz arrived here.

“Yes, I might just be a little busy sometimes. Is there anything else that you’re not telling me? You know I notice if you’re lying.”, her nanny prodded and she knew that she just wanted some details on the human baby.

Amity huffed.

“Don’t worry, everything is fine. If I’m in a house that’s not exactly made for a baby, though, and can’t find baby food, what do I do then? Because I can’t really leave.”

“Well, I could come over an-”

“I’ll just mash something up, thank you Nana, byeee!”, Amity panicked and hung up, breathing quickly. If her old nanny had known she was in the Owl House, with a teenager turned baby, she’d be done for. Her parents would know faster than she could blink.

Luz meanwhile looked up to her and reached for her hair again, but Amity scowled at her.

“No, you lost all hair privileges.”

Baby Luz started tearing up so Amity sighed and rolled her eyes before lifting her out of her crib again and starting to bounce her.

“Let’s see what we can do together, hm? There should be something safe around here that we can mess with. Maybe some plushies. Didn’t you tell me of King’s army once? I bet he has some plushies. Or maybe you have some! We can look through your stuff and see what we can find.”

The baby kicked a little and Amity took that as a yes.

“Let’s go then, we can hopefully find something to keep you busy. And I can read The Good Witch Azura to you!”, at that name, the tiny baby squealed and Amity giggled while cradling her safely and starting to go upstairs again, “Oh you remember her, huh? I should’ve figured, who could ever forget Azura?”

Sure enough, she found a little plush in Luz’s stuff, and it seemed like Luz was recognizing it because she reached for it, so Amity put her down on her back on top of her sleep cocoon – Luz had explained to her what that was once but she had forgotten again, in any case, it was soft enough for a baby to lie on it – and gave her the toy while sitting down next to her, smiling when baby Luz started taking the plush into her mouth as well.

“Don’t worry, I’ll wash that for you once you’re back to normal again.”, she smirked and propped herself up on an arm, leaning over Luz, “Aren’t you a cute one, hm?”

The tiny baby giggled at her and kicked, then she reached out to brush over her soft baby skin, humming.

“You were so adorable as a baby! And you already had your big, brown eyes. I bet your mom could tell you’d be pretty someday.”

Luz laughed again and lost the toy she had been drooling over, making Amity fetch it for her and give it back, watching Luz’s tiny fingers clumsily grasping the fur of the plush. A warm feeling rose in Amity’s chest while she watched the baby playing like this, and she couldn’t help but smile.

“Maybe I’ll have a tiny baby like you someday when I’m older and ready. And maybe she’ll look like you.”, daydreaming about her crush wasn’t uncommon for Amity, even drawing fanart of her and Luz and losing herself in fantasies about them marrying someday, but she hadn’t even once thought about having a baby with Luz. She supposed her teenage hormones and developing motherly instincts connected the baby in front of her to a faraway future that could maybe be a possibility.

In an instant, though, Amity became beet red when thinking about having a baby with Luz. That would mean they’d be married, which would mean they had a relationship before that, which would, in turn, mean that Amity would confess her feelings to her.

Which would not ever happen, nope!

She spluttered then she turned away and shook her head, listening to Luz still brabbling on and telling the plush some serious stories, having rolled over by now and holding it in front of her face.

Her tiny knees bumped against Amity’s hips and she looked back.

She had to admit, it was a nice little daydream. Nothing wrong with a little fantasy like that.

“You’re so tiny…”, she giggled, her blush fading when she took one of Luz’s feet and tickled the baby through its sock, laughing when she looked up to her irritated.

“Oh, come on, your mom tickled you before I’m sure!”

The baby gurgled and giggled then when she tickled her again and left the plush to try and grab at Amity’s face. The teen reached up to tie all her hair up to a high ponytail, which still left out a few strands, but way less to give the baby any chance to pull on them again, and lifted Luz up to sit her down on her lap against her thighs, leaning in a little so they were close.

Baby Luz reached out to her nose and grabbed it, making the witch laugh and blow a tiny raspberry on the baby’s wrist.

“What’re you trying to do with my nose, steal it?”, she asked and Luz laughed, flailing, before patting her cheek and reaching for Amity’s nose again, causing her to laugh.

She sat back a little to lean against the couch table and pull her knees a little closer, so Luz could sit a little more upright. Her tiny legs were crossed over Amity’s stomach and while she held onto her knee with one arm to keep the position, she reached down to grab Luz’s foot again and slightly shake it, successfully diverting the baby’s attention from grabbing at her nose.

“You’re actually quite easy to handle. Boscha’s little sister is sweet and all, but she does learn a lot from her older sister. Sometimes she’s a real handful. You’re just curious, aren’t you?”

Luz tried grabbing at her hand which still softly shook her foot, then the baby looked up again and grabbed Amity’s upper lip instead, blinking at the sight when she uncovered Amity’s teeth.

The girl laughed again but permitted the baby to continue, opening her mouth for her.

“An wha’re yu trayna do now?”, she slurred, her mouth opened, when the baby searched and lifted her second hand to grab Amity’s lower teeth, inspecting them with very careful, pointed movements. She wouldn’t have thought Luz to be so coordinated while being so clumsy.

The baby hiccupped, still tapping around on her teeth and discovering her fangs, before Amity laughed and closed her mouth, very softly biting down on her fingers and closing her lips as well. Luz recoiled and pulled her fingers back, obviously surprised by Amity doing that, but she quickly found delight in that. Amity opened her mouth back up again and Luz made it a game to grab at her teeth while Amity softly tried catching her, playfully snapping at her.

Luz laughed and laughed, so much so that she really started hiccupping now, until Amity stopped and chuckled as well, but dodged all of the baby’s attempts with her hand, catching both of them on Luz’s belly while looking at her.

“Luz, are you hungry?”

But Luz wasn’t done playing yet. Instead, she freed her tiny hands and once again reached for Amity’s face, this time her cheeks. Before she could pinch her skin, though, Amity quickly blew some air into her cheeks and the small baby laughed when she let it escape again.

They continued playing for a little while, Luz exploring and discovering Amity’s face thoroughly, until the teen was not only covered in her own drool but also Luz’s since she just couldn’t stop taking her little fists in her own mouth all over again.

“Okay, that’s enough now, you had your fun. I wanna wash my face.”

She lifted the baby off her lap and set her down, giving her back the plush, before going to the kitchen and turning on the sink to rub all over her face, before furrowing her eyebrows at the sink’s depth.

A baby could comfortably sit in there.

Amity smiled. She knew exactly how she was going to wash Luz now, without being embarrassed too much – hopefully.

Returning to the living room, she checked on Luz who was animatedly telling her plush something very important – she supposed, at least, Luz was fixating the toy and brabbling in one go – so she went back inside to get some fruit and milk Eda had luckily kept around and begun preparing what she thought was best for a baby’s meal.

First, she made sure to remove all the seeds and skin, then she mushed it the best she could so she had a soft goo, and put some milk into it, to make it a little more fluid so Luz could eat it. She supposed that should be enough to feed a baby, for a little bit at least. She was kinda left alone here without any proper meal plan, so she just made do of what she could find.

After preparing the meal and finding the tiniest little spoon to fit in Luz’s mouth, she grabbed the jar in which she had created the meal and carried it back to the living room to find Luz trying to shuffle away from the sleeping bag, her little legs kicking and her hands moving and working while she lifted her head, making Amity chuckle. “And where do you think you’re going?”

The baby looked up at her and huffed, trying to move again, but Amity just picked Luz up and set her back down on her lap like before, letting her lean against her thighs to feed her.

Luz was active and interested enough in the dinner Amity had made for her so she supposed it was fine.

As Amity discovered shortly, though, Luz was a little too active. At the first spoon, she knew this was going to be a pain. After scooping some up, she put the spoon on the baby’s lips and opened her own mouth, for Luz to imitate her, but the baby was too engrossed with other things, like staring at Amity and flailing.

“Luz, you gotta open your mouth.”, she prodded, but she kept her lips firmly shut, “Please? Pretty please?”

She tried letting the baby taste the fruity mix a little, and it worked after she had managed to push the spoon’s tip through her lips. Suddenly opening her mouth wide, Luz allowed her to push the spoon inside. The first three to five spoons were not a problem.

But then, Luz discovered, she could also spit the food back out again. Which was apparently a lot more fun than just letting it disappear.

Amity had just giggled at imitating a griffin flying the spoon into Luz’s mouth, and already scooped up the next one, when a kinda warm goopy mess landed on her arm. The teen squinted her eyes and slowly looked back to Luz, who still had her mouth opened, drool connecting to the griffin spoon’s content that now sat on Amity’s arm. She huffed at the baby.

“I thought we had an agreement, Luz.”, she pointed at Luz quickly closing her mouth again, then she helpfully pointed at the slime on Amity’s arm. At that, Amity couldn’t help but chuckle, then she wiped it with a tissue she had smartly remembered to bring as well.

“I know feeding a baby is messy. But seriously, you didn’t need to spit it on me. You have plenty of room to spit it on yourself!”, Amity suggested while spreading the cloth on her chest now so her clothes wouldn’t suffer at least.

The baby on her lap merely whined, then she managed to get the next spoon inside of her mouth, nodding when the baby swallowed.

“That’s right. You gotta eat, you know, to become tall, and lanky, and the nerd I know you to be. The nerdiest dweeb, with your not at all weak nerd arms.”, she softly pinched the baby’s arm and Luz giggled, making Amity’s heart go warm again.

“You’re such a cheerful baby. I seriously haven’t met a baby that giggly yet.”

Luz patted on the tissue Amity had spread on herself, brabbling something, while Amity tried the next spoon again. This time, a noise distracted Luz, though, and she turned her head when Amity just tried to put the spoon in her mouth. Oh, this was going to be messy.

Now that the first interest in eating had faded, Luz was not going to be focused anymore. But she knew she’d have to wash the baby after this anyway, so she just continued trying to feed her.

Until Luz also discovered that she could play with her food, much to Amity’s dismay.

“No, Luz, do-… Don’t spit it out! Damnit!”, the baby had already dropped the load and began mushing it on her onesie, making Amity pull up her eyebrows, “You decide to be messy now, hm? Okay then. That just makes the bath last longer, I hope you know that.”

The baby looked up to her, but obviously, she didn’t recognize the word. Instead, she connected two other dots.

With her fruit-goopy hand, Luz now patted her cheek. Amity wrinkled her nose at the stickiness.

“Really? You want me to wash, too?”

The baby giggled while the teen leaned back and managed to get her hand off of her cheek. Luckily, she turned her attention back to the dirty onesie again, and Amity tried to give her the next spoon but Luz grew skeptical, suddenly. Rolling her eyes, she attracted the baby’s attention and showed her a spoon, but her lips stayed closed this time.

“You’ve been eating it the whole time and now you don’t want it anymore?”, Luz’s response was clear. Huffing, Amity ate the spoonful herself and looked at the baby in a demonstration before exaggerating on her reaction.

“Mmmh! That tastes so good! Let me have another!”, she watched the baby staring when she took another spoon in her mouth, almost giggling at Luz’s eyebrows furrowing, “That’s so tasty!”

Just when Amity wanted to take another spoon – it really didn’t taste bad at all – Luz clumsily reached for her wrist and whined, wanting to have the spoon to herself. Smirking, Amity gave it to her and smiled when the baby swallowed. Jealousy about food always worked.

Well, it worked for a bite, until Luz was distracted by something else again, making Amity grow exasperated when she lowered the spoon.

“Luz.”, the baby still tried to reach her necklace, causing the witch to lift an eyebrow, “Luz? C’mon, a little more, still. Usually, you’re really hungry.”

The baby whined and grabbed at the necklace, but Amity put it down her shirt and tried feeding Luz again. However, the baby was too smart for her. She leaned forward and grabbed Amity’s collar, making her yelp at the dirty little hands smearing fruit goo on her clothes, then Luz pulled the shirt back and tried reaching for the necklace again.

Amity groaned, trying to get the baby’s little hand out of her cleavage, while not losing grip of the spoon.

“Luz! You can play later, stop-”, she finally nudged the baby’s hands away from her clothes and rolled her eyes at the marks she had left on her collar, before softly guiding her to lean back against her thighs, shaking her head at the baby, “Don’t-… Do that again. Even if you’re a baby right now, that’s not acceptable. Got it?”

Ugh, she already sounded like her mother.

Luz pouted and she could tell she was about to burst into tears, making Amity gulp.

“Aw, it’s okay. I’ll let you play after you eat some more! We can share a spoon if that’d make you happy!”, she made some exaggerated movements to distract Luz, and luckily, the baby bought into it when she threatened to eat a spoon again, making her catch her wrist again and lead the spoon back to her mouth. Amity giggled when she softly brushed over Luz’s temple, humming.

“I’m just glad you’re not super small, like, a newborn. It would’ve become so much harder caring for you then.��, the baby giggled at her and since she had managed half the glass, Amity supposed Luz was good to go.

That meant bathing time.

Amity grimaced already, but there was no way around it. Luz was covered in sticky fruit goo and she supposed this was a normal babysitting job she had to do.

Oh no.

But she couldn’t bail out. This was a baby, she couldn’t wash herself yet, and it wasn’t embarrassing at all! Luz would probably not remember anything about this and she had to do it.

She had to.

Amity got up and cradled Luz in her arms, not minding the sticky fingers now playing with her shirt again, and grabbed the jar to bring it back to the kitchen. She spread a towel on the table and put Luz on it, always keeping an eye on the baby so that she wouldn’t roll off, while closing the container with a lid and putting it in the fridge, before clogging the sink to fill it just a little with warm water. Luz tried rolling over but Amity held her back and chuckled.

“Can’t have you on your back now. You’ll just be up to shenanigans.”, tiny Luz giggled, making Amity affectionately roll her eyes, “Does Eda keep soap anywhere?”

The baby huffed and giggled again as a response, still trying to turn over while Amity now stepped closer and caught her between her arms, propping herself up on the table before leaning down and blowing a mock raspberry on the baby’s belly that was still covered by the onesie.

Luz squealed and patted Amity’s head, making the teen chuckle.

“I’m not gonna get home clean, hm? But you’re too sweet for me to be mad at you. Now, c’mon, let’s get some soap for you.”

She grabbed the baby to search for soap upstairs, and when she found some that smelled like Luz usually smelled like when she was fresh from the shower, she walked down again. The baby had insisted to hold the soap, and all the while Amity made sure she wouldn’t put it in her mouth, then came the moment Amity had dreaded.

She put Luz down on the counter and sighed.

“Okay, here we go. I mean, you’re just a little baby, but I sure hope you won’t remember this.”, Luz giggled and kicked, making Amity smile, “You’re a doofus, you know that? Always making me smile like that, even if you’re a baby.”

After opening the first button, it wasn’t as bad as Amity had thought.

Slipping into busy work, she opened up the onesie and pulled it out from underneath Luz, then she took off her little tiny socks – they were just round and Amity had to cry a little at that – and removed the diaper to discard it, before slowly setting Luz down in the sink. The baby recoiled at the feeling of water at first but quickly got used to it, even finding some joy in splashing around. Amity supposed she would turn up at home clean after all, if Luz continued soaking her like that.

“Wait, hold still, I gotta wash you actually! This is not a swimming lesson!”

Luz laughed and squealed and overall made Amity completely forget this was her naked crush sitting in a sink. She had all her hands full to somehow contain this little bundle of joy. Because without fail, Luz managed to be even more cheerful when in water.

After soaping her in and taking care to scrub all the lunch off of the baby and keeping her eyes soap-free, she washed Luz off again, unclogged the sink, and lifted the baby out with a towel, drying her off while cradling her.

And again, there was the smile Amity couldn’t contain when Luz laughed and flailed like this, moving so much that she sometimes worried she’d drop her.

She hadn’t ever dreamed up that Luz would be even more energetic than she was usually as her teenage self, but as it seemed, baby Luz was absolutely eager to prove her wrong in every way she could.

Laughing, she cradled Luz closer and trapped her tiny arms and legs in the towel to dry off her face, softly rubbing over her forehead and temples. Just when she brushed down to Luz’s cheek, the tiny baby began suckling. They both looked at each other surprised, then Amity giggled as she tried that again, making Luz start to work her tongue and cheeks, swallowing multiple times. Amity smirked.

“Now I can at least make you eat. That’s good to know.”, she smugly stated and the baby giggled again once she stopped brushing over her cheek, trying to free herself from the towel, so Amity carefully put her down on the table and dried off the rest of her, before grabbing a makeshift diaper Eda had apparently still crafted, wrapping it around Luz and keeping her lying on the table so she couldn’t turn.

“Luz, just let me dress you, it’s a little chilly, and – where did the onesie go I just saw? Wait, there was one, I just don’t know-”, furrowing her eyebrows, Amity looked all over the table, then back to the sink. No onesie to be found, just the old, sticky one. But she could’ve sworn she had just seen it.

Letting go of Luz, she went to bend down under the table, then she quickly jogged back to the living room to grab the onesie off the coffee table, before running back, so Luz wouldn’t fall off the table.

Instead of being met with a catastrophe, though, she watched Luz turning over and getting on all fours to start crawling towards her. Well, shifting towards her, Luz still didn’t exactly figure out how crawling worked so she was doing more of a shuffling kinda pushy motion, to get where she wanted to be. Amity had to chuckle at that.

“Don’t wanna put on clothes, hm?”

She propped her arms up on the wooden surface of the table and put her chin down as well, watching the baby shuffling its way towards her. She giggled when Luz reached her and softly slapped her hand on her nose, then she leaned back again and scooped her up, minding her head when she turned her over and placed a raspberry on her belly.

“Not on my watch, tiny Luz!”, the baby giggled and squealed loudly, then she felt the baby’s hands on her cheeks and raspberried her again, “Okay, let’s get you dressed, hm?”

The baby interestedly watched the onesie she had found, then she huffed when Amity spread it on the towel that she had dried Luz in, and put her down. In an instant, the baby wailed.

Rolling her eyes, Amity groaned and propped her elbows up next to the baby to wall her in, getting closer with her face while she softly rubbed Luz’s temples. The wails became less until she was just sniffling at the sudden cuddles, then she pouted again and threatened to blow.

“Luz, it’s kinda chilly, I just wanna put some clothes on you, okay?”, Amity tried consoling and negotiating, but the baby wouldn’t hear any of it. As soon as she felt the witchling trying to sneakily wrestle her tiny arm into the sleeve, she began crying again. Sighing, Amity nodded, then she straightened back up again.

“Alright, tell you what. You’ll play for a little bit and I’ll prepare a surprise for you. And as soon as you get cold, I get to dress you, okay?”

Luz was still crying, so Amity lifted her off the counter and carried her back to the living room to place her on her sleeping bag, then she made a big ‘oooh’ and ‘aaaah’ sound while pulling up Luz’s plush, which seemed to distract the baby enough not to protest any further. Amity giggled.

“See? There you go. Have a little fun with them, I’ll be right back.”, she bopped the completely indulged baby on the nose and went upstairs, to go into Luz’s room. Well, honestly, she didn’t exactly feel comfortable with going through her things, especially since she was a baby, but she hoped what she planned would convince Luz to put on some clothes. She didn’t wanna hand her back to Eda sick, after all.

To her big luck, what she searched for was lying in the open. She had remembered right, from bringing the sleeping bag down! And she didn’t have to go through Luz’s things and find some possibly flustering things. For the first time, she thanked Luz for being so messy sometimes.

Running back down with the surprise in her hands, she met the baby trying to roll off the sleeping bag again and chuckled to herself, leaning against the doorframe and crossing her arms to watch her for a moment while she didn’t know she was back yet.

Luz finally succeeded to get past the almost impossible barrier of the slightly higher seam around the edge of the sleeping bag, and got to all fours, facing away from Amity. She started shuffling across the carpet, then, her hips still down on the floor and her little legs kicking along the ground, to shuffle to the direction where she wanted to be. Amity smirked when she watched the baby exploring and reaching out to stuff like a leg of the couch table or a little pill of wool off the carpet, but when she started reaching for a hissing and snapping book next to the couch table Amity decided that was enough exploring for now. Moving quickly, she scooped the baby up and pulled her away from the book about necromancy, then she pulled up her eyes at the halfhearted protests from her friend, before sitting down on the sleeping bag with her.

“Yes, I know, I’m so evil. But look! I got something for you!”

She got into the same position again as before when she had fed her, finding holding the baby with her legs while sitting against the couch very relaxing. Especially since Luz could watch her and she could make sure the active baby wouldn’t escape.

Giggling, she attracted the attention of the baby before pulling out what she had found in Luz’s room. It was the cat hoodie that her grown-up friend loved to wear. Instant recognition went over the baby’s face and she grabbed for it, feeling the cloth. Amity almost had the feeling she not only recognized it but also that a slight hint of older Luz went over her young face before she turned back to the drooling little baby by trying to put the fabric into her mouth. Quickly, Amity pulled the hoodie away and chuckled, shaking her head. It must’ve been wishful thinking that Luz could somehow wake up. She supposed the potion Luz was on not only aged up and down but also moved time in the vessel of the person drinking it. Thus, no wearing off.

She smiled at the baby, then she held up the cropped hoodie.

“Let’s make a deal, okay? I put on this, because I’m chilly, and you put on your onesie. Your feet are cold already!”

The baby did not understand what she was inquiring, but she reacted so adorably when Amity tickled her little feet, laughing and kicking. Then, the teen leaned back.

“See, okay? Getting dressed isn’t as bad!”, she opened the hoodie and a full nose of Luz’s scent hit her. Kinda like lemons. She almost got dizzy about putting on some of her crush’s clothes, but she had a baby to convince. That was more important.

Amity pulled the hoodie down over her face and thought she might faint from being flustered, but as soon as she peeked through the collar, she saw the expectant face of the baby. This did it. Pulling down the cloth, she laughed, then she clasped her hand around the chubby cheeks and squealed.

“Peek-a-boo!”, she exclaimed and the baby immediately laughed and squealed in excitement. When Amity pulled up the hoodie over her head and revealed the cat ears, Luz wasn’t stoppable. She giggled and squealed all the way as Amity dressed her, occasionally playing with the little cat ears on her head, then she lifted the baby up and let her little hand play with the ears. Luz was super excitable over things like these, which hadn’t changed when turning into a baby.

After a while, though, Luz got a little fussy and Amity realized she was tired. Right, babies needed to nap more often, because their little brains got overstimulated. Humming, Amity scooped up the baby and carried her over to her crib, but the sight of the bed just made Luz cry more. Sighing, the teen stopped.

“But you gotta sleep now, I can tell you’re tired. C’mon, just a little.”

Luz full-on began wailing when she lowered her down into the crib so she deadpanned and lifted her back up in her arms, sighing when she began bopping the baby and calming her down. Soon, Luz snuggled up against her shoulder and began dozing, so Amity waited until her eyes were closed and tried putting her back in her crib but Luz wouldn’t have it. Sniffling again, she looked up to Amity out of big, teary eyes and the witchling quickly lifted her back up.

“Okay, fine. You can sleep in your sleeping bag. But no fussing anymore, okay?”, she kneeled on the floor and handled the sleepy, cranky baby carefully, lowering her down into the sleeping bag, then she smiled and placed her hand on the baby’s tummy to settle her down, “There you go. And now we close these big eyes of yours and sleep, okay? It’s just a nap.”

Luz pouted again and Amity could imagine what she wanted.

“You want us to snuggle?”

Since the baby couldn’t understand or answer, she lifted her up again and shuffled them both into the sleeping bag, resting Luz next to her and rubbing her tummy.

“There we go, okay? You go sleep while I call Willow. Is that a deal?”

Baby Luz whined softly before closing her eyes and huffing, then she lifted her tiny fists to place them next to her head and touched Amity’s ear with one. When she tried to move away, the baby started whining again so she sighed and let Luz touch her ear, despite heavily blushing, and allowed her to softly grab it to fall asleep. She also wouldn’t allow her to remove her hand so she had to lie kind of arms crossed on her back when Luz finally fell asleep. The baby’s hands went slack and Amity could relax, turning to her side and smiling when she watched baby Luz. She was adorable, honestly.

With her being so hyperactive, she hadn’t had much chance to really look at her, so she had the time now when Luz didn’t move all the time.

Her face was so small and chubby. Amity almost squealed at that, but she kept quiet. Smiling to herself, she reached out to softly brush over the bridge of the baby’s nose, humming when she made her breathe slower through that. She seemed to like it.

Only after exploring Luz’s tiny baby face thoroughly, she summoned her scroll phone and took a picture that she saved in her heart, and then she tapped in Willow’s number. Immediately, when it started dialing, she saw herself on her phone. She had started a video call. Well, might as well show Willow what was going on. Maybe it’d be easier to understand then.

She turned the phone away from Luz, though, only focused the screen on her lying on the floor, then she sighed and breathed through. She wanted help so badly, being alone with a baby had not been on her schedule and she had to go home at some time. Willow’s dads were much more understanding, maybe they’d let her come and stay the night with Luz.

The call dialed for a while, then it was accepted and Willow looked at her with a question mark written all over her face.

“Hey, Amity? What’s up?”

Grimacing, the witchling rubbed her neck, then she sighed.

“Uhm… I’m in a little bit of a situation here. So… How does ‘babysitting at the Owl House’ sound to you?”, she grinned helplessly and Willow looked right through her.

“Highly suspicious. What did you do?”, she narrowed her eyes, huffing at her behavior. Amity groaned.

“Willow, I gotta get home, my parents are gonna kill me if I stay past curfew but someone’s gotta watch her.”, she whined. At that, Willow rolled her eyes and shook her head.

“You’re making no sense, Amity. Watch who? Why babysitting?”, she asked and Amity grimaced before tilting her phone so the tiny baby Luz came into view. Willow stayed silent for a second, her mouth and eyes wide open, then she looked back at Amity who was still half on the screen, “What-… Did you-… Do?!”

Sighing, Amity turned the phone back to her and shook her head, groaning.

“Luz was aged down to a baby. I don’t know what happened, but Eda left me alone with her to watch her until tomorrow morning. I don’t even know what I’m doing!”, she groaned again, “Help mee!”

Willow’s face looked even more shocked.

“Wait, that was Luz?!”, she asked incredulously and Amity deadpanned.

“Who did you think I was babysitting?!”, she asked and Willow smirked at that, making Amity blush a little, “Anyway, I can’t stay. I got to go home because my parents expect me in an hour. Can you make it?”

At that, Willow sighed and shook her head.

“I’m so sorry, Amity. I absolutely would love to babysit Luz, as weird as that sounds, but I can’t today. We’re having a family evening. I can’t just bail out on this.”

Grimacing, Amity turned to the side when Luz squirmed, then she casually reached up with her free hand and brushed over Luz’s palm, sighing. Willow smiled at that.

“Well, it looks like you got this. And Luz looks content, so.”, Willow grinned at that and Amity blushed.

“I-… I managed. I fed her and bathed her and we played a little.”, she huffed, then she pouted, “I need help, though. I don’t know what to do until tomorrow! How am I supposed to keep her happy until then?”

Willow shrugged at that, humming.

“I don’t know, honestly. I’m just fourteen.”

“Me, too!”, Amity groaned and turned to the side, nuzzling her face against Luz’s hand while curling in, feeling her knees bumping against her little slack legs. Suddenly, Willow smiled wider, almost grinning.

“Is that Luz’s hoodie you’re wearing?”, she suddenly asked and Amity couldn’t suppress a smile and a blush.

“Th-That was the only way to get her dressed again! Luz is a really hyperactive baby, I had no other choice.”

The grin her old friend gave her the impression that she very much had another choice, that this was just the option she had wanted to pick. Trying to ignore the smug witchling on the call, she sighed and crossed her eyes to look at Luz’s tiny, super soft hand.

“Willow, seriously, I gotta get home somehow. I can’t stay here but I can’t leave this baby alone. What am I supposed to do?!”

At that, her maybe-friend shrugged, then she tried a smile at her.

“Maybe try to ask your siblings? Maybe they’ll cover for you. Or ask Gus!”, both slanted their lips, “Okay, maybe don’t ask Gus. He’s maybe not the most mature babysitter.”

Groaning, Amity slumped her arm, the scroll phone vanishing behind the sleeping baby, then she sighed as she lifted it again, pouting.

“So, what do I do?”, she asked and tried her best not to snap at Willow or say something she’d regret. She did not want to disturb the fragile peace they had managed to settle on. But she also couldn’t bear the wrath of her parents.

Shrugging, Willow rubbed her cheek, then she flinched at her father calling.

“Ask the twins, I can’t help you. I’m so sorry.”, she grimaced at another call, then she sighed, “Sorry, I really gotta go now. Bye!”

Amity grumbled when she hung up. Who should she call, then?

Boscha? No, absolutely not. The rest of her gang? No, not really. They were all so immature. The detention tracks? She couldn’t expect basically strangers to watch her.

So, she was all alone.

Amity whined again, softly rubbing Luz’s palm. Should she call the twins and ask for an excuse? She didn’t want to. That’d cost her, a lot. And maybe even an explanation. She absolutely did not want to. But what other choice did she have?

Grumbling, she dialed her sister’s number. This was not going to be funny, she supposed. Well, for herself, anyways. For her siblings, it’d be an absolute treat.

It only took a moment before Emira answered and already smirked, so Amity made sure not to show the sleeping baby. Too late, she noticed she was still wearing Luz’s hoodie that Willow had already noticed. Oh, she was dead.

“Hello, mittens!”, her sister greeted and Amity groaned, “I see you’re having fun over at the Owl house. Didn’t know you and Luz were already at clothes swapping level.”

Welp, there went her dignity. If she was already this low, she could just as well cut to the point.

“Emira, I can’t make it home tonight.”

In an instant, her sister’s face changed to such a smug, shit-eating grin that Amity realized what her mistake was. Oh.

This had sounded wrong. While her sister called over Edric to ‘get a load of this’ she began blushing deeply. Which didn’t exactly help her situation.

“I-I meant-”

“Too late, mittens! But don’t you think it’s a little early for you two to be so intimate already?”, her brother now chirped and she hated every second of the twins staring at her with equally matching smirks.

“We’re not-! I mean, I’m serious, I can’t get home, I need to babysit-… King! I can’t leave King alone! Because Eda’s not here”, she scrambled, and her siblings didn’t seem to buy it. Even if she hadn’t lied about Eda being gone for the night.

“Yes, suuure, you need to babysit King. The demon. We believe every word.”, Emira winked and Amity wanted nothing more than to sink into Luz’s scented hoodie and hide forever.

“… Can you please make sure mother and father don’t notice?”, she finally built up the nerve to say, just as Edric summoned up a tiny Amity and a tiny Luz in the air between the twins, making them act all blushing and even letting them kiss chastely. She was just glad her brother wasn’t weird enough to let them kiss more. But it absolutely didn’t help, seeing the illusions giggling.

Titan, how she wished that was what she was actually doing. Casting a side glance to the sleeping baby Luz, she sighed, then she pulled up the hoodie and rolled her eyes, to hide her blazing face at least somewhat.

“Only if you admit it!”, her sister laughed and thankfully, wiped Edric’s illusions away so they wouldn’t kiss again, “Admit that you two are planning to smooch all night long!”

“We are not!”, she snapped. She wasn’t lying, at least. She and Luz would probably only play until a reasonable hour and then she’d put her down to sleep, “I don’t know what you’re talking about! Please just do it, I’ll do anything!”

As soon as she’d said it, she regretted the words coming from her mouth. Now she was in for it.

The smug grins on the twins’ faces spoke volumes.

“If you admit what you and Luz are doing tonight-…”, her sister began, and her brother finished her sentence.

“… And if you don’t snitch to our parents about our extracurricular activities until we graduate-…”, he grinned and Amity knew this was gonna have more demands to it.

“… And if you-”

“That’s enough.”, she quickly interfered and her siblings shrugged. They figured there was going to be more opportunities to blackmail their little sister.

“… Then, you can count on us to make an illusion.”, Emira nodded, as if the deal was settled, “So, spill!”

Groaning, Amity contemplated showing them the baby next to her. But that’d only cause them to use the extra hour of curfew they had because of being older to pay them a visit and tease her to no end. On the other hand, maybe that’d amuse Luz. And maybe they would actually be good with the baby.

At that, Amity scrunched her nose.

They would kill her. Telling a lie, then.

“We-… We’re watching movies.”, she began lamely and grimaced, knowing she’d have to provide juicier details to shut them up, “… A-And we’re cuddling. There you have it. Can you please bail me out now? I won’t snitch.”

Edric hummed at that.

“That isn’t enough, mittens, we know what’s up. We wanna hear it from you.”

“Get lost!”, she snapped again, this time a little louder, and didn’t notice the baby next to her flinching. A second later, her siblings saw the witchling’s eyes blow wide when a baby’s scream interrupted their call, “Gotta go, bye!”

Hanging up and throwing her scroll phone away immediately, Amity turned over to Luz and quickly took her in her arms, before rolling on her back and patting the baby’s head, sighing when she wailed and hid her face on the crook of the teen’s neck.

“Aw, Luz, I’m so sorry… I’m so sorry, it’s okay. I didn’t mean to yell. My siblings just drive me insane sometimes. I’m so sorry, please don’t be upset.”

The hug after being awaked so rudely seemed to calm her down, and she actually got quieter and only sniffled against Amity’s neck now, still cuddling closer. When she tried to lift her up and put her back down next to her, Luz only whimpered and somehow held onto her neck, not wanting to move, so Amity sighed and let her finish her nap on top of her chest.

Quickly, she dialed the twins again, on Emira’s number, and tried holding the phone so they wouldn’t see the baby snuggled up to her jaw, but the skeptical faces said everything.

“… Mittens, who did you say you’re babysitting?”, her brother finally broke the silence and Amity sighed, shaking her head.

“That’s not important. Could you maybe, pretty please, handle our parents? I really can’t leave here.”

Emira held up her finger and shook her head, actually seeming a little disgruntled that Amity would keep information from her, even lie.

“New conditions for our deal. You stop lying and tell us what’s going on.”

The teen rolled her eyes and sighed. Suited her right for letting herself get into a blackmail situation.

“Fine. But you can’t tell anyone, absolutely nobody. Or we’ll all three be toast, is that clear?”

They nodded, now super intrigued, and Amity held the phone so they could see the tiny baby curled up on her chest, the small arms wrapped around her neck while she held her close with her free hand.

In an instant, Edric cooed and got teary eyes about how adorable that baby was while Emira furrowed her eyebrows and moved closed to the screen.

“That baby is pure sugar!!”, her brother exclaimed, and her sister agreed but still skeptically glared at Amity.

“… Either Luz has a little sibling that magically got transported here from the human realm, or you two had a love child.”, she announced and Amity's face took on an unparalleled shade of red.

“We-… We did not have a love child! You do know we’re fourteen, right?!”, she tried to snap as quietly as she could, but Luz still squirmed due to being much closer to her now and she quickly shushed the baby and rubbed over her back while her brother just fell over, jokingly pretending to faint, “… That’s-… That’s actually Luz…”

At her confession, Edric’s face immediately squished back against Emira’s, their expressions of clear surprise matching. Silence followed and Amity uncomfortably squirmed. Then, Emira turned away from the phone while the background began moving, the twins seemingly walking. Oh no…

“Mother, Father, we’ll get Amity! We’ll be back by her curfew!”

“No, no, please don’t-”, she already began but her brother just took the phone from Emira when they began jogging out the front door.

“There’s no way we’re missing this, mittens.”

“Besides, that’d be the perfect opportunity to bring home your illusion inconspicuously.”, Emira reasoned and Amity couldn’t argue. Their parents liked to control her homework and ask for a magic demonstration. If she came home with the twins, they’d be able to hide her better.

“Fine. But take your time, her nap isn’t done yet!”, she tried, making Edric clasp his hand over his heart and hand the phone back to Emira who now joined in on their brother’s cooing.

“You’re so motherly, mittens! That’s downright adorable!”, she grinned and Amity grumbled. She’d never live this down, great.

“Just don’t lose your minds immediately. Or at least do it quietly. I want her to sleep as much as possible.”, at that, the twins gave three thumbs up, minus the hand holding the phone, and hung up, clearly on their way through the forest and towards the Owl House already. Sighing, Amity let the scroll phone vanish and tried relaxing again.

Wonderful. Now she’d have to endure their antics for a full hour until they’d ‘bring her home’. She just hoped they’d be gentle with Luz. She didn’t want anything dumb to happen to her just because her brother and sister liked to be super irresponsible.

“Well, looks like we’re having guests…”, she whispered and the baby huffed in her sleep. Smiling, she nuzzled her nose into Luz’s short hair and rested her lips against her head. That wasn’t a kiss, she told herself. It was just cuddling. And even if it was a kiss, Luz would most likely not remember what happened. And babies liked kisses, right?

Sighing, she wrapped her arms around the baby, resting her hands at the opposing sides of Luz’s body, and cuddled her close. This was actually super nice…

---

Let me know if you liked it! :D

#toh #the owl house #amity blight #luz noceda #willow park #eda clawthorne #edric blight #emira blight #sweet #fluff #fanfic #babysitting #literal baby #luz turned into a baby #amity is clueless tm #she tries her best tho #amity blight being wonderful with children

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sepublic · 4 years

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Boiling Isles Pantheon?

An interesting thing to note is that we may have TWO references to Greek Gods in The Owl House by now; There’s Hecate, the fictional character from The Good Witch Azura series. As @gocrazygostupidtohtheories has speculated, this statue from the latest trailer;

-Is possibly meant to depict Hecate! Which when one considers her namesake being a character in a fictional series within the show’s universe, is definitely interesting. Given how Hecate is responsible for maintaining the divide between worlds, I wonder if she has anything to do with how Eda got her portal to the Human Realm? Assuming, of course, Hecate is real.

Then there’s Emperor Belos himself- Belos, in mythology, was an alias for the Greek God Zeus. AKA, the King of Gods- A worthy name for the Emperor that is above all other Witches, it seems. I’m not sure how much relevance Greek myth has on witchcraft (if any), but it is worth considering…

…Especially since the show itself has obvious owl motifs. And given the presence of the Owl Mural, I have to wonder; Is the being it depicts, potentially meant to represent Athena, Greek Goddess of Wisdom? Again, there’s the mythological aspect to consider with Belos and Hecate, and Athena is heavily associated with owls; Another symbol of wisdom, and also the form that Eda’s curse manifests as. Could we be seeing the appearance of powerful deities within the Boiling Isles? Perhaps they’re not literal deities, but nevertheless important Witches who have a recurring motif binding them together?

And, how does the Boiling Isles Titan factor into all of this? It was called a titan in that one MSN article we got about the Boiling Isles and its locations… A Titan in Greek Myth referred to a race of beings, the predecessors to the gods who were overthrown by them. And, who led the war against the titans? Zeus… AKA Belos…

Did Belos play a hand in slaying the Boiling Isles Titan? Imagine if the Titan was King… There’s been speculation that he overthrew King, and Belos’ mask bears a faint, passing resemblance to the Titan. They both have open eye-holes, horns, and the same kind of nose; Not identical, but perhaps… Related?

Zeus was the SON of the Titans’ leader, Kronos- So was Belos the son of the Boiling Isles Titan, or a creation? Perhaps a being born of its flesh? And if King really was the Boiling Isles Titan, then suddenly him bringing toys to life, only to be overthrown by them, would be something else… Not to mention, it’d recontextualize this line from Episode 3, right before he defeats the Trash Slug he personally nurtured before it rebelled against him;

“I have no son!”

(Alternatively, King is Belos’ son, given how he’s coded like an infant at times)

And if King’s B-plot from Adventures in the Elements was an allegory to his past, then could Francois, or Hooty, represent someone? Could they both be a person- Perhaps Hecate is Francois, and Hooty is Athena (given the owl motif)? Or would it be the other way around? It’s worth noting that in Greek myth, Athena was born AFTER the Titans were defeated, though…

On another note, if Belos DID help kill the Titan, then this would of course mean he’s incredibly ancient. And Sense and Insensitivity established that Belos wants the Bloom of Eternal Youth, for whatever reason.

Is he beginning to die? Or has he been constantly maintaining his lifespan throughout the years? Perhaps he’s not going to kick the bucket anytime soon, but it definitely helps to have an immortality flower on hand, just in case. Or, given how the Coven System prioritizes control over all else, it’s possible that Belos doesn’t need the Bloom of Eternal Youth, but to him it’s better to have it safely secured and easily accessible, rather than out in the open for anyone to pluck and use for themselves.

Now, onto some baseless speculation… But Eda is ALSO aging from her curse. This has no backing, but what if Belos cursed Eda, and the curse is meant to drain her of her life-energy? And because Eda is running out, so is Belos? If Witches were born of the Titan, and if it was a Demon… Perhaps Witches ‘evolved’ from Demons, and Eda losing her energy is causing her to ‘revert’ back?

Obviously that last bit doesn’t make too much sense, especially since Eda is still incredibly powerful even now, with Sense and Insensitivity even making a point of it. Granted, maybe Eda would be even MORE powerful if Belos wasn’t draining her power, so maybe it’s more of a matter of youth or whatever than actual magic.

OR… If the possibility of there being an Athena-figure in the show is there… What if the being who cursed Eda was this Athena? They have big, round eyes like an Owl, and it’d make sense for Athena, who is associated with owls, to grant an owl curse! Dumb idea here, but what if Athena cursed Eda to keep Belos from draining her dry? Or even, Athena cursed Eda, knowing that if Belos established a parasitic connection to her, it’d affect him too; Thus, while Eda is aging, this has the result of causing Belosto age as well! The curse may have been put there as a deterrant to keep Belos from completely draining Eda of her magic, or something like that.

(And speaking of Eda and Belos, I noticed they both have a similar cloak/dress rim. It probably doesn’t mean anything, but hoo knows?)

And going back to Greek myth, Athena is the child of Zeus, born from his mind. Could the Owl Deity be a child/creation of Belos, perhaps even a Palisman of his? Or are they simply linked as mutual creations of the Boiling Isles Titan? Perhaps Belos, Hecate, and Athena were all Palismans, but one was favored over the other…

Because it IS worth noting that in Greek myth, Hecate was a Titan- But one who sided with the Gods in the war against the Titans. If Greek Myth really is being used as a source of inspiration for the show, perhaps Hecate was a Palisman, or some other creation of the Titan/King(?) who helped Belos defeat him? Or, if Francois acts as a counterpart, perhaps Hecate was favored by the Titan (alluding to her Titan status in Greek myth), and was forced into hiding after Belos’ takeover?

Hoo knows… I have to wonder if the Bat Queen factors into all of this. As fun of an idea as it is, she’s too small to be the Titan’s Palisman, if it had one… And Belos himself is too small (though he may have been bigger at one point). Could Kikimora be his Palisman? Regardless, perhaps the Bat Queen would be the palisman of Hecate? How does Mystery Hand factor into this, if at all? If Hecate is represented in-universe as a fictional character, is Azura meant to represent Athena, given how they both have A-names? And forgive me if I’m wrong, but I believe that Azura is also occasionally referred to as being ‘wise’, just like Athena… Is Athena/Azura rewriting her past with Hecate or something?

#the owl house #owl house #speculation #theory #emperor belos #the owl house belos #the owl house eda #edalyn clawthorne #the owl house king #the good witch azura

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hey-hamlet · 5 years

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BNHA AU Ideas: Alleycat

Also on AO3!

TL;DR:

The story of the Erasure villain: Alley Cat and his heroic kittens. Aizawa, a rather nomadic villain, accidentally acquires two teenagers and a four-year-old. It's not the most conventional family, but it'll do.

villain aizawa: hes incredibly brutal and efficient, kind of an antihero type. he shuts down some things the heroes dont see, patrols the sketchy areas, looks out for children

he kinda,,, accidentally adopted some children

shinsou and izuku were runaways from a terrible foster home that tracked down the 'villain' alleycat and basically said

"are we worth anything to anyone?" and aizawa sees these kids hurt by heroics and takes them under his wing

eri is a kid izuku stumbled upon while out with shinsou before they met aizawa, and izuku basically adopted her straight out, came back to shinsou like "hi we have a little sister now" they are like 12, eri is 4

so aizawa accidentally gets 2 teens and a lil kid and he finds out they lowkey wanna be villains like him bc they wanna help and heroes dont help people like them. aizawa's heart breaks bc he doesn't want these kids to have the life he's had, so he promises to train hitoshi and izuku only if they try for the hero course

they agree. a villain begins to train heroes to enter the very thing that hurt them, with hopes of changing it from the inside out

ok also: in this au whatever horrible thing happened to shirakumo,,,, didnt. and he's 1A's homeroom teacher. hes bright, bubbly and cheerful, with the same expulsion rate aizawa has

so, shirakumo's hero name is cloud nine, hizashi's is feedback, not present mic. they both think aizawa is dead, and separately have to deal with the villain 'alleycat' as his territory intersects w ua's zone

aizawa, as alleycat, is a lot gentler to shirakumo and hizashi, more polite when speaking to them, less brutal with his takedowns. hizashi notices, but says nothing

hitoshi and izuku, with their baby sister eri, end up living with aizawa, training to be heroes to improve them fucked up society that taught them they were worthless in the first place

he takes them on parkour routes in the early morning, teaches them how to disarm people with knives, to use an opponents size against them.

izuku hones his ability to analyse, hitoshi learns how to push peoples buttons. there is no such thing as a fair fight for them. they break each others noses, chip a tooth or two, get black eyes. there are no hard feelings, they are together through everything

the 4 of them live pretty rough, only on what aizawa can get as a villain/working day shifts in a dodgy bar. aizawa pretends to be their dad for anything legal, says they had two different mothers. it works, somehow.

Some minor cosmetic changes:

Izuku, Hitoshi and Eri all dye their hair black. It started as them quietly wanting to look like their ‘dad’ for sentimental reasons, but they quickly worked out that it made the lie a lot easier for others to swallow.

They all take the surname Aizawa

Eri’s hair is cut into a messy bob – she loves getting Izuku to give her pigtails with the little sparkly hair ties Shouta stole for her. Izuku’s hair is shorter at the back and longer at the front, obscuring his eyes a bit. Hitoshi’s hair is shoulder length and growing, he ties it back in a low bun.

All three of the kids have scars. Eri’s are like canon but a less extreme because her quirk only just showed up. Izuku and Hitoshi have some from bullies, horrible foster parents and reckless sparing. Izuku has a few more little ones because he developed his not-dad’s love of cats and is unafraid of getting bitten – on top of his lack of self-preservation.

they go to aldera middle school, bakugo is still a little shit. to be honest, izuku hates it the most when bakugo burns his uniform - they cant afford to buy extra. there have been a few weeks hes just had to where shinsou's spare and roll the sleeves up

izuku and shinsou have a bit of a spat the afternoon of the sludge villain. it's nothing either of them remembers in a weeks time, but it means shinsou leaves school first, without izuku

bakugo corners him, notebook, allmight, etc

izuku has to ask

all might says no

izuku crumbles, such a dramatic shift from the calm but nice boy he'd been before. you can see the moment his heart breaks. all might feels terrible, but izuku has jumped down the fire escape before he can say anything.

to be honest, izuku is moments away from a full-fledged breakdown. He shoots shinsou a quick text about the villain, but pauses when he hears explosions. He knows the chances its Katsuki are tiny but he’s never been a lucky guy, so he runs towards them

basically the rest of the episode plays out like canon, izuku goes home and meets with his whole ass family panicking because he sent a vague text about a villain then was totally AWOL for 2 hours

hitoshi hugs him really tight while aizawa mumbles something about a tracking chip.

Izuku tells hitoshi about all might, but just tells aizawa vaguely that hes getting a quirk, no he isn’t in any danger, yes he’ll be safe, no he can’t tell you how.

Izuku and Hitoshi both pass the entrance exam with a mix of hero and villain points.

Izuku still doesn’t his whole bone breaky routine but he also manages to take out a few robots by himself before that. He ends up with the highest score.

Hitoshi takes out a few more robots but spends a fair bit of time pushing people out of the way of robots, yelling at people to be more careful about the others around them, and controlling people to get them out of the way of debris. He gets into the top 10.

Nezu is very very interested in the two ‘brothers’ with very different quirks that both did so well. He resolves to keep and eye on them.

Shirakumo is a riot as a teacher but boy is he stressful to be in a class with. The first insult out of Bakugo’s mouth and hes kicked him out of his class, telling him to try class B or get out of the school. (Blood King takes him. Bakugo is a little less horrible to izuku, at least where others can see)

Izukus having a quiet panic attack because Bakugo is going to kill him, and Hitoshi is caught between respecting the balls on their teacher and being pissed at the guy for putting izuku in a terrible position.

No quirk test, they do actually go see the opening ceremony. Hizashi and Shirakumo chat in sign while the principal’s speech drags on. Hitoshi and Izuku watch on, trying not to laugh when they start signing that they want to go to sleep.

Then they do the quirk test bc shirakumo’s a bastard. They end the day with Bakugo kicked out and Hagekure hanging onto her place by a thread. Izuku and Hitoshi come 4th and 5th respectively, despite not being able to use their quirks in the test. Shirakumo is interested.

Skipping to the interesting bits:

The USJ is just as terrible as canon, with the added fact that some of the thugs totally recognise izuku and hitoshi. Izuku works out how to use one for all at 1% during the attack. Hitoshi ends up with a scar on his eyebrow from a person with a claw quirk, Izuku gets a broken arm. Hitoshi sees all might in his skinny form for the first time and is suitably surprized

The sports festival goes a lot like canon in the first round, the second round features a team-up of just Hitoshi as the horse and Izuku as the rider bc they are so used to working with each other they felt it’d be more trouble to have extra team members. They arent exactly wrong and that round ends with them still in control of the 1’000’000 points band – along with a fair few teams just sitting on the sidelines with no idea how they got there.

Tournament round has izuku fighting Todoroki in the second round like canon, but in this universe, he wins (after helping him because whats izuku without a saviour complex). Hitoshi beats Tokoyami and Sero, but loses to Bakugo. The final round is Izuku vs Bakugo, they tie.

The stain arc is a riot. Izuku is interning w Gran, Hitoshi is with Nighteye who happens to be looking for ‘Alley Cat’. Hitoshi is so done with this.

Izuku finds Iida about to be attacked by stain and swoops in. Stain recognises him instantly

“Oh, you’re one of the cat’s kids, aren’t you? Let me deal with this fake hero and you can show me what your dad's taught you.”

Iida is confused – resolves to ask about it later

“You step away from him.”

“What?”

“I said. Step away from Iida. He’s – We’re going to be heroes. We’re both going to be heroes and I won’t let you hurt him!”

Stain pauses, then smiles.

“Lets see if the apple falls far from the tree, hm?” And he launches himself at Izuku

Izuku can dodge with the best of them, but he can’t get close enough to hit stain while protecting Iida. He manages to escape paralysis, but by the time Todoroki arrives stain has barely taken damage.

Todoroki isn’t the only person that responded to that warning. 1 city over, Hitoshi is franticly begging Nighteye to do something, because his brother is in danger. Nighteye is shocked at the fear in the previously apathetic child’s voice. He alerts heroes in the area, and makes his way over with a nervous Hitoshi in tow. On the other end of the city, where he’d been trying to keep an ear out for his kids, Aizawa gets the text and his heart drops. He begins running over.

Stain is taken out before any more help arrives. Without ropes, Todoroki freezes him solid in a block of ice. Endeavour arrives, as does Nighteye with a panicked Hitoshi. Aizawa arrives soon after, perched on a nearby rooftop, ready to whisk his kids away to safety should they need it.

The nomu swoops down, grabbing Izuku. Stain can’t help – trapped in his block of ice. Aizawa runs after Izuku. The nomu drops Izuku off at Shirgiraki’s feet, who is rather delighted to have the annoying boy from the USJ delivered to him out of the blue. He’s not, however, so happy with the knives he finds flying towards him. Kurogiri redirects them and the portal fades just in time for them to come face to face with the villain ‘Alley Cat”

“Well that was a cheap shot Alley Cat, what crawled up your ass and died?”

Aizawa places himself in front of Izuku, teeth bared. Izuku is clutching the leg of his costume. “Don’t hurt him and you won't lose a hand.” Kurogiri goes to attack, but Shigiraki waves him off, letting Aizawa take back Izuku.

“Sir?”

“Don’t you see? There are villains in the hero course. I smell a side quest, don’t you? We might even get some new party members out of it.

#bnha #bnha au #alleycat au #dadzawa #aizawa shouta #eraserhead #midoriya izuku #shinsou hitoshi #eri #bnha eri #Midoriya #shinsou #izuku #shirakumo oboro #shirakumo #present mic #yamada hizashi

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jammatown919 · 4 years

Note

Hey, I just saw the request masterpost. I wanted to ask if you could write about Luz and Amity reuniting after years with Luz now convinced that the Isles were a delusion because Camila took her to a psychiatrist after her return.

I sure can! Sorry for the wait, I’ve been a little busy.

An Old Delusion

Content: Luz does not keep her promise to return to the Boiling Isles, and Amity is determined to figure out why.

The day Luz left the Boiling Isles, she promised to return as soon as possible. She expressed the hope that she could have her first visit over this weekend or the next, but there was still a large chance that she'd have to wait longer. At the latest, she swore, she'd return next summer. It was with these assurances in mind that Amity kissed Luz goodbye, watched her walk through the portal, and returned home to begin waiting.

When Eda's 'Human Trash Day' rolled around that Sunday, Amity made her way to the Owl House to wait with its inhabitants, as well as Willow and Gus. For a while, they all sat around staring at the portal and not talking to one another, which Amity found a bit uncomfortable, but she sure as hell wasn't going to be the one to say anything. The day was only saved once King suddenly ran from the room and returned with a board game, demanding that somebody play with him. In Amity's opinion, the game was a bit childish, but it gave them all something to do while they waited. They played eight times before Eda herded everyone into the kitchen for lunch, after which they played three more times.

Luz did not return to the Boiling Isles that day, which, while disappointing, was not a particular cause for concern. Clearly, she was having trouble convincing her mother to let her come, or was being otherwise held up. There was always next week.

For the next few weeks, the group continued to meet up on Sundays and open the portal. They'd starting trying out more board games, helping each other cook lunch, and swapping stories of the week's events. It was nice to be able to get together and relax for a little while, but there was a constant tightness in Amity's chest, even during these hours when she was happiest. Her gaze often lingered on the portal, but there was never any sign of Luz.

When they hit the two month mark, everyone resigned themselves to the fact that they were probably going to have to wait for summer, but they kept meeting regardless. Human Trash Day had become a sort of personal weekly holiday, and none of them were willing to give it up, especially not Amity. They kept the portal open each time, but it was really more of a just-in-case at this point. Everyone was quite sure that Luz wasn't coming for a while yet.

The first day of summer was a Tuesday, but Eda still called everyone over to open the portal. This was it. This was the day that Luz would return to them. The group was so certain that Luz was coming that they waited two hours to start their games, just so Luz wouldn't have to wait to join in if she walked in during a round. They made one of Luz's favorite human recipes for lunch. They set a place for her at the the table. For an hour, Amity forbade anyone to start eating, lest Luz arrive and realize they'd started without her.

Ultimately, lunch was eaten without Luz, and the group returned to the living room to continue waiting. Games were played, but Amity did not participate. She just sat beside Willow and stared at the portal, swearing to herself that if she waited just one more second, Luz would appear.

Gus and Willow left around the usual time that the portal would be closed, but Amity stayed behind and begged Eda to keep it open for just a little longer. Luz was just late, she was going to come any minute now. Eda gave her a sad look and agreed while King curled up in Amity's lap, giving her arm a comforting nuzzle every few minutes. She sat there, numbly staring into the portal, for what felt like years before Eda let out a loud sigh and snapped her out of her trance.

"Kid, Luz isn't coming today." Eda told her gently. "You should get home before your parents start to worry."

"No, she said she'd be here." Amity shook her head. Luz had made a promise, and Amity had never known her to break promises. She just had to wait a few more minutes.

"I really don't want to have to kick you out." Eda rose from her chair and began slowly walking toward the portal, reaching into her shirt for her key. "But this," She gestured vaguely in Amity's direction. "Is not healthy. I want Luz here as much as you do, but she isn't coming today."

"Then why don't we go to her?" Amity suggest suddenly. She had no idea why she hadn't thought of it sooner. If something was stopping Luz from coming back, then they should go and see what it was.

"I've been to the Human Realm a few times," Eda turned to face Amity, key in hand. "And let me tell you, my pale, bat-eared, giant-fanged self draws some attention. Humans are weird about anyone who looks different."

"Then why don't I go?" In her excitement, Amity tried to jump up, but then realized just in time that King was still in her lap. She ended up giving a weird hop in her seat, earning a yelp from King. "My fangs and ears are small. If I keep my hood up and don't talk to anyone, I'll pass as human."

"Humans don't have green hair and yellow eyes." Eda pointed out.

"Okay, first of all, the dye is pretty obvious." Amity jabbed a finger at her brown roots. "And second, I'll keep my head down. Luz said the portal opens like, right behind her house, so I probably won't even run into many other people."

"Mmm," Eda said to herself, considering. She tucked the key back into her shirt and grabbed her staff from where it rested on the arm of the couch. Slowly, she began to unscrew her palisman from her staff. "Alright, fine. But you have to take Owlbert with you. He's been to the Human Realm every week for years, he can be your guide."

"Thank you so much!" This time, Amity lifted King from her lap and placed him beside her on the couch before jumping up.

"Just be careful out there, alright?" Eda opened her hand to allow Owlbert to flutter out of it and onto Amity's shoulder. Amity winced as the little owl's small talons pierced through her sleeve.

"I will." Amity nodded, bringing a hand up to stroke underneath Owlbert's beak. "I promise I won't be long."

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

Luz had grown to enjoy sunsets. Even back in winter, sunsets had always had always given her this warm feeling, but now that it was getting into summer, the feeling was tangible. She'd taken to sitting outside with her sketchbook until it was too dark to see what she was drawing.

She'd been drawing a lot more, too. Her psychiatrist had advised drawing out her fantasies, so that she could put them down with her sketchbook and not let them seep into the real world again. After her three month delusion last year, Luz had been spooked enough to finally put in the effort to reel back her fantasies.

It still scared her to know that there was an entire summer of her life that she didn't remember, replaced with memories of a world she'd invented in her head. She drew that world a lot. She'd drawn out the Owl House itself a few times, but mostly, she drew characters that she remembered. Eda the Owl Lady, with her adorable demon friend, King, dominated many of her pages. She drew them together most of the time, for some reason disliking the idea of separating them. A few weeks ago, she'd sketched out Eda as a monster, but looking at it was upsetting, so Luz had hastily erased it and scribbled normal Eda over it.

Then there were Gus and Willow, who she also liked to draw together. The first time she drew them, they were on either side of a drawing of herself, but her psychiatrist, upon seeing the picture, had insisted that Luz not draw herself with her characters.

Usually, Luz didn't have a problem keeping herself out of her drawings, but she hated drawing Amity alone. Amity, she recalled, was a girlfriend she'd created for herself. She adored drawing the character, but it didn't feel right to keep her by herself. She looked better grouped with Gus and Willow, but Luz could never shake the feeling that Amity probably still wasn't happy.

"Idiot," She muttered to herself, lifting her pencil from the notebook in her lap. She'd been drawing Amity again, pondering how to make her happier. "She's just a drawing."

Luz let out a sigh and placed her sketchbook beside her on the front step where she sat. That was enough remembering the Boiling Isles for one day. Maybe she should just stop drawing it. It might be better to forget.

She looked out across the front yard and into the street. With such nice weather, a lot of people were out for evening walks, but there was one girl in particular that caught Luz's attention. She was on the same side of the sidewalk as Luz's house, staring around with wide eyes that, with the dimming light, almost looked yellow. Through the hood pulled over the girl's head, Luz could see a hint of green hair.

Wait. Yellow eyes, green hair. Luz grabbed her sketchbook and began frantically flipping through the pages. After a moment, she landed on a colored illustration of Amity, Gus, and Willow. That girl on the sidewalk kind of looked like Amity.

"Luz!" Luz jumped at the sound of her name and looked up. The girl was staring right at her now, and Luz realized with a jolt that there was a tiny owl sitting on her shoulder.

"What?" Luz said under her breath. How did this girl know her name? Why did she look so much like the character on the page beside her? Why the hell was she running across Luz's front yard?

"Where have you been?!" The girl was right in front of her now, smiling. Were those fangs in her mouth? "You said you were coming back. We've all been waiting for you."

"A-Amity?" Luz asked tentatively. Was this actually happening?

"Yeah?" Amity's expression grew concerned as she lowered her hood to reveal small pointed ears. "Are you alright?"

Luz squinted at Amity, trying to figure out how she should respond to this situation. She stood and made eye contact, her prolonged silence seeming to confuse Amity. This didn't feel like her imagination. Tentatively, Luz reached out and poked Amity on the arm, probably a little too hard. Part of her had been expecting her hand to pass right through, but she was met with solid flesh. Startled, the owl left Amity's shoulder and fluttered off to a nearby tree.

"Ow!" Amity yelped and gave Luz a disgruntled look. "What is the matter with you? First you break your promise, and now that I'm here you just poke me instead of talking to me."

Her eyes narrowed and her ears drooped, a sure sign that she was starting to get agitated. Luz clearly recalled kissing the tips of those ears every time they drooped just to get them to perk up again. She distinctly remembered the genuine little giggles she'd get from Amity every time. She kind of wanted to do that again.

"Are you... real?" Luz asked quietly, giving Amity another, gentler poke on the cheek.

"What?" Amity asked incredulously. "What the hell are you talking about? Of course I'm real!"

"And the Boiling Isles?" Luz went on, suddenly excited. "They're real?"

"Luz, you're freaking me out." Amity took a step back, her ears twitching even farther downward. "What happened after you got back?"

"I told my mom about everything, but she didn't believe me." Luz explained. A part of her was still wondering if Amity was actually there, or if she was talking to empty air, but the rest of her thought that a hallucination could never feel like this. Amity being here brought a warm that the sunset could never hope to best. She had to be real. "She took me to a psychiatrist. They said that I'd blocked out my memories from summer camp and replaced them with the Boiling Isles."

Luz wasn't entirely sure what reaction she was expecting, but she did know that anger was not in. Amity's ears were nearly all the way down, and on one side of her mouth, her lip had moved up a bit to expose one of her fangs. A soft growl rose from somewhere in her throat.

"So that's why you haven't been back?" She demanded. "Because they had you thinking you were crazy?"

"Well, yeah, but..." Luz struggled for the words to defend her mother. She knew that her mother had only been trying to help her, but if she was being honest, she was mad too. For months, she'd had different people telling her she was insane, to the point that she'd been doubting her own memory of the only place that had ever made her truly happy. "My mom was just concerned. It did sound pretty crazy."

"We spent a year waiting for you!" Amity exclaimed.

"I'm sorry," Luz put her hands on Amity's shoulders, gently squeezing. "But I'm here now."

"Will you come back with me? Everyone wants to see you."

"Yeah," Luz nodded. She wanted nothing more than to return to the Boiling Isles. "Just for a little while though, or my mom will start to worry. Maybe tomorrow I can introduce you guys to her. She'll have to believe me if she sees you for herself."

"I'll meet her, but only so she stops thinking you're insane." Amity decided, a small hint of aggression still lingering in her voice.

"Thank you." Luz said with a smile, pressing a kiss to Amity's cheek. Amity let out a soft huff, adorably trying to hold onto her irritation. "C'mon, let's see those ears perk." Luz cooed as she began repeatedly smooching Amity's left ear.

Amity lasted about five seconds before she dissolved into light giggles, gently shoving at Luz's chest.

"Quit it!" She said through her laughter. Luz continued to pepper her face with kisses until a shrill hoot interrupted them.

"Oh, right, you brought Owlbert!" Luz held out one hand as Owlbert flapped his way over, landing in her palm. "I missed you, little buddy." She chuckled he nuzzled against her thumb.

"We should probably be getting back now." Amity pointed out as Owlbert jumped up and found a comfortable spot on Luz's shoulder. "Eda told me not to be too long."

"Right," Luz set her took one of Amity's hands in her own. "Let's go."

Together, they began walking away from Luz's house. She knew her mother would worry if she came outside and found that Luz was gone, but it would only be a few hours. Besides, she'd have an explanation, proof included, by tomorrow. Luz chuckled to herself as she imagined her mother's reaction to see witches and demons for the first time. She was going to freak out.

But that didn't matter right now. All that mattered was that Luz was finally going back to the Boiling Isles. She was finally going home.

#the owl house #toh #luz noceda #amity blight #lumity #request

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myfriendscallmecoelophysis · 4 years

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secret song

Martha and Spark being a family (with added reunion in s1 world)

There were few people in the world who knew that the First King of Dagrun had a secret talent. He was well-known as an accomplished builder, a loving husband and father as well as a fair King, but it was his musical talent that was reserved for his family. He sang to them constantly. He sang love songs to his wife, taking her hands and dancing through the halls of the castle whenever the mood struck him. He sang calming lullabies to his children to quiet them to sleep, rocking them in his arms. Oftentimes, the nights they spent as a family around the fireplace were spent with Spark playing his guitar while his family danced and sang along. He was never happier then in those moments.

With each member of his family, he had a special song. For his wife, he sang of his devotion and adoration, a slow romantic melody of his love. For his son, he sang a song of pride and belief that he would grow to be a truly good man and even better King. And for his daughter, he sang a song of promise.

He traveled often for his duties and Martha took after her mother in more ways then one, she began having visions from a young age and came to dread the time her father spent away, fearing that something may happen to him while he was gone. He crafted a secret song just for the two of them. A promise that he would always keep her close to his heart no matter how far apart they were. Each and every time he had to leave, he would sit with Martha in her room the night before and gently strum his guitar while they sang their secret song.

The night before she was to leave Dagrun to set out on her own, he found her sitting by the fireplace with a cup of tea. He knew she was nervous about being out on her own but also excited to see what destiny awaited her as her fledgling magic grew stronger and stronger. Quietly, Spark walked up behind her with his guitar in hand and softly beginning to play.

“Remember me Though I have to say goodbye Remember me Don't let it make you cry”

Martha looked up at his voice, smiling as he rounded the sofa to come sit next to her. She laid her head upon his shoulder and closed her eyes, listening to the gentle and familiar melody before joining in on the last verse.

“Know that I'm with you The only way that I can be Until you're in my arms again Remember me”

The sound of the guitar faded as their voices did, leaving them in silence aside from the crackling of the fire. She snuggled up against him, settling into his side as his arm wrapped around her, holding her close. She felt the press of his lips to the crown of her head and the soft whisper of “It will be alright little one. We will always be here for you and you will always be in our hearts.”

“I know Dad.” She replied with a content sigh, a smile on her lips. “I know.”

She returned to Dagrun too late to say goodbye. Mother’s eyes were red and puffy, the goddess out of tears to shed. Helgrind stood beside her, a hand upon her shoulder. “Martha,” Ianite sighed, stepping away from Helgrind to gather her daughter in her arms. Tears welled in Martha’s eyes but she blinked them away before they could fall. He’d left before. Never quite this far before but she knew he would return or at least do everything in his power to return. He wouldn’t abandon them.

Martha did not cry until she was alone in her bed. She sang under her breath, so soft that she could barely hear herself over each stuttering inhale and hiccup.

“For even if I'm far away I hold you in my heart I sing a secret song to you Each night we are apart”

She hugged her pillow close as she closed her eyes, ignoring the fabric that was damp from her tears and imagining the calm plucking of guitar strings to lull her to sleep.

When Mother left less than a week later, Martha had no song to share with her. Only a hug and kiss to her temple and a promise that she would return when she was needed.

Martha left Dagrun with no promises of her own.

As they stood on the edge of the portal, Martha’s thoughts turned back to her family. Beside her was her nephew and across the portal, the alternate of her father. Who else did she have? Who else could she have? Her mother and brother were dead. Her father, missing in a far flung dimension, ages prior. She knew he was still alive, Mot had said as much, but the odds of her seeing him again? She didn’t allow herself to even stoke the fire of hope.

They leapt and then they were falling and falling and falling and falling...

She opened her eyes to a sandy beach at the base of a hill. She saw the rest of them beside her, Andor, Mot, Dianite, and all the heroes. Well at least they were together. Jericho got to his feet, mouth falling open in awe. “You guys. We’re home!”

They embraced one another while Martha herself stood, helping Andor to his feet. “Where are we?” He asked.

“I’m not sure.” She admitted. “But based on their reaction, I’d imagine this is the realm they came from.”

“But isn’t that where Grandpa-” He trailed off as a trio on horseback crested the hill above them. All three wore full armor and rode armored horses but she could just make out their faces beneath their helmets. She blinked and almost immediately her eyes stung as tears welled within them. He was older, his facial hair far more grey than she remembered, but it was him.

“Dad?” She breathed in shock. Andor turned to look at her, his eyes wide, then back at Spark.

“Alyssa!” Mot cheered, rushing forward as the shortest figure leapt from her horse with a cry of relief.

The reunions broke off into groups, Mot and Dianite hugging Alyssa while Jeriah introduced himself to the heroes. Spark however, hesitated. He climbed down from his horse and removed his helmet, his eyes fixated on Martha.

“Martha?” His eyebrows were furrowed and mouth slightly agape. “It can’t be.” He dropped his helmet in the sand as he approached, hands shaking. “You- But I felt- How is this-” She felt the edges of her lips turn up and emotion well up within her. He was here. After so many years.

Her father stopped in front of her, eyes shimmering behind his glasses. He lifted a hand towards her, as though he wanted to cup her cheek but was afraid to touch her. “She said that world was gone, that everything and everyone had been lost. I thought-”

“I”m here Dad.” She assured him with a shaky smile, the crinkle of her eyes finally allowing the tears to fall. She pressed his hand to her face and softly whispered “Remember me. Though I have to say goodbye. Remember me. Don't let it make you cry.”

Spark gasped out a wracking sob of astonishment and pressed his other hand to her cheek. He joined in her whispered song, pressing his forehead to hers “For even if I'm far away. I hold you in my heart. I sing a secret song to you. Each night we are apart.” And oh how the sound of his voice made her heart soar in relieved joy.

They sang the rest of their song together, the words quiet and distorted between hiccups and sobs.

“Remember me Though I have to travel far Remember me Each time you hear a sad guitar

Know that I'm with you The only way that I can be Until you're in my arms again Remember me”

They’d fallen to their knees together in the sand, holding onto each other in desperate need to be near. The last family each other had. The others had paused to watch the tearful reunion, with very few dry eyes among them. Hesitantly Andor took a step closer and with a wide smile Spark gestured for him to join them in their embrace.

“Until you’re in my arms again.” Spark murmured into Martha’s hair, squeezing his daughter and grandson tightly.

“Remember Me.” The Ianite of Ruxomar finished, watching the reunion of her family with a smile from the heavens above.

#mianite #mianite fanfic #martha the mystic #spark #mianite s2 #Its fluff #Its a songfic #Its also an apology for the library incident #Sorry #Nerf House #my writing #words words words

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sparrowsabre7 · 4 years

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Thoughts on the Snyder Cut Chapter 6 of 6

The awful “you smell good” line is changed back to the original “you spoke” which clearly couldn’t be used in the Josstice cut since dark Superman was a lot more chatty there, whereas he is entirely silent in the Snyder Cut to this moment.

We take a bit more time to breathe on Clark’s return before going into the Batcave for what I think is the first time as a group in this version. I actually quite enjoyed Barry whizzing round the cave in Josstice as a bit of humour that actually made sense to me. Here he just says “wow!” which is now coloured a little by the death mere minutes before or his new friend’s dad...

There is a nice “This is Alfred, I work for him” from Bruce and Alfred despairing of where he’s going to find enough tea cups, a wry commentary on the fact he’s never really needed more than 2.

More breathing with Clark, though this movie seems to do nothing but breathe sometimes... he mentions Lois’s ring which I don’t think was brought up in Josstice, but despite spending more time with Lois, the moment still doesn’t really feel earned. Martha is then reunited with her boy too, again feeling unearned since this is actually the first we see of her this film.

Bruce acknowledges the dream sequences from Batman V Superman in a scene that adds nothing but act as an ominous teaser before they embark on the Flying Fox (fixed by Cyborg in another addition with little actual purpose not least because the exchange between Cyborg and Bruce makes no sense “It wanted to fly, it’s in her nature” “Yours too” - we’ve already seen Cyborg fly like 20 times already). We get a brief planning scene and then it’s off to the final boss!

But not before we have another fatherly advice montage - this time for Clark from the disembodied voices of his two dads as he sadly wanders around the ship before emerging in the infamous silver and black suit.

This scene is nice though, mirroring the emergence from “Man of Steel” and showcasing his improved mastery of flight, paying homage to the films that came before. Ah spoke too soon, ruined with a jesus shot that smacks you over the head so hard you’ll get concussion.

The team disembarks and zooms into battle, the batmobile sequence is still a highlight and I don’t think much has changed from it, nothing that jumped out at me at least.

There’s a scene added back in with Clark visiting Alfred, which was on the original disc as a deleted scene. I understood why it was deleted then and it adds little here too, save for logistically explaining how Superman knows where the team is.

Wonder Woman, Cyborg and Aquaman confront Steppenwolf. REALLY fucking sick of that wail now. This doesn’t seem dramatically altered, meanwhile Barry is off doing a big run to charge up Cyborg.

While this may have more narrative purpose than the saving the Russian family scene from Josstice (which I loathed, that family sideplot was SO dumb) it still relegates Barry to basically not doing much. Also, he gets tripped up by a blast from a gun, he’s faster than fucking sound, there should be no reason he got hit by that. Also, oh my goodness is Ezra Miller (who is otherwise pretty solid) gurning it up over his injury...

Superman appears and it is a lot more badass than in the 2017 cut, but it does IMMEDIATELY raise the question (again) of what is the point of the other League members. He tears Steppenwolf apart with greater ease than he fought Zod or Doomsday and yet, this guy is meant to be this incredible force to be reckoned with.

Meanwhile the mother box pulling apart doesn’t go so well, so all the other Leaguers literally stand and watch as Cyborg fails to pull them apart waiting on Barry as a portal to Darkseid opens. The boxes explode and Barry goes back in time to undo it, forcing me to ask again, my god, why DOES he move his arms like that when he runs?

Jesus we’re still 30 minutes from the end and we’re still doing vision sequences fuck me. I am so tired now. I just want it to end.

Ok the mother boxes are freaky demons in the vision showing Victor a life he could have. He ultimately rejects it and pushes them apart with Superman’s help (this seems to take basically no effort on Superman’s part compared with Josstice where it knocked both of them to the ground.) They then decapitate the basically beaten Steppenwolf (and use what I hope to christ is the last Amazon wail) for the body to fly through the portal and the team to have a good stareoff with Darkseid before he teases a now defunct sequel with generic bad guy statements.

A very slow mo team pose closes out the battle and still doesn’t accomplish the same level of “fuck yeah” in 1 minute and 34 seconds (I counted) that “Avengers” did in 10 seconds with the 360 degree shot.

The epilogue begins and Cyborg magics his dad’s tape recorder back together to listen to his message. I don’t know how, I guess because he’s part motherbox? Arthur heads off to find his own solo movie, hopping in the back of a truck amusingly paralleling the scene in “Endgame” where Hulk visits New Asgard (though unintentional of course). Ryan Choi is there to remind us Ryan Choi was in this movie. Bruce and Alfred set up the Hall of Justice which seems unchanged, and then Barry showing his father he’s got a job in a crime lab, which now has added “foot in the door” content. Bruce helps Clark’s mum move back in, “I did a mistake” and “bought the bank” quotes still intact. Wonder Woman looks mournfully at the amazon arrow (sans wail) and then Barry manages to look even sillier when running. Batman stands atop the bat-tank from “The Dark Knight Returns” in another neat piece of fanservice that makes little sense, before Clark removes his specs and rips open his shirt to the S; something which definitely has less of an impact in the black and silver than in the red, blue, and yellow.

We now come to the post-credity end of the movie (even though it’s pre-credits) with Luthor having escaped jail. Deathstroke also heads up to Luthor’s yacht as in Josstice’s post-credits but the context is changed dramatically, with it being about a personal hit on Batman (who took Slade’s eye apparently) rather than building the legion of doom.

Ok, boy, still not done, more endings than Return of the King this one. We’ve jumped into the Knightmare world again, apropos of nothing. IN fairness, trenchcoat Batman is absolutely a look. Mera and Cyborg are there because reasons. As is Jared Leto Joker who sounds and overacts like an anime villain. A reacharound joke. hilarious. I actually tried defending Leto’s Joker back in the Suicide Squad era, but there’s no salvaging him. I wanted to give it the benefit of the doubt but he’s just so cringeworthy. Oh apparently Harley Quinn is dead in this timeline. Batman also says “make no mistake I will fucking kill you” with all the conviction of a man establishing his consumer rights to a no questions asked refund. Ok Deathstroke is there too. With a mohawk. Barry has his time travel armour from BVS and then Superman shows up.

Bruce now wakes up (jesus fuck, let it END) and Martian Manhunter is at his window which doesn’t seem to phase Bruce in the slightest, dispensing “an army is coming, we need to fight” platitudes. Ben Affleck seems to be playing this scene like he’s Ryan Reynolds (and tbh that’s actually working for me).

And it’s over. I’ve ranted long enough here so I will summarise in a final post

#snyder cut #justice league #films #reviews

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aion-rsa · 4 years

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Street Fighter vs. Mortal Kombat: The Many Ways the Crossover Almost Happened

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Street Fighter II: The World Warrior, the game that really kickstarted the fighting game genre, has turned 30 this year. To celebrate, Ryu and Chun-Li are appearing in Fortnite. It’s par for the course for Ryu, who has been in so many crossovers to fight everyone from everywhere. Ryu has crossed over with the cast of Tekken, the guys from King of Fighters, the Marvel superheroes, just about everyone under the Nintendo banner, GI Joe, Power Rangers, and even Family Guy for some odd reason. Ryu and Street Fighter have crossed over with nearly everyone.

Yet for some reason, the number one dream fighting game match-up has never happened. Yes, we’re talking about Street Fighter vs. Mortal Kombat. These two giants of the fighting game industry have never exchanged blows despite being household names from the very beginning of the fighting game boom of the early 1990s.

That doesn’t mean there haven’t been some close calls or that they haven’t brushed shoulders in the past…

The Beginning of the Rivalry

The first iteration of Street Fighter II came out in February 1991. This was the sequel that made good on the promise of the 1987 original, which had great ideas that it couldn’t really execute. It would be bold to say that Street Fighter II perfected the formula, but it was such an improvement that it’s still incredibly playable to this day. It was a lucky break for Capcom, who would go on to milk the game’s success with several new editions of the title, from 1992’s Champion Edition all the way to 2017’s Ultra Street Fighter II: Final Challengers for the Nintendo Switch.

If you’re a fighting game aficionado, you know the history. The success of Street Fighter II sparked a boom for the fighting game genre. In Japan, SNK released Fatal Fury and Art of Fighting right on the heels of Capcom’s hit, while Alpha Denshi gave us World Heroes in ’92. Meanwhile, in America, Midway Games was planning its own Street Fighter II competitor, which was originally meant to be a tie-in game for the movie Universal Soldier starring Jean-Claude Van Damme. When that project fell through, Midway turned to the much gorier Mortal Kombat, a fighting game that digitized actors instead of sprites, an innovative approach to animation at the time.

Released on October 1992, Mortal Kombat was a major hit, and Midway quickly put out a sequel, Mortal Kombat II, six months later in April 1993. The third game would be out two years later. Mortal Kombat was speeding through its early days with cabinet after cabinet, while Capcom was focused on re-releasing newer versions of Street Fighter II. After making bosses playable, adding new characters, and tossing in other bells and whistles over the course of various upgrades, the studio concluded the game’s original run with 1994’s Super Street Fighter II: Turbo.

That meant that at a time when the internet was in its infancy, these two popular franchises were mainstays of print gaming magazines. Announcements, previews, reviews, secrets, tips, and so on. If your early ’90s magazine didn’t have at least a page dedicated to Street Fighter and/or Mortal Kombat, then get your eyes checked because you weren’t looking hard enough.

In 1992, Electronic Gaming Monthly famously pulled an April Fool’s Day gag on readers where they took the Street Fighter II mistranslation, “You must defeat Sheng Long to stand a chance,” and insisted it was a reference to a secret boss fight that involved working your ass off in the game in a way that was outright impossible, making your way through the game as Ryu without taking a single hit until your battle with M. Bison (and that was the “easy” part). The joke led to many stressful nights for gamers, who were finally told the truth about the hoax the following December.

But Midway took the idea of a secret boss more literally. Using the Sub-Zero/Scorpion ninja sprites, Midway introduced a green-clad fighter named Reptile, a seriously difficult opponent that you could only fight in arcade mode under some seriously ridiculous circumstances. Reptile was added in the 3.0 version of Mortal Kombat, making him the first secret boss in the genre’s history.

Capcom would eventually catch up with Akuma, a character extremely similar EGM‘s design for Sheng Long, in Super Street Fighter II: Turbo. By then, Midway had thrown in three more secret boss fights for Mortal Kombat II, and even SNK had already introduced Ryo Sakazaki as a secret final boss in Fatal Fury Special.

Brushing Shoulders

The Mortal Kombat series really thrived as a gorier and campier alternative to Street Fighter II‘s more fundamental approach to the genre, but that didn’t stop Midway from taking a couple of jabs at Capcom. In-game, secret characters would occasionally pop up before rounds and say something cryptic for the sake of helping the players figure out how to unlock their fight, a nod to the Sheng Long joke. But there were more direct pokes at the competition. For instance, Jade would occasionally appear for the sake of asking, “CHUN WHO?” and vanishing. Midway also included “RYU” as default initials on Mortal Kombat II‘s high score board. Cute.

Meanwhile, Capcom stoked the fire with a commercial for Street Fighter II: Champion Edition for Sega Genesis. It featured a security guard at a toy store coming across a box for the game. Blanka’s arm would thenreach out and grab the nearby box for Mortal Kombat and crush it into smoldering trash.

But it wasn’t all jabs. The two companies crossed paths in other interesting ways. In 1993, Malibu Comics published a Street Fighter II series for only three issues before having to drop it because Capcom was unhappy with Ken Masters’ grisly fate in the story. Around the same time, Malibu also launched a Mortal Kombat series, and the publisher would actually batch issues of both series together and send them to vendors.

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Hasbro double-dipped when it came to action figures too, releasing sets for both Street Fighter and Mortal Kombat, complete with weapons and special vehicles. But while Street Fighter characters were treated like part of the GI Joe line, and were even featured in commercials where they all hang out and beat the crap out of Duke, Mortal Kombat was kept separate from Hasbro’s most popular figures.

Nintendo also used both franchises as major selling points for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System. The SNES ports for Super Street Fighter II and Mortal Kombat II both played big parts in Nintendo’s Play It Loud ad campaign. One such commercial even had a guy getting a massive Street Fighter vs. Mortal Kombat tattoo on his torso.

But the closest thing we’ve ever gotten to a real crossover between the two games was through their Saturday morning cartoons. Street Fighter and Mortal Kombat: Defenders of the Realm were both released as animated follow-ups to their live-action movies, although they were directly inspired by the games themselves. On Nov. 16, 1996, both series, as well as Savage Dragon and Wing Commander Academy, took part in a long-forgotten crossover event based around a hero named the Warrior King and his search through the multiverse for a special orb that controls the weather.

The Warrior King played a major role in his Street Fighter episode as the romantic interest of Chun-Li, while in Mortal Kombat, he merely made a quick cameo as a shadowy figure running through a portal. Regardless, both stories involved the villains (M. Bison and Shang Tsung) wielding the same mystical orb.

No, the crossover ain’t much, but that’s still more than what we got in Wreck-It Ralph. Although the Disney movie featured M. Bison, Zangief, Ryu, Ken, Chun-Li, and Cammy, it didn’t bring in any official Mortal Kombat characters to face them. Instead, the movie included “Cyborg,” a blatant Kano knockoff with the same cybernetic eye, goatee, and zest for heart-ripping. Why didn’t Disney just use Kano? Probably because he’s a Warner Bros. property. Still, missed opportunity.

Copying Test Answers

The video game adaptation of Street Fighter: The Movie will always be a fascinating novelty. Released in 1995 in arcades, the game not only copied Mortal Kombat’s digitized actors but it actually featured Jean-Claude Van Damme, the actor Midway had been unable to secure for its own Universal Soldier tie-in years earlier.

Interestingly, whenever Capcom sets out to make a totally new Street Fighter game, the studio usually chooses to go in a new art direction. Street Fighter V is the exception, although Capcom did initially start with a more photorealistic art style before nixing it and going with “Street Fighter IV but extra.” So, when Capcom tapped Incredible Technologies to put together the video game version of Street Fighter: The Movie in 1995, it was at a time when the publisher was also considering using the digitized Mortal Kombat style for Street Fighter III. Thankfully, Capcom decided not to go in this direction.

Midway hilariously dipped its toe in Capcom’s waters a bit more blatantly in 2004. Mortal Kombat: Deception introduced a fighter named Kobra who was supposed to be the latest human POV character, only evil. But Midway initially named him “Ken Masters” due to his physical similarities to the Street Fighter character. The studio included “Ken” in a beta version of the game provided to the press, with the express direction NOT to mention the character.

Guess what happened next. A German publication posted the images of “Ken Masters” anyway, suggesting Mortal Kombat vs. Street Fighter was finally happening. Sadly, no, this was not a teaser for the long-awaited video game crossover. It seemes Midway just hadn’t come up with a proper name for “Ken Masters” yet.

Capcom did throw in a cute reference to Mortal Kombat in Marvel vs. Capcom 3. The game featured Nathan Spencer, the Bionic Commando, whose cybernetic arm could shoot out like a grappling hook and grab opponents from far away. When doing that to yoink an enemy towards him for a haymaker to the face, he’d quote Scorpion’s famous “GET OVER HERE!” Nice.

Not the Right Fit

Mortal Kombat co-creator Ed Boon admitted in 2008 that he’d tried to make Mortal Kombat vs. Street Fighter happen at one point but Capcom wasn’t interested.

“I’ve always wanted to cross MK over since about MK4, or something like that. I’m a big fan of all of the other fighting games, Street Fighter, Tekken. I always thought, wouldn’t it be cool to have MK vs. SF and MK vs. Tekken? We pursued some of those ideas to the extent we could but we always ran into some kind of road block and couldn’t do it.”

A full-on roster vs. roster situation was out back in the ’90s, but these days, guest characters are a normal part of fighting games. Tekken 7 alone includes representatives from Street Fighter, Fatal Fury, Final Fantasy, and The Walking Dead. Mortal Kombat and Injustice have gone all over the map with their DLC choices, including slasher villains, ’80s action heroes, Spawn, Hellboy, and even the Ninja Turtles. When a fighting game announces a new season of DLC, you usually know to expect at least one crossover character to be included in the package.

For 2019’s Mortal Kombat 11, Boon reached out to Capcom once again. Wouldn’t it be neat if a Street Fighter character got in on all the gritty time-traveling action? While we don’t know which character Boon was interested in using, many fans theorize Akuma would have been the perfect fit. But Capcom said no.

Here’s what former Street Fighter producer Yoshinori Ono had to say about it:

“It’s true that a proposal for a Street Fighter character in Mortal Kombat was rejected by Capcom, but it wasn’t me personally! There were many people at the company that felt that it wasn’t a good fit for our characters. I actually met Ed at the Brazil game show and spoke to him personally about it. So it’s true – but I didn’t make the decision!”

So why didn’t it happen? Probably because Mortal Kombat 11 is banned in Japan due to all the gore and extreme violence.

“I understand why people want it,” Ono said at the time, “but it’s easier said than done. Having Chun-Li getting her spine ripped out, or Ryu’s head bouncing off the floor…it doesn’t necessarily match.”

Maybe one day. For now, we’re left waiting for Ryu to finally get over here.

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Special thanks to tabmok99 for helping with this article. You can check out his Mortal Kombat know-it-all YouTube channel here.

The post Street Fighter vs. Mortal Kombat: The Many Ways the Crossover Almost Happened appeared first on Den of Geek.

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